Screen Guilds Magazine (October 1935)

Best Performance of September A N American dancer and two English Actors divide the honors in the September Poll of the Screen Actors 7 Guild for the Best Performance of the Month. A total of thirteen players from eight pictures received votes in the bal¬ lot. This was a much narrower range of selection than for August when twenty players from fifteen pictures were in the running. With the Fall season bringing forth increasing num¬ bers of outstanding productions, compe¬ tition for the awards is growing keener and the next three months until the end of the year promise to present a severe problem of selection to the members of the Guild. Top honors go to the man with the fly¬ ing feet, Fred Astaire, for his perform¬ ance as Jerry Travers in R.K.O. 7 s big musical production, “Top Hat. 77 This ingratiating player is evidently as great a favorite with his fellow artists as with the general public. Best Screen Play C OMPETITION for The Screen Writers 7 Guild award for the Best Screen Play of September was exceed¬ ingly close with the final count giving the selection to Stephen Morehouse Avery and Don Hartman for their ori¬ ginal screen play, “The Gay Decep¬ tion. 77 This clever comedy was pro¬ duced by Jesse Lasky for Twentieth Century-Fox. Among Mr. Avery’s late credits are “Wharf Angel 77 , “Pursuit of Happi¬ ness 77 and “Our Little Girl 77 . Don Hartman has written originals or screen plays on the following recent pictures: “Romance in Manhattan 77 , “Here Comes Cookie 77 , “Coronado 77 and “Red Heads on Parade. 77 First Honorable Mention was won by Lillian Heilman and Mordaunt Sharp for the screen play of “The Dark An¬ gel 77 , adapted to the screen from Guy Bolton’s play of the same name. This was produced by Samuel Goldwyn for United Artists. Miss Heilman’s New York stage success, “The Chil¬ dren’s Hour 77 , is to be produced as a picture this season. These two play¬ wrights showed their adaptability and feeling for the motion picture medium • 6 H ERE come the British, bang! bang! Merle Oberon receives First Hon¬ orable Mention for her performance as Kitty Yane in “The Dark Angel, 77 pro¬ duced by Samuel Goldwyn. In the opin¬ ion of her colleagues, as expressed by their votes, this young English actress made the most of her opportunities, giving a memorable portrayal in this re¬ make of the famous production. Second Honorable Mention is award¬ ed to Robert Donat for his performance as Richard Hannay in the Gaumont- British production ‘ ‘ The Thirty-nine Steps. 7 7 This part is in strong contrast to his big American success, “The Count of Monte Cristo.” Undoubtedly these September selec¬ tions will rank high in the balloting for the Screen Actors’ Guild first Annual Award for the Best Performance of 1935 when the vote is taken in January. of September by preparing such an excellent screen play, in the opinion of their fellow workers. Second Honorable Mention goes to Jack McGowan and Sid Silvers for their screen play of “Broadway Melody of 1936”, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 7 s big musical. Harry Conn, who writes Jack Benny’s radio programs, is credited with additional dialogue on this produc¬ tion, which was was based on an original story by Moss Hart. Sid Silvers not only collaborated on the screen play but demonstrated his versatility by playing a big part in the picture. We Apologize, Mr. Chandler D UE to incorrect information, a mis¬ take was made in the Award for First Honorable Mention for August. Roy Chanslor instead of Robert An¬ drews should have received credit, jointly with Laird Doyle and Lillie Hayward, for the screen play of ‘ 1 Front Page Woman.” We are extremely sorry this error was made and wish, however belatedly, to give Mr. Chanslor the full credit due him. Best Performance Fred Astaire as Jerry Travers in "TOP HAT" Produced by R. K. O.-Radio HONORABLE MENTION Merle Oberon as Kitty Vane in "THE DARK ANGEL" Produced by Sam Goldwyn Released by United Artists Robert Donat as Richard Hannay in "THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS" Produced by Gaumont British Released by Fox Film Corp. Best Screen Play "THE GAY DECEPTION" Original Screen Play by Stephen Morehouse Avery and Don Hartman Produced by Fox Film Corp. HONORABLE MENTION "THE DARK ANGEL" Screen Play by Lillian Heilman and Mordaunt Sharp Original Play by Guy Bolton Produced by Sam Goldwyn Released by United Artists "BROADWAY MELODY OF 1936" Ssreen Play by Jack McGowan and Sid Silvers Additional Dialogue by Harry Conn Original Story by Moss Hart Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Los Angeles Releases August 26 to September 21 Annapolis Farewell—Paramount. Big Broadcast of 1936 —Paramount. Bright Lights—Warner Bros. Broadway Melody of 1936 —M.G.M. China Seas—M.G.M. Clairvoyant—Gaumont British. Dark Angel—Sam Goldwyn. Depression Is Over, The—Nero Films. Gay Deception, The—20th Cent.-Fox. Here Comes Cookie—Paramount. Hot Tip—R.K.O. Moscow Laughs—Moscow Films. Nora O'Neill—Du World. Page Miss Glory—Warner Bros. Red Heads on Parade—Fox. Romance in Budapest—Universal Hunnia. Smart Girl—Paramount. This Woman Is Mine—Paramount. Thirty-Nine Steps, The—Gaumont British. Thunder Mountain—Fox. Top Hat—R.K.O. Welcome Home—Fox. We're in the Money—Warner Bros. The Screen Guilds’ Magazine