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Hepburn is returning
to the screen
KATIE HEPBURN, who retired from Hollywood
with her ears singing in 1938, is going back. She held her head high when the Independent Motion Picture Theatre Proprietors published the charge that she was "box-office poison."
She still asked £30,000 a picture. Now she's going back, she'll get more. She has sold her play, "The Philadelphia Story" (for which she paid £3,000), for £15,000. And her self for another £20,000. The cameras grind in June.
Query: Why was Hepburn "box-office poison"? A.: Be- cause she stepped out of character. All the clever fellows who make pictures saw her na n great actress-a sort of female Paul Muni--which she may be.
But the publle paid to see her as Aims, she Katle Hepburn. For could act her russet curls white and flare her nostrils ke Derby winner. It didn't work unless the part let, her be herself. She was Hepburn "the queer one." That's what they paid to see.
Elisibeth with It's the
same Bergner. Most every day I pray Mr. Shaw won't let her be his screen Saint Joan.
may,
Clive COME what Brook is determined to get into anval uniform. There is now quite some considerable doubt about the Graf Spec Alm. "Death of the Raider."
Already there is the documentary with the British "For Freedom." officers playing their actual batile paris,
But if Mr. Brook can't be Ad- miral Sir Henry Harwood, he'll be the captain commanding the light cruiser escorting a fleet of mer- chantmen across the North Sea in "Convoy," which British studios are now making.
One sentence in the synopsis of the story makes me angry. It says: "Embittered by an unhappy mar
Is made rlage, the captain's task more difficult by the presence on the convoy of a young lieutenant
the war-hud who-before between him and his wife."
come
I'm the mug. I thought that the one good thinit you could any about the war was that It had done away with the need in plclures for old, hack situations like that,
Or maybe the script man wrote it out of force of habit.
JUST as eager for a malform as Mr. Brook is 'Mr. Niven. After four months' waiting, he has got a com- mission in the Ride Brigade, Two pips. His part will take longer to play.
Anna Neo- By the way gle to be teamed with Cary Grant Bette in "Tree of Liberty."...
Davis to be Sarah Bernhardt,.... Michael Stoller, singing foolman In "Me and My Gai," sang well enough to get a job with the opera- Beggur's Opers," ficu. He's in backing up Michael Redgrave.... Tracy-Mickey Rooney Spencer will sequel "Boy's Town," George Formby has cancelled all to leave himself stage contracts
free to play his banjulele to the troops.
Hilda Glyder, who made the eur- rent hit song, "Oh, Johnny, Oh," popular twenty-three years ago, is now honey mooning in California with Dave Goldman. She was pre- viously Mrs. Harry Weldon.
Dietrich will get glamour and Vic McLaglen La "Seven Sinners" (Seven? I didn't think Dopey June (Four could be bad)...
Feathers) Duprez has arrived in Hollywood mud is being tested by Alt Hitchcock for "Personal His
Deanna Durbin earned tory,"
£34,980 in 1939.
MICKEY ROONEY and his father appear together in a picture for the first time in Mickey's screen career. In Judge Hardy and Son, starring Mickey, his father, Joe Yule, will have a minor role. They played together in vaudeville when Mickey was four years old.
GEORGE BRENT spent part of his childhoud in Ireland herding sheep. He related his experiences 15 we sat around huge charcoal burners on the night location set of The Fighting 69th, which covered several acres.
A troupe of forty workmen and technicians returned from a three- thousand-mile journey through Ok- lahoma, Texas, New Mexico, ci- zona and California, where they exposed more than twenty-five thousand feet of film getting back- ground shots for The Grupes of Wrath. The cast, headed by Henry Fonda, and director John Ford were working at the studio at the same time. John Steinbeck approved the script which was adapted from his book.
June Withers' voice was used for characters impersonating cartoon
on the screen before she became an actress.
INANITY FARE
When Sir John got the
Invitation
To bo Minister of Infor-
mation.
He remarked: "It looks to
ma
A casy as B.B,C." J
May 8, 1940.
PAGE
HE NEVER TOLD HIS PARENTS
OF HIS EXPLOITS
SQUADRON LEADER KENNETH
CHRISTOPHER DORAN, who became the first alr hero of the Allies, is reported missing.
He was awarded n bar to his Cross on Distinguished Flying January 30, the first time this dis- tinction has been accorded a Bri- tish fler since hostilities began last September.
