Motion Picture Herald (Apr-Jun 1931)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD May 16, 1931 26 ON UNIVERSALIS NEW SEASON SCHEDULE 134 Short Subjects Included in Six Series; Novels, Plays Head Feature Program Universal will release 26 features in 1931-32, one more than last year, it was announced by Carl Laemmle at the closing session of the New York sales meeting. There will be 134 short subjects released during the season, including two-reel comedies, the Ail-American Sport series, "Strange As It Seems," Oswald cartoons, four talking serials and 104 issues of the talking newsreel. Adaptations of books and plays will make up a good part of the feature picture program. Authors, directors, players and pictures titles follow : The authors include Fannie Hurst, Robert E. Sherwood, W. R. Burnett, Donald Henderson Clarke, Arthur Somers Roche, Luigi Pirandello, Ben Lucien Burman, Wadsworth Camp, John L. Balderston, Bret Harte, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry La Cossitt. Stars and featured players are headed by John Boles, Lew Ayres, Rose Hobart, Sidney Fox, Walter Huston, Genevieve Tobin, Lois Wilson, Bela Lugosi, Charles Bickford, Frances Dade, Charlie Murray, George Sidney, ZaSu Pitts. Slim Summerville, Bette Davis, Harry Beresford, Lawrence Gary, Clarence Darrow, Elliott Nugent, May Robson, Raymond Hackett, James Hall, Edmund Breese, Arthur Grange, Derek Fairman, Allison Skipworth. The directors include John M. Stahl, James Whale, John Murray Anderson. William Wyler, James Flood, Cyril Gardner, Russell Mack, George Melford, Ernest Frank, Edward Laemmle. The 26 Specials Rose Hobart will star in Fannie Hurst's "Back Street," direction by John M. Stahl ; Gladys Lehman, adaptation. "Frankenstein," based on the novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, with Bela Lugosi in the title role ; adaptation by John L. Balderston and Peggy Webling. Charles Bickford and Rose Hobart in "East of Borneo," direction by George Melford, with Lupita Tovar and Georges Renavent in support ; story by Dale Van Every and Don Ryan ; dialogue by Edwin H. Knopf. May Robson, stage star, makes her debut in "Mother's Millions ;" supported by James Hall, Lawrence Gray, Frances Dade and Edmund Breese ; James Flood directed from play by Howard McKent Barnes. Lew Ayres' first production will be "Eagles," an original by Jack Moffitt and Ray Shrock, a romance of flying machines. Walter Huston and Genevieve Tobin will appear in "Boulevard," novel by Edgar Woolf, story of a man who sacrificed for a woman of the boulevards. Edgar Allan Foe's story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" will be a companion piece of "Frankenstein" and "Dracula." Leo Birinski. playwright, adaptation. Rose Hobart will star in Arthur Somers Roche's story of the queen of the bootleggers — "A Lady of Resources," Collier's serial. Edward Laemmle will direct ; screenplay by Jack Neville ; continuity by Courtney Terrett. Lew Ayres will probably star in "The Spirit of Notre Dame," dedicated to Knute Rockne. The college story is by E. Richard Schayer, story editor of Universal, and Dale Van Every. Donald Henderson Clarke, the author of "Baby Faced Gangster," story of a youngster of the tenements. "Barbary Coast" story of the famous gathering place of the adventurous in San Francisco. Slim Summerville and ZaSu Pitts will star in "West of Topeka," an original by E. Richard Schayer and John Moffitt. Summerville and Miss Pitts have been promoted to stardom. "Lasca of the Rio Grande" special Western, for which the cast will be announced shortly, is an adaptation of the Frank Deprez story. A third Lew Ayres starring picture, title to be announced later. Sidney Fox, will head the cast in Donald Henderson Clarke's story, "Impatient Maiden." Cyril Gardner will direct from the screenplay and dialogue by Francis Edwards Faragoh. Robert E. Sherwood's Broadway stage play, "Waterloo Bridge," will star Rose Hobart. James Whale will direct from the adaptation by Benn. W. Levy and Tom Reed. George Sidney and Charlie Murray in "Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood." Wadsworth Camp's "Derailed," featuring Rose Hobart in a railroad melodrama. William Hurlbut's original play, "Lilies of