Silver Screen (May-Oct 1939)

82 Silver Screen for October 19 39 at once. He is at Be! fort. Tell him Hugo Ludwig is to leave. He is in great danger. I could not tell you before — but now — our spy, Hugo Ludwig — attached to German headquarters — in Mullhcim — is — Paul Didot—your father!" There is more to the scene but this is the gist of it. I look at Jane in wonder. She is growing up overnight and she plays this scene with a surety that many of our glamour girls might envy and there arc a lot of them who could learn quite a little just by watching Jane. "Look at Jane," Mrs. Withers whispers. "See how slim she is. And her waist is only 23 inches," she adds proudly. Mrs. Withers is right. You millions of Jane Withers' fans are due for a pleasant surprise when you see her in this picture. The chubby little figure you're used to is gone and you'll see a budding ingenue. * * * NEXT, there's "Here I Am A Stranger" starring Richard Dix and Richard Greene, with Gladys George and Brenda Joyce prominently present, as well as Roland Young, Russell Gleason, Edward Norris and Henry Kolker. Dix plays a brilliant but hard-drinking reporter whose wife (Gladys George) leaves him in order to safeguard the future of her little son (Greene). The scene I witness is where Greene, now grown, first meets his father. "Hi, Dick," he hails me. "Gee, it's nice to see you again, Dick," I return. "I meant to come up to the hospital to see you while you were there but you know how it is. We never do the things we mean to." "Well, that's pretty swell of you," he concedes. "It isn't swell at all," I retort. "It would have been nice if I had done it." "Well, it was nice of you to think about it," he insists. That's one of the reasons everybody in Hollywood likes Dick. He appreciates it if you even think about him. Which is saying a lot. Warner Brothers ONLY three pictures shooting here but they are both big ones. The first is "The Roaring 20's" starring James Cagney. It starts with the World War and takes up life during the prohibition period afterwards. But now it's just starting and we find Messrs. Cagney, Humphrey Bogart and Jeffrey Lynn in a shell hole. C & B were there first and all of a sudden Mr. L was there, too. "There're twenty thousand shell holes around here," Hump complains, "and everybody's gotta come divin' into this one." "Sorry, fellows," Lynn apologizes. "I didn't know there was anybody in here." "Maybe we ought to put tip a sign: 'No huntin', trespassin' or fish— " Cagney begins when a shell explodes and cuts his words short, throwing up dirt all around them. The sound of the exploding shell will be dubbed in later. The dirt it is supposed to throw up is really thrown down on the hapless lads by three men standing out of camera range with shovels. "Gosh," Bogart says when the dhector, Raoul Walsh, calls "Cut," "it doesn't matter with Lynn because he isn't a meanie, but I hope these mudpacks don't make Cagney and me too pretty." Outside it is about 110. Inside, they have thrown up an embankment of dirt about eight or ten feet high to represent a shell-hole. The three boys are crouched down in the centre with the lights blazing down on them. They are sweating so the dirt changes to mud as soon as it hits their faces. It must be at least 130 in there where they're sitting and they have on heavy 0. D. uniforms. "Having fun, Jimmie?" I smirk from my place in front of a huge electric fan. "Get out of here, you rat," Jimmie yells murderously. I git. * * * THE next picture is "20,000 Years in Sing Sing." To my mind this is one of the best pictures Warner Brothers ever made. Spencer Tracy and Bette Davis had the leads in the original. This time it's John Garfield and Ann Sheridan. John's interpretation of the part will be different from Spence's but it should be equally as effective. THE last picture is "On Your Toes" from the successful musical comedy. This features Zorina and Eddie Albert, but the real stars — to me, anyhow, are Queenie Smith and James Gleason. Queenie used to be a big shot in Broadway musicals. You will probably remember her in "Show Boat," and why she doesn't work more is one of those things only casting directors can tell you. She and Jimmie are vaudeville headliners and Donald O'Connor (whom you saw with Bing Crosby in "Sing, You Sinners) is their son. They have just finished their act and are returning to their dressing room. "Do you think it would be funnier if I used red drawers?" Donald inquires. "Good idea," Jim: encourages him and turns proudly to Queenie. "The kid sure is taking after me." "That's what I'm afraid of," Queenie counters. "I see nothing developing in Junior except his lower nature. He's going to school." "School!" Jim echoes, aghast. "School!" Donald sneers. "That's what you get, Pa, for marrying outside the business." With that Jim and Queenie bang him simultaneously on the ears. "Junior," Jim reproves him, "Don't talk disrespectful in front of your Ma. Can she help it if her father was a brokendown music teacher?" "You two better stop banging me around or the first thing you know I won't be in the act. I got an offer from Gus Edwards." "That settles it," says Queenie firmly. "He's got to go to school." "Now, wait a minute, Ma." Jim pleads. "Ain't we one of the biggest acts in vaudeville? My dad, Phil Doland, the First, never went to school. Phil Doland, the Second, never went to school. And," equally firmly, "Phil Doland, the Third, ain't gonna go to no school." "Course not, Ma," Junior seconds his father. "Ain't you got no family pride?" "I'm getting sick and tired of this ham-andgreasepaint aristocracy," Queenie announces. He's going to get some education and be a musician if I have to teach him myself." "Listen to that," Jim importunes Junior. "The trouble with you, Lil, you shotddn't ever have married an actor?" "Did she?" Junior pipes up and with that Jim lashes out with a solid clunk to Junior's ear. I have always said I hate family squabbles so I leave them to settle their difficulties as best they — and the writer — can, and betake myself to — Universal ONLY the new Deanna Durbin picture — "First Love" — is shooting here. That's just starting and the set is closed so you'll have to wait until next month for this one. Columbia WALTER CONNOLLY in "Prison Surgeon" and "The Five Little Peppers" are shooting here but the latter is on location and the former is on process stage so we'll reluctantly have to skip them and travel on to — Paramount ONLY thing going here is "The Light That Failed" but that's just starting and the set is closed, so that, too, will have to wait. But there's — ■ R-K-O IMAGINE my consternation to find three big pictures going at this studio — "Allegheny Frontier" with Claire Trevor and John Wayne, "Hunchback of Notre Dame" with Charles Laughton and "Vigil in the Night" starring Carole Lombard — and every one of them on location. You'll just have to contain yourselves till next month. That leaves only — Samuel Goldwin WALTER WANGER has a big pic. ture shooting here called "Eternally Yours" with Loretta Young, David Niven, ZaSu Pitts, Raymond Walburn, Broderick Crawford, and Hugh Herbert. The first two were married once but Loretta couldn't stand the nomadic existence David (a great magician) led, so she divorced him and married Brod. Now they've met in a night club and under the guise of entertaining ZaSu and Raymond and their guests, David and Loretta are harpooning each other with great gusto and verbal darts. Lack of space prevents my going into detail about this scene but this is one picture you don't want to miss. "Dick," ZaSu calls as I leave, "tell that Liza Wilson I'm not speaking to her any more. She used to come by my house every Sunday when Claudette lived next door but now I never see her." "If you'd given me your phone number instead of Liza," I retort, "you wouldn't have had any complaints." But at any rate, ZaSu, here is your message — right out in print — and we'll see if Liza reads anything in the magazine besides her own letters to the editor. So long, folks. THE CUNEO PRESS, INC., U. S. A.