Director Edward H Griffith (seated below camera) with cinematographer James Wong Howe beside him.
NEWS AROUND HOLLYWOOD
The Hawks-Volke Corp has filed suit against one of their clients, film director Edward Griffith. They are looking to recover $269,950 in commissions and damages for their procurement on his behalf of work at 20th Century Fox and Paramount. They claimed that he had discharged them despite landing him a four year contract at Fox with a total salary of $783,166. And for Paramount they had procured a director job on “The Old Maid” for $50,000 for 10 weeks work. [The Hawks-Volke agency dissolved in 1939 to form separate agencies headed up by the two named principals – they were mainly involved in radio at this time. ’The Old Maid’ came out from WB in 1939, but it had Edmund Goulding as director not Edward Griffith. Griffith had no releases for 1938, but two films in 1939 for Paramount – both romantic comedies starring Madeleine Carroll – ‘Cafe Society’ and ‘Honeymoon in Bali’].
Ann Sheridan has been taken off the cast of Karloff’s ‘Devil’s Island’ by WB and given the leading lady role in their Mounties picture ‘Heart of the North.’ Jon Hall is being considered for the lead opposite her; Lewis Seiler to direct. Location shooting is planned for along the Sacramento River and Big Bear. [Neither Sheridan nor Hall made it into the Canadian Mounty picture, which came out in 1938. ‘Devil’s Island’ did come out in 1939 with Karloff. Big things lay ahead for Sheridan at WB, kicking off with ‘Angels with Dirty Faces’ for 1938].
RKO has definitely decided on Ann Miller for the Marx Brothers film ‘Room Service.’ Anne Shirley, originally chosen for the role, has been taken off in order to take on a part for another project at Columbia. [The Columbia film in question for Anne Shirley would have been ‘Girls’ School’].
As an element of authenticity for ‘Gunga Din,’ Cary Grant, Doug Fairbanks jr, and Victor MacLaglen have had their locks shorn to within a half inch of their skulls. And the makeup people are having a challenge with Sam Jaffe in the title role – [They want to outdo the job done on the actor for the Columbia film ‘Lost Horizon,’ in which Jaffe played the High Lama in Shangri-La).
The prop department on the latest Laurel and Hardy project (‘Just a Jiffy’) were assigned the task of making a water bottle gurgle on cue. A rubber hose was attached to the bottle and run through the wall to where a grip would watch a red light that would cue him to blow with all his might. It worked. [‘Just a Jiffy’ (a title change from ‘Meet the Missus’) would be released later in 1938 under the final title ‘Blockheads’].
Shooting is halted on Stage 9 at MGM for ‘The Great Waltz’ when a long distance call comes in for Luise Rainer. It is her husband, playright Clifford Odets. After 26 minutes, she rings off, and declares, “I will never go back to him.” [She filed for divorce in July, but through various delays and attempts at reconciliation, they did not divorce until 1940].
ON THE MOVE
Leaving LA for NY – Max Baer, Richard Barthelmess, Carl Laemmle, Louise Platt, Bill Robinson, Robert Taylor. [Barthelmess, film actor is returning from Hartford Conn., after receiving his BA from Trinity College there, He had studied there before dropping out after three years in 1917].
Leaving NY for LA – James Cagney, Ben Lyon, Fred Niblo, Hal Roach, Paul Stewart. [Niblo, a silent film director (the 1925 version of Ben Hur) is retiring from show biz and headed west to live on his farm in Bakersfield CA].
OUTSIDE HOLLYWOOD
Yale honors Walt Disney with an honorary degree of Master of Arts. Tomorrow Harvard adds its honors.
David Niven boarded the Normandie today to make an early return to the United States. He had been vacationing on a yacht off Norway when he got the call via radiophone from Goldwyn. The producer ordered him to report for his role in ‘The Lady and the Cowboy.’ This carves more than a month off of his two month vacation plan.
