Boy's Cinema (1939-40)

21 lorgets those who stuck by him during the lean years. Albiez, a small edition of Tai-zan, has' the energj' of four men. No one could keep pace with Van Dyke for fourteen years who didn't. TheLr association began in 1926. '"I needed work badly." said Albiez, "and Mi-. Van was looking for someone who knew guns." In those days, Van Dyke was making Westerns on slim budgets. On the subject of guns he foimd in Albiez someone who could talk his language. Albiez not only served as prop man, but as technical adviser, often working until three o'clock in the morning to keep guns in repair for the next day's shooting.' As Van Dyke met with success, so did Albiez The Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer director has never made a picture without him. Albiez accompanied Van Dyke to Africa for " Trader Horn," and to Alaska for "Mala, The Magnificent." He is a privileged character on Van Dyke sets, a favourite with cast and crew. As a ■■prop " man, he is an artist, coming near perfection. Their gags arc famous. During the film- ing of "Another Thin Man," starring William Powell and M>Tna Loy, Naval officers visited Van Dike, w-ho is an officer in the Marines. Albiez brought out hard chairs for the visitors, then appeared with a cushioned, beribboned chair- for Van Dyke. "Marines are softies," he explained to the Navy men. One ot Albiez' odd jobs is keeping a pot of coffee perpetually boiling for Van Dyke. The director, who drinks upwards of twenty cups a day on the set, thinks Albiez is without peer in this department. Albiez' two-burner oil stove on which he makes the coffee has travelled all over the world with him. There is more than an employer and employee feeling between Van Dyke and Albiez, who enjoy a close personal friend- ship. BOY'S CINEMA FAMOUS STARS WHO WERE NEARLY UNDISCOVERED A sackcloth-and-ashes week is recom- mended to the cinema colony ta counter- balance those periodic oi-gies of bowing that attend the "discovery" of a new star. -■ puring this lime of mortification, pro- ducers would leave off bowing gather at a common wailing wall, beat their breasts and set up a chorus oi "mea culpa s " at the very thought of the star material they overlooked. Shirley Temple, Bctte Davis, Deanna Diu-bin. Clark Gable, Ginger Rogers and Ellen Drew are only a few of the bets they practically ignored until forced by the public to crown them with laurels. Lloyd Nolan, who has the romantic lead in Paramoimt's "The Magnificent Fraud." was bandied about in " heav>-" roles for five years before the sheer weight of his fan mail led the studio to groom him for stardom. John Howard, phi inly a dashing fellow. "did a long apprentice.sliip in juvenile roles, went from there to the lead of the "Bull- dog Drummond" series, and finally persuaded producers to look at his fan mail, too. Result—he now has the lead opposite Dorothy Lamom- in the Lloyd C. Douglas picture. "Disputed Pas.sage." Ray Milland went from England to get off to an auspicious start opposite Constance Bennett in "Bought," and then for some reason, producers forgot about him. A year later he was down to his last penny when an agent sold him to Paramoimt. He turned in another promising performance in "The Gilded Lily"—so promising, in fact, that many customers wTote in and said thtjy had wanted him. instead of Fied MacMurray. to get Claudette Colbert. ■ But it was two years before he could get another part Ever^ Tuesday which was as important. Fan mail was his .salvation, too. ■Ellen Drew was a "stock" girl at the same studio for two years before her role with Bing Crosby and Fred MacMurray in "Sing, You Sinners " won her acclaim. Now she and Rav Milland have been co- starring in "French Without Tears." Betto Davis was looked upon as just another pretty ingenue until public demand got her the great part of Mildred in "Of Human Bondage," and she has been winning so many Academy awards since that it is becoming embarrassing. For a long-time Deanna Durbin was under contract before you ever heard of her. One studio concerned let her go without making a feature with her—and a few monllis later Universal had made her a star. Gable, like Nolan, was a villain imtil feminine fans went to bat for him after "The Secret Six." Then he was lent to Columbia for "It Happened One Night, with Claudette Colbert. And simultane- ously he became one of the biggest male stars in the business. And Ginger Rogers, like Betfe DavLs. was considered tuiimportant material until she proved she could dance well enough to be teamed with Fred Astaire. HORTON HOES Florence (."Granny Jones"; Ro'oerts of 20th Century-Fox's Jones Family has the highest-salaried, best-kno\^•n hired mar. in the film colony. Latelv Miss Roberts lias found the work of cultivating her garden too strenuous, and she told some of her friends she'd have to get someone to help her. Next dav her neighbour and friend of many years, Edward E\'erett Horton, took the job. "Good gardener." compliments Miss Roberts, "'but he talks a lot. I'll have to speak to his mother abotU il." NEXT WEEK. The sensational adventures ot a United States Air Corps officer who tries to discover what is behind the wrecking o! a new and revolutionary type oi bombing 'plane. In the film the part of the ot&cer is played by Jack Holt FLYING FIFTY-FIVE There was only one man who could ride the (amous borse Flying Fiity-Five to victory and he was wanted by the police tor murder I A terrific story o! the turt, with Derrick de Marney as the star S.O.S COAST- GUARD ORDER YOUR Don't miss the next episode oi this sensational film serial — Ralph Byrd is the star COPY NOW! rrintid in Kniilaml and piiblislicd cvcrv Tuosdav l)v the rroprictors, TllK .\M.vi.f..\'HATi;i> PltKss, ],TI>., 'J'ho I'Uct«a.v House, I'aniimilon .Street, London, E.V.i. Advertisement Olliees: 'J'lic Flwtttay Ilouso. I'ariinKdon Street, London, JO.l'.l. .'Subscription Kate.i: Inland .nnd Abroad : 11'-porniiUuin ; 5 « fop.hix ruontlis. iSole Afents for Australia and ^ew Zealand : Mes.sr.-i. Ciordou A; Ootcli, l.td. ; :uiil lor SoiiH), Arrir;i: CentTid Ncwa Ascnc»', Lid. lt*Kiatered lor traus- OttobcT 23tli, I'Jli'J. inission.to (.'an.tdu ai Mag^ziQc Katc.s. S.L.