 Bidwell McCormick takes you behind the scenes in Hollywood. When one thinks in terms of behind the scenes in Hollywood, the first thought no doubt is that of the stagehand setting the scene, the directors and his assistants, the script girl and electricians, cameramen and sound technicians at work, then the actual shooting. The directors shrill cry cut as the scene is ended and then perhaps the viewing of the rushes in the screening room the next day. Well, of course that is what happens. But there is a whole lot more required to make your present-day motion picture acceptable to the discriminating theater-going public. Yes, and don't you think you're not discriminating? Just let some little thing be overlooked and you will notice it in a minute. And it doesn't have to be such a flagrant era either, such as in a Western I once saw. I remember in the close-up of that Western there were four horses pulling a stagecoach. While in the distance shots of the supposedly same vehicle there were only two. No, it doesn't need to be as bad as that, not nearly, as any producer will testify. That is one reason why all the big companies and many of the smaller ones keep large staffs of technical advisors on hand to supervise the smallest detail. Nathan, you tell us about how the technical advisor on Paramount's production, Frenchman's Creek, shoved time back three centuries and kept it there. Well, Madame Hilda Griner was technical advisor on that Technicolor screen romance. Her job was actually housekeeping on a grand and ancient scale. Small, dignified, and white-haired, Madame Griner was once dresser to the dowager Queen Mary of England. She's an expert on aristocratic British modes and manners, both old and modern. The Court of St. James is conducted strictly according to tradition established many generations ago. Her experience, therefore, has given her knowledge of correct procedure as foreback as the Stuart Kings. In the picture, there are many scenes in the interior of the Manor House. In fact, it occupied most of stage nine at Paramount. Weeks of production took place there. In a manner of speaking, the principal players lived in that house every day. They played cards, sucked, dined, they moved from room to room, making use of furnishings unfamiliar to them. Because they were supposed to be living as people lived three centuries ago. Madame Griner saw that the household ran smoothly for them. She sat quietly back behind the camera, and to the casual observer, she seemed to be taking no part in the picture. But she was consulted whenever a question of conduct arose. She supervised the menus chosen, the kinds of wine, and the types of glasses used. She knew, for instance, that tablecloth were folded in a certain way and laid over only one end of the huge dining table unless a larger number of guests were present. She knew that they were made of holland linen, bleached in the sun for six months. And the property department had to dig up a comparable linen. It had to supply napkins a yard square to pass Madame Griner's eagle eye. She knew the table silver was plain on the front and decorated with a family crest on the back. Because when the table was set, the silverware was laid face down. And that between two chairs, a stew was placed for gentlemen's swords and ladies' reticules. And that's only one person's job. And there are dozens of people constantly engaged on any big production doing research and technical advising. And do theirs the technical staff. And the things these people have to think up to obtain the effects the script calls for is simply amazing. That's right. For instance, when they filmed the water pageant scenes for a recent picture which Esther Williams was making for MGM, a moving elevator was constructed 15 feet above the water level. A camera was placed on this and a second camera was submerged in a glass box below the surface of the water. This enabled the director to photograph Miss Williams above and below the water simultaneously. This huge glass box was dubbed an aqua chamber. It was weighted with concrete to keep it at the bottom of the pool. It was air conditioned and large enough to hold a Technicolor camera and three men. From within it, at a depth of 12 feet, director George Sidney photographed the aqua-batics of Esther Williams and 32 shapely mermaids. Without this, it would have been impossible. And now a word from your local announcer. Here are a few production highlights from behind the scenes in Hollywood. Back From the Sword will be the published title of the novel and the screenplay by McKinley Cantor, which Samuel Golden will film for next season's release. The story of its writing may have no precedent in the annals of Hollywood. Last summer, Golden read an account of a troop train of marines proceeding across the country, dropping its veterans along the way with capsule dramas of their homecomings. That's a great idea, Golden said to himself. It could be developed into a great screen story. So far with, he registered the title home again. And after several very enthusiastic meetings with McKinley Cantor, he engaged that outstanding American novelist to write the screenplay, but allowed him to retain the publishing rights. Rita Hayworth's script for her latest picture to Night and Every Night will go into the archives of the National Museum at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The red-haired Columbia star made the contribution in response to a request from the museum for some suitable item to add to its collection of articles belonging to famous personalities. One of the most important co-starring castings ever set up for an RKO radio production has been consummated with David O. Selznick to borrow Ingrid Bergman to co-star with Brink Crosby in Leo McCary's production, The Bells of St. Mary's. Doing three-floor shows nightly in his own Los Angeles restaurant doesn't seem to clash with Ben Blue's screen career. As his latest film chore, he'll add to the merriment in MGM's Early to Wed with a cast including Lucille Ball, Van Johnson, Esther Williams, and Keenan Wynne. Roslyn Ivan has been signed to portray one of the principal roles in Three Strangers, now before the cameras at Warners. She made her screen debut in The Corners' Green, a role she created on Broadway. A search for the meanest villain ever brought to the screen is being conducted by MGM for the forthcoming production of The Yearling. The villain being sought by producer Sidney Franklin is a seven-foot rattlesnake as described by Marjorie Kinan-Rollins in her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. It must weigh around 15 pounds and have about 21 rattles, but producer Franklin emphasizes villains seeking the role need not