ACROSS THE FOOTLIGHTS

Taranaki Daily News, 4 March 1933, Page 20 (Supplement)

ACROSS THE FOOTLIGHTS

COMING EVENTS. EVERYBODY’S THEATRE. Tonight, Monday and Tuesday: “Horse Feathers” (The Four Marx Brothers). March 8 to 10: “Brother Alfred” (Qene Gerrard, Molly Lamont and. Elsie Randolph), British production. . „ Wfarrh 11 to 14: “Once in a Lifetime (Sidney Fox, Jack Oakie and Zasu Pitts). „ » March 15 to 17: “No More Orchids ’ (Carole Lombard and Walter Con- ! nolly). „ REGENT THEATRE. fe-night,-Monday and Tuesday: “Chundu, the Magician” (Edmund Lowe, Irene Ware, Herbert Mundin, Bela Lugosi and Henry B. Walthall). March 8 to 10: “Lady and Gent” (George Bancroft and Wynne Gibson). March 11 to 14: “Night Club Lady’ (Adolphe Menjou, Mayo Methot, Sheets Gallagher and Albert Conti). March 15 to 17: “The Millionaire” (Mr. George Arliss); return screening. NEW PLYMOUTH OPERA HOUSE. Jb-day, until Friday next: “Sunshine Susie” (British production starring Renate Muller, Jack Hulbert and Owen Nares). , j Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, March 11, 13,14 and 15: ‘Jess of the Storm Country” (Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell). Thursday and Friday, March 16 and 17: ‘Trail Women” (British production ' starring Mary Newcomb). Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, March 18, 20 and 21: “Movie Crazy” (Harold Lloyd). , * * * BRITAIN’S NEW COMEDIAN. After his performance in “Sunshine atde,” which commences its New Plymouth season at the Opera House to-day. Jack Hulbert most certainly should receive the crown for being Britain’s monarch of comedy. His type of humour is something different from any brand rf comedy that has ever been witnessed before. Cast in a role that calls for a great deal of natural and spontaneous wit, he rises to the occasion, and but for the faultless portrayals given by the Other leading players, would undoubtedly steal all the honours of the picture. Blteide being a comedian, Jack Hulbert is a tap-dancer of ’some note. During the course of the picture,, he gives a burlesque dance that is the most hilariously funny thing seen on the screen for gome considerable time. wj'ESS OF THE STORM COUNTRY.” While previous Janet Gaynor -and Charles Farrell pictures have had their locales in Paris, Naples, London, New York, Honolulu, China and other places, the picturesque cliffs and coves .along the New England coast are utilised for the first time in “Tess of the Stonn Country,” the famous pair’s latest picture, which will be screened'at the Opera House, New Plymouth, commencing next Saturday. In this production, the “stern and rock-bound Maine coast” supplies the setting for most of the story’s action, With the opening sequences taking place aboard a big schooner at sea. The refrilt, is said to be an unusually 1 vivid and realistic film. . * • • • . HAROLD LLOYD’S 350 FILMS. ' Fifteen years of comedy-making-have not dulled Harold Lloyd’s enthusiasm, nor have they dimmed his comedy ineight, for in “Movie Crazy,” his 350th picture, which is being screened Bt the Opera House, New Plymouth, shortly, the horn-rim spectacled comedian outdoes himself in bringing laughs to the screen. Fifteen years ago he commenced his career as an “extra,” the. starting post for nearly every, great star. It was not long, however, before be was playing the chief roles in pic-! tores produced by Hal Roach. At first he did a nondescript character, which he termed “Willie Work,” his make-up being a conglomeration of all that was supposed to be funny in those days. Lloyd’s far-seeing ambition was not to be stopped in mid-career by such a stereotyped characterisation, however, and after a few more pictures he developed what, was to be known as.