OCR Text |
Show r ! rfc j Looking at ; I HOLLYWOOD 'TIIERE are many ways to go J - of! the deep end in Hollywood, j and our town overlooks none of them. I've suspected that plush sanctums of the cinema magnates I must all be lined with soft, yield-i yield-i ing pads as standard equipment, ! with a ' bunch of straitjackets In i assorted sizes lying ready in the 1 -corner. The surest route of all to blithering blither-ing madness is becoming identi-; identi-; fled in a big way with one of those incredible extravaganzas called a Hollywood musical. A musical show in the movies comes off the silver screen to you as a smooth, perfectly timed, fast-moving fast-moving entertainment. The master mas-ter magicians of the film lots make it look easy. That's the greatest illusion Hollywood achieves. A musical is born in labor of blood, sweat, and tears delivered amid anguish, perfected with gnashings of teeth and back fence bickering among the overlords. It's well known that Broadway . musicals in their gestation period produce many acute cases of the heebie - jeebies, then sometimes flop, . The Hollywood prototype is a hundred times worse. It never flops, because the pattern has become be-come standard and is now fool-proofed. An Idea With Big Results When Buddy De Sylva gets an idea twirling in his brain, some-- some-- thing pretty spe- p-"V'S cial happens. This i ume t w ue a f ' fJ remake of "The t i Virginian," in ( ?QiwhIch Gary U . . Cooper made his .4-22fc -i big hit. It will be Gail Russell . V V J; in technicolor, with Jim Brown jtj and Gall Russell a (who were togelh- 1;" ,'f4 - er in "Our Hearts KifJ Were Young and .WWa,, Gay") doing the Jamcs Brown leads. The story is being modernized by Albert and Frances Ilackett; and Paul Jones, who does the "road" pictures, will produce. Plans are to make this a auper-dupcr. Incidentally, David Selznick is so interested in Jim Brown that he'd like to buy part of his contract, but Paramount's not selling. And Frances Howled On April 23 the Sam Goldwyns will celebrate their 19th wedding anniversary. Besides being mighty proud of it, Frances is happy that in all those years she has changed cooks only three times. That's no mean achievement, when you con-, con-, sider that they serve mighty tasty food. Once, Frances remembers, she was late picking Sam up at the studio. He was out on the street tapping his foot on the sidewalk. side-walk. When she . asked whether a former girl friend (name deleted) had always been on time, Sam replied, re-plied, "Heck, no! That's why she's not here and you are" . . . R.K.Ol bought eight Zane Grey stories. They'll do 'cm all. They include "The Lost Man," "Sunset Pass," "Wild Horse Mesa," and "West of the Pecos." They'll be triple-A westerns. Setting Things Straight So many persons have claimed they inspired "Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer" that I asked Jimmy McIIugh about it. He said. "I got the idea from listening to Bill Stern on the radio. He was talking about this pilot who came in with three engines gone, and a prayer. And it was through that that I got the idea." Jimmy's a fabulous character . . . Anne Baxter's stock is rising. She'll Play the lead opposite Fred Mac-Murray Mac-Murray in "Life of nickenbacker." Greta'll but Listen Harry Ediuglon and Greta Gar-bo Gar-bo are huddling again. Harry may take her under his wing once more. . It was his guidance at the start of her career that got her off on the right foot. If she listens, lis-tens, he can do it again . . . John j Ptiilliber of Elkhart. Ind., has been in pictures for years, but '1 goes home at least once a year. He never really got a good part until Arnold Pressburger gave him one in "It Happened Tomorrow." His friends in Elkhart wouldn't believe he'd got a good 'part, so he wired Pressburger, who sent the film on to him in his own home town, where he gave his friend? the first peek at it. . W7,af a Woman! Mona Gardner, here writing Greer Garson's life story, is so busy doing the lives of others she almost forgot her own, until I asked how she started writing. It's a fabulous tale, and will make a howling comedy, with war as the background. Talk about a writer she only began in 1939. She has more personality than most pic ture stars. And what she doesn't . know about the diplomatic service! serv-ice! She was married to a member mem-ber of our embassy in Tokyo. |