Young Doran-he is only 28- was awarded the flying cross by King George last November in for leading the suc- recognition ccasful attack on German navnl basey at Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbuettel on September 4, less than 30 hours after Great Britain declared war on Germany,
Britain
that direct announced hits with bombs had been made German battleship at Wil- helmshaven and that another war- ship was attacked at Brunsbuettel.
on a
GRIN AND BEAR IT
(1999) CHESS Frung Frafiesta, 38;
By Lichty
"I wish you'd, watch what papers you give me to sign-this is the third time this week I've committed myself to prison!"
in describing the Wilhelmshaven raid, Doran said:
འབཱལ
reached Wilhelmshaven ufter two hours of flying. We could see a German warship tak- ing on stores from two tenders at her "stern. We could Bee washing hanging on a line but un- daunted by this, we proceeded to bomb the battleship.
some
"Flying at 100 feet above mast in the height, all three aircraft flight converged on her. I flew straight ahead. The plot of the second craft came across from one side, and the third crossed from the other side.
"When we flew on top of the battleship we could see the crew stations. running fast for their We dropped our bombs. The sec- ond pilot, flying behind saw two hit. We
around and came ship's pom-pom guns began to' fire as we headed for home."
cross was
the
*-
The exploit for which Duran was awarded the bar to his fly- was the leadership of a re- connaissance Right of nine Bris- to Blenheim bombers which en- countered a group of Messer- schmitt 110 "destroyer" planea over the North Sea. One of the British bombers was shot down, but their fire downed one German plane and damaged two others,
to
DORAN, a handsome, mustached officer, is so modest that, necord- ing to his mother, he refused wear his uniform while home on leave. He never told his parents of his exploits and the announce- ments of his decorations surprised them both.
Born at Leicester, Dorun wus educated at St. Albans school, and he enlisted as a private in the Ter- ritorial Army in 1932.
in
He was
the
commissioned Royal Air Force in December, 1935, promoted to pilot offer ten months later and was advanced to flying officer in May, 1938.
In March, 1930, Doron was made an acting flight lieutenant and was raised to a squadron leader December of last year.
In
On February 1, he was awarded bar to the DFC, for leading a formation of bomber aircraft which was attacked by Messerschnitts over the North Sea.
Two fighter aircraft were com- pelled to break off the fight. A third was shot down in lamies into the sea and the remainder eventu- ally abandoned the attack.
Although one British aircraft was , lost and a second had to return to the base, Doran led the remaining aircraft 130 miles further to his objective.
How Poland's £21,000,000 of Gold was Saved
ON September 28, 1930, thirty-
one tired, dirty, unshaven men lined up with other refugees to wait their turn for free soup and bread at a charity soup Iditchen at the Gare de l'Est, In Paris.
One of them had in his pocket a £21,000,000 worth of receipt for gold, which the party had just banded over to the Bank of France.
That receipt was a symbol of perhaps the greatest victory over Hitler that has yet been achieved in this war.
The story begins 23 days before, In Warsaw, which was at that time being threatened by the huge mechanised Nazi army, that was ever coming nearer. The Polish Government was busy leaving the capital for its brief siny In Lublin, and the elly, already under shell fire, was preparing for its gallant but hopeless resistance.
Adam
lam Koc, former Polish Colonel Finance Minister, paid a visit that night of September 5 to the Bank of Poland and to the range Ministry to ask what arrangements had been made for the transfer- ence abroad of the Government's gold reserve. As he had suspected,
WAR CHANGES IN OUR LANGUAGE|
WE are usinit quite a number of words which, only a few months ago, most people would not have understood-or if they had understood them, would have given n different meaning.
"WARDEN" used to conjure up the Governor of a US. gaot as represented on the flims. Now, If we hear the word, we think of the man or woman who tell us that our "blacic-out" (another war word) is imperfect.
"POOL" is an adjective for petrol or other commodities which are doled out by controllers and have lost their familiar brand names.
"EVACUEE" is a genuine new war word formed from "EVACUA- TION which is here used in a different sense from its former one. We coined this word in Hongkong for the people who came down from Shanghal during the early days of the Sino-Japanese War.
The economists are popularising "VICIOUS SPIRAL"-which means a situation in which prices and wages rise, chasing each other na it were up a spiral staircase. The phrase ly quite old, but it has hitherto been confined to books on economics,
The most popular of the new words coming from Germany is "BLITZKRIEG," much more used than its translation, "ightning war."
ERSATZ" (substitute) familiar in 1914-18, has been revived now. It has such a bad name in Germany that the Nazi Government discourages its use, preferring such terms on "aynthetic."
war. The
CONCHIE" and "RATIONS" are both words from last latter is again being pronounced "rashuns," with the short "a" Instead of rayshuns," "which is considered more correct, and is used in the Services.
Some of the war words are not particularly desirable additions to Le "DECON- the language. Perhaps after the war English will TAMINATED"-another wartime term meaning. sa applied to streets, houses and goods, freed from contamination by gas
It is not true that Hitler's conquest of Poland was an unqualified victory, for it failed to attain one of its principal objectives-the capture of the gold reserve of the Polish. Republic.
How the £21,000,000 of bullion was transferred from the Bank of Warsaw to the Bank of France is one of the greatest thrills of this war.