“ Lonesome Luke”. After several - hundreds- of pic- ' tores in this make-up, he introduced the character, in which he has won his greatest success. “Movie Crazy” rounds off his fine record of feature length film successes. In this effort, the popular funster brings to the screen his mpst appealing characterisation; also a multitude of new jokes and funny situations and a story that will hold , the interest of every lover of good, dean comedy., ■ ; ’ J • • • • “CHANDU, THE MAGICIAN.” Lover, soldier, gentleman, thief—Edmund Lowe has portrayed them all on the screen. But ini “Chandu, the Magician,” Fox mystery drama, based on the famous radio broadcast, he returns to mystifying magic and astounding wonder workings, such as characterised his performance in “The Spider.” In this latest role, which will be seen at the Regent Theatre beginning to-day, Lowe is said to be. more suave ; and debonair of manner, more nimble . of mind . and body, more dexterous with feats of skill end magic, softer spoken in love than ever before. As “Chandu” he creates for the first time a visual likeness of a character whose exploits have captured the imaginations of a radio audience of nearly 15,000,000 who have hitherto only known the voice of this famous .magician. In addition to Lowe’s masterful creation of “Chandu,” each of the well-known characters in the radio cast will be portrayed on the screen, with Irene Ware es Princess NaSji; Bela Lugosi as Roxor; Herbert Mundin as Miggles; Weldon Heyburn as Abdullah; Henry B. Walthall as Regent; Virginia Hammond as Dorothy; June Vlasek as Betty Lou and Nestor Aber as Bobby. • « • • . ■ “HORSE FEATHERS.” - . • " The Marx Brothers are up to their tjsual antics in “Horse Feathers,” which will be shown for the first time at Everybody’s Theatre to-day. It. is a worthy successor.to “Monkey Business,” their last film, which enjoyed phenomenal success. wherever it was presented. If anything, their humour in “Horse Feathers” is more satirical and . invested with a deeper subtlety. Each member of the quartette exploits his individual type of comedy to the full, and the result is versatile entertainment. Harpo, who has lost none of his skill in extracting enchanting music from the harp, still has his shock of fair hair and is as funny as ever. He still smiles vacuously and has not lost his disconcerting habit of darting to and fro. An entertaining feature of the film is a delightful burlesque of a musical comedy ballet in which white-bearded professors appear instead of chorus girls. Groucho appears as the president of Huxley College and he introduces some amusing and unorthodox reforms into the curriculum. He decides that the football team is in need of new talent and searches for players in a “speak-easy.” . From

