SCREEN AND STAGE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22257, 9 May 1934, Page 5

SCREEN AND STAGE

BY HARLEQUIN.

FROM GREEN ROOM AND STUDIO

Stanley Lupino Starred Thelma Todd and Britain's famous laughter leader, Stanley Lupino, combine in joyous entertainment in "You Made Me Love You," which comes to the Eegent Theatre on Friday. It was a case of love at first sight with Stanley, who meets and loses his "fate" in a traffic jam, only to discover later that she is the sister of an old school friend. But, unfortunately for Stanley, the lovely Thelma is as wild as she is beautiful, and when he "popped the question" she promptly turned him down. Nothing daunted, the "love-troubled" comedian sets out to win the fair lady of his heart, and with the assistance of her father and brother, finally tricks her into saying "yes." Eventually the wedding day arrives, and so does the "blushing bride," exactly half an hour late, at the church.

How Fame Came to Horace Stevens Only one artist has ever been advised by Sir Henry Wood, England's great orchestral conductor, to give up his original career in order to devote himself soley to music, and that artist is the famous Australian bass-baritone, Horace Stevens. Going to England on leave near the end of the war, Horace Stevens was introduced to Sir Henry, who heard him sing, and immediately advised that as soon as hostilities ended he should relinquish his dental career in Australia for a vocal one in England. Horace Stevens, who in addition to possessing his grand voice, was a most accomplished musician, with years of experience as a concert singer in Melbourne apart from his ordinary profession, was still nn khaki when he made his first appearance in London at the Queen's Hall on September 25, 1919,

Thelma Todd and. Stanley Lupino, the two leading players in the comedy; "You Made Me Love You," the Regent Theatre's next ' ' ;■,'•' Offering. , :

Stanley, however, Lad.similar ideas, and lie still ,further retards the ceremony by staying to finish a game of golf and arriving even later, straight from the course, attired in plus fours. And then the fun begins in earnest.

George ArKss as Voltaire . For many George Ariiss has searched for a satisfactory play based on,the life of Voltaire, often called the father of the French revolution. Now, Softer 20 years of gradual preparation, he brings this most famous, of all Frenchmen to life on the talking. screen in Warner "Voltaire," which opens on Friday at the Empire Theatre. . The picture " Voltaire r features one spectacular incident in the life of the brilliant. poet-philosopher who was a friend of royalty in Europe.but acSain-

with the New Queen's Hall Orchestra conducted by Sir Henry Wood. His was acclaimed as one of the moat important first appearances ever made in Queen's Hall.

On November 6 of the* same year, he appeared in the name part in "Elijah " with the Birmingham Festival Choral Society, again under the baton of Sir Henry Wood, when the critics sent from London, as well as the equally famous ones in Birmingham, unanimously proclaimed him the successor in the great •role to Sir Charles Santley. To-day Horace Stevens is recognised as the world's greatest "Elijah." As an exponent of the biggest grand opera roles at Convent Garden and elsewhere, Horace Stevens is equally famous. It is extraordinary to recall that before going from Australia on active service

Whose portrayal of “ Voltaire ” will be seen at the Empire Theatre on Friday.

pion of the common people in his native land. With the famous " Calas " case serving as the principal. story about which the plot revolve?, Arliss has evolved a character study and a living pfcture of France in the extravagant times of King Louis XV. The cast is claimed to be the largest and most impressive ever assembled for an Arliss production. Doris Kenyon plays the role of Madame Pompadour, lending her great beauty and charm to the role which a dozen other famous actresses wanted but did not get. Margaret Lindsay, who leaped to fame in " Cavalcade" and has since been featured in other pictures, plays the part of Nanette Calas, the innocent cause of the uproar which almost brought on the French revolution 30 years sooner. . Theodore Newton, who made his first screen appearance in the preceding Arliss picture, "The Working Man," plays " Francois," the youthful Jover, and Reginald Owen as King Louis XV, Alan Mowbray as Count de Sarnac, David Torrence, Doris Lloyd, Helena Phillips, Murray Kinnell, and Ivan Simpson, are included in the cast.

