Films and the Stage.

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 221, 14 June 1930, Page 25

Films and the Stage.

The addition of sound and’ dialogue to the motion picture film has changed an Illusion of ■ shadows Into realism. The talking film presents its. happenings in tonal substance as well as in lights and shadows, and, therefore, convinces where the other merely charmed Into a belief in the imitation. So says Miss DorothyArzner.the director; bf Paramount’s ■ all-talking dramatic' pro? duction, “Sarah and Son,” in which Ruth ’Chatterton is starred. “Yesterday. the silent film, a’ thing of lights

•nd shadows, was its own justification,” explains Miss Arzner. “It created again for us the events of yesterday, the doings of the world, and the

happenings of the tide, translated into terms of patterns and movement But ■ it was an illusion, ho more than a clever fake. Sound-film moves on a different line, and with it illusion is vanished beneath the power of realism.

What was seen was delightful. What is seen and heard convinces.” Supporting Miss Chatterton in “Sarah and Son” is a notable cast of stage and screen luminaries Including Fredric March, Gilbert Emery, Doris Lloyd, Fnller-Mellish, junior and Phlllippe de Lacy.

Richard “Skeets” Gallagher has already established himself as an idol in the eyes of Hollywood hostesses. His ability as an entertainer—he dances, sings, wise-cracks, and plays every instrument in an orchestra—brings him more social invitations than he can ever accept i

Before deciding on a motion picture career, Richard Arlen was in turd ,a clerk in a. brokerage office, a swimming instructor, a sports (Writer, and an oil, worker. 1 .

Jeanette MacDonald, leading prima donna of the screen, is a native of Philadelphia. “The girl with the red hair and sea green eyes” got her first theatrical engagement in the chorus of a Ned . Wayburn show at the Capitol Theatre in New York.

Jean Arthur likes dogs and enjoys training and taking care of them. Two of the player’s pets, Stubby, an Airedale, and Rickey, a red cocker spaniel, recently expressed their gratitude to their mistress by walking off with blue ribbons at one of the big dog shows held in the west coast

Joan Crawford does her best of act--1 ing to date in “Montana Moon," her new musical Western offering which opened last night at the Grand Opera House. Seen as the daughter of a millionaire ranch owner who is’.visiting her father’s properties in Montana with a group of Eastern friends and falls in love with a cowboy who is obviously but of . place in her sophisti- ! qated , circles,-Miss Crawford gives an , inspired performance in a picture : which, for plot: interest, expert direction and sterling, acting , may be placed way up. on, the list of best , pictures of 1930. j Miss Crawford’s performance is well supported'by the other members of the cast, John Mack Brown making an appealing cowpuncher, Ricardo Cor- ’ tez, long absent from the screen, mak- ) ing his return in this picture as the ; villain, .Dorothy, Sebastian scoring in ■ a sister role, Lloyd Ingraham, as the ' heroine’s father, while ample comedy Is afforded by a laugh-trio composed 1 of Karl Dane, Cliff Edwards and Benny j Rubin. I■ ’ "

“The Ship from Shanghai,” Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s adaptation of Dale Collins’s novel "Ordeai,” now on view at the Opera House, leaves the wellbeaten track of film romance to depict the story of. a group of people at sea who are driven ti desperation as a result of ra. ship’s :mutiny, and-an impending water famine. This picture could stand alone on , the novelty of its plot, few film producers having had the courage to venture into the realms of a scenario, 90 per cent, of whose setting is laid on the high . seas. MetroGold wyn-Mayer, however, saw the immense potentialities of just such a story, and laid the directional reins in the hands of Charles Brabln, who turned out a magnificent job. The ocean spectacles of this picture. are worth going miles to see. The yacht on which the action takes place is shown out of sight of land, first during .a calm, in which the vessel is mirrored on the glass-like surface of the enormous expanse of water, and later during a typhoon when the ship is tossed about in the turmoil of. wind and waves. As. the huge rollers sweep over the decks, breaking away masts and rigging, bne wonders at the ingenuity of/the camera technicians in photographing the spectacle. A large cast of equally com-, petent players help to put the unusual story across. Louis • Wolhelm, as the half-mad steward who gains control of the ship, gives a brilliant performance. Others in the cast in .the prominent roles are Conrad Nagel, Kay, Johnson, Carmel Myers, Holmes Herbert, Zeflie Tlllbury, Ivan Linow and Pat Moriarity,

