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Show SOUTH CACHE COURIER Entertainers Travel Rough and Perilous Circuit USO-Cam- Taking I I p Shows to Remote Fighting Fronts One Hundred Troupes By VIRGINIA VALE Released by Western Newspaper Play to Soldiers in America Through a Train Window: The train clears its mechanical throat, rolls out of the depot, and the moving picture of passing scenery is framed in Pullman windows. . . . Fragments of smoke cruising over sprawling war plants that dot the outskirts of the city. A peaceful industrial scene where weapons are born that wind up in the hell of war. . . . Neat suburban homes on their best architectural behavior. . . . Church steeples pointing at the sky like hands in prayer. . . . Telephone poles whizzing by in Indian file. Birds perched on their wires like notes on a musical scale. . . . The countryside knee-dee- p in Spring. A tapestry of greenery stretching toward the horizon. . . . Long lines of trees planted with Rockette precision bejeweled with ripening fruits. . . . Attractive lady train conductors. . . . Weary travelers slumped in their seats marooned on an island of their thoughts. . d small town streets, each house ornamented with maniTree-line- cured hedges. . . . Ribbons of roads wrapped around the landscape. They used to be covered with traffic, but now you can see miles of nude highways. . . . The eager anticipation in the orbs of servicemen on their way home to enjoy a furloaf. . . . The train gobbling up miles of space as it roars through State lines. No passports are needed to cross them. One of the miracles too many Americans take for granted. . . . The haze that floats over the grass at sunrise when Nature is still drowzy with morning. . . . Old, unpainted houses on the wrong side of the tracks mak-- , ing their poverty public. . . . Miles of undeveloped land blanketed with forests between big cities. Places where Nature has room to stretch. Washington, D. C. Open-Ai- r UNPROMOTED COMBAT FLIERS One thing that gripes the boys at the front is the way a lot of the desk That familiar truism of the officers in the war department and the show must go trouper others here at home seem to get on has taken on a new and promotions more rapidly than the since vastly different meaning boys who are up on the firing line. Some of them feel so badly about it the advent of USO-cam- p that they arent anxious to come shows those traveling home, though given opportunities of our follow that troops troupes furlough, because they are outall over the world. True to ranked by their old friends at home. tradition, the show, of course, For instance, most of the new pidoes go on from the back of lots just arriving in England are an army truck mired in the second lieutenants. They havent jungles of New Guinea, to the been on any missions at alL Meanaccompaniment of grinding while, men who have been in Engwinches on a dock alongside land for two years, and have been a troop transport, amid the Sgt. Robert Banks pulse and respiration went np several points flying over Europe constantly, still dropped into this hospital tent in the remain second lieutenants. icy glaciers of the Arctic,., at when this band of entertainers How many do you have? asks base hospitals behind firing Aleutians. Flayers left to right are Naomi Stevens, Mary Lee, Grace and Harry Masters, and George Cerutti. some smoulof shadow in the newly arrived pilot who has lines, across the channel, each flown twice between dering Vesuvius, or on newly Marlene Deitrich, Adolph Menjou, landing unexpectedly a mission. being flight Pantel-leriin won territory Europe. Paulette Goddard, Gary Cooper, bombings on the Island of No longer, however, does the audi- Una Merkel, George Raft, Phyllis gave a performance in an PROBE ence go to the show; the show is Brooks, Frederic March, Louise hangar. airplane underground The Office of Price Administration show Another taken to the audience an audience, actually troupe camp Jean Andy Arcari, Clyde, is quietly probing several cases of by the way, that now numbers Bob Hope, Keenan Wynn, A1 Jolson gave a show in a submarine. tire ration violations which promise more than 11,000,000 men and wom- and John Garfield. tour, to be sensational. Returning from an They go right en of our armed forces to whom, by anAlthough the screen luminaries members of one camp show unit into some of the biggest tire comorders of the War department, the volunteer become had nounced that 12 they for a minimum of panies of the country. show goes on in combat zones in weeks, some of them trouped the authorities on the sands of the One of the big tire companies forces our area where fighting every various circuits for as long as 30 world. They had played, in yellow