text: JOE E. BROWN AS SHAKESPEARE'S 'FLUTE' MARCH IN 'LES MISERABLES' JKL Hr Ji'JHWM ■ ii ®of x * ; ’ lIBBKMi'v^BI^^BEB^Esr 1 » - : '^^BPBA s B IBs BBhI ißf ■ OBMBCmh t «n R'xkl h m Rfß sr/ -W./.Jfli K fl i U Ik 1 wtfl HK ■< w< ■ -.; \ ® '. ®''ft' ■ ; Hbfl ■ IMI •• IRmI ■' ■'-»’ ■w A ■ - ■ aMKaW”™Mwte: •• '&'■'• - ■ ■■->. Il b i Ik J I x -W HHHMfcz. ’' -y BS* “ -s¥ st-'' IBBgaifc,:.^:■ '-'t t v oH 11 a J Sb/ <1 I w « w; ■ •^WI K \ T><MMHMHHHMiHMi w.- ■ ! ■ 4 We?^ ~ w MIMMi MSk - aP* 1 £* i3HS3 ■ la fe- jBBB Fl & I BMM BHH •JHBh:'h P ■ MH wbßi wlii®w - « fl P r -. PRiw' o Hi : '’’ :: WW az-x.AiH - ■ •*■ '. fIEQB WIDE-MOUTHED JOE E. BROWN goes literary. Yes, that’s him standing beside the mule with his trick make-up for the role of “Flute,” in the Max Reinhardt production of Here's the Why of Stars HOLLYWOOD, April 8 (1.N.5.). Why is a screen star? Hollywood has offered many theories, but Fred Datig, veteran Paramount casting director, today presented a very simple one. Players become stars, he said, because they resemble typical characters in everyday life. Two very obvious cases, the film official declared, are George Raff, whom he classes as a typical New York night club habitue, and Carole Lombard, who is everyone’s idea of a sophisticated lady. According to Datig, here is the result of the same analysis applied to various Paramount players. Bing Crosby: Rising young doctor or professional man; Mae West, night-club hostess; Gail Patrick and Gertrude Michael; Belles of the South; Claudette Colbert: The girl to whom you’d offer candy, perfume and orchids; Marlene Dietrich: The visiting princess or the eager young wife; W. C. Fields: Many Dickens characters, or Foxy Grandpa; Gary Cooper: The cowboy come to town; Herbert Marshall: Man about-town; Mary Boland: The well-to-do matron; Charles Rugges: The grouchy grandpop and Sylvia Sidney: The demure girl just out of finishing school. The hard thing, Datig admitted, is to take untried players and to figure out, in advance, whether they personify any universal type. Marx Boys Are Bridge Nuts HOLLYWOOD, April 6.—Did you hear that the Marx brothers are carrying a bridge champion on their personal appearance tour? It’s true. His name is Lee Langdon and he once teamed with Jacoby, to defeat the Culbertsons. Bridge is the one subject that the Marxes are serious about, especially Chico, who is a crack player. The idea is for Langdon and Chico to stage a series of Bridge tournaments in the towns where they play. Chico has never forgiven Culbertson for refusing to meet him when the bridge ace was in Hollywood making pictures. These Ballplayers really like curves a wife. GABBY HARTNETT, catcher of the Chicago Cubs, takes on Grace Bradley for a bat tug-of-war, while Freddy Lindstrom, the Cubs’ third baseman, engages Ann Sheridan. This HOLLYWOOD PREVIEWS “Black Fury” Rating: Good (Warners) Flung with resounding impact against a drab, colorless coal town is a drama of Miner Paul Muni, his girl and his miner pals, and through his muddled yearnings a saga of men, mines and methods is movingly presented, factual as a newsreel, warm and tender in human significance. Using as a basis the revelations in January “Fortune” magazine of private detective agencies that foment strikes to supply plug uglies and scab labor at tremendous fees, Warners have produced an important topical picture splashed with the sodden poverty of the mining town, depicting the brutality of strike engineers in all their violence and heartbreak. Muni, drunk after his girl THE WASHINGTON TIMES, SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 1935 Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Don’t know what Pat O'Brien is doing there. Just a camera hog, I guess. By the way, Jimmy Cagney plays “Bottom.” (Karen Morley) skips with Copie William Gargan, is sucked into the maelstrom of industrial warfare by Provocateur Carol Naish, who calls a strike, electing dumb Miner Muni as head. Ignorant, groping as strong arms are sworn in and scabs take over the mining, Muni feels the wrath of his pals as the crisis mounts and women spit at him as hunger stalks. Ready to capitulate to terms, Mimi sees his pal, James Qualen, brought by coal police for protecting a girl and, coming to his rescue, is pulped himself. Burning to rehabilitate himself, he escapes from the hospital, steals food and dynamite and, meeting Miss Morley, back from Gargan, blows up sections of the mine and holds a one-man strike, preventing others from working, thereby bringing conciliation, open mines, is part of their spring