Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 19 April 1939 — Page 12
MOVIES
By JAMES THRASHER
AE this time every year, when the first crocus pokes its head nh above ground and the sports expert sticks his neck out to dever his annual baseball predictions, the major motion picture studios announce their program for a fiscal year that begins around the first
of April.
Each season we are informed that, following “one of the studio's
most successful years,” an even more pretentious list of pictures is on the way for our entertainment and enlightenment. Five comPanies, at least, will promise from 40 to more than 50 features, most of them of the A variety. Then, as the months pass, something seems to happen. Theater managers can be heard complaining of a lack of “product.” Instead of puzzling over how to play all the big productions of two or three studios without putting two epics on a double bill, they find themselves confronted with an opposite problem. They may be presented with a reissue or two to tide them over, or their “A” feature may, in reality, have the alphabetical classification of a newly discovered vitamin.
HE fact is that a studio production program seldom works out as it is planned. Unforeseen delays and difficulties arise. And, without implying any sinister motives, it must be set down that a good many chickens are not only counted but ballyhooed before the hatching process has even started. For instance, a full 15 of CoIumbia’s 40 announced features for 1938-39 didn’t come off. One of these, “Golden Boy,” is still in the making. The entire year was spent in a diluted Scarlett O'Hara search for an unknown to play the title part; this despite the fact that John Garfield, a capable young man who did the role on Broadway, was right there in Hollywood. Fifteen of Warner Bros. promised products also failed to appear, and two others, “Juarez” and “Each Dawn I Die,” will have a 1939-40 release. This is not to deny, however, that some of the better Warner pictures came into being after these announcements. In the M-G-M list, such pictures as “Northwest Passage,” “The Women,” “The Great Canadian,” “The Wizard of Oz” “Madame Curie” and “Ninotschka” are carried over from last year to the roster of 1939-40 productions. William Powell's illness knocked out two vehicles.
# ” 2
HE Marx Brothers’ “A Day at the Circus” and James Hilton’s novel, “Goodbye Mr. Chips,”
with Robert Donat, also are reported to be on the way. Last season's announced Robert Taylor vehicle, “Hands Across the Border,” seems to have emerged as Columbia's “Duke of West Point,” with Louis Hayward. At least the latter picture had the same climax as the proposed Taylor film, a hockey game between West Point and the Canadian Royal Military College. Such plays as “Excursion” and “He Who Gets Slapped”; novels like “Pride and Prejudice,” the “Forsyte Saga” and Vaughan Wilkins’ “And So — Victoria,” continue unreported at present. And perhaps we may count ourselves fortunate that M-G-M seems to have abandoned its last year’s plans for an all-star epic based on Dalé Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” Twentieth Century-Fox likewise has some production hangovers on this year’s schedule. “Drums Along the Mohawk,” “Stanley and Livingstone,” “The Rains Came” and “The Life of Alexander Graham Bell” received their second brilliant flourish of trpmpets when the proposed 1939-40 features were announced.
2 = ” F course every big business
has to undergo certain altera-
tions of plans, and no one blames it for such inevitable happenings. The trouble is that in Hollywood it is so difficult to find out what becomes of all the ships that pass out in the night. In this case and many others,
the information the public gets is only what the studios wish it to have. Almost all the news comes through publicity departments, and even the independent columnists have to beware of offending if they want to continue to crash the studio gates.
= = 2 And speaking of frustrated plans, strayed sheep and things in general, wonder what ever became of
Jack Oakie, Sinclair Lewis’ “Angela Is 22” and the proposed season of stock at Keith's?
HOLLYWOOD
By PAUL HARRISON
HE iy voon, April 19.—At 75, the grand old lady of the movies is not much inclined toward reminiscence. Thumbing backward through the album of her 56 seasons of acting would be a wheel-chair pastime, and brisk May Robson would rather look ahead. There's a lot of work to be done and fun to be had, and she feels kind of silly about all the fuss that Hollywood has been making over her anniversary today. It doesn’t seem especially significant to her. Maybe in another quarter of a century the final curtain will fall, but whenever it does, “Muzzy” Robson figures on being among the
people and the activity she loves.
