Films and The Stage.

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 62, 6 December 1930, Page 23

Films and The Stage.

Liipe Velez has doubled her allotted time for developing her singing voice under the guidance of Grace Adele Newell, well-known voice culturist and coach of a score of prominent screen stars. In “East is West,’’ Miss Velez’s next Universal pictures, the sparkling brunette beauty will sing a semi-class-ical song and so enthusiastic has she become over the number that she has voluntarily Increased her studying time so th jit her first, “test” before the camera will register impressively.

With an entire Paris street a block long built on one of the giant sound stages, at the United Artists studios, Noma Talmadge’s. new starring picture “Du Barry, Woman of Passion," has gone into production under the direction of Sam Taylor. The street, with shops and dwellings, and lined with trees, was designed 'by William Cameron Menzies, supervising art director. The main building is a large millinary establishment in which Miss Talmadge plays the early part of her role as a shop girl. It is magnificently furnished with rugs and period furniture, and hundreds of costly hats are on display. The street built on the stage is wide enough for three vehicles to pass abreast of one another, and there are two sidewalks for pedestrian traffic. Scores of large shade trees were uprooted and transplanted indoors, requiring the work of a staff of tree experts.

“Whoopee” is the first screen musical comedy that has had any personal interest or supervision from BTorenz Ziegfeld, Broadway’s most distinguished producer. In partnership with Samuel Goldwyn, he was on hand to assist in the shooting of every foot of the picture/ said to be the most ambitious effort yet made entirely in technicolour. Eddie Cantor is starred, of course, in the screen transcription of his famous stage success.

Cliff .(Ukulele Ike) Edwards just can’t seem to land a role that will fit into some portion of his personal experiences like most acting folk. In making his movie debut in “So This is College,” Cliff was a glee club leader. Then he went into “Marianne” as a doughboy and switched to a cowboy part in “Montana Moon.” Now, he’s in “Good News,” gone collegiate as a football trainer for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. “I’ve never seen the inside of a college, don’t know which end of a gun to shoot out of, and don't know which part of a horse the bridle goes on,” he wailed. “Can’t somebody be satisfied to let me be just another ukulele player?” Bessie Love has the leading feminine role In “Good News.”

Rita La Roy has signed .to play the part of the duchess in “Hook, Line and Sinker,” with Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, an RKO Radio Pictures’ production.

Reginald Denny is having a unique form of singing trouble in making the Fox picture, “The Heart Breaker,” the new Fox film in which he plays the lead opposite Jeanette MacDonald. Denny plays the part of a burglar who merely “thinks he can sing,” and during an audition in which he is supposed to sing his best, his voice is criticised as “ordinary” and “unfit for opera” for purposes of the plot. As a matter of truth, Denny was once associated with the Baumann Opera Company in England and India and sang 17 leads. He played the role of Prince Danilo In “The Merry Widow," and had planned to follow an operatic career before the movies proved a greater attraction. To sing an “ordinary” voice “unfit for opera” required real acting on his part.

A complete park, with huge trees, flower beds, etc., was built on the huge sound stage where “King of Jazz” was photographed, for the beautiful “Bench in the Park” number of the picture. Paul Whiteman and his entire band are starred, with’ John Boles, Laura La Plante, Glenn Tryon, Jeanette Loff, Grace Hayes, the Sisters G, the Rhythm Boys, Al Norman, Paul Howard, Billy Kent, the Brox Sisters, the Markert Dancers, the Hollywood Beauties, and a host of other stage vaudeville and screen stars, featured in the all-Movietone, all-Technicolour, production, which was directed by John Murray Anderson.

Marie Ney, the talented Wellington actress, who has made such a big hit in London and with audiences throughout England, will shortly be seen in Wellington in the English all-talking production, “Escape.” This wellknown story by John Galsworthy was a big success as a stage play in both London and New York and the picture has created new records during its extended season run at Marble Arch Theatre, London. Sir Gerald du Maurier and a distinguished cast of English actors are featured in this outstanding English production, which was produced by the well-known London actdr-manager, Mr. Basil Dean for Radio Pictures.

