According to my own gallop poll . . . made while galloping through the studios . . . Hollywood life begins at four (or under) instead of forty.
What with the hits being made by children in pictures . . . it's getting to where hags of 16 and 18 haven't a chance at all.
Take Baby Sandy . . . or Baby Quintanilla of "Forty Little Mothers" . . . or little Richard Nichols, who kept Bette Davis and Charles Boyer on their acting toes in "All This and Heaven Too."
Still better . . . take Oklahoma children out here. Joan Carroll, of Bartlesville, who's starring in "Laddie" at RKO studios. Danny Mummert, son of Mrs. Winifred Mummert, of Oklahoma City, who recently signed a contract with Columbia studios because of his hits as Alvin in the Blondie series there. Or Mary Ruth Kizziar, of Altus, baby wonder pianist, who just finished a role in "There's Magic in Music" at Paramount.
But take especially . . . lovely little Darla Hood of Leedy, Okla., Spanky's leading lady in "Our Gang" comedies at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios.
Darla is a Hollywood veteran at the age of eight. It all started five years ago when she accompanied her Oklahoma dancing instructor, Kathryn Duffy, to New York for the summer. A talent scout spotted her and she was whisked to Hollywood where she toddled into a fat part in "Our Gang" comedies then at Hal Roach studio.
According to her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Hood, Darla's prime ambition is to be another Jeanette MacDonald, and she is a big film fan of Spencer Tracy, Bette Davis, and Hedy Lamarr.
When she isn't working she plays 'at' golf or goes ice-skating with Spanky or Alfalfa. But when she really goes stepping she picks a better-looking guy. Her big moment was when she stepped from the car with Dickie Jones at the world premiere of 'Pinocchio' some time back.
Visiting the set of her latest film recently, I found her queening it over the gang, as usual. While the grips adjusted lights for the next shot, the beautiful little brunette and her pals were holding an impromptu art exhibit with some of their own drawings. Which to me could easily have passed for the map of Europe or the latest in surrealism.
The set was a barn converted into a night club by the gang for their comedy, "Waldo's Last Stand."
Mrs. Hood explained that the gang was having a floor show to sell lemonade and that they were having trouble with their one customer, Alfalfa, who had neither money nor the inclination for the drink.
In this film, Darla makes good use of her childish blues voice, doing the "Let's Dance" number from "Two Girls on Broadway."
Off set, at this particular moment, Darla was finding it very hard to choose between the masterpieces of art confronting her. A beautiful paper badge was the prize and every gang member coveted it. To my own amazement, it went to me for a page of what looked like a drawing to her, but was actually a jittery bunch of old notes.
One can't keep from admiring, with a sense of bewilderment, these prodigies who bring home the Hollywood bacon at the same age that you were bringing home paper dolls.