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MARITAL FARCE “SMARTY”
At The Alhambra To-morrow
on
That a poke in the jaw is often the most effective love potion will *be "demonstrated at the Alhambra
Theatre.
Saturday. when Warner Bros, screamingly funny farce. "Smarty," has its local de- but, with Warren William doing most of the hitting and Joan Blondell on the receiving end.
F, Hugh Herbert, who is equally famous as an author and an actor, wrote the piny upon which "the picture is based, and has given to the theme of 'a woman who loves
TREASURE
ISLAND
Final Showings At
The Queen's
Creating a "composite picture" of the mental impressions of more than a hundred million people is the exacting directorial task that confronted. Victor Fleming, who directed "Treasure Island.“ --- venture classic based on Robert Louis Stevenson's famous book-- the most widely read pirate story ever written. The picture has its final showings to-day at the Queen's Theatre.
"This responsibility to the vast number of readers estimated .by
to be mastered many surprising publishers to have been thrilled and bizarre angles.
Miss Blondell. portraying the sole of a beautiful young woman who unconsciously does things calculated to make her husband beat her, but who rushes to the divorce court when a slap is fol- lowed by an apology, rotates from one busband to another and back again, in a series of peculiar mari- tal mix-ups, is given an exception- ally fine opportunity to show her real talent.
:
Warren William is the husband who is goaded co exosperation "and finally slaps his bride in a bridge game quarrel, but becomes contrite and loses her to Edward Everett Horton, taking the part of a divorce lawyer whose antipathy to men who would hit a woman does not prevent him from finally tak. ing a sock at his bride himself, a situation for which his courtroom experience has failed to prepare him for his abject. apologies only cause the lady to run back to her first husband who thrashes her soundly and wins her everlasting devotion.
Frank McHugh has the role of meddling neighbout. and adds much to the merriment of the en- tertainment by his blundering an- tics.
Ciatre Dodd has the role of an habitual divorcee, while Joan Wheeler plays the part of a young wife who is unsuccessful in her ambition to be sinful
One of the novel innovations 13 a show within a show, for a score or more beautiful young things clad in fluffy nothings disport them- selves in a fashion shop, present-. ing a style show of frocks, cloaks, the latest creations in hats and lingerie and right garments. It is at this show that shocks her hus. band that the wilful wife buys a
by Stevenson's book has resulted in the strictest care in every phase of production for the picture," de- clared Fleming, directer of mang other adventure Alms. ·
The adaptation of the book prepared by John Lee Mahin has been faithful to the spirit of the original even to the extent of ac- tual excerpts from dialogue and descriptions of action. When I read the instructions for scenes I tried to follow" "what Stevenson himself wrote rather than to make a motion pleture version based purely on the action. In settings, we were confronted with á situa- tion that made attention to de- tail imperative. Mention the "In-
HONG KONG DAILY PRESS FRIDAY DECEMBER 28, 1934.
TO DAY ONLY
|2.30, 5.10.7.15
9.30 P.M.
LIVE NOWHERE' REVEL ANYWHERE LOVE EVERYWHERE
AN ERIK CHARELL PRODUCTION
KINGS
CARAVAN
A FOX Picture with
CHARLES BOYER
LORETTA
YOUNG
JEAN PARKER
terior of the apple barrel." the DOWN TO THEIR
stockade." "Anding the treasure" "the adventure ship Hispaniola" to most anyone who has read the story and he can give you an ex- act description from his personal impressions: We have tried to achieve an "ideal" in design in each set that will seem familiar as childhood memories.
"Designs of costumes have fol- lowed the popular conception of pirate garb with a simplicity that will make them real and take away
any curse of period dress. Other
technicalities of the picture such as fire-arms, cutlasses, cannons and other items in pirate life were prepared under the supervision of Dwight Franklin who is considered to be America's leading pirate au- thority and formerly with the Museum of the City of New York."
An these elements enter into Fleming's direction in which he says there has been a constant Adelity to Stever.son. The "an- thor's influence, he maintains, is all important ́in reaching the reading public, and those who are not familiar with the story will
thrills on the screen.
LAST YACHT
Sunday's Attraction
At The King's
"Down to their last Yacht rated as the season's most am- pitious musical extravaganza, will be next Sunday's attraction at the King's Theatre. Threaded into an unusual plot and highly spectacu lar settings, the show provides a carnival of new popular songs, glamorous ensemble dances, and a congress of feinale and male pul- chritude, as RKO-Radio's successor to the immensely liked "Flying Down to Rio.”
The story concerns a party of bluebloods with nothing but a yacht between them and starva- tion, and a group of opulent so- cial cimbers, all herded together on the yacht, with the ex-socialities
garment that would be lost in a enjoy one of literature's greatest serving us crew and the parvenus
vanity case said garment playing an important role in the hilarious though somewhat violent climax.
Robert Florey directed the pro- duction « from the screen play by Mr. Herbert and Cart Erickson,
One of the most wonderful casts of the year stars Wallace Beery as Lang John Sliver, and Jackle Cooper as Jim Hawkins, boy: ad- venturer in situations that surpass the appeal of their work together in "The Champ." Lionel
even
"LADY KILLER" Barrymore plays Bill. Bones while
Now Showing At The Star
A picture within a picture may aptly describe James Cagney's latest for Warner Bros. “Lady Killer," which is showing now at the Star Theatre for in it Cagney appears as a motion picture star.
