STUDIO CHATTER

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 38, 16 October 1946, Page 6

STUDIO CHATTER

A FEATURE COLUMN “THE VALLEY OF DECISION'’ Modernising; Work Warner Bros, is spending £1,000,000 in modernising the Elstree Studio and in rebuilding the bombedout Teddington Studio in Great Britain. Popularity of Requests The request programmes which commenced screening at the Grand Theatre each month some time ago, have proved so popular, that they are now to be handled on a weekly basis. This means that the Grand will be screening six nights a week, and the list of requests booked for the next few months seems very attractive. So It’s In The Name Eh! According to Elsdon C. Smith, American name expert, there are, in the United States, 1,258,010 people named Smith, 938,880 named Johnson, 701,940 named Brown, 663,850 named Miller and 663,420 named Jones. According to this scale, Alexis Smith, one of Hollywood’s top stars, has the commonest name in the country. Good For The Ears A story going the rounds of Hollywood just now concerns a rui'al character (Hill-Billy in other words) who boarded an air-liner. At 10,000 feet, the hostess handed out chewing gum, with the routine remark : “Good for your ears.” Half an hour later the character remarked to his fellow passengers: “By George, it worked all right, but you’d think they’d give you cotton wool. It ain’t so sticky!” REGENT “The Valley of Decision” (Sat. 19, Mon, 21, Tues. 2, Wed. 23). “The Valley of Decision” stars Greer Garson and Gregory Peck. It is now well known, that when the name of Greer Garson is billed in the title role of a picture, that it may be classed as entertainment of high quality. This picture is no exception. It follows the list of others such as ‘Mr Chips,’ ‘Mrs' Minniver,’ ‘Blossoms in the Dust,’ ‘Mrs Parkington,’ and ‘Madame Curie,’ all of which were well known best-sellers before they appeared on the screen. Similarly, “The Valley of Decision” has been classed as a distinctive novel, and has enjoyed record sales in the States and elsewhere. This film can be definitely recommended as possessing all-round appeal. “Wunderman.” A picture coming shortly to the Regent is ‘Wonderman,’ with Danny Kaye in the title role. As a comedian and actor, Kaye has no equal. His playing differs entirely to that of any other stage or screen comedian, as he is undoubtedly a very fine actor, changing the emotions of his audience from laughter to sympathy and back again at will. Many fans will remember his one previous appearance in Whakatane in ‘Up In Arms.’ We predict' that the name of Danny Kaye will be a by-word with the theatre-go-ing public before very much longer.