FILMS and the STAGE

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 47, 18 November 1932, Page 16

FILMS and the STAGE

News From The Studios And Theatres

HOLLYWOOD KEEPS FIT QOME exercise every day keeps the doctor away in Hollywood more effectively than, in any..other, business. Excellent physical condition is a vital factor, in avoiding the menace of nervous breakdown that constantly threatens • picture, folk; working under a; terrific emotional strain. Marion ‘Davies is an ardent tennis fan and spends a great deal of her leisure time on the court at her beach home. Norina Shearer maintains her abundance of vitality'by a daily syrim in either the ocean or a swimming pool. Joan Crawford keeps her figure and dynamic energy/by . a brisk spin on a bicycle in the morning-before going to the studios.. John Gilbert is another expert with the racket, who is considered one of the best players in the motion-picture colony. ■: Blister Keuton keeps in, physical'trinr by practising baseballs during his spare time. at- the studio with a hard game at the beach during weekends.'.. ■ The' lightning fast game of badmin? ton, using a feathered shuttlecock/that travels faster than the eye can watch, provides a dally work-out for John Miljan. Robert Montgomery packs a hard punch which, he;uses in a fast boxing bout with a' physical trainer. Clark" Gable is one of the most enthusiastic horseback riders in Hollywood, who always outdistances any party of equestrians on a canter through the hills. Jean Harlow swims and does “setting-up” exercises, to preserve.her health and figure.; ■ ■ / ‘ Jackie Cooper plays so hard in his leisure time that he has little need for regular exercise, but when he feels full of energy the young star rides hisfbicyele as fast as he can go. Wal-lace’-Beery’s favourite relaxation is to get several thousand feet in the air with his. plane and perform all sorts of gyrations. Leila Hyam enjoys deepsea fishing. Jimmy Durance is never happier than when trout-fishing. UNUSUAL “UP” SHOTS

QEILINGS were- used on motionpicture. sets for the first time in many years during the filming of “Grand Hotel,”' the screen adaptation of Vicki Baum’s widely-read novel As a rule, to allow proper - lighting of

players and action, film sets are open at the top, the line of camera vision stopping just short of the natural celling height But in his treatment of the new photo-play, the director, Mr. Goulding, planned a number of unusual “up” shots, or.tilted camera angles, that demanded regular ceilings in the sets representing'various rooms in the Berlin hostelry. Many mechanical innovations were used to execute the unconventional camera angles required in the picture, among them being a travelling crane, capable of swinging the camera several hundred feet in a continuous close-up of a person walking through the expansive lobby. One of the unique shots is that taken from a balcony surrounding the hotel, lobby, which takes in seven floors a t l -once.

FANTASTIC STORY “'J'HE INVISIBLE MAN,” the fantastic novel by H. G. Wells, has been acquired by Universal to form the basis of an uncanny script which John L. Balderston, the British playwright, is rapidly completing for Boris Karloff’s debut as a full-fledged star. Th^.actor is already hard at work with the make-

up staff, attempting to perfect with the materials of their art an effect never before approached. It is an' effect of opaqueness, bordering/on transparency, which will characterise • tlie- character in the weird drama as he approaches the invisibility stage of the play. Nothing like it has ever been attempted before, so that precedent.offers no aid, and Karloff’s labours are relegated to the field of experimentation.

CHEAP OUTFITS ATONE ■ of the three ’ character-., members of the Four Marx Brothers has had a wardrobe change for stage or screen purposes since “Animal Crackers” was presented on the stage some six years ago. Groucho Harpo and Chico have used’the same outfits all that time, although they have bought new shoes and shirts as action destroyed these articles. Zeppo, the “straight” member, goes to the opposite extreme and has a large and resplendent wardrobe. To-day the three comedians wear their ragged outfits again in Baramount’s “Horse Feathers.”

ACRES QE STEEL Location for Film £120,000 PRODUCTION THE small and charming summer re- -*• sort of Gohren, on the island of Rugen, in the Baltic Sea, is enjoying a post-seasonal boom because Gaumont British of London and Ufa of Berlin are making a spectacular talking picture called "F.P.1.,” estimated to cost £120,000. The actual location of “F.P.1.” is the islet of Greifswalder, fifteen miles away, writes the film correspondent of the “Daily Mail,” but Gohren is used for “bed 'and breakfast” by the hundreds of actors and technicians, because Greifswalder is a rock one mile long and half a mile wide, with a lighthouse, three other houses, and a population of fifteen.

