Boy's Cinema (1939-40)

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f Every Tuesday «iv )vas heavy with (he huncz of Iniml coi'dite. General Craysham crawled 6VGV and joined Beiangor. "We've got to liRht our way out of here, Eeranger." he said. "We'd better go out tlirouRli the collars." "RiRht!" Berangcr answered. Meanwhile, down in the cellar, Simon and Pat were half-way up the stairs when the shootino; started. Simon gripped Pat by the arm. "It's coming from the shop!" he ex- claimed. "RoRct and his men must have started son^ething." Pat stayed close to him. " What are we going to do?" she asked. "Wait here until it quietens down, then po up and see what it's all about." Simon answered. They stood there listening. Suddenly, on the platform at the top of the stairs, two men appeared. They both had guns in their hands. "Beranger!" Pat whispered. "And General Craysham—the mystery man that every newspaper man in Eng- land has tried to interview!" Simon added. The two men began to run down the stairs. Suddenly they stopped as they saw Simon and Pat. "Drop those guns!" Simon roared. Both of them raised their weapons and fired at once. Simon saw what was coming just a split second in advance, and ducked low, dragging Pat with him. He fired back. Beranger let out a gasp, and clutched at his right shoulder. His gun dropped over the edge of the staii-s and hit the stone floor. It exploded again, and the bullet smacked into the opposite wall. General Craysham raised his gun again, taking careful aim. Simon swung round on him. But before either could fire, the voices of Holly and Roget could be heard in the fitting-room above. General Craysham turned, a:jd saw ihe two police oflScers pull aside the drapery and come out almost behind him. Roget shouted: "Drop that gun, monsieur!" General Craysham ignored the warning. He raised his weapon swiftly and pressed the muzzle to his temple. Pat turned away and hid her face against Simon's shoulder. The next morning, Simon and Pat walked into the office of the " Gazette." Mac bounded up to meet them. "Well, Mac, was the front page big enough?" Simon asked. "Hoots, mon!" Mac said, tears in his eyes. "It was a great story. But I'm thinking there'll be some trouble about the expenses." "Good!" Simon out his arm through Pat's. " Well, we're off to England. Good- bye, Mac! " . "And try to do without us for a few days," added Pat. Mac thought of the expense sheets, and shuddered. " I hope never to see either of you again," he muttered. Just then the telephone bell rang. Mac grabbed the receiver. "What's that?" he shouted. "A i-evolu- tion! I'll put my very best man on it." He hung up and turned ouickly to Simon. "Mon, what do you think? I've got another wee job for you." And while he explained, Pat clung hard to Simon. She wasn't going to let hira get away without her. She was just beginning to enjoy herself. By permission of Paramount Film Service, LtJ. Based on the film " This Man in Paris," which has the following cast: BOV'S CPNEMA HIS FAMILY ARE AMUSED AT THE FACT THAT HE IS A STAR 1 Barry K. Barnes Valerie Hobson Alistair Sim Jacques Max Michel Anthony Shaw Edward Lexy ar. Simon Drake as Pat Drake as Macgresor as Beranger as General Craysham as Inspector Hoily There is one (juestioVi whlcn i» in- variably asked of all film newcCniS)'^ how does it feel to see yourself on th* screen for the first lime? Robert Preston answers it in one word: ■Terrible!' This likeable young man with the engaging grin did well as the happy-go- lucky gambler in "Union Pacific,' and now he is to be seen as one of the three brothers in " Beau Geste." "It would be terrible." Robert declares, "even if you looked pretty good to your- self up there. I didn't. 1 looked awful! : Holy mackerel—was that what hap- pened to my face when I talked? And those gestures—pure lard! And that voice! And the back of my head! It's against nature ever to see the back of your own head. What made me hope people would pay to see anything like that?" Continuing, Bob says: " My personal opinion of Robert Preston's acting ability took a sock also. Up till then it had been okay. I'd had three years of training at the Pasadena Community Playhouse, where they are rather particular, and I believed I could make faces and read lines as well as the next fellow. Seeing and hearing myself changed that belief considerably! "The first was the worst. However, previews of my second and third pictures were only a little less soul-shrivelling." Lynne Overman, who played with the young man in 'Union Pacific," sensed what was happening in the pit of Bob's stomach. Lynne told Robert how to take it. He advised him to watch himself abstractedly, impersonally, as if he were another fellow. One of the things that helped to make Bob less terrified of himself on the screen was the fact that the world premiere of "Union Pacific " was held at Omaha, and he went with other members of the cast