Variety (Jan 1940)

Wednesday, January 3, 1940 Thirty-fourth VARIETY Anntrcrsary PICTURES 9 NEW FACES OF 1939 By Jack Jungmeyer Hollywood, Jan. 1. Here tlicy arc again—another anniversary parade of the players who survived and thrived in the competi- tive jostle for high place on the screen: a census of the more important New Faces for 1939. A lew zoomed to outstanding prominence in one flashing performance, as a few do every season—the phenoms. The majority won their elevation to emi- nence less spectacularly and perhaps witli more per- manence. Again, as was the case last year, the new ranks are crowded with youngsters, some scarcely out of the cradle. For all those who registered marked advance, the climb probably was considerably faster than normal progress toward stardom during preceding year.s. Swifter and swifter becomes this annual winnowing of the new film talent harvest; more inlen.se the scru^ tiny and testing of potential celebs in the feverish competition for favored place in the list of contenders. Grooming for stardom iias been accelerated. Pro- ducers and contract holders have been amazed and CKcitcd as never before at the astonishing success of youngsters who have elbowed into the important coin bracket after one performance or two, with scarcely any, and in some cases no previous experience. Brief rehearsals in some of these cases have provided the only theatrical grounding for the phenoms. Wherefore, the nationwide search for player material has been greatly intensined, new avenues being ex- plored in addition to the usual proving grounds of little theatre, school show, groups, radio and the amateur play organizations In the film studios themselves. Pretty faces and alluring figures have been discovered and uncovered in the usual numbers by the talent scouts' dragnet, but these admirable assets of the femme candidates and the handsome phizes of young men who feel themselves destined for matinee idolatry are more than ever a drug in the Hollywood market. Talent is tlie password—personality and a natural en- tertainment flair. Given Belter Breaks to Shine The billing on pictures and widened marquee privi- lege has reflected the extension of public interest and favor for comparative newcomers during the past year and will continue during the next. The novices are getting much better breaTcs from the very beginning because producers and directors no longer are so easily influenced, for one thing, by the confirmed and once adamant stars who resented the encroachment of the upstart. Deliberate showcasing roles for the film undergrads who indicate marked promise have become a matter of course. Parts are built up if this promise reveals itself in the early daily rushes. A tendency during the past year has been to experiment with young talent in groups of from two or three to a dozen in the same important picture, stimulating the competitive thespian passion. The new deal for the kids has achieved marked results. Not one of the unusually swift on the way to stardom but as talented and professionally disciplined as any who has come to prominence during 1939 is Jane Bryan of the Warners fold. Twice she scored importantly during the season, as the daughter to Bette Davis In 'The Old Maid,' and as a topper in her outstanding role with Paul Muni in 'We Are Not Alone.' She Is headed for big things if she keeps up her present pace, as she gives every indication of doing. She has worked hard and intelligently for what she's achieved and richly deserves her honors. Linda Darnell rates in the phenomenal category. She akyrockcted in her first role at 20th-Fox, an important assignment in Elsa Maxwell's 'Hotel for Women.' The demonstration was so convincing that Darryl F. Zanuck Immediately started grooming her for stardom, and she was set opposite Tyrone Power in 'Daytime Wife,' jus- tifying her initial promise in the co-starring role, Miss Darnell is a Texas girl from Dallas. She was considered too young when she made her first bid for films and was advised to return bome for a year or two more of preparation in little theatre parts. Studio sent for her. again early this year and signed her im- mediately on strength of the new tests. She has talent, looks, charm and grace. A Couple of English Gals Greer Garson made the grade for American audi- ences with her memorable performance opposite Rob- ert Donat in 'Goodbye Mr. Chips* and followed con- vincingly in the lighter 'Remember' at Metro. Vivien Leigh's 'Scarlett' in David O. Sclzniclc's 'Gone With the Wind' holds her up to public appraisal only now, but her stellar work and professional verdict presage her as one of the important names established during 1939. Although no novice, to majority of pic- ture patrons in this country she rates as a 'new face.' Slashing his way to fllm prominence in a first enact- ment was. William Holden. the flddlinfi fighter in Co- lumbia's 'Golden Boy.' He was conditioned in the Pasadena-little theatre and is