Dive Bomber (Warner Bros.) (1941)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

PUBLICITY—DIVE BOMBER’ MacMurray Completes His Hollywood Circle Fred MacMurray’s Hollywood circle has been completed —he has just gotten around to working again for the company that gave him his first regular job in the film city. The company is Warner Bros. MacMurray is co-starred with Errol Flynn in the Technicolor special, “Dive Bomber,” filmed with the unlimited help of the United States Navy. The Strand Theatre has booked the picture, to open there on Friday. Fred’s first Hollywood job of any permanence was as saxaphonist at the Warner Bros. Hollywood Theater, when that house, like other large ones on the famous bouleMat 107—15<¢ vard, had a Fred MacMurray band in its pit. MacMurray has been under contract to Paramount studio since 1934, the year that company’s eastern office “caught” Fred in “Roberta,”’ which starred the late Lyda Roberti on Broadway, and offered him a contract. MacMurray cooled his heels at Paramount for five or six months before Wesley Ruggles plucked him for an important part with Claudette Colbert in “The Gilded Lily,” released early in 1935. The rest, as the saying goes, has been Hollywood history. Since “The Gilded Lily,’’ MacMurray has appeared in 27 pictures, including his present assignment in “Dive Bomber,” and of the 27 only three others have been made on loan-out to companies other than Paramount. This indicates the high regard that his home lot has for him, and the change in Hollywood’s attitude toward him since 1928, when, 20 years of age, he first tried to get work as an extra. This was just after his first trip to the coast, when he drove his mother out from the middle west to visit relatives in Los Angeles. He registered as an extra to augment his “regular” salary of $20, promised, each week for sandpapering paint from used cars. At the end of the second week his employer went out of business. MacMurray’s faith in the American employer remains shaken to this day. MacMurray, one of the tallest men on the screen—6 ft. 3% inches—was born in Kankakee, Illinois, August 30, 1908. This event interrupted the professional tour of his father, a concert violinist, and his mother, Still DB 416; Mat 102—15c FRED MACMURRAY as the daring pilot of a U. S. Navy dive bomber in Warner Bros. spectacular new air drama, "Dive Bomber." The Technicolor picture goes into the Strand on Friday for an extended run. pianist-accompanist. A_ short time later the family moved to Madison, then soon to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, which little city Fred regards as his home town. He remains a small town boy in his attitude and mode of living. Because of his parents, Fred responded to musical training at an early age. At five he played the violin, appearing publicly with his father, who had the lad stand on a chair to increase the novelty of the act. Between school terms Fred worked in a canning factory, packing peas, and at other odd jobs to obtain money enough to buy a baritone horn and then a saxophone. Music was still his chief interest; he played in both the Legion and the high school bands and, at night, worked with a five-piece dance orchestra that was a favorite in the district. While MacMurray was on location with Warner Bros.’ “Dive Bomber” company at Coronado, Calif., an inquisitive old lady in the hotel one night asked him what he thought he might be doing if he were not an actor. “Madame, I’d be a trumpet player with my own band. And a very good one, too,” MacMurray answered. After Fred finished school, he played with various orchestras around Chicago for a year, but failed to connect at the College Inn, where he most desired to work. Between band jobs, and during the days, he helpéd his finances by selling electrical appliances from door to door. Then came 1928 and the motor trip to Hollywood with his mother, his first work as an extra, and his job as saxaphonist with the Warner Bros. Theater orchestra. His real break came when he and other musicians from the Warner Theater and other orchestras formed what they called the California Collegians, with MacMurray as saxophonist, vocalist and clown. It was not long before they were headed for New York, and there appeared in “Three’s a Crowd,” “The Third Little Show,” and then “Roberta.” Hollywood was Fred’s next move—and he stayed! Still DB 395; Mat 205—30c SUPER-PILOTS of the Navy's super-planes are Errol Flynn and Fred MacMurray in their new co-starring picture, "Dive Bomber,’ a thrilling epic of the skies, filmed in Technicolor. Begins Friday at the Strand. Errol Flynn Takes It Easy— And Stays On Top Errol Flynn has never expressed his philosophy of life in just these words—take it easy —but his general attitude gets the thought over without his having to express it. No.one has ever seen Flynn in a hurry. No one has ever seen him excited. Provoked? Yes. But never so angry that he lost his remarkable self possession. He can take care of himself handily at all times. He cuts through flattery with a keen perception. His “selfishness” is revealed by his insistence that he be permitted to lead his own life in the way he wants to. He holds himself accountable to no one for his actions. On the screen in spite of his nearly perfect good looks, he has escaped “pretty boy” characterization, and his manly action roles have made him as great