on a special train which stopped at every town of any size along the route. Crowds met the train at each stop. They pulled into one place at four , o'clock in the morning. Even at that hour hundreds of people were at the station, waiting to catch a glimpse in the flesh of faces they see on the screen. "It was my first experience of that sort of thing." Bob observes, "and, gratifying as it is, I can't understand it." All that helped to restore Bob's sense of humour about the whole state of 'affairs, and, if you still retain that quality, life is not quite so grim and for- bidding. Another factor that has enabled Bob to be less alarmed about himself in the movies is the attitude of his family. He says his mother has now reached the point where nothing surprises her, and he states he will never be overcome by conceit as long as she is around. By way of illusti'ation he recalls that after dinner one night he started to pom- the coffee for the folks, as he usually does. His mother watched him with a peculiar expression on her face for a minute, and ■ then said: "My, my. just think—we're being served coffee by a film star!" Then she started to laugh. So did ' Bob's father and his young brother. They ; all roared. Bob had to join them. He says that " ranting through ' To be or not to be' " in a high school audi- torium convinced him acting was his forte. He had a good deal of experience in school Shakespeare, and this led him to try the stage professionally. Mrs. Power, mother of the famous , Tyrone, happened to be presenting some of the Bard's plays at a small Los Angeles theatre. Full of self-confidence, Robert asked for an audition. He got it. Some time ago, Robert says, in a moment when he Avas full of just the 19 .'Pposilo ftelinp. he jtniembeied that .seif-conlidence wiili amazement. It was when he walked on a sound stage to liORin his second importmil picture as Oar,\- Coopcr'.s brother in ■Beau Geste." ?5»J»)on; titilCS he "was stared and humble, ■^as well I shoqM 1?« in company like that!" When he went to Mrs. Power, Robert says she was hard up for talent! "It's the only possible reason she took nw. on at (he age of fifteen to play Julias Cse'sar. I did him in every night before his enemies had a chance." But the experience Robert gained in those days was very valuable, and un- doubtedly accounted in no small measure for the success which has since come his way on the screen. EXPENSIVE DEATH "Dop't die so realisticallx,' Lewis Mile- stone begged Betty Field. "Every time you fall you tear your stockings, and they cost fifteen dollars a pair. ' Milestone is in a particularly difficult position, for as director of the Hal Roach production, "Of Mice and Men,'' he is determined to get every scene technically perfect. But, since he is also the pro- ducer of the picture, he is keeping an anxious eye on the budget. The stockings referred to are black silk mesh opera hose, worn by Betty Field in her role of Mae, the flashily dressed ranch girl. And therein lies a story, for the rest of Mae's costume, a typical of a small-town charmer, costs in the neigh- bourhood of eleven dollars. But, when it was discovered that the cheap rayon-silk hose originally purchased did not photograph well, the Roach Studio had the fifteen-dollar variety made up by a famous Hollywood hose stylist. Betty Field ruined six pairs before the scene was completed. CUTE I Pat O'Brien, who is playing the lead in Walter Wanger's ' Send Another Coffin," told this pleasant story about his five-year-old daughter Mavourneexi: ■'Mavourneen had never been to school before this year," said Pat, "when we entered, her at Marymount. When she came home the first day her mother asked her how she liked it. ' Oh, just fine, mama,' she answered. 'And they liked me so much that they asked me to come back to school again to-morrow." NO CHAIR Russell Hayden to-day qualified as Hollywood's most modest actor. He re- fused a chair for his personal use on the set where Harry Sherman is produc- ing •• Knights of the Range " for Para- mount. These chairs are always provided for the director and for the stars during the making of a picture, and it is next to treason for any other person to sit in one of them. On the arm or back they bear the name of the player for whose exclusive use they ai-e intended. When Hayden discovered his name on a wooden plate on an arm of one of the chairs, he ripped it off and whittled it into shavings. Thereafter, when he wanted to sit down and rest, he occupied a bale of hay or sat with the extras on a bench and chatted with them as he used to do when he was playing feature roles. "I'm not superstitious or anything like that," declared the actor who, recently elevated to the leading man class, is portraying the leading male role in the Zane Grey picture opposite Jean Parker, "but I just don't want a chair of my own. It would make me feel uncomfort- able and conspicuous." December 2nd. 1939.