OCR Text |
Show Released by Western NewpapeT Union. By VIRGINIA VALE 'THfiJ radio industry's been 1 breaking out in a rash of birthday and anniversary celebrations, like the "Highways "High-ways in Melody" cocktail party at New Fork's 21, when the program began its 21st year on the air. But the nicest one was Just for fun a luncheon at the Plaza given by NBC for Kay Kyser. The "College of Musical Knowledge" Knowl-edge" man is wonderful when he's turned loose among friends, a top-notch top-notch entertainer, a delightful person per-son He got laughs from even the ik ... mtl . ' ...- KAY KYSER hardest-boiled newspaper people who write about radio year in and year out and are definitely allergic to everything but the best broadcasts broad-casts and sometimes even to those! No matter where you turn, there's Bob Hope in pictures, doing benefits bene-fits and guest shots, starring in his own program. He's pretty pleased about hitting the top in the Hoover-atings Hoover-atings repeatedly, because pe6ple wondered whether he could reconvert recon-vert to civilian audiences after his concentrating on entertaining servicemen serv-icemen and war workers for so long. It took a little time, but he's done it. Cute Gale Storm has been seeing New York, in company with her husband, and New York's been seeing see-ing Allied Artists' "It Happened on Fifth Avenue," in which Gale stars. Born Josephine Cottle, of Texas, she won the feminine division of Jesse Lasky's "Gateway to Hollywood" Holly-wood" radio talent search back in 1939; in 1942 she signed a seven-year seven-year contract with Monogram, and she's definitely on her way up. All of us who've been missing Jean Arthur during her absence from the screen are cheering loudly because at last she's going to make another picture. Sounds like a perfect per-fect role for her, too In "Foreign Affairs" she'll be an American con-gresswoman con-gresswoman investigating the morale mo-rale of IT. S. occupation troops in Germany with Billy Wilder writing the piece and Charles Brackelt producing, pro-ducing, for Paramount. The CBS "The Adventures of Sam Spade" is sprinkled with star dust. First, Lurene Tuttle was picked for a role in her first picture, "Heaven Only Knows." Now Howard Duff, who's "Sam," has been signed for "Brute Force," to be made by Universal. Uni-versal. As an angel come to earth in "Heaven Only Knows" Robert Cum-mings Cum-mings is indifferent to gunfire because be-cause he knows no bullet can hit him. But it took all his control to play a scene nonchalantly, as expert riflemen placed bullets all around himl Cathy and Elliott Lewis are quite pair; she does all the leading ladies on "Suspense" when male stars are scheduled; he gets star billing on "The Case Book of Gregory Greg-ory Hood." They wrote "The Thirteenth Thir-teenth Sound," which Agnes Moor-head Moor-head did on "Suspense" recently but wrote themselves out of it. And they've written a half-hour show, in which they would star, which should hit the air waves before long. Seems there's a shortage of camels. None have been imported in the last ten years, because there was an epidemic of hoof and mouth disease in North Africa. Which may not affect you but Seymour Neben- zal needs 16 for "Atlantis." Doesn't I care whether they're one or two humps, just so they're camels. Vaughn Monroe and his band are no strangers to pictures; you'll see and hear them in "Carnegie Hall." But twice in two weeks Vaughn hat been screen-tested at 20th Century-Fox Century-Fox for a starring role in a musical, i minus the band. ODDS AND ENDS Don't know hotv I ever got along without the "Information "In-formation Please" Almanat , edited by ' John Kieran: it's terrific. . . . Don Mac- 1 Laughlin, star of "David Harding, 1 Counterspy," is a stilled boxer, ti res- I tier and jiu-jitsu artist; uas taught h) ' pals in the FBI. . . . April 26 marks the beginning of the Mlh year on tht air for l,um and Abner. . . . Most of the . "Breakfast in Hollywood" audience are women but you should see how j many men try hard to get on the pro- gram. . . . One of Humphrey Bogart's ' favorite directors, Walter Gorman, has i forsaken Hollywood to take up script- ' ing for the CBS "Young Dr. Malt." j |