Motion Picture Classic (Jul-Dec 1928)

MARiox Davies has returned from her trip abroad and will shortly start work again. She has three productions scheduled for this season— " Dumb Dora," "The Little Warrior," and " Buddies," all of which are to have some talking sequences. Iois Wilson has been signed by Warner J Brothers for four of its forthcoming productions. In the first one, "Kid Gloves," she will play opposite Conrad Nagel. SOPHIE Tucker is to make a talking picture for Warners. JOHN Boles has just been selected for the lead in the Vitaphone operetta, "The Desert Song," which is to start production soon. He has a splendid singing as well as speaking voice. ALICE D. G. Miller has . been assigned to adapt "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" to the screen for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Charles Brabin will handle the megaphone. RAMON NovARRO's Contract with M-G-M has just been renewed. He will receive $7,500 a week and will devote part of the time making pictures and part to training his voice. BiLLiE Dove will star in "The Man and The Moment," by Elinor Glyn. George Fitzmaurice is to direct it. MARIE Prevost has finished her contract with De Mille and Pathe. Her first picture as a freelance will be "College Coquette" for Columbia Pictures. Christie Cabanne is directing. Mysterious Island," based on the story by Jules Verne. More than eight hundred men and women will be used in the scenes of the launching of the first submarine craft and in the haad-to-hand battles. SOMETHING new in picture direction: Sound Studios will have an expert motion picture director and an expert stage director for their new talking picture, "Stepping High." Work will be started as soon as the cast has been selected. OLIVE BoRDEN and Jack Pickford, who are co-starred in "Gang War," made their talking debut in that picture, and their dialogue sequences are said to be the most realistic of any so far done for the screen, which sort of puts them over. MAY McAvov is to play opposite Monte Blue in "No Defence," a new VV^arner Brothers production. She is taking the r61e originally in tended for Lila Lee. Autrey Three exceptionally beautiful lamps, two being part of the facial decorations of Mary Duncan, whose vamping of the trapeze performer in "4 Devils" made the picture much more fun than a circus WILLIAM De Mille is to film Barrie's "Half an Hour" as an all talkie productiori. Ruth Chatterton, H. B. Warner and Robert Edeson head the cast. FRANK Borzage's first picture under his new contract with Fox will be "True Heaven," from a story by Tristram Tupper. Helen Twelvetrees will play opposite Nick Stuart in it. D OROTHV .'\rzner will direct "Two Shall Meet," starring Charles Rogers. ROLAND Drew is scheduled to play . opposite Dolores del Rio in her next picture, "Evangeline." Metro-Goldvvyn-Maver is building a huge submarine city in one part of their Culver City studios for the filming of "The Motion Picture fans will have a chance to see Albert Valentino, the brother of the adored Rudolph, who will make his first appearance on the screen in Leatrice Joy's "Tropic Madness," a picture just finished by FBO. Albert hesitated for some time about appearing on the screen, not wishing to c&pitalize on the Valentino name, but Robert Vignola, the director and a fellowcountryman, finally persuaded him to take a part in his picture. WILLIS Goldbeck will direct as well as write the continuity of his original story, which is called "The Getaway," for Pathe. Robert Armstrong is to be featured and production will start immediately. Armstrong has been doing some pretty tall hustling since he was signed by Pathe, having been featured in five pictures in about as many months. Production has been started on "The Spirit of Youth," adapted from Booth Tarkington's novel, "Ramsey Milholland." Dorothy Sebastian plays the leading r61e; Larry Kent, Betty Francisco and Donald Hall are in the cast. BROADWAY Fever" has been selected definitely as the title of the tentatively named "Applause," which has Sally O'Neill and Roland Drew in the cast. DON Alvarado has been borrowed by Columbia from United Artists for the leading rQle in "The Apache," which is to be a vivid story of the Paris underworld. EMLL Jannings' next picture is to be called "Ellis Island," and will be directed by Lewis Milestone — who made such success of "Two Arabian Knights" and "The Racket." JOSEPHINE Dunn will play a light comedy r6Ie in her next picture for Metro Goldwyn Mayer, which is to be called "All at Sea." Karl Dane and George K. Arthur co-star in it. BERT Lytell will be seen again in his so popular r61e of the gentleman crook in Columbia's next picture, "The Lone Wolf's Daughter." This is the third in the Louis Joseph Vance series: "The Lone Wolf Returns" and "Alias the Lone Wolf" were the first two — each of which starred Lytell. Paramount has just bought "Drums of Oude," by Austin Strong, which was popular on the stage a dozen or so years ago. It is a story of tribal life in India and will be m^de as an all talking picture. It takes its title from the dramatic beating of the drums throughout the play; this ought to be reproduced most efTectively on the sound screen. Bebe Daniels will appear as a newspaper writer in her next picture for Paramount, as yet untitled. She will have Robert Castle, the handsome young Viennese actor recently signed by Paramount, as her leading man. TOM Mix is working on "Outlawed," one of his typical Westerns, for FBO. KING ViDOR has signed "Hallelujah" Daniel Haynes of "Show Boat" for the leading male r61e in his new picture with colored cast. Honey Brown of Club Harlem will play the leading feminine part, and Fannie Belle de Knight will be the mammy in the picture. Tiffany-Stahl have decided on "Marriage by Contract" as the final title for {Continued on page 8)