Skip to main content
The largest online newspaper archive
A Publisher Extra® Newspaper

The Kansas City Star from Kansas City, Missouri • 48

Location:
Kansas City, Missouri
Issue Date:
Page:
48
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

MOIL iiKIIMMINIMMII MEIER MIEIMMIIIIIIIMENk on 6 tt TIIE KANSAS CITY STAR SUNDAY OCTOBER 15 1933 Fs' 6 Ill TIIE KANSAS CITY STAR SUNDAY OCTOBER 15 1931 100 No Angel" l'Irs wiRe veeRt Jeck ei rtatton CAtV (trent Atli Aertnn rdward Arnold The Barker Fittesell Hornet) Allele Batton Certntrie ititrintel Kirk Kent TIN ler i Bonne Pinkowits Cirreerr Betel( DeWitt (Wert rude inward The Chump Wiittem nertelann The Attorney Irvine Fiche Why don't you come up to the Nelopuln some time? iingei" Ties lee Wegt Jeck rleeten CA 11 ()rant Bill Barton I'd ard Arnold The Barker Rutsell liontet) Alicia Batton Cert rude latchiu1 Birk Kent TIN ler Benne Binkowits Cfreenre Pater( Beulah Con rude Howard The ChUM11 WiiliRm 11 r4vitisnri The Attorney In Int Fichel Why don't you come up to the Newman some time? 7iCotion qicture tiviews 41tv '1" 11411 ptilot! '1 'dill 11(i 1 THE ALLSTAR BOARDERS IN "DINNER AT EIGHT" 1 11 111 TI 1ril 171 11011 III11 i 1111r IIIP 11 4' liffil I A t1ii iiill I 111? 1111 I I I 1 I liqll THE ALLSTAR BOARDERS IN "DINNER AT EIGHT" Dilotion II 1 1 111 IIIH! I '1 lp1 il 111 i Irill twilit I I 1 IIIIIIII 111r11 1111 11 11141111 1 ii1 I i Illi' 1 IllIl VIllill 1111111 1111 II I'll 'I INI1 S11 --1'4' 11! 1 Iliti: Old i p'1 iiirll I i 11 isill II jIlillki li it g)letlArC V4 --3-4'N li 1" 11 'd'll 111 11tI' Lill I1! 1 I 1l i 1) e4ett4 1e 1 1 1 I 10 111 11 Alt 'i flf----4 1 1 i I lc 1 -7'4i- 1 yl 0 rk evietus a ili 1 1 A 1'I 1-0411k 0 1 I 44- 1 i "elk 1 fl 4- )1 I' i't lik 11 1 44 1 as -km4 "4 1 flitti-lte PI iT i 1 4e ws i I 11 l'i 'r It 1 II 1 ciit so v7 A 1 I i'li111 1 '1 i-P46-4 1'1 tt 414 ilcit 7) '''1 i4 l'i4 iiii 14 1 )4 o'E'IC il 1 i I Iii VIP' 0 'IA "(ittli 1' O' tO i ll It'l $41'1 11 IIVPIF14 1 t'v 1At'' 4:1 11 1 1 II! 1 1 I II 11) Ifoiik al 1 1 1 a I'LI '4 1 4 1V Pill 1014 Al itt4 I '041 1 I lt I l1 -2 i lii! ii) 1 Ief' '4asl' 1 010 'lc 'If l' 1 1: rtp I ri-N) 1 vs Nit (11 '( s44 1 '-4 J) I 0 4' Li 'ill 1 ')r'' -1 0 ''st -) 14tp- 1 el gr de67 '-t1 tA andornk )1 54 irt3000 NV1t ettikv 1v r14411 I I pr d---44 1 I1N fe 1 "alt I tisil I' k7 1014 I t'-- iore'Vi-t- i Allt 1 1 0 C14'ek 'L4 It 1 0 I t7 i A it 04' (teogi I -n- 'CP' 1 1 4 i 'i A -4 itikler- olt 4 1 tl 0 l''' 1t' A (11:1 --'1 4 7 i 1(7ik J4 11 -ts 111 4f '1' tc140 rs not the men in your life but 1 11 I important" philophizes Mae i the life in your men that 151 I -I os I f' r4ovio 101 11 (- 7 ligsiti :1010::: 4 West in her second starring plc- I Of ture at the Newman this week (fie tt- It's a worthy successor to "She i 1 Him 1 a 's Done Wrong iC and it presents the '14 tk 1 curvaceous ingenue of the Bowery 1 i with the same type of smart cracking 1 A vehicle in which she can toss Rn I applauded hip and roll an apprais- 1 rt ing eye She 's no angel but she 0 ks ili spreads her sings a bit Unlike its 1 1 4t-1 predecessor this is no story of the I i i qc 1 i gay '908 but of modern times You st :17 1z: 1 don't need a date for a Mae West 24444r-Stl t471a story she gets plenty of dates for M- 'sc'N '41 fiir herself In any century Mae remains I k' high wide and handsome tli The story concerns a lion tamer -raiott Ilk i -2 31 1 who brings out the animal in every- AMA'cottftas one she meets The elephant is the 1 I only being that ever met her and t-to4x-: Yel se424 IA 0'' left in possession of his trunk The 4 1 ---2 3 story opens with Mae giving tone to "ri i' or-P'" the honky-tonk but it isn't lonu 4 before Mae is on Broadway putting I 1 The most celebrated cast so far assembled by the movies will be seen in David her head in the lion's mouth and half-way expecting to find gold fill- Grant Mitchell May Robson Lionel Barrymore Karen Morley and Edmund Lowe 1 8 I ty rs not the men In your life but Important" the life in your men that is! philosophizes Mae! 1 7 West in her second starring pie- I ri Ilt ANL a 'F ire at the Newman this week I Iv a a worthy successor to 'She LA one Him Wrong" and it presents the piL- i 1111c itaL-fro irvaceous ingenue of the Bowery 1 ith the same type of smart cracking i in which she can toss BB oplauded hip and roll an epprais- 7 1 1 ri eye She's no angel but she 0 meads her tings a bit Unlike 1 -tglf I-TL4 11 i 1 of redecessor this Is no story of the I ''''i ''''-'-'11) 'Nottill-ok' A- ty '90s but of modern times You ''a -tiV4(: ''7'414N tN 0' m't need a date for a Mae West aft-'-''t 4 ory