THE SLIDE AREA

Abstracted from the passing show in Hollywood are seven stories by an Englishman who lives and works there and who mirrors in his characters the vacuity of that life. All seven are linked through the peripheral crossing of paths and are told in the first person by a script writer, also English, who views his subjects with warmth but objectivity. There is the motiveless murder of Zeena Nelson's sister; the career of escapism of Mark Cusden, whom the writer had known at school in England; the various devices used by two nieces to keep their wealthy, blind aunt traveling without leaving home; the long time star who uses her new picture to subjugate a director -- and fails; Emma Slack -- who turns out to be 14 years old -- and her innocence about getting into pictures; Clyde Wallace, the problem son of a successful agent, and his search which ends in emptiness; the fortune teller who, without previous knowledge, gets vibrations from them all. Shadowed by nothingness, Hollywood's climate here betrays its people as it does its landscape in well handled vignettes. An effective first American appearance.