STAGE AND SCREEN

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 65, 14 September 1933, Page 16

STAGE AND SCREEN

"Cavalcade." No ■'•' motion picture ever niade has. treated such- phenomenal interest, as ■ "Cavalcade." For the best part of nine months Fox Films in Hollywood were 'lusily engaged on the construction of'the picture, testing, artists, adapting, the play tor screen purposes, delving into records, assembling' detail, planning and building tha .vast '.'sets." In October "shooting" commenced. Now at the De Luxe Theatre, one. may see what America has made of this great play of F<ngland,- this intimate national masterpiece that belongs to England, this phase of our history which reflects the very characteristics of the British race.' It is to the credit of Fox that they left the1 picture entirely in the hands of Britons, and judging by messages sent by Noel Coward, the brilliant author, who saw ■ tho, film in U.S.A. before - it, reached-this country-we need fear' no : travesties. . ■.'■:.•• Jackie Cooper. Jackie Cooper, the screen's most famous child acforvStar of "Skip'py" and "Sooky," and who was: teamed with Wallace Beery in -'The 'Champ," will again 'appear with Beery in •.' *'The Bowery," ;■ which. Joseph M. Schenck'->and-,Darryl Francis Zanuck are . putting, in production as their first Twentieth Century picture for United Artists release; The boy star has been borrowed from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for the role. Jackie wll1 play "Swipes," . the newsboy s pal,of'-'B.eety, who will-fill the role of Chuck Connors, 'the "Mayor" of: Chinatown.' .George Eaft will have" the role of Steve, Brodie in this film of early Manhattan. History, to be directed by Kaoul Walsh, - . "Don Quixote." , The London "Kinematograph Weekly" reports as-follows regarding Feodor Chaliapin in "Don Quixote":—"A delicate, exquisite adaptation of Cervantes' classical romantic ' fantasy; poetry expressed in pictorial iorni through the genius of the director, C. W. Pabst. The film with its perfect setting, • delightfully composed* backgrounds, quaint humour,, tender spirit of romance, pathetic search for adventure, and fine singing and brilliant acting by Chaliapiu, is an artistic triumph. Feodor Chaliapin carries himself with pathetic dignity as Don Quixote, acts brilliantly, and sings magnificently. George Robey does . extraordinarily well. Oscar Asche, Frank Stanmore, Miles Mandor, Sidney Fox, Emily Fitzroy; and Lydia Sherwood all bring their experience to bear in leading supporting roles." . . <

"Music in the Air" Popular. Large Choruses. x i. Sylvia Welling, the prima-donna of the Large choruses in movies are a waste i musical opera "Music in 'the Air" (now of the theatregoer's time as well as a ! playing to capacity houses in Melbourne), great waste of money, in the opinion of is a Londoner with a long record of stage B. G. De Sylva, Fox' Film producer, who ' successes to her credit. Miss Welling is preparing "My Weakness," his original niade a hit 'as Margof in "''The Desert musical comedy, for the screen; ■ In My Song,", which ran for two years. She re- Weakness' I am getting awny from the placed- the late Army Ahlers in the Lon- eliorns-idea-entirely; but I think well get don production of "Dv Barry" after the «ie same effect that is obtained by a large tragic deatli of the German actress. Like chorus ;on the stage," he said. lam her vis-a-vis," Mr. Frank' Sale, she is inak- scouring Hollywood for the most beautiful, higher first visit'to the Dominions