SCREEN AND STAGE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23005, 7 October 1936, Page 4

SCREEN AND STAGE

FROM GREEN ROOM AND STUDIO

To Beat the Band Hollywood's latest raid on Broadway is represented in " To Beat the Band," RKO Radio's new musical, which heads the new programme at the Grand Theatre to-day. Hugh Herbert, widely known to motion picture audiences, received his theatrical baptism on Broadway, wrote several stage plays, arid was a vaudeville favourite for years. Co-featured with Herbert in " To Beat the Band " is Helen Broderick, who has long been one of Broadway's favourite comediennes. She was signed for films two years ago, to report when "As Thousands Cheer" closed its New York run. The run lasted 74 weeks, while studio executives conjectured whether the thousands would ever stop cheering. * She finally appeared in her first screen role in "Top Hat." Eric Blore, who answers to "Here, Hawkins," in "To Beat the Band," was for many years one of England's outstanding stage funsters. Ho went to America in 1923, and appeared later in numerous New York hits, being called to Hollywood to repeat for the films the success on the stage he scoredi in " The Gay Divorcee" and later in "Top Hat." Roger. Pryor is also a former Broadway star and a newcomer to Hollywood. His success in "Moonlight and Pretzels " brought him a film contract.

The second feature on the Grand programme is "Kentucky Minstrels," a musical medley which includes a number of American radio personalities in its cast, and has several numbers played by Debroy Somers's Band.

New Zealanders in Australian Film Colony

Beginning' with, introductions to. a host.of executives, artists and technicians associated with the production of the Columbia picture, " Rangle River " at National Studios, Pagewood, Sydney (writes Mr B. Vinsen, New Zealand manager for Columbia Pictures, Prop., Ltd.), I received my first surprise at meeting so many New Zealanders. That our people are making names for themselves in the local film world there is no doubt. '/ Georgia Sterling has been in the news very much of late following her highly satisfactory test some weeks ago when the Holllywood director, Clarence Badger, selected our star from some hundreds of pretty and talented girls for a prominent part in the picture. Georgia is pretty and vivacious. What impressed the writer most was her air of supreme confidence and perfect diction. With qualifications such as these Georgia can look to a future full of promise. Her screen debut in "Rangle River" is to be brought to the attention of Hollywood producers and casting executives, and every chance for a Hollywood: contract will be given this clever young Auckland girl. She is the daughter of Mr H. H. Sterling, a former commissioner of railways for New Zealand

BY HARLEQUIN

Meeting a young man who is very popular with the studio folk and who acts as " shadow ,: for Victor Jory, in the person of Hori Thomas, I learned that he hails from Pahiatua and was educated at Canterbury College. His official status on the " Rangle River" lot is that of " standin" for the star, which means that during the intervals between actual recording, he rehearses with cameras, lights and microphone for the desired effects, thus enabling Victor Jory to rest as much as possible between "shots." . . This valuable experience in the production routine coupled with the fact that Hori possesses acting ability with a manly personality, will undoubtedly set his feet on the right rungs of the ladder to screen success in tins country. On the technical side I met another popular and capable New Zealander in the person of Frank M'Kechnie who is a Dunedinite. This young fellow has had considerable experience in the United States, where he worked with a riews reel unit and the men whose job it is tp " get the picture ' under all circumstances. I have been informed that he was the only English cameraman to work with an American outfit, which bears excellent testimony to his capabilities. Since his return to Australia, Frank has been

connected with the Fox Movietone news reel outfit.' At National Studios he js doing excellent feature picture work under. the .leadership■... of Errpl Hinds, chief cameraman, who was sent here with the' IGaumont-British Pro* duotlon unit last year. . The studios, in. an immense ."surrounding, space, are 'only 15 minutes' drive from the. heart of the city and yet are. practically isolated from, the sight-and sound, of other' industry and traffic. The studio buildings, are ;in blocks'and. are as'completely equipped as anything in Hollywood, according to ..my/guide... ; '.,;' . ~ . One factor-that bears out-he contention, that the. picture industry is now firmly established hero is the knowledge, that National Studio is the;first .stydio in,Australasia specially built for-motion picture production, 'that is, - it is not a, converted theatre or warehouse. '•'■'"

•J Jack of All Trades," ••'. In his '.latest picture,, " Jack of All Trade's?'saucy Jack Hulbert finds himself/jobless 'and ..almost' on the rocks, so'he marches into a huge city bank, seats himself at'a desk, and sends for his office coat. Despite the fact that he has no right at all in the bank, an office coat does turn up. By this time Jack has managed to impress the

directors with his importance, and in next to no time he is floating the big scheme for a huge combine which will make shoes at cheaper prices than England's foreign competitors. How he manages to bluff Until the plan becomes an established thing, and he is on the point of being elected managing director, makes a highly-entertaining story.. But there is a lady in the case, and through her. Jack is found out. but not before he and the lady have appeared in some fascinating dance scenes in a fashionable restaurant and on the edge of a charming river where they have gone for a midnight expedition. Before the end of the picture Jack appears in many guises—big business man, dancer, night watchman, and fireman—he is indeed "Jack of All Trades." . Gina Malo has the feminine lead, and Robertson Hare also has an important role. The film will be shown at the State Theatre on Friday.

