Tar Heel Tide in Hollywood
Mr. McAfee lisisn't lo loll you about all
of Iho Aorlli Carolinians now in Iho movies,
bill hero are some who are being* most
prominently mentioned at the prosnt time.
AVA GARDNER, a North Caro¬
lina gift to the ranks of
к
leading Hollywood actresses,
promises to b e
с о
m e the most
talked-about Him personality of
the year. In a recent picture. ' The
Killers,” she turned in a not-easily-
forgotten performance. In that
powerful Ernest Hemingway story,
Ava acted as though she was in¬
spired. pointing up a truth long
accepted in Hollywood — that it
takes the right kind of role to bring
out hidden talents and the best
qualities in an actress.
Now the definite word is that
Ava will star opposite Clark Gable
in the screen version of that sen¬
sational best-seller. 'The Huck¬
sters.” Following that, she has
another coveted role coming up in
"Singapore.” in which she’ll share
starring honors with Fred Mac-
Murray.
DcIYlille's Present Work
Cecil B. DeMille. who claims
Washington. N. C\, as his home
town, is c u r r e n 1 1
у
producing
another motion picture with an
epic sweep. At the moment it goes
under the title of “Unconquered,"
and it’s being filmed in technicolor.
Historical in theme, the story deals
with a group of convicts who were
sent to America from England, and
with their subsequent struggles
for freedom in western Pennsyl¬
vania. The most dramatic episodes
of the story pivot around the
Pontiac uprising and the siege of
Fort Pitt. DeMille chose this par¬
ticular story for filming because of
the exciting human-interest ma¬
terial in it.
He has long maintained that a
majority of Americans are inter¬
ested in pictures depicting the hu¬
man side of history. He observes:
"There's a difference between the
historical picture and the so-called
'costume film.' Now and then, a
‘costume picture' has a little vogue;
then goes out again quickly. That's
because it's artificial; it hasn't the
wallop of the true historical pic¬
ture.”
Some producers, notably Sam
Goldwyn and Frank Capra, feel
that Hollywood's chief fault lies in
to
tty HOYT McAFEE
its refusal to produce a greater
number of pictures dealing with
America's social and economic
problems and with down-to-earth
human beings. In other words, pic¬
tures with social significance. De¬
Mille thinks that movies should
concentrate wholly on entertain¬
ment. That, he submits, is "the
only reason for their existence in
a political and economic structure
like ours." In his view. then, mo¬
tion pictures should "take our
minds off our troubles, calm us for
an hour or two. and send us out of
the theatre in a good humor.”
Some time ago DeMille made
this observation: "One trouble
with the film industry is that too
many producers, concerned with
art or with social service, forget to
be entertaining. They make pic¬
tures for a certain kind of audi¬
ence, and then wonder why Ameri¬
cans won't pay to see them."
Randolph Scott
Rangy, loose-limbed Randolph
Scott, who considers Charlotte,
N. C.. his "second home." continues
for the most part to appear in out¬
door. action, and historical pic¬
tures. His characterizations are al¬
ways manly and virile. But Scott
is equally at home when, occa¬
sionally. he’s assigned to a picture
with a sophisticated, drawing¬
room flavor.
Kathryn Grayson, from Win¬
ston-Salem. and Anne Jeffreys,
from Goldsboro, keep abreast of
busy working schedules at their
respective studios — MGM and
RKO. Kathryn poured all the
beauty of her voice into the one
song she sang in "Till The Clouds
Roll By," now making the rounds
of the nation's movie houses. It was
the lovely Jerome Kern melody.
"Long Ago And Far Away."
Sidney Blackmer. who hails
from Salisbury, let Hollywood pro¬
ducers and directors get away with
"typing" him for a long time; then
he rose in revolt against being cast
in the same kind of role in picture
after picture. Blackmer invariably
was seen as an old "meanie” — in
other words, as a villain. He was so
realistic and believable in those
parts that some of his fans wrote
him protesting letters.
Blackmcr's Revolt
These protests mode Sidney do
some earnest thinking. It was a
tribute to his acting ability that he
could make movie-goers hate him
and long for the moment that he’d
be "liquidated" in the picture.
But Sidney didn’t relish the pros¬
pect of ascending into that rarefied
atmosphere reserved for such
screen villains and bogey men as
Peter Lorre. Boris Karloff, and
Bela Lugosi. And yet. that's where
he seemed headed. Hence the rea¬
son for his revolt against villainous
assignments, followed by his unre¬
lenting fight to win character roles.
Above all else, Sidney enjoys
portraying the late T heodore
Roosevelt in movie shorts and in
full-length pictures. He’s a recog¬
nized master at doing so. In the
20th Century-Fox film. "Wilson."
Blackmer considered it a true
privilege to play the part of
Josephus Daniels: specifically, that
phase of Daniels' career as Secre¬
tary of Navy in World War I.
John Shepperd has resumed the
successful screen career of his
which was interrupted by World
War II. Before going into the
service, he won wide critical ac¬
claim for his leading roles. During
the war years he was seen several
times in educational shorts. . . .
Of all his roles, he made the big¬
gest hit opposite Gene Tierney in
"Belle Starr."
Kay Kyscr, that dynamic gen¬
tleman from Rocky Mount, N. C..
recently returned to Hollywood
with a view to pepping up his
Wednesday night radio show. He
has added a star attraction to his
list of singers in the person of Jane
Russell, about whom so much hul¬
labaloo was raised for the daring
way she was dressed and photo¬
graphed in "The Outlaw." Kay
signed her up for his weekly radio
(Continued on page 29)
THE STATE. Appil 12. 1947
