Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1944)

34 SHOWMEN'S TRADEREVIEW ' December 16, 1944 ^TR West Coast Offices ~ 6777 Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood 28, Calif. Telephone, Hollywood 205.' PRODUCTION NOTES FROM THE STUDIOS Susanna Foster, Charles Korvin to be Teamed at Universal/ Vicior to Direct 'Duel in Sun : organ Is Set for Musical ►Frank Morgan and Lina Romay were assigned top featured roles in MGM's forthcoming musical, "The Kissing Bandit" which will star John Hodiak and Marion Bell, with Joe Pasternak producing. Production has been set to start early next year. ►Maurice King, Monogram producer, is now doing his first work as a writer in the creation of a psychological drama to form the next producing effort of himself and his brother Franklin, under the title, "Murder at the Track." ►Paramount has purchased "O'Halloran's Luck," a short story by the late Stephen Vincent Benet, famed writer of "John Brown's Body." ►Alan Mowbray and Franklin Pangborn have been signed for important roles in Republic's "Tell It to a Star," which already has Ruth Terry, Robert Livingston and Isabel Randolph in leading roles. Associate Producer Walter Goetz has set the starting date, with Frank McDonald directing. ►Santiago Reachi, head of Posa Films of Mexico, has arrived for conferences at RKO with Charles W. Koerner, regarding the forthcoming production of "The Magnificent Tramp" in which Cantinflas, Latin-America's greatest film star, will appear. RKO and Posa Films are associated in the production, which John H. Auer will produce and direct. ►King Vidor has signed to direct Selznick International's "Duel in the Sun." With Selznick himself producing, Vidor gives the Technicolor film the starting gun on January 29. ►Shooting on Director Lewis Seller's comedy, "Molly, Bless Her," the 20th Century-Fox picture starring Gracie Fields and Monty Woolley with Roddy McDowall, Reginald Gardiner, Doris Lloyd, Edith Barrett, Natalie Schaffer and Pat O'Moore, has ended with a picture-end party, thrown by Woolley and Miss Fields for all members of the company. ►A new romantic screen team will be created by Universal in the near future, by co-starring Susanna Foster and Charles Korvin in an original story, "Once Upon a Dream," now being written for them by Writer-Producers Michael Fessier and Ernest Pagano. Film is slated for early spring production. ►Ned Lambert has been signed by Warners to serve as wardrobe and period consultant on costumes for "The Adventures of Don Juan," Errol Flynn starrer. Lambert will work with Director Robert Florey and Producer Jerry Wald. ►Will Jason has been named by Columbia to direct "Ten Cents a Dance," new comedy set to roll this week. Jason's last previous assignment at Columbia was "Tahiti Nights," South Seas musical. ►PRC has announced that the first picture on the company's schedule after Jan. 1 will be the I. E. Chadwick production "The Wife of Monte Cristo." John Carradine is penciled in for the role of Edmund Dantes but the actress for the feminine title role has not as yet been selected. Story is an original by Edgar Ulmer and Franz Rosenwald and is to be directed by Ulmer. ►One of the first major productions to get under way in 1945 at MGM will be "The Harvey Girls," a Technicolor production with music, with an all-star cast headed by Judy Garland, Ann Sothern, John Hodiak, Edward Arnold and Ray Bolger, directed by George Sidney and produced by Arthur Freed. ►With more than half of the 45 features announced for Monogram's 1944-45 program already completed, Trem Carr, executive director, states that all scripts for the balance of the entire schedule are either completed or in work. ►Janet Martin, Republic's 17-year-old singer and actress, has been added to the cast of "Behind the Ships" at that studio. Republic is grooming Miss Martin for stardom. The film has Jane Randolph, John O'Malley, Stephen Barclay and Edward Gargan in leading roles. ►Models of Roman town houses of the 1st century B.C. are being assembled by Frank Ross' art stafif for study prior to constructing sets for "The Robe." On an elaborate sca'e, they are complete even to furniture and interior decoration. ►Director Irving Cummings began casting the supporting roles for 20th Century-Fox's "The Dolly Sisters," which goes into production