Stories are in the entertainment press about the choice of Jack Dunn to play the part of Rudolph Valentino in an upcoming biopic. Producer Edward Small has tapped the British ice skater who most recently has been Sonja Henie’s skating partner in her ice show to play the screen idol. Dunn has had two other brushes with Hollywood. Universal had originally signed him for a picture entitled ‘Hippodrome.’ After an eleven month wait and no film, he successfully asked to be let out of his contract. Paramount was next to call, signing him for ‘Everybody’s Girl,’ which was another bust. Small plans to put him into another role first to give him some more experience, therefore he is slated for ‘The Duke of West Point.’ [Dunn did not make either film for Small. He went hunting in Texas in July and contracted a disease from handling an infected rabbit and died. Louis Hayward got the role in the West Point film].
David O Selznick finishes production today on ‘The Young in Heart’ three weeks ahead of schedule. Originally slated for ten weeks, they were able to shorten the time by pre-designing every major scene. Richard Wallace was the director. Selznick owes one more picture to UA which will be ‘Made for Each Other,’ now prepping for production.
‘Gunga Din’ went before the cameras last week. The biggest production in RKO history has been allowed a 95 day shooting schedule, with 60 of those on location. Six sets are under construction at Convict Lake, near Bishop, CA. [These were the figures up front laying down the expectations for this production – we’ll check in later and see if George Stevens kept to schedule].
This week, vaudevillians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were tested at MGM for ‘Honolulu.’ [The boys do not make it into the movies at this time. That will come later in 1940 at Universal when they appear in ‘One Night in the Tropics.’ They will be on the radio and stage until then. An interesting aside – Costello made it out to Hollywood in the late 1920s, but the only work he could land was as an extra or a stunt man. It is reported that he can be seen as an extra in Laurel and Hardy’s ‘Battle of the Century’ in 1927].
The San Fernando Valley gains another ranch owner in actor Lionel Barrymore. He has bought 20 acres in the Northridge district. [Lionel was just winding up his part in Frank Capra’s ‘You Can’t Take It with You.’ Due to increasing disablility, (arthritis and two incidents of broken hips], he acted in this film on crutches, and for his next back at MGM he would appear as the wheelchair bound Doctor Gillespie in ‘Young Dr. Kildare.’ 1939 would see him reprise the role in two sequels].