While many in Hollywood recog- nize in the role that Cagney plays the counterpart of another male star in pictures, who actually rose to screen prominence by the very methods that Cagney used attain stardom In "Lady Killer
to
the important "feature about the latest Cagney opus is the fact that in his new role he is called upon to portray as a movie actor the very roles that has led to his pre- sent popularity in pictures.
In other words, he appears in
Otto Kruger, Lewis Stone, Nigel Bruce, "Chic" Sale and dozens of others are character players In the supporting cast.
as passengers. A rapid succession of hilarious situations is the in- évitable outcome..
Stranded on an island in the South Seas, they fall into the hands of attractive natives and an exotic white queen. Here, on "The Island of Malakamokalu, where there is nothing but love to do" as one of the songs goes, the two widely separated stratas of society are seized with a common urge and decide to remain in this Utopia,
The "cast of "Down to Their
WORLD WAR ON Last Yacht boasts of twenty-
THE SCREEN.
(Special Air-Mail Service)
London, Dec. 12.
Kind has just been completed and A war film of a quite unusual
shown in New York by Fox. The title is "The First World War," and
the compiler is Laurence Stallings, editor of the Fox Movie-
tone News and author of those famous anti-war documents, "The Big Parade" and "What Price Glory!": a double guarantee. both of the scope and the intention of the present film.
The material for "The First World War" has been collected
"Lady Killer" Orst as a gangster partly from the newsreels, and who flees to Hollywood in an effort to get away from his former partly from the official archives mates and
of the beulgerent nations. Much from the police who desire to question him. It will be of it, we are told, has never been remembered that Cagney's first hit seen before, and contains officials was a gangster in "Public Enemy"", secrets of the time. Beginning Then after he has broken into the fourteen years before the outbreak movies as an extra gangster, he of hostilities, the film presents a builds himself up with the produ- pictorial record of the public and. cer by writing his own voluminous private lives of some 680 presidents fan mail in a sort of high pressure kings. Archduke Ferdinand and publicity campaign strongly re- the Great War itself. miniscent of his "Hard to Handle."
Mas Clarke, who two years ago helped Cagney spring to fame in "Public Enemy" by standing for the pushing of a grapefruit into her face, again is on the receiving end of the typical Cagneyan man- nerisms when it comes to handling refractory "moll" sweethearts who refuse to be dropped bot
Margaret Lindsay plays the role
OWN
work in
The task of assembling and editing the vast mass of material required has taken many months of laborious research and patient application. More than seventy- five miles or fim had to be examined before the first rough ent of the picture could be made, and a complete picture gallery of the world's celebrities had to be col- fected, in order to identify accur ately the various figures appears
of leading lady to Cagney the on the screen more star. Others in the cast
Include Leslie Fenton, Raymond George Blackwood Roy Hatton, Douglas Dumbrine and directed.
seven featured players, headed by Mary Boland as the island queen. Polly Moran is cast as a crude, but high-pressured promoter who piles up the shekels by boosting the newly-rich up the rungs of the social ladder. Ned Sparks, the frozen faced comedian, is the cap- tain of the yacht, Sidney Fox
TO-DAY
ONLY
The Greafest Adventure Picture of All Time!
WALLACE
BOOKING "AT THE THEATRE TH, No. 25913 95332
PO-MORRI
RIPPLING tūnes! WAVES of joy 1 STORMS of laughter! OCEANS of delight!
ЯКО Radio Picture
DOWN THEIR LAST YACHT
with
MARY BOLAND POLEY MORAN NED SPARKS SIDNEY FOX SIDNEY BLACKRIR Directed by Foul Simens
Low Brock, associate produces. Fundra $. Firmen, szerethve prosecns,
THE MERRY WIDOW
Coming Tomorrow To been the
The Queen's
Nearly three months of produc- tion, following months of prepara- tion and research; great symphony orchestras with musicians hand- picked from all parts of the coun- try: some of the biggest sets ever built for a talking picture; hun- dreds of gorgeous costumes and elaborate ballet numbers, are -among the massive details that
went into
the filming of the world's most popular musical ro- mance, "The Merry Widow," Ernst Labitch's spectacular production opening to-morrow, at the Queen's Theatre,
It's Alming was regarded in Hollywood as one of the bugest production tasks since the inception of taking pictures. Its hundreds of people, its amazing locales, the seal and ballet ensembles, the
marvellous special recording, all serve as a glamorous Continental background for the love story of Danilo and Sobie,
The reunion of Ernst Lubitch, Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald under the production banner of Irving G, Thalberg has
talk of fans and the screen industry ever since. Thai- berg's first decision to film the in- ternationally-popular story, bring- ing to the screen for the first time ite glamorous Viennese music.
