the role of Paris, and, after trying desperately to get Tyrone Power, he tried to borrow Cummings, who had done an impressive test. However, Cummings was busy on It Started with Eve and the actor had to drop out. Then the schedule was rearranged and Cummings was able to make both films. Production of Kings Row did have to be suspended for a week so Cummings could return to Universal to do reshoots for Eve. Both films were huge successes. Hal Wallis said Cummings "was actually too old for the part" in Kings Row "not quite right, but he was helped considerably by an extraordinary support cast." Back at Universal, Cummings starred in the Alfred Hitchcock spy thriller Saboteur (1942), made at Universal, with Priscilla Lane and Norman Lloyd. He played Barry Kane, an aircraft worker wrongfully accused of espionage, trying to clear his name. In December 1941, John Chapman said Cummings was among "the most sought-after leading men in town" and was one of his "stars for 1942". Universal announced Cummings for Boy Meets Baby with Deanna Durbin, which became Between Us Girls (1942) with Diana Barrymore. He filmed it concurrently with a Hal Wallis movie at Warner Bros, and Princess O'Rourke (made 1942, released 1943), Norman Krasna's directorial debut. Cummings was meant to be in We've Never Been Licked (1943) for Walter Wanger at Universal, but did not appear in the film. World War II In December 1941, Cummings joined the fledgling Civil Air Patrol, an organization of citizens and pilots interested in helping support the U.S. war effort. In February 1942, he helped establish Squadron 918-4 located in Glendale, California, at the Grand Central Air Terminal, becoming its first commanding officer. Two weeks later, he and other members of the squadron went in search of the Japanese submarine that had attacked the oil refinery at Goleta, California. During the war, Cummings participated in search and rescue missions, courier missions, and border and forestry patrols around the Western United States. For this work he used his own aircraft, Spinach I, a 1936 Porterfield, and Spinach II, a Cessna 165 Airmaster. The squadron he established still operates as San Fernando Senior Squadron 35 and is based at Whiteman Airport in Pacoima, Los Angeles. In November 1942, Cummings joined the United States Army Air Forces. During World War II, he served as a flight instructor. After the war, Cummings served