under contract to Para- mount. The 'Golden Boy' assignment was on loanout. He stepped next into Warners 'Invisible Stripes' and went back to his home studio for 'At Good Old Siwash' and 'Golden Gloves.' Sensational in their swift achievement of importance and promising future is the group of young singing personalities brought out by various studios—Univer- sal's Gloria Jean, 11 years old, clicking in 'The Under- Pup'; Linda Ware, 14, protege of Charles R. Rogers, making her debut in 'The Star Maker' with Bing Crosby; Leni Lynn, 13, first seen in Metro's 'Babes in Goldwyn s Legal Maneuvering Cues Premonition of Setback In UA Suit Premonition by Max D. Steuer, Samuel Goldwyn's counsel, of the dismissal last week in Delaware fed- Arms'; Susanna Foster, 14, who scored outstandingly eral court of Goldwyn's contract with her thesping as well as warbling in Paramount's 'The Great Victor Herbert' They are all in the tal- ented prodigy - class, and all are being carefully pro- vided with appropriate roleis to capitalize their initial starts during the coming year. Univcrsal's sub-moppet, Sandra Henville, known on the Screen as Sandy, was literally lifted but of the cradle, to toss her infectious smile into the camera,' pos.sible, according to attorneys, for from the arms of Bing Crosby in 'East Side of Heaven." i Goldwyn to push his suit a'gainst UA She has made successive hits in two other pictures, on the original tack. 'Unexpected Father' and 'Little. Accident,' before reach-1 Announcement of 'termination' of ing the ripe old age of two. The child is uncanny in : his contract \yith UA is seen, there- her response to direction, and her infant sense of want- fore, as making the distributing ; breaking suit against United Artists ■ is now seen in New York as the rea- I son back of Goldwyn's sudden an- j nouncement several weeks ago of I the 'termination' of his UA pact. Opinion of Judge John P. Nields in ' Wilmington makes it virtually im- company take the olTensive so that the suit can be fought to the same conclusion, but from a different ing to please rates her a natural baby star. Robert Preston loomed up in Cecil B. DeMille's 'Union Pacific,' after handling a number of Increas- , ingly important parts during the preceding year, and . angle, is in one of the principal assignments on Paramount's j Court held that Goldwyn must 'Northwest Mounted Police' (DeMille). Resourceful,! "ame as defendants, in addition to intelligent, Preston is regarded by Paramount as a UA, Alexander Korda and the Elton Corp., the late Douglas Fairbanks' holding company, inasmuch as Gold- valuable asset and seems well established. Brenda Joyce impressed in 20th-Fox's important pic ture, 'The Rains Came," as the lovelorn ingenue, j wyn's action is based oh alleged Preppcd in school theatricals,, she has a fresh, engaging I breaches of the contracts of these personality and looks. Second role was in 'Here I Am two producer-owners with UA. a Stranger.' i To make them defendants, how- Doris Bowdon, from Memphis, was spotted by 20lh ; ever, they must be served within the scouts at a college play in Louisiana State University was coached through a few minor roles, and graduated through one of the 'Jones Family' films to an excellent showing with Henry Fonda in 'Young Mr. Lincoln.' Janice Logan, Chicago socialite wholly without ex- perience, justified Paramount scouts' selection with neat exhibit in 'Federal Offense,' made a hit as the school teacher in'IVhat a Lif«,' and was given the sole femme, part in the fantastic 'Dr. Cyclops.' Glamor Girls Lana Turner, carefully groomed as one of the prime dazzlers in the Metro establishment, made important gains this year through advantageous roles in 'These , Glamour Girls' and "Dancing Co-Ed.' She is considered the heir of the glamor roles which once were the privi- lege of Jean Harlow. Susan Hayward, walking unheralded and untutored into Paramount's talent department, came out with the leading feminine role opposite Gary Cooper and Ray Milland iii 'Beau Geste'; was signed, to term contract on strength of the first few days rushes, and then apr peared with Bob Burns in 'Our Leading Citizen.' Betty Field, femme topper in 'What a Life,' won the coveted part of Lannie in Lewis Milestone's production of 'Of Mice and Men' at Hal Roach, one of the amazing quick steps to prominence for the season's large femi- nine contingent. Barbara O'Neil won distinction in Universal's John M. Stahl production, 'When- Tomorrow Comes,' com- peting on even terms with Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer, in the appraisal of critics, and played Queen Elizabeth in U's chiller, 'The Tower of London.' Robert Stack, 20, Los Angeles little theatre player, and Lewis Howard, from New York legit, also 20, had leading juve roles with Deanna Durbin in 'First Love.' Geraldine Fitzgerald at Warners is regarded by her studio as an exceptional And. Initialer was with Bette Davis in 'Dark Victory,' from which