Screenland (Feb-Oct 1949)

Mr. and Mrs. Alan Hale recently celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary. With them at party are daughters Karen and Jeanne and Alan Hale, Jr., and his wife. dilion her doctor advised her not to take the trip to England, where the picture is to be made. And Ella Raines was trying to finish "Impact" (which has nothing to do with infected wisdom teeth) ■s'hen she took a spell of sickness. This prevented her from going to England to join her hsuband, Major Robin Olds. However, she's well again and now on the high seas bound for Europe. — o — Hollywood is mighty sorry to lose two of its favorite people, Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon, who returned to England after four years in our town. Ben is assistant production head for 20th Century-Fox in England, a very important post because the studio plans to make a great many pictures over there. — o — Director Will Price (he's married to Maureen O'Hara) was telling us that their four-year-old daughter, Bronwyn, has fallen madly in love with Roz Russell's young son, Lance Brisson. The romance is developing nicely at the nursery school they attend. Bron has established some sort of a record, having made two round trips by plane to Ireland in the last two years. — O — Nancy Guild, whose baby is due any day now, has had to spend the last four months in bed by order of her doctor. The picture she made in Italy for Eddie Small, formerly titled "Cagliostro," has been changed to "Black Magic." And there's some special music in this picture for the hypnosis scene, written by Paul Sawtelle, which is a new high in experimenting. Five notes are repeated over and over by a chorus of 28 voices. They're hoping that the audience won't be hypnotized, too! — o — Who's Who Dept.: Out at Warners, Virginia Mayo in her Indian makeup and black wig for "Colorado Territory" looks so different that people have been mistaking her for Jennifer Jones' half-breed character of "Duel In The Sun." And Doris Day, on the same lot and also wearing a dark wig for "It's A Great Feeling," is a dead ringer for Eleanor Powell. — o — The premiere of "Johnny Belinda" was quite a classy affair, with over two hundred movie personalities attending. Reminds us, ten days before the preem, Jane Wyman was out touring the country and gave out with so many interviews she couldn't talk when she got back to Hollywood. So everybody kidded her about taking her role of the deaf-mute so seriously that it went to her throat. — O — Tli ere was plenty of excitement at Slapsy Maxie's when Jane and her escort, Manny Sachs, were seated at the table next to Ronnie Reagan and Ann Sothern. But the other ringsiders who were watching to see Ronnie and Jane cold-shoulder each other were disappointed On account of they all chatted very amiably. — o — When Audrey Totters favorite man, Charles Grayson, was away on a trip, Audrey went out with Karl Tunberg. whose wife was touring Europe. But it was with the blessing and permission of all concerned. — o — ■ And you should see how Audrey and Bob Ryan look for "The Set Up," the pic they're doing together at RKO. Audrey's wearing a hand-me-down five-year-old suit that Joan Fontaine once wore. Eddie Stevenson, RKO's costume designer, found this little gem and had the hemline lowered, leaving the mark from the old hem still in the material. Bob, who plays the part of a third-rate fighter, has a bowl-type haircut, a cauliflower ear, and looks so gruesome that they won't let him eat in the main room of the studio commissary, on account of he ruins everybody's appetite. — O — Most of you guys and gals have heard of the classic silent picture, "The Birth Of A Nation," which was made by the late D. W. Griffith about thirty years ago. Wal, it's ironic, but now that D. W. is dead, the picture is being released in various parts of the country. We saw it several years ago and if it comes to your town, go to see it. In spite of its age, "Birth" is still considered one of the truly great films of all time. — o — Since Humphrey Bogart killed the rattlesnake that bit one of his pet Boxers, he has been invited to join the Rattlesnake Club of America, whatever that is. Bogey has one of those small British cars, an M-G Special, and he's having a lot of fun with it, driving up and down the walks around his place and all over the lawn. Mrs. B. says she'll pack her maternity wardrobe away in mothballs when she doesn't need the clothes any longer, until such time as she does need 'em again. She wants a big family, dozens of kids. — o — Joan Crawford went blonde on us for "Flamingo Road." And, thanks to a cold, she was skinnier during this picture than she's ever been — 118 pounds. There are a couple of stars of yesteryear working in this movie, Alice White and Gertrude Michael. — o — And leave me tell you about Joan's leading man — he's David Brian, around 35, six feet two, not handsome but with a peachy smile. Although David's acted on the stage for fifteen years he's never been on the screen before. He's quite relaxed about his career in pictures because, you see, he's an expert cabinet maker who can always get a job that pays him twenty-five or thirty bucks a day, which should be enough for groceries even for a big husky guy. — o — Before Elizabeth Taylor left for England to make "The Conspirators," with another Taylor named Bob, she sent her boy friend, Lt. Glenn Davis, a birthday present — a gold fountain pen inscribed in her own handwriting and a gold identification bracelet. She was also scurrying around at the last minute because the chain which holds his gold football around her neck broke and Liz wasn't going to leave until it was repaired. — o — There was plenty of speculation about the reason why Dan Dailey took a powder cut of town without letting anyone, including his wife, Liz, know where he was going. While his studio, 20th Century-Fox, suspended dance rehearsals for "You're My Everything," Dan was touring the highways, finally ending up in Dallas. As soon as he learned about all the uproar he'd caused he came back, claiming he didn't know he was needed. It'll be a dern shame if Dan starts getting temperamental — he's too good an actor and too nice a guy. — O — Well, gee whiz, when Van Johnson starts working in "The Good Old Summertime" with Judy Garland, he'll he sporting a handlebar mustache. Judy has to learn to play a harp for this picture. Van's getting to be a right smart painter. One of his canvasses, a painting of an old-fashioned windmill, sold for $250 at a recent New York exhibit. -01 SCREENLAND