The scene in the morning at Gohren is extraordinary. Everyone is called at six and treks down to the chartered steamer lying at the tiny pier. At seven the boat, with its polyglot cargo, sets off for the small ahd difficult harbour at Greifswalder, where one sees the daily spectacle of 300 peoifie, in an amazing variety of dress, strung out in Indian file along the narrow breakwater and up the rude cliff staircase that leads to the most astonishing of film “sets.” This “set” covers two acres of Greifswalder, with a steel deck supported on a base of concrete.

This steel deck is the “E.P.1.” of the story, which is a drama of the future when filling stations anchored at sea will make possible the regular crossing of the Atlantic by aeroplane. The whole thing looks like an expedition. There is a doctor, a canteen, and emergency rations for three days in the event of the company being marooned by bad weather, which is a very real risk.

On Sunday, for example, after only one scene had been taken, a storm warning from the lighthouse sent everyone back to Gohren for the rest of the day. The English players at Gohren include Miss Jill Esmond. Mr. Donald Calthrop, Mr. Warwick Ward. Mr. Leslie Fenton, Mr. Francis Sullivan, Mr. George Merritt, Mr. Alexander Field, and Mr. Will van Allen, while Mr. William Freshman and Mr. Nicholas Ilannen appear in the scenes being made at the Ufa Studios at Neubabelsberg. The American film star, Miss Ann Dvorak, who is with her husband, Mr. Leslie Fenton, bub is not appearing in the film, attends the scenes every day and is busy learning German.

SMALL TOWN PREMIERE "pROBABDY the smallest town ever selected as the scene of a worldscreen premiere is Dyersburg, Tennessee, where “The Cabin in the Cotton,” starring Richard Bathelmess, was shown for the first time publicly. The theafrre in this little town held, but 400 persons, and the reason for holding the premiere there was that it is the home-town of Henry Harrison Kroll, who wrote the novel from which the film play was adapted. Richard Barthelmess is the star of, the picture, and is supported by Bette Davis, Dorothy Jordan, Hardie Albright and Henry B. Walthall.

Ralph Graves was born in Clcvc--32 years ago, was land, Ohio, about expected to become engineer, but consuming ambition has always been to be writer; ran away to Chicago w Ii c n graduated from High School in 1917. The winning of a motion picture contest for new talent in Chicago started him on his way to stardom.

Fred Conyngham, though only 23 years of age, has had a stage career packed with experience. The son of the well-known actor - manager, George Conyngham, Fred began his career as a speciality dancer. After many tours and West End shows, he decided to learn the subtler arts of acting, and he left musical comedy for legitimate drama.

Lila Lee believes in the law of numbers ; and her favourite number is three. She was three years old when her stage career began. She

has made three distinct entries into pictures, and, according to numerology, her name and her birth numbers likewise are three.

AROUND THE STUDIOS T)AMON RUNYON, special feature 17 writer of the Hearst newspaper organisation, has been added to the writing staff of Columbia Pictures to author a special story of the prize ring’ to be called “The Marquess of Queensberry.” The story revolves about a woman wiio manages a' lighter’s training camp and who is the “Marquesa” of the .picture’s title. While Universal writers are preparing “Broken Dreams of Hollywood,” in which Tala Birell will be starred, the Viennese beauty, will be co-starred with Melvyn Douglas in “Nagana,” an adventure story with an African background, which is scheduled to start production immediately under the direction of Ernst E. Erank. ♦ * • Not a single scene of “Rain,” the drama of the tropics, -will be photographed in-the studios. The Catalina Island isthmus has been transformed into a South Sea settlement, the story locale, a large cast of players and a small army of technicians will remain isolated until the picture is completed. Joan Crawford portrays the role of Sadie Thompson, Walter Huston is the Rev. Davidson, William Gargan is the swashbuckling rnaripe sergeant, and Beulah Bondi is Mrs. Davidson.

