Andy Devine has been busy training two Arkansas coon hounds to hunt California ducks, quail and rabbits. [He would have been finishing up work on ‘Men with Wings.’ With four more pictures left for 1938, and he would be getting ready for his part in ‘Stagecoach.’ And he and his wife Dorothy were expecting].
Two fawns have arrived from the state of Maine to be models at the Walt Disney Studio for their next animated feature, ‘Bambi.’ Artists and photographers followed their every move as they grew. [Actually, ‘Pinocchio’ made it out of the box first in 1940, and ‘Dumbo’ in 1941, before ‘Bambi’ appeared in 1942].
Producer John Cameron is mounting a production to be entitled ‘Soliloquy.’ A drama with 26 dramatic scenes will use the magic of cinema to reveal the inner life and thoughts of the subconscious mind of the leading character. William Keighley will direct, as soon as he completes ‘Brother Rat’ for Warners. [Another project that never went before a camera in a studio. And I could not find much about this producer, other than that Cameron (his stage name only, had French and Syrian parentage, with an unpronounceable name) was a stage actor with Belasco, and worked in the early days with D W Griffith].
After working 66 straight weeks without rest, Fritz Feld has been ordered by physicians to a sanitarium. [See July 5 – when he did get one day off].
In May, artist Onestus Uzzell, had brought a law suit against 20th Century Fox and Tyrone Power, seeking $3500 as compensation for lost publicity. Instead of revealing the completed painting at a publicity event in which Uzell would be photographed with Power, the star gave it to his mother as a Christmas present. On this date, Fox and others put the blame back on Uzell for his loss of publicity as he had made a premature announcement to the trade papers. [I found a claim that Uzell had been the art director on the 1930 film ‘All Quiet on the Western Front,’ but I found no mention of him in the official records. Perhaps, he worked under one of the actual listed art directors. He did create many pulp fiction magazine covers in the late 20s and 30s. And in 1939, he painted a portrait of actress Irene Dunne].
RKO trims the budgets for their ‘B’ picture unit, in order to have more funds freed up for their ‘A’ pictures – Gunga Din (1.5 to 2 million); Carefree (1 million); Room Service (1 million); and The Mad Miss Minton ($675,000).
The plant super at RKO, Dave Wise, has his staff focused on clearing up a rash of petty larcenies on the lot – purses, desk sets, cigars, and cigarettes in large quantities have gone missing.
ON THE MOVE
Lloyd Bacon flew back to Hollywood today from Pensacola where he had been filming ‘Wings of the Navy’ for WB. He had been given permission to fly aboard a Navy bomber to San Diego. He has a luncheon date to meet Louis Sobel to talk about the upcoming project ‘The Gay Nineties.’ After a week of shooting on the studio lot, he will take his production down to the San Diego Naval Base for a few weeks of location work. [Another mention of the picture(The Gay Nineties) that did not come to fruition].
OUTSIDE HOLLYWOOD
The first Nazi staging of the famous Salzburg Festival occurred this night. Originally thought to have been postponed as rumors spread that the famed conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler had bowed out. Other reasons were given for the delay by German Propaganda Minister Goebbels, and Furtwängler conducted Wagner’s ‘Meistersinger.’ Besides Goebbels in attendance, other Nazi notables were present, including the Nazi Governor of German Austria, Arthur Seyss-Inquart. [Shades of ‘The Sound of Music.’ Furtwängler was an interesting individual. He walked a tightrope, helping Jewish musicians, and refused to allow his talent to be used for propaganda purposes].
