LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Dorothy Lamour: North Hollywood
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Dorothy Lamour was known as Hollywood’s queen of South Sea island films but it is a little known fact that she had been a band singer before venturing into films, and her singing ability has often been overlooked. This Sepia compilation includes many rare sides previously unavailable on CD.The title track, “Queen of the Hollywood Islands”, where the star turns the laugh on herself was specially composed for her by Frank Loesser for her show-stopping sequence in the film A Miracle Can Happen.
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All of these efforts seem to have paid off, not just in terms of The Hurricane's box office but in terms of Lamour's career. In Variety's year-end issue, in which it lists the year's top stars (measured in box office returns), Dorothy Lamour appears in the first position on the list of featured players. The accompanying article asserts with confidence that Lamour “will hit the star grouping during 1938” (Variety, January 5 1938, 49). Lamour, thanks in large part to her sarong and the publicity machine at UA, had officially arrived as a presence in Hollywood.
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The most obvious change since Road to Bali was that Dorothy Lamour, having committed the cardinal sin for a Hollywood actress of growing older, was replaced by Joan Collins. Lamour was offered a small walk-on part, but she refused to appear until the part was rewritten and enlarged. As the finance for the film depended on Lamour's participation, the producers had no choice but to acquiesce.
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Lamour died at her home in North Hollywood, California at the age of 81 from a heart attack. She was interred in the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California, after a Catholic funeral service.
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Jimmie Fidler reports that Dorothy Lamour is trying to persuade her protégé, Helen Dell, a stage actress, to go to Hollywood. Dorothy says Helen, who is currently on the stage in Yokel Boy, is a natural for pictures and one of the best bets ... far overlooked.
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