PARAMOUNT THEATRE.

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 11, 13 July 1939, Page 15

PARAMOUNT THEATRE.

"The Great Waltz."

Because genius is international, on a studio stage. The spectacular new production will be transferred to the Paramount Theatre tomorrow. The playMs based on -the- life of--Johann Strauss. The French actor, Fernand Gravet as the composer, stars opposite Luise Rainer, playing Strauss s. wife Poldi. Miliza Korjus, Estonian singer, whom many., consider the world's greatest coloratura, portrays Carla, the opera star sweetheart, of the composer. Julien Duvivier, ...French director, famous for his "Pepe Le Moko'," "The. Golem,", and., "Carnet dv Bal" handled the megaphone on his first American production:, Dmitri Tiomkin, eminent Russian., composerpianist, adapted the Strauss music, with Dr. Arthur Guttman, first conductor of the Johann Strauss Theatre in Vienna, as. conductor of the great orchestras. A rare instance in Hollywood annals is the story of Mme. Korius, who was signed, without trial, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives after a hearing of her phonograph records. To bring to the screen the melodies of Strauss a 90-piece orchestra was assembled. Borrowed from Erich Lachmann, who owns one of the largest collections of valuable violins in the world, were twelve Stradivarius and Amati violins, which the studio insured for 250,000 dollars. The opera set was built from authentic pictures and architectural data gathered by technical experts. The auditorium and the five tiers of boxes-running all around the opera had to be lighted according to photographic needs. It required 200 separate lights and a crew of nearly . 100 electricians to manipulate them. Five, cameras were used. One was mounted on a 60ft movable boom 'wheeled: on a special truck over the heads of the audience. Others were placed in boxes, on the stage, and on the floor for various angles. Preparation for the sequence occupied three weeks. While the set was being built, 200 seamstresses worked oh the costumes. There were 375 feminine costumes, including period gowns, the fluffy ballet costumes, the long Empress gowns of the show girls, and the costumes of the singers. Each, with its wide skirts of the period, required approximately 30 yards* of material.