GENERAL FILM GOSISP.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19060, 3 May 1930, Page 24 (Supplement)

GENERAL FILM GOSISP.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. A. S. R., Lyell.—“ Safety East" is the name of the Harold Lloyd picture. G.C.D.—The role of Mrs Gubbins in “Three Live Ghosts’* was filled by BeryJ Mercer. „ O.R-, Carterton.—Greta Garbo is now under contract to Metro-Goldwyn, Culver City, California. In the application for the photograph enclose international coupon to a value of not less than Is, exclusive of postage. I understand that these days most leading film artists will not send a photograph unless the cost of the photograph and the postage is sent with the application. “Sunnv Side Up” will be at Everybody’s Theatre next week. This is news to gladden the hearts of all those who trooped to see this very pleasing Fox offering a few months ago, for “Sunnv Side Up” can be seen a second time with as much pleasure as at first The songs that are sung, the ballets that are danced, the joyous brand of comedy that is put over by the three comedians, 'EI Brendel, Marjorie W rut:® and Frank Richardson, will be as fresh and comical as they were on the first visit. Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell, the famous teaming pair in pictures, are capital as the romantic pair: he as a son of fashion and millions, she as a poor and obscure little Cinderella. It is a theme that is always popular, and the sponsors of “Sunny Side Up” have managed to make the picture into one of the most fascinating and generally entertaining musical romances seen on the screen. Some of the songs are “Sunny Side Up.” “Turn On the Heat, “Picking Petals Off Daisies,” and “If I Had a Talking of You.” At Crystal Palace Theatre next week, the British talking production, “Atlantic,” will be shown, from the play “The Berg,” by Ernest Raymond. The picture is based on the wreck of the Titanic in 1912, that tragedy which shocked the world, and, at the same time, was a further example of the courage and heroism of the Anglo-Saxon race. It is a fact to be noted and wondered at that stage or screen producers have not used the Titanic theme before this, but perhaps it is just as well that they waited until talkies came along. As a speech and sound \’ehicle, it is ever so much more thrilling and moving. All the action of the film takes place on board the palatial vessel, and a small group of passengers, with their own personal dramas, make up the bulk of the drama before the berg and the Titanic meet. The climax, with the passengers being thrown like ninepins into the icy sea, the band playing “Nearer My God to Thee,” the studied calm of some people and the frenzied terror of others, make the picture a memorable one. The actual production angle is wonderful, the great ship being faithfully reproduced. In the cast are Donald Calthorp, John Longden, John Stuart, Ellaline Terris, Madeleine Carroll, and many other Brit ish artists of note.

At the Majestic Theatre next week, that most popular talkie star, Warner Baxter, will be seen and heard in “Romance of Rio Grande,” a picture that sees him in a caballero role similar to that of the Cisco Kid in “In Old Arizona.” Antonio Moreno, Mary Duncan and Mona Maris are also in the cast. In the picture Baiter is a Spanish-American who lives with his Mexican grandfather in the hacienda along the banks of the Rio Grande, in mortal enmity with his cousin Mor eno), beloved by Carlotta (Mary Duncan), but loving Manuelita (Mona Maris). And when a man loves one woman and scorns another, and falls foul of his Latin cousin, he may expect trouble. “Romance of Rio Grande” teems with colourful incidents, sparkling wit, fierce drama, near-tragedy, and is always brilliantly romantic in that old world way that is quite forgotten to we moderns. No one is better equipper than Baxter to portray this role of caballero, half Yankee, half Mexican, and the rest of the cast, along with the people responsible for the creation of the picture, have thrown themselves heart and soul into the business of making it an absolute winner. Some of the songs in it are “Ride On, Yacquero,” and “You’ll Find the. Answer in My Eyes.” It is taken from the well-known book, “Conquistador,” and is recommended to adult audiences. At the Liberty Theatre next week, Nancy Carroll and Buddy Rogers, who are beginning to make a name for themselves as a team, will be seen in “Illusion,” which, although it deals with show people, is not a sto*y of back stage life. The Carroll-Rogers •team are seen as a pair of illusionists in a circus, and the young man loses his heart to a society beaut 3/, and leaves his comrades for the world of fashion which they do not know. What befalls him there, and what befalls his lonely partner back in the circus, forms most of the story, with a sensational and satisfactory conclusion. It is a simple, unaffected romance of everyday life, characterised by the excellent acting and pleasing clowning of the principals. When it begins to be dramatic, it loses nothing in appeal, and may easily be written down as *he best of the films contributed by Miss Carroll and young Rogers. BE®®®®®®®® ®®®®®®®®®E*