is are located. being probed on a charge of sandin in red sandstorms Egypt; weeks, enduring all kinds of inconfailed to void the tire the both new for having Its something veniences and hardships, but taking storms in Tunisia that had dyed ration certificates turned in to show business and the army to in- them in stride and a clothes face and their bright hair, actually enjoying In other them by retailers. clude traveling troupes in the the experience. Many of the lesser-know- n red; and in white sandstorms in That when a retail tire store it services. is, words, look like armys special made brunettes that Iran on paid entertainers or garage sells a tire, it has to was new until Pearl Harbor. Now ping tours of 50,000 and platinum blondes. While up in of send back to the tire manufacthe a as much army part theyre mountains, they suffered 100,000 miles have been out for as turer the certificate issued by fare as GI chow, and equally as o in the down outvalleys, cold; 11 as months, visiting little the OPA ration board. Howevessential. One is a physical neces- long in remote posts regions, isolated they had to wrap themselves in a the other er, the OPA is tracking down psychological in sity, to the in sheets wet order sleep in Central andEast Africa, camps stimulant. reports that these tire certifiheat command steps in In the last two and a half years, army transport cates, instead of being stamped Travel Through Mine Fields. the Arabian wilderness, or lonely p as used, are going back to the shows have grown from d in the road camps Another troupe that spent rrfonths g or else remaining with a mere experiment to a dealers, mountains of Iran. with fliers at advanced them in the first place. Thus, activity that would stagger the most The business of obtaining the tal- never took a trip to a nearby traveled old trouper to contemplate. they are able to sell more tires p shows operate ent and putting together a show unit encampment when they didnt have without requiring more certifiToday, p shows, to pick their way through mine cates in exchange. approximately 100 units in com- is the function of Another big company is being bat zones in every sector of the a function usually conducted on spe- fields. Once they parked their trailer truck two feet from a live land investigated by the OPA for buyfighting fronts. For obvious reasons cific orders from the army special exof military expedience no estimate services division which requisitions mine. It was the heartbreaking ing up new tires of various of the house count at these per- entertainment by much the same perience of this troupe of getting to makes from dealers and later formances has been made public, method as GI supplies are ordered. know some of the boys who were reselling them through the combut its a safe guess that the "SRO In typical army terseness, a direc- destined not to return from their panys own stores at considermissions. Cnee the troupe went able loss. Even though not the sign was out at every one. In the tive will be issued to camp shows for unwestern hemisphere another 100 a certain type of entertainment to miles in their truck to give an tires made by this company, the p shows are appearing at be provided by a specified number scheduled show when they learned loss was considered a good ina certain squadrons comvestment because it got motorarmy camps and naval bases, with of performers for a designated area that p shows follows manding officer had been shot down an estimated monthly attendance of and time. ists into the habit of trading that day. with this companys retail 2,000,000 men and women of the instructions. Another camp show unit that stores. ; At the designated time and place, armed forces who are kept laugha North African show with There may be some startling news ing by professional entertainers of the show is turned over to the army, smarted and thereafter it is practically as an audience of 1,500 soldiers, had breaking on this soon. stage, screen mand radio. seep shows are operated as much a part of the army as the GI the disconcerting experience of ten men leave, then ten more, GERMANYS SMART CHOICES activity of USO (United Service Joes. Where the show goes, when it ing then another ten, until finally they it financed how are when and and it U. S. experts who 'have studied by goes, stays organizations) long the National War fund, of which does its stuff are all prescribed were playing to a mere handful of the Nazi military setup to resist inu restless soldiers. Afterward, they vasion USO is a member agency. that Hitler or whoevby the army. Transportation, food, learned that a landing by enemy er did figure are furnished the picking for him was by sleeping quarters Stage Stars Volunteer. commandoes had been