SCREENLAND JOTTINGS

Evening Star, Issue 22975, 4 June 1938, Page 5

SCREENLAND JOTTINGS

BEHIND THE SCENES FILM SONGS ARE CREATED The music goes round and round and comes out on the screen in a “ hit ” musical that enchants, both .eyeand ear; but during the 'time when is going round and round in .production the important people ■ are not only the actors . and the musicians - later seen upon the screen. For in the making of a film musical there are great unknowns seldom heard _of and never seen by the public. Behind that smooth production that weaves its taut magic m a couple of hours lie days, nights, weeks, and months of arduous preparation by .composers, gong writers,, scorers, arrangers, rehearsal accompanists for singers, and trained technicians for recording music—and, by the symphonic orchestras which provide the incidental music that knits all the spattered elements of song and story into an harmonious whole. Such men are the spark plugs, and every studio which makes musicals has its own particular set. Universal’s functioned in the making of ‘ 100 Men and a Girl.’ Twentieth Century-Fox’s great unknowns were vital factors in producing ‘Thin Ice/ M.-G.-M., Paramount, and- Columbia all have their musical “aces,” whom the public never knows. Chief of them all ■ is the scorer .and arranger, a post filled at the Warner Bros.’ studio—where production of musichls .is'.a major feature ; of annual picture, schedules—by/ Riy Heindorf. His ' latest task, occupying him for months, . has been concerned with ‘ Hollywood Hotel.’ . How Heindorf operates is simplicity, itself in the telling,' but a complicated business in fact. For instance,. Johnny Mercer conceives the lyrics for a song that Dick Powell and Rosemary Lane are to sing in the picture; then Dick' Whiting plucks a basic tune for it out of the’ ether.. After' that comes Heindorf’s task,- 'He scores and arranges the music for that song for orchestral rendition; he scores and arranges all the incidental music for the play; and when Director Busby Berkeley writes “ finis ” to his work of shooting the scenes, when the cutting room has edited the film and put it together, Heindorf has another week or 10 days of arranging to bring all the elements into a musical whole. Another unknown .who is vitally necessary is the rehearsal pianist. In this case he is Malcolm Beelby, formerly with some of the leading orches-: tra» and bands of Araerica;~“With his diminutive piano mounted on a’ “ dolly ” which can be wheeled;around the sets, he rehearses Dick Powell and Rosemary Lane, Frances Langford, Johhhy Davis, and Mabel’Thdd in their numbers. He gets ho, screen .credit at all; but Leo Forbstein and his'Vitaphone orchestra of 35 pieces does better. It gets aline of type to announce “ incidental music by ■——Though Forbstein and his orchestra do not appear before the camera, leaving that to Benny Goodman and his swing band, to .’Raymond Paige and his orchestra, yet an end-to-end statistician might readily compute that, they play more hgrs of music than the others put together. Presently, when the picture is released and: the patrons go away from thousands of theatres whistling;, “ hit ” ; tunes in the night, the . great unknowns will have done thpir part along with the stars and the orchestras of glittering name and fame. It. will be all the same to them—they will he hard at work on another musical, “ propping ” it .up. behind the scenes.

THIS FAN MAIL SOME WORDS OF WISDOM The British statisticians, not to be outdone by their Hollywood cousins, are “at it” again with cpmputators. graphs; slide rules;, and indexes. All of the precise instruments and logics of the pure sciences have been drafted into service as a means to determine the nature and substance of “ fan mail.” From these hoary scholiasts, the Alexander Korda research staff, oome the following, revelations, charted for posterity during the weeks of shooting devoted to filming ‘ The Divorce of Lady X,’ a Merle Oberon' technicolour picture:—(l) That only 20 per cent, of so-called v fan mail addressed to “ movie ” stars is adulatory; (2) that 10 per cent, contains requests for autographs and pictures; (3) that at least 10 per cent, comes from self-appointed critics who “dole out” advice to the stars on suitable stories, roles, clothes, etc.; (4) that more than 15 per cent, contains requests for money, and an-other-10 per cent. requests- for advice in love and business matters; (5) that fraternal organisations write 10 per' cent, of all letters received by the studios; these ask permission- to use the names of popular players for exploitation; (6) that letters from enterprising fans who solicit financial .backing for new (and usually impractical) ventures, comprise the largest

