The Film Daily (1936)

THE 14 is&m DASLY Monday, Apr. 6, 1936 WluB URES 0 ■ NGE TURE! H. 6. WELLS' "THINGS TO COME" GETS CLASS CAPITOL PREVIEW A special showing of the Alexander Korda production of H. G. Wells's" Things To Come" — reserved for Justices of the Supreme Court, Ambassadors and member of the foreign legations, Cabinet Members, Congressmen, Commissioners, leaders of the world press and others comprising the elite of the nation's capital — will be held in Washington tomorrow evening (April 7). Washington newspapers have been giving the showing a tremendous break in their columns. Indications are that the preview will be a major event in the Washington social calendar, and the guests pledged to attend will represent the most distinguished audience ever to witness a motion picture. To add to the impressiveness of the occasion, arrangements have been made for a transatlantic telephone talk from Mr. H. G. Wells in London to the distinguished audience at the Wardman Park Theatre, where the showing will be held. Events incident to the showing will be broadcast over Station WOL. In addition to the regular Washington correspondents for the leading newspapers of the world, representative newspapermen from Baltimore, Wilmington, Richmond and Norfolk have been invited to attend. "Things To Come" is a United Artists release. Its general distribution to theatres throughout the country will follow shortly after the special showing. PERSONALITIES An international incident may result from the special showing of H. G. Wells's "Things To Come" in Washington tomorrow evening. The Washington Sunday Star reports that "certain diplomats are beating each other over the head in order to get tickets and the whole town is reaching some kind of boiling point in anticipation thereof." Raymond Massey, star of "Things To Come" will be guest of Sir Ronald Lindsay, British Ambassador to the United States, and Lady Lindsay, prior to the showing. If he gulps his cup it's because he has to be back in New York in time for the evening performance of "Ethan Frome" in which he is starring. William Cameron Menzies, director of the Wells screen play was to have been in Washington for the opening, but could not be reached in time. After months of arduous labor on the picture, with its dizzy forecasts, its exciting climaxes, its monster machines of the future, he fled for the tall timber of the North Woods, on a much needed vacation. An ALEXANDER KORDA Production with RAYMOND MASSEY • RALPH RICHARDSON SIR CEDRIC HARDWICKE • PEARL ARGYLE PATRICIA HILLIARD • MARGARETTA SCOTT And a cast of 20,000 Directed by WM. CAMERON MENZIES A LONDON FILM DOUBLE TRUCK IN TIME Time Magazine, in its April 6 issue, broke all precedents, and for the first time in its history turned over two full pages to still pictures plugging a movie! Pages 45 and 46 contain a doubletruck with a dozen striking scenes from the Alexander Korda-H. G. "Things To Come." When a motion which will soon be generaly released through United Artists. This magnificent break is more than an ordinary layout. The pictures are arranged in continuity, and the captions tell just enough of the story of "Things to Come" to excite any reader of the magazine into wanting to see the picture. This gives it a "teaser" quality. It is a tribute to the widespread interest that has been aroused in "Things ,Ta Come." When a motion picture is given such a tremendous break in a magazine of more than 600,000 circulation in which space is at a premium, it means that the picture is big, important, and demands top consideration. "THINGS TO COME" BIGGEST SCREEN PLAY OF ALL TIME "Things To Come," produced by Alexander Korda, ace film-maker of Great Britain, and written by H. G. Wells, author of some 60 volumes of history and fiction, is the biggest picture to come out of England! It represents the greatest outlay of time, energy and ingenuity ever given to such a spectacle. In "Things To Come" Wells shows the annihilating effects of the next world war and the reconstruction of the world on a scientific basis. He visualizes a new race, living in beautifully landscaped underground cities, free from disease, war and economic disturbances. It is not surprising to learn that it took thirteen months to prepare, and eleven months to shoot a project of this magnitude. More than 200,000 feet of film were used to produce the final 9,000 feet which audiences will get in 90 minutes. The brilliant trick photography employed by Ned Mann, Hollywood's camera genius, is an exciting feature of "Things To Come." The largest number of extras required for any one scene in "Things To Come" wil be seen in the climax of the picture, where 2;000 men and women form a surging crowd which storms the base of the space gun when a boy and girl offer themselves for the experiment. George Perinal, head cameraman, spent < three days arranging the hundreds of arc lights necessary to flood this set with sunshine. ADVERTISEMENT