reported and in his selection of German give From headquarters occupying the army. Many performers nomiaudience had been called out smgjt their others are leaders. Three of the best their service; paid military half a dozen floors in a building at to track them down. men in the German army have been 8 West Fortieth street, New York nal salaries. are given the job of combating what the Camp show performances p shows plan, preTroupers Endure Heat, Cold. City, often attended by hazards and Nazis know is the death thrust at of and direct the assembling pare Although details of the tours are perils as well as discomforts and Germany. both talent and programs for the handled by the army with characinconveniences. One troupe played No. 1 is Field Marshal Karl von various units. Paid entertainers, teristic military precision, putting seven weeks af road camps in the considered the best Rundstedt, from recruited theatres, night on the show many times isnt Iran mountains that were maincommander strategist and over-a- ll clubs and vaudeville booking agen- exactly a cinch. In fact, it ,is often tained to the route over in Germany. Field Marshal Erwin keep open orconstitute the permanent cies, attended by difficulties, hazards or which supplies and arms were goimmediately under him, is cirganization of the world-wid- e interruptions. Even the army isnt ing to Russia. Bandits were in the Rommel, the best man for lightning moves cuits. Augmenting the regular staff able to provide transportable theand the troupers and panzer tactics. are stars of Broadway and Holly- atres, stage props and equipment. neighborhood, leave the camps without couldnt n Finally, Colonel General Heinz wood, together with Tramping the boards, a familiar Guderian is considered the best tank radio personalities, who volunteer expression of the trouper, is exactly armed guards. Air Raid Halts Show. commander in the German army. their services for a limited period. that with Camp show entertainers, U. S. experts, who believe in look-- Sometimes sudden enemy action In obtaining volunteers from the for the show is usually given from facts in the face, classify these ing to makes it a halt pernecessary p shows has a crude, improvised stage of boards screen colony, as among the top military the cooperation of the Hollywood thrown up wherever the audience is formance in the middle of its most three of Europe. brains or moment. In dramatic eninteresting stationed. which has Victory committee frewhere are the players listed many of the foremost stars The locale of a show may be in Italy DAYLIGHT SAVING TO END? of motion pictures. Among notables a jungle where the temperature quently close behind the front time It look's as if daylight-savin- g of the cinema who have been memclimbs to as high as 130 degrees; it lines, such interruptions are not inwithIn to one be instance abolished were when p frequent. going shows to enterat be a bers of mountain side may lonely tain our boys in combat zones were: outpost, or in the midst of desert enemy planes roared over during a out giving the President a chance to p Joe E. Brown, William Gargan, wastes. One show unit, performance, the audience and the block the repeal troupers sat in darkness for hours Several resolutions have been until the alarm passed and the show introduced to abolish war time, ' could continue. as a result of protests from One troupe touring the Iran valley farmers in agricultural areas. These are now before Repreoutposts had to travel 140 miles, sentative Clarence Lea of Calithrough mountains, in a caboose. There were 136 tunnels, and every fornia and his Interstate Comtime the train went through a tunmerce committee, and it looks nel it was like going into an oven. as if one of them would he reAt a mountain stop in Iran, the ported out and passed. players learned that the boys staIf so, it cannot be vetoed by the tioned. there hadnt had fresh meat President, for the original bill esin weeks. They organized a hunttablishing war time provided that it ing expedition and, armed with was to end six months after the war, army pistols, shot 11 wild boars. or upon a concurrent resolution by Their show was a great hit that both houses of congress. night We gave them ham, and This latter provision precludes a fed them ham, too, they said. veto, since resolutions are not subThus, day in and day out, the to being overruled by the White show goes on making every stop ject House. In fact. Congressman Lea on the Icicle Circuit along the Al- wrote his original daylight-savin- g can highway in Alaska; the Foxbill in this form for the specific purhole Circuit in the South Pacific; pose of heading off the White House the in Egypt in case Desert Circuit Congress wanted to abolish Comedian Joe - E. Brown toil Africa, Iran, Lybia and Arabia. war time. the south Pacific area for m And as rapidly as our fighters adp months, pushing into remote jui shows are ordered vance, CAPITAL CHAFF islands. Here he is shown en up to entertain the battle-wear- y C. Congratulations to Lieut. Harry B. combat troops and provide an antitaining soldiers at an op n air ti Paul Barnhart for bringing laughs ter in Australia. dote for operational fatigue. to the boys in the South Pacific with his army show Stars and Gripes. and to variupon Every day the state department adapted lome Talent Skits Prepared by Army Special Services provised ous local situations in the different condenses foreign news developGive Soldiers a Chance to Entertain Themselves combat areas. The show can be ments for its officials both at home There arent enough U. S. O. review called About Face a broad staged with props and costumes and abroad. It is one of the fairest news summaries in Washington. troupes to get around, so Brigadier farce on military life, draft boards, made from scrap materials. The show has to afford the C The navy is starting a school of General Byron of the army special sergeants, WACs, and similar subservices division decided to help jects. It was presented first in Camp maximum possibility for versa- government, similar to the armys tne boys entertain themselves. He Shanks, N. Y., where it made a hit tility, General Byron explained, at Charlottesville, Va., to train men had some playlets written under the with the G. I. audience. Soldiers and and appeal to the average soldier, to govern occupied territories. Some men are wisecracking that direction of George Kaufman and WACs played all parts. who, if he had more time, could navy ether playwrights that men could About Face is full of army jar- work out the details himself. They they dont need to train governors produce themselves anywhere, with gon and wisecracks. It consists of not only like: to entertain them- of occupation because the British little equipment and costuming. series of short skits which Gen- selves, but also want to do some- take over all Pacific possessions as soon as we capture them. (The SoloThese are grouped Into ft sort of eral Byron said can be selected, im thing in this line for themselves. mons and New Guinea were largelv British before the war.) Theaters a, TIRE-RATIO- n, A stretch of flat land broken by the wide open mouth, of a valley. . ; . The lights of a lonely farmhouse twinkling in the dark night. . . . The train pulling into a station with the dignity of a dowager entering a tea party. . , . The eternal peacefulness of forests filled with a million leafy fingers reaching for the warmth of the sun. . . . Fields of wildflowers curtsying to the balmy winds. . . . Large signs announcing that youre town. A about to enter run. as a home as American sight this-or-th- Tremendous ranches monopolizing giant slices of territory. Some are almost as large as a small European nation. . , . Skeletons of ghost towns slowly being turned into dust by wind and rain, remnants of the wild West. . . . Modern cowboys who now spend more time riding in station wagons than on hosses. . . . The brilliance of a Western night a dark-face- d sky freckled with stars. Much poetry and many songs have been written in- - tribute to its overpowering beauty. But nothing can view of this match the first-han- d shimmering phenomenon. . . . The many peaceful sights that make you think the war is very far away. But a plane drilling its way through the sky reminds you nothing is beyond the wars reach. . . . Peaceful Indians now selling souvenirs at railroad stations. . . . Cattle herds in the sunset making a picture postcard to be filed in your memory. Desert nights filled with romantic mysteries. . . . When you see the gigantic natural obstacles that still exist in the West you are filled with renewed respect and pride for the pioneers who built a civilization on the foundation of blood, sweat and tears. . . . Tiny villages with less population than in a Big Town apartment house. . . . Headwaiter smiles The Deisel of train porters engine entering a tunnel with a loud cry, dragging the serpent of cars behind it. . . . The sage brush country, with an occasional motorist providing the only sign of life. . . . Tired tourists chewing the fingernails of their patience, eager to arrive at their destination. . . . Hot dog stands planted in the middle of nowhere. The billboard advising motorists: This is Gods Country. Dont Drive Like Hell . . . The Chicago skyline resembling an unfinished jigsaw puzzle. . . . Train-sitter- s trying to whittle away time by playing cards, gabbing, reading, or just staring at ft pretty gal across the aisle. . . . The gigantic fertile