Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 6

9- RENO EVENING GAZETTE SATURDAY. MARCH 14, 1936 PAGE SIX ASTA1RE, ROGERS IN NEW DANCE FEATURE AT DANCING PAIR himpanzees Are Movie Stars ond Imps, FRIATF PLAYS WITH SOBER SIDE 1 PROVE VERY SAD FAILURES it" Varied Programs Promised for Theatres Next Week -m i 3 jr MAJESTIC NEW YORK, March 14. VP) Perhaps the movies have propagan-. dized too successfully their formula for the college story four years of buck steps and roadster romance superimposed on a broken field runner but it is true that the year's A St vY't There "will be a wide variety of film entertainment in Reno next week. The four Reno show houses all have interesting programs with pictures that range from serious drama to comedy and the Westerns.

In Sparks, a special program will be given Tuesday night when the 1j. D. S. church of that city will sponsor the entertainment. Nine stage numbers will be given by local artists, in addition to the regular picture.

I 0 "c-s wi-' vr'; It's a sweet iifc for the two new film star anthroprils aovc; Shorty, at right, and Ditto, left. They get themselves into a jam (pot) almost daily so they canigive themselves a good licking. The impish chimps are too valuable and funny to be punished for their mischief, for Shorty already has starred in nine comic shorts, and Ditto is being groomed to follow in Shorty's footsteps. Mr. and Mrs.

John A. Haeseler of Hollywood, shown In inset, are their owners, mentors, managers, producers and directors. I A which opens Sunday at Paul Muni in "The Story of Louis Pasteur," the Granada for a three day run. i I fl i --iJ Warner Baxter, star of "The Prisoner of Shark Island," at Majestic Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Walt Disney Has His Troubles Securing Talent for Cartoons BY ROBBIN COONS Associated Press Staff Writer HOLLYWOOD, March 14.

somewhat to the dlrec- -It, tor in a studio with living actors, Many of Disney's the thirty-four- year old producer is convinced, could; become directors, but are more i valuable as cartoon animators. The animator lays out the work, plans antics, expressions, "cute (touches" for the Disney family of characters. He is more than an artist who can reproduce Mickey or Minnie Mouse in various poses. The artist who comes to Disney for training is like the young actor beginning his career. "This actor," Disney points out, "learns to read lines well and to understand stage directions, but it takes years for him to develop those individual touches which make his work distinctive.

The artist who becomes an animator must, like a director, be able to bring out all the personality and talents of his 'actors' in our case cartoon Disney and his staff have a year's work ahead of them on their first eight-reel cartoon feature, "Snow White and the seven dwarfs." It has been "in production" practically a year already, and will require an estimated 200,000 separate sketches. It is for this as well as his regular short product that he needs new talent. "I would be glad," he said, "to find men worth what is now our top sal- lary of $300 a week. But they are mighty hard to find." Don Graham and George Drake of the Disney "school" staff, with Carter Ludlow as business manager, plan to leave for New York next Thursday, Producer, Actress In Divorce Action LOS ANGELES, March U.VP) A legal parting is in prospect for Douglas MacLean, film producer, and Lorraine Eddy MacLean, actress. Her divorce suit charges mental cruelty.

were married March 3, 1931. A year after-MacLean's divorce, from his first wife, Faith Cole. MacLean, formerly a screen comedian, began his theatrical career with Maude Adams. His wife also has played in movie comedies. ACTRESS DISABLED HOLLYWOOD, Cat, March 14.

UP) Louise Raner, screen actress. who wears high heels with typical Viennese ease, twisted her ankle after she donned a pair of Chinese shoes for. a scene in "Good Earth." She wont be able to play again In the film for a week or more. to 0 i i i 1 i 1 9 i 4 i 4 0 two most ludicrous disasters have jbeen plays concerned with the sob-erer side of academic life. "Truly Valiant" exposed the perils that beset a first year girl alone on jthe campus for a single performance.