this point the burlesque is very clever. He enlists the aid of a dog-catcher and a bootlegger and what they lack in football prowess .they make UP in misplaced zeal. The comedy is .interspersed with musical items for which-the Marx Brothers are famous, and the numbers rendered on. the harp and the piano are executed , with artistry. Thelma Todd, who also, appeared in “Monkey Business,” has a typical role as the “college widow,” for whose affections there is keen competition. ■•* a • “LADY AND GENT.” Petite Wynne Gibson, latest Hollywood “find,” who is soaring to stardom in her own right, plays a featured role opposite George Bancroft in that star’s latest Paramount' picture, “Lady and Gent,” which shows at the Regent Theatre on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday next. Bancroft and Miss Gibson are cast as a cuple of self-styled “big timers,” who dwell on. the shady side of Broadway, battling. merrily with each other and with anyone else who crosses their path. The uneven tenor of their lives becomes ever more uneven when Bancroft’s best friend suddenly dies, leaving a 12-year-old son alone in the world. Just what their responsibilities to the lad are they sit down and consider. And they reach a conclusion that produces results as whimsical as they are radical. “Lady and Gent” was written especially for Bancroft by Grover Jones and William Slavens McNutt. Stephen Roberts directed. • * * • “BROTHER ALFRED.” “Brother Alfred,” with Gene Gerrard enacting the leading role, will be screened at Everybody’s Theatre on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday next This player has been seen in “My Wife’s Family,” “Out of the Blue,” “Let’s Love and Laugh” and . “Lucky Girl.” The supporting cast includes Molly Lamont, a pretty South African <girl, Elsie Randolph,'last seen in “Life Goes On,” and Henry Wenman,-a rotund comedian who has Been, i.engaged to appear in Australian films shortly. . “Brother Alfred,” which deals with the adventures: of a young-man who poses as his .brother in Monte Carlo, was partly written by P. G. Wodehouse. Some of the scenes are very lavish. There are mAny bright lines and adroit situations. . “ONCE IN A LIFETIME.” The motion' picture industry, “kids” itself unmercifully in “Once in a Lifetime,” the Universal, comedy which commences. at Everybody’s' on Saturday, Monday and. Tuesday next (March 11, 13 and 14). This satire on fa tastic production methods of Hollywood studios is one continual shriek of laughter, taking the ■,audience not only into the forbidden precincts of the . sound stages during the making of a picture, but into the private offices of reputedly great executives. In this hilarious production we see an incredibly “dumb” small-time vaudeville actor .. installed as supervisor of a leading studio,/and 'acclaimed as the genius of Hollywood. . The exceptional cast - appearing in “Once in • a Lifetime” .'includes Jack Oakie, Sidney Fox, Aline MacMahpn, Russel! Hopton, Zasu Pitts," Louise Fazenda,' Onslow Stevens, . Gregory Ratoff, 'Jobyna Howland and many others.;-, “NIGHT CLUB LADY.” After more'than 60 actors of the stage and screen had been considered, Adolphe Menjou was chosen by Columbia to create the role of Thatcher Colt, detective hero of the Anthony Abbot series of best selling mystery: stories in, its production, “The Night Club Lady,” showing at the Regent . Theatre on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday (March .11, 13 and 14). Thatcher Colt is a different type of detective. He is a New York police commissioner, of a wealthy, social background, yet - he is a practical crime solver, who clears up the most baffling mysteries by exercising what he calls “common sense,” but which really is the utmost ingenuity bolstered by the assistance of modem scientific methods. Others in the cast are Mayo Methot, as Lola. Carewe, the beautiful night club owner, who is mysteriously murdered, Skeets Gallagher, as hilarious comedy relief, Branche Friderici, Greta Granstedt, Ruthelma Steveris,'Niles Welch, Albert Conti, Nat Pendleton,-' Gerald Terii Shimada and others. OPERA HOUSE, HAWERA. March 7' and 8: “Guilty Hands” (Lionel Barrymore). March 9 and 10: “Horse Feathers” (four Marx brothers). March 11,-13, 14 and 15: “Sunshine Susie” (Owen Nares, Jack Hulbert, Renate Muller). GRAND THEATRE, HAWERA. March 11 and 13: “Hold ’Em Jail” (Wheeler and Woolsey). ••, * * RENATE MULLER. Renate Muller, who will be seen in Hawera shortly, belongs to the young school qf German stage actresses. She is 25, and, a native of Munich, where her father is a prominent journalist. After her. provincial experience she went to Berlin ..to. play in Rostand’s “L’Aiglon,” afterwards appearing in “Garden of Eden,” which had an enormous success in Germany. She afterwards played the leading feminine role in- “Poor Like, a Church Mouse,” the Hungarian play which had a big success in Germany. Amongst her stage as well as her film successes are parts of the most varied character. Heavy dramatic, parts in “The Emperor’s Soldier,” “Calcutta,” “Fourth of May” were in the serious line;, and farces by Arnold and Bach, the authors of “Warm: Comer,” “It’s a Boy,” and so forth, gave her the necessary experience of comedy. In films she made a name for herself by playing the chief and only female lead in “Revolution in a Reformatory.” Another of her film roles was that of the young princess in “Concert in. Sans Souci,” the story about Frederick the Great, which was made by Ufa. She also played the female lead with Jannings in. “The. Darling of the Gods.” Renate Muller has played in Berlin, Vienna and Rome, and speaks German, French and English. She is very musical and has a pleasant singing voice.