she went to Sam- uel Goldwyn for 'Wuthering Heights' and then back to Warners for 'A Child Is Born.' Eddie Albert, who came to Warners from the stage to do 'Brother Hat,' his first film, is being brought along with important assignments, through 'On Your Toes,' and an advantageous showing in 'Four Wives.' William Lundigan, brought over by Warners from Universal, did a standout job in 'Dodge City' and scored in 'The Old Maid.' David O. SeUnick introduced Ingrid Bergman, Swed- ish actress, to American audiences in 'Intermezzo,' which she wrapped up very much for her own. John Hubbard, previou.sly a bit player at Metro, was picked up by Hal Roach and placed opposite Joan Bennett in 'The Housekeeper's Daughter' where he clicked for a term contract. Brenda Marshall ably managed a co-starring role with Joel McCrea in 'Espionage Agent' as her initialer at Warners, having come from the Federal Theatre Project in New York, and is being pointed for impor- tant chores. Considerable number of the young newcomers have jurisdiction of the court—and Korda is in England. That's why it is im- possible for Steuer merely to start his suit over again with the addi- tional two defendants. With UA on the olTsensive, however, to force Goldwyn to distribute through it; Steuer will be able to argue the case (as the defendant) on similar grounds without naming the other parties. Delaware decision has no bearing on the suit brought in N. Y. supreme court Dee. 8 by Goldwyn to obtain about $700 interest from UA on the $54,559.26 bonus he claims was due him on Aug. 25 and not paid. This action was transferred on Thursday (29) to the U. S. district court in New York on order of Justice Aron Steuer. UA's reply to this is awaited to show on what grounds it alleges Goldwyn failed to fulfill his contract and thus why the coin was not owed him. When Goldwyn be- gan to raise a fuss about the bonus, UA finally sent him a check for the money in hopes of avoiding further trouble, but he returned the check with the demand for interest thereon. In the Delaware action there ar«. (Continued on page 20) Night Life of the Cods By Groucho Marx Hollywood. Jan. 1. When one considers the setup, it seems to me that this local bull pit called Hollywood has considerably less scandal than it is entitled to. Hera is a town teeming with beautiful ingenues, marble-chiseled juveniles, low- priced vintage wines and half-priced bedroom suites; it has a desert moon, a neighboring ocean and dozens of lovely, lonely mountain tops; yet, despite all this, its Sodom and Gomorrah Crossley is lower than any hinterland cowtown. What is the reason for all this? Is sex going the way of the horse and buggy? Is a well-turned ankle less important than a well-turned phrase? Not that it matters—but where is the next generation coming from? Be calm, my friend, love is still alive and kicking, but Hollywood is too wrapped up in its groups and sets, its cliques and intrigues to bother about that little thing called love. To begin with, there is the young whippersnapper group. This is the 16-21 crowd. The studios pair them up like horses at a State Fair and they are instructed weekly with whom they are to go and when to announce their engagements. Tliey are usually snapped with their current fiances, holding hands at a night club, sharing a.nutburger at a Drive-In, or gingerly holding a tennis racket at £1 Mirador. The fact that they have never played tennis has nothing to do with it. It gives them a chance to pose in shorts, and besides, thercs' a sort of unwritten publicity law that all young starlets (as they are revoltingly called) must be photographed at some time in.their young careers brandishing a tennis racket. If the lenscr is particu- larly ingenuous, he poses them peering coyly through the gut. This is tops in photography, as it combines both sex appeal and sport! This crowd also goes in for mass bowling, serenading each other on roller skates and of- ficially greeting visiting Washington Congressmen who look as though they might vote for the Neeley bill. ' ; "Then there is the gambling group! They bet on anything—a card game, a roulette wheel, whether their next kid will be a boy or a girl, local and national prize fights, the horses, African golf, the market, baseball, and most of all, footballl The football chatter usually starts around July in the studio commissaries and ends up the following January at the Rose Bowl. They bet on punch boards, lotteries, high and low scores and have even been, known to make book on how many collective pounds a team will shed in one afternoon. These boys go in for plenty of check-kiting and financial legerdemain and their mornings are usually spent in a -nk, trying to square things with a brace of vice-presidents. The CaUural Bunch Then there is the cultural or white-tie-and-tail crowd. They spend half of their lives running to the Philharmonic to hear lectures, concerts, sym- phonies, to see dancers from Bali and Monte