Next "The Fields Beyond" lived out two showings to say its loud say against the blue-nosed Ifniarriians of priurnMnn rpartv t.n rili for the right of putting down independent thought. Francis Bosworth, a Middle Westerner now serving the Columbia university faculty, wrote "The Fields Beyond" in full rage and resentment. His play faltered lamentably under its' wordy burden, but Bosworth's strong feeling never. It is Bosworth's duty to feel sorry for Dr. Cameron, a personable young man torn by poverty from European gypsydom to head the English department in a Freshwater college in the Middle West.

He is instantly at odds with disciples of bigotry and Intolerance, distrusted by the football coach whose heroes he flunks and hated by his faculty fellows to whose yessing chorus he refuses to give his voice. He invites further trouble by marrying the president's daughter, an unbearable ingenue. So firmly tethered is she to her mother's doctrines of reform she opposes his efforts to ward freedom, forcing him, after ten or twelve thousand threats in that direction, to flee to Poland Without her. A man denied the benefits of education doubtless would have required more than three acts to ar rive at that decision. This play, save for the presence of Reed Brown, as the harassed Litt.

was further weakened by inept acting and direction. With a little help, it might have been an acceptable play. Robert Ardrery also skirmishes with the problem of education in a frail farce, "Star Spangled," which has the impressive sponsorship of Arthur Hopinks, with, however, no great advantage to it. It was an engaging Idea Ardrey had. He created a second generation immigrant family completely enslaved to the more vulgar conventions of American life, as gathered from sensational sections of the press, the radio, the movies and the corner store thinkers.

There is the widowed mother, a jolly vulgarian given to mail romances; a movie-struck daughter whose reverence for Lupe Velez leads her to bite innocent bystanders in the movie houses; a sleazy opportunistic politician's son, and a bush league ball player whose gray mat ter was computed so accurately, in kindred characters, by the late Ring Lardner. Into this warm-hearted group comes a third son, temporarily in abeyance for manslaughter. His presence Is necessary to a plan to kill a politician, beneficial to his office-seeking brother. He left prison for the purpose and will return with an eased mind directly it is accomplished. The lunatic ambitions and social didoes of the convict's family so appall him he goes sorrowing out of the home, grateful for the sanity and peace of the cell-block.

A whimsical and original theme, surely, but too lightweight for the long winter nights In the theatre. This play is remarkably lucky in its players. George Tobias is every inch a comedian as the disillusioned killer, and Millard Mitchell is capital as the brainless bush leaguer. To hear him recount the tragedy of stealing second with that base already occupied is to enjoy one of the season's moments of greatness. Others serving well are Garson Kanin, Marjorie Lytell, Natasha Boleslav-sky and Michael Vlsaroff.

Dancer Is Hurt In Fall at Studio HOLLYWOOD, CaL, March 14. UP) Physician's orders kept Sunnie OTJea, former Broadway dancing star, in bed and off her ankle which she injured in a bad spill before studio cameras. She was performing on a slanting stage for a "Showboat" ensemble, when she tripped and fell yesterday. -Ligaments were torn in her ankle. She is not expected to report for work again in several days.

Marlene Packing For Europe Trip HOLLYWOOD, CaL, March 14. (JP) Marlane Dietrich is packing for a trip to London, with her-departure scheduled for next week. The blonde German actress said she would not return to the cast, of "I Loved a Soldier, the uncompleted movie from which she withdrewbe-cause of story difficulties. V2 Ginger Rogers (above) and Fred1 Astaire (below) in "Follow the Fleet" at the Majestic next week. Producer, Actress Tell Engagement HOLLYWOOD, March 14.

UP) William T. Lackey, associate producer at Paramount Studio, and Bonnie Blackwood, former New York musical comedy actress, announced their engagement this week. Miss Blackwood, who went to the Vanities from University of Oklahoma, said she would abandon her present career for The ceremony will be arranged as soon as he has finished a current production. Lackey said. and the mysterious death of a passenger aboard the plane.