"Laburnum Grove" There has, been terrific discussion as to how " Laburnum Grove " should end. Edmund Gwenn, as Radfern, the most genial self-confessed forger, leaves his home.in Suburbia to join his wife and daughter abroad. The ports and aerodromes, are watched. Does he escape as, carefree,' he walks away—or is he caught? Listen to audiences discussing this. At the trade show in London recently two men almost came to blows in the foyer, which seems to prove that Director Basil Dean has at any rate chosen a provocative finale. " Laburnum Grove" is domestic comedy-drama. It is a story scintillating with witty repartee, of an apparently humdrum suburbanite who is really a notorious forger, and the reactions of his numerous sponging "inlaws" to the discovery. A keen note of suspense runs throughout the whole film as to whether the " forger's " confession is true or a ruse to get rid of unwanted hangers-on in the persons of his wife's relatives. After the first bombshell has been dropped in the blandest manner by the "forger's" confession to his family of his crime, life for the family is one long, horrible dream. A respectable stranger in dark glasses is imagined to be a detective, a visit to the restaurant is fraught with anguish and terror when the bill comes to be paid with a Radfern note, and the actual visit of a man from Scotland Yard causes the " in-laws " to fold up their tents and silently steal away. The players are Edmund Gwenn (for whom J. B. Priestley wrote the play), Cedric Hardwicke, Victoria Hopper, and Ethel Coleridge. "Mary of Scotland" Advance reports of " Mary of Scotland's " impression in America confirms the studio enthusiasm that it would emerge one of the hits of the season. Co-starring Fredric March and Katherine Hepburn, it is a spectacular and dramatic story of the tragic queen. As it swings from one moment to another, "Mary of Scotland" presents a play of elemental human emotions in

conflict. Love, hate, courage, fear, ambition, avarice, and revenge will all have their moments as they parade across the screen.

From the fog-bound Scottish coast t 6 the grandeur of Elizabeth's anteroom, the settings of "Mary of Scotland " run the gamut from lavishness to austerity. There are approximately 45 sets utilised. The picture opens in the ante-room of the Queen's 'palace, and it is here, later, that dancing and gaiety of the English court is staged. The furniture, decorations, and fixtures are exact reproductions from the sixteenth century. The Holyrood Palace —exterior and interior of great hall, upper hallway, and Mary's bedroomis one of the largest and most elaborate ever constructed for a picture. It completely filled a large sound stage and extends down a studio street for 100 feet. The set in which Mary is tried for her life is one of the most interesting of the picture. It was designed with the view of emphasising the helplessness of the accused queen. It is of unusual proportions, and striking lighting effects produce a dramatic mood. Symbolic effects are attained by the presence of Queen Elizabeth's crown and sceptre. Fredric March has the role of the Earl of Bothwell, courageous, swashbuckling, fighting Scottish border baron who was Mary's tower of strength during her early reign, but in the end the rock of her undoing. lan Keith is another noted player in the cast. He is the villain of this piece, and a more capable rogue, or hero for that matter, would be difficult to find. He is James Stuart (Moray), Mary's illegitimate half-brother, who never ceased cunningly to contrive the downfall of his sister and the re-estab-lishment of his regency over Scotland. Keith had ample oppprtunity to study the role due to the fact that he appeared in opposition to it, as the Earl of Bothwell, in a road company of the Maxwell-Anderson play. " Give Us This Night " To all lovers of- singing " Give Us This Night" should have a tremendous appeal. For here is singing such as can be provided only by such grand voices as those of Jan Kiepura and Gladys Swarthout. There is romance, colour, and comedy, too, in this latest Paramount production which is to be

screened at the Regent Theatre on Friday. Neither Jan Kiepura nor Gladys Swarthout need introduction to Dunedin audiences. One remembers " Tell Me To-night" as one of the first musicals in which crooners were replaced by voices of real quality, and Jan Kiepura is the first tenor who took the picture world by storm. Miss Swarthout made her screen debut in " Rose of the Rancho," in which film hei beautiful voice was heard to great advantage. These artists are opera stars at the height of their talent, and together in "Give Us This Night" they present a feast of song that should delight all music-lovers. In the balcony scene from "Romeo and Juliet they are said to be magnificent. Fine actors as well as singers, they make of the simple story of the film an absorbing romance with just the right ingredients of drama and comedy, and in addition they are both handsome and of attractive personality. Alan Mowbray provides the major element of comedy, one scene in particular is said to be a very nice piece of work. " Give Us This Night" is a story of a fisherman who becomes an opera singer, an opera singer who loved him, and a composer who loved them both. Oscar Hammerstein wrote the six new songs it produces. The Perfect Butler

