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Looking 'em Over
WITH
GAIL GARDNER
Five Star Motion Picture Editor
fed
1;-
Gary Cooper
"PNESIRE," the picture expected to do bo much
for Marlene Dietrich, has evidently accom
plished its purpose, because the studio has set her
to work Without a breathing spell, in another film.
Under the personal supervision of Ernst Lub-
ltsch, the big Paramount boss, p
Dietrich, who co-stars with Gary
Cooper, emerges a better actress
than she has proved herself to be
heretofore.
Much of the picture's success is
due to the intelligent direction of
Frank Bor2age, whom, you'll re
member, created "Seventh
Heaven" and "A Farewell to
Arms" on the screen.-
In "Desire," Miss Dietrich plays
the part of a clever thief, who
steals a rope of pearls In Paris
and flees south over the Spanish
border. Enroute, Bhe encounters an American en
gineer.'Gary Cooper. The love story begins at that
point. And, It goes without saying, it endB as you
like it. -
In order to obtain authentic backgrounds for the
photoplay a camera crew was sent from Hollywood
to Spain and Paris. There approximately 50,000
feet of film were exposed and shipped back for in
corporation In the finished picture.
The supporting cast includes John Halliday, Wil
liam Frawley, Ernest Cossart, Akim Tamiroff and
Alan Mowbray.
IT is ft truism, long familiar, that you can't judge
a book by its cover, likewise, a movie by its
title.
"You May Be Next," starring Ann Sothern, Is a
picture with a highly original
plot, but you'd never suspect it by
the title it has been given.
The main theme of the story
Ucb in the possibility that any
criminal or mischief-maker, by
using a little radio knowledge,
can spoil any broadcast he
chooses to. And that's the situa
tion in this st,ory where Douglas
Dumbrille, as a racketeer, sees in
this scientific fact a means of hi
jaeking the radio business out of
thousands of dollars.
He puts his unique idea into ef
fect una makes the radio station pay him off. This
leads to a kidnapping, a love alTair and a lot of
other interesting adventures.
Ann Sothern, as a cafe singer; Lloyd Nolan, as a
young radio engineer, and Dumbrille, present the
story effectively and convincingly.
AND now the world, which used to be waiting
for the sunrise, is now awaiting the release
of Mao West's latest, "Klondike Lou." It ought to
be showing in your town any day now; IT not. this
reviewer may help some by telling you right olT
that Mae herself wrote the screen play and the
dialogue.
Consequently, the picture has Mae's own for
mula, which she has used consistently throughout
her Hollywood career, i.o., "I'm a good woman for
a bad man."
The fact that la West has jumbled the Alaskan
gold rush of the Ws, San Francisco's Chinatown
as Mac sees it, and a battle with the elements
aboard a freighter, will give you seine idea as to
the subject matter.
Mae, who has never been concerned with plausi
bility or consistency in her films, has made sure
of one thing the censors won't bother her, in this
her last picture under the Paramount banner.
ALICE FAYE, the girl Rudy Vallec introduced to
Hollywood, is being given bigger and better
PAGE FOUR
Ann Sothern
Hollywood is watching the production of the tamous besl-ecilert ''Trail or me t-unesome Pine," with great interest,
and here are three scenes from this, th first outdoor, all -color venture. Left, Sylvia Sidney and Henry Fonda enjoy
a romantlo moment. Center, Miss Sidney proves she Can peel potatoes with the best of them. Right, Fonda fighting
off them dang feudists, or something.
Movie Makers Cross Fingers Waiting
Audience Verdicts on New Color Film
"The Trail of The Lonesome Pine" Expected To Be Decisive Test in Experiments with Process
Director and Crew Faced Hard Task in Production
By Donna Risher
Donna Risher
WHILE rjval groups are giving awards for the
best actors, the best directors, the best pic
tures and whatnot, the thinking element of the in
dustry is anxiously awaiting the failure or success
of one lone picture. nv
Over this particular photoplay suspense hangs
like an aura. It is a bold launch
ing into hroad and expensive ex
perimentation with Hollywood's
new God, Color.
Does the fate of the Industry
hang upon its success ?
The picture Is "The Trail Of
the Lonesome Pine," which at
this writing, is in the cutting
room of the Walter Wanger Pro
ductions, but which may be show
ing in your home town by the
time you read this.
It is destined to do one of two
things.
It will either become the color picture to end all
color pictures, or it will become the film that will,
as once occurred with sound, enthrone color su
preme over all. If the latter, it will, like sound,
ring the death knell of a thousand individual hopes.
It will hurl many a famed name over the brink of
oblivion. And with new, inexorable demands, It
will bring forth new faces, new names and new
powers behind the thrones.
For as surely as sound pushed out actors and
actresses with untrained voices, so will color dis
card those who have been depending upon the art
of make-up to get them by on the screen. 1
THIS picture, therefore, is a challenge.
Will the old, 4he black and white, give way to
the new the gorgeous color?
In "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine," Henry
Hathaway, the director, sought his color in one of
the most beautiful outdoor settings possible. He
took his company to the pine forests of Big Bear
Valley, 70 miles from Hollywood.
Soon after work started, Hathaway discovered
Nature was entirely too lavish, however, to suit his
purpose. Too much coloring, he knew, would de
parts by her studio as her career advances in pic
tures. In her latest, "King of Burlesque," the yellow
Mmmmjmmm haired Alice is the "grand little
. trouper" and the "pal" of the
Y , . " boys who produce the naughty
' v x shows with the tease "strip" acts
and the beefy choruses.
