Go
West Young Girl
After
a family vacation in 1929 to California, Lillian and
Betty decided to stay behind. Their motive was an
attempt to get Betty into movies, and eventually to
the studios. Betty attended the Hollywood Professional
School, took dancing lessons at the Ernest Blecher
Academy and was coached at the Albertina Rosch School.
Soon after her thirteenth birthday she answered a
call and was accepted from Fox films to appear in
the chorus of Let's Go Places. This number was a black
face number, although it was finally a start in the
movies. The legal minimum age for chorus work at the
time was 15, but Betty had false papers stating her
age was 15. Lillian convinced that her daughter was
definitely worth more, hounded the execs at Fox and
wheedled a chorus contract. Betty was then scheduled
to appear in the chorus once again of the Fox Movietone
Follies of 1930 but at this time (and without the
black face camouflage) the studios became aware of
her true age, and she was released from her contract.
Undaunted by this setback, Lillian presented Betty
at the casting offices of Samuel Goldwyn where she
was signed to appear in the all - Technicolor movie
Whoopee! starring Eddie Cantor. In addition to appearing
in dance routines directed by Busby Berkeley, making
his Hollywood debut, Betty was also the featured soloist
in a few lines of the film's opening song Cowboy Number.
The film was shot in early 1930 and released in the
autumn of that year.
It
was two years before Betty's name appeared on screen
when she received 7th billing in the film Child of
Manhattan. Previous to this, she was doing bit parts
appearing with Lucille Ball and Paulette Goddard as
Goldwyn Girls in the Eddie cantor films Palmy Days
and The Kid From Spain. She also made an appearance
in a crowd scene in Kiki and as a model in The Greeks
Had A Word For It. It was during the time she was
filming Palmy Days when she briefly dated the handsome
and twenty years her senior George Raft. On each date
Betty's mother and older sister chaperoned her. It
was not too long into their romance when George decided
to "give her back 'til she grows up" as he put it.
There were two more roles in 1932 when Betty appeared
in dramatic roles Hold 'Em Jail and Probation from
Chesterfield Films. She also made an appearance in
Cavalcade that was very brief, so brief, if you blinked
you would miss it.
Late
in 1932 Betty joined the Frank Fay musical Tattle
Tales, however due to Fay's inability to stay sober,
it closed after only a few performances. It was also
in this period of time that Betty spent time as a
vocalist for the Ted Fio Rito Orchestra. This lasted
through the summer of 1933, unfortunately they did
not find her voice "suitable" for recording so she
was never included in any of the band's radio appearances.
Working with Ted Fio Rito she was able to sneak her
way into another film with the band in the film The
Sweetheart of Sigma Chi. During this time she also
worked on some shorts with producers under the name
of Frances Dean. These films did not add to her reputation,
but can be found in the filmography also included
on this site. In 1933 she also completed a brief appearance
in Melody Cruise and two straight roles in What Price
Innocence and By Your Leave. With no other film commitments
she moved to San Francisco and joined the Jay Whidden
Orchestra at San Francisco's Mark Hopkins Hotel.
