ACROSS THE FOOTLIGHTS

Taranaki Daily News, 23 June 1934, Page 20 (Supplement)

ACROSS THE FOOTLIGHTS

AROUND THE THEATRES.

WHAT TO SEE AT NEW PLYMOUTH. OPERA HOUSE ATTRACTIONS. “It Happened One Night” (Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable). “Betty” (Elwyn Riley). “Lady for a Day” (May Robson and Warren EVERYBODY’S THEATRE. * “Aunt Sally” (Cicely Courtneidge, Sam Hardy and Debroy Somers Band). “Catharine the Great” (Elizabeth Bergl ner and Douglas Fairbanks Junr.). ' “Love’s Old Sweet Song” (John Stuart and Joan Wyndham). THE REGENT. “The Kennel Murder Case” (William Powell, Mary Astor and Helen VinsenL “White Woman” (Charles Laughton and Carole Lombard). "Female” (Ruth Chatterton and George Brent). "Captured” (Leslie Howard, Douglas Fairbanks Junr., Paul Lucas and Margaret Lindsay). CHARLES LAUGHTON AGAIN ENTERTAINING OLD SCOUNDREL. Charles Laughton, after great work in “King Henry VIII.” and “Sign of the Cross,” comes to the Regent shortly in "White Woman.” A criticism states that one would hark back through film history for many a long day to find such an exquisitely cruel but delightfully entertaining old scoundrel as Prin, King of the River.

The whole picture offers plenty of comedy, as well as intriguing drama, with Laughton as a podgy little Cockney trader, far from his native London, the king of the river on some obscure Malayan island, lording it over hordes of warlike natives and a bunch of hardboiled white men, outcasts from the law. Imagine Laughton dressed in tropical cottons and canvasses of irreproachable cut, sporting a moustache that would make a walrus envious, and withering everyone with a pair of piercing eyes that reflect the most devilish of glints. And imagine this island Caesar discoursing in an adjectival dialect leering almost with charm, and melting with gentle maliciousness. Laughton makes the picture, though Carole Lombard as Judith Denning, the “White Woman,” handles her part well, and is very convincing. Charles Bickford, as Ballister, once again has a “tough guy” role, and succeeds. Kent Taylor is the hero, and is responsible for some fine dramatic work. SPLENDID PERFORMANCE “CATHERINE THE GREAT.” ELIZABETH BERGNER. If ever a screen play were dominated by a brilliant artist it is “Catherine the Great,” stated the Christchurch Sun, referring to this picture, which will open at Everybody’s Theatre on Wednesday. Elizabeth Bergner is magnificent; she charmed with the sympathy of her act-, ing; and none except the most detached could be anything but thrilled with the progress of “little Catherine” to her exalted position. The production has that same polish that distinguished “The Private Life of Henry VIII.,” for the

same producers are responsible. Russia is shown toward the close of

the reign of the Empress Elizabeth,

through the short span when her nephew Peter was monarch, and in the stirring times of the rebellion that put Catherine on the throne. The ceremonial of the Russian court is seen in all its splendour, for the greater part of the action takes place in the palace. With such a topic, the outline is necessarily sketchy, but the painstaking attention to structural detail is wonderful It is a masterpiece of photography and the British studios have given the lead. There is an occasional fleeting resemblance between Elizabeth Bergner and Marlene Dietrich, but it is only fleeting. She has the distinction of one who should become a really great star. Douglas Fairbanks, jun., who has the role of the Grand Duke Peter,' has a fairly difficult part to play, but he carries it through with his customary facility. Flora Robson gives an excellent character study as the Empress Elizabeth, and Sir Gerald du Maurier is a perfect valet. PHILANTHROPIC ACTRESS GRACIE FIELDS’ ORPHANAGE. The inimitable Lancashire lass, who is familiarly known throughout Britain as “our Gracie,” has been doing, perhaps unknown to her vast army of admirers, a great work for charity. Gracie Fields is the true philanthropist—she runs an orphanage. Through her untiring efforts, and bountiful generosity, hundreds of children who would never have had a chance in this world of security and happiness, are cared for and given a fair start in life. This home is Gracie’s main thought When she signed up the 8.1. P. contract for “Love, Life and Laughter,” she celebrated the occasion by ordering a new wing to be built on the orphanage, costing £5OOO. So enraptured is she with her orphans, that when plans for this production were drawn she insisted on having the story written around them, and consequently it forms the theme of a very entertaining picture, which is really a slice from the life of Gracie Fields herself. Warmhearted, jolly, vivacious, hard-working, and generous, she is probably doing more for charity and making less fuss about 5 * than any celebrity in the world. AN APPEALING STORY MAY ROBSON’S LATEST PICTURE. Possessing an appealing story, “Lady for a Day,” starring May Robson, with Warren William, will open at the Opera House, New Plymouth, on Friday. Maj’ Robson was the star of “Mother’s Millions” at the Regent recently. “Lady for a Day” is like a fantastic fairy tale, yet it is real and human. Its appealing humour and touching dramatic scenes make the laughs and tears blend wholesomely with an emotional i effect that is heart-warming.