Eight numbers, in which more than two score actors take individual parts, comprise the novel musical score prepared by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz

Hart, one of Broadway’s leading composing teams, for Maurice Chevalier’s Paramount starring picture, “Love Me To-night.”

Ralph Bellamy, who recently signed up with Universal, and who heads the east in “Airmail,” visited the studio at Universal City when it first opened 17 years ago, and with his mother paid to stand in a gallery and watch the staff film the early “flickers.” This makes his return trip, with the monetary exchange reversed.

The strong cast selected for “Six Hours to Live,” which Wilhelm Dieterle is directing for Fox Films, has been further strengthened by the addition of Beryl Mercer and Irene Ware.

The acting of a brilliant and almost exclusively British cast in “The Old Dark House” help to make this production one of the most outstanding pictures of the year. Settings, staging, and direction reach a standard worthy of the excellent portrayals and the recording of the clever dialogue and sound effects is flawless.

Determined to make Zane Grey's “The Golden West” equal to the biggest outdoor picture ever made, Fox Films has extended the shooting schedule of the production and added several personalities to the cast. The company, including several hundred extras, is now on the desert near Barstow, California, filming the attack of the Indians on the railroad construction camp. George O’Brien plays the leading male role, and the cast; includes Janet Chandler, Marion Burns, Bert Hanlon, and Arthur Pierson.

Josephine, Hollywood’s pet. monkey, is making a screen comeback after several years of indolence in a featured role in “Plains Clothcsman” Jack Holt’s new starring feature for Columbia. The talented Simian made her first film eleven years ago, soon after her owner Gabriel Canzono came to Hollywood.

Mary Astor has been selected by George Arliss to bo his leading lady in his next starring picture for Warner Bros’. FirstNatioiml Pictures. 'This will be “A. Successful Calamity.” and Mr. Arliss will, be supported by Evalyn Knapp, Grant Mitchell, David Torrence, Nola Luxford, William Janney, and Hardie Albright.

“Leap Year,” the -Ibiig-waitcd Tom Walls comedy, is tit last completed, and fulfils all the predictions that the movie critics have made for it. Without his famous partner in comedy, Ralph Lynn, it is demonstrated that Walls loses none of his grip upon the comedy of situation and sequence.

Joe E. Brown has many souvenirs of his long and successful career on stage and screen, but there are two that he prizes above all others. These arc one of Frank Wyckoff’s tra c k shoes, with which the runner broke the world record, and a Bobby Jones putter.

George Robey has been engaged to sion of “Don Quixplay Sancho Panza in the talkie verote,” in which Feodor Chaliapiue, the great Russian opera pearance. Exterior singer, is to make his first screen apscenes are being produced at Nice.

Plans are being made to film the “banned” novel, “Ulysses,” by James Joyce, which, though its sale has been prohibited both in Britain and the United States of America, is regarded as one of the most significant literary achievements of the century.

Last month saw the completion of the first of a series of two-reel comedies which Roscoe (Fatty) Arbuckle is making at the Vitaphone studio in Brooklyn.

SPECTACULAR SCENES GOME of the most spectacular native boat scenes ever pictured on the screen are among the highlights of the glamorous “Bird of Paradise,” which is due for early release in Wellington. Three hundred native Hawaiian canoeists appeared with Dolores Del Rio and Joel McCrea in the thrilling water episodes. Of those, approximately 100 were the finest outrigger experts to be found on the islands, where the unit of forty HKO players went on location. King Vidor, who produced the picture,

insisted that the raging surf scenes of “The Bird of Paradise” be actual. He directed the sequence from a precarious seat in a swiftly moving canoe, taking the same hazards as the performers, all risking serious spills constantly. Creighton Chaney, son of the late Lon Chaney, makes his film debut in “Bird of Paradise.” MENJOU, A LINGUIST A DOLPHE MENJOU is the linguistic x expert at Paramount on the set of “A Farewell to Arms.” Whenever some player has to speak either a line of a foreign language or a line with a foreign accent, Men j on takes time out from his own role to coach the actor. Adolphe is a master of English, French. German, Spanish and Italian. The actor’s father was even more of a linguist, with nine languages to his credit. ALMOST A MOTOR QpHE sight of an elderly man struggling with an aged car on the side of a country road in England attracted many sympathetic helpers recently until they discovered a film camera camouflaged in a nearby hedge and found that Harry Hughes was busily producing exteriors for his new 8.1. P. comedy, “Double Trouble,” while the would-be driver was soon recognised as Jimmy Godden, who will be remembered by New Zealanders for his sterling performances with Elsie Prince in “No,