* ' * # MARX BROTHERS’ COSTUMES. Hollywood costumers make little money on the Four Marx Brothers. It is six years since three of the four comedians, to be seen in “Horse Feathers” at Hawtera next week, have had a wardrobe change for stage or screen purposes. In all that time, Groucho, ■ Chica and Harpo have used the same general outfits, though they have adopted changes of shoes and a new shirt when action destroyed these articles. Groucho wears baggy trousers, an unpressed frock-coat, a stingy four-in-hand tie, and glasses. •Chico wears a corduroy coat and trousers, a striped shirt and a tiny hat. Harpo is clothed in an assortment of odds and ends, most prominent features of which are trousers with an enormous waistband, a gaudy shirt of many colours, and a red wig. They have been appearing in the same costumes ever since

“Animal Crackers” was first presented on the Broadway stage. #"# # » A PRISON FOOTBALL TEAM. The thought of a prison football team is funny enough to begin with. But when it is carried out to the extreme in absurd equations, when the entire prison is given a collegiate atmosphere with bands, cheering sections and an enthusiastic alumni with quaint and original methods of obtaining new grid-iron talent the basic idea easily becomes a laugh riot. Just how funny the whole nonsensical whim can be is demonstrated by the picture “Hold ’Em Jail,” coming to Hawera in a day or two, with Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Edna May Oliver and Rosco Ates in the leading roles. The film is a happy selection for Wheeler and Woolsey. The picture is nonsense, which makes it at once ideal for their style of fun-making. * * * # DIRECTOR’S COLLECTION USED. W. S. Van Dyke’s collection of guns and primitive weapons came in handy during filming of “Guilty Hands,” the mystery drama which will open in Hawera with Lionel Barrymore in the featured role. The adventurer-director, who acquired the collection of armament during his trips to the South Seas and Africa, used the guns, knives, spears and rifles as a background for the huntingtrophy room scenes in which much of the dramatic action of the film takes place. Many of the weapons were gathered during the making of “Trader Hom” by Van Dyke. GENERAL ITEMS. The English actor, Percy Hutchinson, is touring Canada presenting Edgar Wallace’s last play, “The Green Pack.” He also intends producing another Wallace play, “Criminal at Large.”. The first-mentioned stage piece was presented first in London in Wyndham’s Theatre, the night before the death at Hollywood of the famous writer. It is said that the latter transmitted an entire act qf this drama to the English producer per the trans-Atlantic telephone from California. Melbourne has just witnessed the initial performance of the Athene Seyler-Nicholas Hannen Company of English players in Somerset Maugham’s play, “The Breadwinner,’’ a brilliant satire on modern society. It tells the story of .a. self-satisfied family . whose bread-winning husband sees ( no reason why he should slave for them to live in luxury, and departs forthwith. Nicholas Hannen is said to have secured a definite triumph in this role. Athene Seyler, Margary Caldicottj Harold Meade and Hermione Hannen come in for much praise at tile hands of the critics. The company will stage about 'ten plays in all, with about four or. five in each town. Ineluded in the list is the memorable “Escape” of the late ’John Galsworthy, in which Sir Gerald du Maurier and Arm Casson were featured some years ago on the screen.

In the course of 1932, 1,248,000,000 persons in Great Britain paid £41.000.000 for film entertainment, says the “Daily Mail.”, The average weekly attendance was 24,000,000 and the average price of admission eightpence. The Government took about £7,000,000 in entertainment texes,' leaving £34,600,000 to be shared by the various branches of the industry. The picture houses retained about twothirds of this total, having to pay out all maintenance charges, taxes, rentals and also the wages of the 150,000 persons employed in the British film industry. In 1926, before the passage of the Cinematograph Films > “Act, American film occupied 97 per cent of screen space in British cinemas, leaving the remaining 3 per' cent to be shared by the British, German and French companies. This year 150 British films will be produced, occupying about 25 per cent of the screen space. Thus, says the “Daily Mail,” since the screen space occupied by French and German talking pictures is almost negligible, about. £8,250,000 goes to American film producers and about £2,750,000 to British.

It was recently rumoured in Hollywood that “Thirteen Women” will be the forerunner of a new cycle of productions that will invade unexplored occult territories. In dynamic, startling fashion, “Thirteen Women” rips into the guarded secrets of fake astrologers and exposes the havoc they can do in the lives of women. Irene Dunne and Ricardo Cortez are co-featured,- other players being, Myrna Loy,. Mary Duncan, Jill Esmond, Kay Johnson, Julie Haydon.