as a captain in the A.1.F., the man who has become the most distinguished singer in England was content with the laurels he won locally at concerts in Australia while pursuing the profession of a fashionable dentist. As a boy he had been a member of the choir of St. Paul's Cathedral, and for years he sung there as a principal bass before enlisting for the Great War. In sporting circles Horace Stevens was a notable figure. For a number of years he held the title of champion "skuller of Victoria, eventually retiring undefeated. As an oarsman he figured in winning pairs, fours, and eights, right up to the championship class, and has 42 trophies to show for his prowess. " Orient Express " The picture, '," Orient Express," which will be shown on Friday at the Grand Theatre, is an absorbing dramatic offering with an unusual setting and several strange twists. It is staged on a train journey from Ostend to Istambul, where the audiences meet the * dramatis personam " in the shape of a penniless girl going as a dancer to the Turkish capital: a Balkan Communist leader, who hopes to ferment a revolt at Belgrade; n wealthy young date merchant; a woman newspaper reporter; a cockney (Herbert Mundin) and his wife, and. a murderous criminal. With euca a mixed brood it

is not difficult to imagine the successful screen fare which the ingenious author has given. The cast includes Heather Angle, Norman Foster, Frank Morgan, Dorothy Burgess, Roy D'Arcy, Herbert Mundin, and Una O'Connor.

"Lady For a Day" From the vivid pen of Damon Buuyon, "Lady For a Day," which will be screened on Friday at the Octagon Theatre, appeared originally as a magazine story in the Cosmopolitan Magazine, under the title, "Madam La Gimp." The story opens in Times Square, New York, where "Apple Annie" vends her wares to support a daughter in Europe. Pretending to her daughter that she is a society matron, Annie gets into difficulties when her daughter writes that she will visit America with her fiance and his father, a Spanish count, who intends.to check up> on the family pedigree. " Dave the Dude" (Warren William), a big gambler who considers Annie his lucky charm, comes to the rescue. He installs her in a wealthy friend's apartment, dresses her up in true grand style and provides a temporary husband in the portly Guy Kibbee, who portrays a glib billiard room " shark." From this point the story works up to a satisfying climax. The picture has a natural unforced comedy. The characterisation of Ned Sparks, the drolleries of Guy Kibbee, the Wise cracks of G'lenda Farrell give the picture a light-hearted buoyancy, that will make smiles chase the tears in numerous sequences.

Colour Photography .Experts have been striving for years to discover the secret of colour photography which is really natural and is also an economic possibility. Signs that they have carried their experimental work several strides. forward may be seen already. Producers are hopeful and ambitious and filmgoers may feel certain that a spate of colour films is.not far distant.

Claude Friese Greene, one of Britain's greatest camera technicians, and a son of William Friese Greene,Who is usually credited with being the first man to invent a motion picture camera in 1899, has been for long working with other colour film experts at Elstree. As a result of their progress British International Pictures will probably introduce colour scenes into their production, " Dubarry." If these are successful they will make regular use of colour in as many forthcoming productions as call for it.

Radio Pictures promise to produce an epic in tecbnieolour during 1934. Buhver Lytton's " Last Days of Pompeii" is their subject, and we must agree that they have chosen a good subject for colour, taking into consideration the terrible eruption of Vesuvius in this story. Technicians have been working for months on preparations for this production, and if everything turns out well in their colour efforts it should be sensational. ' The man who has amazed the kinematic scientists of to-day is that surprising genius Walt Disney. His coloured "Silly Symphonies" have been the last word in the rendering of really pure colours on the screen. " Flowers and Trees," "Birds in Spring," "King Neptune," "Babes in the. Wood," "The Three Little Pigs," '" Santa Claus' Workshop," and " Lullaby Land " ■ have been perfect little - gems of kinema pioneering and there are dozens more to come.

showed the first colour film to a huge audience on February 26, 1908, and less than 10 months later experts in the newly-devißed kinemacolour process demonstrated their innovation to the lioyal Society of Arts. It was a year after the Royal Society of Arts show that New York had its first colour film. Even the Continent did not have its first colour films until over a year after the exhibition at the Palace Theatre. Kinemacolour began in 1911 at the Sea la Theatre, London, a two-year programme of colour films, the longest run of colour efforts in the world! The infant kinemacolour died after a not very long life, but experiments—begun by the elder Friese Greene and some others—did not,, of course, die with it. It was not, however, till 1920 that Br Herbert Kalmus demonstrated his technicolour process to the industry, making the astonishing confession that he had spent £28,000 and

