FOOTLIGHT FLASHES

Evening Star, Issue 23869, 26 April 1941, Page 5

FOOTLIGHT FLASHES

By “ Loiterer ”

’CONVOY ’ ACCLAIMED No film in. memory has been welcomed with such unanimous enthusiasm by tho combined Press of England and Australia as ‘ Convoy,’ Britain’s screen drama of tho hour. And no motion picture lias stirred audiences to such a pitch of excitement as this amazing story of a wife, lover, and husband thrown together in a tempestuous heart drama as tho convoy steams through tho dawn. Unfolded against an authentic background of unparalleled thrills, the production of ‘ Convoy ' was made possible only by the full co-operation of the British Admiralty and • Department of Information. Its realism is at times bewildering, its powerful entertainment at all times stirring. ‘ Convoy ’ is indeed a film every Britisher should see. And speaking of realism, here is an interesting story pf an actual happening at the London preview of the film. The special audience included many high officials of the Admiralty and two commanders in uniform sat directly in front of director Pen Tennyson. As the screening progressed Tennyson became more and more anxious at the seeming lack of enthusiasm of the two officers, when suddenly during the ex-

citing naval encounter between H.M.S. Apollo and the German pocket battleship, one grabbed the other and exclaimed, “ Why the blazes doesn’t he stick a torpedo into her?” Naturally Tennyson was delighted at the reaction of these “ sons of the sea,” and his pleasure was later increased manyfold by the Press raves and the record success of the film at theatres throughout the length and breadth of the British Isles. Now the English triumphs of ‘ Convoy ’ are being repeated throughout Australia, and surely the sincere congratulations of everyone should w out to the Mother Land for givinsz ns this magnificent entertainment, this confi-dence-inspiring production, during the most critical period in the history of Empire. Clive Brook, as the commander of the convoy, John Clements (of ‘ Four Feathers’), Judy Campbell, and Edward Chapman head the big speciallypelected cast of ‘ Convoy,’ which comes here shortly. HER MAJESTY THE BABY PROTESTS Though Baby Quintanilla gurgled every time her foster-father, Eddie Cantor, appeared on the set of ‘ Forty

Little Mothers,’ and chortled every tinie Clark Gable picked her up in ‘ Boom Town,’ the sight of Slim Summerville in an old-fashioned nightshirt and with a shotgun in his hands proved too much. The scene, which occurred in ‘ Gold Rush Maisie,’ was supposed to show Ami Sothern seeking shelter from a rainstorm on the Arizona desert in Lee Bowman’s ranch house along with a family of gold prospectors and their baby. Every, time Slim, as the hired man, showed his face in the doorway Baby Quintanilla howled, and not all the coaxing of Miss Sothern, Director Edwin L. Marin, or any others of the cast could stop the waits. Marin, filially decided that the only way to circumvent the situation was to have the'mother, played by Mary Nash,, hold the baby in such a position'that she could not see Slim, and have Slim stand at an angle away from the baby. Only when Slim changed from nightshirt to overalls would the baby have anything to do with him. SHAW'S ‘ MAJOR BARBARA ' The screen version of George Bernard Shaw’s world-famous play. ‘ Major Barbara ’ has been completed at the Gabriel Pascal Film Production Studios at Denham. Wendy Hiller, the talented young lady who created a sensation with her remarkable performance of Eliza Doolittle in ‘ Pygmalion.’ will doubtless even more iirmly establish

Jottings on the people of the Stage and Screen and on the latest recorded Music.

her reputation as one of our greatest screen actresses. She co-stars with such eminent actors as .Robert Morley, Emlyn Williams, and. Hex Harrison. All reports so far received indicate that ‘ Major Barbara ’ will prove as great a success us its predecessor, ‘ Pygmalion.’ This picture, it will be remembered, was also directed by Gabriel Pascal, and contained many of the same stars, besides almost entirely the same technical staff as that which made ‘ Major Barbara.’ 1 DIVE BOMBERS ’ Warner Brothers think that in ‘ Dive Bombers ’ they have a film of this war comparable to ‘ Dawn Patrol ’ and ‘Wixxgs,’ which have become classics. Errol Flynn and Fred Mac Murray will star in ‘ Dive Bombers,’ which will be a technicolour production. The story was specially written by Commander Frank Wead. Mac Murray was borrowed from Paramount after the original east had been discarded. It included Ronald Reagan, James Cagney, and George Brent. Flynn’s work in the 1939 version of ‘ Dawn Patrol ’ led to his being selected for ‘ Dive Bombers.’

