SCREEN AND STAGE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21979, 14 June 1933, Page 3

SCREEN AND STAGE

. FROM GREEN ROOM AND STUDIO

BY HARLEQUIN.

Octagon Theatre Attraction Paris! Gay, scintillating Paris, and its effect on a staid young man who visits it to study architecture, and _on his mother, who comes to rescue him from the wiles of a revue actress, but falls herself to the charm of the actress’s dancing partner, forms the theme of “ Paris,' which will be screened for a return season at the Octagon Theatre on Friday. The credit for the success of this spectacular revue must go to two consummate artists-—lrene Bordoui and Jack Buchanan. Irene Bordoni’s roguish, sophisticated comedy captivates an audience. but it is her singing of gay, catchy songs that is especially delightful. Her personality is undoubtedly one of the most vivid that have been introduced to the screen. No more suitable partner could have been chosen for Irene Bordoni than Jack Buchanan, the popular star of “ Good-night Vienna ” and “ Monte Carlo.” His acting is suave and interesting, his comedy clean and effective, and his singing is of a good standard. Louise Glosser Hale, who is the young mans mother, gives, as always, a performance which is a sheer delight. A. word must be said of the revue proper. It is a spectacular affair with several techni-colour sequences, and a stong supporting cast and ballet. There are at least a dozen different stage items, each gorgeously mounted and accompanied by lilting melodies. Greta Garbo’s New Picture Greta Garbo is going to do “Queen Christina for the Metro-Goldwyu-Mayer Company, but doubts about her readmission as a foreigner having been solved, she will make it in Hollywood instead of having to work on the Continent. Miss Garbo’s new contract gives her a salary of about £3OOO a week and long holidays. In the present circumstances this is a very notable indication that she is still considered the biggest boxoffice star in pictures. Nobody else on a regular contract has anything approaching these terms. Queen Christina of Sweden was an extraordinary woman, and this romantic reconstruction of her career (in which there seems to have been none of the conventional “love interest”) will give Miss Garbo, incidentally, the chance to dress as a man that she is said to have desired for a long time. The Queen left her country disguised as a count after her abdication in 1654; but, from the very beginning this dominating and scliopinionated woman was nurtured in masculine ideas. Christina was a queen at 18 and she died in Rome, a poor woman, when she was 63. There are clearly the makings of a thrilling and animated story, in this one of Miss Garbo’s national heroines. The star's new contract is for two pictures a year at £BO,OOO each. She has the right to choose her own stories, directors, and staff. She will be at work for less than three months of the year. The rest of her time is her own, except of course, that she will not be able to make films for anyone else. “ In the Wake of the Bounty ”

Travelogues and dramas have drenched the screen with the spray o£ South Sea beaches until the filmgoer imagines that he knows every angle from which a palm can be photographed. But now, in “In the Wake of the Bounty,” the fine production which will begin at the St. James Theatre on Friday, an Australian, Charles Chauval, presents the Pacific under a strange and cloudy beauty such as has never before been filmed. Chauvel is most concerned with the savage langour of the tropics: he masses the brilliance of wild dances and flowers to show the' pathetic contrast between the islands which link that famous mutiny—Tahiti and Pitcairn. Thus the first part of the film is a glamorous reconstruction of history, with young Errol Flynn playing the part of Fletcher Christian, Mayne Lynton that of Bligh, and Victor Gourlet that of the blind fiddler who tells the tale. The scenes aboard ship are effectively done. Then, by filming the journey made down the Pacific by Chauvel’s party Pitcairn comes into view, and the title of the picture falls into its proper place. The latter sequences of the film admirably bear out the intentions of Expeditionary Film, Ltd—to chart the unknown tracts of thf world. Pitcairn, whose serious and religious people, appalling surf, prim houses, and vegetable patches are shown in absorbing detail, is one of those places which, as the steamer route moves farther out, will be less frequently visited. Drama and beauty have been caught by the film; human romances, swift tragedies interludes as exciting as any fiction hold the attention of the audience.

