“WHOOPEE.”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21258, 12 February 1931, Page 15

“WHOOPEE.”

“ Whoopee,” the big Florenz ZiegfeldSamuel Goldwyn picture, which will open at the Regent Theatre at the midnight matinee to-night, is the first of United Artists big 1931 attractions which have been contracted for by Williamsons Filins, New Zealand, Ltd. Other United Artists films that will be appearing soon will include “Hell’s Angels,” Howard Hughes’s gigantic air spectacle which cost 4,000,000 dollars and took three years to s produce; “ Raffles,” Ronald Cohnan’s latest romantic drama; Mary Pickford in “Kiki,” from the'stage comedy by David Belasco; Norma Talmadge in “ Du Barry,” another Belasco play; Gloria Swanson in “ What a Widow,” a successor to “ The Trespasser”; “Reaching for the Moon/’ featuring Douglas Fairbanks and Bebe Daniels; D. W. Griffith’s masterpiece “ Abraham Lincoln” (a picture said to be greater than the “ Birth of a Nation ”); Evelyn Laye, the celebrated musical comedy artist, in “ One Heavenly Night ”; Jeannette MacDonald in “ The Lottery Bride,” produced by Arthur' Hammerstein; “Eyes of the World,” by Harold Bell Wright; “ The Bat Whispers," starring Chester Morris; Joan Bennett in that charming romance of the stage, “ Smiling’ Thru, and a special musical comedy by De Sylva Brown and Henderson. United Artists over a number of years have released the cream of the Independent Productions, and tire Regent Theatre is fortunate enough this year to have the exclusive release for Dunedin.

For “Whoopee” Samuel Goldwyn and Florenz Ziegfeld joined hands in gathering together 100 of the most decorative young ladies to be found anywhere. In London and New York test after test was made. Harassed casting directors, professional and amateur, continued their feverish search—behind lunch counters, in dancing schools and the music academies, among the models of the famous New York, London, and Paris couteriers, —everywhere that beautiful women were suspected of holding forth. In the course of the nine weeks consumed in making the search, the Goldwyn office reports that 1544 tests were received. Of them, 104 were accepted. Sixteen came from Broadway, professional showgirls. Among them and heading the list were Dorothy Knapp, labelled in the successive editions of Earl Carroll’s “Vanities” as “the most beautiful girl in the world,” and young Eleanor Hunt, whose work proved so impressive, that she was made Cantor’s leading lady. Francine Benoir, who went to Paris three years ago as an Albertina Rasch dancer, returned as a “ Whoopee ” addition. Two young ladies, one an, actress and another a church singer, come from England; others from New York, Chicago and other cities. Fifty were selected in Hollywood. Once assembled, the 100 young ladies had nothing to do for the next four weeks' but sit day by day in the costumiers, being fitted each one of them for 12 changes of costume. Just as each girl had to fit perfectly her costume, so did each costume have to fit the colour scheme of the 61 sets, all photographed in technicolour. Colour in motion pictures is bringing before the public a number of great beauties who are at present unknown to filmgders. Two striking examples are Ethel Sbutta and Eleanor Hunt, who play leading roles in “ Whoopee.” Some of the new stars-will be actresses of the legitimate stage who had, failed in black and white camera tests, it is pointed out by Dr Herbert T. Kalmus, president of the Technicolour Corporation. Others will be obscure extra girls in Hollywood. Girls from all walks of life will gain their big chance because colour will reveal their true charm. “With scores of feature productions in technicolour showing throughout the world.next year, it seems certain that 1931 will see the rise of great beauties who are, at present entirely unknown to motion picture audiences,” Dr Kalmus said. “ Recent improvements in the technicolour process have made it possible to reproduce flesh tints accurately, and the exact colour of hair and eyes. While -this is not of so much importance in photographing men, it is vital in presenting women on the screen. Now, when you see a close-up of an actress in colour, you see her exactly as she would appear on the stage, from a seat in the front row. Beauty is not so much contour of face as it is colouring* and at last the motion picture producer is able to give you his stars exactly as they appear in the flesh. Their beauty, also, iis enhanced by colour in costumes and in settings. Many of the stars now in motion pictures will* be reglorified in colour. Motion picture patrons will find that they have not realised the true beauty of some of their favourite actresses. It is not unlikely that colour will discover great beauties among the extra girls in Hollywood—girls who have been snubbed by the black and white camera.” The coming of technicolour into motion pictures is going to tame the camera. It probably will not sound the knell of many of the girls now established as screen favourites. They and their hairdressers and the lighting experts and the photographers and the make-up men, have learned how to fix up their blemishes and to turn bad lines into good lines. These virls will suffer only in those cases in which the colours of their eyes and their hair are by nature undistinguished,_ but which may have been satisfactory in black and 1 white.