she gets plenty of dates for! -4 '417-IN -4' 4t8t fiir Tsell In any century Mae remains I 't i -44 gh Wide and handsome '7I1244'A'INL! it'4 '4 l' -1irfitIti The story concerns a lion tamer ho brings out the animal in everY- le she meets The elephant is the 444 74 1 ily being that ever met her and A01Y' 7 rt in possession of his trunk The -r04 t4'' A 0A71c 1 P-10 ''1: p-I Dry opens with Mae giving tone to i -7r I 0)0-- 'r I 1 I 014 4 114 i- I i I ti In 1:14 1 1:41 I IMICOAlionnalblig 14ENNVOM kliMr MN '''d 141emooki etnetechm Selznick's production of the gastronomic drama when it appears here soon The players Include iop row) Lee Tracy Louise Closser Ha le (lower row) Billie Burke Jean lt Marie Dressler Wallace Beery Jean Harlow Madge Evans and John Barrymore ings in -his teeth She gets so manyl presents her maids never know when 1 rating Judge dismisses the murder of tho brutal warden by saying: "Well he deserved it" Madge Evans is attractive as the girl in the case She's Not Very Ethereal In "Night Flight" a Studio Drama Found a Happy Ending The Picture's Success Combined With the BoxOffice Qualities of "Dinner at Eight" Justifies the Faith With Which Louis Mayer Staked His Position in the Movie Industry Upon the Man His Daughter Married Uptown: "The Power and the Glory" Tom Darner Spencer Traci Sally Colleen Moore Henry Salon Morgan rye Helen Vinson Tom Jr CM ord Jones Mr Harden Henry Kolker Henry a Wife ieriih Padden Mulligan Farrell MacDonald Some strong acting assisting a new experiment in screen story telling Paradise" and "King Kong" Both were highly expensive but both had what the others lacked audience interest 'King Kong" was made under the personal cupervision of Mnrion Cooper who was a en-author on the story Mr Cooper has succeeded Mr Selanick to the executive direction of the 11-K-0 studios When David left to take the $4000- a-week job offered him by his father-in-law at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer he forfeited the 000000 cut which was to have been his "cut" of "King Kong" according to Mollie Merrick a writer who knows her Hollywood The news that such "executive profits" along with salaries such as $4000 a week to relatives are billed to a picture as well as the actual costs of buying stories hiring directors actors and technicians was nceived with interest if not with joy by many ICIa41 A 'N----' 1 0' 10P" () sr a i -d vrti ''---77- 4 BY JOHN MOFYITT 1 NIGHT FLIGHT roared into 1 Kansas City last week and achieved a happy landing at the box office It is a tr1-1 motored movie if there ever was one' adapted from a prize-winning liove11 piloted by Clarence Brown Metro monumental feature picture and as the first production of the Twnitirwth ntury company it latinchts that organization wan several merbtrat- ing bangs In recreating America's mmt glorious roughneck era "The Bowery" leaves little to the imagination and makes no demand on fiction Its principal characters are taken from life though they are romanticized a I bit Wallace Beery is cast as Chuck Connors the burly dandy of the Tenderloin whose little derbies and Pearl button coats made him the Beau Brummel of keg alley and George Raft appears as Steve Brodie the underworld show-off who jumped off Brooklyn bridge rather than take a dare The plot concerns their frenzied but hilarious struggle to hold the worship of their blowsy followers As captains of rival fire companies they allow a group of squeealing Chinese to burn to death while they bat- i tie merrily over the possession of hydrant The picture is one long raucous laugh as it exposes its bartender heroes as the straw men of the breweries Heart interest is supplied by Jackie Cooper as a worldly wise newsboy who worships Connors and by Fay Wray as a sweet young thing who drifts into the Bowery Pert Kelton supplies other interest in addition to singing "Ta-ra-ra Boomde-ay" in a manner that long will be remembered There'll be no crying in the beer while this picture's in town Goldwyn-Mayer's ace director and fa Mae West who makes you believe the title of "I'm No Angel" at the Newman 4 Ik' -4: 4 gloomy story of Ghetto life ably acted but neglecting to note that Ghetto stories mean little to Gentile audiences and arouse a sort of impatience among younger Jewish patrons A talkie version of "The Dove" with Dolores Del Rio and Leo Carrillo was so ridiculous it almost passed for a comedy "Westward Passage" was a smartly turned-out picture which duitibly failed to recognize the fact that a woman's picture will not succeed if it shows a woman playing perpetual second fiddle to a man