Paramount Beauty Test What is claimed to be the most ambitious search for beauty ever undertaken since beauty became Hollywood’s duet commodity, is being launched simultaneously in Australia, New Zealand, England, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, and America. The search, which is sponsored by the Paramount studios in Hollywood, and affiliated theatres throughout the English-speaking world, will give 30 young men and women a trip to Hollywood, with all expenses paid, a contract for five weeks to play in a Paramount production entitled “ The Search for Beauty,” and a chance to remain on the screen for further fame and fortune. Already much interest has been aroused in New Zealand, and Paramount announce that to date 45 theatres have signified their intention to co-operate in the search, and further applications are anticipated before the contest officially begins. The closing date for all entries has been definitely set at July 8, and shortly after that date the semi-finalists will be chosen for the North and South Islands. From these semi-finalists two young men and two young women will be selected, one couple from the South Island and one from the North Island, and the screen tcits which will be taken of these four finalists will be sent to Hollywood, where a board of directors will select one man and one woman to go forward from New Zealand, representing the Dominions “perfect man” and “ perfect woman. Constance Bennett’s New Film

In portraying the fascinating temper nmental character of Judy Carroll in “ Rockabye,” Constance Bennett has made a decided dramatic advance. This, coupled with the star’s, own glamorous personality and histrionic talents, gives promise that the RKO-Pathe picture showing on Friday at the Regent iheatie will be her most powerful screen vehicle. “ Rocliabye ” tells of the stormy love career of an actress who is a bewitching combination of gamin and lady. Ihe world that goes to the theatre to adore her in the modernistic dramas that are her metier has no inkling that she came from the Gas House district and that her acting is entirely a tribute to the talent of De Cola, her manager. After an exposure that brings out some of her current indiscretions, Judy makes plans to appear in a new play that she has set her heart on. It is “Rockabye, but its author, Jake Pell, refuses to let her play it. What does this affected drawing room actress know of the heartaches of a madonna of the streets? He has his answer when he falls in lo\e with liei, but what can it gain the actress to love the man who created a role so pal allel to her own' life? What sacrifices are de-' mended of a woman who has a past that cannot he forgotten? This question is solved after-a tense, emotional turmoil. “Rockabye” provides two leading men for Miss Bennett, Joel M'Crea, in the role of the playwright, and Paul Lukas as her manager, both devoted lovers. The part of “Snooks,” the actress’s eccentric mother, is ideally suited to Johyna Howland’s telents. Others in the cast are Clare Blandick, Hazel Jones, and J. M. Kerrigan. An Impressive Cast

Winifred Shotter and Owen Nares head the cast of “The Love Contract,’ which will be shown at the Grand Theatre on June 23. Other important players are Sunday Wilshin, Miles Malleson, Gibb M'Langhlin, Frank Harvey, and Irene Groves. ~ , , “The Love Contract” is a light comedy, and Miss Shotter will he seen in it as a rich young woman who suddenly loses all her money and is subsequently employed as chauffeur by the man who buys her house.

The plot includes musical numbers, written by Ralph Benatzky, the composer of tiie music of “ White Horse inn ” and “ Casanova.”

Herbert Selpin, whose work with F. W. Miirmiu, Alexander Korda, Bertold Viertel, and I)r Czinner, ha» brought him into prominence on the Continent, directed. He was brought to Great 'Britain specially to make “ The Love Contract,” as he directed the original German version, which achieved an instantaneous success in Berlin and proved enormously successful throughout Germany. The whole of the east enter into the spirit of the story, with the result that “ The Love Contract ” is bright and amusing entertainment.

Baritone and Pianist The career of Peter Dawson, who is to give three concerts in the Town Hall with Senor Tapia-Caballero, the noted Chilean pianist, on June 20, 22, and 24, is romantic and interesting. Thirty-four years ago a sturdy youngster of 14, Peter Dawson toiled 18 hours a day in the heat and grime of his fathe'r’s iron foundry in Adelaide. Often above the roar of the fires, the crash of hammers, and the whirring of machinery, his powerful voice

would be heard, singing a ditty of the day. One day a visitor to the foundry heard him. Three years later Peter Dawson sailed for London. There, after several heart-breaking years, he won fame, but it is only in recent years that he has won a fortune, although his voice has been recorded more times than that of any other living singer—10,000,000 times, to be exact. Peter Dawson began singing with His Master’s Voice Company 25 years ago, at a salary of £SO a year for the first three years. He is in better voice than ever. Peter Dawson’s favourite song is “The Lute Player.” Senor Tapia-Caballero was born in Santiago (Chile), and received his musical education at the conservatorium there. By way of New York, he found his way to Europe, ultimately settling in England, after considerable travelling to widen his musical experiences, and there studied with Mr Tobias Matthay. Since then he has given concerts in most of the art centres of Europe and America, and there is a consensus of opinion that he will become the greatest Chopin exponent of this generation. A “ Flagg and Quirt ” Picture