All was had
nothing had been done. confusion, The Government left without the gold.
*
SO Koc took upon himself the responsibility of ordering and or ganising the removal of the gold to France before the city fell. He had no legal standing, no trans-
the country port;
was over-run. with German sples and saboteurs, constantly flown over by Nazi air- craft, and was soon to fall a prey
of to the advancing armies
the Fuehrer.
Koc telephoned to Colonel Ignacy Matuszewski, also a former Fin- ance Minister under Pilsudsici, and put the problem to hima,
*
ONE hour later Matuszewsici reported to Koe at the bank. With him he brought 10 volunteers, sol- diers, clerks, mechanics-all mere boys.
The lads were sent out to find transport, while Koc and Matus- zewski worked out possible routes frontier. The to the Rumanian search for transport seem
seemed hope- less. Every available bus or lorry had been commandeered for war purposes or for evacuation. Only ave derelict, creaking, worn-out buses, which nobody had thought worth removing from the garages, could be begged, borrowed, stolen.
had
or
By the time these five wrecks Jumbered up to the banit-the two lenders had decided that the best plan was for the convoy to set out eastward for Brest-Litovsk, then strike southward for the fron-
Only £6,000,000 worth of the gold could be accommodated in the five derelict buses, It was decided that this amount, should be taken immediately and, if possible, a re- turn journey could be made for the remainder. As soon as the bullion was aboard, Matuszewaki took his seat in the leading bus and the ex- pedition set out. Kor was left be- hind to deal with further arrange- ments, ly
ALL that night and the next night the buses lumbered on over
and shell-pitted roads
through bomb-tom vilinges. During the day they hid and camouflaged the buses and also added to their petrol supply by siphoning fuel from the tanks of derelict farm tractors, abandoned
cars, and broken-down lorries. They snatched very little rest. Overhead they heard Ger- man bombers, which were actually searching for them.
at a
On the second night they arrived point just outside Brest- Litovsk, which is 125 miles from Warsaw. Here they learned facts that altered their plans entirely.
German wireless Thre
had af- nounced that the plan of the con- known. voy and its route were So it was impossible to g0 011 southward: the Gestapo was watch- ing, mining bridges and roads and the German air force was search- Ing for them, ready to bomb the buses.
On the other hand, there was plenty of petrol in Brest-Litovsk. I would be possible to return to Warsaw and pick out a new route. But Matuszewski could not con- Com- sult Koe by phone or wire. munications had broken down and there was not a whole aeroplane in the city.
However, a shot-down acroplane was found. Its engine was useless. But in the celty's aircraft instruc- tion school they found a set of parts which could be made up into an engine and one of the lads knew how to do it.
It took 20 hours to do, then one of the party flew this makeshift
Warsaw. Ho machine to back with the message: "Return to the capital.".
came
ON the night of September 9, they got back. There were now the ten more buses, loaded; with rest of the gold. A new route to the south-east had been worked out and fuel supplies were arranged
for along it. Twenty more volun-
teers were ready, too,
So the enlarged convoy set out on its 470-mile trek.
Soon Nazl spies found the new route and was doing all they could to slop the convoy. Enemy air- craft hovered
the above. But convoy travelled only by night. Bridges were mined and the buses had constantly to
discover new ways. Ronds had been bombed pleces. Frequent breakdowns occurred. But on the evening of September 13 the last bus arrived in the town of Sniatin
the Rumanian frontier-arrived two hours ahead of schedule.
Here a train was waiting, thanks to arrangements Koc made by wire from Warsaw. The gold was im- to it. The mediately loaded on train thundered over
on
the bridge that led into Rumenia. And 30 minutes later the bridge blew up. The Gestapo had set their time- bomb too late.
⭑
*
AT Constanza, the Rumanian Black Sen port, the gold was put aboard the American oil-tanker Eocene, skippered by an English- man, Captain E. Brett. There was a hitch when the crew de serted. They had been bribed by the Germana or frightened at the thought of submarines. But the Poles combed the dockside taverns and got together a new crew, by threats or by persuasion.
were
Soviet Russia was by this time Invading Poland, and there Red submarines, warships, and planes to be avoided, as well ́as German agents, but the Eocene got through quite safely to Istanbul.
Here the officials demanded £0,000 in cash to pay for a special train with guards. They suggested that the money could come out of the hoard of gold, but Matuszewski refused, declaring that he had no authority to touch it.
An American oil company came to the rescue and lent them the required
amount of money,
So the train set out from Scutarl (on the other side of the Bhos- porus from Istanbul) on an un- eventful journey to Belrut, in Syria, where the gold was trans- ferred to French cruisera.
Most of this story is told in "The Polish Gold," by Robert Westerby and R. M. Low, published by Methuen at 35.
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