The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1940-09-11
HARRISON IN HOLLYWOOD
Second Chorus" Should Be Sweet Music
At Box Office Players Will Share In Profits
By PAUL HARRISON

Hollywood-Every morning at 7:45
Fred Astaire telephones Producer
Boris Morros and asks, How are the
rushes?" About half an hour later,
Paulette Goddard calls with the
same question. The moon-faced, in
tensely earnest executive, who al
ways goes early to the studio to see
the previous days shots on Second
Chorus" tells 'em the scenes look
fine.
Presently the stars appear at his
office and ask him to walk with
them down to the set. Robert Still
man, associate producer of the pic
ture, is already there because he also
happens to be the assistant dlrec-
tor, He used to be one before he
became a producer, and doesn't mind
taking orders from Director Henry
Potter, whom he hired.
MorroS has plenty to do because
he is sort of supervising the music
and scoring. All the credit for the
latter job will go to Artie Shaw, who
is making the orchestral arrange
ments, composed the principal song
number, and also has an important
role in the film.
Fred Astaire, who has had some
tunes published, offered a new one
to Second Chorus" but voted
against it after he heard the melo-
dies whipped up by shy, unknown
young IriShman named Bernie Ha-
nighen.
PLAYERS AREN'T
BOUNCED AROUND
All such goings-on are quite I'M
precedented in Hollywood, and there
will be considerable surprise II the
musical film fails to turn in unpre-
cedented profits. Almost everyone
connected with it will have share
in the returns, and the cooperative
methods and spirit are permitting its
completion for less than 100000.
That's what happens when play
ers are working for the picture and
are not Just being bounced around
like marionettes. For his pictures at
RKO, for instance, AStaire used to
rehearse six weeks before a camera
turned. When filming of his dances
began, they'd sometimes make as
many as so takes of single flash
scene, and in the aggregate an en-
tire routine would be shot hundreds
of times.
The hoofing star was little wor-
ried about dancing with Paulette
Goddard. He remembered the fruit
less weeks devoted to a number he
did with Joan Fontaine. 1t was no
reflection on the actress that she
couldn't learn in two months what
he had devoted many years to doing.
In the final editing of "DamSel in
Distress" the number was cut out.
But he agreed to try it again, and
Miss Goddard said she'd learn, OF
else. After a week, Astaire watched
her and was doubtful. After three
weeks, he looked in on the rehearsal
stage and admitted she wasn't bad.
After five weeks they tried the
dance together and he was enthus-
iaStic.
NO PLACE FOR
FUDDY-DUDDIES
It was decided a patchwork of
closeups and angle shots would de-
tract from the smoothness of a
hoofing routine and that it ought
to- be viewed in one filming. So
they started to photograph at 8
O'Clock one morning. BY II o'clock,
says the delighted Morros, they had
five completed takes-four of them
perfect and indistinguishable!
Second Chorus" is a comedy and
young and modern and swingy in
spirit. So Morros, even though he's
a distinguished musician and COM
poser and former musical director
of Paramount, is urging his youth
full associates to do it their way and
not according to the precepts of
Movietown's Undergraduates.
Apparently they've really got into
the groove. Music Critic Deems
Taylor heard the swing concerto
which Artie Shaw has composed for
the flicker and declared that no
Legitimate" clarinetist in the world
could play the cadenzas Shaw
| thought up for himself.