Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 9, Number 42, DeMotte, Jasper County, 7 September 1939 — Star Dust [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Star Dust

★ Drama for Carole ★ Sings Your Choice ★ Two Blind Pianists

By Virginia Vale

WITH practically everybody liking “The Wizard r»f Oz” very much indeed (and those who didn’t like it getting almost violent on the subject, savings that it couldn’t even be compared with “Snow White’’), the picture got ofT to a flying start. Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, who play the leading roles, made personal appearances with it when it opened in Nc\y York. They arrived at the theater at 8:45 in the morning, and remained there until almost midnight. Meanwhile young people of the same ages as the stars lined up outside the'theater, waiting to get m—and because of the enthusiasm of these young fans, Judy and Mickey had a body guard w'hen they did get out for a breath of fresh air and a look at the city. They gave five shows daily except on Saturdays and Sundays, when ex-

tra performances were scheduled. She sang, he did imitations, and the fans cheered till the rafters rang. In “In Name Only’’ Carole Lombard shows that she could give Bette Davis some rather stern competition as a dramatic actress if she put her mind on it. The girl who has been playing ga-ga comedy roles with suqh zest ever since the public acclaimed her as a comedienne in “My Man Godfrey” has turned in a bit of acting that makes her a promising candidate for one of those Academy statuettes, next time they’re awarded. Now that Nelson Eddy is back on that coffee program on Sunday evenings hiji program-makers are busy once again. He selects his songs chiefly by the number of requests from listeners.. His secretary tabulates the requests every two weeks and delivers the final count to him. If possible, he sings the songs for which there are the greatest number of requests. The only difficulty is that pejople keep requesting the same old favorites over and over. Although She is still on vacation, Kate Smith is preparing to return to the air in her role of commentator; she is so popular in that role that she’s added it to her duties as singing mistress of ceremonies on the “Kate Smith hour.” So she’ll begin commenting on October 9 from 12 to 12:15 Eastern standard time, over the Columbia Broadcasting system, while her regular hour brings her back to the microphones three days earlier. She’ll discuss the news of the day and also her own personal experiences. Alee Templeton, the blind pianist whose Ifuesday night program is so popular, is not the only blind pianist on the air. Virg Bingham, of Kansas City's station WHB, is equally popular with those who have heard him. His interest lies chiefly m developing radio trios; the new one is composed of two girls and Bingham himself, and is the eleventh radio trio that) he has developed. “Susan and God,” the play in which Gertrude Lawrence appeared so successfully on the stage, will probably require a good deal of rewriting before it’s fit to be screened. For “Susan and God” poked fun at the Oxford movement, without actually saying so. and you can’t poke fun at any religious movement on the screen without bringing in a swarm of protests. Greer Garson. the English girl who made such a hit in “Good-by, Mr. (hips,” will have the Lawrence role. ^ — ODDS AM) ESDS—Tez Hitter , the cowboy star, m«< injured the other day when he hud a bad fall from his mount —not a horse, but an automobile . Sorma Shearer will do another costume picture , “/Vide and Prejudice* and will make U m England . . . Errd Astaire, Eleanor Powell and Eddie Cantor will co-star it l “ Girl Crazy ” ... Eduard Arnold made his first plane trip recently, from coast to coast, and plans to take planes instead of trains from now on. (Released by Western Newspaper Union.>

MICKEY ROONEY