Showmen's Trade Review (Jul-Sep 1942)

July 25, 1942 SHOWMEN'S T R A D E R E V I E ^^ • 19 HOLLYWOOD STUDIO ROUND-UP At the start of the current week, ten studios placed a total of fourteen new features before the cameras : COLUMBIA COMMANDOS COME AT DAWN — Principals: Paul Muni. Barbara Everest. Anna Lee, Ray Collins, Rosemary DeCamp. Director, John Farrow. METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER SKYWAY TO GLORY — Principals: Franchot Tone, Marsha Hunt, Gene Kelly. Director, George Sidney. MONOGRAM TEXAS TO BATAAN — Prineipals : John King-, Davey Sharpe, Max Terhune. Director, Robert Tansey. PARAMOUNT HOPPY SERVES A WRIT — Principals: William Boyd, Andy Clyde, Jay Kirby. Director, George Archainbaud. CRYSTAL BALI Principals: Ray Milland, Pau lette Goddard, William Bendix. Director, Elliott Nugent. HENRY ALDRICH GETS GLAMOUR— Principals : Jimmy Lydon. Charles Smith, John Litel, Olive Blakeney. Director, Hugh Bennett. PRELUDE TO GLORY — Principals: Alan Ladd, Marie McDonald. Director, Frank Tuttle. PRODUCERS YANKS ARE COMING — Principals: Henry King and His Orchestra, Mary Healy, Parkyarkarkus Maxie Rosenbloom. Director, Alexis Thurn-Taxis. RKO-RADIO LADIES' DAY — Principals: Eddie Albert, Lupe Velez, Patsy Kelly, Max Baer. Director, Leslie Goodwins. REPUBLIC SUNSET SERENADE— Principals: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Helen Parrish. ProducerDirector, Joe Kane. 20TH CENTURY-FOX MY FRIEND FLICKA— Principals : Roddy McDowall, Preston Foster, Rita Johnson. Director, Harold Schuster. UNITED ARTISTS YANKS AHOY— Principals: William Tracy, Joe Sawyer, Marjorie Woodworth. Director, Kurt Neumann. UNIVERSAL TENTING TONIGHT ON THE OLD CAMP GROUND — Principals: Johnny Mack Brown, Tex Ritter. Director, Lew Collins. FLESH & FANTASY— Principals: Edward G. Robinson. Director, Julien Duvivier. TITLE CHANGES "Sweet or Hot" (RKO) now SEVEN DAYS' LEAVE. Dead End Kids Continue as Monogram's East Side Kids Three of the original Dead End Kids will carry on as a unit for Monogram. Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan and Huntz Hall are under contract to Monogram, and are starred as the East Side Kids in the pictures produced by Sam Katzman and Jack Dietz. DeMille Navy Captured The Maritime Commission took over Paramount's notorious "hell ship," the Metha Nelson. In addition the Navy took over DeMille's 106-ft. schooner-yacht, the Seaward, both of which were used in "Reap the Wild Wind." Faced with the filming of the Wassell epic, DeMille is momentarily sunk. Working up gags that make for laughs is serious business. Here Director Roy Mack, Bud Duncan and Edgar Kennedy get ready to shoot a scene for Monogram's "Hillbilly Blitzkrieg." 'Land Is Mine' Set to Go Before Cameras in October Scheduled to go before the cameras at RICO in October is "This Land Is Mine," a screen story by Jean Renoir which Renoir and Dudley Nichols have contracted to produce for the company. Its cast will be headed by Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Hara and George Sanders. Nichols was scheduled to make a trip to New York this week, and on his return will complete the screenplay from Renoir's story concerning the German occupation of Belgium. Renoir will direct, both will share in the profits. Cotten Signed by Selznick Signing of Joseph Cotten to a long-term contract was announced this week by David O. Selznick who intends to create another in the series of stars he has given to the screen. Cotten came to Hollywood after a series of notable Broadway performances, including "The Philadelphia story." His screen roles thus far : "Citizen Kane," "Lydia," "The Magnificent Ambersons" and the not-yet-released "Journey Into Fear." John Collier has been signed by Warner Bros, to write screenplay of "Background to Danger," the next George Raft picture. M^d.. Slto-iuma*t Qaed. Dr. Mr. Exhibitor's Wife: This week at Paramount they're working on the "Swing Shift Number" of their BIG picture, "Star Spangled Rhythm," the new style musical with seventy famous personalities. This number requires a stage a block square, hundreds of chorus girls and boys and the leads, Marjorie Reynolds, Dona Drake and Betty Rhodes. As you enter the set, the thing that strikes your eye is that although it really is colossal, the background isn't