“I've noticed,” she said, “whenever some wealthy old man closes his desk and announces he is through with work,
he’s dead within a year.
Something
slows up the motor inside when you don't keep it busy with use. It must be
driven by the emotion of accomplish-
ment.
“Some people seem tc think I just want to keep on earning money, or that I want to stay in the limelight. Nobody thinks it’s funny if a woman likes to cook all her life, or keep her house Well, I take the same
sense!—I can't do anything else.
in good order. pride in what I do.”
® # ”
HE does a great many things, this alert, bright-eyed little woman of
€2 inches and 103 pounds.
She belongs to clubs, delivers lec-
tures, travels, looks after investments,
writes three letters a week to her son, great-granddaughter
grandson or
May Robson in
New York, gives dinners and attends parties, knits and sews dozens of Christmas presents, cares for an aviary containing 44 canaries and oriental finches and a parrot named Peggy, and is constantly in demand for pictures.
In the past several years she has built 11 model cottages for families of modest means. And she has bought and improved 10 other properties, mostly apartments and bungalow courts, which are rented only to people WITH children. Every working day, Miss Robson rises shortly after 6, reads the papers, breakfasts, confers with her secretary-companion of 22 years, Lillian Harmer, and reaches the studio about 8 o'clock. During the long waits between scenes, she never goes to her dressing room to rest, preferring to sit on the set, chatting and knitting. Untold scores of young players owe a lot to Muzzy May; she always keeps an eye on panicky newcomers and bolsters their confidence with her gay and easy talk. 4 5 8 HE many biographies of Miss Robson are confused about her early years, and with her disinterest in the past she never bothered to set the record straight. The facts are, however, that she was born Mary Robison, daughter of a British naval captain, April 19, 1864, in Australia. They moved to England and at 15 she married E. H. Gore and came with him to America. On a Texas ranch she bore him three children, two of whom died in babyhood. Her husband died, too, and at the age of 19 Mary Robison was a widow struggling to support a tiny son in New York. She always wanted to be an actress, so she asked for a job and got it—as easily as that. The manager assumed her to be an experienced actress and assigned her a dramatically difficult
role as a slavey in “The Hoop of Gold.” Since her debut at the old Grand Opera House in Brooklyn, Sept. 7, 1883, she never has missed a season of acting. There were 44 years of stardom and character leads on the stage, and now 12 years cf pictures. That first performance in Brooklyn, incidentally, changed her name. A careless printer left out a couple of letters, so that Mary Robison appeared on the program as “May Robson.” Others in the company advised her to keep it for luck. They seem to
LO
Now! 25¢ Till Balcony 30c After 8
WUTHERING HEIGHTS... BLONDIE
MEETS BOSS
“ICE FOLLIES of "38"
“PRISON Without BARS”
have been right. Mat. Today 2:30
ENGLIS Tonight ... 8130 The Theatre Presents hk oan “fH SEA GUILE
MATINEE: $1.10, $1.65, $2.20, $2.75. EVE.: $1.10, $1.65, $2.20, $2.75, 3.30. INCL. TAX.
"HURRY! LAST 2 DAYS!
