Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 1 January 1937 — Page 14
PAGE 14
"CAMILLE
Stage, o Flin Versions of Play V Varied
Garbo and Tavicr Add, Interest to Movie |
On View Here.
BY JAMES THRASHER
In recent weeks an advertising slogan has informed a . waiting world that “Greta Garbo loves Robert Taylor in *Camille.’” That, for many, will be the chief interest in the picture now at Loew's. Others may find joy in the: return | of Miss Garbo to the screen, and | certainly Mr. ers will hail another - appearance. But the remarkable thing to. us 1s the durability of this Dumas drama, which will have its eighty-fifth | birthday on Feb. 5. : Certainly neither great writing nor. originality of plot can account for “Camille's” survival. The play has no standard acting version. Almost every stage revival finds much of itrewritten to conform with prevalent dramatic taste. The story is the parent of countless melodramas. Yet the tarnished lady of the camillias continues as one of the theater’s—and incidentally opera’'s— most noted characters.
Stage Tradition Abandoned
In bringing the drama to the sound screen. the -scenarists, Zoe Akins, Frances Marion and James Hilton, and the director, George Cukor, wisely abandoned stage tra‘dition. Consequently its faults and virtues are of a cinematic¢ kind. The cast’s performance is of almost uniform excellence. When all the tiresome publicity blather surrounding Miss Garbo is pruned,-she emerges as a good, though not a great, Camille. Her portrayal is entirely appealing, restrained and sensitive. She seems to have acquired | a more versatile style since last seen, or perhaps her studio has de- | cided to let her act like an or dinary | mortal. At any rate one finds more gaiety, sparkle and human warmth. She does the fanious death scene with a-minimum of coughing and histrionics. The equally famous | scene with M. Duval, potentially | banal, is natural and moving. Lionel | Barrymore does Duval with his jaccustomed artistry.
| i Taylor’s Deficiencies Show Up |
sin . | Mr. Taylor's deficiencies as an ac- |
tor are quite apparent against the | experienced competition of the star | and Mr. Barrymore, Laura Hope Crews, Lenore Ulric, Jessie Ralph, | Henry Daniell and others. Yet he is somehow suited to the role of Armand Duval, who was naive and rather thoughtless, as well as ardent. Miss Crews we should like to see | oftener. A grand. actress. her gift | of being devilishly annoying is remembered from ‘The Silver Cord.” This gift again is evident in her performance of Prudence. It's an art. A fitting counterpart to her feminine villainy is supplied by Miss Ulric as Olympe. Versatile and always reliable, Miss Ralph -scores as the faithful servant, Nanine. It seems idle to retell the story of “Camille.” But briefly, for those who have grown up without this theatrical experience, it is that of a Parisian demi-mondaine of 1840, Marguerite Gautier, who finds love for the first time in the ingenuous devotion of Armand.
Father Becomes Suspicious
He persuades the consumptive Marguerite from her reckless life to a restful existence in a country cottage. When Armand asks his | father for his whole inleritance, the | elder gentleman becomes suspicious, | then convinced. He calls on Marguerite, convinces her that her life] with Armand is stifling his ambition and ruining his life. So the sorrowful Marguerite tells Armand that she is sick of the quiet | life, and is returning to her former lover, the Baron de Varville. Later Armand quarrels with the Baron, wounds him in a duel and flees the country. On his return, still unreconciled, he hears that Marguerite is dying. He hurries to her. After making hopeless plans for their future, she dies in his arms.
Recording Has Fault An intimacy impossible on the)
stage adds much to “Camille” in its present form. However, the scenes
Taylor's many admir- |
| nickel you may look at me.
{ you like your dog?”
| tell me the public would rather read
fall IT know,
| Christmas Day.
| much.
| may be, though, that you will en-
| vintage,
. THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES
STILL POPULAR DRAMA 85 YEARS AFTER WRITING
Foy t
FRIDAY, JAN. 1, 1097
HE'S A CELE
BRITY NOW!
