Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1942)

40 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW October 3, 1942 PROGRAM NOTES FROM THE STUDIOS ay"/ George Stevens Producer-Director of "The American w Hellinger Producing Dennis Morgan Alexis Smith Starrer ►George Stevens will produce-direct "The American Way" for Columbia. The Moss HartGeorge Kaufman play is being scripted by Edward Chodorov, and will receive Stevens' attention when he completes the currently shooting "Merry-Go-Round" starring Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea. ►Lco« Fromkess, executive producer of PRC, announces that they will make "The Pay-Off" starring Lee Tracy, ivho zi'ill co-produce zvith Jack Schimrs. Story revolves around a nezvspaper, and was zvritten by Arthur Hoerl. ►Joseph Pasternak will produce "The Tale of Two Sisters" for MGM, from an original story and screenplay by Felix Jackson and Leo Townsend. yii'allace Fox is diyecting the Sam Katzman production, "Little Mobsters," a Monogram "East Side Kids" picture zi'hich zvill star the usual group in addition to Daphne Pollard, just signed for a part. Gerald Schnit.zer zvrote the screenplay. ►Dodie Smith, English playwright who wrote "Dear Octopus," has been signed by Paramount to write the screenplay for "The Uninvited," best-seller ghost novel by Dorothy Macardle. ^Judy Canova's next picture will be "Chatterbox," a Republic special in which she zvill cavort against a dude ranch background. ►Allan Dwan will direct RKO's "Grand Canyon," outdoor action spectacle to be filmed entirely in Technicolor at and in the Canyon itself. Bert Gilroy is producing and the cast thus far includes Richard Dix, James Craig and Clif¥ Edwards. yLouis King is directing "The Seventh Column" for 20th-Fox zvith Philip Dorn, Anna .^teii. John Shcpperd and Virginia Gilmorc heading llic cast. The picture is being made zvith the cooperation of the Royal Yugo-Slav Government, zvhich has sent Major Mishovich and Serge Krizman to lend technical assistance. ►George Waggner will be the producer on "White Savage" and "Cobra Woman," two Technicolor features Universal will make starring Jon Hall, Maria Montez and Sabu. yOavid Butler has been signed to direct JVartiers' "Thank Your Lucky Stars" zvhich Mark Hellinger zvill produce. Dennis Morgan and Alexis Smith have been, selected by the studio to co-star. For the first time, Morgan will be allozved to szving it on the screen, singing upto-date szving music. A1GA1 One -Stage Pictures Latest conservation effort with efficiency in view is plan hit upon at MGM where the old method of moving from stage to stage to film one production has been practically eliminated. One-stage pictures have become the rule rather than the exception, cutting down on the movement of equipment and personnel on trucks and busses from one stage to another. Current and future productions will be kept to this conservation plan as much as possible. ► Samuel Bronston and B. P. Schulberg have added Oscar O'Shea and Sheldon Leonard to the cast of "City Without Men," a Columbia production with Sidney Salkow directing. ySzvcetlicarts of the U. S. A." zvill be one of tzvo pictures that PRC plans as the highest budgeted features in the history of the company. ►Frank Morgan has been cast in MGM's "The Human Comedy" which is being directed by Clarence Brown. Morgan joins a cast which includes Mickey Rooney, James Craig, Marsha Hunt, Fay Bainter, Donna Reed, Gene Kelly and others. ^King Brothers zvill produce "No Escape" for Monogram, under the direction of Harold Young. The story deals zvith sabotage against a criminal background. ►George Marshall is directing Paramount's "True to Life," with Paul Jones as associate producer. Arthur Black as assistant director, and John Murphy as second assistant. The picture will star Mary Martin, Franchot Tone, Dick Powell, Victor Moore, Ernest Truex and William Demarest. ^Republic zvill make a p-icture based on the Women's Auxiliary Air Force of England, entitled "Thumbs Up." Albert J. Cohen lias been named as producer. ►RKO's Jean Renoir-Dudley Nichols' production, "This Land Is Mine," which stars Charles Laughton with Maureen O'Hara, George Sanders, Walter Slezak and Nancy Gates, is scheduled to roll October 19th. yil' (liter Morosco, producer at 2Qth-Fox, has assigned Mortimer Brauss to write the screenplay for "Torpedo Squadron 8," an eyewitness account of the heroic attack by IS U. S. Naz'y torpedo planes on the Jap fleet near Midway Island. The picture zvill be in Technicolor. ► Paul Malvern will produce "Trombone From Heaven" for Universal and is waiting for the screenplay from Maurice Rapf. The studio purchased the story as an original from Richard English. yjlenry Blanke. WB producer, has taken on the chore for a picture based on an original by John hluston. "Three Strangers." Humphrey Bogart and Sydney Greenstreet are set for the leading roles zvith a chance that Mary Astor can be signed up for this too. ►John Twist, RKO writer, lias been loaned to Lhiivcrsal for a job on the Robert Fellows' production, "Pittsburgh," which is being directed bv Lewis Seller. Republic Signs Hubbard, Grey For "Secrets of Underground" John Hubbard and Virginia Grey have been signed to head the cast of Republic's "Secrets of the Underground," which concerns the counterfeiting of war stamps. Hubbard recently starred in "Youth on Parade" for Republic while Miss Grey was Gene Autry's leading lady in "Bells of Capistrano." William Morgan will direct under the production aegis of Leonard Fields. Exhibitor Meets His Man E. I. Hawkins, exhibitor of Newellton, La., wanted to meet George "Gabby" Hayes when he went to Hollywood. Hawkins did, on a recent visit to the Coast, as shown by the shot above, snapped at the Republic studios where Hayes works with Roy Rogers in western dramas. studio S tio-lliittf. Dear Mr. Exhibitor's Wife: Today we've been invited to luncheon by Paul Muni. He has just returned from location in Canada, where they've been working on the Lester Cowan picture, "The Commandos Strike at Dawn," which Columbia will release. Muni wants us to meet Flying Officer Robert Coote of the Royal Canadian Air Force who is in Hollywood by special permission of his government, to complete his role in this picture. He thought it would be nice to give Coote the glad hand. After introductions we hear all about their trip. They went up there originally, because the inland waters of Vancouver Island resembled the coastline of Norway, where most of the outdoor scenes of the picture take place. Expecting to remain a while and then return, they received such wonderful cooperation frorri the Canadian Government, that they stayed and did most of their shooting there. The Government arranged for them to be given all the help they needed from all their Armed Services, providing it didn't interfere with military operations, of course. There were 90 people in the troop that left here and 90,000 rounds of blank ammunition had to be shipped. There were Customs Laws to be dealt with ; Immigration Laws to be followed and Censorship problems to be solved. All things that had to be taken care of before one foot of film could be shot or one foot set on Canadian soil. Vivid word pictures of the Canadian soldiers, their zeal to win the war and the indomitable spirit of the Canadian people are as thrilling as they are heartening and we discover that time is fleeting and there are many chores still to be attended to, so we reluctantly break away. With an expressed wish for "Happy Landings" to Flying Officer Coote, and our thanks to Muni, we leave. See you again next week. Ann Lewis Thomas Seeks Janet Gaynor Wlien Janet Gaynor returns from her bond selling tour, William Thomas of Pine-Thomas, will present her with a copy of the script for "Aerial Gunner," which Thomas and Bill Pine will co-produce. The idea is to interest her in the star role. Miss Gaynor hasn't appeared in pictures since 1938, refusing a number of leads that have been ofTered to her since then.