Broadway," produced by John Murray Anderson, will be a drama, dialogue by the author and adaptation by Charley Wilson. Allison Skipworth is the only player cast. W. R. Burnett's story "Bullet Proof" a story of racketeers. "Heaven on Earth," from Ben Lucien Burman's "Mississippi," will star Lew Ayres with Sidney Fox, Harry Beresford and Slim Summerville featured. Russell Mack will direct; screenplay and dialogue by Ray Doyle. "The Great Air Robbery" will be one of the thrill specials. "Marriage Interlude," by Luigi Pirandello, dramatist, will have John Boles, Lois Wilson, and Sidney Fox in the featured roles. Direction by John Stahl. William Crew's play, "Nice Women," as a vehicle for Sidney Fox. "Homicide Squad" by Henry La Cossitt, will be an underworld film. Lew Ayres will star in Bret Harte's story, "Outcasts of Poker Flats," to be titled, "Man Hunt." William Wyler will direct from screenplay by Joseph Moncure March. A special department is being created to handle the exhibition of Clarence Darrow's presentation of evolution. Titled "The Mystery of Life," it portrays the story of man's fight for life, told by eminent scientists. Short Subjects Short subjects for the new season will include 52 two-reel comedies, starring Slim Summerville, George Sidney, Charlie Murray, Eddie Gribbon, Daphne Pollard, Lloyd Hamilton, Gene Morgan, Walter Merril, "Steve" Brodie and others. There will be 13 two-reel features entitled "The Shadow" series, from the Detective Story Magazine. "Pop" Warner, Vincent Richards, Babe Ruth, Charlie Paddock, Dr. Meanwell, and the Notre Dame football team will appear in the 26 one-reelers of the All-America Sports series, for which stars in other fields of sport will also be signed. John Hix's "Strange As it Seems" oddity Hence Gangster Films Gangsters are a significant as well as lively phenomenon of current American life — therefore the industry produces gangster films. Such was Carl Laemmle's retort to an editorial appearing in the Paul Block group of newspapers, entitled "Stop Gangster Films." In a letter to Block, the Universal chief declared: "Why not issue an order to your editors to stop printing gangster news? If you answer that the activities of gangsters are real live news, I shall agree with you, but at the same time I call your attention to the fact that gangsters are an Important part of contemporary affairs, and as such they are bound to figure on the screen and on the stage as well as in newspapers. "All thre^ of these mediums reflect the life of today, and just as the stage and newspaper since their Inception have mirrored contemporary life In all its phases, so will the screen do." series in sound, dialogue and color, will continue with 13 one-reels. Oswald, "Lucky Rabbit" cartoon, also continues with 26 one-reelers in the series. Four all-talking serials will be produced, "Danger Island," starring Kenneth Harlan; "Battling with Buffalo Bill," starring Tim McCoy; "Heroes of the Law" and "The Airmail Mysterv." The 104 issues of the Universal Newspaper Talking Newsreel, with Graham McNamee, completes the short feature line-up. Laemmle Honors Rockne Carl Laemmle, Universal president, and his party stopped off at South Bend, Ind.. on the way to the Midwest sales meeting in Chicago, to honor the memory of the late Knute Rockne, to whom the "U" picture, "The Spirit of Notre Dame," is dedicated. Director Albert Kelly is filming the short football subjects which Rockne wrote before his death. Part of the proceeds of the feature film, shortly to go into production, will be turned over to the family of the late coach. New Radio Films in Color Two Radio pictures, "Bird of Paradise" and "Condoning Wives," will be produced by Technicolor process. Paramount is about to produce "Rose of the Rancho," entirely in Technicolor, with Dolores Del Rio and Richard Arlen in leading roles. De Mille To Visit Europe Hollywood — Cecil B. De Mille, following completion of his M-G-M contract, will sail for Europe with Mrs. De Mille, June 30, for a vacation of indefinite length. Jean Harlow in New York Jean Harlow is in New York for three weeks, after which she will return to the Coast to play in "Queer People" and "The Greeks Had a Word for It," with Ina Claire and Carole Lombard.