SMITHY’S AIR FILM

CENTENARY RACE ROUTE SHOWN.

DUTCH AUTHORITIES PROHIBITION.

Sir Charles Kingsford Smith's film, “The Old Bus,” which will be released by Universal Pictures, shows the entire route of the Centenary Air Race' from London to Melbourne, and, in addition, across the Tasman Sea to New Plymouth. It has been announced that Mr. Roy Tuckett, who has returned to London from filming the Centenary Air Race route, was refused permission to photograph the Dutch East Indies. During his recent flight from London in the Percival Gull, Sir Charles Kingsford Smith secured motion pictures right along the route, dealing with such stopping places as London, Rome, Athens, Aleppo, Bushire, Karachi, Allahabad, Calcutta, Rangoon, Bangkok, Sourabaya, Darwin, Newcastle Waters, Brunette Downs, Camooweal, Longreach, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. “Not only does the film show the air mail, route and Sir Charles Kingsford Smith’s proposed refuelling depots along the Centenary Air Race route,” says Mr. J. Percival, jun„ who produced the picture for “Smithy,” “but it includes the entire history of aviation in Australia, showing the pioneer flights of Lawrence Hargrave, W. E. Hart, Guillaux, Marduel, Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith, Parer and Mclntosh and the big flights of the Southern Cross.”

STAGE AND PICTURES

WHICH IS HARDER ACTING.

Elizabeth Bergner, sensational young actress who rose to world-wide fame with the success of Alexander Korda’s "Catherine the Great,” declares that acting in pictures is much harder than acting on’ 1 the stage. She has acted in both mediums for several years and has earned an acknowledged leadership in each. “To act in the films,” she said, “one needs infinitely more imagination, concentration and endurance. Not only does the studio lack a receptive audience, ready to respond and encourage, but the people round one are all critical and vigilant. The scenes are so short that it is almost impossible to become imbued with the conviction that one is playing a part. Most actors who view their photoplay work upon the screen,” she continued, “are only too thankful that such an experience is impossible in the theatre. A screen performance is a standardised one, representing you certainly not at your worst, and probably, but not necessarily, at your best. Acting being only one of the factors in films, it also follows that your work will be only fully effective if i. the best studio technique is available. The finest actor in the' world cannot overcome secondrate production methods, but on the stage he can take possession of the play. This direct personal hold on the audience is one of the greatest thrills of the theatre, as the playgoer knows. It is what the actor hopes to do. No, acting in .films is neither so easy nor so pleasant as acting on the stage. Yet, once the film is made and you have given of your best, assuming that you are lucky enough to be allowed to, your performance will live for longer than one night, and will be seen by millions. “You are in something of the same position as the successful dramatist. He does not have to write his play every night, whereas the actor has to give his best on the stage, night after night, throughout the run.”

THE CINDERELLA LEGEND

ANNA STEN—RUSSIAN FIND.

A Cinderella story came . when the shadow of Anna Sten was flashed on the giant silver screen of the world’s largest picture theatre —the New York Music Hall to a packed audience that had waited for hours in the snow to witness her debut not long ago. To most girls, it was the quintessence of all the glamour in the world, this story of the Russian peasant girl who in six years had worked and plarmed and studied to reach the thrilling climax of a debut in “Nana” at the world’s' largest theatre.

Soft, white, silken in all the empirical elegance of Paris in 1870, the image of Miss Sten looked out at her audience. Yet it was only a few years ago that the Soviet actress laid aside a waitress’ towel and apron when, as a flaxen-hair-ed girl of sixteen, she headed for a film career in Moscow. She had worked in a resturant to help take care of her ailing mother, widowed by the guerilla warfare that tore the Ukraine apart during the early days of the Red revolution. And she, a young Slavic person who, only a few years ago, had known cold and illness from the lack of enough warm clothing, had in “Nana” the art and resources of three of the world’s greatest designers— Adrian of M.G.M., John Harkrider of Ziegfeld fame, and Travis Banton of Paramount. A third paradox of the Sten debut was in the appearance of the straight-limbed, high-cheeked young intellectual of the Soviet screen becoming for her first appearance as an American cinema star, the billowing, reckless, voluptuous lady of the Paris boulevards in an adaptation of Zola’s novel. Even as a success story, Samuel Goldwyn must wonder. Fiftyone tests of Miss Sten were made, for lighting, for make-up, for voice, for singing, for dramatic effects, for every conceivable subject. Treatments of five different stories were developed as experiments in bringing out her talents auspiciously enough for an American film debut. Two years of training and preparation were involved. Directors came and went, and so did writers. People lost their sense of humour and their temper; the picture was started and stopped and then started over again. But Goldwyn kept his faith, not in the Cinderella legend, but in Anna Sten as an actress. Too Good in Black and White.

