March 13, 1944: Ted Barnes and Grace Lee Butler are featured in the cover story on “Junior Dance.” The featured photographer is Philippe Halsman, who has a photo essay on musicians. This week’s movie is “The Purple Heart.” Courtesy of Google.
Gracie Allen has tips on being a good wife!
March 13, 1944
It’s Monday in 1944 and today we have:
— “In Old Oklahoma” with Martha Scott, Albert Dekker and Roy Rogers! on “Lux Radio Theatre.” Courtesy of Archive.org.
— “The Tuttles of Tahiti” with Charles Laughton, John Hall, Charles Bickford and Florence Bates on Screen Guild Theater. Courtesy of Otrrlibrary.org.
March 13, 1944
HOLLYWOOD, March 12 — One of the most startling books on the war is “A Bell for Adano,” John Hersey’s bestselling novel. Darryl F. Zanuck read it and bought it before it had reached its present tide of popularity. The hero is an Italian American and between you and me Spencer Tracy is yearning for a crack at it, and maybe you don’t think he is the one Darryl wants.
Spence made “Stanley and Livingstone” for Zanuck and liked his assignment fine. So, I reckon a little borrowing will go on, and in return for Spence Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer will get one of 20th’s best bets.
CHATTER IN HOLLYWOOD: Good news to Betty Grable’s friends and admirers that she is coming along nicely and will be able to go home Thursday. The baby is a beauty. She looks like like Betty — same big blue eyes and blond hair and if ever there was a proud mother it is the pinup girl who, like all proud mothers, thinks her child the most beautiful. The baby is thriving and has been all right from the beginning, despite rumors she was sick. Betty feels she wants to rest until November, but I have an idea summer will see her back at the studio.
March 13, 1944
One of the strange quirks about the acting profession is that anecdotes about stars are remembered long after their most thrilling performances are forgotten … Theatrical historians have devoted more space to Mrs. Patrick Campbell’s wit than to her make-believing talents. She had a tongue that was sharp enough to clip barbed wire … Frixample: During a rehearsal of a G.B. Shaw opus, his caustic cracks irritated Mrs. Campbell. She held her temper at leash as long as possible .. Finally she pointed at the famed chaste vegetarian and cried: “Someday you’ll eat a pork chop, Georgie, and then God help all women!”
Paul Robeson deserves all the posies tossed at him for his top-notch make-believing in “Othello” … But some critics who lauded Robeson seemed surprised that his acting ability was as good as his voice — there can be no greater praise … They apparently forget that Robeson has had a distinguished acting career. More than a decade ago he was London’s most popular star. The show that earned him plaudits in Britain was — you’ve guessed it — “Othello.”
March 10, 1914:
Here’s another item I found at the city archives. Non-Asian women working at “Oriental cafes” except entertainers “does not comport with public welfare and morals.”
March 12, 1944
It’s Sunday in 1944 and today we have:
— “The Jack Benny Program” makes a live appearance at the LIvermore Naval Air Station. Courtesy of Archive.org.
— And here’s Benny’s radio rival, Fred Allen, on the Texaco Star Theater, with George Raft. Note: Just because your car has 30,000 or 40,000 miles, there’s still lots of life in it. It will last out the war. Really! Courtesy of Otrrlibrary.org via Archive.org.
March 12, 1944
— CBS World News Today. John Daly in Naples, Italy, interviews B-26 pilot Lt. Jack A. Larkin of Great Falls, Mont., about bombing Florence, Italy. Daly said that the Air Force had bombed outlying rail lines in hopes of making a rail on Florence, but was unsuccessful. Larkin says that pilots received detailed briefings on places of cultural significance in Florence that were not to be hit under any circumstances. Pope Pius XII also pleaded with combatants to spare Rome from battle.
March 12, 1944
Although you may not believe it, Spence [Spencer Tracy], like all the Irish, has a very sentimental streak in him. He likes to pretend he’s tough, but he’s one of the kindest, sweetest guys in the whole town, and the type of man to whom friendship means a lot.
Here’s an item from my visit to the city archives: The Police Commission approves the rule that all new LAPD officers must be provided with a Colt Police Positive or Smith & Wesson Police Special .38-caliber revolver.
March 11, 1944
It’s Saturday in 1944 and today we have:
— “The Adventures of Jungle Jim.” In episode, Jim and the crew are fighting the Japanese. Courtesy of Otrrlibrary.org.
— Dinah Shore, Ginny Simms and Frank Sinatra on “Command Performance.” Courtesy of Otrrlibrary.org.
Frederick Crothers in 1949, courtesy of Anthony Stephen Crothers.
Note: This is a guest post by Anthony Stephen Crothers, a regular Daily Mirror reader.
Louella Parsons’ article published in March 1944 referencing Darryl Zanuck’s story and ultimately the picture he made about the bravery of the U.S. servicemen in WWII [“Purple Heart”] dredged up a lot of interesting remembrances and feelings as to the mood of the country and the patriotism the prevailed among the folks here at home at that time.
Zanuck had three kids at the outset of WWII and somehow was able to enlist voluntarily and serve in the military for a time. Most every “red-blooded” American man enlisted or tried to enlist in the service in a wave of real altruism that pervaded our country at that time. Zanuck’s draft status was: married, with three children, which would normally have kept him out of combat.
