20th Century-Fox Dynamo (August 12, 1939)

14A STUDIO SPECIAL NANCY KELLY RETEAMED WITH POWER IN “JOHNNY APOLLO” M ovietone city —Nancy Kelly gets her wish! She will play the feminine lead in “Johnny Apollo,” co- starring with Tyrone Power and Edward Arnold. This means that for the first time since she joined this company Nancy Kelly will dan modern clothes and be given the opportunity to show that she can be as glamorous as she is emotional. Up to now Nancy has appeared in “Submarine Patrol” as a tomboyish navy yard girl, as the wife of the name role in "Jesse James,” a 19th century belle in “Frontier Marshal,” as a stunt flier in “Tailspin” and as a 19th century British belle in “Stanley and Livingstone.” • I N “Johnny Apollo” Nancy Kelly will make her second appearance with Tyrone Power. The two were paired roman- tically in “Jesse James,” last season’s No. 1 money-getter. In this 1939-40 special, with a gangster background, Nancy will sport the most luxurious wardrobe any star on the lot has been allotted. In fact, Nancy is in the hands of de- signers right now. Still photo- graphs of this talented Irish star leave no doubt that she is a glamorous creature when at- tired in modern clothes — and this is the big chance she has been seeking. 9 N ANCY KELLY takes the role originally allotted Lin- da Darnell in “Johnny Apollo.” The latter will be featured in another production. This makes the second switch in which Nancy has participated in a week. Originally, she was slated to play the feminine lead opposite Don A m e c h e in “Swanee River.” But, that part, too, called for costume, so Zan- uck gave her role to Andrea Leeds, whom he borrowed from Samuel Goldwyn, and, instead, used Miss Kelly in “Johnny Apollo.” 9 J OHNNY APOLLO” is the stoi’y of the underworld, of a rich father at the head of a vast financial enterprise that survives the Wall Street col- lapse of 1929, but that becomes weakened due to the reactionary strain of the crisis. It is a story of rehabilitation and exposes a grafting system that today is commanding front-page atten- tion from the newspapers. Ed- ward Arnold has been signed to play the part of the father and Tyrone Power will play his son. 9 T HE rest of the cast is now being selected. It will be another three weeks or so be- fore “Johnny Apollo” will be placed in production. Rowland Brown, author of “Angels with Dirty Faces,” is one of the writers of “Johnny Apollo.” Tyrone Power is now in Europe winding up his belated honey- moon with Annabella. How- ever, they are due back in the States within the next several weeks. Following “Johnny Apol- lo,” Tyrone is scheduled to ap- pear in “Mark of Zorro,” which is the fifth Technicolor special on Zanuck’s 1939-40 list, the others being the completed “Hollywood Cavalcade,” “Swan- ee River,” Maeterlinck’s “The Blue Bird’’ and “Drums Along the Mohawk,” the last men- tioned now being before the cameras. SIGNED j MOVIETONE CITY — j j Mae Marsh, star of silent | i picture days, was placed j j under contract this week. ! j Her first assignment will j i be announced later. j 1%/f OVIETONE CITY — It is -L'Aonly fitting that in the year of its Golden Jubilee the screen should acclaim its past and pres- ent glories—and Zanuck has per- formed this service by his pro- duction of “Hollywood Caval- cade.” Here is really a grand and glorious picture—probably the grandest of all the Zanuck successes! 9 ^jTILL in the cutting room stages of completion, the picture hrs been shown only to those privileged to sit in on one of Zanuck’s projection room screenings—but those who saw this first showing of the assem- bled footage are justly raving about it. “Hollywood Cavalcade” as its title implies, is no burles- que. Though it is filled with good-natured fun, it dramatizes the miracle of Hollywood’s growth from a nickelodeon freak into a mighty enterprise. But with Don Ameche and Alice Faye splendidly leading the way under Irving Cumming’s veteran directorial guidance, it carries the spectator through a series of heart-touching episodes that makes for heavy box-office suc- cess. 9 “TT OLLYWOOD CAVAL- -l *■ CADE” will review glowing memories, with its attendant train of supporting players drawn from the list of former stars with whom the screen’s traditions are studded. The names of Ernest Pascal, Hilary Lynn, Brown Holmes and Lou Breslow are variously identified with the authorship of this show- manly screen play, which traces the story of Hollywood from custard-pie