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Show f STAR ! ! DUST J 2 Movie RaJio J By VIRGINIA VALE TT LOOKS more and more A likely that Paramount and RKO will merge in the not-so-distant future, which will mean another of those upheavals that take place every so often in the motion picture business. It's rather like shuning a pack of cards; the same men bob up over and over. And, curiously enough, some of those men are not too competent. One of the big shots who gets Important Im-portant Jobs, over and over, has consistently been a company wrecker. wreck-er. (Incidentally, he's not among the raramount-IIKO assortment!) I'et when one company lets him out, another one takes him ion. . : Olivia de Ilavllaiui, who has climbed to the top so rapidly since she appeared In Jildsum m e r Night's Dream," remarked the other oth-er day she had tied up her Income In a trust fund, allowing al-lowing herself only $250 a week, (wise girl !) and that, furthermore, she'd spend her spare time between pic-. tures In her home Olivia de town, Saratoga, s Havlland Calif., because there's nothing like a small town where you know everybody to deflate de-flate your ego. "Show Boat" may be pretty hard on your pocket book, because you're going to want to see it over and over again. Compared with the stage play and the screen version made years ago, It comes out on top. A hardened movie goer who had never liked Helen Morgan, a man who had seen her at night clubs and on the stage, capitulated when he heard her sing "My Bill." Another said he felt as if he'd nev. er heard "Old Man River" till Paul Robeson sang It this time. . A new series of historical shorts Is under way, and it's about timet Most of us remember what we see on the screen, so this ought to be the best possible method of teaching children history. The first one, "Song of the Nation," dramatizes the writing of "The Star Spangled Banner," and It's finished. Some of the other subjects are Lincoln's boyhood, the fall of the Alamo, the drawing up of the Declaration of Independence, the Louisiana Purchase Pur-chase and the duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. Anna Sten, whose movie career went up like a skyrocket and came down like the rocket's stick, has returned from Europe, where she made a picture No announcement yet about her making any more over here. A lot of the movie stars of earlier days will be seen In the picture, "Hollywood Boulevard'; some of them have been slowly coming back to pictures, others have merely wanted to. Leatrice Joy had a test the other day. And one company has been dickering with Theda Bara, but she wants lots and lots of money. Speaking of old-timers, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., has just about decided de-cided not to make pictures any more; all the talk about "Marco Polo" has come to nothing. He admits ad-mits that he's been away too long, that picture-making has progressed too rapidly for him. Fred Astalre has finally got things fixed to suit him. From now on he'll make just two f " trm, pictures a year. And Ginger Rogers (who's had some very smart new sandals named for her, Incidentally,) will have a chance to go dramatic in some of the ones she makes without him. She insists that she doesn't Fred Astalre want to De nothing but a dancer, and she's right She should have a chance to show her other talents in acting and to develop them further In pictures. ODDS AND ENDS . . . Harriet Milliard Mil-liard will travel to California toon to play one of the leads in "Count Pete" . . . Ginger Rogert has written a song"! Can't Understand Why You Can't Understand Me"; did both words and music . . . Sylvia Sidney's making a picture in England, and being be-ing urged to stay and make some more ... Errol Flynn almost got deported because he forgot to renew hit visa . . . Since James Cagney just won't Make new pictures, his old ones are bobbing up again, and they're still good . . , Edna May Oliver is having a grand vacation, her first in a long time. , Q WaUrn Nwuper Union |