TALKIES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 68, 29 September 1939, Page 3

TALKIES

YODELLING NOT EASY

When the Hal Rocieli-iNl.tr. M. studios sent out a call for yodelers to appear with Laurel and Hardy in their musical production, "Svri>s Miss,'' they were amazed to be asked "What kind?'' They learned that this branch of vocal art may be subdivided into almost as many parts as a restaurant pie. Austrian, ,Frcnch, Italian Tyrolean Highland, Lowlands. Rocky Mountain Cowboy, and Southern rive but a few of tiie bona-fide classifications. To these arc added hog callers, husband callers ami imitators of Martha llaye and Joe E. Brown. ,"Fortunately for the studio, Los Angeles County boasts a colony of more than eleven thousand Swiss and with the help of llicsc residents John A. Blystone, the director, had ,vio difficulty in assembling a a authentic group of Alpine artists^ Yodels, according to the have no uniformity. They vary with clothes and customs in the tiny com munities. When a stranger comcs i':to one of the hamlets the inhabitants can tell from his dress his place of origin, and if the newcomer can be persuaded to yodel not only his township but the very lie* perches on, becomes a matter of public record. This novel vocal display has for centuries afforded a means of eom-

muni cation bo I wee a isolated Alpine groups. Originally, it is believed, yodels resounded as a warning of clanger of invasion. .Later they v\eie employed to announce news of vital importance —!) : rths, deaths or 'weddings and gradually became a feature of festivals where contests were heid. It was then that the. musical embellishments were added. Flagthrowing and weight-li Sting. tw> other features of all Swiss celebrations, are included in sequences of the new picture. Franz Hug, Lucerne postman, who was llag-th rower at tlie Olympic Games in Berlin in !!>:*<;, demon-.trntes his skill in this little known psstime in the film.

GENE AUTRY'S SEVEREST CRITIC Champion, Gene Autrv's famous equine film pal, who appears with the star in his latest picture. "Public Cowboy No. I,'' is one of Autry s severest critics. after a pc, formance on a nation-wide radio hour Autry was busy taking bows as the studio aud'ence thundered its applause itor his effort. Just as everything was again quiet, Champion, who had been standing quietly at the side of his master, lifted hi> head

News, Views sjem! Forthcoming Events

and emitted a loud and hearty horse-laugh to Autry's embarrassment and the audience's delight. Autry took it like the sport he i c ; by wise-cracking, "Maybe he's right and you're wrong. You never can tell, " Supporting Gene in this new Republic Western are such capable character players as Ann Rutherford Smiley Rurnctte, William Farnuni. etc. TOMMY KELLY AS "PECK'S BAD BOY" Tommy Kelly, the touslc-haired, freckle-faced lad who won the coveted role of Tom Sawyer in. a competition which included 50, 000 young sters, makes his second screen appearance in another characterisation of a famous youth in America's fiction lore —Peck's Bad Boy. the mischievous boy immortalised by George W. Peck in his series of articles and novels of that name. "Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus" is the modern picturisation of the innocent activities of Bill Peck which alwavs evolve into misadventures. Bill is en route to a summer camp when he is mulcted of his railroad fare. He is -forced to hitch hike with a travelling circus and becomes implicated in a riotous series of delightful pranks.

500 PLAYERS VIEW BIGrTIME j CIRCUS IN "PECK'S BAB BOY'' ■More than 500 Hollywood extras were paid to attend a huge circus. acting as spectators in "Peck's Bad Boy With the Circus," the first of a new series offering the rollicking adventures of Bill Peek, renowned fiction hero, characterised by Tommy Kelly. The circus, especially staged for the picture, is one of the largest and most spectacular ever assembled in the United States. Acts and specialty numbers from a half dozen actual circuses v.'ere recruited for the colourful scenes. Among the performers who for the first time are seen on the screen are the famous Escalante Troupe of eleven high-wire performer the noted Pina company and the thrilling Liberty Horse act. Two noted loan trainers, Carl Koontz and Bert Nelson were employ ed Tor the animal acts, -while George! Cunningham, spectacle and routine director for A 1 G. Barnes, handled the mechanical end.