The Film Daily (1930)

THE -,^S DAILY Thursday, October 30, 1930 £> LATEST HOLLYWOOD HAPPENINGS Coast Wire Service — ^ e; WILL ROGERS SIGNS NEW FOX CONTRACT Will Rogers has signed a newtwo-year contract with Fox, it is announced by Winfield Sheehan. "A Connecticut Yankee," which goes into production soon with Maureen O'Sullivan, John Garrick, Lumsden Hare, Myrna Loy and William V. Mong among the featured players, will be Rogers' last picture under his old agreement. Wiley Succeeds Jewell As Columbia Art Dir. Edward Jewell has resigned as art director at Columbia and is succeeded by Harrison Wiley. Ryan Starting Another Short Phil Ryan has started work on another Paramount short under the tentative title of "The Property Man." It features Chester Conk lin with Leo White, William Irving and others. Frank Griffin, who is directing, collaborated with Res Taylor and George Clethorpe on the story. Fay Wray for "Land Rush" Fay Wray will begin work on the Fox lot soon in "Land Rush" with Victor McLaglen in the leading role. Benjamin Stoloff has been assigned to direct. Added To "Dawn Trail" Erville Alderson and Hank Mann have been signed by Columbia for "Dawn Trail", a fourth of the Buck Jones outdoor specials, which Christy Cabanne is directing. Miriam Seegar and Charles Morton are featured in the cast. Lewis as Spanish "Trail" Lead George Lewis has been assigned by Fox to play the leading male role in the Spanish version of "The Big Trail." His part will be that of Breck Coleman, played by John Wayne in the English production. "Charley's Aunt" Being Edited Filming of "Charley's Aunt", directed by Al Christie for Columbia release, has been completed and the picture is now being edited by Sid Walsh. HAY COFFIN PUBLICITY 6607 SUNSET BLVD. HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. A LITTLE from "LOTS" By RALPH IVILK TAMES CRUZE, upon completion J of "She Got What She Wanted," his first special under the Tiffany banner, stole away for a short vacation to Flintridge before starting on "The Command Performance," his second feature scheduled for early production. * * * Constance Bennett is finding her musical talent useful in "Sin Takes a Holiday," her new starring picture for Pathe. She plays the piano accompaniment to an Italian love melody sung by Herbert Bragiotti, favorite of numerous Shubert musical shows. With the signing of Francis Ford for "The Seas Beneath," Fox film which John Ford is directing, the cast of featured players now numbers 20. Members of the cast in addition to Ford are George O'Brien Marion Lessing, Warren Hymer William Collier, Sr., Walter C. Kelly, Walter McGrail, Nat Pendleton, Maurice Murphy, Larry Kent, Gaylord Pendleton, Henry Victor, John Loder, Mona Maris, Ferdinand Schumann-Heink, Harry Tenbrook, Harry Weil, Terry Ray, Ben Hall and Hans Furberg. Tay Garnett is one of the few directors in Hollywood who creates his pictures from the writing of the original story to the final fadeout on the screen. Garnett wrote the story of "Her Man" with Howard Higgin, wrote the lyrics of two songs used in the picture and directed the production. There's one thing wrong with location trips to Arizona, according to Bill Boyd, star in Pathe's "The Painted Desert." One cannot make use of any new yachts in the desert. Bill's plaint is occasioned by the fact that shortly before beginning work on "The Painted Desert" he acquired a 64-foot cabin cruiser and had just begun to thoroughly enjoy his new possession when he was obliged to dry dock it for the six weeks he will be on location. SHORT SHOTS On Eastern Studio Activities ,By HARRY N. BLAIR TARRY KENT, head of Paramount's short subject department, is plotting a trip to Europe which will include a visit to the Paramount studio in Joinville, France. "Fast and Loose," one of the best box-office titles ever thought of, will be used for the screen version of "The Best People," which Paramount recently completed. A physical culture class has been organized at the Paramount studio, with Tommy Madden, former pugilist, in charge. Those already enrolled for a daily workout on the studio roof are: Fredric March, Arthur Cozine, John Doran, Lou Priestly and Jack Winick. Frank Nanczy, Tom Darcy and Marty Hall, of Vitaphone's art department, collaborated in building an elaborate setting for an operatic short made there recently by Charles Hackett. The Paramount studio staff has gone in for backgammon ever since this newest fad was used as part of the action in a Vogue fashion short directed by Ray Cozine, last week. "Maid to Order," a hilarious Vitaphone comedy, authored by Burnet Hershey, is based on the actual experiences of Hershey and his wife in hiring a new maid. Gaston Duval, head of the research department at the Paramount New York studios, is an accomplished linguist, being able to read, write and speak no less than eight languages. Playing in a Ruth Etting short is considered good luck by most of the actors appearing in Vitaphone Varieties since Joan Blondell, Humphrey Bogart and Donald Cook, now set in feature work, all started their screen careers that way. Larry Kent is enthusiastic over a Paramount short called "New Religion," which will be directed by Ray Cozine, the unusual angle being that the entire dialogue is to be set to music. A miniature golf course will be the background and Eddie Miller will be featured. A. L. PEARCE TO DIRECT SERIESJOR CHRISTIE A. Leslie Pearce has been signed by Al Christie to direct a series of comedies for Educational release. Pearce was dialogue director on "Charley's Aunt", which Christie has just made for Columbia. Mulhall with Fairbanks in "Reaching for Moon" Jack Mulhall has been assigned an important part in support of Douglas Fairbanks and Bebe Daniels in "Reaching for the Moon'' being directed by Edmund Goulding for United Artists, with Irving Berlin as producer. Other names in the cast include Edward Everett Horton, Claude Allister, Kate Price, June MacCloy, Emmett Corrigan, Adrienne D'Ambricourt and Waltei Walker. 2 Finished for W. Ray Johnston "The Fourth Alarm", first of the new productions sponsored by W. Ray Johnston from the Continental Pictures studio, has been finished. It stars Ralph Lewis, Nick Stuart, Tom Santschi and Ann Christy. Phil Whitman directed. Harry Webb also has finished directing "The Phantom of the Desert" foi Johnston's Syndicate Pictures. This production brings Eva Novak back to the screen with Pete Morrison, Jack Perrin and Josef Swickard. Modesty Plus Doug Fairbanks believes that the three triumphs of the talkies are the directing of Edmund Goulding, the acting of Will Rogers, and the adventures of Mickey Mouse. Funny he overlooked Doug and Mary. Gaston Glass to Wed Gaston Glass who recently completed a fine portrayal as a Russian book seller in James Cruze's Tiffany picture, "She Got What She Wanted," has announced his intention to marry a Russian dancer, Lioba Karlin. James Cruze is staging the wedding at his Flint Ridge estate. Miss Karlin made a screen appearance in "The Great Gabbo" for Cruze. The couple will leave for a European honeymoon immediately after the marriage.