Over the Heads of Fans "The Animal Kingdom" was a cleverly done bit of theatrical sophistry which itttempted to convince common sense movie audiences that the use of sex appeal was abominable in a wife but that the use of "understanding" was commendable in a mistress It attempted to make a hero of man who by prevailing moral standards was a cad It went over the heads of the spectators without even disturbing their hair "The Conquerors" was a stilted and bungling attempt to repeat "Cimarron" by introducing trick German photography into a theme that was as American as homespun and calico "Sweepings" was a sympathetic study of an unsympathetic dry goods mogul who died a morose tyrant because he could not override the wishes cf his children by makinl them big shots in his business Although the lives of the children were ruined through his efforts Mr Selz-nick regarded them as villains because they would not let their rich relative make them rich in his business "The Silver Cord" one more picture that was brilliant and unpleasant a study of motherhood that offended most mothers and made movie audiences nervous with its protracted whining and bickering "Tonne" was a beautifully acted tale of cynicism and graft that was too subtle to be good movie material and required a too accurate knowledge of French life to make It good entertainment for the average movie a In his efforts to make an occasional commercial picture Mr Selznick showed even worse Judgment In conscientiously trying to "talk down" to the public he fed it stupidities which were far below the popular taste "Tile Roar of the Dragon" was forever in production and it turned out to be a flop despite the fact that the public interest in the Chinese situation had made "Shanghai Express" a great success "No Other Woman" was a bad picture with Irene Dunn Several R-K-O pictures made under his supervision were so lacking in box office value that the theaters were obliged to pass them up The Mainstreet in Kansas City booked films from other companies rather than play "The Most Dangerous Game" "Hells Highway" and 1- I I 1 EntheY se In 111 TI wail placed in charge of a group ee pictures but not ail the pictures made by the stuotoi Proves No Story Judgment By commercial standards any pie ture that is a money making picture is a good picture But by other standards a good picture Is one that pleases its audiences Close observe 11 nen of ''Night Flight" during the week it played at the Midland does not prove that Mr Selznick's Jude ment of stories has improved He simply gave a bad movie story heavy star-insurance The crowds that milled into the Midland last week all chattered of their eagerness to see Clark Gable Robert Montgomery Helen Hayes Myrna Loy and the Barrymores in one picture but the crowds that emerged were fault finding and often disappointed The girls and women who go to the movies to see Clark Gable go to see him in love scenes They were disappointed when their only view of him was at the controls of an airplane The Lionel Barry more fans resented seeing their favor ite in a part that could have been clone justice to by any second or third rate character man For the Most part there is little narrative to "Night Flight" It is a rather cold thesis on South Americari aviation and had few of the warm human values that make for great drama It is doubtful whether "Night Flight" if performed by a cast that was not eminent but merely capable would do as much business se an 1 ordinary air picture that took more serious recognition of public preferences By the same reasoning it is probable this cast could have put over a film of the telephone or the salmon canning industry One thing is certain a large eection of the public after seeing "Night Flight" and disliking it will be a bit more cagey about letting art all-star cast draw it into the theater a second time There are captious observers in Hollywood who seek to minimize Mr Selznick's two triumphs with Metro 1Goldwyn-Mayer They say they could have been achieved only by the son-in-law of the boss qr by someone whnin the "front office" was eager to have succeed In support of this viewpoint they say that in order to keep the costs on "Night Flight" and "Dinner at Eight" down to a minimum it was necessary to have the shooting schedule of every other picture on the lot altered so as to conform to the all-star picture's convenience In movie bookkeeping the salaries of all contract people are assignect to a picture from the moment they I finish the Oicture that preceded it I Selznick's critics say M-G-M schelu I were arranged so