classification—3o per cent, of all fan mail. Oddly enough, while the majority of these are frankly “ crank ” schemes, many provide bona fide investment opportunities,. and bear looking into. Merle Oberon, some time back, “ backed ” a new type of powder puff that found a wide market, and other stars have realised generous profits from propositions developed by fans. Night clubs, apparel shops, circulating libraries, secretarial services, and talent agencies have been built by the money of screen stars whose interest has been aroused through the mail. In fact, the chances are that when an actor or actress boasts of her fan mail she is only alluding to another opportunity to invest in a “ non-stop egg-beater ” or a “ horsehair toothbrush.”

■” POPEYE'S " UNIQUE ROLE “ AMBASSADOR OF GOODWILL! ” In recent times we have become familiar with figures running into millions, firstly as collective national debts and more recently on rearmament, but rare are the occasions when the word “ admirers ” can be attached to such numerical giants. Yet how easy it is of a certain film star, or should we say film character? We refer to that powerful spinach-eating cavalier of the comic strips and screen, “ Popeye the Sailor,” glorified* the world oyer in Paramount cartoons by the artistic efforts ■of Max Fleischer. Statistics recorded by Paramount reveal that “ Popeye ” is better known internationally than any real film player, with the possible exception of Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, together with one or two others who became international favourites in the early days of the silent films. “ Popeye’s ” popularity is due to the fact, it is said, that he is funny in any language, since the ingenuity of producers can prepare dialogue and music in any language and transfer it to the sound track with the appropriate gruffness that wo know of this hero in English-speaking countries. How fitting it is, therefore, that “ Popeyo ” should be appointed by Paramount as an “ ambassador of international goodwill ” to travel round the world as

part of the Internationa] business drive. By this time “Popeye” has reached Australia in the form of a lifesize characterisation, modelled in sponge rubber and some special American wood by the. creator-artist. Segar. He is dressed in the traditional nautical uniform, and his dimensions are sft 7in tall and his weight (in rubber) 301 b. He set out from Hollywood about midFebruary, and by plane was taken to New York bearing a goodwill message to prominent city officials. From New York he was shipped to London, where, after fitting receptions from the news cameras and the delivery of a special film showing excerpts from pictures now in production he continued his globe trotting. The itinerary arranged took him to France, Italy, India, and thence to Australia. He will visit New Zealand and then China, Japan, or India. Throughout his journey he will be accompanied by a large autograph album that contained at the outset the signatures of Paramount stars and executives. Important autographs have been added all the way, so that the book, on its arrival in Hollywood, will be a unique document. And so to “ Popeye ’’ may we soon pay appropriate welcome on his arrival here in New Zealand and lend support _ to the people who are fostering the idea of international goodwill which this time is encouraged in a new way—with a laugh!

* TOVARiCH' SCREENED BOYER AND COLBERT ‘Tovarich,’ the world-famous comedy dealing with an exiled Russian prince and grand duchess, which has been playing on the stage all over Europe and America for several years, comes in film form to the screen. Starring Claudette Colbert and Charles Boyer, it is said to be the most massive and expensive production that Warner Bros, have turned out since ‘ Anthony Adverse ’ and ‘ Charge of the Light Brigade.’ The director selected to handle the making of the immense production was Anatole Litvak, Russianborn genius, who several years ago in France made ‘ Be Mine To-night,’ which was highly successful. Anton Grot designed the settings for ‘ Tovarich.’ The largest one, a copy of the Belleville section in Pans, covered two acres and cost £12,000 to build. The set, under construction for four weeks, is seen in the opening “ shot ” of the picture. Three-story buildings, complete in every detail, surround a courtyard paved with thousands of real cobble stones. Fullystocked wine shops, book stores, clothes stores, hoot shops, cheese shops, and the like open on to the streets. Another tremendous setting was a market scene where Miss Colbert is caught stealing food. The entire stock of a wholesale vegetable concern in Hollvwood was purchased for three days to dress the set, which was a conv of a market in the workmen’s section of Paris. This sot covered a city block. Two famous dress designers created the gowns worn by the feminine stars of the picture—Travis Banton and OrryKelly.

