West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Friday 29 June 1945, page 11


FILM NOTES. Orson Welles at Plaza. (By "Projector.") The fame of Orson Welles, the young author-director-actor who, with Joan Fontaine, has a leading role in "Jane Eyre," now at the Plaza, first burst upon a surprised world a few years ago after his realistic radio broadcast "War of the Worlds." This was his dramatic radio version of an imaginary land-ing of a "machine from Mars, which caused something of a panic among listeners throughout the United States, who became con-vinced that visitors from Mars had actually arrived. Welles adapted the broadcast from an original story by H. G. Wells and played the principal role. Vigorous and original direction for his first film "Citizen Kane" in 1941 won for Mr Welles the best awards of 1941 from several reviewers' cir-cles. He Wrote, produced and dir-ected "The Magnificent Ambersons" and "Jane Eyre," in which he plays the wealthy Edward Rochester, is the latest example of his personal genius. Twenty-nine years of age

ORSON WELLES.

be was said to have been at 10 an accomplished actor, writer and mag-ican. At 17 he was a star in the Dublin Repertory Theatre, and in his early twenties he became an in-ternational celebrity as motion pic-ture producer and actor. Session of Newsreels. Commencing from today a lunch hour newsreel session will be a fea-ture of the week-day programmes at the Grand Theatre. The session, which will include current war and other newsreels, will begin at 1.5 pm and continue till 1.55 pm. James Mason at Ambassadors. James Mason, who has the lead-ing role in "Candlelight in Algeria," which will be shown at the Ambas-sadors today, is an English actor who will be remembered as one of the trio of stars of "The Man in Grey," playing the irresistible devil who through indifference and hate killed two women. "Candlelight in Algeria" shows him as a British Tommy who gambles his life to assure the success of an historic mission. James Mason had a strong ground-ing in repertory. Among his more successful plays have been "Road to Rome," "Bonnet Over the Wind-mill," "Divorce for Christabel," and "Jupiter Laughs." His most recent films have been "Fire Over Eng-land," "Return of the Scarlet Pim-pernel," "I Met a Murderer," "This Man is Dangerous," "Hatters Castle" and "Alibi." Cast of "Smithy." The following cast has been chosen for the film "Smithy," which Columbia Pictures are making in Australia: Sir Charles Kingsford Smith ("Smithy"), Ron Randell; Mary Powell (Lady Kingsford Smith), Muriel Steinbeck; Nan Kingsford Smith (Smithy's mother), Nan Taylor; Dad Kingsford Smith (Smithy's father), Patrick Scully; Leofric Kingsford Smith, Douglas Stark; Harold Kingsford Smith, John Dunne; Wilfrid Kingsford Smith, Frank Brooks; Eric Kings-ford Smith, Harold Batterham; Elsie Kingsford Smith, Anne Bullen; Mrs Wilf. Kingsford Smith, Nan Baxter; Mrs Harold Kingsford Smith, Betty Suttor; Harold Kingsford Smith's Daughter, Melisande McNaughton; Charles Ulm, John Tate; Mrs Ulm Irene Harpur; Arthur Powell, Mar-shall Crosby; Mrs Arthur Powell Alathea Siddons; Capt G. Allan Hancock (American Millionaire who financed Pacific Flight), Alec Kella-way; Sir Hubert Wilkins, John Dease; John Stannage. John Stan-nage; Major Norman Brearley, Colin McAlister; Brig-General Wilson (Chairman of the Board of Inquiry, Coffee Royal Episode), William Bow-ker; Keith Anderson, John Fleeting; Cyril Maddocks, Don Sharp; Robert Blackburn, Charles McCallum; Tommy Pethybridge, Allan W. Her-bert; Beau Sheil, Edward M. Smith, H. A. Litchfleld, Dominic Harnett; T. H. McWilliams, Deryck Barnes; Jim Warner (American Radio Ex-pert on Pacific Flight), J. G. Mont-gomery Jackson; Harry Lyons (US Navy Navigator on Pacific Flight), Gundy Hill; Margery McGrath (Smithy's Secretary), Elizabeth Downes. Highly Paid Actor. Although the statement by the United States Treasury on Tuesday listing Fred MacMurray as the high-est paid film star in 1943 came as a surprise to many, the news was by no means a bombshell in film circles. In pictures like "Virginia," "Dive Bomber." "The Forest Rangers" and others Fred MacMurray achieved tremendous popularity, not only for his outdoor roles but for the bluff sincerity he brought to his character-isations. Fred MacMurray was first spotted by Hollywood scouts in 1934 when mainly because of his singing, he was understudying the leading man in "Roberta," His first big chance

FRED MacMURRAY.

came from director Wesley Ruggles in "The Gilded Lily." Fred Mac-Murray will be seen in two films here shortly, "And the Angels Sing," a musical, with Dorothy Lamour and Betty Hutton, and "Standing Room Only," with Paulette Goddard, a comedy based on the housing short-age. Current Programmes. Piccadilly: "The Story of Dr Waasell" (Gary Cooper, Laraine Day) biography of Dr Wassell, in-cluding dramatic evacuation of wounded from Java in 1942, in Tech-nicolour; short features before in interval. Third week. Theatre Royal: "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" (Eddie Bracken, Betty Hutton), an original comedy; co-feature "Minesweeper" (Jean Parker, Richard Arlen) action film depicting search for a new Japanese mine. Third-week. Metro: "The Seventh Cross" (Spencer Tracy, Signe Hasso). Ad ventures of seven fugitives from a pre-war German concentration camp; supporting featurettes. Sec-ond week. Plaza: "Jane Eyre" (Joan Fon-taine, Orson Welles), based on the novel by Charlotte Bronte, also "Bermuda Mystery" (Preston Foster, Ann Rutherford), amateur detective mystery. Second week. Capitol: "Destination Tokio" (Cary Grant, John Garfield), US submarine exploit on the shores of (Continued at foot of next column.)

Japan; co-feature "I Was Framed" (Julie Bishop, Michael Ames), news-paper reporter framed on murder charge. Ambassadors: "Candlelight in Al-geria" (James Mason, Carla Leh-man) adventure, romance and in-trigue in North Africa; co-feature "Career Girl" (Frances Langford, Edward Norris) theatrical story, with songs. Grand: "The Whistler" (Richard Dix, Gloria Stuart) mystery thriller: also showing "Louisiana Hayride" (Judy Canova) comedy, with songs. His Majesty's: Revival of "The Vanishing Virginian" (Frank Mor-gan, Kathryn Grayson) and "Stronger Than Desire" (Walter Pidgeon, Virginia Bruce).