training at Catalina Island, the Wrigley camp. Griff might make a hit by introducing this stunt at training camp next season. Acclaim and Karen to his side. Muni’s performance, undoubtedly one for Academy consideration, is poignant, penetrating, outstanding. Michael Curtiz, in broad-stroke style, has directed with virile sweep, imaginative and heart-touching. The production, without siding with men or management, reflects all the smeary dreariness of Polish home and mine life in graphic expanse and artistic correctness. An outstanding cast supports, including those mentioned above and Barton McLane, Vince Barnett, Tully Marshall, Mae Marsh and Sarah Haden. Adapted from an original by Judge Musmanno and a play by Harry R. Irving, the screen play by Abe Finkel and Carl Erickson is brisk, vivid and stirring. As a successor to Muni’s “Scar-WOULD YOU recognize Fredric March behind that big crop of whiskers? It’s Freddy, sure nuff, in the role of Jean Vai-By Jimmy Starr. By Jimmy Starr “Face” and “Red” "Am a Fugitive" this offers showmen a front-page subject without political bias, melodrama packed with tumult, an entertainment to cause talk and come-back patronage equal to or surpassing the latter film. Paints for Living Mary Ellis, singing star in “Paris in Spring,” formerly was a commercial artist. She earned her own living by painting from the time she was 15 until she went on the stage. Directs in German When giving film directoral orders to Marlene Dietrich in “The Devil Is a Woman.” Josef von Sternberg always issues his instructions in the German language. Tepason District 7000 Jean for Twentieth Century’s production of Victor Hugo’s “Les Miserables.” Charles Laughton has prominent role in the picture. Spring Onions, Toe-Tickling Once Helped 'Em to Act HOLLYWOOD, April 6.—All the fake acting tricks of the days of silent motion pictures have been discarded by adult actors with only a few of the subterfuges still in active use in making small children register the proper emotions for scenes. This was revealed by Jack Holt, a star of silent films and the star of Columbia’s new drama, “Jim Burke’s Boy” in which he started his twenty-first year on the screen. Holt has seen some of the most ridiculous stunts employed by the untalented but beautiful players of the past so that they could simulate real acting. “There was an actress who played opposite me some years ago who was so bad she couldn’t register hunger after fasting for two weeks,” Holt recalled. “I remember one scene she had to do in which she was supposed to smile through her tears.” She could neither bring up a spontaneous smile nor cause tears to flow. She was in a serious predicament. Suddenly she took off her slippers and called for an onion which she cut into pieces and placed in a handkerchief. She held this beneath her face and that brought tears. Then she ordered the property man to tickle the soles of her feet with a whisk broom and thus was able to smile. It looked very real and pathetic on the screen. “Then there was an actor— I remember the scene quite well. He was supposed to be madly in love with the wife who had left him. He was supposed to show all the pain and hurt that a man would in such a situation but this actor couldn’t show anything except a dead pan. Yet he gave a very realistic performance in a close-up by having his valet twist his leg until it hurt. “One director for whom I worked had several important scenes to make in which his players were supposed to be angry. He knew they weren’t capable of acting so he annoyed and criticized them all during production until they hated him, and when they came to the scene he just stood in their line of vision and they did their anger scenes to perfection. “Surprise was always a difficult emotion for the players of that particular era. Many directors obtained this emotion by firing off a gun unexpectedly. “Today a few of these tricks are employed on child and animal actors. But we do not use any of the tricks that mean pain. We hold up bones for dogs to look at and toys for children. We take toys away from children and they cry.” Three years ago Jackie Cooper was made to cry by the director pretending to fire his boy chum. Small Town Boy Robert Taylor never lived in a town of more than 5,000 people until he came to Southern California to go to college—and to be “discovered” by M-G-M and given a motion picture contract. Sylvia Returns Home Sylvia Sidney has returned to Hollywood following a lengthy vacation in Florida and New York. Her next film, “Accent On Youth” will start soon. 