Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1938)

j> a u u jj st j mi mum) NOVEMBER 5, 193 The Inside on the Important Studios' Activities COLUMBIA Produclion at this plant is being sustained solely by the final work on the Douglas-Bruce feature There's That Woman Again. No production seems to be planned for the immediate future, with the possible exception of the first of the new Lone Wolf pictures which will star Warren William in the title role. The screenplay titled The Lone Wolf's Daughter currently is being prepared. . . . The fruitless Golden Boy search is over and there is a likelihood that either Tyrone Power or John Garfield will play the part. The latter was a member of the original company. If Warners approve the loan, he would be a logical and excellent choice. Rouben Mamoulian will direct. . . . Preview of Blondie won an enthusiastic reception from the press. Most of the critics agree that this is the first instance a comic strip has appeared comical on the screen. Columbia might have the beginning of a profitable series in this one. GRAND NATIONAL This department's assumption in the last comment that the bulk of immediate production for this organization would be borne by those units releasing through G-N, rather than by the company itself, proved correct with the start of four pictures — each being turned out by one of the unit companies. Eugene Frenke is filming Exiled (Anna Sten), Fine Arts has begun work on Long Shot and Coronado Films is rushing through The Last Barrier and Lady Buckaroo, two all-girl Westerns starring Dorothy Page. . . . Hammons and Berkowitz are still in England on their finance deal, details of which are not expected to be ironed out until late this month. . . . FA's production unit is" being revamped to retain only the more economical and more reliable producer-directors. Charles Lamont is already on the staff and others will be added shortly. FA's president, Franklyn Warner, may have spent his business life as a department store executive, but he also appears to know a great deal about film production. Hollywood was inclined to speak lightly of Warner and his organization when it was formed, but previews of the company's first three releases have changed the comments considerably. More independent companies of this type would provide much-needed competition for the Big Eight. METRO-GOLD WYN-MAYER This outfit continues to work at top speed with eight pictures currently filming. A new addition to the impressive line-up of big pictures in work is Honolulu (Eleanor Powell, Robert Young, Burns and Allen). . . . Lucien Hubbard, who recently wound up his Paramount commitment returns to this lot as a producer. His first assignment will be the movie-version of the stage success On Borrowed Time. . . . George Cukor replaced Richard Thorpe as director of Wizard of Oz, the latter relinquishing because of illness. . . . M-G-M showed good sense by calling a halt to negotiations between a rating radio advertising agency and the studio for air rights to the Judge Hardy stories. A few weeks of radio and this splendid series probably would have dissipated its popularity. . . . Leslie Fenton, who has done a noteworthy job with his direction of the Crime Does Not Pay shorts, has been made a feature director. His first assignment will be on a story originally slated to be a short, but has been rewritten to feature length. Harold Bocquet is another shorts director who was promoted and given a term contract for his work on Young Dr. Kildaire. . . . This department once voiced the opinion that Sonja Henie's ice numbers should be filmed in technicolor. That procedure will be followed here in the production of the elaborate Ice Ballet sequence in Ice Follies. The sequence should hit a new high in loveliness. . . . Gabriel Pascal, to whom Bernard Shaw entrusted the filming of his play Pygmalion, will follow this reportedly excellent picture with another Shaw work, Devil's Disciple. Picture will be filmed in the Hollywood studio. MONOGRAM With two pictures currently before the cameras and eight scheduled to start before the first of the year, this outfit has started an intensive drive to clean up half its '38-'39 commitments before the beginning of 1939. Those working now are Little Tenderfoot (Tex Ritter) and I Am a Criminal (John Carroll). . . . Set for the near future are such features as Tough Kid (Frankie Darro), Freckles Comes Home, Star Reporter and Shore Leave, which is based on the Cosmopolitan magazine story. . . . Actual consummation of the English production deal reported on these pages some months back may be expected in the very near future. Monogram does considerable business in England, so the entrance of the company into actual production there will go a long way toward cementing the company's British relationship. PARAMOUNT After a considerable let down in production activity during the month of October, this company is back in its energetic stride with no less than eight pictures before cameras. Among the more important are Union Pacific, Hotel Imperial and Never Say Die, which reunites Bob Hope and Martha Raye. This active pace will be continued through to the first of the year, at least eight more productions being (Continued on next page)