OCR Text |
Show J Looking at HOLLYWOOD! JVf AKING fun of such a gruesome business as murder has made i fortune for Boris Karloff. Four years ago Karloff suddenly realized that his homicidal hobbies i weren't paying Y v&r-;V off as lucratively 'inHy or as fast as he 'Y- - ; ;Y' would like. After YY- ." AV- that spine-chilling Frankenstein 'ft'i V monster, as a mummy, a ghoul, '' ' fe''k Bluebeard, and iS 'oyy Yv other fiendish 'Ae-:' characters, he fc.Ai V'l I found himself de-Boris de-Boris Karloff moted to lesser monstrosities in louble-billed horror pictures. Then along came an offer to appear ap-pear in a New York play. He had lever done one on the Broadway ttage, and he, the terror of countless ilm fans, found the thought fright-sned fright-sned him. Besides, it was a play !hat kidded insanity and murder a 7ery touchy subject. But after set-Jing set-Jing for a nice, juicy piece of the play, plus a goodly salary, he lost lis fear and took off. Today, after three years of "Ar-lenic "Ar-lenic and Old Lace" which is still packing them in in New York and m the road Karloff is back for nore pictures. He's sharing starring honors with Susanna Foster and Turhan Bey in Jniversal's technicolor musical irama "The Cljmax," which George IVaggner is producing and directing. "Launching a stage play Is a big jamble," says Karloff. "But after reading the 'Arsenic script it struck xie as one of the finest plays written !n recent years." Karloff put $6,000 in the play and jot that investment back in three eeks. He's still collecting fat divi-lends. divi-lends. Bankers should be so lucky nese days. Anything for Irene Irene Dunne's cooing like a dove, ind well she might, since Met.ro paid $200,000 for . J. Cronln's ;pY T Hl latest, "The Green jl rears," from the Mt&M, galley sheets, 't:.-.. YVYj Nothing is too 'J?' ;ood for Irene t'Jj since "A Guy )-f'f Earned Joe" and -! "The White Cliffs" iY; .. Jennifer Jones, 00 ind not Gene -t i-:-.-.3 Tierney, is going to play the lead Irene Dunne n "Laura." That's the one Clifton IV'ebb is wanted for, but whether ie'11 be able to do it nobody knows . . . Margaret Sullavan leaves "Voice of the Turtle" June 24, but jeginning June 19, she, Elliott Nu-jent, Nu-jent, and Audrey Christy will give ;heir services. . The play will be jhown free for a whole week to all Tien in uniform. That's a precedent I hope other producers will follow. .4 Smile Maybe; Maybe Not Ernst Lubitsch told me the follow-'jig: follow-'jig: While preparing "The Czarina" for the screen, he decided to get some authentic Russian names. He ;ook a history book home with him. ks he read he jotted down about 30 lames from it such as Prince Rat-)ffsky, Rat-)ffsky, Prince Petchskoff, and Count Borshky then laid the paper on his jedside table. The following morn-ng morn-ng his man, who has been with him 15 years, came in, looked at the pa-jer pa-jer and said: "Mr. Lubitsch, if you ixpect to have that many people to linner Saturday night, you'd better :et me know right quick so I can round up food for 'em." Sing's a Great Guy Blng Crosby's just signed a new rontract with Paramount one of the nost important deals ever put over n this town. It's for 10 years Uraight, 52 weeks a year, for 23 piclures, with permission to do one jut9ide picture a year for another :ompany Bing to have final say ver story, director, leading lady, jongs and publisher of songs . . . Theie are few men in our town who :ould get a deal like this. It isn't iverybody who would play fair. Bing 5ends over backwards to give as nuch as he gets. For Instance, in 'Road to Utopia," which I'm told s the funniest of all the "Road" pictures, it was Bing who gave Paramount a new director Hal iValker. Until "Utopia" he had been in assistant. During the picture he lad an accident, directed the last lalf of it from a wheel chair. In "Going My Way," produced and directed di-rected by Leo McCarey, Curley Lln-len, Lln-len, assistant cameraman up to lien, was made a full-fledged one. It's the same with leading ladies. Through Bing, Marjorie Reynolds got her chance ... He never has seen afraid to boost the other fellow. What a Lusty Gal! Gypsy Rose Lee and Florence Bates make a wonderful team in "Belle of the Yukon." Gypsy, as l chorus girl in dancing skirt and outterflies embroidered on her stock-ngs, stock-ngs, was dancing when Charley JVInnlnger cracked: "Ah, me, spring is here." Said Gypsy: "Save your silly sirupy sentimentality for waf-3es waf-3es you'll guzzle in the morning. These butterflies renind me of my lean booking days When the only autterflies I knew were in my tum-ny." |