Arthur Treacher's height may be a laughing matter to the public, but it is an expensive handicap to the elongated star of 20th Century-Fox " Thank You, Jeeves!" The six-foot four and a-half inch Englishman dropped a valuable legal education when his first appearance with his solicitor father hilariously disrupted court proceedings. Barred from romantic roles, since all leading ladies looked like midgets beside him, Treacher succeeded as a stage and screen comedian, although he was not quite tall enough for a circus freak. He roughlv estimates a total of several hundred bumps before he became housebroken to the idea that doorwavs simply were not built to his specifications. At theatres, concert halls, and polo games he makes enemies of whoever sits behind him. and a canopy for those who sit in front of him. In

courtesy bound to sit in the last row, he had to order tickets weeks in advance to secure the inoffensive back seat, and now refuses to attend any public function to be on the safe side. Until Darryl F. Zanuck signed him to a 20th Century-Fox contract for the "Jeeves" series, Treacher lived in a furnished apartment, sleeping eatercorner on the double bed and using a double allotment of sheets and blankets to spread over his obtruding framework. Now he has rented a high-ceilinged, unfurnished house, and mortgaged his next month's salary in favour of a specially-constructed sevenfoot two-inch long bed, specially-made spring mattress, sheets and blankets, and a series of living, dining, bedroom and garden chairs built to his personal measurements. Even his piano has legs six inches higher than most such instruments. He is so comfortable in his new home that his answer to all invitations is an emphatic "no.".

Treacher's tailor—who also makes his undergarments—has to put at least two yards and a-half extra cloth into each suit he makes for the comedian, and his cook claims he eats exactly double the amount consumed by an average-sized mah. Weighing the pros and-cons of greater salary his height brings him as the screen's tallest butler, versus greater upkeep, Treacher figures hete still on the red side of the ledger.

"Robin Hood of El Dorado" Hailed as the herald of a new era in spectacular outdoor films, "Robin Hood of Er Dorado," starring Warner Baxter, will be the next change at the Empire Theatre. There is ample reason (states advance publicity reports; to suspect that this picture' will bring back the days of "The Covered Wagon," "The Big Trail," and other epic photoplays that marked the closing days of the silent .screen, for it has a sweep and power that give it commanding importance and more than its quota of entertainment value. Warner Baxter, as the dashing Joaquin Murrieta, gives one of the finest characterisations of his career on the screen. He portrays a character who left his name written large on the early history of the Far West, a good-bad man who plundered the rich to help the poor. With him is a newcomer who is said to be a definitely valuable "discovery"

for the films. Her name is Ann Loring. She portrays a daughter of the Dons turned savage. Sharing feminine honours is Margo, the lovely Spanish dancing beauty who turned dramatic actress two years ago, and since has become an international sensation. "Robin Hood of El Dorado" is the story of a simple, laughing peon on one of the great Californian ranches whose life was crushed and ruined by the invasion of American gold miners. Driven to banditry to avenge the murders of his wife and his brother, he finds a price on his head in every American settlement. With a deep hatred for all Americans, he organises an outlaw army and rides rough-shod over the settlements, plundering the raw gold and leaving a wake of terror in his trail. Yet with all this he finds time to play delightfully at romance, and conquers feminine hearts with distracting ease. Still another performance of power is that of J, Carol Naish, who plays Threefingered Jack, another historical desperado of the days of '49, and gives to the character an element of grim humour that enlivens the narrative. Bruce Cabot is seen as Bill Warren, Joaquin's only American friend, and Eric Linden contributes a sympathetic performance as Bill's young brother Johnny. Others who aid in making the picture realistic and strong are Edgar Kennedy and Harvey Stephens, among about 100 more principal players.