The second picture at Liberty next week will be “Senor Americano,” in which that redoubtable Western brave, Ken Maynard, is seen and heard in his second talking picture. Kathryn Crawford is his leading lady. Once again Maynard strums a soft guitar and sings sweet ditties in the light of the moon, and once again, too, he vanquishes the evil that romance might triumph in the end. By an excellent choice of story and cast, his directors have given the outdoor drama a new lease of life, and it is indeed pleasant to be able to say that “Senor Americano” is one of the most all-round good films of the month. The picture to be screened at the Theatre Royal to-day and next week is “Seven Keys to Baldpate,” a screen version of the highly successful stage play of the same name. Thrills, suspense, mystery and romance are some of the high lights of this picture, in which Richard Dix makes his first talkie appearance. Dix gives one of the finest performances of his long screen career as Magee, the novelist who meets with many adventures while spending the night in a deserted tavern trying to write a novel. The eerie shadows of Baldpate Inn, the howling of the wind outside, and the ominous sound of seven keys turning one by one, in the lock of the tavern door, all create an atmosphere of that rivets one’s attention on the screen. The surprise ending of the story is one that even the most imaginative minds will not guess. Dix is supported by an unusually strong cast of players, two of whom enact

the same roles in the picture that they played in the original stage production. “Seven Keys to Baldpate” is not all mystery and thrills by any means, for there are many humorous passages which relieve the tenseness of the mystery. “Gold Diggers of Broadway,” which has filled Fuller’s Opera House each evening during the last three weeks, will continue to be shown next week. The picture provides one of the most attractive screen entertainments seen in Christchurch for some time. The theme is one of those centred rrmnd New York theatrical life, and it brings out more of the humour and humanity and less of the sordid side, than is usual with films of this type. The picture is full of bright singing and dancing and is produced in techmcffiour, which enables some of the scenes to be shown in a most attractive, and spectacular manner. Nancy Wilford has the female lead and most cf the humorous passages fall to Winnie Lightner, a gifted comedienne. At the Grand Theatre next week. Eden Philpotts’s book, “Widecombe Fair,” will be seen in film form, with Wyndham Standing as the Squire, Marguerite Allen as his daughter, William Fresham as her peasant husband, and Violet Hopson as the widow. This charming and typical story of English county life has been made into a capital picture by the British producers, with some irresistible comedy, good, sound drama and some beautiful shots of the Devon country. “Widecombe Fair” should dispel the idea that it is necessary to go to Hollvwood for romantic and rustic comedy. “Cocktails” will be the second picture at the Grand Theatre next week, one which that erstwhile Italian-Ame-rican comedian, Monty Banks, directed. He shows in this effervescent comedy of smugglers, lovers, detectives, and funnv men, that he is as good at making other people be funny as he is at the business himself. He mixes his fun impartially, he infuses some new gags into the story, he insists on good act-

ing, and the result is a cocktail of romance and laughter.

“Our Dancing Daughters,” which heads the current programme at the Strand Theatre, holds the mirror to the modern jazz age, showing the carefree and even reckless search for pleasure which characterises the younger sex. Joan Crawford has the principal female role, and is supported by Anita Page and Dorothy Sebastian, the three forming a trio of middle-class girls in search of excitement. They resent parental control and despise accepted conventions. John Mack Brown plays the part of a young millionaire, who is desired by at least two of the girls, and whose inability to settle the matter leads up to a most dramatic climax. The photography is of the best, and the sets are magnificent. The principal supporting picture, “Across to Singapore,” is a vivid tale of romance and adventure on the high seas, and in Singapore. A strong cast is headed by Ramon Novarro, Frank Curnier, Ernest Torrence, Joan Crawford and Anna May Wong. A picture that has been booked for early release at the Majestic Theatre is “Smiling Irish Eyes,” an all-talking production, with Colleen Moore in the lead. For the second time in her career, Miss Moore bids adieu to the flapperish, modern role, and steps into the skirt and shawl of the Irish colleen, and she makes a rattling good thing of it. “Smiling Irish Eyes” is a romantic Irish comedy, with all the pathos that one looks for in such plays,