under charmitig. and talented girls obtainable. Williamson management. The young man They will be shown in close-tips and conforms to the matinee idol type, but is medium shots close enough so that the a .likeable; athletic, and manly type as audience will appreciate their beauty and well. He is making his first musical- beantrigued by then-personalities. Xilian comedy appearance in "Music in the Air," Harvey and Lew Ayres will co-star n having previously been associated with 'My Weakness," .and David Butler will Covent Garden Grand Opera. -He has a. cUrect\ 'powerful tenor'voice, and he is also a fine Warren William. actor. In the Kern Hammcrstein work ~, wiv n i ~„ ~f n, n of the cities forms the ba SIS of the stoij. ffl tlio Kllssian Ann(l "The Ghoul." , Sten to film audiences, In "Naua," WilA Gaumont-British production which Ham has the .role^of the Count Muffat.' can rank with the best in the production elder brother to George, who has _the of pictures of the calculated-to-thrill type romantic lead. The Count Muffat is a is "The Ghoul." This is an excellent middle-aged-. patnemn • French nobleman, vehicle for Boris' Karloff and his weird ™ equerry to the Emperor Napoleon 111. make-up as a scientist is a demonstration Both the Count, ami his-younger brother of the manner in which the British make- £>". ™'! ras to c tllalras- °/ f ola. svo "P; up man can respond to the challenge of *»«» siren. The part of .the younger Hollywood. Settings'and swift-movement brother has not yet been filled..are features of the film, >vhich is also re-; "Hold Your Man." , : markable for some exceptional acting, T ■ ~. ,-, ~ notably . from Cedric Hardwicke and <Tcan, barlow and Clark .Gable are . Ernest Theseiger. There'can be little : teamedlufcßin■ iir "Hold lour Man,' a doubt that here is a subject destined for , Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer-production,, lo low- : outstanding success and one which the »g »}, the wake of their success m Bed mass'of movie fans will readily appre- ?™t" which brought a popular demand uirtss vi muyju j.uu=> for the present. union. In a story calcu- •:;■.■:', . , , " lated to afford t the .stars opportunity, ; for Thomas Mitchell. perfbrmane'es'fitting 'their individual'tal- • Thomas Mitchell is giving Hollywood a ents, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer offers a prosample of -the energy and capacity for duction both dramatic and romantic. An work which, ;on Broadway, gained him original by. Anita Loos, the story concerns the reputation of being logical successor a love affair that begins as an interlude ,to the crown of George M.' Cohan as the but winds up as romance, most versatile man in the New \ork 3g reen Lead theatre. Brought West by Paramount to . ■.'..•.. prepare a screen version for his stage Judith Allen, a young-Boston debutante, success "Cloudy With s Showers," the who made'her screen debut in Cecil B. de actoi'-playwright-director has now taken: Mille's "This Day aud Age," received her on the additional duties of directing. Witln second consecutive leading role when she James Flood he will co-direct Pava- was assigned to the part opposite Bing mount's •production of the Broadway stajje Crosby in his next Paramount picture, play "Chrysalis," with Fredric March, "Too Much Harmony. Jack Oakie, Miriam Hopkins,-and George Raft in the Skeets Gallagher, Harry Green, Lilyan cast. He-will also combine with Sidney Tashman^ Ned ,Sp_arks, and Grace Bradley Buchman;on;the; .adaptation of the piece, also .are in the cast.