Strikingly contrasted, are the characters of Flagg and Quirt in “ Hot Pepper,” the uproarious new comedy depicting the latest adventures of the famous marines as portrayed by .Edmund Lowe and Victor M'Laglen. In this hilarious Him, which commences at the Strand Theatre on Friday, Lowe appears as a suave, urbane, and sinooth-talking fellow, while M'Laglen is excitable, savage, and rough. Their activities in “ Hot Pepper” find them out of uniform and in civilian dress—fashion plates with top hats. Though in an entirely new atmosphere as night club owners, they are still the fighting Flagg and Quirt of “What Price Glory” and “ The ‘ Cockeyed World,” the characters originated by Laurence Stallings and Maxwell Anderson. They battle principally for the affections of “ Pepper,” a brown-legged little firebrand discovered slowed away on one of Flagg’s rum boats. This role is portrayed by Lupe Velez. El Brendel, the Swedish dialect comedian, also play.? a featured role,_ and others prominent in the cast are -Lilian Bond, Boothe Howard and Gloria Roy. The night club scenes are brightened by the introduction of several singing and dancing numbers. Miss Velez appears in one of them, being assisted by a chorus and a bevy of “ can can ” dancers.

Australian Scenario Writers Film production in Sydney and Melbourne has begotten a legion of scenario writers. The task of those whose duty it is to read the scenarios is an adventure. There are few people (comments a writer in an Australian exchange) who do not believe that, if they cared to set about writing a novel, they would succeed. Scenario-writing affects the itching pen

in the same way. Strange manuscripts bombard the several studios. There are tragedies which are comic, and comedies which are tragic; stories of bushrangers which would require thousands of pounds to produce; melodramas about the convict days, scenarios about the gold rushes, also too cixstly for young companies to produce without adequate settings; and adventures of monocled Englishmen in the wide, open spaces. The trouble with most of the inexpenencer scenario writers is that they are too ambitious. It is no use submitting a story which embraces every capital city in Australia, the’ Suez canal, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and the King of England. Noils it wise to write a polite letter to the producer telling him that this is a story which lias never been written before. They usually have been written before —oiten. On the other hand, there is no need to despair. Scenario directors.in Australia report that many manuscripts showing talent have been received. • In most instances the errors are errors of inexperience; and it is believed that when scenario writers come to know the requirements of the Australian studios, some excellent material will be forthcoming. But it is fatal to write a scenario in bad handwriting on postage stamps, or scraps of paper that the week-end joint was wrapped in. The Wise scenario writer tvpes his script. The best advice is, “Do not be impatient.” If the first manuscript is not the greatest story ever written, the second may be. The Making of a Picture

The kitchen of any art is a fascinating place, and the layman who is permitted to spend a, day in a film studio watches the work being done there with something of the enraptured curiosity felt in childhood when the cook was making a cake (says a writer in The Times). By what mysterious processes will all these very raw-looking materials he turned into

a continuous dramatic action capable of beguiling, say, 10,000,000 spectators? In the middle of the cable-littered floor stand what, at first sight, appear to be the rudiments of a Robot; confused masses of heavy black machinery crowning a flimsy structure of matchwood. They are the reproduction, exact as to colour and proportions, of a French railway carriage, or rather of two-thirds of a French railway carriage. On the wide, cushioned seats inside sit three well-known actors, all wearing the air of men astonished at their own patience. One of them munches a chocolate, casual smoking being forbidden in the studio.

