The Sisters (Warner Bros.) (1938)

6 SS eS S MRERR ne y Pate eee ee a eee j Aiea PUBLICITY Mat 204—30c BRILLIANT STAR TEAM — Errol Flynn and Bette Davis are co-starred in “The Sisters," one of the great love stories of all time, adapted from the famous novel by Myron Brinig. “The Sisters” will open Friday at the Strand. Bette Davis Deems ‘Sisters’ Role Perfect Vehicle By FRANK HEACOCK Fifty years had elapsed since we had last seen Bette Davis. Then she was Julie, the glamorous vixen of “Jezebel.” Now she was the equally glamorous Louise of Warner Bros.’ new production, “The Sisters’— which comes to the Strand Theatre next Friday. “Jezebel” was laid in the 1850's. “The Sisters” depicts the early 1900’s. The intervening fifty seemed to have brought little, if any, change to Miss Davis. Somehow she was still the dynamic, unpredictable Julie. Yet at the same time, she was the sympathetic, understanding Louise of ‘The Sisters.” years We asked her about the apparent »aradox the moment she joined us off the set after completing a scene with Errol Flynn. “You've read the seript of ‘The she inquired. We nodded. “There’s really not a_ great difference between Julie and Louise,” she pointed out. “They are both women intent on getting and holding their man. They campaign differently, but with the same objective. And in the final analysis no sacrifice is too great for either Julie or Louise to make to gain that objective.” Sisters’ ?” ‘3 “But,” we protested, “Louise is a sympathetic character. You could hardly have described Julie that way.” “That,” agreed Miss Davis, “is the great difference between Julie and Louise.” Bette — somehow you find it impossible to address her by other than her given name within a few moments after you have was extremely enthu siastie about her new _ picture. She liked everything about it — the way she wore her hair, the Gibson Girl costumes, her co-star, Errol Flynn, her supporting cast, her director, the script. In fact, she insisted that if ever she had the perfect vehicle, “The Sisters” met her was it. “Just look!” she exclaimed, patting her pompadour and admiring it in the mirror of her nearby makeup table. “Tsn’t it lovely?” “And look at the costume,” she continued, rising to pirouette before our admiring eyes. “I think it is lovely. You know, I look exactly like my mother did at this period. I have a picture of her taken in 1904 and I am the living image of her at the time.” We asked her about her costar, the romantic, athletic Errol ’ [4] Flynn, and Bette’s face immediately became serious. “l’ye only known Errol since we started this picture,” she explained. “Of course, we had seen and nodded to each other when we happened to pass on the lot. But we had never worked in a picture together before. “In spite of our brief acquaintance I’ve come to know him very well, however, and he is one of the most charming and fascinating men I have ever met. He has a marvelous sense of humor, he works hard, he’s an interesting talker and, above all, he’s intelligent and very, very handsome.” We suggested to Miss Davis that Flynn might be out of his element in a picture that called for some pretty fine acting without benefit of swashbuckling or swordplay, and in a characterization that wasn’t altogether sympathetic. “No matter what type of character he played,” Bette insisted, “Errol would be in his element. Perhaps I shouldn’t tell tales but he himself has been worried at times. He has said to me: ‘Come on out and help me louse up this seene, Bette.’ But I have seen the daily rushes and he is simply marvelous. He’s a fine actor, with or without swords, sabers or spears.” Many Stars in ‘Sisters’ “The Sisters,” the Warner Bros. production starring Bette Davis and Errol Flynn, which opens next Friday at the Strand, has twice as many featured roles as so-called “bit” roles. Including Miss Davis and Flynn, the production has fourteen featured characters. They are played by Anita Louise, Jane Bryan, Beulah Bondi, Henry Travers, Dick Foran, Alan Hale, Ian Hunter, Donald Crisp, John Warburton, Joseph Crehan, Harry Davenport and Lee Patrick. ‘The Sisters’ Coming Adapted from the best-selling novel of recent years by Myron Brinig, and co-starring Errol Flynn and Bette Davis, “The Sisters,” a teeming drama of American life in the early nineteen hundreds, opens at the Strand Theatre on Friday. Besides the two stars, the cast includes such notables as Anita Louise, Ian Hunter, Beulah Bondi, Jane Bryan, Patric Knowles, and many others. Anatole Litvak direeted. (Lead ) Errol Flynn And Bette Davis Co-Star The Strand