.Dorothy Mackaill will next be seen in the First National and Vitaphone production, “Bright Lights," a story of the stage and its people, their private lives, their loves and hates. In addition to the vivid hues of technicolour, the story itself is colourful to a degree and 'tense. It was on the strength of her performance in “Bright Lights” that Miss Mackaill was accorded a long term contract by First National-

For the 1930 versions of . “The Belle of New York,” which opens at the Grand Opera House to-day at the matinee, J. C. Williamson have assembled a cast of high ability and will include Leslie Holland, who has been specially engaged for the part of Ichabod Bronson, Romola Hansen as Violet Gray, Jim Gerald as Blinky Bill, Sidney Burchall as Harry Bronson, Herbert Browne as Mons. Fricot, Amj Rochelle as Cora Angelique, and Don Nicol, Bernard Manning, Sidnej Wheeler, Leslie Donaghey, Connie H<bbs, Dulcie Davenport, Miriam Lister and other notable artists, with full operatic chorus. The liltlne music is well known and Includes' such favour ites as "She is the Belle of New York,” "Teach Me How to Kiss,” “La Belle Parisienne,” “When a Man :s Twentyone,” “Pretty Little China Girl,” and others.

Three generations of stage celebrities appear in “The Lady of Scandal,” MetroGold wyn - Mayer’s 1 filmisation of Frederick Lonsdale’s stage hit, “The High Road.” Fred Kerr and Effie Ellsler were stars three decades ago in London; Nance O’Neil and Cyril Chadwick were stage celebrities of some fifteen years ago; and Ruth Chatterton and Basil Rathbone are presentday stars of the footlights. Sidney Franklin directed “The Lady of Scandal.”

After completing “Lightnin’ ” the Will Rogers starring picture produced by Fox Films, Henry King will direct “The Spider,” adapted from the play by Fulton Oursler. Warner Baxter will have the leading

A, multitude of .flappers, old and young, invaded Victoria Station, London, recently and mobbed Maurice Chevalier, ‘,the French .film star, who appears definitely to have dethroned the . late Rudolph Valentino. He .arrived by special train, and thus had the platform to himself. The 'crowd passed the time singing Chevalier songs, and when he appeared there was 'an immense ’ uproar, girls throwing kisses, waving handkerchiefs, and crying welcomes, to which Chevalier, who was wearing a grey Trilby and famous straw hat, pursed his lips, expressing whimsical wonder, and waved in the direction of the seething crowd. Gramophones ■ continued to play the songs, and Chevalier then stepped to a microphone installed on the platform, and, in hesitating English, said: “I am happy to return to London.” Only one girl secured an autograph, but a number managed to perch on the runningboard of Chevalier’s motorcar for a few seconds until the police guard pushed them off.

The production of “The Importance of Being Earnest,” Oscar Wilde’s brilliant coriiedy, by the National Repertory Theatre Society at the Y.W.C.A; Hall next week is arousing unusual interest among play-goers. It is many years since this laughable piece was presented by the Brough and Bouccicault Co., but the older generation of play-goers recall with pleasure its scintillating wit, and many will seize this opportunity of renewing the pleasures of their youth. A talented company will interpret the play, including three new-comers to Repertory, ranks, viz.: Miss Beryl Earle, Miss Ethel Oldbury-Jones and Mr. Barton Ginger. The rest of the cast is made up of such well-known players: as Miss Louise Hall, Miss Hazel Wells, and Messrs A. D. Priestley, John Bown, J. R. • Herd and Ernest Coleridge. Mr. Brown is’making his farewell appearances prior to trying his luck on the stage iff London. Mr. W. S. Wauchop has charge of the production and has designed special settings of a novel nature, which promise to-be very effective. The season of five nights commences on Tuesday, December 9.

Constance Bennett, who achieved such outstanding success in “Son of the Gods,” win again be seen in “Three Faces East,” a powerful story of the secret service oflicers of England and Germany. This First National and Vitaphone production depicts forcefully and dramatically the conflict waged by the steely,'keen wits of spies during the hazardous days of 1917.