The final scenes of “The House of Rothschild,” in which Nathan Rothschild, in the person of George Arliss, is publicly honoured for his services to England, were adjudged by producers Joseph M. Schenck, and Darryl F. Zanuck to be too magnificent a spectacle to be wasted on black and white film. And since a large sum of money was already invested in the richly decorative court costumes of the period worn by the 200 actors and actresses participating in the scene and sets, designed by Richard Day and accurately reproducing the sumptuous coronation room of St James Palace where the event occurred, they decided to give the audience the full benefit of their splendour and called in Technicolour experts to photograph the scenes in the newly developed three-colour process, which had never before been used on a set of this size.

MICRO-CINEMA MARVELS

FISH THAT CLIMB TREES

Fish that climb trees, ants that make pens in which they keep caterpillars, as human beings keep cows; spiders that drag chickens out of their roosts—these are just a few of the wonders described by Noel Monckman, who, with Mrs. Monckman and party, traversed 8000 miles in Northern and Central Queensland in their caravan with a trailer attached, carrying photographic gear and a microscope—one of the most powerful of the kind in the world, to secure a further series of micro-cinema films, to be released in association with Efftoe Films. There were roads, parts of which had to be built by the driver before they could be safely negotiated. The vehicle became stuck in a dry watercourse and they camped for the night, knowing that a sudden tropical downpour might bring flood waters which would send them hurtling, with the nearest human habitation 200 miles away. Mr. Monckman, at great risk, descended the crater at Mt. Quincan, back of Cairns, and made micro-cinema films of the wonderfully beautifully microscopic creatures which teem in the waters at the bottom of the crater. He states he brought up with him from the depths “a whole world in a jar.” He also traversed the Gulf country, filming crocodiles in their native haunts, and secured some thrilling photographs of these great creatures. The largest trapped was 18ft. 6in. in length, and as large in circumference as two bullocks. Mr. Monckman also secured films of the Periopthalmus, or mud-skipper, a treeclimbing fish, which is as active on land as in the water. The creature has eyes in the top of its head, which protrude like periscopes when it is swimming. He brought back three specimens of these fish, which he presented to Sir Colin McKenzie, Institute of Anatomy at Canberra. After completing the editing of the new series of the films Mr. Monckman will set off again with Mrs. Monckman and party on another of these expeditions. He has his eye on the pearl fisheries of the North for his next microcinema expedition.

SIX ACADEMY AWARDS

“HOLLYWOOD AWARD OF MERIT.”

DISTINCTION FOR RKO RADIO.

The recently announced results of the annual award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the year’s outstanding achievements, reveal that RKO Radio Pictures is represented in six of the prize-winning positions as follows:—

The best actress performance of the year was adjudged by the Academy to

be that of Katharine Hepburn in “Morning Glory.” Miss Hepburn had 20 per cent, more votes than her closest runnerup. The best adaptation was won jointly by Sarah Y. Mason and Victor Heerman for their adaptation of “Little Women.” “Little Women” won third ranking for the best production of the year. For the best direction of the year, George Cukor was placed third for his work in “Little Women.”

In the short comedy award RKO Radio ran away with both first and second places for “So This is Harris” and “The Preferred List” respectively.

By the same mail as the Academy awards comes the result of the poll conducted by the “Hollywood Reporter”— a poll which embraces the votes of all branches of the industry—executives, directors, players and so on. The Hollywood Reporter Award of Merit for the outstanding production of 1933 goes to “Little Women,” which held <i commanding lead over its nearest competitor. In addition the most outstanding performance by an actress was adjudged to be that of Katharine Hepburn in “Morning Glory.”, -

H. G. WELLS HEADS GROUP

FAMOUS AUTHORS ON FILMS LIST.

London Films, producers of such outstanding motion picture attractions as “The Private Life of Henry VIII.” and “Catherine the Great,” announces that it has now six of the world’s most famous writers under- contract to do screen plays. H. G. Wells, who has been described as the “world’s greatest living writer,” is actively engaged in writing a special script for London Films based ’on his prophetic works, including “The Shape of Things to Come,” the most provocative best seller of the last decade. The other authors under contract to London Films are Lajos Biro, and Arthur Wimperis, who collaborated on the writing of “Henry VIII.”; Robert Sherwood, author of such memorable works as “The Road to Rome,” “The Queen’s Husband,” and “Reunion in Vienna”; Geoffrey Dell, author of “The Firebrand” and “Payment Deferred,” and Frederick Lonsdale, who wrote “Monsieur Beaucaire,” “The Last of Mrs. Cheyney” and “Spring Cleaning.”