days to the advent of the talkies. Every foot of the film is invested with showman- ship—and the wonder is that the idea had not occurred before— for Hollywood has a fascinating story to tell—and Darryl Za- nuck has made the picture that tells this story—poignantly, hi- lariously, humanly. Don Ameche and Alice Faye have never been better, and in their characteriza- tions will be recognized the ro- mance of figures familiar to past screen fame. 9 T HERE are excellent charac- terizations by J. Edward Bromberg, Stuart Erwin, Lynn Bari, Alan Curtis, Donald Meek, Jed Prouty, Buster Keaton, Ed- die Collins, Chick Chandler and others of a large cast. There will be greateful smiles and sighs, too, for the appearance in the picture of such while celebrities as Mack Sennett, Hank Mann, Ben Turpin, Jack Cooper, Chester Conklin, Snub Pollard, Herbert Rawlinson, Marjorie Beebe and others—all names that once were marquee-magic. 9 A NOTHER vividly brilliant contribution is make by A1 Jolson, who graciously apepars in the picture to repeat the ren- dition which made screen history in the first talking picture, “The Jazz Singer.” Harry Joe Brown, himself a pioneer figure in screen production, was associate pro- ducer of “Hollywood Cavalcade.” Ernest Palmer was photog- rapher, and the picture is made more memorable by the addition of Technicolor. W fin Basil Rathbcne as Sherlock Holmes in “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” which will shortly be ready for screenings at the ex- change. The negative is expected at the Home Office some time next week. Nigel Bruce plays Dr. Watson. Ida Lupino has the feminine lead. ( j i ZANUCK DEVELOPS 10 NEW NAMES IN LESS THAN YEAR M ovietone city—a new Hollywood high in the de- velopment of new screen stars has been achieved by Zanuck, who in the last 12 months has brought ten new marquee names before the film going public. Topping the list are Brenda Joyce, from the campus of the University of California at Los Angeles; Mary Healy, from a secretary’s desk in a New Or- leans office; Linda Darnell, the beautiful daughter of a Dallas postal clerk; Dorris Bowden, from the University of Louisi- ana, and young Nancy Kelly, from stage and radio. 9 Z ANUCK sent Miss Joyce, “The American Girl,” straight into the role of Fern in Louis Brcmfield’s “The Rains Came,” where she held her own so well with Tyrone Power, Myrna Loy and George Brent that she will receive co-starring billing with Richard Greene in her second picture, “Here I Am a Stranger.” 9 S TUNNING Mary Healy hit the top in her first appear ance in the Sonja Henie-Tyrone Power-Rudy Vallee starr er, “Second Fiddle,” wherein she in- troduced three Irving Berlin songs. Her next role will be in “20,000 Men a Year,” with Ran- dolph Scott. 9 L INDA DARNELL was a star from the moment “Elsa Maxwell’s Hotel for Women” reached the screen. Zanuck had been so confident this girl would click as a star that he gave her the lead in this picture solely on the results of her screen tests. 9 ANCY KELLY has become a nationally known actress through “Jesse James,” “Sub- marine Patrol,” and “Frontier Marshal.” Lynn Bari is another 20th Century-Fox actress whose name has gone into electric lights during the last year. Jean Rogers, Katherine Aldridge and Dorris Bowdon also have made the grade. 9 T HE list continues to grow. Lillian Porter, brunette lovely of the stock school, this week was assigned to an important role in Jane Withers’ “High School,” and Helen Ericson, blonde charmer who also is a member of the stock school, will play a featured role in the Jones Family’s “Too Busy to Work.” “STANLEY’’ THRILLS COAST! OVIETONE CITY —“Stan- ley and Livingstone” is the talk of Hollywood. At Loew’s State in downtown Los Angeles and at Grauman’s Chinese thea- tre in Hollywood it is running ahead of “Jesse James.” And the latter was a sensation when shown at those houses last Janu- ary. However, at the opening “Stanley and Livingstone,” ac- cording to none other than Sid Grauman, shattered a 10-year record for crowds and excite- ment. 9 I T WAS an extraordinary pre- miere that was held at the Chinese theatre. Excepting for the working press, there was not a single bit of “paper.” As high as $20 a seat was bid for $2 tick- ets, but there was none to be had. All Hollywood seemingly turned out, for word had gone around all studios that Zanuck had turned out one of the great- est pictures of his career. Mean- time, the columnists had been, nominating Spencer Tracy for another Academy award for his performance in “Stanley and Livingstone.” 