The Film Daily (1940)

Tuesday, December 24, 1940 l9i%t: HCLLyWCCD = By RALPH W1LK — —HOLLYWOOD r ELIX YOUNG and Charles Morrison, well ' known members of the film colony, will open the Mocambo, a swanky new night spot on Sunset Strip Dec. 27. The room is Pan-American in theme. Phil Ohman and his orchestra and Humberto and his musicians will furnish the music. • • LEAVING brought M-G-M's "The Bad ■ ■ Man," starring Wally Beery, in three days under schedule, Director Richard Thorpe tossed a party on the set tor the cast and crew who made it possible. Although six days of shooting time were lost because of snow and tog on locations, Thorpe received such co-operation from his crew that he made up all the lost time and then some. • • GRACIE FIELDS, who has entertained more British troops than any other comedienne, is now planning to include March Held in her itinerary ot personal appearances for the poor and needy. She will use the same brand of humor and comic songs on the American flyers in training as she did on British fighters. • • BRADBURY FOOTE will plane out for New York Thursday to study the very latest in men's fashions for 1941. The material he gathers will be worked into M-G-M's "A Tailor-Made Man," for which he is writing the screenplay. This will be one of the first pictures ever to put the accent on men's fashions. • • EXTRA precautions on the part of Norman Taurog, M-G-M director, prevented any of the 400 boys working in "Men of Boys Town" from catching the flu during production. But immediately on completion of the picture, Taurog went to Arrowhead Springs to recover from a case of flu he had contracted himself. • • KETTI FRINGS, author of the current best-seller, "Hold Back the Dawn," has been signed by Alexander Korda to work on the screenplay of "Manon Lescaut," which will star Merle Oberon under the direction of Julien Duvivier. • • TWENTIETH CENTURY-FOX has purchased "Miami," by Stephen Powys. George Seaton is doing the screenplay for Harry Joe Brown, who will be associate producer on the picture. Betty Grable will head the cast and Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger will do the music. Picture is supposed to start in January. • • DARRYL F. ZANUCK has gone up to Sun Valley, Idaho, with his family for the holidays. He will return to the studio around Jan. 4. • • LOU OSTROW has bought three stories. The first is "I Won't Dance," an original for Harry Sauber who is also doing the screenplay. Picture will star Cesar Romero. "We Go Fast," a Saturday Evening Post story by Doug Welch, and "Green Entry," by S. Ruth Howard. All three will be produced by Ostrow for 20th Century-Fox. 9 Features Start; No Holiday Slump (Continued from Page 1) ney Salkow directing, producer, Ralph Cohn. At M-G-M: Four shooting, including "The Trial of Mary Dugan," melodrama, featuring Laraine Day and Robert Young with Sara Haden and Francis Pierlot. Norman McLeod directing for producer Edwin Knopf, and Oliver Marsh, cameraman; Starting Thursday, "Free and Easy," comedy romance with Edward Buzzell directing for producer Milton Bren. At Paramount: Four shooting, including "One Night in Lisbon," comedy romance co-starring Fred MacMurray and Madeleine Carroll with Edward H. Griffith directing. At RKO: Three shooting. At Republic: Two shooting. At 20th Century-Fox: Five shooting, plus one to start Thursday. The latter "A Very Young Lady" starring Jane Withers with Nancy Kelly and John Sutton playing the romantic leads. Harold Schuster directing for producer Robert T. Kane. At Universal: Four shooting. At Warners: Four shooting, plus three to go this week. Latter are "The Bride Came C.O.D." comedy co-starring Bette Davis and James Cagney, with William Frawley, George Tobias and Stuart Erwin. William Keighley directing from an original story by Kenneth Earl and M. M. Musselman, with screenplay by Philip and Julius Epstein. William Cagney producer; "Miss Wheelwright Discovers America," with Priscilla Lane and Ronald Reagan. Curtis Bernhardt directing. Jerry Wald and Richard Macaulay wrote the screenplay, based on an original by Leonard Spigelgass; "Winged Victory," co-starring James Stephenson and Geraldine Fitzgerald with Irving Rapper directing. At Hal Roach: "Broadway Limited" with Gordon Douglas directing. Victor Mature, Dennis O'Keefe, Marjorie Woodworth in the leads, supported by Patsy Kelly, ZaSu Pitts, Leonid Kinsky, George E. Stone and John Sheehan. •k A Merry Christmas * Ontario Starts Operators Training Course Jan. 6 Toronto — Initial course in the Ontario Government's program for training projectionists and sound and radio amplification operators will open at Queen's Park, Toronto, on Jan. 6, O. J. Silverthorne, chairman of the Motion Picture and Censor Board, announced. Silverthorne said each course required 12 months and that new applicants would be enrolled every quarter. The cost of the course is set at $100. The chairman said that under the apprentice system, which required three years for graduation, many would-be projectionists were unable to pass the board's tests. Threatens to Sell If Gross Is Taxed Ware, Mass. — Bernard Satz, manager of the Casino Theater, said the theater will be put up for sale if the selectmen persist in taxing movie houses 10 per cent of the gross instead of the usual $25 a year. Pipitone Again Elected By New Orleans Musicians New Orleans — A close election, with most of the interest centering on the election of Directors and Delegates to the AFM convention, unanimously returned G. Pipitone to office as president of the Musicians' Mutual Protective Union here recently. Charles Hartmann defeated Albert Kirst, Jr., for vice-president, while Robert Aguilera, Sr., was reelected recording secretary and R. L. Chabao, financial secretary. Convention delegates are: Pipitone, Chabao and Charles Hartmann. Directors are: Anthony Almerico, E. G. Gerbrecht, Marion Suter, Johnny DeDroit, Russ Papalia, Ettore (CQ) Fontana, Leo Broekhoven, Jean Paquay and the officers. if A Merry Christmas + "Road Show" Out Jan. 24 UA will release Hal Roach's "Road Show" Jan. 24. Disney Loss Due to Market Disruption (Continued from Page 1) eluded are an operating loss of $259,798 and a writedown of $1,000,000 in the inventory value of "Pinocchio." Report for the year ended Sept. 30, 1939 showed a net profit of $1,250,130 after all charges and Federal income taxes provision. Disruption of foreign markets was the chief cause of the loss, according to Walt Disney, president, who said: "It has been impossible to effect an orderly release of the company's pictures in any of the countries at war, and in many countries it has been impossible to effect any release whatsoever. In fact, in most of the territories dominated by the Axis powers the release of American pictures has been forbidden." Income from film rentals for 1940 totaled $1,954,335, of which $976,211 came from "Pinocchio," $874,597 from shorts and $103,526 from "Snow White." In 1939 film rentals totaled $3,237,217, of which $2,089,192 came from "Snow White." Other income totaled $571,387, of which $289,829 represented fees for licensing the use of Disney characters. SOCIAL SERVICE Cesar Romero, as the Romeo of the rackets, thoughtfully gives nice things to chorus girls to save them from ... of all things ! . . . temptation. TALL, DARK and HANDSOME 20th's natural! . . . loaded with laughs! thrills! tunes!