Ui “Back Door to Heaven” with Patricia Ellis
25¢ UNTIL 6 ‘Nw =»
with OLIVIA De HAVILLAND ANN SHERIDAN
Indianapolis movie-goers will
have their first look at Corinne
Luchaire (right), 17-year-old French actress, when Alexander Korda’s
«prison Without Bars” arrives at
is shown above in a scene from the film,
Loew’s on Friday. Miss Luchaire
THE NEIGHBORHOODS
and John Litel. . and Jean Rogers. . town you can pick it up tonight at . . . And again tomorrow night at By the same token you can grab “Tailspin” featuring Alice Faye, Nancy Kelly and Connie Bennett at the Rivoli tonight. . . . And the elegant “Idiot's Delight” featuring Gable and Shearer at the Vogue tomorrow night. ” 2 ”
The Fountain Square's doubleheader tonight and tomorrow is “My Son Is a Criminal” (Alan Baxter and Jacqueline Weils) and “Home on the Prairie” (Gene Autry). . . . “Charlie Chan in Honolulu” is deing right well in Indianapolis. . . . It’s at the Sanders and the Tacoma tonight. Victor MclLaglen’s and Chester Morris’ “Pacific Liner” is on at the Talbott tonight and tomorrow. . . . While the Garfield is putting on Fred MacMurray and Harriett Hilliard in Cocoanut Grove.” . . . Doug Fairbanks Jr’s “The Young in Heart” is at the New Daisy. . . . There's three of ’em at the Paramount tonight. . . . And three tomorrow night. . . . Take your pick. .. . The Speedway has “Boy Slaves” and “Burn ‘Em Up O'Connor.” . . . And the Belmont is doing “My Son Is a Criminal” and “Mystery Plane.”
AT HOME AT LAST
John Payne and Anne Shirley, newlyweds of a year, have purchased their first home, a view residence in the Hollywood Hills.
WHEN DOES IT START?
APOLLO
“Dodge City,” with Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland and Ann Sherigan. at 11, 1:07, 3:21, 5:35, 7:49 and
CIRCLE
“The Saint Strikes Back,” with George Sanders and Wendy Barrie, at 11:15, 2:05, 4:55, 7:45 and 10:30. Joan Davis (On Stage), with Si Wills, Helen Revnolds’ Skaters, Jack Powell, Romo Vincent and the X Grays, at 12:50, 3:40, 6:30 and 9:20.
CIVIC
“The Masqre of Kings,” by Maxwell Anderson. Presented by the Civic Theater cast under Edward Steinmetz’ direction. Engagement through Wednesday. Curtain at 8:30
D. m. ENGLISH'S
Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in sa0® Sea Gull,” today at 2:30 and
INDIANA
“I'm From Missouri,” with Bob Burns, Gladys George and Gene Lockhart, at 12:57, 103, 7:08 and
“Back Door to Heaven,” with Patricia Ellis and Wallace Ford, at 11:32, 2:38, 5:44 and 8:50.
LOEW'S
“Wuthering Heights,” with Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier and David Niven, at 12:15 3:35, 6:55 and 10. “Blondie Meets y Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake and Lary Simms, at 11, 2:20, 5:35 and 109.
YL 1 MLTR GEORGE SANDERS
AL DONAHUE
His Rainbow Room Orchestra,
JUDY GANOVA
WITH ANNE AND ZEKE
ETHEL SHUTTA DUKE McHALE
~CIRCLE THEATRE-
HE Emerson will trot out two first-run pictures tomorrow night. . . . One is “Secret Service of the Air” starring Ronald Reagan . « The other is “Inside Story” with Michael Whalen . . If you missed “Jesse James” when it was down-
both the Emerson and the Cinema. the Cinema and at the Irving.
Lunts Miss Tarkington
But Famous Stage Couple Plan to See Friend Soon.
It seems that the only unhappy item about the current Indianapolis visit of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne is that they have been unable to see their longtime friend and patron, Booth Tarkington. “But we hope to see him this summer,” Mr. Lunt added. “He's a saint—one of the few saints we have left in America today.”