that people went right out of other productions into his This meant his salary liet carried no overhead The critics say with some truth that every other ee1 tociate producer in Hollywood would like to work under such economical arrangements but that they can get no such executive co-operation This may be true but in the opinion of this critic it is 'unfair to clamor through twelve long months for David Selznick to make box office pictures and then to start robbing him of credit the moment he succeeds in making them If there were special considerations that produced his probably were peculiar conditions that contributed to his failures The trouble is that critics are willing to say "It's a flop" and make an end of it but when they Fay "It's a success" they qualify it with a dozen clauses IThe Break Doesn't Come Off The expected break between Irving Melberg and Louis Mayer did not materialize Mr Thalberg and his wife Norma Shearer are back at the studio and their reception had every appearance of cordiality However Mr Mayer in a statement given in Kansas City said that Thalberg henceforth would Make only a pit of M-G-M's pictures This places him in a status similar to Selznick's The movie World is watching for what It thinks will be a race between them In his first two pictures the "crown prince" certainly has given his rival a meek to shoot at David Seiznick's work at 11-K-0 was expensive and unproductive and as such it called forth harsh criticism So far his work at Metro-GoldwynMayer has been highly satisfactory For this he deserves credit and so does Loins Mayer Every young man must learn his craft from some older master To learn showmanship David Selznick could have gone to no more skilled master than his father-in-law There is little to criticize in a sYsiem that gave hint a good instructor There is a lot to criticize in the system that put an inexpert boy in command of a studio that was being run with stockholders' money Much of David Selznick's improvement is due to the fact that he is getting older The "infant genius' racket has been a costly one to movie stockholders because young men in the movies undergo the same physical and mental changes that young men do anywhere else There is a time when most young men Rre curious about sex and when it seems an absorbing subject to them But when three movie boy wonders had this normal experience at the same time the world became filled with such a sex epidemic as had not even been implied since Caligula set the fashion The Sla ot te Too 4) er balanced The tame thing happened when the young men discovered their minds There is a period when a youth is so delighted over the fart that he finally gets the point of James Branch Cabell Ernest Hemingway or Eugene O'Neill that he imagines them much more popular than the are While the young minds of the movie infants were doing what other young minds do in the sophomore year they turned the screen of the world into a college literary society The making 'of movies like tha Making of everything from corsets to tailroads has use for maturity When Mr Selznick thought "Night Flight" was completed he showed it to his father-in-law with a certain understandable pride "It's a thrilling picture" said Mr Mayer "but what the devil are the flying for?" "What?" asked David "What are they flying fort 'Yol: have terrific heroics death and sac rifice and not a thing that will JUS' thy all this suspense and danger 111 the minds of audiences Never ask an audience to sympathize with characters that are acting like foe Devid" So they went to work on the plc: lure egain and injected the etre of the infentile paralysis epidenve and the vital serum that is Oc111 rushed across the Andes That gn1 all the heroics dignity because death and the sacrifice were to sorra worthwhile purpose It's good to have an old head loc'et log over young shoulders MAO ather that Dna the does He leavy the of ayes 8 in that 3iten )men enes their itrols third little Is man great that sable an more is put the a bit -star in Mr Ci ro-could sonvhom have point the Inner wag le lot i alllaries ect to they it lions 11t 'ay asvould mical rI get inion amor David 711 of Is In nelal sue- Uliar his and Fay with ff rving not his at had lberg pal laera lick' what hem rown rival -0 and (Ism wyn- does man older )avid more -law stem etor the lyil1 )eing OVa IC IS lone rt in nq IS a are But ha ri iani with even the iced then A fart lines or Ines the ithee nore the et the Is to he th a Mr the yolf Far: RsiC tit a eve! gnv'' sorra In cluiree of Malnstreet: "The Mayor of Hell Patsy James Curley