No play produced in recent years, either in London or New York, has attracted the widespread attention given Noel Coward’s “Cavalcade,” which has been produced for the screen on a lavish scale. Nearly 1,000,000 persons saw the play during its year’s run at the Drury Lane Theatre, and as many more were expected to see it on tour. The audience will be enlarged to 75,000,000 or 100,000,0(k) by the picturisation of this “cavalcade of world events” during the last 32 years. Diana Wynyard, Clive Brook, Beryl Mercer, Una O’Connor, Ursula Jeans, Herbert Mundin, Frank Lawton, Irene Brown and Merle Tottenham head the all-star cast, which was directed by Frank Lloyd, twice winner of the Academy award for the best production of the year.

A tribute to the fidelity of character portrayal in “Rasputin and the Empress,” the first vehicle co-starring the three famous Barrymores, was paid by the Grand Duchess Marie of Russia, herself a member of the once, reigning Russian Royal Family. . “It gave me great satisfactioryto see what a careful study both of events and of characters had been made in presenting this, picture/’ said Grand Duchess Marie, after attending' a screening of . the film. “Ethel Barrymore seemed to me a. very dignified and also appealing figure as the Empress, while John and Lionel Barrymore were extremely forceful and compelling.” The Grand Duchess Marie is a first cousin .of the. late Czar Nicholas 11., and was brought up in the Romanoff family circle in Moscow and old St. Petersburg, leaving the country at the time of her marriage in 1910. PERFECT ANIMATION. NEW WALT DISNEY CARTOONS. Through vastly, improved facilities and more painstaking efforts, Walt- Disney’s Micky Mouse and Silly Symphony films now have the advantage of animation as perfect as that of human players on the Screen. In other words, the animation is as perfect as human ingenuity is able to achieve. The reason, to strip the matter of its technical tenns, is this: Heretofore, Disney and other producers of animated pictures contented themselves with one drawing to every four frames, which meant that there were four drawings to each foot of film. This gave an approximation of perfect animation, but more often than not a discerning eye could detect sketchy and jumpy action. Now Disney has a drawing to each frame, making 16 drawings to a foot, of film, instead of four, the result being the most perfect animation ever attained in a cartoon subject. If Mickey Mouse now stands in front of a camera and raises his right arm slowly, he does it in the very same manner as does Douglas Fairbanks or any other human star. And the effect upon the screen is identical, despite the fact that Mickey is only pen and ink.

“THE OLD SONGS ARE BEST” MISS ELLA SHIELDS OPINION. “YOU CAN’T FOOL THE PUBLIC.” Twenty-eight years pn the stage, and an intimate acquaintance with the capitals of the- world, By Miss Ella Shields, the famous comedienne and male impersonator, who arrived in Christchurch last week, have probably contributed to her charming personality. Topics with her never flagged when she chatted, and her conversation ranged from the trend of public taste in entertainment—both

Juuiiiicitiaiiiiiiiinmiitiiiiiiiiiuiriitittiiiiiiiiiiiniuiiiiitvuiii in England and America —to the rapid change that has taken place in the building plan of London; and, topically, the exchange rate. The tunes and stories that delighted the generation of 25 years ago, she said, are again finding favour, because the younger generation is realising their quality and finish of entertainment that is practically non-existent in their counterparts to-day. Miss Shields has a philosophy of her own: “You can’t fool the public with something that does not exist.....•• You hear ‘fiction—only fiction. But there is no such tiring as fiction— every-

thing in life is caused by. inspiration of reality.” Dwelling on her own particular world, she said that both at home and in America producers were reviving the melodies that were popular many years ago and < the public to-day were accepting them because they knew their merit. To the older people it meant that affectionate memories would be brought back, and to the young folk that fresh ground had been broken in their entertainment. The old players were mpre finished in poise and deportment, and the stories contained in the songs were on a much higher plane—if a man wrote a song 20 years ago the story had to be continued; if it. were not, the song would be a failure.

tiiiititHniiuiiiiiuiMiiiifmii’iiiiiimiiMiUtiiMmHHinMtiiiß “I would have much preferred to be in the dramatic world,” said Miss Shields, “but in the way of those who want to become great actresses or actors there is always starvation. No matter how splendidly a person may recite, the one who can sing a sojig or play an instrument well will always earn money.” •Particularly spirited was Miss Shields on the importation of an Italian grand opera company to the Antipodes recently. To her mind, the musical talent of “down-under” was quite comparable with the singers in that company.