Disney's pictures owe their precise " definition " and beauty of colour values to a special camera, though the success of them depends as much on the fine workmanship in the water-colours, painted on' celluloid and super-imposed over tinted drawing paper. Those who saw a not very pretentious recent production, " Below the Sea," with Ralph Bellamy and Fay Wray, were delighted with the sequences in colour showing undersea life and scenes. This .was a very fine photographic effort and, although it had that "dazzle" which experts, are trying hard to remove, it .was obviously far more acceptable than those old efforts in red and bluegreen, in which these two colours dominated and ruined the effect of all else.

several years' unceasing labour on its perfection. The fact that technicolour is still used speaks well for Dr Kalmus's system. Summerville-Pitts Comedy

A breach of promise suit with Slim Summerville as the lawyer and Zasu Pitts as the girl who has been promised will be aired, at the Strand Theatre next week. Based on the Broadway stage success, " Oh, Promise Me," it is claimed to be by far the most uproarious of the Summerville-Pitts comedies to date.

It is interesting to note that the Americans saw their first colour films nearly two years after the British had had theirs. The Palace Theatre, London,

The plot revolves round Summerville, cast as a ne'er-do-well lawyer, and Zasu Pitts, a filing clerk who has formed a romantic attachment for her banker-vegetarian-philandering employer. Verree Teasdalc makes a devastating blonde villianess. One of the outstanding discoveries made by the pair i 9 that life and love are "just a lot of spinach."

The group of players in "This is the Life," the British comedy which comes to the St. James Theatre on Friday, includes Gordon Harker (standing), who-after many excellent performances in minor roles has at length been featured in comedy.

May Robson, “the grand old lady of the screen,” and Jean Parker,, the 18-year-old screen actress who has rapidly come into prominence, in a scene from “ Lady for a Day,” which commences at the Octagon Theatre on Friday.

Norman Foster, Heather Angel, and Ralph Morgan, who are featured in " Orient Express," which will be shown on Friday at the Grand Theatre.

his radio and motion picture triumphs are assured, he is constantly studying and grooming himself to. that end. " This Is the Life '* "This is the Life," a British Dominions production, coming shortly to the St. James Theatre, brings to the screen a brilliant new comedy combination in Gordon Harker and Binnie. Hale. This is Gordon Barker's first starring role, although he has had many featured parts in previous British productions. Binnie Hale, a popular London stage star, a sister of Sonnie Hale, who made such a success in "Tell Me To-night," makes her screen debut in " This is the Life." The critics overseas have hailed her as a new star, and it is said that she has been signed for a long-term contract as the direct result of her performance in this, her first production. The pair are seen as the Tuttles, proprietors of a country tea-garden, who become the Tuttelles when they come into an unexpected fortune and launch heartily into the social whirl. The adventures of the Tuttles are such as one would expect of a pair doomed to a champagne dietary whilst longing for the humble four-ale. It is around the social faux pas of this precious pair that the fun revolves, and good fun it is, too. In addition to Binnie Hale and Gordon Harker, the comedy is enhanced by the breezy humours of Jack Barty as the alcoholic prizefighter, and the burlesque braggadocio of Ben Weldon and Percy Parsons as the gangsters. On the romantic side, Betty Astell and Bay Milland present pleasant cameos of beautifully constant lovers, while Charles Heslop scores in mild drollery as a fussy lawyer.

To find this out they go through several amazing experiences, including a faked rain storm, threats of perjury, and the breach of promise trial. For a while it looks as if Summerville will join his unlucky clients in the local jail. A satirical trial results in which Summerville, cast as an arch liar, proves that all his enemies are liars and leaves the impression that he is a truthful man. In addition to good direction, fine acting, and an excellent story, the picture offers a remarkable supporting cast, which includes Donald Meek, Lucille Gleason, George Barbier, Purnell Pratt, and Adrienne Dore.

The Test of Concert Singing The concert stage is the ultimate development of vocal art, says Lanny Ross, Paramount's new singing sensation, who makes his picturs debut in Paramount's " Melody in Spring." Ross believes that a concert performance is

a much higher form of expression than opera, and declares that is is the only kind of singing which can be judged by the sheer merit of the artist. " Whoever steps before an audience and on to a plain stage moderately lighted must be good or his voice will fail to impress," he says. "There is nothing between the, back curtain and the footlights to help him, none of the colourful effects of the stage and opera, none of the story of libretto which develops a character through sympathetic understanding, and none of the romantic or gallant costumery which materially aids a theatric performance. On the concert stage an artist appears in evening clothes before a " cold audience." The atmosphere, in facl, is more brittle than conducive to success, and a singer has to be good to overcome this resistance.