ERNIE MEETS SHIRLEY
Shirley . .
BY ERNIE PYLE
HOLLYWOOD, Jan. 1.—Anybody want to shake the hand that ign) the hand of Shirley Temple? agent is now signing contractst |
a personal appearance tour. For a| For a | dime, you may shake the hand | that shook . . . etc... Maybe TIll| get rich. The way I happened to meet | Shirley Temple was this: Her pub- | £ licity man out at Twentieth Cen- | tury-Fox is an old friend of mine, so he took me over to the sound stage where she was working, and | said “Shirley, I want you to meet So and So.” So Shirley turned on her Smile 23-B for Special Visitors and stuck out her hand and we shook. And|I said, “How do you do, Shirley, do And. she said “Yes, and I like the man who gave it to me, too.” | So I said “Who gave it to you?” and she said “Doc Bishop.” He happens to be this friend of mine who ‘is her publicity man, and it turns out he is one of her favorite people. In fact, she is the only movie star I've ever met who doesn’t look down on her publicity man.
A Remarkable Experience
So I stayed around all day with Shirley and her mother, and it was a remarkable experience. People
about Shirley than anybody else out
® just off the set;
| of explaining to her.
. with her dancing dummy.
or she's romping around like any other child. I was surprised the adult manner everybody used toward her on | the set. She is really an accoms- | plished professional actress, and they don’t have to do a great deal And when they do explain, they do it in grownup terms. She gets everything instantly. The director and cameramen? in giving orders, call her Shirley,” “sweetheart,” “honey,” “dear” or
| “darling,” and once in a while, to | be sarcastic,
“Miss Temple.” She | gets the sarcasm, too. They never address her as though she were a child, except to coax her to come on and do her scene gain when she’s getting tired.
Complicated Routine
Let’s go through one scene with her. It's a complicated dance with a dummy figure, which represents Fred Astaire. She does it on a small stage, with the cameras and probably 40 workmen for an audi-
ence. Shirley learned the dance in five days, while up at Palm Springs recuperating from a cold. She gets out on the stage with her dummy. Then 4 man, who has a dummy his own size, gets out and goes clear through the dance while Shirley .watches. She already knows her steps. of course, but this fellow shows, her the proper pésition on
here, so I will now proceed -to tell] and will do the same gladly, for I'm crazy about the kid. Shirley was just winding up. a| picture when-I saw her. It was to | be-all through at noon the next day | and to be released to the world on | It is called * Stof- | away.” You all know how Shirley looks so there's no use touching on ks cther than to say she looks just § she does in pictures, and is just | as sweet. Her dimples are real. She uses no makeup before the camera. I didn't actually talk with hpr Nobody talks with her much. for she’s lke a flea; you ekchange a counle of words. and she's cone. That was fine with me, for I never know what to say to children. For that matter, I never know what to say to grownups.
RA Worker Shirl
Y= is continuously doing one of three things: She's acting before | the camera; she's studying her | school lessons in her dressing room between Miss Garbo and Mr. Taylor are robbed of much of this intimacy by poor sound recording. Throughout the picture, the swish of the ladies’ full skirts sounds like waves breaking on the shore. Another serious demerit is lag in action. In depicting the atmosphere, life and scene of Paris in Marguerite’'s day, the producers lost much directness that is in the play. It
joy the vivid, believable setting even at a dog-trot pace. And you probably will weep. That's what is incredible about this story. Melodrama of the choicest it "still has the power to break your heart. See if it doesn’t.
NEW YEAR'S NITE
MISTLETOE DANCE Adm. 25c All Eve.
The CASINO
3547 E. Washington St. [| HAL BAILEY’S ORCH. |
WITHERS ji.
