The Film Daily (1935)

THE 12 DAILY Friday, Dec. 13, 1935 A "LITTLE" from HOLLYWOOD "LOTS" By RALPH WILK IT AY SUTTON and Brooks Benedict have been signed by RKO Radio for the cast of "Follow the Fleet," Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers starring picture now in production with Mark Sandrich directing. Miss Sutton, one of the famous "Roberta" beauties, retired temporarily from the screen following her marriage to Eddie Cronjager, RKO Radio cameraman. ▼ T T J. D. Trop, Eastern representative for Harry Sherman Productions, has arrived from New York to hold conferences with Harry Sherman regarding the "Hop-Along Cassidy" series Sherman is making for Paramount release. ▼ » ▼ George Schneiderman, veteran cameraman, who has been with Fox for many years, has formed the Premier Motion Picture Equipment Co., to handle the world-wide sales of the Gwynne "One-Man" laboratory. The machine is a portable laboratory, which develops both negative and positive prints. ▼ ▼ ▼ Robert Knowlden, father of Marylin, the child actress, has opened an agency in the Equitable Bldg. He will represent writers, actors and directors. r t ▼ Albert Nickels, formerly assistant to John Harkrider, art director for the late Flo Ziegfeld, has joined Pioneer Pictures as a sketch artist and designer. He assisted in the designing of costumes for C. B. De Mille's "Crusades" and "Cleopatra." More recently he has been at M-GM, where, with Harkrider, he has been creating effects for "The Great Ziegfeld." T T T Clay Clement has been added to the cast of "The Leavenworth Case," which Lewis D. Collins is directing for Republic. Protect Your Home Srom Tuberculosis Buy Christmas Seals signed her first film role, the leading feminine part in "Border Flight." Colin Tapley and Samuel S. Hinds were given major roles in the film, and Ewing Scott, who wrote the story, was assigned to direct. The picture is scheduled to go into production Jan. 2. T T ▼ Frank Capra, Columbia's ace director, starts actual shooting this ' morning on "Opera Hat", his next : production for the company, with Gary Cooper as the star. The story, Clarence Budington Kelland's "American Magazine" serial, has been prepared for the screen by Robert Riskin. t ▼ ▼ Gertrude Michael, recovered from injuries received recently in an automobile accident, captured her second leading role within a month when she was chosen to play opposite Fred MacMurray in Paramount's "Thirteen Hours By Air." ▼ ▼ ▼ Warner-First National, which borrowed Edmund Gwenn from M-G-M recently for "Anthony Adverse," have arranged for the distinguished English actor to appear in another of their forthcoming productions, "The Walking Dead," in which Boris KarlofF heads the cast, with Marguerite Churchill, Warren Hull, Ricardo Cortez, Barton Mac-Lane, Henry O'Neill, Joseph King, Eddie Acuff and Kenneth Harlan. The picture is being directed by Michael Curtiz. T T T James Hogan, one of Hollywood's veteran assistant directors, has been promoted by Paramount to a directorship and assigned to the Zane Grey outdoor romance, "Desert Gold," in which Larry Crabbe and Glenn Erikson will have prominent roles. T ▼ T Columbia will place in production immediately "Devil's Squadron," story of the air by Richard Grace, famous flyer and author. Cast will be headed by Ricard Dix, Karen Morley, Gene Morgan and Henry Mollison. Erie C. Kenton has been assigned to direct. t ▼ ▼ Gladys Swarthout, nearing completion of her role in "Give Us This Night" at Paramount's Hollywood studio, says that she has been unable to accept a 52-week NBC radio contract because regular weekly air programs would prevent her filling scheduled concert appearances and would limit her screen work. T T T A duplicate of the mechanical heart invented by Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh and Dr. Alexis Carrel at the Rockefeller Institute in New York will be one of the many pieces of strange scientific apparatus used in "The Walking Dead." Newspapers gave this "heart" story loads of space when it broke several months ago. T ▼ T Adrienne Marden, signed by Paramount after appearing in the Broadway stage production, "Merrily We Roll Along," will make her film debut in "F Man." Miss Marden will play the feminine lead with a cast including Grace Bradley, Jack Haley, William Frawley, Lynne Overman and Roscoe Karns. Eddie Cline will