Sunday Times (Perth, WA : 1902 - 1954), Sunday 9 April 1950, page 12


j Star's snap decision to play opposite

unknown redhead \

From DICK KISCH

Guest of honor at Hollywood party. Janet Blair ts greeted

by hostess Esther Williams.

London, Sat: Mystery of the week: Douglas Foirbonk's snap decision to accept o port in a modest £100,000 British film opposite com-paratively unknown redhead Yolande Donlan.

Director Val Guest, wita sent Fairbanks the scrivt of Mrs. Drake's Duck as a long shot, is frankly amazed.

"Fairbanks has never seen my work and has never seen Donlan on the screen," Guest told me.

* Guest's last film with Donlan, called Miss Pilgrim's

Progress, was not considered sophisticated enough for showing in the West End.

£ -£ -lc

"MAGGIE LOCKWOOD begins work on a Mm next .UJ- month after being away well over a year. _

Her comeback is the lead in a comedy-thriller written by highly skilful Eric Ambler.

The idea ls to recapture the fine careless rapture of Maple's most successful picture, The Lady Vanishes.

The vanished factor from her new thriller: the direc-tor-this time it won't be Alfred Hitchcock.

Lockwood will tread on highly dangerous ground in

ner second comeback nun.

That is, The Browning

Version, adapted from Ter- , ence Rattiean's play. i

Maggie will play the odl- ! ous wife of a schoolmaster \ who is a failure.

However, there's precious little glamor in Rattigan's wicked lady.

* + + ,

TNGRID BERGMAN is

.*? coming to England to make a picture, rtrovidtng Sir Alexander Korda ful-fils certain conditions.

» Korda has just returned from Rome, where he dined with Bergman and Rossel-lini-while their sevenweek-old son slept in the next room. They stipulated that Bergman must have*

. Guaranteed American and British distribution. . Guaranteed finance.

. Script to meet the apgroval of Bergman and

ossellini.

. Co-stars . of requisite American box-office value.

Korda had already sign-ed Rossellini to direct a picture about St. Francis of Assissi. He is now exer-cising his film option on Bereman.

"Bergman is more beau-tiful than evert" Korda ex-claimed when back in Lon-don.

'I'd very much like to have her in a film with Rossellini directing."

This Bergman move is part of Korda's latest for-mula for making successful pictures. He has done lt with The Third Man, which in America is doing better business than any previous British movie.