Dorothy Msdke EV11111 Mike Allen Jenkins Thompson Dudley Mimes Judge Gilbert Arthur Byron Jimmy Darrow Mr Smith Robert Barr Mr Smith Dorothy Peterson Smoke Farina John Ly Raymond Borsaae dios were engaged In a vigorous propaganda campaign to make the public believe the woes of the industry were traceabe to the high salaries of the stars Actors and all other employees Just had been asked to accept a voluntary salary cut The news of it caused the technical mechanical and labor unions to flee from the council tables at a time when they had seemed about ready to make concessions Naturally the newspaper writers and columnists who had been supplied with a steady flow of propaganda for the lowering of stellai salaries did not overlook the evidence that movie executives were not practicing what they preached A statement in the same trade paper (that never was denied) stated that Mr Selznick's salary at R-K-0 had been but $2500 The industry began to examine the Sloung mans record in order to find why his salary should bel almost doubled at a time when the most experienced and talented men and women in the Industry were accepting cuts Began With "The Lost Squadron" Mr Selznick began his career at R-IC-O auspiciously with a picture called "The Lost Squadron" It was a well produced and a stirring tale of movie stunt-men It got a favorable box-office reaction If he had laid his whole course at that organization along those lines EtK-0 stockholders might not have become restive as the infant genius bestirred himself in a cradle made "comfy" by their money However Mr Seiznick like many a young producer before him spurnert the lullaby of the cash registers for the siren song of the New York critics He wanted to make pictures that were "more significant" He bought plays that vine intellectual successes on Broadway but the worst possible movie material To his credit It may be said that he staged these pictures with excellent taste In David's administration at R-K-0 movie settings began to look less likt a street-sweep's idea of heaven and more like the homes in which well-bred people might spend their time Ha took smart designers to the R- K-0 lot who succeeded in making his actresses look less like manikins and more like ladies In the adaptations of the egpensive novels and plays which he secured he succeeded in preserving most of the artistic qualities and the literary merit In short he succeeded in every it's Christmas When a blue-blooded debutante stands in her way Me deftly spills a highball down the lady's back Emily Post never has prescribed for a situation like that When Cary Grant comes along to Investigate the scrape his friend has gotten into he and Mae manage to scrape up an acquaintance among themselves The show folk attempt to frame Mae into losing this Romeo Finding his ardor cooled Mae decides to try his cool cash In the breach of promise suit the defense attorneys assemble various lads from Mac's past but Mae conducts the cross-examination for herself and it isn't long before the boys realize they don't know any of the answers This trial scene is the funniest item in a very funny picture Another hilarious moment comes when Mae sings the blues in her boudoir followed by two strutting mammies The supporting cast is good but doesn't do much supporting Mae can support herself A hard-boiled movie In which Jim Cagney reform the HOLLYWOOD long ago recognized Soviet Russia At least it recognized the film efforts of the Believe It Or Good Influence aSPITE 11 "highbrow" th noises being made in enlightened circles over narrataye as a method of screen story telling the average man and woman will find the return of Colleen Moore to the screen the most important thing about The Power and the Glory" Miss Moore has been a long-standing favorite Although she once was the greatest box office star in pictures It never went to her head She never made a picture that the public considered a bad one When she retired it was at the height of her powers It is gratifying to see that she still possesses her charm her beauty and her talent for sincere and sympathetic characterization now that she has returned All this much vaunted narratage amounts to is that the story is unfolded in a rambling order instead of according to any of the acceptable patterns Ralph Morgan the friend of a dead railroad magnate sits down to tell his wife why the deceased was a man to be pitied rather than one to be hated In the telling he follows no chronological order but wanders here and there describing the suicide of the man's first wife before he tells of the