WANTED-A " CARMEN " HOLLYWOOD DISCUSSES OPERA Hollywood’s most difficult search for beauty is not for chorus girls or even actresses, according to Paramount. It is for “ streamlined ” singers of operatic calibre who are young, who can act, and who can qualify in a beauty contest. “There are thousands of girls who can meet any one of the requirements; there are hundreds who can meet two of the requirements; there are scores who can meet three, but those who can meet all four are scarce as roses in a Kansas wheat field,” said Director Raoul Walsh. “ It’s a serious matter in Hollywood. The public is demanding more and more pictures with fine music, and is even beginning to demand opera.” “ The idea of producing opera is fine and undoubtedly the initial picture would be a tremendous success,” he continued. Paramount is entertaining the idea of producing ‘ Carmen.’ But where is Carmen? Where is Don Jose, and all of the other characters? Many persons could sing the roles, but cinema audiences are not satisfied with mere singing as are opera audiences—they want a Carmen who is a combination of Lupe Vejez with a temper, Ninon Valin with ‘ streamlines,’ and a Da Vinci portrait brought to life.” Once the public is given opera as Hollywood wants to make opera, the

demand from the public will be insatiable, but operatic roles are as widely divergent as dramatic roles, and the casting of a Hollywood “Carmen” in another operatic role would be about as ridiculous as having Claudette Colbert in a Martha Raye routine. However, Hollywood is gradually building up its singing power. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has Jeanette MacDonald under contract; RKO has Lily Pons, and Universal has Deanna Durbin. At Paramount, Gladys Swarthout, Metropolitan opera beauty, has been under contract for some time. Miss Swarthout has just completed a brilliant performance in Paramount’s ' Romance in the Dark.’ This search for beauty is not confined to the motion picture studios. The broadcasting talent departments are combing the world for the girls. But the number uncovered by the combined talent departments of radio and screen is very small. One of the for the scarcity of girls with operatic voices, according to the talent scouts, is that in the past a girl with a pleasing voice finds immediate and sizeable salaries with dance band engagements, and, therefore, is reluctant to spend the years needed to cultivate the voice to the operatic standard. The .increasing popularity of the classic form of music, however, is causing more and more girls to turn to the neglected field.

LOVE'S LABOURS NOT LOST, BUT UNPOPULAR Comes the revolution—on the theory that beauty should be more than screen deep, Anita Louise declares that she has played her last “ straight ” romantic role. Never again will she be the calm, beautiful, marble-statue labourer of love (if she has her way). The gorgeous blonde of the Warner Bros, studio has been playing love scenes since she made her motion picture debut in Vienna—she played the wife in a short feature film when she was nine years old. She was in love again when she played her first leading role in America at the age of 13; her sweetheart in that one played the role of her father in her next. picture. Now she has had a taste of something different, enough to know that she wants more of it. In the forthcoming ‘ First Lady,’ "Warner Bros.’ cinema version (starring Kay Francis) of the Broadway stage success, Miss Louise drew a character part as a “ fluttery ” ingenue. It called for romance, but for comedy, too, and it intrigued the actress. She still wants romance in her roles, but, as she says: “I want it with variations, comedy or character work. Character variety offers the _ greatest opportunity for advancement in public favour and for performance in important roles.” So real love has lost another of its labourers.

AGELESS ACTOR •‘STAR ” 225 NOT OUT Already Hollywood’s oldest star, but with good prospects of playing important roles when Shirley Temple is a grandmother, “ Ponchartrain Billy ” reported for work in his new picture. “ Ponchartrain Billy ” is a 225-year-old alligator, who will march at the head of 151) man-eating crocodiles in the great scene of Paramount’s ‘ Her Jungle Love,’ a new tropical romance in technicolour starring Dorothy Lamour and Ray Milland. Other animal actors of greater age have appeared on the screen at some time or another, including the venerable Galapagos turtle used in ‘ F.bb Tide ’ and an elephant in ‘ Doctor Rhythm.’ But these oldsters were mere extras. “ Ponchartrain Billy ” is an established star, having appeared in a score of films, among them ‘ Murder in the Zoo,’ ‘ Trader Horn,’ ‘ East of Borneo,’ and ‘ Nagana.’ Captured in Lake Ponchartrain, near New Orleans, >3O years ago, the big fellow is the only alligator in the ■world that has been trained to obey spoken commands, and is so docile that ho rides children on his back, although ho could crush them with one blow of his nowerful tail.

