HE HADN'T FORGOTTEN

Radio Record, 20 May 1938, Page 14

HE HADN'T FORGOTTEN

Wellington Theatre Manager Establishes Link Wath Great Hollywooa Derector A "Record" Interview

by

ROGER

HOLDEN

SATURDAY night in Hammersmith, i a West London, twenty-six years ago... | A typical Saturday night audience at the weekly concert of the Hampshire House Social Club... On the stage two young men, one dressed in kilts and singing Scottish comic songs, not too brilliantly-the other in the wings waiting his turn to sing some of the light romantic ballads so popular twenty-six years or so ago... One of those young men wes Alec Regan, now maonager of the Majestic Theatre, Wellington. The other, the one in kilts, was Frank Lloyd, now one of Holiywood’s most outstanding directors-the maker of "Mutiny on the Bounty," "Cavalcade," "Lloyds of London’ and "Wells Fargo."

LEC REGAN has never forgotten those far-off days in Hammersmith, when he and Frank Lloyd were starting their theatrical careers together, when they sang songs

at saturday nignot concerts in return for the princely sum of 5/- each. Sometimes-9 special occasion--they received 7/6.

Hie thougnt, however. * that Frank Lloyd might have forgotten. A man who has climbed as far and as high as Tluyd has climbed sometimes likes to forget the days before he was famous. But Frank Lloyd is not that type. A few weeks ago in Hollywood he received a visit from Phil Maddock, generat manager of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in New Zealand Mr. Maddock, who was on a visit to his company’s studios, brought him a letter which Alee Regan had written ia Wellington, Mr. Regan had been diffident about writing that letter. He need not have worried, because Frank Lloyd was delighted to receive it. Memory, once aroused, needed little coaxing, and he recalled with pleasure the time when he and Alee Regan had earned their five shillings a night. He was only sorry that Mr. Maddock had not brought a photograph of Alee as well as a Jefter, so that he could see what his former ceHleague looked like now, 26 years after. So that Alee could nof have the same complaint Lied gave Mr. Maddock his photograph to bring back to New Zealand. Autographed by the famous director, it now

occupies pride of place on the manager's desk in (he Majestic Theatre, Wellington. . FRANK LLOYD not only talked over old times with Mr, Maddock. He also discussed the future. He is at present with Paramount, his latest film being "Wells F argo, ’ but he has the idea to come to Australia and make a pisture about Captain Bligh when he was Governor of New South Wales. Indeed, it is rather more than an idea with Lloyd; it might almost be said to be an ambition. Apparently he is so certain that the subject is a good one for filne ing that he is even willing to put up some of the money for the project himself, if necessary. And he hopes. that Charles Laughton may again be induced to play Captain Bligh, as he did in Lloyd’s M.-G.-M. production, "Mutiny on the Bounty."

PNCIDENTALLY, what Phil Maddock told me the other day rather bears out what Doug. Snelling said last week about the difficulty of getting into Hollywood, Although Mr. Maddock was more or less on an Official visit to the film eapital, it wasn’t

easy to meet Frank Lloyd suv that he could present Ale¢ Regan's letter. "Trying to contact a prodneay in Hollvwood is prab-

ably harder than trying te get into Heaven." says Mr. Maddock. Many things impressed Mr. Maddock on his visit, ,. including the beauty and charm of California, but! nothing seems to have fired his imagination more than the marvellous collection of "props" for films at the M.-G.-M. studios at Culver City. There you ean find the flotsam and jetsam ef a thousand past pictures, but among the relies is a very great deal of material that will come in useful again. The property building occupies a large area, and is eight stories high. The contents of each floor is classified. Yor instance, on one you find period furniture, on another nothing but office furnishings. On a third floor there is nothing but pinvos, sud so on, Adrinu’s departinent where they make the dresses for M.-CGi-M, fils-prebably the best-dressed films of all-wonld send auy normal woman ip raptures, ‘Phere are yards and yards of cloth and fabric of every deseripltion-the whole being: worth a fabulous price. "One thing Hollywood cannot fuke ig dresy materials," says (Continued on page 45).

| Twenty-Six Years After

Hadn’t Forgotten — VISIT TO HOLLYWOOD’ ( Continued from page 14).

Mr. Maddock. co In turning out dresses for the stars, the dressmakers’ use a. model corresponding exactly to the figure of the Star. Thus there is no need for fittings. There are rooms full of nothing but beautiful crockery, otherg full of noth ing but old weapons, or wigs, or almost anything else you can imagine. M.-G.-M. has the third largest music library in the world. The others are the one at Liepsic, and the State Musie Library at Washington. The. studio keeps its own interna tional collection of taxi-cabs and buses, _but it hires ordinary cars for its pic " tures from people who make a living by renting them out. N R. MADDOCK saw the State coach _in which Norma Shearer will trave' when she plays Marie Antoinette in her forthcoming picture. He saw the canais And the paddle steamer in which Marie (Dressler and Wallace Beery sailed iv "Min and Bill." He came upon a real’ English garden, full of real English flowers, "It’s rather uncanny walking about the studios and seeing the ‘sets’ which have been kept over from old pictures. I went through the Great Wall of China which was built for ‘The Good Earth.’ I erossed the square of old Verona, where Leslie Howard and Basil Rathbone fought their duels in ‘Romeo and Juliet’; I wandered down: the cobbled streets of old France which were buili for ‘A Tale of Two Cities’; and I visited Aunt Betsy Trotwood’s cottage where David Copperfield spent part of his life, "Contrary to what we often hear, everybody goes about their work of making pictures jn a quiet way, withoui fuss and noise," Mr. Maddock told me. "It gives you a funny feeling, though, to have known these people just as shadow-folk and then suddenly to find yourself shaking them by the hand."