in January. ►Rondo Hatton was selected by Universal production executive Ben Pivar to play the t'tle role of the studio's new horror character, "The Creeper." The first picture is an original screenplay to be called "The Brute Man," slated to start after the first of the year. ►With Jack Benny, Dinah Shore, Johnny Mercer, Jack Carson, Eddie Cantor, Charlotte Greenwood and other top radio programs plugging the song Hollywood Canteen from the 62-star Warner Bros, musical, tune is slated for the Hit Parade class. ►The Muezzin summons to prayer, as practiced in Mohammedan countries, will be heard authentically on the screen for the first time in Columbia's Technicolor extravaganza of old Bagdad, ".A. Thousand and One Nights," which Alfred E. Green is directing. Sound tracks of the actual religious ceremony made in Bagdad several years ago have been purchased by the studio. ►Another step toward transferring Dave O'Brien, PRC star, from westerns to top roles in straight dramatic productions was taken with the announcement that he will be starred in "Fire Patrol," an Alexander-Stern production. ►Felix Adler has turned in the screen play of "The Naughty Nineties" which will star Abbott and Costello, to Producer Edward Hartmann at Universal. Director Roy Rowland instructs Edward G. Robinson and Margaret O'Brien in the procedure to be followed for a scene in MGM's "For Our Vines Have Tender Grapes." IN HOLLYWOOD IT'S NEWS... Sofd Cd Raiden Lena Home has started a two-week entertainment tour of Southern military camps and hospitals under auspxes of the HoUjrwood Victory Committee . . . Joe E. Brown is making his book, "Your Kids and Mine," into a best-seller, having autographed some 2650 books at two book store stops . . . They're doing it big at MGM; for one scene in "Twice Blessed" they will have more than 200 youngsters jitterbugging . . . Lily Pons and Andre Kostelanetz have been cited by the Iranian Institute for their contributions to good will between the U. S. and Persia . . . Bernard Luber will be assistant to William Meiklejohn, head of Paramunt's talent and casting departments ... A dance performed by Sonja Henie and Don Loper in "It's a Pleasure" required a crew of 107 men and more than 60,0C0 amperes of electricity . . . Walt Lantz has added Sidney Pellet to his production staff . . . Truman Bradley will do a special trailer for "The Unseen," a Paramount chiller . . . Producer Arthur Freed has turned songwriter for his current MGM musical drama, "Yolanda and the Thief" . . . Director John Berry will repeat his technique of rehearsing the cast for a week before shooting his next, "Too Good to Be True" . . . Producer Lou Gray at Republic will use 12 youngsters from the Sheriff's Boys Band for "The Lone Texas Ranger" . . . Ardel Wray will do the screenplay for RKO's "Lady Not Alone," the Katherine Brush novelette starring Paulette Goddard . . . Robert Bassler has signed Joe Hernandez, prominent racing expert, to handle the radio commentary for the horserace in "Thunderhead — Son of Flicka" . . . The President's new daughter-in-law, Faye Emerson, was relieved of her chores in "Hotel Berlin" for ten days so she could concentrate on her honeymoon . , . Lloyd Corrigan, the rolypoly character actor, will play Louis XVI in "The Fighting Guardsman" . . . Sol Bernie, musical director of PRC, has signed Karl Hajos to prepare the musical score of two productions . . . "The Hidden Eye," which is another murder mystery, will have Edward Arnold in the top role of a blind detective . . . Belita, Monogram star, will span the continent to fill three personal appearance engagements in her dancing act — Miami, New Orleans and San Francisco during the next month — then return to star in "Golden Girl" . . . Yehudi Menuhin will be seen in a sequence of "Duffy's Tavern" . . . Three magazines on home decoration have asked RKO for photographs of the interior of "The Enchanted Cottage" . . . Minor Watson will project the role of General McKay in "A Bell for Adano" . . . Associate Producer Phil Cahn received the screenplay on "Have a Heart" from Howard Dimsdale to whom he had assigned the job. To Reproduce Stork Club Sherman Billingsley's famous Stork Club in New York will be reproduced in detail at Paramount for scenes in B. G. De Sylva's "The Stork Club," starring Betty Hutton.