UNITED ARTISTS PRODUCTIONS Arrangements have been completed between Amalgamated Theatres Ltd. and United Artists (A’sia) Proprietary Ltd. for the release of United Artists films during the current year in all theatres throughout the Dominion controlled by Amalgamated Theatres. The first picture to be released was ‘ The Great Dictator.’ Another important picture to he released is Alexander Korda’s . technicolour extravaganza, ‘ The Thief of Bagdad.’ The stars ai'e Sabu, Conrad Veidt, J une Dnprez, and John Justin. ‘ That Hamilton Woman ’ is also an Alexander Korda production, and in it Laurence Olivier will be seen as Lord Nelson and Vivien Leigh as Lady Hamilton. Walter Wanger is- contributing 1 The Long Voyage Home.’ This Eugene O’Neill drama concerns the voyage across the Atlantic of a freighter loaded with dynamite. Edward Small, who made ‘ The Count of Monte Cristo,’ has now produced ‘ The Son of Monte Cristo,’ with Louie Hayward and Joan Bennett. The Hal Roach pictures will all be comedy, beginning with 1 Road Show,’ already released, with Adolphe Menjou and Carole Landis* The next will be ‘ Topper Retunxs,’ which carries on the

humorous adventures of the famous Thorne Smith characters, and ‘ Broadway Limited,’ which utilises the famous train as its background. James Roosevelt’s initial production for United Artists will he ‘ Pot o’ Gold,’ with James Stewart and Paulette Goddard—a musical comedy-drama based on a popular radio broadcast. Another new producer for United Artists is Richard Rowland, whose initial feature is ‘ Cheers for Miss Bishop,’ based on the novel by Bess Aldrich, with Martha Scott as Miss Bishop. ‘ So Ends Our Night,’ adapted from the novel ‘ Flotsam,’ by Remarque, is being produced by David L. Loew, with Freclrie March and Margaret Sullavan in the leading roles. Sol Lesser is contributing ‘ That Uncertain Feeling,’ directed by Ernest Lubitsch, with Merle Oberon, Melvyn Douglas, and Burgess Meredith in the leading roles. SONGS THAT CAUGHT ON That the legitimate stage will never lose its appeal is firmly evidenced by the remarkable support accorded the annual productions of the Dunedin Operatic Society. One of the most entertaining shows ever staged by the society was ‘ A Country Girl,’ presented over 10 years ago. Who does not remember the catchy ‘ Try Again, Johnny,’ ‘ Yo Ho, Little Girls,’ ‘ Under the Deodar,’ ‘ The Rajah of Bhong,’ and all the-other gay songs and choruses

from that outstanding production? It is high time they were heard again, and Dunedinites will be able to enjoy’ them all once more when the curtain goes up on the Dunedin Operatic Society’s 1941 production of ‘ A Country Girl ’ in June. ANYWAY, WHAT IS SCRAPPLE ? Somewhere in Hollywood usually can be found someone who knows- all about some obscure something. This individual is then employed to see that the filming of that obscure something, as a sequence in a motion picture, is correct in all details. He becomes a technical adviser. In the filming of Ginger Rogers’s new picture, ‘ Kitty Foyle,’ RKO Radio needed a technical adviser for the Philadelphia breakfast sequence. A Philadelphia breakfast has for its basis a famed dish known as scrapple. But where to find an expert? Why, right at home. David Hempsted, the producer, once lived in Philadelphia, and still has scrapple packed in dry ice sent him. He not only served as adviser, but contributed the scrapple. PROPHETS ARE HONOURED Breaking all the rules of the oldest feud in the film colony, Paulette Goddard has failed Hollywood’s character actors as the town’s best bets and their own worst enemies. Her tribute had a kind of “ man-bites-dog ” news value, because of the traditional mealymouthed attitude of screen stars toward the genei'ally better-acting, hut lowerpaid, troupers who support them and often steal their scenes. The beautiful Miss Goddard even singled out a few chax-acter playex-s for special mention, including Akim Tamirofl! and Lynne Overman, who stole scenes from her in Cecil B. De Mille’s ‘North-west Mounted Police,’ and the late Gi’anville Bates, who stole sequences from Cary Grant and Irene Dunne in ‘ My Favourite Wife ’ and died before the public could reward him. “ Most of Hollywood’s stars merely play themselves on the screen,” said Miss G odd a id, “ and most of the really fine actors and actresses do nothing hut character roles. - Of course, there are exceptions.' Many stars are really fine ax-tists, but the percentage of real actors is definitely among the character ■players.” “ They’re the ones who do most to make a picture convincing,” continued Paulette. “ They’re Hollywood’s real ' best bets,’ and I believe every director knows it. But they’re their own worst enemies, too, hecaues they are top good. Actors like Akim Tamiroff and Lynne Overman consistently give characterise* ’ tions which are so rich that the public can take them only in small doses, and because every characterisation they give is different, the public never really becomes'familiar with them as personalities. Now and then they get a break. They give a performance that_ makes them famous over night, and, .if their luck holds, they may know stardom. But there’s a hitch. They’re typed from that time on, in the role in which they made ‘ the big hit.’ ” As for the scenes lost to Tamiroff and Overman in ‘ North-west Mounted Police,’ Miss Goddard can well afford to be generous. Her performance as Louvette, the fiery French half-breed', marks the high point of her career, and Paramount expects it to make her one of the most important stars in the business. COMEDY FOR BETTE DAVIS? Bette Davis, who for some time has been wanting a change from heavy drama, may do a comedy role after all. Bette, holidaying in New York, went to see ‘ The Man Who Game to Dinner,’ Broadway’s biggest stage hit of recent years, and was so enthusiastic that she immediately wired to , her studio asking to be allowed to play the nurse. In the play the part is a comparatively small one, but Bette doesn’t mind that. “ Let them build it up if they like,” she says. “ but it is a wonderful part as it stands and it is something I want to do. If it were slapstick I’d say no; it isn’t my line. This is different.” At Bette’s suggestion, the title role will probably be played by John Barrymore, complete with beard.

