They Tell Me That...

Radio Record, Volume XII, Issue 35, 10 February 1939, Page 15

They Tell Me That...

NCE again an actor who has been .wasted for three years under contract has won a chance in no time at all as a freelance. Robert Cummings’s Paramount contract petered out in ‘August. Since then he has already won high praise in the American papers for his performance in a Republic picture, "I Stand Accused." Now Universal have chosen him to be Deanna Durbin’s leading

man in "Three Smart Giris Grow Up." They have cannily signed him up for that one picture, with options. Joe Pasternak, brilliant producer of the Durbin films, has great faith in Cummings and means, if-he shows up well with Deanna, to develop him rapidly to stardom. ‘ Filmgoers have known Cummings as a promising and versatile actor since his debut, three years ago, in "So Red the Rose."

Twirl ’Em, Cary " A HUNDRED says you haven't the nerve to do it,’ Douglas Wairbanks wagered. "A hundred says I have,’ came back Cary Grant. The bet was on. Grant was off to London with that comi- ’ gal bicycle-built-for-two moustache. At Kansas City, Cary wired back to Doug (about to embark, himself), "Well, the old handle bars are still on." it was still on, in modified form, when Grant reached New York and the amazed shores of England. So Doug lost his bet. The New Disraeli ILES MANDER, the noted character actor, is considering three offers from London producers to play Disraeli on the British stage. The proposals followed Mander’s interpretation of the famous British statesman in

"Suez." Although his scenes were few in that picture, his Disraeli has brought him the praise of the most hardened critics in New York, London and other cities, Mander will leave for London to consider the offers as soon as he finishes "The Three. Musketeers" at the 20th Century-Fox. The trip will be his first one to his native land in three years. In "The Three Musketeers," he is creating another historical character, Cardinal Richelieu, who matches wits with Don Ameche as D’Artagnan in the Alexandre Dumas tale, Crossword Puzzle G-H-0-T-1 spells fish. And Henry Koster can prove it. He proved it to the satisfaction of Deanna Durbin, Nan Grey and Helen Parrish, whom he is directing at Universal studios in "Three Smart Girls Grow Up." While the youngsters were studying their lessons on the set, Koster asked them what the letters g-h-o-+t-i spelled. They gave up. "They spell fish," he declared, "Say out loud the ‘gh’ from ‘enough,’ the ‘o’ from ‘women’ and the ‘ti’ from ‘nation.’ Put them all together-pronounce them-and you’ve got ‘fish’!" he explained, » Dancer in Gaol BILL ROBINSON, famous negro ~~ dancer,. who coaches Shirley Temple and other film stars, is an important individual in the studios,

but just another pugnacious person to Los Angeles police. The negro dancer’s car, driven by a chauffeur, collided with another automobile, operated by Paul Moffat, University of Southern California football player.

Robinson and Moffat had an altercation, and the football player pushed the dancer back into his car. Whereupon, according to police, Rebinson produced a revolver and struck Moffat on the head, resulting in injuries that required medical attention. The police took the negro dancer to gaol, charging him with assault with a deadly weapon. Monstrous Havoc ]F, and when, Universal studios ever want to make another Frankenstein picture, there will be a pretty bill for replacements, Practically all the weird array of scientific instruments, used in the creation of the Frankenstein Monster, were completely. de-

stroyed in a big scene in which the Monster, Boris Karloff, went on a rampage. The instruments, high-voltage transformers, spark-gaps and other Scientific apparatus, were originally used in "Frankenstein" and in "The Bride of Frankenstein,’ without suffering damage. When production was started on "Son of Frankenstein" the seven-year-old props were dusted off and used again in the laboratory sequences, The: smashing-up sequences, which occur near the end of the picture, were filmed by five cameras at one time. "We couldn’t have any retakes," Producer-Director Rowland VY. Lee explained.