On Tuesday the picture will be "Chasing Yesterday," with Anne Shirley, who was the star of "Anne of Green Gables," and O. P. Heggie. "The Return of Peter Grimm" is the feature for Wednesday and Thursday. It is the story of tyrannical old Peter Grimm, -played by Lionel Barrymore, whose spirit Attempts to return to his family, to correct the mistakes he made in life.

The hard-boiled pair of the screen, Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen, are featured in "Under Pressure," which isjilled for Friday. On Saturday there will be a mystery thriller, "Wereworlf of London," with Henry Hull and Warner Oland in the principal roles. s- SPARKS 6- charles Dickens' famous classic, lA Tale to, tne SP" theatre Sunday for two days, as one of the biS8est pictures last year is story of the French irevoiUllon' ana nai rans ana don of the eighteenth century for its background. On Tuesday night, the L. D.

S. church of Sparks will have charge of the program. There will be nine acts on the stage, presented by Sparks artists, and some unusual and attractive numbers are being planned; The picture that night will be "Dangerous Intrigue," the story of a brilliant young surgeon who is compelled to resign his position as a hospital chief of staff and hides his identity by going to' work in a steel mill. He solves a conspiracy to WTeck the mill, and finally is able to return to his former life. "The Lone Wolf Returns" is the title of the Wednesday feature.

Mer-wyn Douglas and Gail Patrick take the leading parts in this tale of the mysterious "Lone Wolf" who is an international jewel thief and debonair lover. Thursday and 'Friday will see with Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy. Miss Loy is portrayed as one of a gang of jewel thieves, with Tracy as the secret service agei.t who to trap her through romance. The notorious French penal colony in Guiana is the background for "Escape from Devil's Isle" which will be shown Saturday only. Victor Jory, Florence Rice -and Norman Foster head the cast.

The story concerns an attempted escape through the jungles, and with freedom imminent, a romantic triangle upsets the entire plot for freedom. MB i3 Ronald Cclncan. Sparks. Preston Foster, Granada. CAGNEY TO LEARN STATUS NEXT WEEK LOS ANGELES, March 14.

(JP) James Cagney, film actor, will know next week whether he may legally become a "free lance" or whether he must continue under contract to Warner Bros. Charles L. Bogue, superior court judge, took under submission Cag-ney's petition to cancel his contract on the ground that an alleged oral agreement had been violated by the studio. Judge Bogue said he expected to announce his decision early next week. Cagney, in a trial lasting almost two weeks, contended that he had been forced to make five pictures per year despite an asserted verbal contract in which Warner Bros, agreed to limit his pictures to four annually.

When he took the case under advisement. Judge Bogue said: am satisfied a fraudulent promise was made with no intention of performance." Previously, the court declared that "a clear preponderance of testimony and evidence has been introduced to sustain the actor's allegation that an oral contract for the limitation of picture engagements existed between him and the studio." Studio officials repeatedly have denied that any such oral contract was entered into with Cagney, and J. R. Files, attorney for Warner Bros, in the case, asserted that even if such verbal" agreement had been made, Cagney waived his rights when he continued to work for Warner Bros, during 1934 and 1935. IK ACTOR RECOVERING HOLLYWOOD, March 14.

(JP) Fred Keating, film actor, is on the road to recovery from an emergency operation to relieve an old internal ailment, hospital attendants reported today. -A. i MAJESTIC That famous' dancing pair, Fred Astalre and Ginger Rogers, appear Sunday at the Majestic in a four-day run of their latest picture "Follow the Fleet." With a battleship, a freighter and colorful San Francisco for background, it is a story of the romantic adventures of a pair of bluejackets, played by Astaire and Randolph Scott, and the objects of their affections, a night club entertainer, who is Miss Rogers, and a school teacher, played by Harriet Billiard. New and catchy tunes are featured In the show, while the dancing of Astaire and Rogers is in a class all by A tragedy of post-Civil War days Is told in "The Prisoner of Shark Island," which opens Thursday. The picture depicts the assassination of Lincoln and the flight of his assassin to the country home of Warner Baxter, who plays a country doctor.

