Danger Signal (Warner Bros.) (1945)

Zachary Scott Is Texas-Born And B’way Bred Texas-born and Texas-educated, Zachary Scott belongs to the ever-growing group of Hollywood film stars who got their dramatic training on the New York stage. Stage Discovery He was signed to a Warner Bros. contract after Jack L. Warner, executive producer, saw him in Edward Chodorov’s “Those Endearing Young Charms,” and is currently costarring with Faye Emerson in “Danger Signal” at the Strand. His first picture was “The Mask Of Dimitrios,” which was followed by an appearance in “Mildred Pierce.” Scott was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Dr. and Mrs. Z. T. Scott. His father is a surgeon. He attended public schools in Austin, and also the University of Texas, from which he obtained a bachelor of arts degree. Still 645-6 Mat 101—15c Zachary Scott, whe recently scored a tremendous personal success in "Mildred Pierce,’ plays another type of menace in Warners’ "Danger Signal," currently at the Strand. Co-starred in the film is Faye Emerson. In 1935, after appearing on the English stage, he married a former schoolmate, Elaine Anderson. They are parents of a daughter, Waverly, born in 1937. Scott, after three years in college, went to England and from Gerrard Neville of the English Repertory Company (London) wangled the juvenile role in “The Outsider.” He remained abroad one year. Upon his return from England he married, went east, met with no luck in the theatre, then returned to Texas, went back to college and got his degree. With the sheepskin tucked away in the bottom of a trunk he and his wife again went east. This time luck favored him. He got a part in summer stock, thanks to Alfred Lunt and Richard Whorf. The role was that of an elderly butler in a Jane Cowl vehicle, “Easy Virtue.” Scott credits Miss Cowl with giving him much-needed encouragement. Three years of stock followed before he cracked Broadway. He has appeared in the following plays: “Circle of Chalk,” with Dolly Haas; the _ shortlived “The Damask Cheek” with Flora Robson; “The Rock,’ with Billie Burke, and in the afore-mentioned Edward Chodorov play, opposite Virginia Gilmore. Zachary Scott, Faye Emerson, Fresh Eggs Tangle In Bitter Warfare On Studio Set For two days Faye Emerson, star of Warner Bros.’ Danger Signal,'' currently at the Strand, refused to speak to Zachary Scott, co-star. That is, except for the repetition of a short sentence muttered with grim purpose. The rift in normally excellent relations occurred when Mr. Scott brought a dozen large fresh eggs for the star after she'd complained of the current shortage. Miss Emerson insisted on paying for them, but not having the necessary change, asked him to remind her the next day. Mr. Scott refused to remind anyone of such a small sum. She explained at length that she could remember a large debt, but never a small one, that she probably still owes a score of dimes and quarters borrowed from college friends. Mr. Scott still refused to remind her. Miss Emerson vowed to remember this one all by herself. But two days passed before she remembered to bring the change. "| owe you fifty cents. | owe you fifty cents,’ she murmured to her leading man when they met. For two days. Bruce Bennett Ex-Member Of U. S. Olympic Team Bruce Bennett is a big fellow, standing 6 feet, 2 inches in his bare feet, who describes himself as ‘a swell dish and diaper washer and a fair cook.” He is also an experienced and promising young actor, just signed to a long term Warner Bros. contract, and is currently to be seen in that studio’s Faye Emerson-Zachary Scott starring film, “Danger Signal,’ now at the Strand. Tacoma Born Bennett was born in Tacoma, Washington, May 19, 1909, and attended both grade and high school in that city. He holds a B.A. degree from the University of Washington where he took part in amateur theatricals and was particularly prominent in athletics. His father was a lumberman in Washington, also a farmer and, at one time, a preacher there. He died just about the time his actor son joined forces with Warner Bros. The young man’s mother is living, as are two brothers and two married sisters. At thirteen Bruce Bennett, who had been slated to become a lumberman like his father, decided for himself that he liked singing and acting better than the sawmill. A season in which he worked with the late impresario Max Reinhardt in the latter’s production of “Too Many Husbands,” clinched this ambition and turned it into determination. He played, he says, the husband who was “one too many.” Married Man In his personal life, however, he has been a successful husband for several years and has one daughter named Christina who is responsible for his ability with diapers. He likes to make furniture, collects stamps and first editions, and has traveled widely over most of the world. Bruce was introduced to motion picture work at the instance of the late Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., and his first role was that of Tarzan in an ill-fated production that was filmed in Guatemala. The picture was successful in England and in some other foreign countries as well as in parts of the United States, he says, but was never shown in the Hollywood vicinity. What Bennett got out of it, besides experience, was a tropical ailment which made him ineligible for any kind of military or naval service. It has also made him ineligible for cocktail parties or Hollywood night life— which he consequently knows little or nothing about. Still athletic in a fashion, however, he plays tennis, golf and badminton and likes to swim. As Herman Brix, his real name, he was a member of the