Cinema: The New Pictures: Jan. 1, 1940

She was born in Budapest 27 years ago and her name was Ilona Hajmassy (pronounced High-massy). At 14, Ilona was a seamstress in a sweatshop, with a will to sing. So Seamstress Hajmassy applied at a Budapest opera house. When its manager asked her what she could do, she told him: "Nothing." He put her in the chorus. There she earned 60 pengö ($10.50) a month, got no curtain calls. An M. G. M. executive finally spotted her at the Vienna opera, took her to Hollywood, where for six months she crammed dramatics...

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