For the unintentional crime of setting the man's broken leg, he is arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment at the dreaded federal prison on the Dry Tortugas. The horrible experience in this prison are told, but the picture reaches a happy climax. GR AN AD A I One of the strongest pictures of the year, "The Story of Louis Pasteur," is billed, for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at the Granada. Paul Muni portrays the great French chemist and bacteriologist who not only made great discoveries in the fields of medicine, but also had to battle his ignorant and prejudiced medical contemporaries. "Muss "Em Up," which starts Wednesday, is a mystery story.

The picture deals with a series of strange happenings in the home of a wealthy banker and the efforts of Preston Foster as a private detective to Bolve the riddle and find the guilty person. Nala and Lotus, who were the Etars of "Eskimo," are seen in a South Seas setting In "The Last of the Pagans, on the Granada program Friday and Saturday. It is a story of the Polynesian race before the advent of the white traders, and the plot continues into the days of labor recruiting and slave raiding in the islands. WIGWAM A return of "Ah Wilderness" opens the week at the Wigwam. Eugene O'Neill's drama of an American family is enacted by a cast Which inrlnrlps Wallsxa T3.N u.ua.b AJCCXJ, Lionel Barrymore, and many other famous actors.

Two features, "It's in the Air," and 'Soak the Rich," are listed for Vednesday and Thursday. Jack Benny is the star of the first picture, and he plays the part of a confidence man. whn with Ytim dHa.tixv has to flee from a G-man for failing to turn in an income tax report. It's a comical story from start to finish and the famous radio star lives up to his reputation. "Soak the Rich" tells of a student revolt at a large university inspired fcy the dismissal of a popular professor for alleged radical views.

The play has its romantic angles as well as comical ones, and is a timely one, in view of the recent student strikes in the West. Shirley Temple in "The Rebel," and "The Sagebrush Troubadour," starring Gene Autrey, are billed for Friday and Saturday. As the tiny Confederate who entertains the invading Yankees with songs and dances to divert their attention while her father, a Southern officer, makes his escape, Shirley plays one of her best parts. The cast includes such players as John Boles, Jack Holt, Karen Morley, and of course, tap-dancing Bill Robinson. "The Sagebrush Troubadour" not only is a Western show, but a musical one also." Autrey, as a Western ranger, and his' companion not only solve the mysterious killing of an eccentric old man, but the hero wins the love of the beautiful girl.

RENO A mystery play with nearly all of the action in an eastbound airliner, is on the Reno screen Sunday and Monday. "Death Flies East" is the title, and Conrad Nagel and Florence Rice are the stars. The plot concerns a nurse, just paroled from prison, a young professor on his way to Washington with a secret or- mula to revolutionize armaments, 1 Lionel Barrymore, Reno. SAYS SHE WILL WALK OUT ON JOB DETROIT, March 14. UP) Grace Moore said this week that she is "walking out" on her motion picture contract until "Hollywood learns to treat, me more like a human being and less like a machine." The singer was here for a concert.

"In the last picture I made in Hollywood," she said in an interview with the Detroit News, "They made me sing all day and milk a cow in the bargair I dont mind milking a cow or two in the course of a day, but also to sing all day is something else again. I have another public besides that one out in Hollywood." Miss Moore plans to return to New York after her concert here, and to sail in a few weeks for Europe where she is booked for a number of appearances this spring and summer. HOLLYWOOD, March 14. If blonde Grace Moore, the singer-actress, Is "walking out" on ner movie contract, Columbia studio executives haven't heard about it, they said. "We had a communication from her, several days ago," it was stated, "saying she would return within one week to make added scenes and French and Spanish recordings on the picture she has Just finished." The film, "The King Pteps Out," is nearly ready for release, they said; A member of the office- of Miss Moore's agent said he had not been informed, during the production of the picture, of any trouble between the star and the studio.