fields Americas breadbasket. . . . A bonfire of sunlight slowly raising its head over roundshouldered hills. . . . Traveling salesmen in club cars nibbling on bits of conversa. tion about tiresome matters. mid-Wes- ts . . Wal-to- serv ice, worked all one night to finish a picture assignment at RKO. Early the next morn-inwith no time in which to change from his costume he reported for duty in white tieand tails. Now hes back Lieut. Doug, las Walton, medically discharged-- . and reporting at RKO to play the man who gets his in the Dick Powell-Ann- e Shirley thriller, "Fare, And on his first well. My Lovely. day before the camera, his costume was white tie and tails! m After giving Linda Darnell the big. gest break of her career in Sum. mer Storm, then realizing, while critics raved, that they had no tup ther claim on her services, Angelue Pictures is taking no more chances. Theyve signed up Dona Drake with a contract calling for a starring role u year for four years. Donas been around the Paramount lot for some - sleeper-jum- snow-cover- sub-zer- USO-Cam- snow-covere- far-flun- air-fiel- USO-Cam- ... actor Douglas called up for army th USO-Cam- The train whizzing by small, dusty stations surrounded by loneliness. You go by so fast you cant even read the stations name. . . . Cows grazing in Ohios pastures their tails continually swinging like a A feather of a breeze baton. tickling a. lake causing it to dimple with a million ripples. . . . Piercing train whistles punctuating the night with exclamation points of sound. . . . Cross country trucks moving across the roads with the slow dignity of glaciers. . . . The increased tempo of traffic that heralds the approach to a city. N TWO Union, full years have passed LINDA DARNELL time without ever getting USO-Cam- USO-Cam- well-know- USO-Cam- USO-Cam- USO-Cam- USO-cam- . good m - USO-Cam- USO-Cam- a break, so finally she won cancellation of her contract so that she could take advantage of the Ac. gelus offer. Douglas Sirk, director of Summer Storm, made a special test of Dona, and it was on his recommendation, because he thicks shes potentially a dramatic star, that she got the contract. tenor of the quartet, chose music as a career not too many years ago, but it was a toss-uwhether hed sing or earn a living as ' a professional swimmer or s baseball player. Norman was a star athlete in his home state of Arkansas; he hails from Berryville. Folly Robertson, organist and arranger for the quartet, is another Southerner, from Kentucky. Norman Price, Mother and Dad p Claude Rains, currently featured in Warner Bros. Mr. Skefflngton, starring Bette Davis, is expected for back from England by mid-JulMs next assignment under a long, term contract. He went to play opposite Vivien Leigh in Caesar and Cleopatra. y , As part of its twentieth anniversary celebration Metro has dug into the files and come out with some bits of interesting information. For Glenn Martin, the plane manufacturer, once was a movie actor. He played opposite Frances Marion, the ace film writer and executive. He was given the job because no other leading man could be found, in 1916, who owned an airplane! instance In a poll of enlisted men embrathe entire Southwest Pacific area, , conducted by the Overseas Motion Picture Service, Humphrey1 No. Bogart was voted the years performance actor, as a result of his An Oscar, in Casablanca. facsimile of the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel of New Guinea, is being forwarded to him, as an expression of the that gratitude the men feel for all he has done for them. cing . . n The theory that my-for stery stories are too exciting fare children receives another knockout with blow in results from interviews My8, youngsters having roles on neAll report that tery Theater. ver in their lives have they slep better than on the nights after they have been in on a few choice 'mu-he rders in the NBC mystery thriller-tmore murders, the better. well-wor- en worked-whSounds difficult, but it ' The Little Bit writing Heaven, musical to be produce by Metro, Capt. Luther Davis, s the army air corps in India, Marine Capt. John Cleveland, tioned at Quantico, Va., collabora by mail with Robert Andrews Hollywood. ODDS AND ENDS Victor BP has been signed for an additions weeks on the Basin Street ginning in September. . . . With r' tically Yours," her last picture her Paramount contract, in W Claudette Colbert intends to free ' . . . They had to change the sent "Murder, He Says," and rnahe instead heroin an l num; Helen Walker toouldn his Beverly flB her hair. m . Edgar Bergen hgs an ash tray after Charlie McCarthy; it f1? , J him by a fan.... Guy Lombardo o ash-blon- ...In jg will be used in the current series. cordings for WAVE enlistments |