Adventures of Kitty O'Day (Monogram) (1945)

Cinderella Comes | GIRL DETECTIVE | to Hollywood | There is much of the Cinderella quality in the story of how Jean Parker made her first motion picture screen test—and as a result began her career as a film actress. Miss Parker is now appearing on the screen of the theatre in the title role of “Adventures of Kitty O’Day,” the hilarious Monoeram comedy in which she is featured with Peter Cookson and Tim Ryan. | Invited to the great Metro-Cold| wyn-Mayer studios for the camera test, the lucky Jean, then only 14} years old, was first sent to the stu| dio make-up department, where she was given all the expert care of cosmeticians and hairdressers. Then she was dressed in a gown which Jean Harlow had recently worn in a picture, and escorted to a sound stage where a large crew of cameramen and production assistants awaited her. | At intervals for the next two} hours Jean followed the instructions | of the director and acted for the benefit of the camera, constantly beset by the worry, “Howm I doin’?” Then she went home to wait for the verdict. This was not long in coming The| next morning she was called to the | studio, where she was signed with| out delay to a long-term contract. | Almost before she realized it, Jean | Parker was a motion picture actress | —with a contract. | | “Adventures of Kitty O’Day” was directed by William Beaudine. FAIR SHOW During the World’s Fair at San Diego, California, some years ago, Peter Cookson was a member of the Shakesperean repertory company which several times a day gave condensed versions of the Bard’s plays in a replica of the ancient Globe theatre. Cookson comes to. the THEALPO=OIE iin cece lee ne in “Adventures of Kitty O'Day,’ | Monogram’s rollicking comedy in which he is featured with Jean Parker and Tim Ryan, DITTO It is still a cause for comment in Hollywood film circles that such look-alikes as Jean Parker and Jean Arthur should also bear names So} nearly similar. Miss Parker comes to the theatre on in the title role of “Adventures of | Kitty O’Day,” the hilarious Monogram comedy in which she is featured with Peter Cookson and Tim} Ryan. Sleuth Comedy for the entire action of “Adventures |raged police official | As Actor and industry. And Tim Ryan, as who knows it. Ole Thee 446 Oe ae theatre in . | “Adventures of Kitty O’Day,” the Jean Parker and Peter Cookson. Not only is Ryan in steady de mand in Hollywood as an actor, ments as a scenario author. Often, in pictures:on which he has pre duty for a long time. While vaudeville with his wife and partner, under the professional title of Tim & Irene, Ryan not only wrote all the “material” for the Jean Parker plays the imaginative | amateur detective in Monogram’s | “Adventures of Kitty O’Day,”’ coming to the theatre next | a re ee ee It’s a story in which| 4lso wrote sketches and “routines romance comes up against mystery | for other vaudevillians. Then Tim —with startling results. | & Irene went into radio, appearing One Col. Scene Mat No. 3 |as a comedy team for such spon | sors as Goodrich, Texaco, and Hotel Setting For | Royal Crown, and here again Ryan | was author as well as actor. | After several years on the air, |the pair transferred their activities Ryan, cast as an obtuse and serioustive, is now appearing on the screen* ; hilariously funny Monogram com| edy in which heis featured with | but he also fills frequent assign| Tim Ryan Does Double Duty Screen Writer A man with twin talents, providing both are in good working order, can keep awfully busy in the motion picture the saying has it, is the one minded police detec | SHOTS VIA PHONE | as in the present case, he appears viously worked as a writer. Ryan has been doing double | in | | acts in which they appeared, but | vat | to motion pictures, and in this me-| When Jean Parker, playing a tele A luxurious hotel is the setting| dium of entertainment Ryan really| phone operator, hears shots over The long list of films in which he e erie Oey. ee oe ee as performed double duty includes| larious comedy which comes to the “Melody Parade,” “Leave It to the| fer ee ei theatre. Ono e reams | Trish.’ “Hot Rhythm” and “The | with Jean Parker, Peter Cookson | Sultan’s Daughter.” and Tim Ryan in featured roles. spectively, telephone girl and travel Ryan bureau clerk in the hotel, when they discover that a man has been murdered in one of the guest rooms. Literally yelping with delight over the opportunity thus presented to display their doubtful prowess as amateur detectives, the couple thoughtfully notify detective Ryan of their discovery and then plunge into the case, only to find as they go along that one dead man was only a mild beginning. in ‘Adventures. of O’Day” includes Jan Wiley, Byron Foulger, Ralph Sanford and William Forrest. William Beaudine directed for producer Lindsley Parsons, and the original story of Victor Hammond was adapted for Callaham and Ryan. RIVER BOY Among odd places in which variMurders multiply, while the outous motion picture actors have been slowly goes | born, it is recorded that Peter Cookson first saw the light of day on a houseboat on the Columbia River near Milwaukee, Oregon, was filmed under the production| Where his father often played polo supervision of Lindsley Parsons. on a suburban field. Cookson, fea we | tured with Jean Parker and Tim crazy. “Adventures of Kitty O’Day” was directed by William Beaudine, and Designing of Floral Float Led Girl to Screen Career Jean Parker is the heroine of one of those Cinderella stories which occasionally come to pass in Hollywood, such | as transforming a schoolgirl into a motion picture star, with practically no effort on the part of the lucky young lady. The whole thing happened many years only 14 years old, but it still re-¥ mains as an outstanding example) of what can happen in the film) world. Miss Parker comes to the........ theatre on in the title role of “Adventures of Kitty | O'Day,” Monogram’s hilarious comedy of an amateur girl detective in which she is featured with Peter Cookson and Tim Ryan. The auburn-haired Jean had just'| graduated from high school in Los Angeles when her design was ac-| cepted for one of the breath-taking floral floats to appear in the annual Tournament of Roses at nearby Pasadena. That was the way | the affair started. On the day of the parade, on January 1, the float was awarded first prize in its class, and the next morning a portrait of its young designer appeared in a\| | with such success that she was im newspaper. Talent scouts at the Metro-Goldyn-Mayer studios Saw | the picture, and promptly invited | | Ryan, is now appearing on the i sereen <of the 2.35 eee theatre {in the hilarious Monogram comedy, | “Adventures of Kitty O’Day.” ago, when Jean was Jean to make a screen test. It was as easy as that. But at the moment Jean had more important matters on her mind. She had a previous engagement to go into the mountains with | a party of young friends for a weekend of tobogganing, so it was | almost a week after she had received the invitation that she reported at the studio. Outfitted in a dress which had formerly belonged to Jean Harlow, the younger Jean went through the screen test mediately placed under contract. Her first role under the agreement constituted her first experence as an actress. | “Adventures of Kitty O’Day” was directed by William Beaudine, and produced by Lindsley Parsons. The original story by Victor Hammond was adapted for the screen by Hammond, Tim Ryan and Gworge Callahan. mystery and fun, now at the came into his own as a_ writer.| the phone, her boy friend—Peter Cookson—warns her that if she turns amateur detective again, she’s bound to get into trouble. And she dces—in Monogram’s “Adventures of Kitty O’Day,” now at the... In addition to Miss Parker sags oer: Miss Parker and Cookson are, re-| Cookson, the cast appearing with | Kitty | One Col. Scene Mat No. 4 Doorman Learns, Says Young Actor “Say what you like about the life the screen by Hammond George | a doorman at a motion picture theatre,’ observes Peter Cookson, | “but at least he learns a lot about human nature, and the tastes and preferences of the entertainmentseeking public. When the audience files out past him after the showing of a picture, he gets a double earful of remarks which come straight from the heart.” Cookson, who is now appearing on the screen of the theatre with Jean Parker in the Monogram comedy, “Adventures of Kitty O’Day,” learned all about it when he was a movie ticket taker in his home town .of Coronado, Cal | ifornia. | DETECTIVE BELIEVES IN BUSINESS FIRST _| Tim Ryan enacts role of detective who gets annoyed when Peter Cookson and Jean Parker let romance interfere with the crime-solving business in Monogram’s “Adventures of Kitty O’Day.” It’s a festival of theatre. Two Column Scene Mat No. 21