FAIRBANKS’ DENIAL

WILL REMAIN LOYAL TO AMERICA.

Despite newspaper reports, Douglas Fairbanks, senr., and Douglas Fairbanks junr., have no intention of renoucing their American citizenship to become British subjects. They are in London at the moment, but they are there on business, the business of making motion pictures, and when that business is completed they will return to the United States to continue to make pictures in that country. Douglas senr., recently gave a reception for the Press in London at which he outlined plans for himself and his son, but he made no statement concerning a contemplated British citizenship as carried in some American newspapers. British newspaper clippings of the reception made no mention of such a statement.

Following the tremendous reception given the British-made film, “The Private Life of Henry ’. Ill,” in the United States, it is the opinion of motion picture leaders that the visit of Doug, senr., and Doug., junr., to England will be of tremendous benefit to the industry on both sides of the Atlantic. Theatre audience are applauding young Doug’s first British-made film “Catherine the Great,” while in “The Return of Don Juan,” the elder Fairbanks is believed to have selected a vehicle that will also meet with a welcome reception from the American public. Following the completion of these photoplays, father and son will star together in “Zorro” story, and 'on completion of this programme they will return to the United States. The Fairbanks’ pictures are to be released by United Artists.

“CHU CHIN CHOW” FILM

GEORGE ROBEY AS ALI BABA, In the production of “Chu Chin Chow” under the direction of Walter Forde at the Islington Studios, George Robey is playing the part of Ali Baba, Anna May Wong is to be Zaharat, the slave girl, and the robber chief will be played by Malcolm McEachern, better known as “Jetsam” of the famous “Flotsam and Jetsam” broadcasting duo. “Chu Chin Chow” ran at His Majesty’s Theatre in London throughout the Great War. Sydney Fair brother, who plays Mahbuba in the picture, was in the original production, and several of the small-part players in the film were with the stage show during the whole of its four and a-half years’ run. They explain its phenomenal success by its richness and atmospheric colour, its splendid music and its equal suitability for young and old.

THE HAWERA THEATRES

PROGRAMMES FOR THE WEEK. THE OPERA HOUSE. June 23 and 25: “Cradle Song” (Dorothea Wieck). June 26 and 27: “Take a Chance” (James Dunn). June 28 and 29: “Aunt Sally” (Cicely Courtneidge). THE GRAND. June 23 and 25: “Lovebirds” (PittsSomerville) and “The Fourth Horseman” (Tom Mix). June 26 and 27: “The Women in His Life” (Otto Kruger). June 28 and 29: “The Kennel Murder Case” (William Powell). CICELY COURTNEIDGE AGAIN “AUNT SALLY” AT OPERA HOUSE. Lilting music, catchy songs and clever dancing, presented in a lavishly spectacular setting, and the whole charming entertainment crowned by the inimitable comedy of Cicely Courtneidge in a role that ranges from burlesque to knockabout, giving her abundant scope to exercise her genius for characterisation. That is “Aunt Sally,” the most ambitious musical extravaganza ever recorded by British studio cameras, which will be presented at the Opera House on Thursday and Friday. The show is full of special features, including the cream of London entertainers.

“THE WOMEN IN HIS LIFE”

MODERN METROPOLITAN LIFE.

The dramatic picture, ‘The Women in His Life,” comes to the Grand Theatre on Tuesday and Wednesday. It is the story of sensational trials; of life behind the scenes of the courtrooms and attorneys’ offices; of a spectacular trial lawyer who always wins the cases for his clients, be they guilty or innocent, but who lets a woman of his past wreck his future. Otto Kruger is the lawyer who rises to great heights in the legal profession, only to be beset by disgrace.

BAFFLING MURDER STORY

“KENNEL MURDER CASE” GOOD.

Philo Vance, the famous and debonair detective character created by S. S. Van Dine, is impersonated by William Powell in “The Kennel Murder Case,” which comes to the Grand Theatre on Thursday and Friday. Archer Coe is found dead in his bedroom with a revolver in his hand and not a sign of a struggle and with the door locked. He has a bullet in his brand and a scalp abrasion. The police consider it a case of suicide until Philo Vance walks into the scene and through a series of deductions, proves that it is a murder and not a suicide, and then proceeds to discover the murderer.

