Fidler had brief experience in movies before he became a columnist. Winning first prize in a contest in
Memphis, Tennessee, took him to Hollywood. Once there, he was an extra before he "worked his way to semi-important roles". Fidler interviewed film personalities for the Hollywood segments of
Fox Movietone News. Such was Fidler's influence that a negative comment by him could affect the
box office drawing power of a star. According to
Time, in January 1938 he was sued for libel by
Constance Bennett for $250,000 (equal to $ today) after he reported she snubbed
Patsy Kelly on a
Hal Roach movie set and that studio workmen bought flowers for Kelly but none for Bennett. Fidler won the case, with the judge ruling that remarks against a public character, even if false, are not libelous if made without malice. In 1938, Fidler made a short MGM
documentary film,
Personality Parade, about actors making the change from
silent films to
talkies. It featured clips of more than 60 performers whose careers began in silent films. ==Television==