Mickey Rooney is the hottest thing on the MGM lot and is currently in ‘Boys’ Town’ and ’Stablemates.’ And they have three more lined up for him – ‘The Hardy’s Out West,’ ‘Roosty,’ and ‘Broadway Melody.’ [Rooney starred in ‘Out West with the Hardys,’ and ‘The Broadway Melody of 1938’ went without him, but he did ‘Babes in Arms’ instead. And ‘Roosty’ based on a play by Martin Berkeley was finally made by MGM and released in 1941 as ‘The Penalty’ in which Gene Reynolds played the juvenile role].
Workmen are being hired at Technicolor’s Hollywood Lab. Lots of contracts ahead for upcoming films – from WB – ‘Valley of the Giants,’ ‘Heart of the Northwest’; from Paramount – ‘Men with Wings’; from MGM – ‘Sweethearts’; from 20th Fox – ‘Jesse James,’ and ‘Kentucky.’ And from Selznick-Int’l – ‘Gone with the Wind.’
RKO is so happy with William Seiter’s direction of the Marx Brothers latest film ‘Room Service’ that they have optioned him for another film to be made within the year.
Goldwyn Studios sent a construction crew up to Lone Pine to build ranch houses and backgrounds for ‘The Lady and the Cowboy.’ They are scheduling four to six days of location shooting with the principal actors.
Outside Hollywood
A plagarism law suit was filed against MGM by the widow of author James H Collins. She claims that their film ’Test Pilot’ infringes on the copyright of her husband’s book ’Test Pilot.’ Galleys had been sent to the studio in 1935, and turned down. In addition, she contends that the film was promoted in such a way that the public was misled to believe it was based on Collins’ book.
Howard Hughes and his crew and their Lockheed plane touched down in Moscow at 11:13am (their time) after a nearly eight hour flight. They took off again after a two hour stop. They arrived at their next destination Omsk in Siberia at 9pm (their time). They are well ahead of the record for around the world flight set by Wiley Post.
Bidding is ongoing between MGM and WB for the play What a Life, written by Clifford Goldsmith and produced and directed by George Abbott. MGM wants it for a vehicle for Mickey Rooney. WB wants it for their players in Crime School (the Dead End kids). [The play’s original cast included Eddie Bracken and Butterfly McQueen. Paramount wound up with the rights to film it in 1939 with Jackie Cooper in the lead. Ten sequels followed. The play’s character Henry Aldrich was the source for radio and later TV shows. On a side note, McQueen’s performance brought her to the attention of Selznick and landed her the role of Prissy in ‘Gone with the Wind’].
Items of Interest
Berne Ellis of Redwood City was confined to the prison ward of the general hospital on three charges of manslaughter. After he was arriagned he was released on a $5000 bail. [See July 10]
Champion figure skater and actor Jack Dunn is losing his battle for life. On this day he suffered a relapse at the Hollywood Hospital where the staff of specialists are treating him for a streptococcic infection.
The Deputy DA expects to file complaints of grand theft and forgery against George Donald Smart and his accomplice today. He admitted his guilt and intends to plead guilty. More details have come to light as to his operation. As part of his scam in claiming to be an undercover representative of Louis B Mayer, the money he was raising was for a ‘kick-back’ to Charles Laughton for signing with MGM – and was needed to secure the actor’s willingness to follow Mayer when he resigns from the studio for another lucrative position. Smart claims to be a genius, as why else could he convince the money men to go along with his scheme.
From an interview Ed Sullivan had with Bette Davis – he was asking about her early days breaking into the business. She had quite a hard time of it. She was brought out to Hollywood by Universal. They treated her poorly because she was hard to place in parts, given what they called her homeliness. She was compared to Slim Summerville as they had a similar problem with him. Sullivan had heard about an accident to her in her youth – she explained that a Christmas tree at school burned her face. But the only scar that remains is a tiny mark under her right ear. In cold weather it shows clearly. She goes on to state, “It was that accident that made my eyes so big and popeyed.”