\tWeP0p,
. HOMES 74D oi UALDE Vik op
RN Foun ALBEE, <)
Samara sy
| wing, | with a big smile on her face. ” {was amazing to me that a, child
the stage. Finally the director says, “Are you ready, honey?” and she |says “Uh huh” and smiles and walks back into the wing of the little | stage and *waits. The music starts, and the director vells “Roll '’em. All right, sweetheart.” Shirley comes dancing out of the absolutely unselfconscious, It
could have such a perfect sense of rhythm: “Oh! I She was going fine until suddenly she slipped just a little. She stopped right there and made a face and said “I slipped.” She knew that spoiled it, and they'd have to go through it again. She must have done that dance 15 times. She was supposed to sit on a settee right on the last note, but usually in her final whirl she'd get lost and couldn't find the settee, or would wind up sitting on the dummy’'s lap. That always tickled her. Once she said to Director William Seiter, “If you'd let me do it my way I could do it better.” So he said “All right, we'll do it twice your way, and then twice my way.” Which they did. I couldn't" see much difference, but the director liked his way better. He says Shirley does that all the time; she has her own ideas of how a scene should be done. She isn’t a puppet.
NEXT—Shirley at play. *
Slipped”
Princeton's Production One of Best
‘Take lt Away' Scores With Lampoon Directed! at Movies.
BY RALPH NORMAN
To last year’s several clever lampoons aimed at the cinema industry, add! the Princeton Triangle Club's “Take It Away,” presented at the Murat last night. The Princeton boys won't “take it” so far away, we hope, but that they’ll return
with another musical comedy as witty, as casual and as well staged as this season’s offering. To say ‘the entire piece was delightful is nct to exaggerate. And they really “Take It Away” —all the way, in fact, from the Princeton campus to Hollywood, and then back to Princeton, en route mercilessly lampooning the university’s current drive for a new library and filmdom’s sudden fascination for a writer named Shakespeare, making each appear very ridiculous and very funny.
Scenes in California
“Take It Away’ opens and closes on the Princeton campus, but most of the settings are in California, where the Triangle Club members | try to produce “Macbeth” for Pasteurized Pictures, Inc.,, to raise money for the library back in New Jersey. “Macbeth” never is corpisien, but the leading “lady” is discovered by the astute Mr. Magnum of Pasteurized Pictures for a new type role in his renaissance of silent pictures. The movie is a success, and every one returns to Princeton to see the new library dedicated by Dixie Delano, long a leading player ior Pasteurized Pictures who may have read a book sometime early in her life. This imaginary excursion to Hollywood is made enjoyable by many complications, many smart lines and quips with targets ranging from Mr. Shakespeare to the Princeton deans. Leads Well Played
Leading roles were played casually and naturally. R. B. Cowdery, as Dixie Delano, the movie queen, was our favorite. As Manny Magnum, the movie producer, Mark Hayes was excellent in his dialect role. Alexander Armstrong as Chester Pipps, leading | “lady” of “Macbeth” and the silent movie, gave an entertaining performance. Good also were C. I. Pierce, W. C. Hubbard, W. H. Borden, C. C. Northrup and J. H. Hines. Brightest spots in the production, though, were chorus and specialty dances. For an all- male cast they were unusually good. {Poor Little Barfly,” news of which preceded the show ‘to Indianapolis by several weeks, merits the comment it has caused. It was sung by Mr. Watson and danced by Mr. Hines, J. W. Chapman, G. C. Bunker, R. W. Myers and Mr. Northup. A speciality dance by Mr. Hines as Miss Tome, the Princeton librarian, and partner, excited the most applause.
Ski Dance Excellent
. Chorus numbers were good—not just funny as male choruses often are. Several of these were really
“WHERE THE CROWDS GO” THE-OLD-INN
End of the Beecn Grove Carline NEW YEAR'S DANCE TONIGHT Goldy Saylor and Her Orchestra
You've Got a Heavy Date aR Ey Ad Moment!
Ps “That Girl From Paris’ is the
; best musical be) years 1? Saye he Jian _% who WY y “Roberta” 9 C “Swingtime.”’
