Photoplay (Jul - Dec 1934)

« Anthony Adverse 99 FROM tens of thousands of Many, many entries, the hard-pressed J ' J judges finally have chosen geSteCi CaStS the one hundred and fifty £Ly -pv seven winners of Photoplay's W 311161 JjrOS. "Anthony Adverse" Cast Selec tx i tions contest. And so comes to -Here dl e 'llie a thrilling climax the most extensive, most intensely interesting, and in all ways the greatest contest ever built around the production of a motion picture by this or any other publication. So get ready, you lucky first prize winners, to go riding in your brand new Ford V-8's! And you, Mrs. Blackmore, won't you be pleased with your $700.00 Tecla pearl necklace? By the time the world reads this announcement, ten contestants will be telling the neighbors back home about their airplane trips (via United Air Lines) to the Chicago World's Fair! And one hundred and eleven other fortunate folk will soon be jingling some part of the §1,000.00 prize money in their pockets, or sporting the lovely gowns reproduced by Studio Styles, Inc., from the famed Orry-Kelly's designs for stars of Warner Bros. Pictures, or flashing a year's supply of exquisite Mojud Clari-phane silk stockings, or gazing at their prize-winning smiles in those nifty Pre-Vue DayNight mirrors! Presentation of the prizes will be made by managers of Warner Bros. Theaters in or near the towns where the winners are residents, on or soon after November 2. However, because of the October 31 closing date of A Century of Progress World's Fair in Chicago, it was necessary to personally notify the winners of the trips to the Fair as soon as possible after the judges had completed their work. The United Air Lines donated the ten round-trip plane tickets, and the luxurious Drake Hotel in Chicago provided guest privileges for one week. Cast selections poured in from the far reaches of the globe. It was a gigantic task braved by the judges, who were: Representing Photoplay, Kathryn Dougherty, publisher, and Margaret Sangster, novelist; representing Warner Bros. Pictures, Jack L. Warner, vice-president in charge of production; representing Farrar &Rinehart, publisheis of the novel, "Anthony Adverse," John Farrar, and Hervey Allen, author of the book; and, representing the Postal Telegraph Company, W. C. Daviet, vicepresident. They were indefatigable in their labors. The winners were ranked according to the similarity of their casts to the cast in the box above, which is the tentative selection of players made by Warner Bros. Pictures for their 70 thousands sugfor the great venture. 157 winners! The Cast tentatively selected by Warner Bros. Pictures (Subject to change if production conditions warrant) Anthony Adverse .... Leslie Howard Napoleon Bonaparte . .Edward G. Robinson Carlo C/oo Robert Barrat Brother Francois Warren William Angela Guessippi Bette Davis Vincent Nolte George Brent Neleta Ann Dvorak G. J. Ouvraro1 Ricardo Cortez Senorita Dolores Kay Francis John Bonnyfeather Guy Kibbee Faith Paleologus .... Aline MacMahon Don Luis Henry O'Neill ambitious screen version of "Anthony Adverse," and on the strength of the contestants' ex/..| planations (up to fifty words) of Venture. why they wished to see a par ticular star in the leading role of Anthony Adverse. The cast selections were submitted on ballots printed in three issues of Photoplay Magazine (August, September, and October), and distributed by the Postal Telegraph Company, Warner Bros. Theaters, Farrar & Rinehart, the manufacturers of the various prizes, and book dealers selling "Anthony Adverse." Postal Telegraph, through the company's far-flung facilities, also assisted in collection of the ballots. Although the prizes offered in the "Anthony Adverse" Cast Selections contest are superb in quality and represent the tremendous total of $10,000.00, the absorbing nature of the contest itself unquestionably had much to do with the staggering deluge of entries. "Anthony Adverse" was read by more than two million people in the first year of its publication. The contest again boomed the sales of the book to an amazing extent. It is one of the finest works of romantic fiction of all ages, and promises to make one of the greatest pictures ever filmed — very likely the greatest. Due to the immensity of the novel, preparing the screen story was a huge undertaking, but Warner Bros. Pictures have achieved that. The story was there. Hervey Allen himself determined the twelve characters of his book who will figure most prominently in the picturization, and these were the ones that appeared on the ballot. The venture has enlisted the attention of intellectuals, casual readers, and movie-goers everywhere. It became apparent early in the count that Leslie Howard had a widespread and most enthusiastic army of supporters who wanted to see him in the title role, and his total vote was highly flattering. Likewise Edward G. Robinson had strong backing for the part of Napoleon from the very outset. Incidentally, Robinson has long cherished the hope of appearing as Napoleon on the screen. In some instances, the voting for different players favored for a particular role was so close, right up to the end of the count, as to have all the exciting aspects of a political election. All in all, the results of the contest are most gratifying to every individual and company concerned. Photoplay appreciates the cooperation.