Confidential Agent (Warner Bros.) (1945)

George Coulouris Boasts Unusual Housing Problem George Coulouris, — who plays an important featured role in the Charles BoyerLauren Bacall starring film, Warners ‘‘Confidential Agent,”’ now at the Strand, is now a well-established citizen of Beverly Hills with a fine house on Roxbury Drive. But he still recalls vividly a time when his housing situation was not so pleasant. “T was hunting a place with space, as we have two children,’” he explained between scenes to Herman Shumlin who directed “Confidential Agent.” “Finally we found an old apartment. The — landlady looked us over, sniffed when I said I was an actor, grimaced when I said we had two children and then asked ‘D’you have any parties — y'know, parties?’ “T explained that, as I was an actor, occasionally people dropped in and — yes, I said, looking her square in the eye, yes, we do have parties. “*Fine, you can have the apartment,’ she agreed immediately, ‘I don’t want anyone who doesn’t have parties!’ ”’ Still GC1 Mat 104—15c George Coulouris, who plays an important featured role in the current Charles Boyer-Lauren Bacall starring film, Warners’ "Confidential Agent,” now playing at the Strand Theatre. Charles Boyer Shares Library With Co-Worker Charles Boyer, co-starring with Lauren Bacall in Warners’ “Confidential Agent,” which opens Friday at the Strand, has put the full resources of his French Research Foundation and Library at the disposal of Irva Ross, script girl, for her projected tour of France. Miss Ross, who has been with Warner Bros. for sixteen years, came to California from China. She lived in the Orient for seven years. Her father, Charles Ross of Santa Barbara, was a traveling representative of the Dupont Corporation in the Orient. STARRED Still CB17 Mat 209 — 30c Charles Boyer romances with a new co-star, Lauren Bacall, in Warners’ moving story of love and adventure, "Confidential Agent,’ which arrives Friday at the Strand Theatre. Featured in supporting roles are Katina Paxinou, Peter Lorre, Victor Francen and George Coulouris. Actors On Warner Set Literally ‘In A Fog’ On the roadhouse set of Warners’ “Confidential Agent,” which co-stars Charles Boyer and Lauren Bacall and opens Friday at the Strand, swirling fog and curling mist came through the trees and gave the right atmosphere for the late autumn setting in the South of England, somewhere near the British Channel coast. Sitting quietly near his fogmaking apparatus was C, Otis (Dusty) Miller, of the studio special effects department. A former engineer and a powder expert of the last war, Miller is a veteran of a thousand fogs, sandstorms, windstorms, floods, fires, earthquakes, train wrecks, shipwrecks, tidal waves, and volcanic eruptions, planned and prepared for the screen. He carries a Federal license from the Bureau of Mines to handle explosives of all kinds and handling explosives is the hazardous part of his work. Bare we plan things so. carefully that in all my years in the game, we have not hurt anyone. You Cn ta take risks with men like Errol Flynn or Humphrey Bogart who often work close to explosions,” Dusty says quietly. “There’s nothing to making a good fog, like this one. Just compressed air forced through pure crystal oil and we give you a fog of any density. And for a mist, we use gum olibanum, a sort of in Mat 114 — 15¢ Lauren Bacall cense, on smouldering charcoal in a bee-smoker, with a wind machine.” It was a good fog, right enough. The English players working on the set felt right at home. “See how simple it is. More compressed air, more fog. Now when we were doing the explosions in ‘God Is My CoPilot, we planned for days with charts and_ blue-prints. It was very careful work as some of those bursts were within three feet of the players. “You've got to be thorough when you handle explosives. And at the same time, you’ve got to have the right effects for the camera. That’s my job and TI like it.” Elected By GY, Lauren Bacall Is Miss Pulse-Rate Lauren Bacall, currently costarring with Charles Boyer in Warner Bros.’ “Confidential Agent’ at the Strand, was recently advised that she has been unanimously elected “Miss Pulse-Rate of 1945,” by the personnel of the 15th Hospital Center in England. Sets. Richard E. Tucker and Roy M. ‘Timm, signers of the communique, told Miss Bacall that since they saw “To Have And Have Not” in their recreation hut, all other stars and starlets have been. forgotten. Their request for two personally autographed photoeraphs has been complied with by “Miss Pulse-Rate of 1945." Cameraman Reviews Chinese Film Plans “IT have made up my mind not to be a cameraman all my life,” says James Wong Howe, director of photography for the Charles Boyer-Lauren Bacall co-starring film, Warners’ “Confidential Agent,” — cur rently at the Strand. “a Sex pect’ to-go: -to “the Orient and direct and_ pro duce pictures, made first for the millions in Asia, and second for world release.” An American-born Chinese, Howe is recognized as one of the outstanding cameramen in the motion-picture industry. He has lectured extensively on his craft, particularly emphasizing the use of the 16mm. camera, on which he is regarded as an authority, as a result of constant study and experiments during the past fifteen years. He is frank enough to say that often he gets more satisfaction out of filming outdoor action, as in “Objective Burma,” than shooting stars like Charles Boyer and Lauren Bacall in a Mayfair apartment setting on a sound-stage. Quiet-spoken and earnest, Howe has precise plans, now that the war has ended, to go to China and help form a Chinese Hollywood, probably in Shanghai, where he will do his part to develop a movie industry. “China sorely needs technical equipment and technical euidance. We shall train technicians, camera men, laboratory workers, lighting = experts, set constructionists, all types of workers — for the making of movies. Chinese learn fast. Even in the caves and cellars of Chungking, they went right ahead with the making of films to tell the world what China was doing in the fight against Japan.” “Very important to me is the part movies will take in the education of millions in China. We in this country often say that one — picture S peaks: na thows.and words. In the new China, there will be many words spoken by movies, movies which will enlighten as well as entertain.” Mat 106 — 15c Katina Paxinou Mat 108 — 15¢ Peter Lorre George Coulouris Qualifies As Gay Super-Salesman If anyone wants a supersalesman, with charm, personality, a winning voice, Lauren Bacall can heartily recommend George Coulouris. Known more for his leers than his smiles, Coulouris plays an important role in support of costars’ Charles Boyer and Lauren Bacall in Warners’ ‘“‘ConfiG16 £4 ait Agent,” now at the Strand. During the picture's filming, he told them that he had taken up the ancient game of cricket again and was going to play for the team captained by Sir C. Aubrey Smith, playing matches to raise money the Commando Fund. Both stars bought several tickets and handed around to the crew. Then Coulouris mentioned that there was a shortage of cricket balls, those red-leather covered spheres about the size of a baseball. There was also a shortage of cricket bats, a sort of flatsurfaced gadget used in the game. Before long, the stars were aiding in every way! Mat 105 — 15¢ George Coulouris some for them * Actors Together After 25 Years Way back in 1920, a young actor named C. Boyer did his first play at the Grand Theatre des Champs Elysees in Paris. The play was the Oriental spectacle, “A Thousand And One Nights,” and with him, wearing turban’ and silken robes and scimitar, was a great French leading man, Victor Francen. Twenty-five years later they did the first scene of their first picture together at Warner Bros. studios. It was during the filming of “Confidential Agent,” now at the Strand, which co-stars Charles Boyer and Lauren Bacall. The opening scene was on a Channel steamer. Herman Shumlin directed “Confidential Agent,” and Robert Buckner produced the film for Warner Bros. Still 651-15 Mat 112 —15c Victor Francen, brilliant character actor, is now appearing in Warners’ new ‘drama, ‘Confidential Agent," at the Strand. Charles Boyer and Lauren Bacall are starred as the romantic interest.