direct. v ▼ T Boyd Irwin and Stanley Andrews, assigned to "Dangerous Intrigue," completed the list of players for the Columbia feature known during early production as "Doctor Steele." Ralph Bellamy and Gloria Shea head the cast. T t ▼ Another colorful figure, but this time one who achieved prominence in another branch of science, is to be further immortalized by Pierre Collings, whose most recent noteworthy achievement for the screen is "The Story of Louis Pasteur" for Warner-First National. Collings, who is at present writing the screenplay and dialogue for "Houdini the Great," which Arthur Hornblow, Jr., is preparing to produce for Paramount, recently concluded a three moths' research job delving into the life of another member of the field of science. "As soon as I complete my present assignment, I will start work on my next original story based on as great a personage as the eminent Pasteur," declared Collings. ▼ TV Shades of Tammany Hall and the ghost of Boss Croker hover o'er the 20th Century-Fox studio where Roy Del Ruth is directing George Raft in "It Had to Happen." A story of New York political life and the rise of a man from immigrant to governmental power, the story is no strange theme to Del Ruth, who for years has studied American politics and has acquired a bulky library on the subject. Del Ruth has injected up to the minute political atmosphere in "It Had to Happen," and the characters and their prototypes are but thinly veiled. t v ▼ Where for years others have failed, the persuasive eloquence of Richard Boleslawski recently persuaded the prominent "desert rat" Sandman Borgen to appear before the camera. As famous as "Death Valley" Scotty, the now aged Borgen has spent over 35 years roaming the sand wastes and hills of the Mojave Desert in search of gold. Repeated offers from newspaper syndicates and film companies for the story of his life met with curt refusals. Boleslawski, who is filming scenes for "The Three Godfathers" which M-G-M is producing, gained the prospector's friendship and confidence by voluntarily presenting him with a grub stake of $25. ▼ ▼ ▼ When Bruce "Lucky" Humberstone directs a picture, more than one million dollars worth of experience is injected into the job. Since 1925, until he obtained his first directorial assignment, Humberstone worked as assistant to more than 33 directors including King Vidor, Fred Niblo, Henry King, Sam Taylor, Alan Dwan, Richard Jones, Wesley Ruggles, Lewis Milestone, Thornton Freeland, George Fitzmaurice, Lowell Sherman, John Ford and others. In addition to this valuable experience, Humberstone has developed a unique directing style of his own as is being witnessed in his present work on "Three Live Ghosts" for M-G-M. ▼ TV Frances Farmer, Seattle girl signed by Paramount after winning a trip to Russia as a prize in a newspaper contest, has been as V T ▼ Wheeler Oakman, Eddie Cobb, Ed Parker and Naba have been added to the cast of "Darkest Africa," Republic serial starring: Clyde Beatty and now in production under the direction of B. R. Eason and Joseph Kane. ▼ ▼ ▼ John BIystone has gone to Palm Springs, where he will prepare his next production for 20th CenturyFox, "Public Nusiance No. 1". BIystone recently completed the direction of "Gentle Julia," produced by Sol Wurtzel. T T T Houston Branch, scenarist, is soon to realize the ambition to which all authors aspire — to see their name in electric lights on Broadway as the playwright of a current attraction. Branch, now engaged in writing the screenplay for "Big Brown Eyes," in collaboration, which Walter Wanger will produce, recently turned over his play, "American Holiday," to Jack Kirkland and Sam Grisman, and the latter two are now making plans for presenting it in March. Roy Del Ruth will complete direction of "It Had To Happen" for 20th .Century-Fox this week, several days ahead of schedule. Del Ruth leaves for the East shortly to look over plays for Darryl Zanuck. ▼ ▼ ▼ Laird Doyle, Warner-First National scenarist, isn't going to let the stork slip one over on him. Doyle is working at home preparing the script for "Glorious" so that he will be on hand to greet the arrival of the anticipated new addition to the family. BIG. NEWS } **<y » AS SEEN BY J THE PRESS 1 AGENT ™ ®t "George Bancroft, fea fured in Colum bia's 'Hell-Ship M orga l,' never plays cards." — Columbia.