It is Ross's ambition to launch a career as a concert soloist, and, although

Musical Production de Luxe Musical shows continue to be the vogue with film producers in America. Each unit is striving to beat its rivals in the matter of lavishness. Fox Films has entered the field of competition, and has just completed two huge shows which are calculated to upset all preconceived ideas of luxurious expenditure. The ; huge " George White's Scandals," with its 35 stars, headed by Julia Faye, was surpassed by the production of the "Fox Movietone Follies," with a cast headed by Warner Baxter, John Boles, and Sylvia Froos. These players have the help of 1000 chorus girls, five bands, a vocal chorus of 500, 1000 players, 1200 wild animals, 4891 costumes, in 335 scenes with five spectacles, including "The Garden of Beauty," "Magic Transformati6n," " Revival of Laughter," and the now famous "Introduction of Loveliness," together with the finale "The March of Prosperity." Add to this the fact that there were 2730 technical workers employed in the production, and one may form an idea of the lavishness of the spectacle.

Nazis Ban a Film There were disturbances at the first performance of the British film, " Catherine the Great," in Berlin on March 8, which culminated in a dramaj tic announcement to " the public" on | the steps of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church by Group-Commander Ernst, the young leader of the Berlin Storm detachments, that the Prussian Government had decided to forbid the film as from the following day. Elizabeth Bergner, who plays the principal part in the film, is one of those German-Jewish players who had to go abroad because of the anti-Jewish restrictions on the German stage. It was thus rather trying to find her playing the leading part in one of the most successful films shown irk Germany since National-Socialist revolution rid the German stage of Jews—for all seats for this and many subsequent performances had been sold out long in advance. Just before the first performance a number of uniformed Strom Troopers forced their way into the theatre, but were soon foroed out again by the "field police," a force which has a special status and authprity in dealing with Storm Troopers. Large forces of regular police were then stationed outside the theatre. Across the street, on the steps of the Memorial Church, some hundreds of " the public " gathered and shouted "Perish the Jews." A few police were about to move them gently on when Herr Ernst arrived with a large staff and, asking the police to hold their hand, in most dramatic manner gave the undertaking that the film would lie/forbidden. Oii this "the public" cheered and allowed itself to be dispersed. The next day the president of the Reich Film Chamber took steps to prevent the further exhibition of the film. The Film Chamber is one of the component bodies of the Reich Chamber of Culture, over which Dr Goebbels, Minister for Propaganda and National Enlightenment, presides, and, under his supervision apparently has wide powers of intervention.

Film Topics Rosemary Ames, the Chicago girl who had to go to London to achieve theatrical fame recently, when she was assigned to the leading feminine role in Al Reckett's production of "Odd Thursday" for Fox Films. She completes a cast that already includes Warner Baxter and Rochelle Hudson.

Productive activity is in full swing at Fox Movietone studios with eight productions in work. "The World "Moves On," which is expected to be the "gigantic" of the year on the Fox Film lot, is one of the new pictures starting. It will have Madeline Carroll, the beautiful English star recently seen in " I was a Spy," and the popular Franchot Tone in the leading roles, with a strong supporting cast. The story is an original one, by Reginald Berkeley, a New Zealander by the way, who won fame with his screen adaptation of " Cavalcade." John Ford is the director. "The World Is Ours" is the title of the second big production getting under way. It has Janet Gaynor. Charles Farrell, James Dunn, and Sally Filers co-starred. " Now I'll Tell," a story of the colourful career of Broadway gamblers and -'"cketeers, is the third on the list. It has Spencer Tracy, Alice Faye, and Victor Jory in the leading roles, and will mark the directorial-debut of Ed. Burke, a well-known writer and dialogue director for Fox Films for many years. The assembling of a cast for " Treasure Island ■' continues at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios. The services, previously announced, of Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper will be supplemented by those of Lionel Barrymore, Otto Kruger, and Dudley Digges,. in this re-creation of Stevenson's buccaneering classic. Dorothy Peterson and William V. Mong also have roles in this new production, which has been planned as one of the special features of the coming months. Victor Fleming is directing.