He pointed out she has a contract with M-G-M to make a picture after she finishes still another for Columbia. The executives said the star, her self, had voiced her satisfaction be fore she left Hollywood, and hadJ immediately signed a contract for a new picture, to go into production in May. Stone's First Job Half Century Ago HOLLYWOOD, March 14. UP) Fifty-five years ago on March 14, Fred Stone landed a job as a boy acrobat. This week the sixty-two-year-old actor is celebrating the completion of his first starring film.

In between, he played in minstrels, variety; musical comedy and legitimate' 1 iSS a- Shirley Temple, Wigwam. ASTAIRE SEEKING LESS DANCING HOLLYWOOD, March 14. UP) Fred Astaire took a cue from the title of his next scheduled movie and told RJC.O. studio, "I wont dance." Negotiations over his new contract struck jarring notes yesterday as he declared, "I dont know whether the outcome will be that I leave the studio or not." Film circles discussed three possible causes of dispute between the agile dancing star and the company wrucn nas leatured him with Ginger Rogers, Texas red-head, in recent productions. They were Astaire's rumored de mands for: 1.

More money than his past earnings in five movies. 2. Solo starring. 3. Fewer pictures per year.

But Astaire's terming a New York newspaper's report "ricidulous" which had him refusing an offer of $1,000,000 for four pictures, said the disagreement had "nothing whatever to do with salary." He accused the studio of contract violations, but declined to describe their nature. As for wishing to part company with Miss Rogers, Astaire said, "I hope we can work together again at some future time." Like other actors who have gaged In battles recently with pro ducers to limit their film appear ances, Asiaire saia ne believed too many pictures wear out one's welcome with the public. He wants a vacation, or at least a rest, before going to work again. The script of "I Wont meanwhile, is sitting on the shelf. Miss Lee Settles Suit for Damages LOS ANGELES, March 14.

IP) Lria Lee, pretty film actress, has settled out of court for $9000 a damage suit filed in connection with an automobile collision last November when persons allegedly were MOR MONEY AND UP) Walt Disney, one movie produc- er who has no James Cagneys, Mae Wests nor Ann Dvoraks to squabble with him over contracts, still has his talent troubles. The troubles are so acute, Disney revealed today, that he is sending three staff representatives to New York on an "ivory hunt" or talent search. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and other Disney stars are never temper amental. They do not ask for salary raises, and unlike Cagney they are willing to appear in as many pictures a year as Disney asks. They are under "permanent contract," i ready on a moment's notice to be taken from the ink bottle or paint pot and perform.

1 But Mickey, Minnie, Donald et ai need directors. And Disney, whose recent academy awara ior ammaiea cartoon achievement was his fourth, is crying for artists who can assure the longevity of his versatile menagerie. "I need artists-Weal artists to train," he says. Disney's studio advertised up and down the Pacific coast for artists. received seventeen hundred replies.

Fifty applicants were deemed worthy of try-outs. Of the fifty, oruy one is still on the Disney staff of approxi mately three hundred. "It takes a real artist," specified Disney, "to fill the bill. A special kind of artist. Many good artists are not fitted for this work.

We want men whom we can train to be animators The animator, in Disney's plant, Cobb Is Signed' For Two Pictures HOLLYWOOD, March 14. UPy Irvin S. Cobb who "crashed" the movies only a few months ago, is a screen star now. The novelist and jokesmith from Paducah, Ky is signed to appear in two pictures a year for Twentieth Century-Fox studio. His work in "Everybody's Old Man" won him a new contract, his next picture is expected to be "Gentleman From Mississippi." The late Will Rogers started Cobb off on a serious screen career, they played together in "Steamboat Round the Bend," Rogers' last film.

BACK TO COMEDY HOLLYWOOD, March 14. (jp) Ten years in the real estate business only whetted Harry Depp's liking for comedy. A veteran of the stage, Depp began playing with Joe E. Brown in a movie laugh-producer 1 after long retirement,.