Action (May 1941 - Mar 1958)

that faced this amalgamation were numerous and formidable. But all these difficulties were eventually o\ercome, and on August 22, 1935, 20 years ago this year, the formation of Twentieth Centur\-Fo.\ Film Corporation was announced to the world. Zanuck had brought with him into the new organization fi\ e important pictures headed by big-time stars, none of whom had ever before appeared in a Fox picture. As follows: Clark Gable in Jack London’s CALL OF THE WILD, George Arliss as CARDINAL RICHELIEU, Maurice Chevalier in FOLIES BERGERE, Ronald Colman in CLI\’E OF INDIA, and Charles Laughton in \’ictor Hugo’s LES MISERABLES. These were added to those of Janet Ga\nor, Shirley Temple and Will Rogers, the established Fox stars. Did we say Rogers? Hardly had one picture been completed and plans set for another, than Rogers, almost at the moment of the merger, set off for Alaska with his good friend Wiley Post. In August, Post’s plane crashed at Point Barrow. Rogers returned not to a great welcome, but to a great funeral. But the new company swept ahead. KING OF BURLESQUE, THANKS A MILLION, and THE MAN WHO BROKE THE BANK AT MONTE CARLO were put in work. They all turned out successfully. What was more, they had a new quality of story, and THANKS A MILLION, especially, was no\ el. It was the first of the screen’s political satires. New Buildings Construct'ed Changes in the physical setup of the producing plant were soon under way. A huge ship set, recreating in full size a modern Atlantic liner, occupied a sector of the lot’s east border. Meanwhile, the need for a new administration building had been noted e\en before the new organization had been in power a month. The ship set was demolished while plans were being drawn for the great new administration building. One of the two finest administrati\e structures in the motion picture world, it was built to house the offices of various company chiefs, department heads and the producers. 1936 kept up the pace of success. Smash productions of this season included LLOYDS OF LONDON, UNDER TWO FLAGS, RAMONA, and three great Zanuck musicals. TH.\NKS A MILLION, previously referred to, SING, BABY, SING and PIGSKIN PARADE. The net profit at year’s end was more than double that of ’35, viz. $7,924,126.00. The year was also notable for the development of two young stars, T\rone Power and Don Ameche. In 1937 the national exhibitor poll chose Twentieth CenturyFox as the most consistently successful producing company of the year. Twentieth-Fox held the lead under the wire again in 1938. The spectacular IN OLD CHICAGO, dramatizing the historic Maybe they had smog then too, but one thing is for sure, the only bright feature of the day when Old Writers was dedicated was Will Rogers' wit. It was such a dull day they had to light the speakers platform so newsreel cameras could get a shot. In the top picture the new TCF Administration building can be seen as it neared completion. This took place shortly after the organization of the new Twentieth Century-Fox Company. In the center picture, stage 15 is seen a-boming. This was the stage built to house an ice rink for the then popular Fox star, Sonia Henie. In the bottom photo you have probably already recognized the addition to the Cafe, if only by the rose bushes. This all took place nearly simultaneously in about 1936 when TCF was still very, very new. fire, and ALEXANDER’S RAGTIME BAND, bringing the music of Irving Berlin to the screen, were among the small group of the year’s best pictures from anywhere. Now, Darryl Zanuck achieved, for the first time, the industry’s highest honor, the Thalberg Award, for the most distinguished ser\ ice to the motion picture industry. But the encroachments of Hitler and the war clouds hanging over Europe were fast depleting foreign revenues. In 1939, when war broke out, Hollywood kissed $35,000,000.00 of foreign revenue good-bye, and prepared to subsist on domestic returns. Like the rest, the profits of Twentieth Century-Fox were dropping, but the returns from such stalwarts as STAN 6