America’s most distinguished star, John Barrymore, speaks from the screen for the first time in “General Crack, the Warner Bros, and Vitaphone special production, which will shortly have its New Zealand premiere. In the title role of "General Crack,” which has been adapted from thb novel by George Preedy, Barrymore enacts the son of a gipsy princess and a nobleman, who’ becomes the greatest military leader of his time. To hear Barrymore speak from the screen is a treat for those who love to hear English as it should be spoken. His voice registers with .smoothness and resonance, and that technical finesse which so many talking film players lack. The, brilliant cast • includes Marian Nixon, Lowell Sherman, Armida, Hobart Bosworth, Phlllippe de Lacy, and many others.

Fox. Film assures us that; more emotional shivers will be uncorked in filming “The Spider,” a play affording Warner Baxter opportunity to abandon bold banditry and become downright sinister. Then, to prove that he is a versatile young man, Baxter will appear in “BasquCrie,” derived from the “Saturday Evening Post” story by Eleanor M. Kelly. Dialogue will be contributed jointly by Lynn Starling and La jos Biro. Alexander Korda will direct, and Al Rockett supervise.

The first motion pictures showing the arrival of Rear-Admiral Byrd and the intrepid members of his Antarctic expedition in Dunedin; after 15 months' isolation In the' Polar wastes, have arrived in New Zealand, and were shown at the Regent Theatre, Dunedin, on May 16. -One day after the arrival of the party In New Zealand, Paramount cameramen, Vander Veer and Rucker, dashed aboard the s.s. Tamaroa, which took them to the Pacific side of the Panama Canal. Then, by seaplane, the film was transported to the Atlantic side of the canal at Colon. There, an aeroplane was waiting to hop off on a 4000-mile dash to the Paramount studios on Long Island. Within 24 hours after arriving at the studio, the completed film was on its way to the Dominion for distribution. The pictures covered approximately 20,000 miles in a little more than two months, a record for film for transportation.

Naturally forthcoming features will lean heavily—which is to say lightly—on music. “Fox Movietone Follies,” for example, having established its popularity in two versions, will be pro-/ duced a third time —more lavishly than ever. Among the music successes will be a creation .from the fertile syncopated inspiration of De Sylva, Brownand Henderson,. whosd melodies have' echoed up and down Broadway, and; from coast to coast. No name has; been given to their musical melange, but De Sylva, Broad and Henderson on the ticket, it scarcely needs one. Rube Goldberg, whose followers are divided into two camps—those who who think his writings are (if possible) funnier than his writings, and those who think his writings (if possible) funnier than his drawings, has been lured into the Movietone fold by Fox. It is predicted that what he turns out for the screen will unite the. two camps. In ,the cast will be Ted Healy, Charles Winninger, Francis McCoy, Lois Moran and David Rollins. Among early Fox releases, Milton Sills will be seen and heard in “The Sea, Wolf,” one of those strong action yarns which Sills plays up to the hilt. It is an Alfred Santell production, with continuity and dialogue by Ralph Block.

John Gilbert will make his second all-talking appearance in “Redemption” an adaptation of Tolstoi’s noted drama, “The Living Corpse.” Gil- > bert’s success in two past productions from the works of the famous Russian novelist and' playwright, namely, “Love,” with Greta Garbo and “The Cossaqks,” with Renee Adoree, is said to bftve influenced Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |n choosing “Redemption” as his next starring picture. Furthermore, the play had already- received distinction in being the vehicle for both John Barrymore and the celebrated German actor, Alexander Moissl, when it was produced on the New York stage first by Arthur Hopkins and later by Morris Gest. “Redemption” iB a far 1 cry from the ordinary run of kinema' products in being the psychological study of a man wh'o is driven to a desperate act in choosing between loyalty to his wife and the ctfll of heriditaty gipsy,- Wood. Information is that the producers maintained an artistic standard in not stooping to tack a sugar-coated happy ending, oh to a story permeated with a tragic motive. CdHeen’. Moore will be seen and heard *in an entirely different role in her next First National and Vitaphone production, “Footlights and Fools.” -As a famous French actress, who in reality is Just an Irish girl, Miss Moore gives a delightful performance. Raymond Hackett,' Frederic March, and Virginia Lee Corbin have prominent roles in support of Miss Moore.