25¢
Until 2P. M.
x Gay! 5 Classi
7 WN
I’ve made in 3
Goofy! Cute! cal! Hilarious! Human!
3 INDIANA
A PROGRAM PICKED FOR ENTER MENT TODAY, SAT DAYS Cr a TODAY—
1:30
URUDAY, SUNDAY—
GRANADA |
Two Tints Tote ViEinia Ave —at Fountain Square STUART ERWIN - JOHNNY DOWNS ARLINE JUDGE . BETTY GRABLE
2 PATSY K
ELLY « JACK HALEY
YACHT aw BOYS . DIXIE DUNBAR
WHAT, WHEN, WHERE ||
APOLLO !
“Gold Diggers of 1937." with Dick Powell doen Siendells Victor Moore. enda Farre n S200 11:24, 1:29, 3:34, 5:38, 17: Ry,
CIRCLE “The Plainsman.’ wit Cooper and Jean Fn 2:15, 4:40, 7:15 and 9:50, . INDIANA
“That Girl From Paris.’ with Lily
at and
erbe Gs Michael, at 2:31, 5:41 and 8:5 rtrude
KEITH'S
“They Knew What They Wanted.” presented by the Federal Players. Curtain at 9:30.
LOEW'S
“Camille.” with Greta Ga Robert Taylor, at 11:50, Garko 25
7:20 and 10 LYRIC
“Sing Me a Love James Melton, Pou Shiis Hugh MeThen at 12:37, 3: 7: 56 and 10:29. Also vaudeville on stage at 4:33, 6:56 and 9:29.
ALAMO
“Lion's Den.” with Tim McCoy Also “Mummy’s Bob ” with Wheeler and Woolsey.
AMBASSADOR
eying Io ag aadith Barz re eek-En ili ire,” with Buddy Rogers. naire.
OHIO “Car 99.” with Fred MacMurray. Also ‘Down the Stretch.” with Patricia Ellis and Mickey Rooney.
“Twenty Thousand Years jn Sin Sing.” at 11:30 p. m. i 2
Sport Clash | rks Stars
Races or Rose Bowl Tilt Is Annual Puzzle.
Song.” with and
3:10. 5:33. 2:10,
By United Press HOLLYWOOD, dan. I1.—Hollywood's annual New Year's Day headache—whether to see the Rose Bowl football game or follow the horsies at nearby Santa Anita, bobbed up again today to.confound notables of the film world. Clark Gable has the hardest task, since he rately owned a race horse and is rabid about football. “You can quote me as saying that 1 haven't the slightest idea, that time alone can tell, that maybe yes and again maybe no,” he quipped. W. S. Van Dyke, despite being 2 director of the Los Angeles Turf Club, which owns Santa Anita, will present his ticket at the gate for the Washington-Pitt classic. Florence Rice will press-box at the Rose Bowl with her sports- writing dad, Grantland Rice. Harpo and Chico Marx are credited with the prize stunt. At the end of the first half, Harpo will dash gcver to Pasadena to meet Chico, and the two will exchange ticket stubs. Harpo will see the last four horse races and Chico sits in for the last half of the Rose Bowl. Frank and Ralph Morgan will enact their annual role of hiring a bus and taking their friends to the game. - They hope traffic won’t stop them as it did last year, and force
;a lunch of hot dogs on the fly. "A
dinner is planned on the bus.
ingenious, particularily the chorus dance with skis and Snagw shoes. Music and lyrics were catchy enough to be remembered, especially “Poor Little Barfly,” “When Shall We Meet Again?” and “Hand in Glove.” For most of the songs, the Triangle Club is indebted to its president, Mr. Borden. Vocal solos failed to maintain the standard set by the rest of the production.
WINGINTOL yg 1
ED ARTY'S ON 3:
A Screenful of So vols An Eyeful of Girls
. An Earful y WN
of Rhythm! \
DIGGERS [gira
WITH DICK
AIA
JOAN
#BLONDELL!
