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Show Released by Western Newspaper Union. By VIRGINIA VALE. ALL through the year we hear tales about how popular this or that movie star is then along comes news of who brought in the most money at the box office. The national poll of motion picture exhibitors taken annually by Showmen's Show-men's Trade Review shows that Greer Garson and Van Johnson topped the 1944-45 list Bing Croshy (first last year) was second, followed by Spencer Tracy Gary Cooper and Roy Rogers. The actresses ran Judy Garland, Betty Grable (who led the list the last three years) Betty Button and Margaret Mar-garet O'Brien. And the picture that topped all the others was "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo," with "National "Na-tional Velvet" in second place. Bob Hawk can keep a secret. For three years the idea for his current Monday night series, the CBS "Bob Bawk Show," was locked in a safe, pending the end of the war. His "Thanks to the Yanks" was splendid BOB HAWK J for wartime, but now he's the big I flve-and-flve man, with contestants I answering five questions for their l first prize and one question with five parts for the second half. It's being told around that little Margaret O'Brien is getting awfully awful-ly tired of plaintive little girls she has to play especially since Jimmy Durante taught her to sing "I Want to Be Happy" In his own special style. But the poor child's typed at her age! Louis Hayward's postwar screen career leaped forward when he was signed for one of the top roles opposite op-posite Hedy Lamarr In "The Strange Woman"; that came as a result of the sneak preview of Hunt Stromber's "Young Widow," in which l.e's eo-starred with Jane Russell. He put in three years with the marine eorps; as captain of a photographic unit, he filmed the battle bat-tle of Tarawa. Sheik, the Palomino Ray Milland rides in "California," had to have two stand-ins one for rearing, one for falling. It's a technicolor picture pic-ture so they had to be dyed to match Sheik. But as they were botn dark horses, they had to be bleached first! That MBS science series, "Exploring "Explor-ing the Unknown," is receiving new honors. Selected by the armed service serv-ice forces as one of the most popular popu-lar transcription programs for G.I.s overseas, the Sunday series is being be-ing distributed by the New York university uni-versity film library to schools j throughout the country, and the ! American Cancer society Is using one of the broadcasts in its educational educa-tional work. One hundred thousand people have persuaded Kate Smith to broadcast before a studio audience again; they all asked for tickets. So she's now doing her Friday night j "Kate Smith Sings" program from CBS's Playhouse i, Wu largest, seating 1,100. The repeat broadcast for the West coast will take care of another 1,100, so in about 45 weeks Kate will have caught up with the accumulated requests. On his "Dave Elman's Radio Auction," Wednesday nights on Mutual, Mu-tual, Elman has auctioned everything every-thing from Hitler's personal dice to Marie Antoinette's pillow slips with proof before they were sold that the articles were authentic. The Radio Writers association voted it the most novel show on the air. He's just sent eight people off to scour the world for a year for historical curios to be auctioned later. I 4l r S rrtt AlUn, oj tfoflogfam'l "7 he Cay (.'in uier," says thi ftrl uinl ol hit year-old "in Sre'ten Were "fin tuue" so he's reg-'-If i-d ihr lxil uifi Central Canting. C "lre Barnes, fi mid narrator I HC "WWer ihvater." is fre-III- nil) oeen it the mitre line-up al eu ) orA fi dice hritdiiinrtvrs ; says I r'. u gt'tid PHtrtH nf material fot hi ' m lUek !. the third" 'Henry' ft "lite -Hilitrh famiiS," rrttrred tin i m lni ifsrtssg, and is noi iMMMMsi m tfoJrn lltihert foteflfj sjg , f I'm ii'it-tint's "Ihr Searrhing ' 'ml" t hi dtnntotul mlnlee film; "mde " fiirrnrei in & year. |