IN OLD CALIFORNIA

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 92, 20 April 1939, Page 5

IN OLD CALIFORNIA

MAJESTIC ATTRACTION. ‘•GOLD IS WHERE YOU FIND IT." I With George Brent and Olivia ! de Havilland as its stars, “Gold is Where You Find It," a thrilling melodrama of California in the 1870’s, opens to-morrow at the Majestic Theatre. It is a Warner Bros.-Cosmopolitan production in technicolour and according to reports of previewers is one of the really best pictures of ihe season. "Gold is Where You Find It” deals with a phase of gold-seeking that has hitherto been untouched by the movies—the hydraulic mining whereby tremendously powerful streams of water ripped away hillI sides, from Ihe debris of which the ■ miners sifted their metal. But this debris overflowed upon the lands of j the wheat growers and orchardists, ■ and warfare resulted—a conflict that | was prolonged and deadly. The fight, extended over a number of years,' nearly split the State of California ini two, and was not settled until a Court [ decision declared in favour of the Agriculturists and made the hydraulic interests quit. Supporting Brent, and Miss de Havilland are Claude Rains, Margaret Lindsay. John Lite!, Marcia Ralston, Barton Mac Lane, Tim Holt (young son of the famous Jack), Sidney Toler, Henry O’Neill. Willie Best, Robert McWade, Harry Davenport, a ' score of others, plus thousands of extras. “Gold Is Where You Find it” was made on the actual locale of the ancient war and was directed by Michael Curtiz, maker of such suc- .' cessful action dramas as "Captain I Blood," and "Charge of the Light I Brigade.” It is based upon Clement | Ripley’s novel.

First black eye in Hollywood to be . inflicted by a cnampagne cork was . contracted by none other than suave sophisticated Charles Boyer, noted for i . his screen portrayals of continental; . bon vivants. During the filming of; • RKO-Radio’s “Love Aftair." a scene - with Irene Dunne called for the actor : ; to open a bottle of cnampagne with a ’ , flourish. The gesture died midway. - when the cork popped prematurely I ; and struck Boyer squarely in the eye.' ’'Director Leo McCarey held up pro-1 ■ duction until a piece of beef steak' ■ performed its duties. > * * * * No More Glamour. Claudette Colbert, star of Paramount’s “Zaza,’’ has expressed herself >as very much against the word “glamour.” In fact, the word is strictly ! poison to her because it really means I. . . and she quotes Webster ... “a 1 deceptive or enticing charm . . . any I interest in, or association with, an ; object or person, through which the ■ object or person appears delusively magnified or glorified.” Claudette Coli bert does approve of this. “If you can I think of some new words for ‘giam- ; our,’ Hollywood can use them," she 1 says. i Deanna Durbin’s New Film. | “Three Smart Girls Grow Up,” ■ Deanna Durbin’s new picture, is near- • ing completion at Universal studios. I Three of the four songs which Deanna I sings in the picture have already been recorded and photographed. The large (ballroom sequence also has been finished. According to the producer, Joe Pasternak, and Director Henry Koster, only a. few weeks of camera work remain to complete the picture. Filming proceeds on sequences in a conservatory of music where Deanna sings “La Capinera.” She is accompanied by a 40-piece orchestra, with Charles Previn, musical director of the studio, with the baton. I “Son of Frankenstein.” i Universal’s sensational new scare I film, “Son of Frankenstein.” has j brought fresh fame and a revives I screen career for Bela Lugosi. FolMowing release of the latest “thriller,” I in which Lugosi shares starring honours with Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff, Universal rewarded the Hungarian actor with a new and lucrative long-term contract. Under its terms. Lugosi will be featured over a period of five years, in a series of Universal pictures. First of the series, and other details, will be announced jsoon. Lugosi, like the characters he portrays on the screen, has experiencg ed one of the weirdest, careers in | Hollywood. A world-famous stage | actor, he first attained to prominence | on the screen as the star of “Dracula” and other early Universal film frighteners. But for the past two years he has been absent from the screen, unable to obtain a satisfactory part. Australian Film. Cinesound has chosen a good story in the plot of “Mr. Chedworth Steps Out.” It is a comedy-dramatic rom- , ance. of the great “average” family, and the distinctive novelty of its presentations wins congratulations. Firstclass entertainment, it tells the life story of a typical suburban family man with a typical family and 1he multifarious problems and troubles that they place on to his willing shoulders. While humour is the basic strength, it is the depth of the drama, the youthful spirit of the younger members of the family, and the refreshing, romantic balance provider by the eldest sister that makes the story a well-knit example of entertainment in the assured general appeal class. The standing of the star. Cecil Kellaway, is expected to make this latest Cinesound production the best Australian film success to date.