Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1940)

March 2, i 940 MOTION PICTURE HERALD IN THE BRITISH STUDIOS by AUBREY FLANAGAN in London Son stop Production the only British studio ip production record over months, Ealing Studios, of Michael Balcon, deion of going ahead with iout consideration of War iuction break did threatthe script of "Let George :d. because it had pulled already planned by Bal or Quota. A pi en, however, unt Do It" was rev the leg of the i The seven filr con for 1940 are : Two George Formby comedies, the first of which probably will be titled "It's Turned Out Nice Again," with the Lancashire comedian seen as a policeman against his native background of Blackpool. Version of Stage Play The next film to go in production will be "Saloon Bar," a screen version of the stage success still running in the West End, with Gordon Harker playing the role he created on the stage. Walter Forde, who this year celebrates his coming-of-age as a film director, will direct this and two other Balcon productions in 1940. These will be: A screen version of Edgar Wallace's "The Calendar," in which Balcon hopes to unite Clive Brook and Gordon Harker in one film, and "Sailors Three," a comedy with a naval training depot as a background, written by" Austin Melford and as yet uncast. Work already has started on exterior shots for "Convoy," which Pen Tennyson will direct. The film was inspired by a recent BBC account of an aerial attack on a convoy, and is being made with the official cooperation of the Ministry of Information and the Admiralty. Musical Planned Plans are being completed for a musical film telling the story of entertainment behind the lines in wartime. For this the cooperation of the ENSA and NAAFI will be sought. Probably five more will be added to this list when negotiations are finished for the purchase of new properties, or when those subjects already owned by Ealing will be modified or altered to meet new conditions. In that category mav be included "Bullet in the Ballet," thriller' with a Ballet background, and "Epitaph for a Spy," from the best selling novel by Eric Ambler. Other properties owned by the company include "Wings of the World," a story of the development of civil aviation in this country: "The Pipe Major of Little Sorrowful." a Saturday Evening Post story, and "His Worship the Mayor," by Walter Greenwood, author of "Love on the Dole." FILM SHOT IN BRITISH LIXES FOR FEATURE Twelve hundred feet of film taken in the British lines in France is the prize brought back to Britain by the Legeran unit working on location for "Old Bill and Son", which is due to arrive on the floor at Den bam immediately. All in the unit are enthusiastic about the cooperation afforded them in France. Accompanied by conducting officers, they were allowed to go right up to the front line. Practically every type of British Unit in France was filmed, at work and at play, and over Christmas cameraman Jack Whitehead took footage of two concert parties, at one of which Grade Fields was the star turn. Mary Clare has been signed to play Maggie, the wife of Old Bill, and for the part of Young Bill, who represents the modern mechanized army, the War Office has agreed to release JoJm Mills from the R.E.'s. Hitler Double Ambitious is 20th Century Productions' "Gestapo" nearing close of production at the Gaumont British Studios at Shepherds Bush. An adventurous story of espionage and persecution ::: Eurcce, i: takes ir. its strife spectacle ar.d history, romance, drama and comedy. It has been produced with a strict attention to accuracy. Carol Reed, director of the highly successful "Stars Look Down," is in charge. Maurice Ostrer and Edward Black are responsible for production. Considerations of physical resemblance rather than of comedy have inspired the choice of Cocknej comedian Billy Russell to play the part of Adolf Hitler. Russell is remoying his mustache as soon as the last shot is id the can! The Shepherds Bush Studios have been transformed into a replica of a German railroad station, bespattered with swastikas and Nazi flags, decorated with goose stepping troopers and misty with steam. Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave are the stars. /;/ the News Seeks Studio Losing no time in getting to work, Bill Sistrom, RKO Radio's American producer, already has opened negotiations for studio space and launched preliminary plans for a production program designed to meet the company's British Quota commitments. Mr. Sistrom is quartered at the RKO Radio offices in London's West End. The Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service section of Britain's wartime feminine army will be featured in a new Butchers production which is now on the floor at the Nettlefold Studios, Walton on Thames, "Pack Up Your Troubles." This is a comedy aiming to epitomize in screen form the good humor and high spirits of the English Tommy Atkins. Oswald Mitchell directs. The changing scene includes barrack squares, a German prison camp, and the foreign and home battle fronts. One motive of the yarn is the readiness of the modern Tommy to learn the tricks of the trade from the boys of the old brigade, yclept, in army parlance, "old sweats." The ATS supplies both ornamental and romantic relief. Reg Purdell, Wally Patch, Wylie Watson, Muriel George, Ernest Butcher, Meinhart Maur, and Manning Whiley are in the cast. Geoffrey Faithful has charge of the cameras. Percival Mackey, noted English dance band impresario, is looking after the music. * * * Neville E. Neville, producer of "An Englishman's Home," has launched a new production company, Aurora Films, Limited. Private finance backs it. Three films already are scheduled. "Peace in Our Time," an original by Alec Coppel, author of "I Killed the Count," is the first of three. Budgeted at £75,000 ($300,000) and due for production at Denham and release by United Artists, it is said to be "a dramatization of Britain's war aims." * * * Monty Banks has joined the board of Dufay Chromex, British colour company. He says a forthcoming Gracie Fields film may be made in that process. Using Two Studios With two studios in use, and 1,000 artistes and technicians employed, Charter Films, independent British unit, has launched yet another War subject. "Pastor Hall" is a screen treatment of the life and career of Pastor Niemoeller. Over a four-week schedule the Twickenham and Highbury Studios, subsidiaries of Grand National for whom the film is being made, will be scenes of the company's most ambitious effort. Featured in scenes already shot were Wilfed Lawson, as the Pastor, Sir Seymour Hicks, as General yon Grotjahn, Noya Pilbeam as Christine Hall and Marius Goring, as stormrroop leader Gerte. Others signed to prominent roles include Brian Worth. George Carney, Peter Coates. T. Fisher White. Barbara Gott Manning Whiley and Bernard Miles.