Theatre, in line wi‘h its policy of providing the best in motion picture entertainment for its patrons, announces that “The Sisters,” adapted for the sereen from Myron Brinig’s best-selling novel of the same name and co-starring Bette Davis and Errol Flynn, will be the next feature attraction starting Friday. Physically, it was one of the most imposing jobs ever undertaken by the Warner Bros. Studio, for it not only recreates a period that is well-remembered by everyone above the age of thirty-five today but it ranges from a little town in Montana to San Franciseo, New York and London. And for good measure there is thrown in a vividly terrifying reproduction of the disastrous San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 as seen and experienced by the heroine of the tale. The Warner studio has embellished the production with one of the finest casts ever assembled in Hollywood by it or any other studio. Completing, with Miss Davis, the trio of sisters whose varying fortunes are the theme of the story, are Anita Louise and Jane Bryan. Their parents are portrayed by Beulah Bondi "THE SISTERS" — (Left to right), Anita Louise, Bette Davis and loves are vividly portrayed in from the best-selling novel by Myron Brinig. Frank Medlin Tim Hazelton Rose Elliott Grace Elliott Sam Johnson Tom Knivel Ned Elliott Norman French Directed by Screen Play by From the Novel by Music by Photography by ......... Art Director "The Sisters," a teeming ERROL FLYNN HENRY TRAVERS PATRIC KNOWLES TONY GAUDIO, A.S.C. CARL JULES WEYL and Henry Travers — the latter comparatively new to pictures but long famed on the stage. The other important roles are filled by Tan Hunter, Donald Crisp, Alan Hale, Diek Foran, Patrice Knowles, Lee Patrick and Laura Ilope Crews. Only one of the sisters of the tale is content to lead the humdrum life offered by the town in which they were born. the youngest, who marries the son of the town’s leading banker after that young man has been jilted by her oldest sister. The second sister, rather cold and ealeulating young miss in everything but her relations with her own family, makes use of her beauty to marry a succession of wealthy husbands, and becomes a youthful version of a genuine grande dame. She gets to see the world and taste of all the pleasures which only the wealthy ean afford. It is, however, with the life of the oldest sister, played by Miss Davis, that the picture is mainly eoncerned. A rare combination of beauty, brains «and character, this girl, Louise F1liott, believes she has found the answer to her longings for a fuller life than her little home town affords when a charming young newspaperman from San That is*® In ‘The Sisters’ Based On Famous Novel Francisco, played by Flynn. ¢ to her town and pays p — court to her. ._ Within a week, she has marr} the newspaper man and lett vig him for San Francisco, ut does not proceed smesile Louise’s husband is well-mesai enough but is cursed with ‘ wanderlust and an addiction : drink when things are going b ; ly, as they generally are, = Louise is finally foreed to en. ter the business world herself ¢ make a living for them both fer she not only becomes an effi. ecient and valuable secretary to i prosperous department stop owner but she also, involuntarily wins the heart of her employer Meanwhile Louise’s husband hav. ing deserted her and slipped ay a seaman on a vessel bound for the Orient, comes back to find her when he learns of the Say Francisco earthquake. Their re union, many months later form a dramatic climax to a forceful, human document. The novel was made into ; screen play by Milton Krims and the production was directed ty Anatole Litvak. The period gowns which are one of the most interesting features of the pro duction were designed by Orry. Kelly, noted stylist. CAST OF CHARACTERS Flora Gibbon ..........-LEE PATRICK Flora’s Mother Ps Pe Louise Elliott BETTE DAVIS Helen Elliott ANITA LOUISE : Wiliam Benson IAN HUNTER Selle: senmeey Doc Moore Laura Bennett Anthony Bittick DONALD CRISP BEULAH BONDI JANE BRYAN ALAN HALE Caleb Ammon DICK FORAN Blonde PRODUCTION STAFF ANATOLE LITVAK MILTON KRIMS MYRON BRINIG MAX STEINER Sound by Gowns by ® Motion Pictures Are Your Best Entertainment ® Robert Forbes Tom Selig Dialogue Director . I Film Editor Musical Director ......---7 00 sent Mat 301—45 and Jane Bryan as the small-town sisters whose lives drama of America at the turn of the century, adapted It comes to the Strand Theatre on Friday. LAURA HOPE CREWS _ JANET SHAW HARRY DAVENPORT RUTH GARLAND “MAYO METHOT | IRVING BACON ARTHUR HOYT | LEO. F. FORB