apply in person. A letter from any reptile hunter will suffice. I should think so. Yes, it was a strange experience for screen actor Alan Napier, who, on deciding to have a look at himself, went to a Hollywood theater where the Ray Malan-Marjorie Reynolds picture Ministry of Fear was playing. As he was leaving the theater, a woman fainted, and there was the usual cry of, get a doctor. Then someone spotted Napier and ran up to him, exclaiming, you're a doctor, do something. Napier denied he was a doctor, but the person insisted he was. Then the light dawned on both of them. Napier had just played the role of a doctor in Ministry of Fear, and the other person was unconscious. It was a play. It was Napier's third consecutive medical role. Mother, if your little girl collects seashells, she is something in common with Grair Garson. Grair's main dressing room at MGM Studio and her recreation room at home are both decorated with exquisite examples of this hobby, which was born during summer holidays in Scotland. Monty Woolley, who enacted his original Broadway stage role in Water Brothers' film version of The Man Who Came to Dinner, will return to the Burbank studio to portray himself in Night and Day, the story of the composer Cole Porter. It was announced recently that Robert Cummings, one of the most popular male stars in Hollywood, has been signed to an exclusive long-term contract by Hal Wallace Productions. Don't ever grieve may will be the first. And here's a new film in Technicolor, Green Dolphin Street. It was selected from 99 entries as the winner of the first annual contest sponsored by MGM. It's a swashbuckling love story set in New Zealand, China, and the Channel Islands in the 1840s. Russell Wage Reward for the fine work in RKO Radios, the play snatcher, is a big part in this studio's The Most Dangerous Game. With a tropical island locale, the most dangerous game concerns a madman who hunts human beings on his private game preserves, after luring them by false navigation lights. When Paramount producers Bill Pine and Bill Thomas put Follow That Woman, starring William Gargan and Marjorie Reynolds before the cameras, it'll be their 28th feature length picture in three years. Richard Lew, oriental film player, will play an important role in RKO Radios' First Man Into Tokyo. He's just completed a part in this studio's The Invisible Army. Constance Collier, a grand dame of the American and English theater, makes a slapstick return to pictures after a four-year absence from the screen. She made her re-entry as a besotted English dowager in Paramount's Kitty, with Paulette Goddard and Ray Milland. What would you like most to hear about the movies or your favorite star? Write a postcard to Bidwell McCormick in care of this station, stating just what would interest you most. The personality close-ups on today's behind-the-scenes in Hollywood are the stories of Carrie Grant and Virginia Mail. Carrie Grant was born in Bristol, England on the 18th of January 1904. He inherited the acting urged from a grandfather, Archibald Leach, and himself at the age of 15 when he ran away to join a troop of traveling acrobats. His father dragged him back to his school books, but when he repeated the trick the following year, he was allowed to stay with it and learn show business the hard way. When the company went to New York a year later, Grant went along for his first sight of America. On his return, he joined a stock company and studied singing on the side. A chance meeting with Arthur Hammerstein run him a contract and another trip to this country for a series of musical comedy roles on Broadway. Operettas in St. Louis followed. On a hunch, he headed for Hollywood to see what the screen might offer him. The screen was very cool to the unknown Britisher at first. It was just about to start back to Broadway when a film company executive saw something in Grant's quiet manner and gave him a test. That did the trick and in 1932, a studio contract brought him his first role in This is the Night and five years later, by the time he appeared with Irene Dunn in The Awful Truth, he was a top favorite. Carrie is an inch over six feet, weighs 180 pounds and has black hair and twinkling brown eyes. And he is now an American citizen. He enjoys all outdoor sports, is an excellent swimmer and a good cook. But unlike most actors, doesn't like to talk about himself. No matter how much Hollywood admires Carrie Grant, for the many fine performances he has given on the screen, it respects him even more for the intelligent manner in which he conducts his personal affairs. He says little, but does a lot. Carrie is scheduled to make two pictures shortly for RKO Radio Pictures. The pictures do come true for Virginia Mayo. Yes, Cinderella by any other name would be Virginia Mayo. While Cinderella was a beautiful young maid who parlayed a glass slipper and a handsome prince into a future of happiness, Virginia equally as young and beautiful is doing the same thing with a million dollar opportunity and a world of talent. Cinderella had her big chance at a ball. Virginia got hers recently in a featured feminine role opposite Bob Hope. She has a big way and is now playing opposite Danny K in another Samuel Golden production, The Wonder Man. Cinderella in her time and Virginia today represent everything that young girls all over the world dream about. But it's still a safe bet that any modern miss would rather be Virginia than Cinderella. Little more than a year ago, Virginia Mayo was an unknown actress touring the nightclub and theater circuits touring mistress, young, beautiful, talented and with a warm not to be denied personality. Nevertheless, Pansy was just another act and Virginia was just another swell kid in show business. But now the storybook magic has worked and given proof to the old saying that a girl can dream, can she? Because Virginia's dreams have come true. All of her life she's wanted to be an actress. In school, Virginia was active in stage plays and danced with the municipal opera company Open Air Theater. Then she succeeded her sister Florence in the Pansy the Horse Act. For four years, Virginia toured with Pansy and not once during those four years did she lose sight of her main ambition to be a polished fine actress. Ambition and dreams, of course, are not enough. It takes opportunity to complete the combination and it came to Virginia in the shape of a visitor to Billy Rose's diamond horseshoe in New York. The visitor was Samuel Goldwin who was given innumerable opportunities to make her dream come true. A man of action, Goldwin came, saw and signed Virginia. The young actress came to Hollywood with a brand new contract and a golden opportunity to cash in on her dreams.