Ginger Rogers and Buster Keaton in Hollywood Cavalcade (from 1939)
News around Hollywood
Buster Keaton was brought in to work with Melvyn Douglas and Florence Rice on their MGM film ‘Fast Company.’ He instructs them “how to take painless comedy falls.” [The silent comedian was an expert. Though I would be concerned because he once broke his neck on a stunt in one of his films and did not know it until years later].
French actors (like Danielle Darrieux and Annabella) are demanding dialog coaches on their films so that their accents won’t make them unintelligible to US audiences. Charles Boyer has done so.
Midgets in Hollywood have formed their own guild the Tiny Town club. [Just in time for The Wizard of Oz].
More than 5000 extras were employed at Paramount last week due to a heavy run of mob scenes. ‘If I Were King’ led the list with 1600.
Fanny Brice takes the top comedienne spot in the upcoming film from MGM, ‘Honolulu.’ Eleanor Powell and Allan Jones are the stars. [The film was released in 1939, but without Fanny Brice or Allan Jones aboard. I believe the columnist (or whomever they were talking with at the studio) confused this production with ‘Everybody Sing’ since “Funny Girl” Brice and Jones starred in this film with Judy Garland, released in 1938].
Rumors are circulating that Walt Disney is looking for a new mouse house [er, studio] for his cartoon characters. Studio officials state that the idea is too nebulous to even be considered as a plan. [Yet it was true. Walt had all that cash coming in from Snow White, and his original plant was getting cramped. More on this coming later].
Mark Sandrich ends a 9 year director hitch at RKO in August, currently directing his 6th Astaire-Rogers musical. He intends to freelance next. [The current film is Carefree, see next item].
Franklin Pangborn was signed today by RKO for a role in the currently shooting Astaire-Rogers film. [The fussy Pangborn had a total of thirteen films for 1938, but only two for 1939. Perhaps there was little call for Maitre’Ds and put-upon hotel managers that year].
Bob Burns, film and radio comic salary increases. In 1934 $1500; in 1935 $9000; in 1936 $100,000; in 1937 $400,000. [And he had invented his own musical instrument that he used in his vaudeville act and on the radio – he called it the Bazooka. The anti-tank weapon in World War Two was named after it, due to their resemblance. He had three film credits in 1938; followed by two in 1939].
An assistant director at Selznick-International Eric Stacey solves a problem of what to do with an old car – (a British model) – rent it to a film studio – he got more in rental for it last week than he paid for it 10 years ago. [Stacey was busy in 1939, filling in as assistant director on ‘Made for Each Other’ and ‘Gone with the Wind’].
ON THE MOVE
Left LA for NY – Billy Halop, Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Curley Howard, Dashiell Hammett, Al Jolson, Pat O’Brien, Joe Louis.
Left NY for LA – Roy Disney, Leland Hayward, Henry Travers.