Farjeon Thriller for Wellington. "Number Seventeen," a comedy thriller by J. Jefferson Farjeon, will be presented • by the Triangle Players on October 18, in aid of the Wellington Free Kindergarten. "Number- Seventeen" was produced a few yeai-s ago with enormous success at the New Theatre, London, with Leon M. Lion, Nora Swinburne, and Nicholas Hannenin the leading parts. The play opens in a London street in a fog, and from the first rise of the curtain the audience is thrilled until the end of the final scene, which takes place in a secret chamber of No. 17. The stage effects are unusual, and are as important to the play as those in "The Ghost Train." The cast includes Marjorie Murray, Joan Purvis, F. G. Hayes-Town^, Ralph Hogg, G. H. A. Swan, Norman Hannah, L. D. Webster, E. R. Render, and H. A. Painter. Special, scenery and i effects are being, prepared for the play, which is being produced by Victor S. Lloyd. Rehearsals indicate a finished production of more than ordinary ; interest. '^Gun-Man.". . ■ ■•..-., .'■,■. Within a few moments J. S. Stembridge, Hollywood's gun-man, can equip a fairsized detachment of soldiers from any country: with their own type of; battle equipment. For in. his arsenal at- Paramount Studio" he has 4099 rifles, 160 shotguns,' 111 machine-guns, 189 character pis- ; lots, 1788 revolvers and automatic pistols, 4000i bayonets, 490; knives, Babres and words, anti-aircraft guns, one-poUnders, etc., embracing all types of war , equipment of the past few .centuries. Recently an order fof 57 machine-guns, types used . by German, French, and English .during the World'War; for battle scenes- in "The Eagle and the Hawk," was promptly filled. '.';■■' \ ' '.',';■ Non-growing. Casting directors, technicians, and others at Fox Movietone City have been tearing their hair and gnashing their teeth these last few days because of the unusual demauds made upon them. Here are a few of the requests made for current productions:—Suckling pigs that won't grow, two negro men with Harvard accents, and a frog that can croak in Gaelic. Now, as to that last one, alleged to be wanted for "Paddy the Next Best Thing," Phil Fried-, man, casting director, swears : Director Harry Lachman is pulling his leg; but Laehman says no, the Edward Burke, author and dialogue director, swears he heard one : croak in Gaelic in old Ireland, and Lachman wants one. The negroes with the Harvard accent are needed for the roles of "Yale" and "Harvard," two Pullman porters in the current Rogers production, "Life's Worth Living." "Klinl of. Jia." The spell of music is in the movie air again, and shortly a re-edited and revised "King of Jazz" will be released by Universal in New Zealand in response to requests from all over the world. There never was a musical fir ' colour picture made to equal "The King of Jazz." It had everything that a musical picture could possibly have. In fact, it hid so much originality that it was almost overpowering. All the major musical comedy features of this production have been retained, however—the John Boles Bongs, "It Happened in Monterey" and "Song of the Dawn"; the superbly rendered "Rhapsody in Blue"; Jeannie Lang's "Ragamuffin Romeo," and others. Barrymore. Lionel Barrymdre and Miriam Hopkius are co-starred in "The Stranger's Return" as a picturisation of the popular ; Phil Stong novel of rural.life, which follows his recent best-seller, "State Fair." As the eighty»five-year-old patriarch of a farm founded and pioneered by his family, Lionel Barrymore is said to have one of the most interesting characterisations of his career. Miss Hopkins, among tlie most popular feminine stars on the screen today, is afforded the best opportunity she has had in her role of the city girl who goes to her grandfather's farm and finds there the peace and contentment she could not get in the city,. t ; ■ '■ Bertha Ricctrdo in London. Bertha Riceardo, the brunette actress whose work in the Maurice Moscovitch dramatic company in New Zealand surprised those who had been accustomed to seeing the talented lady in musical comedy roles only, is playing the role of Fifi in the London revival of "The Belle of New York." The Garrick Theatre is the locale for the production, in which Kathleen Burgis, of Daly's Theatre, is the Belle. Joe Tate, a seventy-year-old veteran, has a small part. He was a member of the original company fromJ America that starred Edna May—that was 35 years ago—and he has the distinction of having played every