birth of her first child and committing many other irregularities of narration The results are not so bad as you might expect In a couple of places the story actually gains something by this method There is power in the comparison which is made possible by introducing the second wife immediately after showing the first wile braving the wintry blasts as a track walker so that her husband could go to engineering school Also the knowledge that their baby will grow up to be a "washout" gives the childhood scenes a certain pathos The fact that some of the film is silent while the narrator gives his opinion of it enables the picture to acquire a certain philosophic viewpoint but this has been acquired many times before with well-written dialogue Mr Preston Sturges who wrote the script says that the rambling is great art because the average person who tells a story rambles Upon this theory the art might be increased by introducing a certain amount of stammering and belching or by haying the narrator stop to answer the telephone or order the groceries It is doubtful if narratage will have any highly important effect on screen technique As long as movie audiences enter the theater at any point in the story an eccentric arrangement of sequences will be a poor way to solve movie problems It isn't narratove but the excellent performance of Spencer Tracy as a happy-go-lucky railroad worker who Is made into a hapless financier by his wite's ambition and of Miss Moore as the wife who both inspires and nags that makes "The Power and the Glory" a human and an important picture The lovely Helen Vinson who should have been starred 1:1:11 1 1lilli 't 'Illi '11 1 I -1 1 I iji 1 it I 1 1 iii1 1: I ri I1 1 I i 1 1 i 1 1 Bowery" Chuck Connors Wallace Beery Stevie Brodie George Raft Swipes Jackie Cooper Lucy Calhoun Pay Wray Trixte Pert Kelton Jahn ROHM George Witten Carry MUNI Lillian Harmer The bad old ways and the good old daps live agam In a rip-roaring picture LOUTS MAYER THE VETERAN SHOWMAN WHO RISEED HIS GREAT PRESTIGE TO ENCOURAGE HIS DAUGHTER'S HUSBAND WITH A $4000-AWEE0C JOB a holder of movie stock and by msny a movie-underwriting banker Slirth news still is having its effect as the movie tndustry struggles to reorganize itself under the NRA Considerable complication was added to thesituation through the fact that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer stockholders were up in arms because a large share of their profits had been apportioned to Lying Thalberg a young man who had occupied a position at that studio similar to the one occupied by Mr Selznick at R-IC-O While Mr Selznick had been courting the arts in the worst grasshopper year in the history of the movies Mr Thalberg had given M-G-M the only profitable record achieved by any company throughout the lamentable twelve months Mr Thalberg left for a long stay in Europe announced as a trip for his health while the industry buzzed with rumors that he was being forced out of a corn- pany that he had saved from the universal deluge of red ink' t'l! c--M1'' 1 s2:) 0 0:: 2 05110 Lill ---11 a----: 0" I with an all-star crew consisting Of John Barrymore Lionel Barrymore Helen Hayes Clark Gable Robert Montgomery and Myrna Loy With the exception of one other this picture probably employs the highest-priced and the most celebrated cast that will be seen on a Kansas City screen this winter The only picture in sight that can touch it is 'Dinner at Eight" which will be seen in Kansas City soon The diners of the eating picture are even more eminent than are the passengers in the air picture "Dinner at Eight" boasts John Barrymore Lee Tracy Jean lt Lionel BarrymoreB11- lie Burke Madge Evans Marie Dressler May Robson Louise Closser Hale Jean Harlow Wallace Beery Edmund Lowe and Karen Morley as well as such featured players as Grant Mitchell Harry Beresford Edwin Maxwell Elizabeth Patterson and many others Star value being what it is these two films probably will be the big money makers of the year Both are the work of the same man a very young man David 0 Selznick Behind the story of "Night Flight" and of "Dinner at Eight" is the story of David Selznick and behind David Selznick current "infant genius" of the motion picture industry there is a dramatic story of father Icveromance and gambling for high stakes It is the story of Louis Mayer veteran producer and master showman the story of an eminent father-in-law whose loyalty to his son-in-law left him on the spot and the story of the same hard-driving father-in-law who saw to it that the son-in-law took him off Hopeful Sign for