“TAKE A CHANCE”

MUSICAL COMEDY SHOW. “Take a Chance,” the new Paramount musical film, will be shown at the Opera House on Tuesday and Wednesday. It is a gay bit of nonsense concerning the careers of four carnival side-show entertainers who become tired of small-town life and decide to snatch fame and fortune on Broadway. James Dunn and Cliff Edwards, who just can’t keep from pocketing other people’s watches and miscellaneous valuables, make a splendid team. Dunn, who has played romantic leads exclusively in the past, steps over into farce comedy as though bom to it June Knight and Lillian Roth support them well. SPICE OF THE PROGRAMME CURRENT SUPPORTING FEATURES. THE REGENT. To-day, Monday and Tuesday: Cinesound 'News, “Little Miss Mischief (novelty), Samoan Memories (travel), and “Double Crossing Columbus” (musical revue). Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: British News, Popeye cartoon, Paramount Pictorial and “Cold Turkey” (comedy). OPERA HOUSE. To-day Monday and Tuesday: Australian Fox News, Krazy Kat Cartoon and Winter Sport Thrills. EVERYBODY’S THEATRE. To-day, Monday and Tuesday: British News, Screen Snapshots, Jean Batten’s Arrival in Sydney, Buckingham Palace and “Where the Weather Reigns” (Ideal Cinemagazine). Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: Gazette, “Camping Out” (Mitkey Mouse cartoon) and “With Williamson Beneath the Sea” (travelogue). INGLEWOOD TALKIES SOME FINE PROGRAMMES. To-day: “Secrets” (Mary Pickford). June 27: An all-British Joan Barry in “Sally Bishop,” from the late Temple Thurston’s novel. Recommended for adult audiences only. June 29 and 30: Bebe Daniels the star of Rio Rita in “The Song You Gave Me.” July 4: “20,000 Years in Sing Sing.” July 6 and 7: An all-British Jessie Matthews in “The Good Companions. An outstanding film. Dog Injures Star. A Hollywood Scottie dog owes a debt of thanks to an English cousin of the same breed. The film capital Scottie so far forgot his manners as to bump Madeleine Carroll, English film star, in the nose and added insult to injury by scratching her over the eye with his claws. Visiting with friends, Miss Carroll fell in love with the little Scottie, who resembled her own Scottie in London, and picked it up. The Scottie, a bit startled, bumped his nose against the star’s and her’s bled copiously. His master was about to administer a spanking when Miss Carroll interceded on the dog’s behalf.

MICKEY MOUSE FILMS

£4OOO EACH TO PRODUCE

HOW HE WALKS AND TALKS.

12,000 SCENES IN EIGHT MINUTES.

No on needs any introduction to Mickey Mouse of whom there was a good impersonation at the recent Movie Ball at New Plymouth, but how many of us know his story? He is one of the cleverest things in a very clever world, and nothing in the wonderful story of the films is more remarkable than the production of this little fellow. The first animated cartoons were made 28 years ago, and showed a man rolling his eyes and a dog jumping over a hoop, but nothing of any consequence was made until nearly ten years later, when a cartoon called Little Nemo was produced; this consisted of 4000 separate drawings, each one complete with its own background. To-day the Mickey Mouse cartoons will require perhaps 12,000 pictures, but the method of their preparation has been much simplified, as we shall see, though they contain far more detail and can be infinitely more picturesque. A BIG STAFF. The production of an animated cartoon requires a big staff of artists, the very latest improvements in photography, a producer, an orchestra, and, of course, a full sound-recording equipment and staff of sound engineers. The cartoon is built up of a number of successive pictures thrown on the screen one after the other at the rate of 24 pictures a second. A picture lasting eight' minutes would thus be built up of about 12,000 separate frames, as they are called. New Mickey Mouse cartoons are turned out about twice a month, each taking ten weeks to complete. As many as 200 people may take part in various ways in the making of one cartoon, which costs £4OOO or more to produce. The pictures, as prepared by the artists under the supervision of the director, are photographed in the proper sequence with a simple but special type of camera. This is nothing more than a kinematograph camera which can be “turned” one picture at a time, mounted on a vertical stand with the lens pointing downward upon a small illuminated table. The size of the picture as drawn is about ten inches by eight; and in order that each picture should be photographed in exactly the right position it is perforated with holes at each of two corners, which fit over little vertical pegs on the copy board,. so that each drawing always comes in exactly the right place.

TWO PICTURES AS ONE.