VicTan Lp ;
b-
COLOR CARTOON o “HE WAS HER
MOVIETONE Ee ie
Singing Plays
[Fur Galore
In Lily Pons’ ‘New Picture
Second Fiddle to Diva's Comedy in Indiana Film.
You'll have little trouble forgetting Lily. Pons is a Metropolitan Opera diva when you see her in “That Girl From Paris,” which opened last night at the Indiana. Not that her co-starring with Gene Raymond and- Jack Oakie doesn’t make good entertainment. It does. But the vivacious French songstress doesn’t seem to take her singing seriously, and there’s no reason her audiences should. |“That Girl From Paris” is a merry comedy, and Miss Pons as a spirited French singer, who knows what she wants and is not too particular about how she gets it, more than holds her own with an entertaining and slightly insane American foursome of swing” musicians—Messrs. Raymond and Oakie and Mischa Auer and Frank Jenks. Miss Pons’ one opportunity to be serious is her New York opera debut near the close of the film when she sings the famous aria, “Una Voce Poco Fa” from Rossini’s “Barber of Seville.” This performance will please those who go to “That Girl From Paris” Pons’ beautiful voice. Not very serious but good fun are her “swinging” the Johann Strauss waltz, “Blue Danube,” and her singing the spirited “Tarantella” while driving her roadster at death-defying speed through Parisian traffic and along narrow French country roads.
| Song By Jack Oakie
Modern songs in “That Girl From Paris” include two romantic ballads, “Call to Arms” and “Seal 1t
AYARS ir MARR and His
Southern Gentlemen | 40c All Evening . /
to enjoy Miss
With : , Kiss,” and a novelty number, “My Nephew From Nice,” all sung by Miss Pons. Not music, but the cast and the many ridiculous situations into which Nikki Monet (Miss Pons) gets the American foursome and particularly Windy MacLean (Mr. Raymond) makes “That Girl From Paris” a gay, at times hilarious, of - fering. Comedians Pons, Raymond, Oakie, Auer and Jenks are abeted in several scenes by the always amusing Herman Bing, who makes a perfect night club manager and host. Also satisfactory is Lucille Ball, who - as Claire is Windy’s jilted fiancee.
“That Girl From Paris” makes
no attempts at siltentiousness; nl | there is no reason to imply it’s & |
great show. But if you see “That
Girl From Paris,” we think youll
like it for just what it is—about
[80 minutes of rapidly-moving fun
plus Miss Pon's voice in songs operatic and popular, but chiefly popular. ning combination for many movies goers. (By R. N) |
BEAUTIFUL
iL
y Francis, George Brent
“GIVE ME YOUR HEART”
A Return Engagement >
“20,000 Years in Sing Sing”
hit!
STARTS
11 4. MM:
TODAY
25¢ Till 2 |
A SUPER-WESTERN THAT HAS NO EQUAL CRU IN TTR CR L RRTS
—that’'s what THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER says about this grand action
Latest Issue!
MARCH of TIME
STARTS TODAY!
BEGIN °’37 RIGHT—AT LOEW'S!
Supreme thrill seared in your memory forever . . .
as Garbo the incomparable and Robert Taylor, screen's outstanding romanticidol, live again the love story the world has taken to its heart!
Based on Famous Alexandre Dumas Novel
M-G-M'S~ ° :
Happy "New Year Hit!
ADDED
MICKEY :
MOUSE I/
‘Tonight’s Presentations at Your
NEIGHBORHOOD THEATERS
WEST SIDE
STATE
2102 W. 10th St. Dcuble Feature Joe E. Brown
LIBI “SAGE BRUSH TROUBADOR” Ww. Wa ah. 4 : Belmont : Double Feature
BELMONT " Jack ‘Oakie
“THE TEXAS RANGERS” “LADY BE CAREFUL” Matinee Today
DAISY 40 W. Mich. St.