Industry In addition to being a money making picture "Night Flight" is a highly significant one It is one of the hopeful signs that may be noted on the American industrial firma-went It indicates that the motion picture industry is getting back to a business basis again and although it is reluctant to cast nepotism from its high places and inner workings it is succeeding in making nepotism efficient David Ch Selznick was born to the celluloid and is a member of that inner caste that always has controlled the movies and probably always will His father Lewis Selznick entered the movie industry at about the same time Louis Mayer area leaving the Junk business in New York to enter the movies and become a name that conjured Lewis Selznick had been the proprietor of a cheap New York jewelry store Over-expansion ruined the Selsnick company but baby David was getting somewhere in the movie business If 'youbelong to the right families it is as hard to get out of the movie's 'inner circle as it is hard to get in if you don't At the age of 28 he was drawing down a living wage of $2000 a week as assistant to Benny Schutberg production manager at Paramount He gave up this job when he became dissatisfied with what he termed "routine methods of production" He had plans for a small company of his own but soon was induced to head production at the 0 studios Before the number of his years had increased to 29 the amount of David Selznick's salary had increased to the substantial amount of $2500 a week Romance as well as success smiled on him In 1930 he was married to Irene Mayer the daughter of Louis Mayer David Selanick is one of the crown princes of the movie world Ho was I questionable asset a year ago as the executive producer at R-K-0 "Night Plight" and 'Dinner it Eight" leave little question concerning his value working under his father-in-law at M-G-M Probably in all his long and reimarkable career as a showman Louis Mayer made no such dangerous as he did on the day when he permitted the Hollywood Reporter a moue oet i otna ept tuhhr uae st bt ra han de de pah at id ear record hired hi ohorisf $4rehoOat a story out when the stu- D'D people use themselves in the pre-arid days as much as this picture would make you believe? Ask clad he knows but he probably won't tell you) The Bowery is a story of the days when luncheon was free and love was rot of the times when the "can-can" was a naughty dance and when the Police Gazette really had news about policemen It concerns the times when the only prohibition WU Carry Nation and her hatchet and because picture would dad he know tell you) The Bower when lunchec rot of the ti was a riaugh Police Gazett policemen when the on Nation and 4 I I i pi' I it 1 i 114 i -1 i 11 't 11 111 I The Thing1 They Say and the Thing a They Dn The Thing Th Tousb Jimmy Castle: undertaltrs to reform a reform eehool In "The Mayor of HP11 at the Mainstreet Prank le Darr() Is his most troublesome boarder 1 He's Got the rower and She Wins the Glory 4 1 i 10015" ie ON 14 1 t4fj4 S' 6 7 t4'' 0:3 4 4 474 4 tjr ::7 ''''''fi74Ilio 144ir i A gt'i 14' 0- ti! cf" A'nk 441 --ittkr et tt I 4: 4 70170 0rof i ic 7: --af! -1437 4 'l't'44042-ir 1 t4 CS kt- t) 14to 01 44 i 11 ili" ''A) '1'' 'A- 1 i '1 4 ''---'1: 't i-Ni11: i 4' gV1-i '000 :1 illk 4: If i It t''? k''2'6''' ki ii'i 4' 4 f4 7411' ''''711C- '''d A') EA 'c I i- 1f 't i I 1 11 4 4A 1 A 1 glANIR 1 0000 4 "Illrb 41116k lie 1 el 1 I I( I rr 1 I hi i '11 vtt 404 F)1) 1 0 Irv 4 'i- i i 1 i 4 'p tf 7'11 ''1 o')W111 1 N441''''110: 1: t-' PI 1 1 '''Im I- ITI'' I 1 4 i 1 1 1 1 mot 14 A 1 II Ai Bolshevik' as a source from which to! draw free screen material This movie which deals with Juvenile delinquents undoubtedly was inspired by a desire to imitate the Muscovites' "Wild Boys of the Road" Since the picture is a Cagney vehicle the final flavor is more Brook lyn than Russian Cagney is an easygoing ward heeler who gets a soft political job as the pay-off for handing a batch of votes over to the party He attempts a superficial inspection ot a state reformatory but the presence of a pretty nurse and a glimpse of brutal discipline cause him to take an interest in his work It is to be hoped that there are few such reformatories in the United States as the one with which this plc ture deals This one is more reminiscent of Dickens than it Is of the daily news Frankie Darrow as a young criminal (who needs considerable dieciplineand reformation) and Dudley Digces as a warden who needs even more keep the show dramatic Ray mrnd Borrage as a Juvenile delinquent with a cough once more proves