No, Nanette,” “Lady, Be Good,” “Archie,” and other musical comedies. Tn a short time a gathering of onlookers found, to their amusement, and rhe director’s chagrin, that the car, which was intended to look a wreck, was in truth no sports car. In appearance a freak, with a hood that sprung to the perpendicular with little provocation and wings held on by string, its performance as a hill climber was negligible.

Huglies wanted to take a scene of Jimmy driving “Almost,” as she wis christened, up a steep hill with Marion Dawson, Molly Lamont and Renee Gadd as passengers. The road was cleared and scouts placed to warn other traflic, while “Almost” was hidden round a bend. At tlie “All clear,” the cameraman stood by to “turn” as she flashed past. Finally. with groans and wheezes. “Almost" sailed by at a flashing tire miles an hour in low gear. After this she was re-christened “Very Nearly.” “THE MIRACLE” A b'U.M version of Dorr Max Rein- -»* hnrdt’s spectacle "The Miracle” is to lie made in Hollywood this year by Warner Brothers. Though the company hope to be able to secure the services of Herr Reinhardt as director of the film, no definite arrangements have been made. Miss Loretta Young, an American actress, has, however, already been chosen to play the part of the Nun, and, in the words of the announcement issued by the company, “the him will be produced with an ‘allstar’ cast and with approximately 5000 extra players.”

REPLICAS MADE Czarina’s Jewellery USED IN NEW FILM JJEPLICAS of the famous crown jewels of Russia which disappeared after the revolution, and about which hundreds of rumours have since arisen, was one of the intricate feats that is going into the making of “Rasputin,” in which John, Ethel, and Lionel Barrymore appear at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios. The personal jewels of the Tsarina, as worn by Miss Barrymore in the picture, the great tiara worn in the court ceremonials, among which was the huge Orloff diamond, one of the largest in the world, and other known bits from the great collection were fabricated in the picture by jewellers from photographs and personal descriptions. Miss Barrymore, throughout the picture, wears the replicas of the Tsarina’s personal jewellery, the great black pearl on the linger with the gold band wedding ring, and the jewelled swastika, which she was never without. She used to attach it on the radiator of her personal car. TALENTED AUSTRALIAN QpOURING with the J. C. Williamson Imperial Grand Opera Company in the capacity of assistant-conductor is Mt. Joseph Post, a young Australian who holds the position of professor of piano and oboe at the Couservatorium of Music, Sydney. Mr. Post is a talented musician and has had considerable experience in orchestral work. When quite a youth he toured New Zealand with the Verbrugghen orchestra, at that time playing the oboe. This is the first time he has toured with an operatic orchestra. He has a very busy time behind the scenes, for he has to supervise the various back-stage orchestral effects, and has acted as organist and pianist off-stage in various productions, and also conducts for the chorus when they have to sing off-stage —a frequent occurrence. For several months before the opening of the Australian season, Mr. Post trained the chorus in readiness for the productions. He has conducted the orchestra on several occasions during the New Zealand tour. Like most members of the company, he is very keen on sport and is particularly fond of tennis and golf.

MUCH-TRAVELLED STAR AT'ICTOIt McLAGLEN has lived in many of the world’s distant corners of the globe. Although born near London, he spent/ his childhood in South Africa, where his father was Bishop of Clermont. When he was old enough, he went to Canada and became a boxer, joined a vaudeville show and toured the United States. Ilis next trips took him to Hawaii, Tahiti and Australia. He joined the gold rush at Kalgoorie, without luck. His next steps were Bombay and Ceylon, from where he started back to South Africa.