and all the humour. Miss Moore sings and dances and keeps the picture bubbling with happiness and good things, and, assisted as she is by a competent cast and sets that are Kerry re-created, it is no wonder that “Smiling Irish Eyes” has done great business everywhere. “Seven Keys to Baldpate,” at the Theatre Royal will be followed by the Cecil De Mille production, “Dynamite,” of which an American publication says: Cecil B. De Mille, director of a hundred hits, has made in “Dynamite” what will be considered his greatest screen achievement. A thrilling drama which explodes the hypocrisy of the modern Babel called society. “Dynamite” digs through the outer veneer of sham, pretense, and glitter, and gets down to the bed-rock of human emotions. Charles Bickford, Conrad Nagel and Kay Johnson give the best performances of their careers. The English stage is well represented in “Blackmail,” now showing at the Majestic Theatre. In addition to John Longden, a recent success on the West End stage, the cast also contains Donald Calthrop, whose surname shows that he belongs to a family of actors famous in stage history. 2S Z'Z “Vaudeville in the United States is dead. The movies began it years ago, and the talkies have finished it. The theatre is firmly rooted in the large cities, but the smaller towns will suffer.” This is the opinion given by Mr Oscar Hammerstein, millionaire theatre owner and playright, who arrived in Wellington last week on his way back to the United States after a flying visit to Australia. Mr Hammerstein is probably the leading writer of musical plays in the United States, his latest successes being “Show Boat” and “The Desert Song.” What he thinks of the talkies may be gauged from the fact that at present he is living in Southern California making talkies himself. His trip to Australia was taker* between finishing a picture and editing it, which will be his first task on arrival. “The talkies are now finding themselves,” he said. “There has been some uncertainty about them, but producers are learning what to do. For instance, I contemplated many outdoor scenes for my next film, and am now told by engineers that they can record outdoor scenes better than indoor scenes, whereas previously outdoor work was considered to present great difficulties. The talkies’ troubles have been those of a new medium, but they will evolve their own form as the silent films did before them. The great range of scene and fluid action is an enormous asset. In making versions of stage plays they will have to abandon the original structure in many ways and use their own strength to provide alternative methods of developing the production. They would, for instance, be foolish if they attempted to tell a story in no more than three scenes.”

Lon Chaney, it is reported, is threatening Universal with a suit for damaging his reputation by making a talkie of “The Phantom of the Opera” and creating an impression that his voice is heard. i*: ss Seventy-seven stage and screen stars appear in the Warner Bros, and Vitaphone production, “The Show of Shows,” which, it is claimed, for beauty, lavishness, spectacle and star names has not been surpassed on the screen. “I'm glad that face didn’t grew on me!” Lon Chaney said to Louis Wolheim when they met at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios. “You’re no Rembrandt, either,” retorted Wolheim. And each man has made a fortune out of his face! Charles Chaplin’s latest picture, “City Lights,” has been completed, and those who have viewed it at studio showings assert that it is one of the best things.

'®®®®®®@®®®®®®®®®®®®r that Chaplin has ever done and will be a huge success, despite the fact that there is r\o dialogue. 3 3 3 The Australian premiere of Paramount’s all-colour screen operetta, “The Vagabond King,” on the evening of April 9 at the Prince Edward Theatre, Sydney, was the most brilliant and colourful in the long history of that well-established theatre. One of the productions scheduled to be made by Fox Movietone during the current year is a talking version of “A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur’s Court.” The silent version of this Mark Twain story, made by Fox a few years back, was rated as one of the best box office successes of the silent era. The talking version is expected to have even a greater box office appeal. Loretta Young, who is called the Juliet of the screen, is regarded as one of the screen’s most promising dramatic actresses. She will be seen in the First National and Vitaphone production, “Loose Ankles,” and in “Heart of the North,” an all-colour drama to be filmed out of doors. Loretta Young, who is only eighteen years old, has been in pictures two years and is a sister of Sally Blane and Polly Ann Young. *: George Arliss’s latest cinema ; “The Green Goddess,” opened at the Warner Brothers Hollywood theatre and there was a noticeable jump in attendance (writes a Hollywood correspondent). It is interesting to note the change that has been wrought in picturegoers when an actor such as Arliss, totally devoid of the Apollo-like features formerly demanded of screen heroes, can build up a cinema following far exceeding that of many of filmland’s foremost sheiks and great lovers. Irene Bordini is credited with having the most beautiful and expressive eyes seen on the screen, and picture patrons will see them in the First National and Vitaphone production, “Paris.” Miss Bordini is famous for her French characterisations, her quaint Parisian accent and her catchy songs. In “Paris” she is ably supported by Jack Buchanan, idol of the London stage, while others in the case include Jason Robards, Louise Closser Hale and Zasu Pitts. Some beautiful technicolour sequences will be seen in “Paris.” “The Princess and the Plumber,” a whimsical story by Alice Miller which ran serially in the “Saturday Evening Post,” has been purchased by Fox Movietone as a future production for Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. Miss Miller might have had Gaynor and Farrell in mind when she wrote the story, for the characters are perfectly suited to them. The plot is woven about a princess who falls in love with a young American. To her horror, she discovers that he is a plumber, but the chasm between their social positions is bridged in a way to please all audiences.