Each picture is really a combination of two, a background and a drawing of the animals or people in the plot. An artist will draw the series of pictures of an animal, for example, which, when thrown on the screen quickly one after the other, gives the effect of animation, and these drawings will be traced or inked on transparent sheets of celluloid and then filled in with black, white, or grey paint. The celluloid pictures are placed over a background picture drawn or painted on white cardboard, and the two together, held in register by the pins, are photographed as one. One background will serve for quite a number of pictures of movements of Mickey Mouse or his friends, so that only twenty or thirty backgrounds will be wanted for a whole cartoon.

When Walt Disney had made his first really successful cartoon of Mickey Mouse he was faced with the terrible disappointment of finding that the Talkies had arrived, and that a dumb Mickey would not be thought of by the big film people. So Mickey had to be made to talk, and his cartoons were the first ever to be made with sound.

When all the photographic negatives are made they are arranged in the proper order of the story and a master print is made. The preparation of the music has been going on all the time, and it is a work of considerable skill to put the two into exact step. As we have seen, 24 pictures are thrown on the screen every second, and the music is never allowed to be more than one picture out of step. To help in this work use is made of an electric “beater,” which sends out buzzes through a telephone wire to headphones worn by the principal members of the orchestra, who are thus able, while the silent picture is thrown on the screen, to make their music in time to it. While they are performing (after many rehearsals) the sound photographer with his camera records the music, and a sound negative is prepared. This negative and the picture negative are then printed together in a special machine, which brings the tiny photograph of the sounds into the one-tenth-of-an-inch-wide track running along the side of the picture. THE SILLY SYMPHONIES. How long Mickey will hold his sway no one can tell, but he certainly has a dangerous rival in the coloured cartoons, The Silly Symphonies, which have been produced lately by his own creator. These pictures are, of course, made on the same lines, but instead of being drawn in black and white or neutral shades they are fully coloured by hand. The individual picture combination of background and animated character is placed on the copy board, registered by the pins, and this time is photographed three times, the three pictures being taken simultaneously. This is done by means of a remarkable camera in which the rays of light passing through the lens are diverted into three paths. It is the old story of threecolour photography. Photographs are taken, one recording the blue and violet in the picture, one the green, and another the orange and red. From these three negative films the positive is printed in the natural colours of the original drawing. A photograph in relief, on celluloid, is made from each of the negatives, and this is used as a kind of printing block. PRINTING THE COLOURS. By a process known as ambibition the gelatine reliefs are made to soak up a sufficient quantity of dye of the right colour and then to transfer the dye to a piece of plain celluloid coated with clear gelatine. A yellow dye is used in the case of the green, and a blue dye in the case of the red. These complementary colours, printed in exact register one on top of the other, unite to give a facsimile of the orginal colours by what is known as the subtractive process. The method by which these colour prints are made is highly complicated and requires the greatest skill in manipulation, but the beauty of the colouring in the animated cartoons we see to-day is sure proof that with perseverance and years of experiment these difficulties have been successfully overcome. Eddie Cantor’s Annual. Eddie Cantor’s new season musical comedy production for Samuel Goldwyn has been temporarily titled “The Treasure Hunt.” Ethel Merman, noted stage, screen and radio star, has been signed for a featured role in the picture. Arm Sothern is another featured player.

HARDSHIPS OF THE STARS

WERE THEY EVER PENNILESS ?

WHAT ACTOR HAS NOT BEEN. Were the stars ever penniless ? “What actor has not been ?” replied Fredric March. Although he is a college graduate and the son of a banker, he also has a pride which once reduced him to a lone 50 cent, piece. It was during March's early New York career. For two days he lived at five-cent restaurants.

For about seven years W. C. Fields was very poor. That was while he was trying to succeed as a juggler. “Even now I pinch myself to see if I am real,” he says. “Every night I thank my stars that I have three meals and can rest between clean sheets—and pray this life won’t be taken away from me.” Shortly after Gary Cooper arrived in Hollywood to become an actor he was reduced to a loaf of bread which he munched hungrily behind a signboard. Cooper lived very meagrely for nearly two years before he got his chance in Paramount pictures. Richard Arlen tells of how he lived for three weeks on 14 cents, working at any odd task that meant a meal, when he first came to Hollywood in search of fame and fortune. Richard Bennett was stranded in Texas in 1900 when travelling with a medicine show.. He had to borrow money until he got back to the big cities. Cary Grant, shortly after he arrived in New York from England, became so hungry that he “walked on stilts” for the sightseers at Coney Island Amusement Park, so that the inner man might be provided for.

CLIVE BROOK TALKS

HIS COMPLACENCY DISTURBED.

