CINEMA NEWS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 107, 18 February 1950, Page 2

CINEMA NEWS

(By “Spotlight”)

“PHOTOPLAY” MAGAZINE’S AWARDS FOR 1949 "THE STRATTON STORY" VOTED AS YEAR'S BEST FILM (By Short-wave Radio, Wednesday) LOS ANGELES. “Photoplay Magazine's” latest popularity poll to determine what film and what stars Americans thought best for 1949 culminated in the magazine’s sixth annual gold medal award ceremony held in Hollywood last Wednesday. The results, which apply to Hollywood films and Hollywood stars only, were: Most Outstanding Film for 1949: M.G.M.’s “The Stratton Story.” Best Actor for 1949: James Stewart (for his performance in "The Stratton Story”). Best Actress for 1949: Jane Wyman ,(for her performance in “Johnny Belinda”). Others to receive honours wefe: — June Allyson (“The Stratton Story”). Loretta Young. William Bendix (“The Life of Reilly”). Melvyn Douglas (“Champion”). Cary Grant (“I Was a Male War Bride”). Bob Hope (“Sorrowful Jones”). A featurette film of “Photoplay’s” 1947 award ceremony was screened locally last Aveek-end.

Famous the world over, the lights of Broadway, New York, which cost advertisers many thousands of dollars a week, will be switched off as from to-morrow (Sunday). This is due to coal strikes in "the United States and the resultant shortage of coal which is used in many places in America for the generating of electricity. (By radio, this morning). Stan Kenton, popular swing band leader, who last year dropped swing to take up psychiatry recently dropped psychiatry to take up swing once more. He and his orchestra left New York this®week on a tour of 77 United States and Canadian cities. (By radio, Thursday). Although George Montgomery w r as suffering from laryngitis it did not stop him and his wife, Dinah Shore, from attending the world premiere of “Twelfth and High” at the Roxy Theatre, New York, this week. (By radio, Thursday). Workers on the "if Married a Dead Man” set at Paramount are seeing double. That is because the studio has hired six sets of male twins, ranging from six years to 16, for a single role in the Barbara Stanwyck thriller. Each of the 12 boys will be seen as Miss Stanwyck’s son. The reason for the twins is that Hollywood film policy prevents the use of an under-age player over a certain brief time limit, so with two identical players, time and costs can be cut.

FROM M.G.M. STUDIOS •v Back from making “The Miniver Story” in England, John Hodiak is at present enjoying a brief vacation with wife Anne Baxter in Hollywood. He’ll soon leave for Cuba, setting of his next film “Visa.” Claude Jarman wants to turn rancher when he finishes his education. He’ll have one of Hollywood’s most successful ranchers as his adviser in Joel McCrea, with whom he appears in the new Western “Outriders.” The screen’s youngest swimming star is Portland Mason, 10-montbs-old daughter of film star James Mason. The tot makes her screen debut in the M.G.M. musical, “The Duchess of Idaho.” She joins Esther Williams in a water ballet. Before leaving Hollywood for East Africa, location site of M.G.M.’s “King Solomon’s Mines,” Deborah Kerr, Stewart Granger and Richard Carlson attended a screening of that other great jungle epic, “Trader Horn,” made 19 years ago. Van Johnson and Elizabeth Taylor got so much fun out of their musical duets in “Drink To Me Only,” they’ve decided to make a series of home recordings together. Famous dancing star Eleanor Powell, who retired after her marriage to Glenn Ford a few years back, will make a guest appearance in the M-G-M musical, “The Duchess of Idaho,” which stars Esther Williams, Van Johnson and John Lund. For her role in “East Side, West Side,” actress-dancer Cyd Charisse had to take dancing lessons. There’s a square dance in the film—only type Cyd has never done before. Esther Williams is determined that her baby son will learn to swim even before he starts to walk.' The actress-swimmer, star of M.G.M.’s “Neptune’s Daughter,” has purchased a small convertible wading pool and placed it in the baby’s nursery at her Pacific Palisades home. Each day, young Benjamin Gage, who is now seven months old, receives lessons in the small pool. From his happy and energetic kickings and splashings, it looks as though he has inherited much of his famous mother’s prowess. Esther .plans shortly to take young Ben into the big pool.