GREAT HISTORICAL FIGURES PROMINENT IN PRODUCTIONS A man who lived 100 years ago has twice come to life in Hollywood within the past year. This was revealed recently in connection with the New Orleans world premiere of Paramount’s ‘ The Buccaneer,’ produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The historical character is a young New Orleans banker, Vincente Nolte, who, more than a year ago, was a very good friend of Anthony Adverse in the picture of that name. In ‘ The Buccaneer,’ which deals with the -life of the Louisiana pirate and hero, Jean Lafitte, he approaches Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans, remonstrates with him, and is rebuked. The character of Nolle is obscure, and probably will not again reach the screen for many years—but he now reaches the same rank and classification held by other characters who suddenly come to life in Hollywood now and then, “ speak their brief piece,” and retire to the grave again. Small fortunes have been made by men portraying Abraham Lincoln, most of the fame going to Frank M'Glynn for his portrayal. Lincoln was stanred in the picture hearing his name, produced and directed by David _ Work' Griffith. In fact, ho came into pictorial existence in ‘The Birth of a Nation,’ and has been revived since in pictures once every six months. No picture of the Civil War era or even later, as in the case of Paramount’s ‘ The Plainsman,’ misses him. Phineas T. Barnum has been coming in and out of pictures, too. Wallace Beery played him in ‘ The Mighty Bamum,’ and also appeared with him when he was starred in ‘ The Bowery,’ and someone else played Barnum. Grant, general and President, has been prominent on several occasions. A uniform and whiskers are all that are needed to portray him. He has been seen countless times, but has not yet reached stardom. However, the time will come when he will he the protagonist in a great Civil War story. His frequent appearances on the screen are rivalled by these of Robert E.

Lee—both “ will have their innings in Paramount’s ‘ Gettysburg.’ Napoleon has had plenty of leads, and has had quite a run recently in ‘ Hearts Divided,’ played by Claude Raines, and in ‘ Marie Walewska,’ in which Charles Boyer took the part. Foreign characters have had a great run, too, the tsars, Robespiere, Danton, and Henry the VIII. all coming in for their share of attention. Westerns have given Jesse James plenty of return engagements. Jesse, the Daßon boys, and others have .been very active. Where they have not appeared, stories have been based on their exploits, starting with the days of ‘ The Great Train Robbery.’ Andrew Jackson is a frequent player, and is seen in ‘ The Buccaneer.’ George Washington has bad considerable opportunity in productions, Franz Josef, Marie Antoinette, Madame Pompadour, and many others, too. However, the men have put in their appearance a hundred times as often as the women. The entrance of any historical character is good for a dramatic impression on any ■audience, for the actual lives they lived were verv dramatic and the audience accepts them at their true value. HILARITY RUNS RIOT GEORGE WALLACE'S LATEST One of the most humorous sights during the shooting of ‘ Let George Do It ’ was diminutive Joe Valli, rowing to the rescue of a damsel in distress in the guise of Letty Craydon. Not that Joe cannot row a boat—he can—but the fact that he was given a large naval cutter to manipulate caused the fun. So deep was the cutter, and so small the rower, that Joe’s h>t and hands were all that could be seen by Director Ken G. Hall, and when Joe caught numerous “ crabs,” the hat would disappear from sight entirely. The well-known Scottish comedian pi avs the role of “ Happy,” George Wallace’s mournful “ off-sider,” in the film, and the perfect team work of the two comedians is a highlight of the production. ( Let George Do It 1 lias been completed by Cinesound.