At the edge of this carriage, grouped about cameras and light projectors, are various specialists, each intent on his or her own aspect of the scene, and with them is the director, -who is concerned with every aspect of it. “On with that sun! ” he shouts, and two projectors mounted on a lofty platform at the side of the studio suddenly flood the railway carriage with brilliant Italian sunshine.

Thereupon three or four specialists begin to confer with the director; the actor continues to munch chocolates with the resigned expression of a traveller who has no hope of reaching his destination for some days; and the painted ladies and gentlemen circulating about the railway carriage, some wearing evening dress, some military uniform, and some the rags and tatters of lazzaroni continue to gossip. The one conference begets others; it seems that the whole morning is to be devoted to the discussion of some recondite problem; but at last the conferences are all suspended, and the director, having applied his eye to the view-finder attached to the camera, steps on to a chair placed at the edge of the carriage. Buzzers buzzing on different notes inform him that each of the contrivances he needs is ready to function. The three actors inside the carriage, satisfied that the alarm is not this time a false one, press their buzzers lo signify that they are ready to proceed, with their snatch of dialogue. A bell clangs and silence falls upon the studio. / The director, like a conductor whose baton is poised over an expectant orchestra, takes a .final glance round and then quietly utters the, word “ Shoot.”

The railway carriage in whiQi the three actors have begun to say their part remains motionless, but on a screen fixed outside the window an Italian landscape is flying past. On the high platform at the side of the studio .an electrician passes a small gauze screen across the face of the “ sun ” at irregular intervals, thereby creating the impression that telegraph posts, tall buildings, and passing clouds are throwing shadows over the carriage. As the voice of the bore of the party is approaching the climax of his story the flying landscape is obscured, the train begins to roar through a tunnel, and smoke, ejected from a cylinder beneath the carriage, pours through the

open ventilators. “Wish we could photograph the smell,” whispers an euthusiatic realist.

The bore, his anecdote ended, walks into a corridor which leads nowhere, and the despotic voice of the director is heard saying: “That won’t do.” Then the conferences and the gossip are resumed; the actor asks for another chocolate, and the ordinary little scene, rehearsed half a dozen times and already “ shot ” twice, has in due course to be “ shot ” once more.

And so the first lesson that the visitor learns is that infinite patience is required to make any progress at all with this complex and delicate work. A single error in the manipulation of half a dozen contrivances is fatal to the picture that is in the mind of the director.

“ The Big Broadcast ” “The Big Broadcast,” which will be screened for the first time at the Empire Theatre on Friday, should linger longer in the memory. It has drama, romance, and comedy. For its music alone it is worth seeing and hearing. Six new musical numbers were composed for “The Big Broadcast ” —“ Please,” “ Here Lies Love,” “ Okay, Colonel,” “ Calloway Calling.” “Stop the Traffic,’ and "Soliloquy.” The production introduces to the Dunedin public a galaxy of radio musical talent, some of the artists well known, others not so prominent, although their performances merit their inclusion. Bing Crosby, the singer, needs no introduction, and in “ The Big Broadcast ” he acts splendidly and sings delightfully as an irresponsible radio announcer, who is never punctual. His carelessness finally causes his dismissal from the radio station. A note of drama is struck when the unfortunate radio man is jilted by his fiancee, who marries a wealthy broker, and from this point the story sweeps on to an impressive climax. A feature of the film, which is primarily musical, is the powerful story played against the background of the radio station. Leila Hyams supplies the romantic interest.

Warning to British Producers There is a great deal of talk about the triumph of the British film industry, but nothing can destroy the British film industry more rapidly than self-satisfaction over the progress it has already made. This sense of security is a dangerous delusion. There are people who believe that the making of British films is safeguarded by the Kinematograph Filins Act. That is not true (remarks an English writer). Soon after the Act became effective, five years ago, a number of new production companies were formed. Seizing on the Act as a selling point and trading on boom conditions in industry generally, these companies were floated into affluent existence on the optimism of the times. In many cases, these companies found themselves, for the first time, with money to burn. How speedily they burned it is history. In the disastrous years of 1930 and 1931 probably £3,500,000 was lost beyond all hope of recovery in British film making. Another devastating result of the Kinematograph Films Act has been the manufacture of British films of deplorably poor quality. One provision of the Act compels all traders in foreign films to acquire a proportion of British films. This is called the quota. In the present year the quota of British films which traders in foreign films must acquire and offer for exhibition is 15. per cent. Now, it is stated in the Act that one of its purposes is “ to secure the exhibition of a certain proportion of British films.” The very fact that the-exhibition of these films is made compulsory proves that, in the framing of the Act, it was assumed that these films would be .fit to exhibit. Yet these quota films are generally of such inferior quality that the reports in thfe film trade journals usually describe them as “ feeble entertainment for uncritical audiences.”