“TESS” TO BE FILMED “TESS OF THE STORM COUNTRY,’.’ modernised adaptation of the famous novel by Grace Miller White and the drama by Rupert Hughes, has gone into production at the Fox studios, with Janet Gaynor starred in the title role. Dudley Digges, Evelyn Knapp, Edward

Pawley, George Meeker, and Claude Gillingwater play important roles. The screen play was written by S. N. Behrman and Sonya Levien. It concerns a motherless girl, Tess, who is led into a series of exciting problems by her impulsive nature. She finds it hard to adapt herself to shore ways, after having lived mt>st of her life aboard a tramp sailing ship skippered by her father.

“PHOTOGRAPHIC MUSIC” A L JOLSON will present something new in musical technique in his melodious, comedy, “The New Yorker,” It is called “photographic musie,” meaning that every song and lyric will be an essential part of the story; and not just dragged in to give Jolson a chance to sing. The famous Broadway composers, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, who wrote the song numbers for the picture, are credited with originating a new idea. These two men were responsible for that successful musical comedy, “The Girl Friend.”

ORANGES AND ESKIMOS A BOX of chocolates turned an entire village into an uproar. This odd incident, was reported by wireless from Colonel W. S. Van. Pyke, .head of a Polar expedition filming “Eskimo” in the Far North. The Eskimos, .’who had never seen such things before, took them back to the village, and the entire population turned out to sample the strange fruit. The chief distributed it, and a ceremonial dance was staged in its honour. DISAPPOINTED CRICKET A CRICKET with movie aspirations crashed the gates of the studios recently, but failed to make good on the screen. Director Sidney Franklin was filming a woodland scene in Norma Shearer’s new production, “Smilin’ Through.” Trees, ferns and brush .had been transplanted from the studio nursery to the back lot to make an English' woodland. There the cricket found its way and started its concert. On the highly-sensitised recording apparatus its chirping sounded like a symphony of buzz saws. So, through the aid of the microphone, working crews captured the intruder and kept it under a glass container until the scenes were finished. The culprit cricket was last heard sounding his disappointment at not breaking into the movies. THE “HAPPINESS” FILM WHEN “Sunshine Susie” makes her ’ first appearance in Wellington she is going to sponsor the “Happiness Season”; every true entertainment lover will be singing or whistling the theme song, “To-day I Feel So Happy.” There never was a more contagious number. Everybody will and must learn it, after seeing the film, over which, incidentally, the American and British trade and lay press has been lyrical in their praises. The songs sung by Renate Muller, the “happiness” star who brings an entirely new and striking personality to the sound

screen, have an added charm when they come from the lips of such a pretty and talented star. They are sung with a whimsical expression that makes us want to join in the chorus with Renate. Another “find” who demonstrates the talent available in England just waiting for the opportunity’ to be presented, is Jack EJulbert. patter and eccentric dance comedian, who sings the number, “I’ve Got an Aunt Eliza,” which is undoubtedly the biggest laugh-provoker since the famed “Charley’s Aunt.” The talent in. the east does not cease there. Owen Nares, handsome and popular screen figure, makes a winning hero. The show is brimful of comedy, romance and melody. It has just completed its fifth week in Auckland, and has broken all records in Australia.

Advice has been received by Mr. H. Stringer, New Zealand representative of J. C. Willimason, Ltd., that the Christmas and New Year attraction for Wellington will be Dame Sybil Thorndike and her talented company. ’

Clara Bow makes her return to the screen after a lengthy absence in the Fox film, “Call Her Savage.” Thelma Todd has a prominent role in the picture.

Al Jolson’s next production will be “The New Yorker,” in which lie is assisted by Harry Langdon, Chester Conklin, Roland Young, Heine Conklin, Madge Evans, and Bodil Rosing.

According to statistics compiled by the United States Department of Commerce. 185 million persons attend picture shows weekly throughout the world.

Elissa Landi will play opposite Ronald Colman in Samuel Goldwyn’s picturisation of the famous dual per-sonality-thriller, “The Masquerader.”

Louisa Glosser Hale, who is an authoress as well as a clever actress, presents her friends with autographed copies of her books, instead of her photographs.

An up-to-the-minute revue, with a brilliant cast headed by Miss Ella Shields and the popular comedian, George Wallace, will be the J. C. Williamson offering at Auckland for Christmas and New Year.