THE GREATEST ACTING

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20887, 19 August 1939, Page 17 (Supplement)

THE GREATEST ACTING

ROBERT DONAT’S "MR CHIPS” MARVELS OF MAKE-UP lit is annuonccd that in his next picture, "Ruined City." Robert Don.it i will again indulge in the difficult but I spectacular job of covering a span of ; years by means uf make-up plus i character acting. Probably nothing more spectacular ! or difficult in the way of screen acting ’ has ever been attempted than his por- ; trayal of the old English schoolmaster ,in "Goodbye, Mr Chips, - ’ which has ! just finished a month's run at the i Empire, Leicester Square, where its i takings have constituted complete dci fiance of more-or-less summer condi- ! tions. , in "Chips,” customers were satis- ! fled with four make-up changes, j showing Donat, at 24. then -40, then ! 60, and finally 83. In the "Ruined j City” you will see Donat, indulging in seven make-up changes. which cover Ilie life-time of a wealthy business man who becomes interested in a city of unemployed and fights for its

Already Donat’s make-up experts are researching, worrying, and experimenting with the various guises they will have to bestow on the actor. Donat, meanwhile, is on holiday—not Miami, not the South Seas, not the Riviera—just a trip down into the country with his wife and children. The only thought likely to disturb his recreation is the knowledge that so many make-up changes will again entail his presence at the studio around seven in the morning, since it takes two hours for even the most expert of make-up men to transform Bob into an elderly man. 11l Father Given Special Screening Over in America, Bob's father, Ernest Donat, recently saw a special screening of “Good-bye, Mr Chips” at his home in New England. Mr Donat lives on a mink and fox-breeding farm. He is very ill, so ill that it was feareci

lie might not be able to see his son'* latest and most successful film. News of his illness and also his anxiety to see the picture reached the local cinema manager, who immediately arranged for projection equipment lo he established at the farm. A screen was fixed to the xvall of the farmhouse facing the backyard, and there, in the open air under the stars, Krnest Donat, sitting in an invalid's chair, watched his son rise to the greatest heights of acting ever achieved on the screen by any man.