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"Ah Cisco". "Ah Pancho". "See you soon bub!"

Of course we couldn"t give the old man in the overcoat a
spot in the show. For one thing the show was tightly
planned. For another the slightly sad down-at-heel char-
acter in front of me looked nothing like the "Cisco Kid".

There would have been no empathy, no recognition on
the pa1t of our young audience. As gently as I could, I
explained that unfortunately we couldn't use him, and I
thanked him for his offer.

He turned and walked slowly out of the studio through
the "props bay", across the yard and out of sight - to heaven
knows where.

What's next, after the applause has ended?

In 1930 Warner Brothers produced a wonderfully suc-
cessful operetta called "Viennese Nights". It was filmed
in the two-colour techoicolour process, and was written
especially for the screen by Oscar Hammerstein and
Sigmund Romberg.

It starred singer Alexander Gray who got to sing such
durable hits as "I Bring a Love Song", "You Will Re-
member Vienna", and "Vietmese Nights". The love in-
terest was operatic soprano Vivienne Segar, and the vil-
lain - the "snake in the grass"- a very young Walter
Pidgeon.

But Alexander Gray was the star, the heart-throb of the
early thirties. Soon everyone was singing the tuneful
Sigmund.Romberg melodies."Viennese Nights" was a
u·emendous success. A big hit for Warner Brothers and
their handsome talented leading man, Alexander Gray Jessie Matthews
had made the big-time in "tinsel town". West End Star of the 30's and early 40's

In the late forties I was working in a radio station at
Wan·nambool. One of d1e programmes we took on relay
from Sydney was "Dick Fair's Amateur Hour". On this
night I was relaxing in the studio listening to the Sydney
programme paying scant attention to the show, when sud-
denly a name came out of the past. Dick Fair was intro-
ducing the next contestant.

"Your name sir?" "Alexander Gray" "And what are you
going to do for us Mr Gray?" "I' m a singer" "How long
have you been singing?" "A long time. I worked in films
once- a long time ago" "So what are you going to sing
tonight?" "I Bring A Love Song. It's from film called
Viennese Nights"

Alexander Grays career bad turned the full circle. From
aspiring young actor art the onset of the sound era, to a
Warner Brothers matinee idol to an unsuccessful Ama-
teur Hour contestant.
Alexander Grey
For Alexander Gray the applause had definitely ended . Warner Bros. star of the 30's

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