Among the great settings are the colourful replica of Maxim's resort in Paris; the famous "White Set." a huge apartment done in twenty graduations of white; the palace set. the grand stair case, and the Embassy, largest set in. the history of the studio. In this the famous waltz is presented with 180-dancers under the tutelage of Albertins, Rasch,, and the two principals dance to romance on its dreamy rhythm.
The original Lehär story was adapted to the screen by Ernst Vajda and Samson Raphaelson and typical "Lubitch touches" and shafts of whimsical wit heighten the gay Continental charm of the script.
With the signing of Lubitch, and
TO-DAY AT THE CINEMA
KING'S:-
HONG KONG
**Caravan"
QUBEN'S -
Treasure Island”
ORIENTAL:-
"Operator 13"
MAJESTIC
KOWLOON
"Myrt and Marge" ALHAMBRA:-..
“Circus Clown"
KING'S:
Coming
"Down To Their Last Yacht". QUEEN'S :----
The Merry Widow". ORIENTAL:-
"Wonder Bar" "Süver Dollar*
MAJESTIC
THEATRE Natia Road Kowloon. Tel 57222 TO-DAY & TO-MORROW At 2.30, 5.20, 7.20 & 310 P.M. WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE?
MYRT N
MARGE
Come and see that radio's favorites are just as clever on the screen as on the air, in the feature comedy With Ted Healy, Eddie Foy, Jr. Thomas Jackson, J. Farrell MacDonald, Ray Hedge, Grace Hayes, Trine Frigenza. Directed by Al Boasberg. Produced by Foy Productions, Ltd. Presented by Carl Laemmļa,
A UNIVERSAL PICTURE.
4 SHOWS!
TAKE AND TRAN-DE HAPPY WALLET BUS
*7.16—8.30
ORIENTALE
2 MORE TO-DAY & TO-MORROW
DAYS
·PLEMINO ZGAD
TEL:- 20478
BIG DOUBLE FEATURE PROGRAMME 2 FEATURE PICTURES FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!
DAVIES OPERATOR COOPER
13
"Jean Escher
2. Alesasen. INE Meals
The Form Mil
STAN
OLIVER
preliminary plans for settings. UNFORGETABLE SCREEN LAUREL HARDY
Herbert Stosthart, former às30- clate of the "Merry Widow" com- poser, was assigned the task of musical arrangement and conduct-- ing of the orchestras, which he assembled. These range from a full symphony assemblage to spec-
·ial musical units of Russlan, Gypsy: Viennese and other types, for such songs as "Villa" "Girls Girls, Girls”, the great waltz song,
and Sidney Blackmer have the ro "I'm Going to Maxim's" and mantic leads,
others. Lehar's music was kept Hundreds of Hollywood's pret intact. In fact the waltz number tlest girls, two dozen plcked | is played to a score written in the specimens of super manhood, composer's own hand. star adagio dancers, Bamoan na- Lubitch's cast includes Edward tive orchestras,, featured ballroom Everett Horton, Minna Gombell, orchestras a chorus of sixty train- | 'Una Merkel, George Barbier, Ruth ed voices, and the dance and song | Channing, Herman Bing, Sterling hit numbers provided by a staff of Holloway Donald Meek and others six noted composers, fortify the of note, "all supporting Maurice attraction magnitude of "Down to Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald, Their Last Yacht."
co-starred, excellently.
BULLN'S
BEERY
Treas
LIONEL
AT 2.30, 5.10,
$7.20 & 9.30
P.M..
Goldwyn-
Triumph
JACKIE
COOPER
nd
BARRYMORE
OTTO KRUGER, LEWIS STONE, NIGEL BRUGE CHAS (CHIO)SALE AND A HUNDENDE OTHERS
ENTERTAINMENT - SHE WAS A SPY BEAU- TIFUL BUT DANGEROUS,
A SPY SENT, TO CATCH A SPY!
“CARAVAN”
Showing At The King's
"Caravan," Erik Charell's unique and spectacular musical romance now showing at the King's Theatre, has its setting in the Tokay dis- trict of Europe during the grape harvest. Harvest scenes there fore, were naturally important in the Alm, and a big vineyard was accordingly built as one of the sets But supplying grapes for the vines turned out to be a very dif--| ferent matter. Rudy Bylek, of the studio landscape art department, drove some 1800 miles through California and Mexico, and found not a grape of any kind. The local variety would not be ripe until after Thanksgiving day, and eastern cold-storage houses, when appealed to by wire, similarly replied they were devoid of the fruit. In most industries this would have ended the matter, but the movies have developed a technique all their own
Abandoning the telegraph, Bylsk began to concentrate on the South American cables. Far below the equator, South America was,, NOW experiencing its fall season-and messages revealed that in the Ar- gentine grapes were already being picked. That night several tons of ripe Tokays were put aboard a fast cold-storage boat and headed north Four weeks later, just as Director Charell was getting ready for his vineyard scenes, the arrived in perfect | conditi ready for the picked and quent wine-making"
vourite
Parker, haye
IN THEIR VERY LATEST SCREAMING COMEDY
"GOING -BYE BYE
ALHAMBRA
ABESTE
TODAY ONLY
CIRCUS DAYS ARE
FEATURING
BRO
CIRCUS CLOWN
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