Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 19 January 1943 — Page 4
$= 5
fiction, so it bid for the story, which it subsequently published
as = : ® L he pe ! ‘ : i» nF ] } 3 lin . A { D I to Indiana in Spy Film : Ba BORE, ae eee lp eh improved Tet | | SESEEAHS 10 DSthbiE CYC Ie 0 I ’ ll confined § | Wii 0 nA OU [ a Ji 3 ta ’ wiEE RG ® alil . - LDN . t L \d . J) AL & . * x DERICK C. C ] | H w They Made ‘Commandos’ " Bw Jailed Press Hallywood Corres 2% THE STORY of the evolution of “The. Commandos Strike at hack with us tod iss Kitty Ca: = SR Na " from an idea glimmering in the brain of Producer Lester | 5 : sle, about the only movie actress eg : in to the finished product which opens at Loew’s Thursday may ; : outside of the do risk a i | ‘us some comprehension of how Hollywood shakes the earth : i 1 over made stained. andesss: am AV & EN The only thing Columbia execs couldn’t arrange was to stop the _ : : ro : iss Carlisle quit Hollvwood nin ~ EPR long enough to borrow more |= ; o, scared of the place. The Nhe pst 3 pessels from the Canadian navy. So Mr. Forester returned to the gon e make 0 seemed awed by man ¥ AS it was, they had to be satis- | fiction business again, tempo- . oo , er, and for good reason. So th Sa i i ed with one warship and only 8 | rarily, agreeing to write for Mr. | | : . | |years have passed and now nobods ay Li i : of the Canadian army and | Cowan the story of a quiet little | | ih, | mG d of anybody and here’s Miss eB vy. : | Norwegian fishing village which | - i AmAix - gn r het GM Be _ As I get the picture, there is | somes under Nest terror and : He ; i - rorke: n Jones. ir Un: PTs Sd NEN Producer Cowan sitting at his | whose inhabitants are rescued t F = lve musical movie called “Cross 4 | ; desk ity Holly wor 3 Nueva he | from the invaders by a commando ” a : EY gers wd owed Wg and su y ea leaps | sortie. a : Gk She's a differer ly from th 4 : into his mind. Something he read ” » 8 : 3 ih NO sSniverea when 16 san! 3 ; 3 > a book, maybe. Anyway, he 38 0 ] IRI] Hd on ; picks up the phone and calls up | Norway Approves : | Ope his. incident : : ©. 8. Forester in Washington: NEXT, MR. COWAN showed an Sa Fe ” : nes’ firs o> was one of the Mr. Forester is the author of outline of the movie to the Nor- ¥ 2 A = ; A brothers hes h og . Q RS | p wegian ambassador, who approved | § : | ; vill & Inusici oy : But Mr. Forester is no | HEE: promised: ausisiancy. The } u BR | Wheres ; | | longer in the fiction business, : i - 5 ones and Miss Ce i | : having dropped this work to aid | §r@Pevine was humming by this | | :: : sle burst forth w AN a, one 5 time and Cosmopolitan magazine #8 ; : learned Mr, Forester was back in A
last June, by agreement with Mr. Cowan and Mr. Forester. Two weeks after the story appeared it was in the hands of Playwright Irwin Shaw, who wrote the shooting script. Mr, Cowan then tackled the problem of assembling a cast. Paul Muni hadn't made a movie In two years, having retired to the comparative obscurity of the New York stage. Cowan called up Muni. Muni was back in pictures. Lillian Gish was doing “Life With Father.” Cowan called her up. Gish was back in pictures. The next step was to find a place to make the picture so it would look like Norway. There had to be fjords, precipitous cliffs, evergreen mountains. There was John Farrow. With strange intuition, Cowan had signed Farrow to direct. Farrow had been invalided out of the. Royal Canadian Navy as a lieutenant, commander. He was familiar with Vancouver Island which he claimed the camera couldn’t distinguish from Norway. Cowan dispatched a production man to Victoria who found hotel accomodations for the cast at the Hotel Empress and several barns
HURRY! LAST 2 DAYS! SAR BOWDS andt STARS FoR INNEDRITE DELIVERY: BEEN APPONITED AN OFFICIAL ISSUING AGENC
JAMES CAGNEY JUL IRE:
TE Es
i
Here's How to
Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman team up for the first time in Warner’s “Casablanca,” spy drama of the French Moroccan port now in the hands of the A. E. F. The film opens tomorrow at the Indiana.
at the Victoria fairgrounds which could be used for stages for interior shots. It so happened that the outdoor shooting site was only 30 miles from‘ Victoria so that nobody would have to sleep on the ground. Cowan then called up Canada. ;
Assemble Cast
WITH THE army, navy and air
forces of Canada agreeing to cooperate, .and a supply of local
talent for extras and skilled la-
bor assured, Cowan relaxed, the
preliminary spadework completed. ’
There was some difficulty assembling the cast. Several maje members couldn't get permission to leave the country from their draft boards, being close to induction, Aliens who were citizens of allied countries had to get entry permits from the immigration bureau. Aliens from enemy countries couldn’t go at all. In addition to tons of props,
- Cowan had to transport a gen-
erator, since power available at Victoria wasn’t sufficient. He also packed thousands of feet of heavy cable. Cowan then had to obtain permission from city, county, state, federal and international authorities to transport across the border six Hollywood machine guns which shoot only blanks, Long distance phone calls be-
tween the studio in Hollywood
and advance men in Victoria were subject to censorship, which im-
Get Together
JUST A FEW MINUTES on the way home, in a friendly get-together over a glass of Falls City Beer —1009, STRAIGHT-AGED—helps you ease the
‘work-day strain and tension. STRAIGHT-AGED.
MAKE THE EVENI ~—Serve the beer that’s welcome at any get-together. Leisurely enjoy the grand brew that’s all.
NG MEAL 100%
grain and 1009
peded the use of the colorful language sometimes employed in the movie business. The parties had to. talk in intelligible English. When someone mentioned a “baby spot” over the phone, the connection was instantly cut. 8 ” ”
Bombed Airport -
THE STUDIO technicians proceeded to develop the woody sections of Vancouver island like a
subdivision. They built a fishing village in three days and an airfield in two. They also built barracks for Nazi troops who were played by Canadian soldiers and invasion barges for commandos, also played by Canadian soldiers. The only ready made prop the company had was the warship lent them by the Canadian government. Even the captain of the vessel got in the film. So did the R. C. A, F. airport at Patricia. bay which the company skillfully dive-bombed without a scratch. Flight officers from the R. C. A. F. stations played Nazi pilots and naval personnel was played by naval personnel. Sabotage sequences were directed by four flying cadets of the Norwegian Royal Flying school at Camp Little Norway, near Ontario. It. can be revealed now that during the entire period on location, the weather was perfect. Don’t know whom Cowan called
‘up about that.
PLAN AN EVENING OF CARDS—* Invite those neighbors who are so much fun. They'll praise your hospitality when you serve them Falls City—the beer that’s 100% STRAIGHT-AGED.
STARRING
AUL
CERN INE 3 EN
Directed by JOHN FARRD
LEE - GISH- HARD
| with R CEDRIC ROBFRT
IR AN ADIT]
A COLUMBIA PICTURE