If there’s one thing in the world which can disturb the proverbial complacency of Clive Brook, it is the oft-repeated opinion regarding the success of film stars. This opinion generally runs along these lines:—

“Oh, sure, So-and-so’s a good actor, but it’s all luck. He just picked the right profession at tl.o right time. Most folks are unlucky and waste most of their life fooling around with the wrong jobs.” Says Mr. Brook:—

“Fully ninety per cent, of the currently popular screen players are masters of many professions. Jean Parker is a magnificent artist, a commercial illustrator and portrait painter as well as an accomplished dancer; Irene Dunne is a trained concert singer, a qualified pianist; Elissa Landi is an accredited novelist; Leslie Howard could make his living any day as a cameraman; and, you can go through the whole roster of players, practically, and find tha. each of them is a master of more than the histrionic art, so that at any time they could turn to some other means of making a fine living. “Energy and hard work and brains got most of the stars where they are. Certainly, luck is involved. But, they were there with the capabilities and knowledge when opportunity was afforded.”

Brook himself is a violinist of professional skill, an elocution teacher, a successful journalist and short-story writer, and prior to becoming an actor he made his living by each of those professions. BEAUTY HINTS FROM .STARS OPINIONS OF THREE LEADERS. Irene Dunne believes that the first law in the care of the hands is - to prevent dryness and advocates the use of a good lotion whenever you wash your hands. Irene uses rose-water and glycerine, with just a little benzoine added because this keeps the hands white. Marion Nixon says the white of an egg spread over the face and neck and allowed to dry thoroughly and then removed with a towel dipped in warm water is one of the finest beauty masks that can be used. Following this tightening treatment for the skin, Miss Nixon rubs her face for three minutes with ice.

Billie Burke, the charming actress who has been a stage and screen actress for very many years', still retains a youthful appearance. Asked how she accomplished her apparently perpetual youth, she replied: “By eating to live instead of living to eat. Simple foods and simple life lead to health and health leads to beauty.” Light-eating, and very little meat, is Miss Burke’s policy. For breakfast she has fruit juice, toast and coffee; for lunch, salads; and for dinner, lots of vegetables and buttermilk. ARMED TO THE TEETH “MAKE-UP” REVOLUTIONISED. Miss Dorothy Dunckley, who has just returned to Sydney by the Monterey from Hollywood, where she has been studying the art of make-up in the big motion picture studios of America, on behalf of Cinesound Productions Ltd., Australia, during the last eight months, says, “In the past few months make-up has been revolutionised abroad, to an almost incredible extent.” Miss Dunckley has returned to Australia with new ideas on setting, ' construction and decoration, which are to be incorporated in the new Cinesound production, a musical film, featuring the popular comedian Roy Rene, familiarly known as “Mo” of “Stiffy and Mo” in “Strike Me Lucky.” She has brought back with her an entirely new form of make-up which is exclusively greaseless, non-cracking, transparent and has the distinct advantage of keeping its freshness without constant retouching. Among these recent innovations to the make-up equipment, Miss Dunckley has with her teeth-clips, for. rounding uneven teeth for close-ups in motion picture work, adjustable nails, which can be utilised when a player breaks a nail during the course of production, and even individual eye-lashes.

Lionel Barrymore’s Record. When Lionel Barrymore enacts the role of T. R. Page, millionaire father of Jean Harlow’s lover in “100 Per Cent. Pure,” the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer star will celebrate the 25th anniversary of his first role before a motion picture camera. Though it was 25 years ago that Barrymore played his first screen role (with Mary Pickford in ‘"Die New York Hat”), he had not been continuously on the screen ever since, having digressed for many stage plays and, for a time, to be a director. In his career he has played in more< than 200 pictures, ranging from pioneer “onereelers” to such outstanding hits as “A Free Soul,” “Dinner at Eight,” “Rasputin and the Empress,” “Grand Hotel, ’ and many others.

ACROSS THE FOOTLIGHTS

STARS AT WORK AND PLAY.

LATEST NEWS FROM EVERYWHERE.

Vicki Baum Under Contract.

Samuel Goldwyn has placed Vicki Baum, noted authoress of “Grand Hotel, under contract to write an original story for Anna Sten’s next picture following “Resurrection.” Latest in Bridge.

The latest in bridge comes from Irene Dunne, RKO Radio star, who plays bridge in Hollywood with her husband in New York. They make each play by mail, and at times it takes as long as four weeks to finish one game. H. B. Warner as “Sorrell.”

“Sorrell and Son,” probably the most popular of all silent films, has now been made at the B. and D. studios as a talkie. The London premiere recently was a furore. H. B. Warner plays his original role.

Another Disney Song Hit. “The World Owes Me a Living,” theme song of Walt Disney’s Silly Symphony* “The Grasshopper and the Ants,” is likely to prove as popular as “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf.” “Exit Don Juan.”