" The Garden Murder Case " Philo Vance falls in love for the first time in his distinguished career in "The Garden Murder Case," newest of the S. S. Van Dine stories to reach the screen. With Edmund Lowe as Philo Vance and Virginia Bruce, the picture opens on Friday at the St. James Theatre with a supporting cast including Benita Hume, Douglas Walton, and Nat Pendleton. With the ink barely dry on the page of the novel, " The Garden Murder Case," newest of the S. S. Van Dine's best selling stories, comes with Edmund Lowe as the famous scientific character, Philo Vance. It is the first time Lowe has created this character although he has wanted to play it for several years. Virginia Bruce has the principal fcnai-

nine role as a smart society girl with whom Vance falls'in love. "The Garden Murder Case" called the greatest of Van Dine's series, was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by Lucien Hubbard and Ned Marin, and was directed by Edwin L. Martin from the screen play by Bertram Millhauser. Pact to Establish Italian "Hollywood" Inlernationalisation of the Hollywood movie industry which began in London three years ago under the leadership of Alexander Korda is being carried a step further by Walter Wanger, another United Artists producer, who announced his plans for collaboration with Premier Mussolini in the production of pictures in Italy following his recent return from Europe. The studio in which Wanger will make the Italian films is being completed by subsidy of the Italian Government at a site near Rome called Cinema City. • Wanger is grateful, he said, that Premier Mussolini sought him out foi the job of welding Italian film-making facilities with American technical abilities and with American box office personalities. Production in Italy is ideal in many respects, Wanger thinks. He said that the climatic conditions there are as .good as Hollywood's and that the historical cities lend themselves to colourful background. For direct colour photography Italy is 'the greatest place in the world," he emphasised. During Wanger's conference with Mussolini on his visit to Rome II Duce advised him that special tax arrangements had been provided for whereby production can proceed on a money-saving basis. Offices of the new company, to be known as Societe Anonyme Companie Cinematographic Italiano Walter Wanger, have already been opened in Rome. Wanger is president; Count Pai'lo de Frasco, vice-president; Dr A. H. Giannini and Lloyd Wright, directors; and Mario Luporini, general manager. Wanger's first picture to be made in Italy will co-star Sylvia Sidney and Henry Fonda. Production will begin about June 15, 1937, when the studios over there are completed.

Juvenile Players Featured Gone are the days when a child star of the movies merely had to look cute or to turn off and on well directed smiles and tears. Your modern school of kinematic babies, as well illustrated by six-year-old Sybil Jason, demands diversified talent. Miss Jason, who is appearing with A 1 Jolson in the First National picture, "The Singing Kid," showing at the Strand Theatre on Friday, can look cute with the cutest, sob with the sobbiest, or smile with the smiliest. But little Sybil can do many other things as well. Ihe youngster can sing, tap dance and even do acrobatic stunts. So far in pictures, she has both sung and danced. But, since she seems to enjoy turning cart wheels off scene between takes, it may be forecast that, you will see Sybil in coming pictures displaying her flexible ability in acrobatics; ' The Singing Kid" combines rollicking comedy with throbbing , drama and spectacular musical numbers. Besides Jolson and Sybil, the cast includes Beverly Roberts, Edward Everett Horton, Lyle Talbot, Allen Jen kins, Claire Dodd and Wini Shaw. The Yacht Club Boys and Cab Calloway and his band also are featured. Bobby Connolly staged the special numbers, while music and lyrics were written bv E. Y. Harburg and Harold Arlen. ""Timothy's Quest," the new Paramount picture, opening on Friday at the Strand Theatre, brings to the screen the popular story of a waifs search for love. Young Dickie Moore portrays the title role. The film recreates all the "folksy" people of Pleasant Valley from Miss Vilda Hitty Tarbox and Jabe Doolittle, to the villainous Doc Cudd and the impisn Samantha. Eleanore Whitney and Tom Kenne interpret the' young lovers in the' little New Hampshire village for whom " the course of- true love never runs smooth," until Timothy comes to their aid. In addition to Dickie Moore, the child players are Virginia Weidler, Sally Martin and Bennie Bartlett.

Farewell Cocktail Party Vodka flowed merrily at a cocktail party given to the Russian ballet on the eve of their departure for Australia and New Zealand by Mr N.-Tait (states our London correspondent, writing on September 5). Artists were toasted by their friends, and in the bustle of conversation the prospects of the tour were discussed with enthusiasm. As few of the dancers have visited either dominion, there was some guessing as to the reception they would receive from Australian and New Zealand audiences. Queries were stilled when they were told that the first of the audiences would probably arrive with the expectation of first-class entertainment. "You can safely leave the rest to us, then," said one of the leading ladies.

