rf J;; V:i )':'Mir 1 t miM ;kSMV - :, 3 ;: ' In,
i. "n iff ?; 'rraM.r--! i-.A. IX Ml i, ii
irt f ma Gossip
vv
Looking 'em Over
WITH
GAIL GARDNER
Five Star Motion Picture Editor
Ronald Caiman
THOSE who have wept at the trials of that little
group of people, English and French, who were
caught in the maelstrom of the French Revolution
in "A Tale of Two Cities," will follow the story's
unfoldment on the screen with mingled emotions.
For, if those characters whimsical, sardonic,
brilliant Sydney Carton and the
steadfast, courageous Madame de
Farge ever lived for you in the
immortal words of the author,
Dickens, they will again take hn
life-like shapes in the photoplay,
so realistic do they seem.
Ronald Colman has played
many screen roles in. Hollywood,
but none like that of Carton. His
is a magnificent achievement. His
acting has new depth and added
reticence, together with that
something called charm. In the
sequence where the utter futility
of life is portrayed in a kiss to Isabel Jewell, as
the two go their way to the guillotine, so sub
merged is Colman in his-part that this particular
bit of acting becomes a moment of rare beauty.
It is action, pregnant with life's hopeless tender
ness and failure.
This also marks Miss Jewell's finest perform
ance. Those who have seen her heretofore as the
gangster's moll, or as the woman of easy virtue,
will applaud her success in this new opportunity,
and although the vehicle is a starring one for
Colman, the whole picture scintillates with su
perior acting.
Elizabeth Allan, who plays the part of Lucie
Mnnette, and whoso love for Carton was doomed
to frustration in life while it transcended death,
is eloquent in her gift to convey to the audience
her unvoiced thoughts.
Blanche Yurka's screen debut as Madame de
Farge is a pronounced success, while Edna May
Oliver and Basil Rathbone arc apparently born to
play Dickens.
Unusual skill has been shown in adapting the
novel, which gets off to a slow start, but soon
gathers tho proper tempo. The settings are su
perior. The photography is masterful.
David O. Selznick, the man who gave "David
Coppertield" to the screen, produced it for M-G-M.
It was directed by Jack Conway, to whom great
credit is due.
A first peep was awarded reviews by Adrian,
costumo designer, tho other day when he brought
forth a dozen spectacular gowns which will be
worn in "The Great Ziegfeld," starring Myrna Loy
and William Powell and which
should bo released in early spring.
The creations were master
pieces in the art of hand work.
According to the designer, it
took more than a year to obtain
the materials necessary, and a
staff of 250 women working six
mouths to complete the sewing.
Some of the gowns weigh more
than 100 pounds. Many are
equipped with special shoulder
nnlu tn rnlinVA tho WtmOit I
Thp "niipoda of lu-nrls" is n
- -
mass Of pearls of Various sizes Virginia Bruce
interspersed by small, specially ground mirrors.
Each pearl and each mirror was sewn in place by
hand over a base of elastic, to insure close fitting
to the figure.
The "lady of the snows" is a white cloud of
marabou, 3,000 yards in all. It is interwoven with
massed silver sequins.
The "white ostrich pin wheel" is to be worn by
Virginia Bruce. It utilizes 500 white ostrich
plumes. Pear-shaped crystals on the head-piece
are ground from material of ice-blue coloring.
And all the others are equally as elaborate.
PAGE FOUR
From the Studios and Social Centers
of Hollywood
by Jane
At left is charming Maureen O'Sullivan with two Missouri fox hounds . . . Bugle Ann (at her
right) and dignified Barney O'Toole, both stars in "The Voice of Bugle Ann." Lightning (cen
ter), a Gorman Shepherd, reads script of "Thoroughbreds AM" over Joy Hodge's shoulder. Tuffy,
' black and white beauty (right), with Fred MacMurry in "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine."
Clever Dog Actors Back on Screen
Responding to New Silent Signals
Son of Famous Rin-Tin-Tin Is One of First to Be Trained for Talkies, and Is Highest Paid Dog
in Hollywood Drawing $1,000 a Week Salary
By Donna Risher
AUSTED by talking pictures, dog actors by the
I
score are coming back to the screen, because
their owners have now succeeded in teaching their
old dogs new tricks.
These owner-trainers have taught them to re
spond to signals instead of to the voice, which
must not be recorded by the sound track, and they
have met with such success that practically every
studio in Hollywood today is making pictures re
quiring the services of these extraordinary ca
nines. Topping the list is Rin-Tin-Tin, Jr., son of the
famous dog of that name. This dog was one of
the first to be trained for the talkies by his mas
ter, Lee Duncan, and tho animal has responded
to this new system of training to such ft degree
that he has become the highest paid dog in the
business.
His salary is reported to be around $1,000 per
week, and his work in M-G-M's "Tough Guy," a
secret service story starring Jackie Cooper, Joseph
Calleia and others, is nothing short of phenomenal.
According to his owner, Duncan, he has worked
out a given number of signals which replace the
voice commands of silent days.
Dropping the hand is a sign for the animal to
run. Raising the hand is a signal for him to stop.
Spreading the fingers out on the raised hand
means that the dog is required to snarl. ,
"Often I use a rubber ball," related Duncan as
ho stood with Rin out on a studio set the other
day. "If I want Rin to move backwards, I pull the
ball back. If I want him to go forward, I push the
ball forward.
"It took us several weeks to get together on our
signals, but. todav we understand each other per
fectly." In one picture Rin was called upon to lick a
boy's face, his master explained. "I had him lick
my linnd. Then I moved my hand over the boy
actor's face with the dog still licking. Rin snapped
into that piece of 'business' almost at once. He,"
Like all of Shirley Temple's pictures, "The Lit
tlest Rebel" will rate as colossal box ollice,
Tho.se who adore the little Temple will applaud
her song and dance sequences, especially when she
is bolstered up by that veteran, Bill Robinson, in
the dance numbers.