American Olympic team which went to the games at Amsterdam, Holland, and he held the shot put championship in the U.S. A. from 1928 to 1932. In college, he won rating as an All American football player. All of that, he suggests, was a long time ago and far away from his present ambition to make an important place for himself in motion pictures. He has had some _ preliminary training as an actor with Columbia studios, where he has appeared as leading man, the love interest, and as the hardboiled companion to Humphrey Bogart in “Sahara.” His friends, like his wife, who was Jeannette Braddock, he says, are mostly non-professional. In between his athletic days and his acting days, Bennett has been at various times a logger, a sawmill employee, worked with oil well equipment and has sold bonds and insurance. From such a wealth of experience he is sure that he is on the right road at last; that he wants more than anything else to make good as a Warner Bros. actor. Dick Erdman Reveals His Future Aspirations Dick Erdman, currently featured in Warners’ “Danger Signal” at the Strand, was born John Richard Erdman on June 1, 1925, and wasted no time sticking his youthful thumb into the theatrical pie. At the tender age of five he emoted in amateur productions, but when old demon education reared its scholarly head, he dutifully skipped off to school. When his mother moved to Hollywood, Dick naturally tagged along. He continued his studies at Holly wood High School, took up newspaper distribution, gardening, airplane modeling on the side. But he : didn’t neglect Dick Erdman = yi stage ambitions. He played any number of roles in high school plays, among them Puck in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Dick in “Ah, Wilderness!” and Rageneau in “Cyrano de Bergerac” —his favorite. It was while he was doing Cyrano that he met Albert Band, film cutter at Warner Bros., who was impressed with the boy’s ability. Band recommended him for a _ role in “Janie,” which was being prepared at that time by Alex Gottlieb at Warners. Gottlieb interviewed Dick, was equally impressed, and asked Sophie Rosenstein, dramatic coach at the studio, to direct a test. It clicked, and Dick was _ signed to play Skipper Nolan. Young Erdman wants to become a great screen comedian. He wants to write, too. His father was an excellent pianist, so Dick is taking lessons. He loves to read. His favorite books—weighty tomes for one so young — include Tolstoy’s “War and Peace,” Anatole France’s “Revolt of the Angels,” “Dead Souls,” by Nikolai Go Mat 105—15c Lodgers Still 645-3 Mat 201—30c Zachary Scott and Faye Emerson seem to be having a housing problem in one of the lighter moments from Warner Bros.’ newest drama, "Danger Signal," which opens Friday at the Strand Theatre. Included in the film's supporting cast are Dick Erdman, Rosemary DeCamp, Bruce Bennett, Mona Freeman and John Ridgely. gol and anything by Noel Coward. In high school he went in for tennis, golf, and basketball. His tennis is still good, and he shoots only 8 over par on 18 holes of golf. He’s a gin rummy addict. He doesn’t care much for prize fights. His pet aversions are bad popular music, phonys, and loud people. He has absolutely no superstitions at all, and, unlike most actors, doesn’t even tote a good luck charm. Says He Diets He says he diets, but when you come right down to it, all he actually does is avoid candy. He puts chicken and mushrooms on his hit parade. His favorite flower is the rose, and he goes for blue in a big way. He’d like to visit Paris and London because of their romantic histories, and because of the British Museum and the Louvre and tHe art treasures they house. Though 100% American (he was born in Enid, Oklahoma), his taste in actors is strictly British. He’ll go to see anything that has Robert Donat, Vivian Leigh, or Charles Laughton in the cast. He sings, dances, writes, hunts, and fishes. He reads incessantly. He cooks, he collects records and tries to save money. Co-starred in “Danger Signal” are Faye Emerson and Zachary Scott, with other featured roles portrayed by Rosemary DeCamp, Bruce Bennett, Mona Freeman and _ John Ridgely. Zachary Scott Finds Hollywood A Living Death Zachary Scott is beginning to wonder what it is like to go into a motion picture and come out of it—alive. Some folks, like Errol Flynn, have gotten off to a fairly good cinematic start by appearing as a corpse. But Zach seems to be in a niche all by himself—he is the dying kind. So far he hasn’t made a film for Warner Bros. in which he doesn’t wind up as dead as the proverbial doorbell before the final reel is unwound. “One of these days, though,” he says optimistically, “I’ll come out of the thing alive. It’ll be a rare experience for me.” Takes Count Again Currently he is co-starring with Faye Emerson in “Danger Signal,” a new psychological drama which opens Friday at the Strand. If, in this picture, he did not become a philanderer, playing with the heart of a pretty young girl, he might not feel the impact of another death agony. But he does a bit of philandering, and in time Death’s hand strikes him down. In “Mildred Pierce,’ he paid with his life for similarly toying with romance. Ann Blyth didn’t like it. She showed her dislike by using a gun. In “The Mask Of Dimitrios,” he was also cast as the heavy, and after he had executed a few unsavory deeds, Sydney Greenstreet shot him to death. There should be some sort of moral to this story about Zach and his unusual experience in the matter of casting. Perhaps it is this: if you can do a smooth bit of dying toward the end of a picture, there’s a place for you in Hollywood. Zach has proved it.