going to appear in the scene. Only the dancers and the floor, which is like a sheet of glass, are in the focus of the camera. Marjorie Reynolds is talking to the dance director, Danny Dare. She looks in our direction, then walks over to say "hello." Over to the left fits Betty Rhodes and her mother and in front of us is the camera boom. In the background is the orchestra, tuning up, and strolling around are the boys and girls of the chorus. The girls have the cutest costumes, and in our admiration of their youth, good looks and figures, we wonder how an ordinary mortal would look should she appear in public dressed like that. The costumes consist of white panties and bras made of cotton twill, trimmed with navy and white striped material . . . with brass buttons holding things in place. The cuffs of their Bobby sox, the brims of their jockey hats, and the top parts of their gauntlet gloves are of navy blue striped sequins. Marjorie and Betty wear long trousers with sequin striped jackets and Dona wears shorts, also sequin striped. It's all very colorful and soft on the eyes. Today's shooting is delayed for awhile, for Marjorie calls out to tfie director, "I'm leaving to have my leg 'pulled' . . . the tendon is strained." Since we have no idea how long this will take, let's go now and maybe we can come back next week when some of the principals will be working. ANN LEWIS. W AXDERI]\G AROUND HOLLYWOOD Harry "Pop" Sherman, refused a certain contract player by William Meiklejohn, Paramount's casting director, dolTed his usually smart clothes, put on a huge sandwich sign reading "Meiklejohn Unfair to Harry Sherman" and picketed in front of the commisary. P. S. : He got his man. What a fellow does isn't always proof of what he can or will do. Edward Gross {Capital Productions), who makes the "Snuffy Smith" pictures, a very far throw from anything serious, has purchased a story and hopes to sign Joseph Schildkrant and Eve Le Galliene for the leads. Dennis Morgan and Mario Silva, his vocal teacher, friend, and adviser, are partners in trouble. Dennis' wife is in the hospital, and, in the same hospital lies Mario's son, suffering 90 per cent loss of sight from an attack of measles. That arranges things so that they go to work together to Warners, and go to the hospital together. Incidentally, Silva believes that Dennis has one of the greatest tenor voices of anyone living today and he means anyone 1 The "Desert Song" set is very real indeed, hilt when you study the bit players and their costumes, the scene is forced into the background. Most of the players are real Arabs, Hindus, and other exotic races which go to make up the Riff population in the picture laid in Morocco. Jack LaRue, in costume, seems quite chipper, but we don't think he's given enough work for his talents. Too much gangster casting in the past! Norman Krasna, with his own screenplay, "Princess O'Rourke," for his first directorial effort, is doing a scene with Olivia de Haviland and Charles Coburn. They try their lines, and at each step Krasna sounds it, like a doctor testing a chest with a stethoscope, until he gets the position, the gesture and inflection to satisfy him. Miss de Haviland and Mr. Coburn seem quite happy helping Krasna find the dramatic ideal. Ah, to be so sensitively attuned as a Director ! Nobody ever hears of the advisers and helpers, although screen credits try to go part of the way in correcting this failure. Harriet Olson, over at Warners, dances exquisitely and looks charming, hut all she did in "Yankee Doodle Dandy" was show Jean Cagney how her dance should he done, and help Jimmy Cagney get his steps in hand. In "The Hard Way," she assisted Joan Leslie and Jack Carson so they do their dances. Now, in "The Desert Song," she gets a small part. Let them all dance, Miss Olson, too. Momoulian Delays New York Trip Because of current negotiations with Producer Lester Cowan to direct "Heart of the City" for Columbia release, and additional talks with United Artists for a one-picture directing assignment, Rouben Mamoulian has indefinitely postponed a projected New York trip. Gruber Scripts for 20th-Fox Mystery story writer Frank Gruber, creator of the Johnny Fletcher novels, has been signed by 20th-Fox to script "Ground Pilots" for production by Ralph Dietrich.