William Austin was born in Georgetown, British Guiana, South America. He is six feet two inches tall, weighs 12st. 21b., has brown hair and blue eyes. His favourite recreations are golf, gardening, and motoring. ,

A series of twelve musical cartoons will be produced as Vltaphone Varieties, it is announced by George E.‘ Quigley, ( vice-president and general manager of the Vitaphone Corporation. They will be called “Looney Tunes," and each is to be based upon a Warner Bros.’ musical'Bit The first, “Sinkin’ in the Bathtub,” is based upon Winnie Lightner’s big hit in “Show of Shows.” The principal characters are Bosco and his sweetie Honey, who will appear in, all twelve of the musical cartoons.

. Screen actresses who achieve greatness do so because they possess four necessary requisites. These, in order of importance, are the inate ability to react naturally to situations, physical beauty, intelligence; to. acquire technique, and the experience necessary to perfect these traits. That is the manmer In which Edmund Goulding, the author and director of Paramount’s new all-talking dramatic play, “The Devil’s Holiday," 'sums up the secret of success on the screen. “The ability to appear always natural is, of course, the most essential requirement for any screen artist,” Goulding contends. “Without naturalness, the actor falls to. convince. Beauty .is a requirement because the public demands it Intelligence is possessed by most everyone who is artistically ambitious, and experience may be acquired.” Goulding says that Nancy Carroll, who starred in “The Devil’s Holiday,” possesses all of these requirements, and, as a result, is a star to-day. “The Devil’s Holiday” was recently completed at the Hollywood studios. The large supporting cast of screen favourites includes James Kirkwood, Hobart Bosworth, Phillips Holmes, Morgan Farley and Zasu Pitta

• A German army training camp of 'the war . days, the most rigorous in miiftary history, by which schoolboys were transformed into Germany’s famed ’“lron Youth," was established at Universal City in preparation for the production of “All Quiet on the Western Front” as a Universal picture. Fifty Los Angeles boys, including the sevpn featured players of the pictures, were trained by a > German drill sergeant exactly as the boys were trained for the German army. The training, included calistenlos, marching, drilling in the manual of arms and every detail of training exactly as it was .in the days •of the 'war. • Otto Biber, who served in the German army, had complete charge of the boys at the training camp and, under the direction of Lewis Milestone, whipped them into military shape with the same discipline he used as a German drill sergeant Included in the platoon which could be seen any day marching over the hills adjacent to Universal City were William Bakewell, Allen Lane; Walter Browne Rogers, Ben Alexander and Owen Davis, jun., the schoolboys of Erich Maria Remarque’s best-sell-ing book pf the World War.

The all-Technlcolour, all-talkie animated cartoon is the latest develop- ■ ment of the screen, and this innovation is presented for the ’ first time by Universal in “King of Jazz,” the super-extravaganza starring Paul Whiteman and his band, which has been completed under John Murray Anderson’s direction. Walter Lantz, famous for Universal, said that no unusual difficulties were encountered in making the Technlcolour animated cartoon. The cartoon sequence entitled “A Fable in Jazz” opens the picture’ by showing how Whiteman came to be crowned ' King of Jazz, a story that would make Baron Munchausen blush for envy. Charlie MurYay and George Sidney, one of the foremost laugh teams of the screen, appear in Universal’s spectacular “King of Jazz” in two hilarious comedy sketches. In building the two sketches around them in the all-Movletone, allTechnlcolour super-revue, John Murray Anderson, the director, adhered to his policy of using only the biggest stars available for this, the biggest production of its kind ever attempted.

Neil Hamilton was born in Lynn, Mass., and early in life his parents decided to prepare him for a priest. With this object in mind, Hamilton studied at several theological schools, graduated; and was on the verge of being ordained when he changed his mind for a stage career.

The plot of “Love Lies,” introducing Clem Da we in straight-out comedy, hinges round the dilemma of two artist friends,. eager, for financial reasons, to please an uncle. The. uncle of one forbids him to marry, and when the curtain goes up, the nephew’s wedding ceremony is just over. . The other is about to have a bride inflicted on him by a matrimonially inclined relative — a Spanish-American of the vampire ' type. Round 'this situation Stanley Lupino and Arthur Rigby have embroidered a complicated pattern of hilarious incidents. The unmarried artist endeavours to escape the attentions of the fiery Spaniard by masquerading as a blonde young woman—and it can be well imagined the success Clem Dawe makes of this impersonation. Quite a coherent little love theme runs through the plot, and it is further embellished by tuneful songs, including three New York song successes, and dancing by a shapely and efficient ballet. In support of Mr. Dawe are Peter Lane, Bobby Gordon, Rita Maclean, Betty Eley (all London importations)', an 4 Australian favourites who are sure of a warm welcome from New Zealand friends, when the comedy eventually comes to the Dominion, by arrangement with J. O. Williamson.

