Imperial Valley Press

STROLLS THRU HOLLYWOOD

HOLLYWOOD, Jan. 23. (U.P.) - Movie studios are "sailors' snug harbors" for dozens of former topflight amateur athletes caught in the stretch by old Pop Time.

Among them is Harold (Stubby) Kruger, Honolulu Dutchman, who held a hatful of world swimming records a decade ago, but who yearns for the good old days when he made real money.

Stubby is an extra, working behind a straggling beard as a Foreign Legionnaire in the 20th Century-Fox "Under Two Flags." Vic McLaglen and Simone Simon, a couple of other good actors, are also in the picture.

"Sure, you make nice dough in this movie business," said Stubby, twitching his needle French bayonet to a more attractive angle. "but it's nothing like what I used to get as an amateur."

How did amateurs make money? Oh, the usual way. You did your stuff, and people gave it to you. It was all in cash, too. You didn't have to fool around with checks.

"I was always a cinch for $100 a week the year round. Then there were special occasions, like when Tex Rickard opened that pool in New York in 1921... Now there was a guy. Amateurs never had a better friend than Tex Rickard..."

While talking Stubby leaned on the corner of a bar in a French-Morroccan estaminet set, clutching a bottle of tea labelled "Vin Rouge." Your correspondent sat on a flight of pseudo stone stairs, around a corner from the camera, and conversed in whispers.

Every so often Stubby was cued into the scene, and had to stagger off with his bottle to be background for the fetching Simon, who was quarreling with stage soldiers up front.

Although Stubby's parents were German, he was born and raised in Honolulu, and rose to water fame with the first flight of Hawaiian "wonder swimmers" led by Duke Kahanamoku.

They all swam together at the Healani boat club, and as boys many of them, including Stubby, used to dive for coins tossed by tourists off inbound steamers. In 1920 Stubby was world backstroke champion. He cleaned up at the Olympics in Antwerp.

"Not many amateurs did as well as I did," said Stubby, returning. "But then I give 'em a complete act, with comedy diving. These amateurs today don't make much dough. I guess they just haven't got the color."

"Why did I turn pro? Well, I wasn't getting much younger, (he is 35 now), and I seen I was going to get knocked off. An amateur can't make much after he's been knocked off."

"So I turned pro. Lots of times I doubled for Douglas Fairbanks and Joe E. Brown in diving scenes. Then I've made some comedy diving shorts, belly-floppers off high platforms, and that. I tour around with Johnny Weismuller sometimes, doing exhibitions, and between times, there are always extra parts."

"No, I don't do so bad-but it's not like the good old amateur days."