She added that £lO,OOO had to be put up before the company set foot on a stage in the Commonwealth; and the man who had the task of selection brought players like that! “If may be all right from the point of view of the average public in Australia or New Zealand, but from the artist’s viewpoint it was cruel. What is the Mecca of the whole operatic world? Where would a prima donna sing first? Covent Garden—next to the opera houses m Milan or Naples.. When you’ve sung . at the Covent Garden, whether as a prima donna or an . ordinary soloist, your trade mark is finished.” . Gilbert and Sullivan music, on the other hand, whether played by mere amateurs, had a charm that would always live-something that mad? people forget, and something that, had hved through all the depression in England. “I don’t think there is anything to stop the stage going ahead,’’ she said, “except that plays must be well acted. 1 don’t think that the public will tolerate anything that is at all inferior— they are in such a state of repose that they will not be gulled by something mediocre that is blazoned in big signs.” It is 10 years since Miss Shields was in New Zealand last, and during that period she has been round the world two and a-half times. She is.. at sent negotiating for a new musical pUy in England, and if she is successful she will produce it in New Zealand or Australia, as she is confident that adequate talent exists in this part of the world. ‘ FILMING NEW ZEALAND. MAKING A FEATURE-LENGTH. The .actual filming of Universe's big Maori film, “Under the Southern Cross (“Taranga”), which is now showing at Christchurch, extended over a period of six months, during which time the production unit, headed by the director, Lew Collins, took scenes on four, different, widely-separated rua, Ohiwa (near Whakatane), White Island, and Waitomo Caves. Filming of the first actual featurelength production in New Zealand by an American company is the distinction held by Universal. Those who have ’ already seen the film have been im- , pressed with the surprising histrionic capabilities of the Maoris— they would , do credit to some Hollywood actors oi years’ experience. , Galsworthy’s “Loyalties.” Basil Dean, who has returned to London from New York,’ is now going to produce his talkie version of Galsworthy's “Loyalties,” with several members of the stage cast in their original parts.

NOTES AT RANDOM. “JEW SUSS” IN BRITISH TALKIE. Emil Jannings and Conrad Veidt will appear together in a Gaumont-British screen version of “Jew Suss,” the famous historical novel by Lion. Feuchtwanger. Nothing Stronger Than Tea. Can you conceive a lifelong teetotaller who is accepted as one of the greatest exponents of comedy drunkenness on the screen? If not, you cannot conceive Sydney Howard, for he is just such a paradox. A journalist asked Sydney now he could so sincerely interpret something he had never experienced. It was in his dressing-room; over a cup of tea, the strongest beverage he has ever known. He' relapsed for the moment into Yorkshire. “Eh, led,” he observed, “if Id been drinking myself I wouldn’t have seen how funny t’others looked.” _ It is amazing how stories get circulated about' stars. It has often b?en said by thq know-alls that the secret of Sydney’s naturalness to roles is that he always gets tight .for the occasion. If po. 'it must be on Ceylon b?ew. „ Incidentally, when “Almost a Divorce, in which he portrayed ..inebriation throughout, first went to his native village of Yeadon, near Leeds, it was shown at the local'Temperance Hall! . Increasing Support. A The British. United Film . Producers Co., Ltd., which was formed a year ago, with the support of the Colonial Office, to distribute British films in British Colonies, has already dispatched over 1,009,000 feet of film to' Trinidad, East and West Africa/, arid ' Mauritius. Throiighqut the .Empire there is an increasing desire to see British films. General Nuisance. , .Allan Woodburn, the clever seven-year-old • film actor, Has .joined the e a st of Monty Banks’s new comedy which he is directing for. Rpd he has gleefully • played some .comedy scenes with Gene Gerrard,, the star of the picture, in a railway carriage that any small boy would relish. ,He portrays one of those young terrors who delight in making a journey unbearable for grown-ups with water pistols, sticky sweets, and eternal, fidgeting, and the earnest talent of Allan brought a realism to the scenes that; Gene found almost too painfull. r . . \ ‘ ) •