Attend Reception
Mr. Lunt and Miss Fontanne made their only offstage public appearance yesterday at a reception given them by the Civic Theater at the Indianapolis Athletic Club. About 300 members and guests attended to pay their respects or renew acquaintance with the famous theatrical couple. A late arrival in Indianapolis Monday, performances of “Amphitryon 38” at English’s Monday and Tuesday nights, the reception and two performances of “The Sea Gull” today left no time for a visit with Mr. Tarkington, Mr. Lunt said. The Lunts have established some sort of a record by traveling 17,000 miles on tour since last May. This includes an engagement in London and extended trouping throughout the United States this season. Tour Closes Soon The tour will close in about 10 days, after which Mr. and Mrs. Lunt will retire to their summer home in Genessee Depot, Wis. Mr. Lunt’s ill health forced cancellation of a proposed “comedy festival” in New York this summer. But the actor said his attack of arthritis is not so severe as the New
Chicago Troupe Presents Lincoln Drama at Tech
A performance of “Prologue
Theater Company tonight at Technical High School heads the week’s list of scholastic entertainments. Others are scheduled tomorrow and
Friday night at George Washington
A music festival will be held at 8 p. m, tomorrow at Washington,
while the senior class play, “New afternoon and Friday night at Manual. Lincoln’s Life Theme
The play to be given at Tech is the story of Abraham Lincoln’s early life. Written by E. P. Conkle, the play begins when Lincoln was in his early 20s and deals with his romance with Anne Rutledge and his years in New Salem, Ill Lyle Hagan, who plays the young Abe Lincoln, is 6 feet 3 inches tall, Lincoln’s exact height, and is a descendant of the Illinois Grigsbys, one of whom married Sarah Lincoln. Jean Hoeferkamp and Lawrence Daum, Manual Training High School seniors, will play the parts of the newlyweds in the senior class play, “New Fires,” to be presented tomorrow afternoon and Friday night on the Manual stage.
Trio Directed Show
E. Edward Green, assisted by Mrs. Vivian Siener, and Lewis E. Finch, technical director, directed the three-act comedy. Other students
having parts are Harold Light,
Juanita Truitt, Julia Haynes, Ralph Anderson, Birchard Bush, Bessie Rosenberg, Kathleen Sponsel, Martha Vander Schoor, Olga Phillips, Roland Kennedy, Robert Stringer, Norma Lee Bottles and Christine Gershanoff. Virginia Byrd will play a pro-
LAST TIME ON ANY SCREEN! CLARK GABLE
“SARATOGA”
Plus. MY DEAR MRS. ALDRICH
NOW [% YLETOLLE
W. C. Fields, Charlie McCarthy Edgar Bergen—‘ YOU CAN'T CHEAT AN HONEST MAN” Tom Brown, Joan Fontaine “DUKE OF WEST POINT”
FIRST RUN—Tex Ritter “STARLIGHT OVER TEXAS" Jack Holt, Beverly Robert
to Glory,” by a Chicago Federal
and Manual Training High Schools.
Fires,” will be presented tomorrow
gram of organ music as a special feature of the music festival to be presented at 8 p. m. tomorrow in the auditorium of George Washing-
ton High School. Other features of the program will be a group of songs by the Stephen Foster Quartet and solos by Kelvin Masson and Ross T. Campbell, faculty members. Student contributions to the program will include selections by the Concert Orchestra, directed by Kelvin Masson; a vocal solo, by Earl Albertson, and a duet by Merle Metcalf and Mr. Campbell. Proceeds of the program will go toward the newly installed organ at the school.
STONE PEACE OFFICER
Lewis Stone is a peace officer in every county in California. He was made deputy sheriff throughout the state because of his work in the in-
1 turbi to Sta rt To South America
HOLLYWOOD, April 19 (U. P.).— Jose Iturbi, noted pianist, said tonight he will take off from Grand Central air terminal today for Brownsville, Tex., first leg of a flight to Buenos Aires. A licensed pilot, Mr. Iturbi said he would pilot his Howard cabin plane “most of the way” and hoped to reach his destination in four days after leaving Brownsville. The plane has a cruising speed of 210
Biles an hour and a top speed of
Iturbi will be accompanied by his sister, his secretary, Candido Cacheiro, and a pilot, Horton Hale.
Join the satisfied thousands who wear _our glasses today.
DR. J. W. FARRIS
OPTOMETRIST VE
| |
Get the Glasses
MiLLer-WoHL
- ANOT
H
another at this low price.