a favorite with men as he is with the women fans. He is extremely well liked by his co-workers at Warner Bros. studio, particularly by the men of the “Curtiz crew.” Michael Curtiz, Hungarian-born master of the distorted phrase, has directed Flynn through eleven pictures, the latest one being the big Technicolor special “Dive Bomber” with Fred MacMurray, Ralph Bellamy and _ Alexis Smith. Curtiz, through many years, has kept around him the same property men, assistants, grips, cameramen, etc., that were with him on his earlier pictures. They are a_ hard-fisted, hard-driving gang of motion picture makers. If Flynn was not “regular,” they would be the first to brush him by. Flynn spends little money on his clothes, which he wears extremely well. This seems best evidence that he is not at all vain. His man, an ex-Marine, buys all of his haberdashery at good but not overly-expensive shops. A New York tailor has his measurements and his suits generally are made up there. He wears them as they come, without preliminary fitting. His weight never changes, although he actually gets little exercise. One of his chief, and most expensive, delights is his fine racing ketch Sirocco, which he readily admits he cannot afford but does. Another fairly costly pleasure is his “farm.” This is a small acreage on a saddle of the Santa Monica mountains just off of Mulholland Drive, 15 minutes from Warner Bros. studio in Burbank. ERROL FLYNN . pearl-diver in the South Seas... ALL ABOUT THE STARS . . is as adventurous as the characters he portrays on the screen... was a gold-prospector . . . managed an inter-island freight service . . . played some screen: and stage roles in England . . . was spotted there by a talent scout and brought to Hollywood where his "Captain Blood" role for Warner Bros. won him other swash buckling adventure parts .. . Technicolor special, “Dive Bomber.” His latest characterization is that of a flight surgeon in Warners’ FRED MACMURRAY .. . was playing a saxaphone at the Warner Bros.’ Hollywood Theatre when it was discovered that he would be a "wow" on the screen... to find work as an extra but it was no go.. one hit after another until he became one of the most sought actors on the coast... honors with Errol Flynn in Warner Bros.’ "Dive Bomber." RALPH BELLAMY .. . "'stock'' in every capacity from carpenter to actor .. stage roles . . he's been famous as the-guy-who-never-gets-the-girl . . Bros.’ spectacular aviation film. several years before he had tried . after his debut in "The Gilded Lily" he scored now shares was once a member of a Shakespearean repertoire company ... played . later hit Broadway with several important . then headed west for Hollywood and "the movies”... since "The Awful Truth," . is now cast in ‘Dive Bomber," Warner ALEXIS SMITH ... at ten she was an exceptionally good pianist... at 13 she was a fine dancer . . and at 20 she plays her first big featured role in Warner Bros.’ "Dive Bomber" . . . is five feet, seven inches tall... weighs 126... has blonde hair and blue eyes . . . Music and dancing are her chief interests beside acting . . in Los Angeles . . . was born in British Columbia and received her education . She was "discovered" by talent scouts when she starred in a college play. FLYNN AND GURTIZ MAKE PERFECT STAR DIRECTOR TEAM More often than not motion picture actor-director teams are accidental. A chance association on one set, a lucky assignment to the same picture, the discovery that two people work together happily and to similar purposes, these are some of the things that bring about the formation of teams which carry on over a period of time and become fixed as combinations in the public’s mind. Most of the highly successful pictures made by Errol Flynn in Hollywood have been directed by Michael Curtiz. Their association began long ago on Flynn’s first import ant picture, ~C3.9 to ion Mat 106—15< Blood,” when Errol Flynn the explosive Curtiz put the green young actor through his first swashbuckle. Together they have weathered many salty sea dramas, a number of hectic love’ affairs, such as the one with Bette Davis in “The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex,” “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” “Santa Fe Trail,” “The Sea Hawk,” a few comedies and a number of straight dramatic roles such as their current assignment, “Dive Bomber,” the big Technicolor drama of the air, opening at the Strand Friday. Fred MacMurray is Flynn’s co-star. in this one. From years of association they have come to understand each other, to swear at each other occasionally and to forget all animosities in favor of the picture. They make up an important and a_ profitable team—and what is more, together they make pictures that never fail to stack up as entertainment plus. Orders Are Orders! Directorial order of the week for cryptic conciseness was that given by Michael Curtiz just before shooting a scene with Errol Flynn, Fred MacMurray and Regis Toomey in Warner Bros.' “Dive Bomber,’’ now showing at the Strand. The players were to show the effects of physical exertion after a high altitude test for pilots. “Everybody please sweat,” was Mike’s demand. Stull DB Pub A49; Mat 105—15c ERROL FLYNN as he appears in the Strand's new hit, "Dive Bomber," a glorious saga of the skies, beautifully photographed in Technicolor. Flynn's role is that of a U. S. flight surgeon. 19