' Alice, with a heart of gold,
stands out in this evil atmosphere
like a white lily in a pond of blue
mud. She loves Warner Baxter,
the king of burlesque. But shucks,
Baxter can get any woman he
wants, and Alice is just a "nice
kid" after all.
So he moves up to the Broad
way houses, refines his shows and
makes a pile of monev.
Then he goes Park Avenue by marrying a social
ite who take his bankroll and heads ?or Reno.
Palsy Alice has become a great actress with a
bankroll of her own, in iAHidon. But does she for
get the king? She does not. Back she comes to
Broadway, hands over her money, establishes the
king in another show and saves the day for Mr.
Baxter, like the little pal she Is.
The picture Is frothy and of small entertainment
value.
tract from the action. And action, the director be
lieves, is the most important feature of any picture.
Frequently the company found it necessary to
dig up flowers, cut off green branches and avoid
bright blue skies when shooting a scene. The
process, Hathaway said, was something like trying
to keep a girl in a scarlet dress from walking into
the portrait of Whistler's Mother.
LATER when it came time to build the sets an
other problem arose. Various kinds of wood and
paint were tested. Paihtecl wood was found to be
unsatisfactory because the reflection of light on it
gave off a variety of colors. So Hathaway sent his
assistant, Richard Talmadge, around the country
side buying up old weather-beaten barns. These
were demolished and the lumber used in the sets.
The costumes of the players Sylvia Sidney,
Henry Fonda and Fred MacMurray also had to
be all dull browns and grays before they would
take the proper coloring. And the make-up man,
Sam Kaufman, was the busiest man on "location"
when the mountain air whipped up the cheeks and
noses of the players and complexions became too
ruddy for the sensitive color process.
For three months the entire staff worked with
the greatest precaution. Wanger and Hathaway
feel certain they have a success. But the industry
is waiting eagerly for the answer.
TRUE, color pictures have been attempted before
this one. "The Three Little Pigs," by Walt Dis
ney in 1932, was not only immediately successful,
it was a sensation.
Merian Cooper followed with a short, "La Cucar
acha," which gave the new three-color process a
new lease on life. Then followed "Becky Sharp,"
which disturbed the color sense of audienceB every
where, thus dampening the enthusiasm of pro
ducers. '
And now, what does the future promise?
Will the color revolution completely upset the
industry? If so, the girls and boys who are now
riding high had better begin to adjust themselves
to the new scheme of things.
Proving Helen Can Sew!
Alice Fays
wvjM vf
Is Scotty wsrmT Dormt h lock It? Helen Vinton,
blond actmi and the owner ef Seotty, made the coat
herself when the weather turned chilly.
Gossip
From the Studios and Social Centers
of Hollywood
by Jane
Wallace Beery
HOLLYWOOD out-doors is more theatrical than
the studios , . the air is Bparkling, wine
dashed, sunlit and tonic . . . green foliage every
where . . . the hills beyond are mauve and emerald
. . . roses are showing their pink buds . . . Spring
sends an announcement she will visit Hollywood
boulevard soon that sassy, sprightly, captivating,
flirtatious Spring.
THE last Bronx cheer has been seen and heard
on the screen. Yes siree. The ban has been
placed by the industry. The edict was issued right
after Charlie Laughton delivered
a beautiful one to his millionaire
employer in "If I had a Million."
That particular type of raspberry,
along with Lionel Barrymore's
snoring and Wallace Beery's
belching, has been outlawed for
all time, the industry heads de
clare. THE most prolific and the most
successful writer for the
screen today is a dentist. His
name is Zane Grey, graduate of
the University of Pennsylvania,
who practiced as a dentist before turning to writ
ing as a career. .
MISCELLANY: As the next best thing to a
twin, the Jack Haleys are going to try to
"match" their two-year-old Jackie when they go to
Chicago soon to visit the Cradle, famous foundling
home patronized by the film folks . . . John Carroll
wining and dining Steffi Duna at the Russian Eagle
vvmier adbi ana rresion r oster playing a
. . . Owen Davis, Jr., and Patricia
Wilder definitely aware of each
other's presence in the studio
cafe.
IF she had her life to live over,
there isn't ft sinr-lp thine
fe j Mae West would change. "Why
Y, -X3T A, not?" asks Mae, "I'm doing all
IP.Swy right." She is perfectly cohtented,
Pf 11 sne admits, because she likes her
work, bhe likes her mode of liv
ing. She has all the friends she
wants and she has a certain
amount of public adulation.
,V T 1.
. naa it ail to do over
again, she says, "I wouldn't change a single day."
"nOLLlNG ALONU" will regale, refresh and
l amuse you if you yearn to hear, see and en
joy comedy with good music. The picture is solid
i-uiinaiiiiiieni sprinKled with a
few good laughs and some very
excellent new lyrics.
Harry Richman is seen as a
New York musical comedy star,
touring the south on a vacation!
A showboat intrigues him and,
incognito, he joins the hammv
troupe of ten-twentv-and-thlrt'-thespians.
The show is ludicrously
funny to the groat Richman and
he thinks it will be a great hit
with blase New Yorkers. He takes
the troupe to Broadway- and fulH
in KiVe with Roche'iln Iln
L 1 '7Rh,n5- KHn" rpcr',Uon wit he
sincere dramatic efforts are received. But ah me
prhm,nqU.r'a,,-in '! pit'tUre fad'8
Kuhman singing )n his best manner
The picture
game of squash
hi.' Ma
aujiaftM
Mae Weit
V..s..-1 An
: m
Rochefle Hudion
Begins When You're in Love"
fcoutn.
and "There'll Be No
Life