March 11, 1944
HOLLYWOOD, March 10 — Hedy Lamarr is crazy about Mexico. She wears Mexican jewelry, which she bought there, and every time I see her she and John Loder are planning to return to Mexico City. So I think it is entirely fitting she should have the lead in “Holiday in Mexico.” It is an Arthur Freed musical to be made in Technicolor with a Mexican locale. [The film was released in 1946 with Ilona Massey.]
NEVER LET IT BE SAID that Kenneth MacGowan’s “Lifeboat” didn’t stir up plenty of controversy. So, naturally, his next production at 20th rates considerable interest. It will be “The Blue and the Gray,” an original by Bert Le Vino and his late wife, Peg, about three regiments of Confederate soldiers — prisoners of war sent West during the Civil War. There are still people, believe it or not, fighting the Civil War, so maybe MacGowan has another hot subject. Understand Fred MacMurray (20th’s latest male acquisition) and Dana Andrews will be the leads. [Interesting concept — I’m not sure this was ever made into a film. Does anyone recognize it?]
March 11, 1944
Dinah Shore’s headache: Her great arranger has been drafted … Barbara Stanwyck’s next film will be her 50th. Just finished Warners’ “My Reputation.”
All those long-distance calls for starlet Gail Russell (when she was here) came from Duke Edwards … Betty Smith’s bestseller has been rechristened in England: “The Tree in the Yard.” Don’t they like Brooklyn over there?
John Carradine is rewriting Shakespeare for his next tour. Feels the Bard must be simplified for this generation…. F. Sinatra’s press staff has been told to play down the swoon angle and play up the family man stuff …
She’s a well-known movie actress. He’s a well-known married director … It’s been a romance for many years, but he can’t get a divorce … His daily telegrams and her nightly letters keep them alive … She signs hers “Swank” (meaning Sealed with a nice kiss) and he signs his wires “Blake” (for Best love and kisses ever). Those are not really the signatures but you get the idea.
Here’s a little sample of what I found while going through the Police Commission and Police Department materials from the 1940s at the city archives.
Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead” was serialized and accompanied by these illustrations by Frank Godwin.
This is “Make Way for Tomorrow,” an unusual and quite sentimental movie.
March 10, 1944
It’s Friday in 1944, and today we have:
— Andy is still looking for Madam Queen on “Amos ‘N’ Andy.” Courtesy of Archive.org.
— Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. “The Lone Ranger.” Courtesy of Archive.org.
— The 1940s version of easy listening music from “To Your Good Health” from the House of Squibb. Courtesy of Otrrlibrary.org via Archive.org.
A hot time in old Milwaukee!
March 10, 1944
HOLLYWOOD, March 9 — SISTER KENNY ARRIVED IN TOWN WEDNESDAY to be the house guest of Rosalind Russell. Simultaneously with the arrival of the woman who has done so much for infantile paralysis sufferers, we learn that Roz is playing “Sister Kenny” — and for RKO. The script is right back where it started — on Charlie Koerner’s desk. I have an idea when the picture is made that it will be Mary McCarthy’s script and not the treatment by Clifford Odets. Roz told me that she thought the McCarthy script was infinitely better. Never has there been such excitement over any one picture, and I am certainly glad that Roz, who loves Sister Kenny, will play that grand woman.
The Selig Zoo, in Cement and Engineering News.
From its humble beginnings as merely a boarding home for William Selig’s wild animal film stars, the Selig Zoo at 3800 Mission Road in East Los Angeles eventually became one of the metropolis’ top tourist attractions in the 1910s and 1920s. Featuring exotic wild animals from around the world, extensive landscaped grounds, and elaborate amenities, the Zoo served as the impetus for the city of Los Angeles to organize a permanent public zoo for its citizens, and served as the city’s first theme park.
Col. (honorary) William N. Selig served as an itinerant traveling magician and managed minstrel companies before establishing a fledgling moving picture technology and production company in Chicago in 1896. A California resident in the late 1800s, Selig eventually established a permanent Los Angeles studio in 1909.
Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.
March 10, 1944
From Miami Beach: At the graduation exercises of Officers Candidate school one of the brand-new lieutenants was a Negro. Which meant he had to be good because while they are fair there a colored boy doesn’t exactly have a bed of roses.
As you know, it is the custom for the girlfriends of the new lieutenants to pin their bars on. But there were, here in the very deep South, no colored girls sitting in the grandstand. So at the Big Moment the girls all rushed out and decorated the shoulders of the new officers. And the colored boy stood there in a little pool of silence and loneliness. After a long instant, however, a little Army nurse dashed out, pinned on his shining bars, smiled sweetly at him and returned to the stand. The colored boy’s big smile was a thing to see! Isn’t this democracy at its most spontaneous best?
March 9, 1944
It’s Thursday in 1944, and today we have:
— Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake of “Blondie” are the guests on “Abbott and Costello.” Abbott really gets a lot of mileage out of being “mayor” of Sherman Oaks.” Courtesy of Archive.org.
— “The Dinah Shore Program.” Courtesy of Archive.org.
— George Murphy is the guest on Bing Crosby’s “Kraft Music Hall.” Courtesy of Otrrlibrary.org via Archive.org.
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