25 Double Feature Walter C. Kell *“TUGBOAT- PRINCESS” “W.LKING ON AIR” Matinee Today
NORTH SIDE
Illinois and 34th Double Feature Janet , Gaynor “LADIES
LO LONGEST. NIGHT" - Matinee Today
Central at Fall Creek ZAR NG Double Feature Ire Dunne “SHOW BOAT” “THE. BIG GAME” Matinee Today
UPTOWN 42nd & College
Double Feature “TWO IN A
‘ Joan Bennett “CRASH DONOVAN”
RITZ
CROWD Matinee Today 30th and. Iilinois Double Feature
GA R R C K Randolph Scott
“LAST OF THE MOHICANS” “BUNKER BEAN”
ST. CLAIR Cl. & Ft. Wayne
" Double Feature “PIGSKIN P
Stuart Erwin AR “YELLOW CARGO”
Udell at Stitton UDELL Double Featu Shirley Jer “CAPT PTAIN JANI JANUARY XR Matinee Today
Double Feature
R E X Francis Lederer
“MY AMERICAN WIFE’ “BENGAL TIGER”
Matinee Today Double Feature
Stratford Bing Crosby
“RHYTHM ON THE RANGE" “COUNTERFEIT”
30th at Northw't'n
19th & College
M ECCA "Noble & Mass.
Double Feature Joan Crawford r+ SORGLOLS HUSSY” W. C. Fields—" POPPY”
2361 Station St. D R E A M Double Feature Wallace Beery i “OLD HUTCH” “LADY BE CAREFUL” Matinee Today ;
500 Roosevelt Ave. Hollywood :
15 Daible Feature. i “RHYTHM ON THE RA “SMALL TOWN G Matinee Toda
EAST SIDE 10th Conmboniiy Sing
R | Vv oO L | With| Organ—38:13
Stuart Erwin—Arline Judge “PICSKIN PARADE” Roscoe Karns—*3 MARRIED MEN” Matinee Today
135 E.
TACOMA ol hi ig “RAMONA Matinee Today . : 4020 E. New York TUXEDO Loretta Young MONA” Matinee Today - 5507 |[E. Wash. St. | R Vi N = Warhol v Baxter ROAD TO G : “HERE COMES CA 42-4 . Matinee Toda
Loretta Young Jane Withers—“PEPPER” Double Feature “RA “HER: COMES CARTER” Double Feature “THE - Rf
RE pst eature. hn Boles
Lh
"AVALON
2116 E. 10th St.
Double Feature rne
HAMILTON “pousic Festus
“TO MARY, WITH LOVE" _ Walter, __Huston—“DODSWORTH” Double Feature ° Geor,
PAR KER
“YOURS FOR THE ASKING” “ONE_RAINY AFTERNOON”
1332 E. Wash. Sty
Double Feature
S T R A N D First City Showing
Stuart: Irwin—Robert Armstrong “ALL AMERICAN CHUMP”
e Cabot “DON'T TURN EM LOOSE” Our Gang Comedy Matinee Today Pa ram + Double. Foote oun Robert , Taylor “GORGEOUS HUSSY” “TH: BENGAL TIGER” Matinee Today 114 E. Wash BIJOU Double Feature nger gers “SWING TIMES “THE KID RANGER” _ SOUTH SIDE VERE a TURES IN MANHATT, » “WIID BRIAN KENT” AN ‘Matinee Today At Fountain SANDERS Double Feature “BORDER _PATRO) a Spencer Tracy— FURY" Matinee Today Pros., Churchman Today's Alsature
“FOLLOW THE ¥ Also “I'HANTOM
ORIENTAL ny 5 SE
ATE “GIRL oN. THE FRONT roe
GARFIELD Double Festus
Double Fea Warre! “STAGE 8 STRUCK” ‘
Jane ithers = r REFERER
LINCOLN...
8. aL at ine ~
will
That, we feel, is a Wine
be
- ~ 2936 E. 10th St