Carlo, and, in fact, anything that promises a high-hat opening. They take French and Spanish courses at the local universities; they specialize in first editions and Old English plate; they rush over to Pasadena for Maxwell Anderson and Shaw and will entertain any visiting lecturer who can be induced to stop over for dinner or cocktails. They woii't attend a preview unle.ss there is a canopied awning in front of the theatre, a red-carpeted -sidewalk of at .east 400 feet from their limousines to the main entrance and a grandstand of not less rrcascd practice of loanouts. Has given them wider and more varied opportunity, counteracted to some ex- tent the tendency to typo players, and has eliminated to considerable extent the former long time waits be- tween appropriate roles where a player was held jeal- ously to the home studio. BLUMBERG'S COAST TRIP TO SET U.'S PIX BUDGETS Number of pix and budgets for the coming year will be taken up by Nate Blumberg, Universal prez, dur- ing a two-week trip to the Coast on Which he leaves Friday (5). He'll be accompanied by Bill Scully, sales- manager, and J. H, Seidelman, who Is in charge of the company's foreign sales. Blumberg indicated important announcements would be forthcom- ing following the Coast confabs. Among subjects on the agenda during the visit -will be addition of hew producers to the U fold. Blum- berg said last week that the pact with Jules Levy, which has been In progress of negotiation for more ' than a month, has been completed and will be inked this week. It's for only one pic, Blumberg said, 'The Boys from Syracuse,' although others are likely to follow. Another producer with whom Blumberg has talked, and, it is un- derstood, will continue negotiations is Frank Lloyd. He denied, how- ever, that he has been in contact- with Jesse Lasky, who, it has been said, will return to film production via Universal. Blumberg refused comment on the departure of Harry Edington from the lot to become RKO production chief. He said, however; that U was taking into its employ two execs on Edington'S staff—Reginald Allen, who was handling production detail, and A, H. McCausland, business manager. Lloyd, Skirball Assured Bankrolling For 5 Pix than 3,000 admiring yokels. In addition to thi.s, the theatre manager has to .... , .V, • guarantee in writing that when the show is over the carriage starter wiU oroflted during the past twelve-months throufih tne n,. ^ ^^^^^ English accent for not less than five minutes. The busiest and most voluble group, however, are the social-conscious kids. They go to a meeting every night—any kind of a meeting will do. If it's a cause that they agree with, so much the better; but their theory is, any cause is better than none! At the drop of a hat, they'll boycott any- thing. It's a night lost when they don't issue an official white paper, de- nouncing something They have you slaph'appy signing papers, petitions and protests. It's all very confusing and frequently you find yourself send- ing money to both sides of a great cause. Unless you are axceptionally strong-minded, you eventually belong to more organizations than an insur- ance agent soliciting the Sons and Daughters of i Will Arise. The Old Guard And now we come to the flnal crowd—the old guard! Somebody once said: 'The old guard dies, but never surrenders!' Well, this crowd has done both. They are known as the low-bloodpressure group. They all have minus thyroid, leaping arthritis and droopy eyelids. Their idea of a ducky evening is to sit around and discuss their symptoms. Insomnia is their favorite topic and, at the slightest provocation, they will reel off hours of evidence t'o prove they haven't slept a wink in weeks.. They subsist largely on a diet of aspirin, vitamins and shots in the arm. They swallov/ tablets all night to put them to sleep and chew benzedrine, all day to keep them awake! They are easily recognized on the street—they all walk with a little jerk and a sligjit toss of the head like Lionel Barrymore in his last five pictures. They see their dentist twice a year and their doctor twice a day; they take daily massages and scalp treatments and spend more money on X-rays than they do on jewelry. So you see, love staggers along out here under many handicaps. It's doubtful if even Tommy Manville would thrive under these conditions, and that, gentlemen, is the acid test! So if you think tlie scandal from the Western Front is a bit on the dull side, don't blame it all on Vine Street. Hollywood, Jan. 1. Frank Lloyd and jack Skirball are drawing up incorporation papers for their new indie'production company, with commitments for a minimum of five pictures, to be bankrolled by the Guaranty Trust Co. of New York. First to roll will be 'Tree of Lib- erty,' slated for Columbia release. Outlets for the other four may be divided between Columbia and Uni- versal. Second feature, under pres- ent plans, is 'The Flying Yorkshire- man,' with Will Fyffe In the title role.