"Mr. Meyer, hello," Hardy greeted.
Louis Meyer saw Hardy and smiled, extending his hand. "Hardy, I remember your name. A few days ago, I called Sigel, and he mentioned you to me. He said you are a very good assistant. If Noah needs anything, feel free to come find me."
"Thank you, Mr. Meyer, for your care," Hardy thanked.
"Don't mention it. There are many people here tonight. You should get to know some of them," Louis Meyer said, lowering his voice. He chuckled, "There are many beautiful women. Young men like you should mingle with them more."
Both men straightened up, chuckling together.
A few people from Noah Films watched from afar as Hardy and Louis Meyer conversed happily, each feeling different emotions.
Indeed, being Mr. Sigel's assistant, Hardy could interact even with someone as prominent as Louis Meyer. They, at most, would only interact with some executives from major film companies and would at most say hello to Mr. Meyer.
At that moment, Shirley Temple walked over.
Meyer saw the girl and smiled at Hardy. "This is our precious Shirley Temple. You must know her, right?"
Shirley Temple had already grown into a young lady, losing the cuteness of her childhood. Hardy knew that in a few more years, Shirley Temple would retire from the film industry because people didn't want to accept a grown up former child star.
"Shirley, let me introduce you. This is Jon Hardy, the assistant to Noah Films' chairman. Oh, and he's also a film investor. Maybe you'll have a chance to collaborate in the future," Louis Meyer said.
Shirley Temple was very cheerful. She looked at Hardy and gave him a gentle hug, "Hello, Mr. Hardy."
"Miss Temple, I'm a fan of yours," Hardy said.
Getting a hug from Shirley Temple fulfilled his wish for this visit.
After chatting for a few moments, Hardy politely excused himself and left.
At eight o'clock that evening, Louis Meyer took the stage.
Ginger Rogers, Joseph Cotten, and Shirley Temple, the main actors, stood behind him.
Louis Meyer loudly announced that the new movie "I Want to See You" was ready to start filming and thanked everyone for attending the party.
The audience below congratulated the film's success.
Elizabeth Taylor looked at the people on stage. The fake smile on her face completely faded away, and her large blue eyes were full of unwillingness.
But there was nothing she could do.
After filming "Lassie Come Home" Elizabeth Taylor gained some fame, but compared to Shirley Temple, her fame was still far behind.
Everyone here was famous.
The lead actress in this movie, Ginger Rogers, was a mature beauty who had won the Oscar for Best Actress three years ago, while Shirley Temple was Hollywood's most famous child star.
The stars in the crowd were dazzling.
Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, Judy Garland, Louise Jenny, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Gene Kelly.
These people had either won Oscars or been nominated, so it could be said that anyone here had some degree of fame.
In the eyes of MGM executives, Elizabeth Taylor was just a slightly famous newcomer, and many people didn't hold high expectations for her.
They said her acting was average, that she lacked the innocence of a child despite her young age, and couldn't act in children's or adult films.
After filming "The Goddess of Mercy," MGM never arranged any roles for her again. Eventually, they even lent her to Fox, where she played a minor role with few lines on the set of "Jane Eyre," just for an extra $50 a week.
Taylor felt very aggrieved.
After Louis Meyer finished his speech, the party moved into the mingling phase. Familiar faces gathered to chat, while strangers exchanged greetings and introductions.
Taylor's mother, Sarah, used to be an actress, but she didn't achieve much. After Taylor was born, Sarah worked hard to teach her, allowing Taylor to start acting at a young age.
Sarah held Taylor's hand, greeting and chatting with famous directors and actors to expand her daughter's network, hoping to create opportunities for her in the future.
Taylor was very resentful of this.
But she had no choice but to reluctantly accompany her mother to socialize.
After circling around,
Taylor felt tired. She said to her mother, "Mom, I'm a bit hungry. I haven't eaten anything tonight."
"Let's eat later. This is a rare opportunity now," Sarah whispered.
"But you forgot what the executives said before, that I'm too young. If I were a bit older and taller, It would be easier to get roles." Taylor argued.
A senior MGM executive had indeed said something like this when casting, mentioning that she was now neither young nor mature enough for suitable roles.
She lacked the cuteness of a child and the charm of a woman.
Sarah nodded, "Then go ahead and eat something. I'll go talk to people and find you after you finish eating. I'll introduce you to more people."
"Okay," Taylor replied helplessly.
Sarah left, and Taylor went to the food table, grabbing two pieces of cake and a pudding. After thinking for a moment, she also took an egg tart and finally poured herself a glass of orange juice.
However, halfway through pouring, she glanced around and realized that no one was paying attention to her. Quickly, she poured some champagne into her juice.
A smile appeared on Taylor's face.
She looked like a little fox who had stolen a tasty chicken.
It was her only genuine smile of the night.
With the hall crowded, Taylor carried her plate to the backyard. Meyer's estate was very large, and although there were many guests, they were dispersed enough that she didn't see many people around.
Taylor found a long bench and sat down, placing the plate on her lap. Just as she was about to eat, she suddenly realized something.
Oh God, She forgot to grab a fork. Even a spoon would do.
Should she go back to get one?
But she felt repelled by the noisy atmosphere of the hall.
Forget it, She would eat with her hands.
She had been hungry for a while.