male part' in' the musical comedy. "Summer Lightning." Not the least of the technical difficulties to be overcome in the production of Ralph Lynn's new British and Dominions farce, "Summer Lightning," was that of filming a twenty-stone prize sow, Sarah, who had to play in numerous scenes. On the fixed day for the shooting of this sequence Sarah was brought on to the set, complete with her "trainer," Mr. Hedges. Not even the presence of Mr. Hedges could persuade Sarah that film acting was the sort of pastime that should be indulged in. It was finally necessary, therefore, to board up all Sarah's means of escape so that she became an actress willy-nilly. Ronald Colman. Ronald Colman has a sailor's feeling for the sea. The cventlessness it offers to most people is exciting' adventure to 'him. In-California, he has sailed into'every nook of the California and Mexican Coast. After he finished "The Masquerader" for Samuel Goldwyn this spring, Colman left with a few friends to spend the summer sailing the Aegean Sea, the classic waters over which Jason ,and Ulysses, Byron, and Shelley gazed and dreamed of home. "Home," in the case of Colman, won't be Hollywood, for friends report that the English star doesn't expect to return to ■ the motion picture colony for at least two years. "The Invisible Man." The most mysterious star who ever came to Hollywood is Claude Rains, the celebrated English actor. Rains is starred in the title role of H. G. Wells's "Invisible Man," which James Whale is directing for Universal. In his debut picture his features will never be seen, and in six or eight reels he will be wholly invisible. Universal has assembled a cast of great talent for "The Invisible Man," including Gloria Stuart, William Harrigau, Dudley Digges, and Una Q'Cpnnprt

A New Thorridlke Vehicle. Danje Sybil Thorndike, at latest advices, was to appear in "The Distaff Side," l John' Van Druteu's play> this month in London. Auriol Lee was to produce,;and!the cast was to include Clifford Evans, Dora ': Barton, Alexander Archdale, and a young actress . from the Royal Academy of Dramatic -, Art. Gilbert Miller, the famous'' producer, was sponsoring the season.. Mr. Miller is introducing to London in January Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontaine in "Reunion in Vienna," in which John Barrymore and Diana Wynyard have made a success as a talkie.. The Lunt-Fpntaine ,pair have been delighting-New -Yorkers with the Noel Coward fantasy "Design for Living," in which the British author was co-starred. Robert Sherwood is responsible for "Eeunibn: in Vienna." Mr. Miller is also to star Leslie' Howard in a London production/ and- is to compensate Americans for the loss. of tMr. Howard ' (who is a: Britisher) -by taking back to New York for a ' season Edna Best and her husband, Herbert Marshall, whp are celebrities' in the • States. ;■, .. ■ '•.'■■-,•• "Alice in Wonderland." With the exception of the unknown Alice,.the cast of Paraniount's "Alice in Wonderland" has been completed with the selection of Charles Laughton, Jack Oakie,' Alison Skipwdrth, Mary Boland, W. C. Fields, and Charlie Ruggles for the leading'roles.' Norman McLeod, who was to have directed Fields and' Mary Boland in "Tilfle and Gus;" has been ■ relieved of that assignment, so: that he can prepare to handle "Alice in Wonderland." "Tugboat Annie." ,'';'• The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio purchasing department -was given a Jarge order when "Tugboat Annie," new Marie Dressier-Wallace , Beery co-starring, film"; was made,. It had to purchase three barges filled with garbage for certain of the .waterfront sequences in the product tion, and for one episode an entire street on the Seattle waterfront was reproduced, to match the actual- one used there. •'-.''■',,•., ~..',' National Final Drama' Festival. Community drama in New Zealand will receive a stimulus next week, when the National Final'Festival will take , place at the Blue Triangle Hall, Wellington, on Friday and Saturday, September 22 and 23, under the auspices of the British* Drama League (N.Z. branch). Successful area festivals have been held at Auckland, Stratford, and Hawera ; (central and south Taranaki), Hastings and Dannevirke 1 (northern and southern Hawke's Bay), Masterton, Wellington,' Christentirch, and Tjmar.u (north and sdiith Canterbury), aild the winning'team from'each area will cdmptte" for the National-Final Award. Tho Rev. -W. Constable, of Auckland, and Messrs: