Opera Diva Gladys Swarthout and Fritz Feld from ‘Romance in the Dark’ – Paramount 1938
News Around Hollywood
Fritz Feld got a 24 hour vacation after 63 weeks of continuous work. After this “day off” he will report at Paramount for a role in ‘Campus Confessions.’ [Feld had ten credits in 1938, including ‘Romance in the Dark’ and ‘Bringing Up Baby;’ ahead in 1939 he had six, including ‘Idiot’s Delight’ and ‘At the Circus.’ Perhaps working on only six films he got some more time off].
Paramount reached a near peak last week, with 9 films in production. Five on location (all in California): ‘Sons of the Legion,’ ‘Touchdown Army,’ ‘Arkansas Traveler,’ ‘Men with Wings,’ and ‘If I Were King.’ And four shooting in the studio: ‘Artists and Models Abroad,’ ‘Zaza,’ ‘Paris Honeymoon,’ and ‘Campus Confessions,’ (noted above).
Investigators from the US Attorney General’s office have completed their look at the records of the Universal exchanges and are moving on to those of RKO.
Productions on the summer schedule for WB has called for 400 back lot workers for the next three weeks in three shifts. ‘Angels with Dirty Faces’ requires construction of a new water front street, and a renewal of the tenement set.
Ann Sheridan is scheduled to follow her turn on ‘Angels with Dirty Faces’ with ‘The Gay Nineties.’ [Sheridan did not appear in a film called The Gay Nineties (nor was one made with that title at WB), but among the titles for her 1939 year, there was the sequel ‘Angels Wash Their Faces’].
Delay of production on ‘Murder in Massachusetts’ on the Columbia lot is chalked up to their inability to borrow name players. Director Reuben Mamoulian, slated to direct the film, has been idle on the lot for five months. [Looks like another film that did not go through. Columbia did put Mamoulian on ‘Golden Boy’ instead].
Margaret Sullavan and Brian Aherne land the top roles in a Hal Roach project ‘Robbery Under Arms.’ It deals with early days when convict ships were sent from Britain to Australia. [Margaret Sullavan looks to have been tied up at MGM making ‘The Shining Hour’ through this time. Brian Aherne appeared in the Roach film ‘Merrily We Live’ around this time. Aherne did appear with June Lang in the 1939 film ‘Captain Fury’ for Roach, which given the topic (set in Australia) seems to line up with this project].
Casting and other difficulties have caused Walter Wanger to shelve the Personal History project, based on the Vincent Sheehan book. [See June 21].
Sam Goldwyn announced plans today to make a film about the 7th Cavalry – to star Gary Cooper. [Another idea that did not come to pass – not for Goldwyn anyway, nor for Cooper].
Jane Darwell and two others (new comer Johnnie Russell and Joan Valerie) start work at 20th Century Fox on the Dionne Quint pix – ‘Five of a Kind.’
Outside Hollywood
MGM’s location unit for their ‘Northwest Passage’ film switched bases from McCall ID to Yellowstone National Park. There, they will shoot river scenes. Its director W S Van Dyke was then working on ’Sweethearts,’ the Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy picture.
Norman Taurog, at work directing ‘Boys’ Town’ in Nebraska is testing some of the 212 boys there for a part in the upcoming Wallace Beery vehicle ’Stablemates.’ The opening scenes for that film were shot last Saturday at the Hollywood Park. [See June 9 and June 15]
RKO has announced that ‘Gunga Din’ will do a two month shoot this summer up at Lone Pine, near Mt Whitney. They have built into a trailer a complete film lab to take with them for the daily development of film and the showing of rushes each night. The construction of the sets are well underway.
Items of Interest
The coroner’s inquest into the death of cameraman King D Gray was inconclusive today. The jury rules that Gray was shot by an unknown assailant.
Expert witness testimony was given on behalf of actress Irene Bennett (no relation to Constance or her sisters) in her $500,000 damage suit against the Paramount studio physician Dr Straithearn, for failing to diagnose the severity of her illness. [Her last film was released in 1937. She died of tuberculosis in 1941, age 27].