Charles Ruggles has held the handball championships of the New York and Los Angeles Athletic Clubs.

Ruth Chatterton has acquired her first dog. a Sealyham puppy.

Eugene Pallette, the Sergeant Heath of the. Van Dine mysteries, plays the role of Jack Oakie’s hard-boiled sailor pal in “Sea Legs,” the latter’s latest starring talkie-comedy for Paramount. Lillian Roth appears in the feminine lead, a*nd Albert Conti, Jean De Vai, Harry Green, Charles Sellon and Ivau Simpson are in the cast. Victor Heerman directed.

"Strictly Modern,” Dorothy Mackaill’s latest starring film, which is to be shown here shortly, deals with the efforts of an ultra-modern woman writer of sex novels to live one of her stories in real life. She also tries to make other persons take their lives from her books Instead of the old custom of taking fiction from life, and they all get into a highly exciting and comical muddle. Sidney Blackmer plays opposite Miss Mackaill in this First National and Vitaphone picture.

The “M’s” lead the number of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s contract players with the "B’s” running second. John Marsh, Ellen McCarthy, Adolphe Menjou, Grace Moore, Raymond Milland, ..John Miljan, and Robert Montgomery are in the leading alphabetical quota, while.the second legion is composed of William Bakewell, Wallace Beery, Charles Bickford, Lenore Bushman, and Johnny Mack Brown.

Arthur Stigant will be the Dame and Sadie Gale principal boy of the J. C, Williamson, Ltd., pantomime, “The House That Jack Built,” which will be the Christmas attraction at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne. Mr. Stigant makes the dressing one of the features of his role. He has a unique collection of his own costumes, and as he has played Dame in no fewer than thirty pantomimes in England and Australia, bis wardrobe is most varied and extensive. His dressing in “The House that . Jack Built, Mr. Stigant says, will be of great interest to the women. By the way, Mr. Stigant always includes a steel dog collar as one of bis adornments. During his last pantomime in Melbourne in IJI9 he broke the dog collar he had worn around his neck in about 20 of his previous pantomimes, and he is having a new one made.

Real palms, forty feet tall and in fun foliage, were moved alive into tne “Monterey” garden set in “King of Jazz,” photographed and moved back again to their original places in the studio grounds at Universal City. To play “Juliet” at the age of 14 is a distinction prized by Lucille La Verne, noted character star, now featured with Johnny Mack Brown and Eleanor Boardman in Charles Brabin s new Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ; feature, “The Great Meadow.”

Chandler Sprague is trying to better his initial effort, “Not Damaged,” with his second directorial assignment, “Play Called Life,” based on the Du Maurier stage play, “The Dancers.” Mae Clarke, the charming and famous English star, Mrs. G. Pat Campbell, and Tyrell Davis, also appear in “Play Called Life,” which is produced by Fox Films.

“Fast and Loose” is the final title selected for Paramount’s talking screen version of “The Best People," in which Miriam Hopkins, Frank Morgan and Carol Lombard are featured. This replaces the title “Pampered Youth,” previously announced. The cast includes Charles Starrett, Ilka Chase, David Hutchinson, and Winifred Harris. Fred Newmeyer directed.

The prayer call of the Arabian muezzin is to be heard in Paramount’s alltalking adventure film “Morocco," which features Gary Cooper, Marlene DJetrich and Adolphe Menjou. The chanting call is given by Joseph Diskay, Hungarian tenor. The production was completed recently under the direction of Josef von Sternberg.

. Roy Stewart, well known for his portrayals in Western screen roles for a number of years, has been engaged for a principal part in “Fighting Caravans,” Paramount’s talking screen version of Zane Grey’s new novel. Gary Cooper and Lily Damita have the leads, with Ernest Torrence, Tully Marshall, and Eve Southern in the cast. Otto Brower and David Burton are directing.

John Galsworthy’s famous play, “Old English,” has been produced for the talking screen by Warner Bros., with George Arliss in the starring role. This is another Arliss portrait, as full of interest and delightful whimsical humour as “Disraeli.”

