Showmen's Trade Review (Jul-Sep 1945)

34 S H O W M E N ' S T R A D E R E V I E W August 25, 1945 STR West Coast Offices 6777 Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood 28, Calif. Telephone, Hollywood 2055 PRODUCTION NOTES FROM THE STUDIOS Tim Whelan To Direct Super Western for RKOy Wolff Signs to Produce for PRC, Gordon Producing for 20th ►Mary Martin will sing her famous My Heart Belongs to Daddy number in WB's "Night and Day" ; Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill, top screen villains, set for RKO comedy, "The Master Minds" ; Mack Gordon, famous lyricist, has been made producer at Fox. ►Addison Richards was added to the cast of MGM's "The Hoodlum Saint" which co-stars William Powell and Esther Williams. Norman Taurog directs, and Cliff Reid produces. ►George W. Sayre has completed the script on Monogram's "Black Market Babies" and the film is set to go before the cameras this week, with Jeffrey Bernerd producing. ►Roy Wolff, in charge of the South Side theatres of the Paramount-Fanchon and Marco circuit, signed contracts with Leon Fromkess, president of PRC, to produce a number of pictures for that organization. First picture to be produced by the Wolff unit will be "Music Hall Varieties of 1946," preparation of which is to be started immediately. ►Leslie Vincent has been signed for the romantic lead in "The Fugitive," Sherlock Holmes picture at Universal. Cast tops as usual are Basil Rathbone, and Nigel Bruce with Marjorie Riordan. ►Louis de Rochemont and Henry Hathaway, producer and director of "House on 92nd Street," will be teamed again in a psychological murder mystery, "Shock," which 20th-Fox plans to produce. ►Patric Knowles gets top role with Bob Hope in Paramount's "Monsieur Beaucaire," which will go before cameras early in September on Hope's return from his European entertainment tour. ►Donald Meek and Stanley Ridges were set by Producer Felix Jackson for feature roles in the Deanna Durbin, Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone starrer, "Because of Him," which gets under way at Universal next week, with Richard Wallace directing. ►Two of the screen's most popular and best known villains, Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill, will be seen in featured roles in RKO's mystery comedy, "The Master Minds." Wally Brown and Alan Carney are co-starred and Anne Jeffreys has the feminine lead. Leslie Goodwins is directing and Herman Schlom producing. ►Mack Gordon, famous lyricist, has been made a producer at 20th-Fox. His first picture will be "Three Little Girls in Blue," a Technicolor musical in which Caesar Romero will be costarred. ►Bill Pine and Bill Thomas have started filming "Hot Cargo," their twenty-eighth picture for Paramount release. The first days will be spent on location at Sherwood Forest with Lew Landers directing a cast headed by William Gargan, Jean Rogers, Phillip Reed and Larry Young. ►"Four Hours From Chi," a Saturday Evening Post serial by William Porter, has been purchased by Republic for $25,000. ►John O'Hara, noted for his short stories, checks in at MGM to begin a new writing assignment. He will work with Sonya Levien on the screen adaptation of Sinclair Lewis' "Cass Timberlane," which Arthur Hornblow, Jr., will produce. ►Tim Whelan has been signed by RKO to direct "Badman's Territory," story of an exciting and lawless period of America's frontier history, which is being planned as this studio's most spectacular outdoor picture since "Cimarron." Randolph Scott and George "Gabby" Hayes are the only players signed to date. Filming is scheduled to start early in September, with Nat Holt producing under executive supervision of Jack J. Gross. ►Robert North, who played the juvenile lead with Helen Hayes in "Harriet," has been signed for a role in MGM's filmization of the A. J. Cronin best-seller, "The Green Years." North joins a cast headed by Tom Drake and Charles Coburn. ►Edward Cronjaeger was signed by Walter Wanger to photograph "Canyon Passage," the Ernest Haycox Technicolor western which stars Dana Andrews and Brian Donlevy. l>Gordon Oliver has been signed by RKO for one of the top roles with Dorothy McGuire, George Brent and Ethel Barrymore in "Some Must Watch," which Dore Schary is producing. ►Craig Stevens has been cast for the role of the bandleader in Warners' "The Man I Love," cast of which is headed by Ida Lupino, Andrea King, Bruce Bennett and Robert Alda. This is the picture in which Miss Lupino will unveil her singing voice by warbling three well-known oldies, "Why Was I Born," "My Bill," and the title song. ►Trudy Marshall was given one of the top leads in "Sentimental Journey," which Walter Morosco will produce for Fox. Heading the cast are Maureen O'Hara, John Payne and William Bendix. ►Jack La Rue has been cast for the role of "Suade" in I-iepublic's John Wayne starrer, "I3akota." ►Max Alexander announced that AlexanderStern, producers for PRC, have acquired screen rights of "Keeping Up With the Joneses," comic strip drawn by Pop Aiomand. A series of feature comedies will be built around the idea. Shoot' King Cole Trio Scenes Scenes in which the King Cole Trio are to appear in Tom Breneman's "Breakfast in Hollywood," Golden Pictures production for United Artists release, have been completed. The early shooting schedule was arranged to permit the Trio to meet personal appearance dates at theatres and Army camps. DIARY OF A TRIUMVIRATE. Above you see the new and important Hollywood threesome formed to produce pictures. They are Burgess Meredith, Benedict Borgeaus (center), and Jean Renoir. All are associated in the production for United Artists release of "The Diary of a Chambermaid," in which Meredith will play a role, and which Renoir is directing. The huddle above is typical of a regular get-together at the start of each day's shooting as this interesting triumvirate proceeds with its first picture. Dennis Morgan Returns to Studio After 7-Week Tour Dennis Morgan has returned to Warner Bros, studio after a seven week tour, during which he appeared at more than fifty hospitals, sang on two bond rallies in New York and Washington and gave a concert in his home town, Milwaukee. The Milwaukee concert broke all records for the eight years the "Music Under the Stars" program has been given. To do that Morgan had to beat attendance figures at appearances of such singers as Lily Pons and Jeanette MacDonald. His appearance drew more than 48,000 to the park. Stage-Screen Star Buildup For Paramount's Mary Hatcher Mary Hatcher, young singer who was signed by Paramount without ever having made a professional appearance, has been loaned to the New York Theatre Guild on a deal which assures her return to the screen with starring status. Under the agreement, Miss Hatcher will play the leading feminine role in the road production of "Oklahoma !" opening in Philadelphia early in September and continuing until next Spring. Paramount will have call on Miss Hatcher's talents next summer and then she will return to Broadway to play the lead in a musical production for the 1946-47 season. Kellaway in Bob Hope Show Cecil Kellaway, who appeared in 17th Century costumes in "Frenchman's Creek," will again don the finery of 300-yeafs-ago for a role in "Monsieur Beaucaire," Bob Hope's next Paramount starring picture.