L. Dn Cliateau,: and W. S. Wauchop,- of Wellington, will adjudicate, and.eleven plays will be produced. ' His Excellency the ; Governor-General has kindly consented to present, the winning ! certificates, also tho "Radio Record" Cup. for the best written one^act, play by a New/Zealand author hitherto unpublished. Lovers of the' drama in Wellington may look forward' to an attractive festival. The members of the various teams and their producers ' will be' billeted among friends and supporters of the local branch' of • the B.D.L. The Wellington Nor'h Federation of the Women's Institutes held. a successful: drama festival' at, Palmerston North last .week, when fourteen teams from tho Manawatu W.l.'s, presented a varied number of one-act plays. Miss E. Blake, who adjudicated, was impressed with the vitality and promise " shown both there and at,the recent .Auckland and Taranaki festivals^

Mrs. Frank Harvey Returns. . ; airs. Frank .Harvey,, .formerly Miss Rosamund McMillan,, daughter of the Jate Sir William McMillan, has returned to Australia with, her distinguished husband, who has come, out t<r play on the stage*and in pictures and Vhose services will ' also be utilised in connection "with'scenarios in an advisory capacity-and as-a writer of special dialogue.'■ Mrs.- Harvey was''formerly on';th'e; Sydney stage, but since i her marriage seven years ago,to the popular English actor ■ she 'has done little professional work. ■. Her .main. occupation is attending reh#arsals of her husband's ,p}ays, reading his scenarios, and looking after the garden of their lovely hoine at Watford, -near; London.-. There ia a. small daughter .Helen,, who, wants-to follow in the. footsteps, of her. parents . and be an actress.. Mr. Harvey.will be remembered in New. Zealand for.his acting with the Muriel -Starr and, EmihV Polini .' companies, and for his'dramatic work in the plays'"Seventh Heaven," "My Lady's Dress," and "Bird of Paradise." He is a .sound, exponent! of histrionics; • arid is rec6gnised in England, Australia, and else-' 'where' as a Very'fine actor. - ' . From' ihe Ocean. Floor!, ' c ' Remarkable. scenes from; the .ocean floor are' shown in the unique picture,."With Williamson Beneath the /Sjsa."'. ■ The. producer, J.'E. Williamson, is, a former newspaperman who went to :the' depths in apparatus invented by ■', his father arid developed by himself. ■ United Artists' will release this' picture. ■ ' "SOS Iceberj." , '' .' '.' ' ' . "SOS Iceberg," the first picture ever to be made in Greenland,: an Arctic drama with a spectacular ice background, differing essentially from other polar travelogues , and. native , picture .stories; has finally been completed ; after thirteen months spent in the 'desolate continent. Universal sent: a ■ complete '• expedition to Greenland,/under' the sponsorshipl of the Danish Government, to film ' "SOS Iceberg;" which.containsl in;its reels many phenomena, never :before:.: captured by camera' or sound ■,microphone, including the.«iant breaking up' of the largest and fastest-moving . glacier in. the .world and the "exploding" of' a sea of icebergs! John Browrtlee as Rifuletto. ' John Brownlee, the Australian' baritone who was .recently, in New , Zealand,. was Eigoletto at. a,'performance' of that opera in Melbdurhe this week. " Mr. Brownlee , organised and' staged' the'.piice, which1 was in aid of a local' children's'hospital, ;and >t was' his farewell; appearance 'before leaving on! his return to Paris "for the grand opera> season there.; ■ ■ : idae,\Vest.: ; ''.'' .' .'',. '. ''■ '. Having iorigiuated the shimmy. dance ( which brought fame to Gilda. Gray and Bee Palmer,, Mae. West is, no>v. coming out with a new number, "The Midway," in her forth'comjpg paramount production, "I'm No Angel." "It's not a dance of the1 hands' and feet," Mae explains, "but of the. Midway!". l; ' . \ ' "Bohemian; Girl/',, .-.■,..,', Herbert Wilcox announces' a change of plan by which' he had! deferred production of a' previously announced film is order • immediately ' to , team ■ Anna ■ Neagle:and Fernand .Graavey in a-talkie story of Balfe's, "The Bohemian Girl." The change- (stated* Mr.' Wilcox) is the result of numerous interviews he had had with English exhibitors during his recent tour with the feminine star of "Bitter Sweet/' He; had been . asked •to find a vehicle,in which ,the two ,stars in.that picture could "appear together, again, and in response to thfs-request he'had chosen Balfe's' >^ork'.'for' screening/