Shirley's latest gives another child actor a chance
to show what he can do. One Master Eddie Mc
Manus proves to be no mean foil, holding his own
with the star in a brief minuet. Undoubtedly Eddie
will be heard from later.
"Freshman Love" is all that you would imagine.
It is a rousing comedy of college life, the flash
ing of oars of a crew race, a musical background,
duty work at the boat house, with the hero and
heroine in a clinch at the end.
Frank Mcllugh, Patricia Ellis, Nick Foran,
Warren Hull and Joe Cawthorne are the featured
players. Direction by Bill McGnnn, from a story
by George Ade.
patting Rin on the head, "is truly remarkable."
On the same lot in another picture, "The Voice
of Bugle Ann," another dog, a Missouri fox hound,
plays a prominent part. She is Bugle Ann, and with
her have come 40 other fox hounds from the hills
and hollows of the show-me state. Their arrival
on the "back lot" was somewhat of a surprise to
studio officials, as blessed events came thick and
fast, in fact, too thick and too fast for Producer
John W. Considine, Jr.
Eight puppies were born to I Do, one of the
hounds that accompanied Bugle Ann. Bessie, an
other of the dogs, gave birth to quintuplets, while
Blue is expecting the stork daily.
RKO-Radio pridefully boasts of Lightning, that
remarkable grandson of the late remarkable
Strongheart. The latter, it may be recalled, was
considered the wonder dog of the silent screen,
and his grandson is said to have inherited all the
German Shepherd's fine qualities. Lightning is now
appearing in "Thoroughbreds All," and his salary
is reputed to be around $400 weekly.
Tuffy, a black and white beauty, is another
smart animal whose movie contract calls for a
salary in three figures. Tuffy is appearing with
Fred MacMurry in Walter Wanger's "The Trail
of the Lonesome Pine."
Prince, the Great Dane who made a hit in "Call
of the Wild" and "A Tale of Two Cities," is now
having a grand time working with little Freddie
Bartholomew in "Little Lord Fauntleroy."
The cocker spaniel, Flash, who had such a life
of ease in "Barretts of Wimpole Street," is now
over at another studio, Universal, where he had
to work a little harder in "Three Kids and a
Queen."
Corky, an airdale, was featured in the series of
the "Adventures of Frank Merriwell." Because
Corky's acting was all the director required, he is
to be starred very soon in an independent picture.
I
Norma Shearer
J)L-
'JF
-J8M r f f .... ....
W.A w .Asm
k-r hii ii 'iirt imnrt .w T.
The perfect film Kisser, Nelson Eddy's osculations are
not too loud, not too soft. He gives a perfect example
with Jeanette MacOonald.
HATTA blow, whatta blow!
Autographed photographs of motion picture
stars are not worth a. dime a dozen. Americas
most famed manuscript and autograph broker,
Thomas F. Madigen, says so. Serious collectors,
Madigen explains, refuse to dabble in screen ac
tors' signatures. For instance, when exclusive,
head-of-the-list player, Norma Shearer, puts her
scrawl across her picture it
isn't worth a nicklc on the mar
ket . . . just sentiment.
The most valuable (autograph
ically speaking) of all American
actors is John Wilkes Booth, the
guy who shot Lincoln. Rare spec
imens of his handwriting are
worth as much as $300. This
value is not because Booth was
an actor, but because collectors
of Lincoln material have made
such big demands for it. So-oo-o,
you needn't break your neck
pushing into those crowds hereafter . . . unless,
maybe there's a BEEG ASSASSINATION.
' Clark Gable's wife in "Mutiny on the Bounty,"
the pretty little Mamo Clarke, has abandoned her
law studies at the University and will continue
as a motion picture actress. Mamo says the "movie
influence" got her.
When the script of "Mother Lode," an RKO
Radio vehicle, called for Richard Dix to prepare
an outdoor meal for his screen
lady love, Leila Hyams, the star
told the director he wanted to "do
the scene right." He would actu
ally cook a real meal. He did. But
Leila had another word for it.
"If Dix is a cook," she countered,
"I'm a forest ranger."
Ginger Rogers' screen roles are
played twice. While Ginger is giv
ing one characterization, her col
ored maid, Myrtle Douglas, does
the other. All through the filming
of her picture, Mvrtle has been
emoting each scene with her mistress. Not only
docs she silently laugh and cry when Ginger does,
but she whispers the star's dialogue lines. Only
the dancing defies her.
"I'm afraid to trust my feet," Myrtle admits.
Betty Furness, M-G-M featured player, says
floral patterns will be used for early spring
dresses. Betty favors bell sleeves and gathered
t fullness at the front of the skirt.
MISCELLANY: Myrna Loy is going to learn
to ski ir sne can induce tne snow
to fall on the hill back of her
mountain cabin . . . Frances Ma
rion is collecting autographs for
an album which she will present
to James Hilton, British novelist,
to take home . . . Paul Muni is
studying Chinese deportment and
mannerisms under the "mayor of
Chinatown," Chester Gan . . .
Joan Crawford now wears no
make-up for the street . . . not
even nail polish.
Registered brands of food are Myrna Loy
taboo in pictures for obvious reasons; therefore
when Jean Harlow was called upon to can a can
of tuna, the studio registered a fictitious company
name, and protected it by a copyright. Thus the
studio became the only concern in the world au
thorized to can that particular can of tuna.
Richard Oix
ffriiitiiity.iil