The second of the Associated Radio pictures produced by Basil Dean is based upon the stage play by A. A. Milne. “The Fourth Wall,” and has been retitled “Birds of Prey.” Lester Vail, native of Denver, Colo., and a stage actor for the past three years, was selected by Brenon for the heroic lead in “Beau Ideal.” He replaced Douglas Fairbanks, jun., who was recently recalled to First National.

Walter Huston was for four years an engineer at water and light plants in Nevada and St. Louis before he began a successful stage career.

“Derelict” has been selected to replace “Typhoon Bill” as the final title of George Bancroft’s newest Paramount all-talking production. It is a sea story written specially for the screen by William Slavens McNutt and Grover Jones, and was filmed under the direction of Rowland V. Lee. Jessie Royce Landis, William Boyd, William Stack, and Paul Porasi head the cast.

Marie Dressier believes in comfort. The big “character” coat she wore in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s “Min and Bill,” formerly titled “Dark Star, was so comfortable that she wouldn’t let them return it to the studio wardrobe —but insisted on buying it for her own personal raincoat.

On the wall of Gary Cooper’s dress-ing-room at the Paramount studios in Hollywood is a framed copy of Rudyard Kipling’s “If.”

What’s a foreign accent to Greta Garbo? In “Anna Christie” she spoke with a natural Swedish dialect. In “Romance,” she talked with an Italian accent. Now, in “Inspiration,” her new Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer talkie, she will cultivate a French accent

Wallace Beery, soon to play a political boss in Metro • Goldwyn - Mayer’s “The Silent Six,” is busy these days conferring with politicians, gathering data for his new role. That Is, he’s gathering it when he’s not flying his new plane ct EQtaE tECQt

“The Silver Horde," Rex Beach’s Alaskan drama, which RKO Radio Pictures have just completed, marks a notable technical step in talking films. This picture has served as a medium for developing the new RKO beam microphone to a state of such perfection that there is no longer any necessity for sound-deadening “blimps” or camera cases. This latest device is capable of focusing on the dialogue while excluding all extraneous noises.

“The Dove,” Dolores Del Rio’s costarring picture with Walter Huston, has been indefinitely postponed, It is announced by United Artists, due to the protracted illness of Miss Del Rio and the time necessary for her convalescence. Arrangements have been made for Mr. Huston, the “Abraham Lincoln” of D. W. Griffith’s current United Artists picture, tb make two pictures at other studios, after which he will spend a three months’ vacation in Europe. Plans for his co-starring picture with Miss Del Rio are being held in abeyance until her complete recovery.

Loretta Young and Grant Withers, who eloped, and got married so sensationally a few months ago, will shortly be seen in First National and VitaPhone’s thrilling mystery drama. “The Second Floor Mystery,” which has been adapted for the screen from Earl Der Bigger’s sensational novel, “The Agony Column.”

John Garrick has the leading maSj role opposite Jeanette MacDonald in “Lottery Bride,” Arthur Hammerstein’s new United Artists Picture. Kammerstein was impressed by hia work in “Married in Hollywood,” “The Sky Hawk,” and “Song of My Heart.” , Garrick went to the United States from Australia with “The Wishing Well” musical comedy company. He had been a matinee idol in Australia, having tppeared there in “Rose Marie" under his real name—Reginald Dandy.

Seven Fox Film feature production® are now in the cutting room, and eight are in production, constituting a remarkable production volume for midsummer. Those*finished aye: “The Big Trail,” directed by Raoul Walsh; “Are You There,”? starring Beatrice Lillie; “Men on Call,” featuring Edmund Lowe; “The Sea Wolf,” starring Milton Sills; “Liliom,” starring Rose Hobart and Charles Farrell;. “Soup to Nuts,” Rube Goldberg’s first screen comedy, with Ted Healy featured; and “To-night and You,” -featuring Lois Moran and* J. Harold Murray.

“Ladies’ Man,” the mystery romance by Rupert Hughes, that was recently acquired by Paramount for filming as a talking picture, will be produced at the New York studios of the company. Paul Lukas, Hungarian actor, has been selected to play the stellar role of a society Don Juan. Lothar Mendes has been given the directorial assignment.