himself an appealing young actor One of the unusual things about the Movie is the long Rallery of character Gaze in Watidee at salary The movie world had gazed in wonder at the salary paid Mr Selznick and the wonder grew that clamorous M-G-M stockholders should fret against a man who had made elle-1 ceases while tlicy took to their financial booms A the man who had made a great many boxoffice flops Louis Mayer who never had been a loss in the show business found himself in the position of Captain Flagg in "What Price Glory!" The only solution was to "think fast" This is not the story of Louis Mayer's career but in fairness it will pause long enough to record the brilliant fact that this harassed showman took on the duties of the absent Thai berg and rushed through EOM productions that were as good r3 anything Thalberg ever had done That was a brilliant piece of emergency work but no one ever had quesdoned Mr Mayer's ability as a showman He did not have to prove his own ability or to justify himself He did have to Justify his handing his son-in-law a company plum at a company salary David Belznick had to make good or both of them would be on the 'spot There was desperation in high places but David has come through with a good record In doing so a page was torn from Mr Thalberg's book One of his most dazzling exploits had been to underwrite the success of "Grand Hotel" with such a stellar east that no movie audience would stay away from it It was dn- I cided that both of David's productions would have such underwriting "Dinncr at Eight" had more stars than 11 "Grand Hotel" dreamed of and it was 11 made at a relatively low cost "Night Flight" represents the some shrewd merchandising 'Editor's should bs that Mt BeltnIta wast not given the job Mr Thalberg bad held lie 011014 1aat C-1) 41 II Mr Their marriage merged movie dynkstleik Mr Selznick and his wife the former Miss Irene Mayer This photograph of the happy couple was taken on the return from the honeymoon 1 1 George Raft es Steve Itrodle and Wallace Beery ea Chuck Connors in "The Bowery" an elaborate production of life In the gay and wick Ws Jackie cooper Fay wrsy and Pert Kelton Iso are In this film at the Midland it shows a few shots of this inspired 'zealot in action it might be necessary to view The Bowery" On this side of the Missouri line if you wish to see it in its entirety Its rather wistful picture of the days when people sere merry end sinful in pub-Ito and moral behind closed doors It algpstick Fompclz rogle tato Colleen Moore makes ft trium phant return to the screen in "The Pouer and the Glory" at the Uptown while STIP111-17 Tracy la expert in the handling of a vigorous he-man role long oRo appears as the second wile a creature who expniences 'Desire Under the Elms" tendencies Frank Morgan is sweetly puttering as Lite loyal old secretary The picture 144 Considerable to recommend it thing but in success He put everything into his movies but the thing that made them motion pictures go they remained photographs of novels and celluloid enlargements of plays He gave a picture every value but box-office value It wasn't long before New York critics were raving over him and the theater managers and exhibitors were raving too I3ut that represented two different kinds of raving Symphony In Six Million" was a "The Age of Innocence" "Hers Highway" a chain gang picture flopped even Ville "I Am a Fugitive" became a great success "The Age of Innocence" was one of those pictures that showed real skill but the theater was afraid of it To important Sticeemsec In any enumeration of Mr Selz-nick's activities at 11K-0 it is only fair to enumerate two important successes made while he was in command Them were "The Bird of studies unfoldcd in a juvenile court scene A climax is brought about when the hero himself a fugitive from justice risks capture and a possible death penalty to quell a riot at the reformatory and to save his former charges from getting themselves into the penitentiary Tte picture becomes something 01 a fairy Am): whop an 1111401- ft 46 4 1 Cr NL '44ontWMMOMPOUIPM11001111ffailMiriaM111111MEINWeiriszVOMMININS WaverownrirvImEstmmot.

Get access to Newspapers.com

  • The largest online newspaper archive
  • 300+ newspapers from the 1700's - 2000's
  • Millions of additional pages added every month

Publisher Extra® Newspapers

  • Exclusive licensed content from premium publishers like the The Kansas City Star
  • Archives through last month
  • Continually updated

About The Kansas City Star Archive

Pages Available:
4,107,045
Years Available:
1880-2024