New York. - Believing in the scriptural axiom that "Ask and ye shall receive," Jean Darling, a comely refugee from the Our Gang comedies, sat down one day last week and composed a letter to Broadway's Lee Shubert, producer.
"Dear Mr. Shubert," she wrote, "I want to work for you and I'm sure you will agree with me that I can be of service to you if you will only let me sing for you."
Mr. Shubert, who never tires in his quest for talent, wrote back that he would indeed listen to her if she cared to come in. Next day, the lass showed up and introduced herself. "You want to sing now?" he asked. "No, sir, tomorrow," replied Jean Darling. So she went away and came back the next day and sang "Lover, Come Back to Me," and Lee Shubert said, "Go away and come back tomorrow and bring your mother with you."
When Jean and her mother arrived, Shubert offered her a long-term contract, something he seldom does, and she signed. Now she has been cast in "Count Me In," a musical comedy with Charles Butterworth, Hal LeRoy, Mary Healy, Luella Gear, June Preisser, Melissa Mason, and a number of other musical comedy names. "I think I can make a star of her," Shubert explained. It's hard to see how he would have signed her to a long-term contract if he didn't think so.
She is honey-haired, with gray-greenish eyes and is five feet three. She weighs 117. "I've never been in a musical comedy before," she told me, "although for five years I was leading lady in the Our Gang comedies."
Jean entered the movies when she was approaching her third birthday. Her mother is her mentor. Singing is her big dream, and two years ago she was headed for Europe and voice culture when the war stopped her at pier 96.
These last two years have been spent under the tutelage of Caesar Sturani, who is a marvelous voice teacher, Jean says, but who has a cocker spaniel that howls when she sings. She doesn't know whether the pup is by way of being a critic or not.
What is "Count Me In"? It's the average American family's reaction to the war.
It was written by a dramatic teacher and an ex-student at Catholic University in Washington. It became so sensational there that they decided to bring it to Broadway. That is how the Shuberts got hold of it, and after its Boston rehearsals, it will open on Broadway, probably on September 21.
Under questioning, Miss Darling denied that she was married, engaged, or even in love, so I asked her what in the world she did to fill in her spare time.
"I roller skate," she said. "I do the circle waltz, the barnyard tango, the flirtation waltz. I skate all over. I like to go to new rinks constantly. I don't like to keep going to the same old rinks. It's fun trying the new ones out."
"And what next, Miss Darling, after 'Count Me In,' after Broadway, I mean. Hollywood?"
The lady smiled. "This is my big moment," she said, "here on Broadway. I was born in Hollywood."