ONE IN 25,000 COMES ANOTHER CHILD STAR You may think.that one child in the nurserv is worth two on the screen; but Hollywood, finding Shirley Temple and Jane Withers in the first 10 boxoffice favourites of 1937, and Freddie Bartholomew and Deanna Durbin well up among the leaders, has different views on the subject. It is significant that nearly all the bigger companies have at least one child star tinder contract. M.-G.-M. have three in Freddie Bartholomew, Mickie Rooney, and Ronald Sinclair; Shirley Temple and Jane Withers—the latter in the £SOO-a-week class —are employed by Twentieth Cen-tury-Fox; Bobby Breen is BKO Radio’s pet; Universal have Deanna Durbin; Edith Fellowes appears in Columbia pictures, and many of the

other companies have signed youngsters of whom big things are expected'. _ Of the newcomers the one getting the biggest opportunity is Tommy Kelly, whom Mr Selznick is sponsoring in ‘ The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, ’ a costly technicolour version of the famous Mark Twain classic. _ This is considered one of the child-acting “ plums ” of the year. Hollywood finds suitable child actors the most difficult to unearth. In the case of Tommy Kelly, Selznick conducted a nation-wide search for nearly a year, and his agents, interviewed nearly 15,000 boys before Tommy Kelly was found in a New York schoolroom.

GAVE THEM NO REST INTERRUPTIONS IN “ SHOOTING " After being chased away from three different street locations where his company was trying to shoot exterior night scenes, Lew Landers, directing (RKOlladio’s 1 Double Danger,’ left in disgust recently. The first location was on Fremont Place. No sooner had the portable dynamo turned over than servants in a nearby home requested that the company move away because the whirr of the machinery disturbed an extremely sick man. Landers moved the company and again began work. A few minutes later an ambulance and a radio car arrived on the scene because a woman had su£Eered_ a heart attack in a nearby house. Again Landers moved. When the company started to-work on a third location, two “ drunks ” and police cars once more disrupted the shooting. The company then gave up and postponed the shooting' until the next evening.

OH TRIAL FOR HER LIFE A young girl on trial for her life, and a woman, beautiful, distinguished, and talented, on trial for ,her past. her'' present j and her future—this is the theme interwoven subtly into the plot of ‘ Portia on Trial.’ It is a very unusual him of intense and'powerful drama; it is absorbing, startling,> and' original, with an excellent cast, literally hand-picked. Astute casting was done by . putting charming Frieda Inescort, in the: title role, for ; that splendid actress has just the proper maturity, poise, and emotional' depth to give the part the strength and pathos it requires. Portia Merriman is a brilliant and successful woman criminal lawyer, admired yet feared by her adversaries. An unfortunate love affair in. her early 'girlhood has provided the driving force to urge her to secure justice for downtrodden womanhood—justice at any cost. The. price of this justice in the gripping, climax is the love of her longlost son, but she., contrives with superb poise and finesse to secure both. Walter. Abel returns an outstanding performance :as Dan Foster, the young district attorney who loves Portia Merriman as a woman, even:as he scorns her: as,ad unscrupulous criminal lawyer; and little Heather Angel will not be soon: forgotten as the unhappy English girl who is brought to America only to, learn the bitterness of scorn and hatred. Her betrayal forms the background of the dramatic trial scene, which .Has•- had few peers in screen history to,dateAs a jaded man of the world, Neil Hamilton contributes, an outstanding performance; and in a very good characterisation of Old John Condon, industrial and political ma gnate who -is instrumental in bringing Portia before the Bar Association in an effort to expel i her from her profession, is Clarence Kolb. COMPOSERS MAKE " PROPS’* BUILT INTO A STAGE Statues of the classics composers Strauss, Mozart, Warner, Beethoven, Haydn, Liszt, and Baca were completed recently for the most' elaborate set ever constructed in Hollywood for the glorification of so-called “serious ” music. The statues were made by Ignatz Folski, Polish sculptor, who was commissioned by Paramount to create the figures to give visible expression to the music of these masters, which is being made an integral part of a motion picture. Folski worked on the statues for five months, in collaboration with Andrew; Stone, who is directing ‘Stolen, Heaven,’ the Olympe Bradna-Gene Raymond music drama, in which classical music is. being fused with uninterrupted dramatic action for the first time. The figures of the composers are being built into a large stage, extensively latticed and garlanded with flowers, on which Lewis Stone, frho portrays a celebrated musician, is to play the piano in tho presence of 10,000 persons.