The London Films production, “Exit Don Juan,” was directed by Alexander Korda, and has been re-titled “The Private Life of Don Juan.” The cast includes Douglas Fairbanks, Benita Hume, Merle Oberon, Flora Robson, Elsa Lanchester, Wendy’ Barrie, Binnie Barnes, Diana Napier and Joan Gardner. Lajos Biro and Arthus Wimperis wrote the screen adaptation.

League for Mickey Mouse. It is seldom that delegates to the League of Nations are in accord, but one subject the League membership seems to be in unanimous agreement. That subject is Mickey Mouse. Last week the League’s committee on child welfare began negotiations for an international treaty which would allow Mickey Mouse and other approved films “especially for children” entry free into any country affiliated with the League. A Film Studios Boom.

Five thousand persons will be given work and a weekly payroll of £lOO,OOO will be put into circulation as the result of a new production boom at the RKO studios. According to official figures RKO studios are at the highest peak in employment and production since 1929. Thousands of extras are being used in the four films in production and thousands more will be added to take care of the five features that are scheduled to start almost immediately.

“Man They Could Not Hang.” “The Life Story of John Lee,” an adaptation from the book of that name, is Invicta Films’ latest production. It deals with the sensational real-life story of John Lee, who was known as “The Man They Could Not Hang,” _ because Divine intervention prevented him as an innocent man from suffering the injustice of the gallows. The fact that the life of John Lee is the true story which amazed the world at the end of the last century, makes ‘this film more exciting than any pages of fiction. Ron Roberts and Patricia Minchin head the cast.

Time and Money Saver. A new camera that will save hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars in picture production has been developed by William Eglington and Harry Cunningham of the camera department and their associates at the RKO Radio Studios. Seeing the necessity for improvement in the cameras used, these men began their experiment more than a year ago and now they have evolved a camera that boasts of a minimum of bulk, improved sound quality, and complete control of all operations from the outside of the camera instead of from the inside. There is no glass in front of the lens and this obviates the necessity of watching for and guarding against light reflections.

Sequel to “Three Little Pigs.” Walt Disney has scored again! The latest Silly Symphony in colour, “The ■Big Bad Wolf,” recounts the further adventures of the Three Little Pigs and their arch-enemy, the Big Bad Wolf, and is expected to gain an even more hilarious popularity than that accorded the original “Three Little Pigs,” which swept the world on a more triumphant scale than any feature film. “The Big Bad Wolf is Back Again” is the theme song of the newest Silly Symphony, and the film has a score that includes “Two Little Merry Pigs are We,” “Good Morning, Miss Red Riding Hood,” “Crafty Wolf,” “Good Morning, Grandma,” and “Porkers’ Revenge.” In “The Big Bad Wolf” Disney has taken the time-hon-oured story of Little Red Riding Hood, and with his customary variations on 'the original theme, has produced a classic of the short feature category. The-two timid little pigs are still bold and reckless when no danger threatens, but it takes the practical little pig, who is shown buildirig his house of bricks when the film opens, to save Grandma and Little Red. Riding Hood from the Big Bad Wolf. Korda to Produce Wells.

In “The Shape of Things to Come,” the H. G. Wells story which Alexander Korda is preparing to put into production as an early offering from his London Films studio, there will be war on. a colossal scale, with all sorts of strange and sweeping devices of death, while on the more placid side there will be people living many more years than they do now, there will be a working day of four hours and financial system in which gold standards will have no place. Korda will spend eight months making the production from a script which Wells is now writing. Although no cast announcements have been made, Ned Mann, model expert from Hollywood, is already at work in the London Film studios.

Marie Ney Again. “ ‘Hamlet’ in its Entirety,” on Shakespear’s birthday, April 23, constituted a matinee bill at Sadlers Wells Theatre. The performance occupied 4J hours. The house had been sold out a fortnight before, and a consolation performance will be given this week because the request for seats had been so great. The cast is a strong one, writes the London correspondent of The Post on April 24, as the names will convey: Ernest Milton, Hamlet; Gyles Isham, Claudius; William Fox, Horatio; John Garside, Polonius; Charles Hickman, Laertes; Sybil Thorndike, Gertrude; Marie Ney, Ophelia. The Times says of the New Zealand actress: “Miss Ney, playing Ophelia with the most absolute simplicity, achieved the effect of a water-colour drawing.” .Also: “Sir Philip Ben Greet’s production moved swiftly and preserved the thrill of the story, which the conventional cuts generally destroy. In hours there was only half an hour of tedium. That was the length of the interval.”

“Stingaree.” Who has not read “Stingaree?” Through RKO-Radio Pictures the world is soon to have the “talkie” version of this story of an Australian bushranger. Richard Dix, Irene Dunne, and Mary Boland head an all-star cast. The role of a temperamental bad-man is the best that Dix has had for a long while.