The Year Was 1938 – June 30

NEWS AROUND HOLLYWOOD

• Joan Blondell enters the maternity ward of the Cedars of Lebanon hospital. She and her husband actor Dick Powell are expecting their first child. [She had another child by her first husband cameraman George Barnes. Powell adopted that child with Barnes’ consent].
• MGM is taking advantage of the young actors in their stable. Betty Jaynes and Douglas MacPhail have been tapped to play the understudies in ’Sweethearts’ to Jeannette McDonald and Nelson Eddy. Other stars-to-be may be put forward also – Lana Turner, Ruth Hussey, Dennis O’Keefe, and Virginia Grey. [Jaynes and MacPhail were just recently married on June 10 (divorced in 1941). Jaynes was talked about for a part in ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ but was dropped when the part was removed from the script. They did both appear in 1939’s ‘Babes in Arms’].
• King David Gray, a cameraman employed at the Universal Studios was found shot to death in his vehicle, parked in front of the Hollywood Post Office on Wilcox Avenue. Valuables found on the body have ruled out robbery as motive. A spent shell casing was discovered, but no weapon. [Active in film since 1915 at Universal. First to start lighting effects at Universal. A cinematographer until the 1930s. From there on out a camera man, especially on the studio’s horror films – Dracula, The Old Dark House, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Black Cat].
• MGM begins production on Janet Gaynor’s new film ‘Three Loves Has Nancy’ on this date. Robert Montgomery co-stars under the direction of Richard Thorpe in this Norman Krasna production. [Gaynor, the first woman to receive an Oscar, would retire after this film. She had been 17 years in the business and wanted time to experience other things in life – to get married and have a family. Her first marriage had ended five years prior. In August of 1939, she married Adrian, the costume designer at MGM. They had a son in 1940].
• Producer Hal Wallis and director Michael Curtiz made the selection for the femme lead for their production of ‘Angels with Dirty Faces.’ Gloria Dickson and Gale Page had been under consideration for the role, but it went to Ann Sheridan. [The film marked her transition to stardom from bit and feature parts. Ahead in 1939 for Sheridan were the films ‘They Made Me a Criminal’ and ‘Dodge City’ and she was crowned with the tag – the Oomph Girl].
• Comedian Eric Blore reconciles with his wife Clara. She had filed for divorce citing intemperance, and he had countercharged saying she had falsely charged him with using liquor to excess. [Married since 1926, they remained married until his passing in 1959. She had four uncredited roles in 1938, and one with credits. Three more lay ahead in 1939. Eric had three credited roles for 1938, including ‘Swiss Miss’ with Laurel & Hardy].
• 20^th Century Fox is reporting at the Dionne Quints will have more footage than any other previous productions with the children – 2000 feet of film. The studio currently has eleven films in production.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

• Columnist Sidney Skolsky carries an item about a mistake made in the WB film ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood.’ It was reported to him by Robert Taplinger, a PR man at the studio. When King Richard proves his identity to Robin Hood by throwing off his monk’s robe to reveal his crusader garb, the red cross is shown on its front. Per the tradition of the time – the cross was worn on the chest of the knight upon setting out for the Holy Land, and worn on his back upon his return – so that the cross was always facing the Holy Land. Taplinger points out that such was known by the studio research department, but was done the ‘wrong’ way on purpose, otherwise the staging of it would have been awkward.
• Story of Poppy Wilde – dress extra –  (born Jacqueline Wardenburg, in CA). She had $1000 invested in her wardrobe, like a craftsman’s tools, they help her land jobs. She earned eleven dollars a day to wear an evening gown; $16.50 for an evening ensemble. When not in the studio on a job she is on the phone to Central Casting trying to get the next one. Six days a week. Sunday is her only day off – her only time for dates. Age 22 in 1938. She had an uncredited part in ‘Angels with Dirty Faces.’ She married Luther Vestergard in 1934 (divorced 1944), he was an actor too (stage name Paul Power). Both are listed in the 1940 census for the 42^nd Assembly Dist of LA County. He attended USC, and later Harvard Law (but ran out of money). In silent films from 1926. A lay minister and interim pastor at Saint Matthews Lutheran, and a member of the Hollywood Christian Group from its inception in 1949. A friend of Billy Graham, and appeared in Graham’s film ‘Oil Town USA.’