Scores AcaIN ER / § ~
FLEECE
TOPPERS 29
Choose Sizes From 12 3 to Styles 1, 20
COLORS — Rose, Royal, White, Powder, Wisteria, Cerise, Shrimp, Grape.
Manufacturers were caught with surplus stock—we bought them —at a fraction of their actual value, and we're passing on the savings to you.
Even if you own a TOPPER now—you won't resist buying You may go anywhere with a RAYON FLEECE TOPPER and feel well dressed. Wide revers or notch collar types—with inverted pleat back styles.
Miller-Wohl
45 E. Washington Street
terests of the Sheriffs’ Association.
Here it is.
range at a truly price. these ranges in
berts “STRANGE CASE OF DR.. MEADE” G-Men—News Events
romance go B-
Wait'll you see Sandy a stolen baby that
CIEE EN: TR
LENE
He'll steal your heart
COIN PRC AT
EAST SIDE 3168 8:
Last Times Tonight Alice Faye—Nancy Kelly Constante Beiinett Hoan, Pavis TAILSPI
“PARDON OUR NERVE”
Phil Harris & Orch. “Romancing Along”
enry Fonda—Tyrone Power
Nancy Kelly “JESSE JAMES” D. Lamour “ST. LOUIS BLUES”
Paramoun 4 Wash. & N. ad
ceed Si 1—James Ellison—Lucile Ball sid “NEXT TIME I _ MARRY —j:05 & Y0:25 2—Harry Carey—Evelyn Brent “LAW WEST OF TOMBSTONE’—S8:55 3—"FLYING G-MEN” at 6:45 and 10:05 4-3 Bears Color Comedy. 5—F Family Nite
IRVING Gail Patrick : RAZ”
5507 E. Wash. St, “KING OF ALCA “FIGHTING THOROUGHBREDS"
20: “CHAN IN HONOLULU" “SIX SHOOTIN’ SHERIFF” WEST SIDE
LLY, EN
WEST SIDE Speedway City Speedway
Dennis O'Keefe “BURN EM
Cecelia Packer ‘CONNOR’ Ann Shirley “BOY SLAVES”
UP O’CON
2540 W. Mich. St. NEW DAISY poue. Fairbanks Jr. Janet Gaynor “THE YOUNG _ IN HEART” Dorothea Kent “STRANGE FACES”
SOUTH SIDE
A ed MacMurra: New Garfield ied Mechurrsy “COCOANUT
r Harriet Hillia Tony Martin “UP_THE RIVER”
FOUNTAN SO UARE
“HOME ON THE PRAIRIE” Plus OUR GANG COMEDY
SANDERS 11068 Prospect
«THANKS FOR EVERYT “CHARLIE CHAN IN HONOLULU"
~ NORTH SIDE Victor McLaglen
TALBOTT Chester Morris
“PACIFIC LINER”
“STRANGE CASE OF DR. MEADE”
& College at 63d Free Parking
Fredric March—Joan Bennett “TRADE WINDS” Don Ameche—Ritz Bros, “THR! MUSKETEERS”
B ELM ONT Belmont and Wash.
Alan Baxter ueline
CINEM A 16th & Delaware
Henry Fonda o : 3 fone Power wnexd TIME I MARRY
Talbott at 22d
A beautiful new Magic Chef gas
There are 20 of
and while they last—you have an opportunity to buy at this low price...
bargain
stock—
MORE FOR YOUR MONEY
Than Ever Before! 560950
AND YOUR OLD STOVE
«Your Municipal Servant”
‘BSS VAX CR OPW)
AND COKE UTILITY
A strikingly beautiful Magic Chef gas range that will give you modern cooking comfort. Fully insulated, equipped with Lorain oven heat control, sturdy in construction and beautiful in design. See this super-range value on fhe show room floor: 49 S. Pennsylvania.
—
% Two rate reductions made in the past three years are saving Indianapolis gas consumers $500,000 annually.
: W—
SRR
A RR RY
bY
NA
A RE RRB RE
0