GETTING REAL BREAK

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 December 1939, Page 4

GETTING REAL BREAK

REGINALD DENNY AT LAST. Reginald Denny, who has been confining his histrionic talents to such B pictures as the “Bulldog Drummond” series and others, is getting a real break at last. He will play Frank Crawley in “Rebecca.” Denny has been m movies since 1919. Older movie fans will remember him in the thrilling "Leather Pushers” series. Of course, he still runs Reginald Denny Hobbies, Inc., and turns out powered model planes by the thousands for American youngsters at a nice profit. Recently he sold a new powered model plane invention to the United States Government for special target purposes.

FIELDS FAVOURITE DRINK EVIDENCE IN COURT CASE. You might not have guessed to look at his magnificent, flaming nose and the amorous care with which he clutches at bottles on the screen, but W. C. Fields is practically a teetotaller. That is what he told a jury in Hollywood a few’days ago. This confession tripped from the Fields lips during a lawsuit which is being brought against him by a local doctor. The suit is actually a re-trial of a former case, in which the doctor was awarded a fee of £2,500 for medical attendance on Fields. An appeal court decided that the fee was excessive, so the doctor is now sueing all over again. The trouble started when Fields became seriously ill with pneumonia at Soboba Hot Springs in June. 1936. "Dr. Jesse Citron was just the housedoctor at the hotel." Fields alleged. "They took me to the hospital where Dr. Citron was treating another patient and he just ‘moved in’ on me." The doctor, on the other hand, claims that iiis enormous fee is justified because he had to attend to Fields for twenty-four hours a day. The attention, alleges the doctor, was largely comprised of persuading Fields not t«. drink tw-3 bottles of whisky a day. Fields denied the allegations with a sigh. "There are lots of stories going around about me. Some say I'm drunk while I'm making my pictures. It is ridiculous to say I drank two bottles of whisky a day. Because of the excruciating pain. I drank a little whisky --yes—but very little. It couldn’t have been more than six or seven ounces a day. “My favourite drink." he announced with great finality, “is waler."