Cinemanschluss

Last fortnight two of the most combustible personalities in Cinema, airminded Multimillionaire Howard (The Outlaw) Hughes (TIME, Feb. 22, 1943) and gadget-brained Preston (The Miracle of Morgan's Creek) Sturges (TIME, Feb. 14), announced their cinemanschluss. A new studio was born. Hollywood braced itself for the sort of thing that happens when hydrogen and a match flame meet.

But cinemexplosions make haste .slowly, and so far there have been only sizzles:

> Sturges-Hughes, Inc. (the latter insisted that the former come first) has rented five sound stages at Harry Sherman's California Studios, will rent more space as needed. The new corporation plans to make some 20 films, has no idea through whom they will be released, what the first one will be, who will star, or when production will start. The plan is to begin modestly, and grow great slowly.

> Sturges will be, in effect, executive producer. Henry Henigson, an old Sturges associate, will be general manager. Ernest Laemmle, former Sturges aid at Paramount, will be story editor. The corporation will invest young writers, directors and producers (still unnamed) with full authority, will urge them to act on their own initiative.

> Howard Hughes will furnish most, Preston Sturges some, of the capital.

Said Howard Hughes: "I want to make one thing clear. I cannot devote any time whatsoever to the motion picture business until the war is over. ... I did not know of anyone whom I was willing to trust to carry on this business without any attention on my part. Then the opportunity presented itself to make an association with Preston Sturges, whose work I have always admired for many years, but who has always been unavailable because of his contract with Paramount [which recently expired]. Here is one man in whom I have complete confidence. I am happy to turn over to him the full control and direction of all my motion picture activities."

Said Preston Sturges: "I am merely going to keep on making movies just the way I've always done."

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