LONDON AND THE TEN BEST Two of London’s most widely read film critics beg to differ. Both of them, looking (back, choose what they consider the 10 best films of the year. They agree about ‘ The Grapes of Wrath,’ though Dilys Powell, writing in the ‘ Sunday Times,’ heads her list with this magnificent film, while Campbell Dixon, film critic of the ‘ Daily Telegraph,’ places it third to Walt Disney’s ‘ Piuocchio.’ are unanimous about the merits of ‘ Of Mice and Men,’ which both place second; and on ‘ Pinocchio ’ and ‘ The Magic Bullet.’ Here they divide. Miss Powell then lists ‘Primrose Path,’ 'Contraband,’ ‘ Foreign Correspondent,’ 1 The Postman Always Rings Twice,’ * 11s Etaient Neuf Celibataire.s,’ and- ‘ The _ Proud Valley ’ —listing four American films, two British films, and two French films. Mr Dixon follows up with ‘ The Mortal Storm,’ 1 The Great Dictator, 1 Ninotchka,’ ‘ The Stars Look Down,’ ‘Pastor Hall,’ and 1 Our Town,’ which credits only two British-made films to four made in Hollywood. ‘ Pinocchio ’ is, by common consent, Disney’s masterpiece. Another prominent critic, C. A. Lejeune, of- the ‘ Observer/ wrote that she enjoyed the following 21 films most' in 1940, pointing out that she left the “ grim masterpieces ” like ‘ The Stars Look Down ’and ‘Of Mice and Men,’ which, she admired but which made her unhappy, to sterner and more impartial critics:—‘ Our Town,’ ‘Rebecca,’ ‘Remember the* Night,’ ‘ Gone With the Wind,’ ‘ Young Tom Edison,’ ‘ Edison, the Man,’ ‘ North-west Passage,’ ‘ The Spirit of a People,’ ‘ Pride and Prejudice,’ ‘The Great Dictator,’. ‘The Grapes of Wrath, ’‘Pinocchio,’ ‘Gaslight,’ ‘Dr Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet,’ ‘ All This and! Heaven, Too,’ ‘ The Old Maid,’ ‘ We Are Not Alone,’ ‘ Ninotchka,’ ‘ The Earl of Chicago,’ ‘ The Wizard of Oz,’ and ‘The Ghost Breakers.’-

MAYBE IT MAKES SENSE! Isabel Lownsbery, 22-year-old Los Angeles girl, lias offered to pay lOOdol for a lunch with Charles Boyer. And she means it. It all came about in this manner. Universal studio, through a Los Angeles newspaper, conducted a contest to find out what it is about Boyer that makes him so popular with women. A prize of lOOdol was offered for the 'best reply. Miss Lownsbery won. When she arrived at the studio to receive the prize, she made a counter offer. “ If Mr Boyer will take me to lunch 1 will donate the lOOdol to the March of Dimes fund,” Miss Lownsbery stated, Her offer was telephoned to Boyer, who was in New York. “ Certainly, I will be very happy to take Miss Lownsbery to lunch as soon as I return to Hollywood,” Boyer- replied. So now the 22-year-old girl, who is employed as a secretary at the Auto Club ’ of Southern California, is anxiouslv awaiting that day when she will lunch with her screen favourite. On that day she will turn her lOOdol prize

money over to the Los Angeles headquarters of the March of Dimes campaign, TITLES ARE OUT ' Through the use of a newly-developed “ motif main title,” the David Loew-Albert Lewin production ■So Ends Our Night,’ to be released through United Artists, will open its dramatic continuity “as soon as tha first foot of film hits the screen, instead of starting after all credits have been shown. Filming of the main title was completed by a production crew headed by William Cameron Menzies and scores cf extras at an outdoor location. Menaces, together with the producers. a»d Director John Cromwell, worked out the new style of introduction. Backgrounds of the main title will stare the story, and variations of the same scenes will appear from time to time during the ■ picture. These will symbolise important events in the lives of the characters in the story.