Gems from the Photoplays

Northland Age, Volume 5, Issue 5, 1 November 1935, Page 6

Gems from the Photoplays

Mae West has been such a sensational success that many people think she has made a dozen pictures, whereas actually “Klondike Lou,” her next for Paramount, will be only her fifth. * * * * Bing Crosby, now making “Two for Tonight” at Paramount, cannot read music, but knows the words of more than 1000 songs by heart. * * * * Newcomer Gets Lead in “Annapolis Farewell” Blonde Rosalind Keith furnishes the r< mantic interest in Paramount’s “Annapolis Farewell,” which features Sir Guy Standing and Richard Cromwell. The picture will mark Miss Keith’s second appearance on the screen, her debut having been made in “The Glass Key,” with George Raft, also produced at the Paramount sr.udios. Miss Keith’s entrance into films was unusual, to say the least. Unable at first to attract the attention of Hollywood film executives, she purchased a tame coyote and dyed her hair blonde. Her appearance on the Hollywood boulevard with the animal brought her to the notice of the Fress, the public and a few casting directors, with the result that she was signed for the leading role in the Raft picture, after tests which proved her to be a find. She is considered one of Paramount’s most promisingyounger actresses. * * * * Bing Crosby’s Newest Song Inspired by Printing Press Most people believe that a song writer just sits down before the piano, like a stenographer at her typewriter, and automatically picks cut a new musical number. They are partly right, but there is a lot more to being a composer than just that, declares Harry Revel. Revel should know, because he and Mack Gordon together have written some of the most popular current music, including

a whole library of hit songs for Bing Crosby. Gordon and Revel are now busily composing for Crosby’s newest feature, “Two for Tonight.” Crosby’s new theme song wasn’t simply tapped out on a piano. Revel was walking about the Paramount studio hoping for an inspiration which was slow in revealing itself. Suddenly the steady sound of elack-clack-elaek, coming from the studio print shop, caught Revel’s ear. In a few minutes it had clacked itself into an idea for a song. It was then, however, that Revel sought his piano to transcribe the tune pictures into notes.

“A composer’s ear is just built that way,” observed Revel in an off-hand explanation of the technique of music writing. “Anything that has a natural rhythm can give a song writer an idea. He can pick a rhythm out of almost any noise, providing it is a steady beat.” * * * * “Big Broadcast” Film has International Cast Hollywood’s record for pictures with an international cast threatens to fall before the heterogeny of nationalities appearing in Paramount’s “Big Broadcast of 193(3.” Even the principals had from the far corners of the earth. Wendy Bau:ie, feminine lead, is a British subject born in Hong Kong ; her two suitors, Jack Oakie and Henry Wadsworth, are Americans; Lydu Koberti, the comedienne, is Polish, and Akin Tamaroff (henchman of C Henry Gordon, the heavy) is a Russian. But the international mixup doesn’t stop with the stars. The art director, Hans Dreier, is a German. The-re are scores of Mexican and South American dancers in one sequence ; the Vienna Boys’ Choir in another: Carlos Gardel, Argentine tango singer, does a specialty number; and Richard Tauber, the world’s greatest living tenor, sings a number of s igs. Bill Robinson, ace tap dancer, who is as black as the ace of spades, also appears with a chorus of negroes. * * * * British Empire Films, Ltd. British Empire Films, Ltd., have scored yet another triumph in secur mg the Australasian distribution rights of the product of ten major producing organisations, which are controlled by Mr. C. M. Woolf, late managing director of the Gaumont - British organisation. Mr. Woolf’s

new company goes under the heading of British Film Distributors. This organisation will be in a somewhat similar capacity to the United Artists Corporation, who have various producing companies making the pictures which they distribute.

Already in production for this new organisation are the following films ‘ The Street Singer Seranade,” “The Marriage of Corbal” (a Sabatini story), “When Knights are Bold” (featuring Jack Buchanan), “Beloved Vagabond” (featuring Maurice Chevalier, which is a sequel to “Innocents o f Paris”). Besides these films, whicn will be the first to arrive in New Zealand, a brilliant array of stars and stories have been assembled by British Film Distributors. “The Blue Lagoon” in technicolour (to be made in Honolulu), Tom Walls and Ralph Lynn in two comedies on a more ambitious scale than their past vehicles, Tullio Carminati and Anna Neagle in a musical production with its settings in. Naples and London, Bing Crosby in one film. “Pagliacci,” a screen adaptation of Leoncavallo’s -,pera, with Richard Tauber singing and Karl Grune as director. This will be followed by “Koeningsmark” with Elissa Landi, “The Improper Duchess” with Yvonne Arnaud and Hugh Wakefield, and “His Majesty’s Pyjamas” with Clive Brook and Helen Vinsen. Other films will have Ann Harding, Nils Asther and Marlene Dietrich in the casts. Leslie Howard in “Bonnie Prince Charlie,” and Anna Sten in “A Woman Alone,’ a story based on the life of Lady Hamilton.

Iris Adrian chooses a soft Scotch, plaid material for beach wear and leisure hours. The outfit consists of three pieces—a backless blouse, shorts and a skirt. The novelty of this ensemble is the zip skirt which can be discarded very quickly, leaving a smart blouse and shorts for the beach cr yachting. A short-sleeved coatee can also be added to the outfit if required.