United Artists, organised in 1919 by Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and .David Wark' Griffith, begins its. second decade with more new factors in production and with many more films scheduled than in any previous year. Announcing plans for the company’s productions, Joseph M. Schenck, the general manager, states that more millions will be spent on sound features than in any previous year of the company’s history. He also confirms the report that United Artists are building the largest kinema theatre in London, seating 4000, at a cost of 8,000,000 dollars.

The old-fashioned Glees and Comic Quartettes in “Under the Greenwood Tree” are features that have assisted in its. great popularity. They are beautifully recorded and are the work of artists, so also is the music rendered by the old-fashioned instrumen tal choir, which, of course, in the storv is replaced by the organ. One of the comic characters in the picture is the quaint old person who plays the oldtime “Serpent,” and just as funny is the enormous blacksmith, who plays the tiny piccolo. The English dialogue is crisp, clever and perfectly rendered-. A sum of £14,000,000 has been provided for financing the Fox Film Corporation following the fade-out of William Fox as the Titan in the movie world and the enthronement of Harley Clarke, of Chicago (says a New York cable in the Sydney “Sun”). The money will go to reorganise the huge business started with £2OO, in Brooklyn twenty-three years ago. William Fox held out against tht money barons long enough to secure five years’ salary at £IOO,OOO annually, and the assurance that his name, in red lights, will still appear above his myriad showhouses Fox bought 300 theatres in Ireland and England, but soon his stocks lost 100 points in a Wall Street crash, bringing alone 0131 dlfficulties he couldn’t stem 3 The unique recording and photographing of a single scene for a talking picture, with the cameras and microphones located thirty-five miles apart, was recently accomplished in Hollywood. In one place the scene itself was photographed, in the other the sound effects were created. The action was for “Young Eagles,” Paramount’s all-talking picture of aerial warfare, starring Charles (Buddy) Rogex-s The scene depicted an air raid over Paris during the war, and the flight of terrorstricken Parisians to the safety of cellars. While the cameras photographed the action at the studios, bombing ’planes at the aviation field thirty-five miles away dropped bombs that the recording apparatus “heard” at the same time it recorded the cries and chatter of the players on the set. “Puttin' on the Ritz,” the United Artists musical extravaganza film, which is said to be one of the outstanding successes of talking films, presents four vaudeville entertainers in the persons of Harry Richman (Netv York matinee idol), Joan Bennett, Lilyan

Tashman and James Gleason. In the photoplay . there is autobiographical similarity in the first appearance of Richman and his co-hoofers on the stage for the first time in a rough mining town. For the erstwhile star of “Scandals” is himself authority for the statement that he was howled off the stage after his first appearance, in Chicago, just as in the film a rowdy mob hoots and cat-calls him off the boards. Richman is one of the highest paid vaudeville artists in the world and the sale of his gramophone records in America, with those of A 1 Jolson, consistently tops the sales. “Picture shows have saved more lives than the hospitals, is the comment made by Cecil B. De Mille, Metro-Goldwyn-Maver producer, about the statement of Dr F. P. Millard, of Toronto, Canada, that “more suicides occur at office desks than at any other place—slow suicides by business men who refuse to indulge in hobbies or take proper exercise.” “I heartily concur with Dr Millard,” said De Mille. “But I would add the further thought that the percentage of such ‘slow suicides’ has decreased since the advent of pictures. The cinema has provided an outlet for the nervous tension of thousands of business men who won’t play and who require the gentle and amusing coercion of a ‘show’ to let them down. I stand on the assertion that the film is the most valuable means to reduce nerve tension that’ has arisen since the world speeded up to its present hectic pace.”

Howard Hughes, producer, director of the talking part-colour picture, “ Hell’s Angels,” is discussed constantly in Hollywood, because he has invested 3,000,000 dollars and two years in a picture. He is 24 years of age, and sound in business knowledge. He has only produced three pictures, “Two Arabian Nights,” “ The Rocket,” and “ Everybody’s Acting.” The Hughes Tool Works, of Houston, Texas, employed 4000 men. The works were organised by Mr Hughes’ father. The young man fell heir to royalty rights on many patents on oil drilling machinery, inventions of his father. His income from these sources is great. He does not seek publicity. He became connected with the production of motion pictures some three years ago and approached them from a business point of view. Nothing even remotely touching the scope of “ Hell’s Angels ” has ever come to the screen, avers a studio executive who saw four reels of the picture in Hollywood. There are hundreds of planes diving at each other, Zeppelins fighting off combat 'planes, villages blasted into smithereens, and authentic combat ’planes of various nations, piloted by aviators, who risked their necks in every scene. Mr Hughes personally directed nearly the whole of the picture, which has been made with a view to presentation throughout the world.