There were no speeches and no formality, which was appreciated by the dancers, whose friendly nature should make many friends for them during the tour. The majority of them have already travelled widely, and in addition to knowing the Continent thoroughly, have paid visits to America and South Africa. Strict training is necessarily self-imposed, but diet never worries them. They admit that their appetites are healthy and that any superfluous flesh is lost as rapidly as it

is gained. Many of the artists have felt the strain/of the London season, and are looking forward to a brief rest on the ship before rehearsals are begun. All the ballets have not yet been learned, but a final polishing up will be given before the company arrives at Adelaide. . They left London on September 4 by the Moldavia, and the grey skies and pouring rain did nothing to lessen their keen anticipation of Australian sunshine.

Sonnie Hale, Director Jessie Matthews, under the direction of husband-director Sonnie Hale, has been working during the week on "Head Over Heels," her new film, with Robert Flemyng and Louis Borell. The atmosphere of a typical Paris cafe of the bourgeois type was remarkably faithfully reproduced in one scene. Dense trees and shrubberies, such as may be found surrounding many. a pleasant restaurant in the "Bois"; charming lighting-effects throwing a warm glow on pretty French girls, with their young escorts, many of them in smart French military uniform; waiters bustling around with trays of aperitifs, ice-buckets of wine; an orchestra playing on the balcony of the "Restaurant Jardin d'Eden* in the background; all combined to give authentic atmosphere to the scene. I -"If only we could have real drinks 1 in the glasses," sighed Sonnie Hale, "I fancy our crowd-artists would give peri feet performances. But ... perhaps ' some of them would be a little too perfect!" In actual fact, the dressing of a scene of this kind calls for a very great deal of close attention to detail on the part of studio costumiers, property-men, and ' decorators. Glasses, tablecloths, and restaurant fittings must be genuinely French; French waiters, too, differ in small details of dress from their London confreres; even the menus must be printed in French, with correct French prices, appropriate to a cafe of the type depicted, in case the pitiless camera picks up a bill-of-fare in a close shot of one of the tables. "You might think," says a Gaumont-British

property expert, "that little details of this sort would not matter in the long run; but you'd be surprised, first, how the tiniest mistakes are noticed by sharp-eyed filmgoers, and, secondly, how the closest attention to tiny details makes, in the aggregate,. for perfect setting." Typically careful in matters of this sort is Sonnie Hale. Onlookers saw him spend several minutes bending over one of the cafe tables, on which there was a chess board. Sonnio, a skilled chess player himself, personally set the pieces to represent the closing stages of a hotly-contested game. "There's sure to be someone who'll write. in and say 'Absurd. White should have 'mated' three moves ago,'" he said. "But"I mean to get it as near 'right' as possible." Sonnie confesses that chess.is, to him, the second most effective means of mental recreation and complete forgetfulness of everyday work. " You cannot possibly think of anything else while concentrating on the intricate moves of a. game of chess," he remarks. " But the best relaxation of all, as far as I'm concerned, is fishing. On August 10, Jessie, and I hope to get away to our''hide-out' in Cornwall; and I shall fish, and fish, and fish." Curiously enough, many film actors are keen fishermen. John Loder gets away to the trout streams of the north with rod and fly-book whenever his work allows: Richard Arlen, now in Canada making "The Great Barrier," is a keen deep-sea fisherman, while Anna Lee, of the blonde hair and flashing smile, now cast for the leading feminine role in " 0.HM.5.," learned to throw a fly when a little girl of eight. "Red Salute"

Following an absence of six months, during which she took a well-earned rest, Barbara Stanwyck returns to the screen in the Reliance comedy, "Red Salute," which begins a short season at the Mayfair Theatre to-day. \Barbara is no longer under contract to one studio, and in future will select her own starring vehicles. She feels it will be much more interesting to work for various companies, primarily because of the opportunity to play diversified roles. An opportunity of this nature was offered her by producers Harry H. Goetz and Edward Small in "Red Salute," and she readily accepted the assignment. Instead of her familiar strong emotional roles, Barbara plays a light, breezy, romantic comedy part as Drue Van Allen, a tempestuous college girl with a flair for bizarre escapades. She is quick-witted, trigger-tongued, but withal a loveable creature, as Robert Young, in the role of a yaurig. buck private, discovers in the course of a fast-moving series of amusing difficulties that ensue when they are stranded together across the Mexican border.

Dolores Costello Barrymore will be seen in a different make-up in her forthcoming picture, "Yours for the Asking," opposite George Raft. The new make-up is said to enhance the photographic quality of Miss Costello's eyes. Erich Pommer, the German producer who made "Vaudeville" and "Congress Dances," is to begin his first English oicture shortly. It will be called "I Serve," and will deal with the life of Queen Elizabeth. Flora Robson will play the Queen.