9 T OUELLA PARSONS in the “ Los Angeles Examiner re- ported: “The glamorous, color- ful days when Grauman’s Chi- nese figured so conspicuously, I might even sa''. spectacularly, in our Hollywood social life, were recalled last night. Not since 1929 has there been such a huge crowd of sidewalk standees. The street was jammed for blocks so that passing was almost impos- sible. In order to facilitate get- ting the film celebrities into the theatre it was necessary to call riot squads to take care of the thousands of people who crowded into the courtyard.” 9 S HE continued as follows: “Every film celebrity was there and the lights and gala decorations could have been used as the background for a typical Hollywood film, so much did it remind us of the good old days. A thrilling evening and a worthy setting to one of this year’s fin- est motion pictures. This re- viewer paid an enthusiastic trib- ute to Darryl Zanuck’s story when it was shown at a private press preview. Seeing it a sec- ond time makes me realize that here is an exciting adventure told with a minimum of heroics and an inspirational feeling that permits no exaggeration or glorification of the real facts.” 9 “TYARRYL ZANUCK should be ” given some kind of a medal,” continued Miss Parsons, “for picturing a newspaperman who doesn’t carry a bottle of gin and a Police Gazette in his back pocket. For us in the news- paper world this is an epic. The finished picture cost well over $2,000,000, but certainly ihe re- sults justify the expenditure. All in all, ‘Stanley and Living- stone’ is a picture that will l.ve on among the better motion pic- tures of our time.” 9 T HE full panoply of a Holly- wood premiere made the oc- casion a fitting opening of the cinematic social season in the film capital. The only disap- pointments were the inability cf Spencer Tracy and Henry King, the director, to share the glory of the evening. Tracy was on location in Idaho, making a pic- ture for MGM, while King was in the East for preliminary work on “Little Old New York.” 9 N ANCY KELLY and Richard Greene, two of the stars, re- ceived ovations as did other celebrities connected with the production. Mr. and Mrs. Dar- ryl Zanuck’s guests included Mr. and Mrs. Leland Hayward (Mar- garet Sullavan), Mr. and Mrs. Jack Warner, Virginia Bruce and J. Walter Ruben, Joan Ben- nett and Walter Wanger, Lili Darnita and Errol Flynn, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Barthelmess, Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Fair- banks, Jr., Mrs. Louis Norton and Mrs. Marie Fox. 9 M R. AND MRS. WILL HAYS were hosts to Stewart Mc- Donald of the Federal Housing Administration, Jesse Jones of the Federal Refinancing Com mission and Mrs. Jones, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Fischer of the De- troit family, and Mrs. Will Rogers. Mr. and Mrs. William Goetz entertained a party of 16. Mr. and Mrs. Sol M. Wurtzel were hosts to 20. Associate Pro- ducer Kenneth Macgowan and Mrs. Macgowan came with their son and daughter, and Dr. Dor- othy Becker of New York. Mem- bers of the casts also headed parties. 9 E VERY studio and every star, producer and director of importance was on hand. Among them were: Paulette Goddard and Charles Chaplin, Linda Dar- nell and Robert Shaw, Alice Faye and Tony Martin, Lynn Bari and Walter Kane, Dorris Bowdon and Nunnally Johnson, Amanda Duff and Philip Dunne, June Gale and McKinley Bry- ant, Brenda Joyce and Owen Ward, Margaret Lindsay and Edward Norris, Marjorie Weav- er and “Buzz” Borries, Ann Sheridan and Cesar Romero, Marian Burns and Kane Rich- mond, Joan Valerie and Grant Richards, Arleen Whelan and Alexander D’Arcy, Gloria Brew- ster and Claude Stroud, Lynn Carver and Nicholas Nayfack, Claire Windsor and Melville Hall, Virginia Taylor and Ar- thur Treacher. Messrs, and Mesdames Sidney Toler, Robert Montgomery, Julian Johnson, Lew Wertheimer, Lucien Hub- bard, Walt Disney, Allan Dine- hart, Otto Kruger, John Stone, Harry Wurtzel, Lew Schreiber, Hunt Stromberg, Harry Rapf, John Carradine, Charles Rogers, Jay Paley, Arthur Stebbins, Robert Lord, Eddie Mannix, Lou Anger, Otto Brower, Milton Bren, Abe Lastfogel, Sol Lesser, Sam Briskin, Fred Metzler, Jules Stein, Julien Josephson, Jason Joy, Herbert Leeds, George F. Wasson Jr., Mike Levee, Preston Foster, Norman Taurog, Joe Penner, George Murphy, Sidney Lanfield, Allan Jones, Irene Hervey.