Last year 160 films were; made in London. Of these, 83 were quota. Of these 83 probably 12 were reasonably good entertainment and three more were borderline eases. Let us say that 15 of the 83 did not let the irtdustry dpwn. That leaves 68 films which, from the samples seen and the reports studied, should be classified as junk. Let us look, however, at the possibilities of the British film industry. Let us consider a talking picture like “Jack’s the Boy.” This film has earned just over £IOO,OOO in British kinemas. “Jack's the Boy” is a typically. British film, just as “ The Good Companions ” is a typically British film. “The Good Companions” has every prospect of beating the record of Jack.’s the Boy,” but neither of these two films represents, to mjr mind, the finest achievement of a British studio. That honour unquestionably belongs to “ Rome Express.” “Borne Express” is the most significant film yet made in London. It is the one British film deliberately planned on an international scale and which has completely achieved its purpose. “ Rome Express ” has not been restricted to the traditional British market. It has been acclaimed in New York as enthusiastically as it was received in London. To have arrived at such an international standard in film making is an undoubted triumph, but “ Rome Express ” is only one film in 160

The cost of “Rome Express” was £60,000, but, in_ spite of its overwhelming success, it is doubtful if that is a figure which can be generally followed. We can, however, on a Home market of £IOO.OOO, establish a production cost of £40,000. That is the next milestone to be passed in British film production—not to squander £40,000, but to spend it so expertly that every penny appears in the completed picture.' Even then the British film industry will merely have arrived at the first milestone on the way to triumph. Roping Polar Bears ,

A former cowboy, with horsehair lariat, proved his worth in the Arctic in one of the most dangerous feats ever performed for motion pictures. He is Frank Messenger, the production manager for the recently returned Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, polar expedition, which is filming the last few feet of “ Eskimo,” in Hollywood.

The expedition, whilst up in the Arctic circle, found it necessary to collect a number of huge polar bears in a corral for “close-ups.” Walrus carcasses were “planted” in the ice-floes, ,and an igloo was built with an open top, through which Messenger could hurl his rope. When roped, the huge, snarling, untameable beasts were “ hog tied ” and carried on poles by natives to a strong corral, where they were confined. The former cowboy succeeded perfectly in his “ stunt.” In order to make it certain that there would be enough bears for the picture, native Eskimo hunters were paid for several weeks not to hunt them, with the result that the area teemed with the animals. Wolves, gathering to hunt caribou in packs, were also successfully photographed. These animals became so desperate from hunger that they attacked the cabin of an Eskimo employed to guard a cache of studio material some distance from the “Nanuk” and forced him to abandon the place. Film Topics

Hollywood spent £30,000,000 on filmmaking last year, and the average cost of feature films dropped from £60,000 each to £40,000. The number of film theatres open fell from 20,000 to 12,480 at the beginning of this year. “ The Man They Couldn’t Arrest,” the Gainsborough picture which British Dominions Films will present at the Grand Theatre on June 30, undoubtedly is a “ thriller.” Adapted from “ Seamark’s ” celebrated story of the same name, this picture has been brought to the screen replete with every exciting episode that made the novel as popular as it is. Hugh Wakefield, who has risen* to fame and renown on account of the many outstanding interpretations he has given in British Films, was chosen for the stellar part, while Gordon Harker, one of the greatest character actors in the world, is also in the cast. Renee Clama is seen in the only feminine role in the film. The annual gold medal awarded by Picturegoer, a British film magazine to the actor whose performance is the best of the year, was voted to Ro.nald Colman for his work in “Arrowemith ” during 1032. Colman received 21 per cent, of the votes cast by the readers of this publication.