Traditions are developed and observed at the Hollywood motion picture studios just as they are in other institutions. An example might be cited in Stage Three at the Paramount studios, which has become known as the prison stage, since every scene of that nature produced in recent years has been filmed there. William Powell is the latest to serve time on the prison stage. He is behind bars for scenes in “Facing the Law,” his latest alltalking picture for Paramount. Previously, George Bancroft peered from behind the bars there in * “Underworld,” “The Drag Net," and “Thunderbolt.” Emil Jannings was imprisoned there for “Sins of the Fathers.” Entirely different prison settings have been erected for each of these productions, but they have all gone to the same stage. Stage Three itself has been remodelled Into a soumj-proof structure,- but it still keeps the prison trade and its traditions continue to be observed. Powell’s current picture, “Facing the Law,” is the talking screen version pf “The City of Silent Men,” produced as a silent film a few years ago. Marion Shilling plays the. feminine lead, and Natalie Moorehead and Paul Hurst head the supporting cast. Louis Gasnier and Max Marcin are codirecting.

The J. 0. Williamson producer, Mr. George D. Parker, .who was responsible for the presentation of “Journey’s End,” “The Patsy” (both in the London and Australasian seasons) is producer for “Let Us Be Gay,” the offering starring Edith Taliaferro. Frederick Blackman, also sponsor of many Williamson successes, is producing “The Country Girl,” in which Marie Bremner and Sydney Burchall scored a similar success to their triumph in “Belle of New York” and “New Moon.” Messrs Dick White and Eric Edgley are producing “Love Lies” and “This is Love,” in both of which the popular Clem Dawe, their brother, has straight-, out comedy roles played on divertingly funny lines. Mr. F. Gatenby-Bell is William Fa versham’s producer. The firm’s productions are therefore in accomplished hands, for everything depends on backstage', precision nowadays. ;

Lloyd Ingraham, director of eightyfive successful feature photoplays, including over .. a dozen by Douglas McLean, was ordered by his doctor to stop the strenuous work of direction. He immediately returned to his old love, acting, and he plays Father McKee, in “A Lady to Love," the new Vilma Banky Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer feature.’ Ingraham was born in Rochelle, Illinois. One relative was Herbert Ingraham, lyricist, of “All That I Ask is Love.” A, brother is Roy Ingraham, director, of the Paramount Hotel Or-

chestrain New York. Ingraha..i played leads in every town in the United States, and stock in Sah Francisco, Chicago, Kansas,City, and Omaha. He was in the original ,New York companies of “Prince Otto,” and “The Three Musketeers.” As an actor some of his recent parts include “The Night Parade,” “The Show Br t,” “Mr. Antonio, and “So Long, Lett,). ’

Charles (Buddy) Rogers recently gave his parents a new Spanish home in Beverly Hills, California. The Paramount star now lives there with his father and mother and younger brother.

Mae Clark, ingenue, .has been borrowed from Fox Films Corporation by R.K.O. by Radio Pictures to play the feminine lead opposite Jack Mulhall in “The Fall Guy,” James Gleason-George Abbott play being supervised by William Slstrom. Wynne Gibson, now a Radio Pictures’ contract player, and a musical comedy actress of some note, will play the second feminine lead. Pat O’Malley has been signed for the second male lead, Thomas Jackson as “Nifty,” and Ned Sparks will contribute his dry comedy which has already scored so heavily on the screen.

Alice Joyce has been signed to play opposite Lowell Sherman in the new R.K.O. production, “He Knew Women.” Frances Dade will play the second lead. David Manners, who played in “Journey’s End” and “The Sky Hawk” on the screen, and who also appeared on the stage in “He Who Gets Slapped” and “Dancing Mothers,” will also be seen and heard in this drama of matrimonial sophisticates from the play ♦ “Second Man,” to be directed by Hugh Herbert.

George Bancroft was born in Philadelphia, Pa. He is six feet two inchef tall, of muscular build, and weighs .14 stone. He has dark brown hair and blue eyes.