Sensation Hunters (Monogram) (1945)

“SENSATION HUNTERS" TENSE DRAMA OF NIGHT-CLUB LIFE (Review) There is dramatic impact of unusual force in “Sensation Hunters,” the new Monogram picture which opened an en gagement at the theatre last night. The film is an uncompromising melodrama which proceeds to a climax no less than startling in its sudden tragedy. CAST Damry Burkes... os: s... ae ee ROBERT LOWERY Julie Rogers...........: ...,.... DORIS MERRICK Nay Lawson. 0. ks EDDIE QUILLAN ISABEL JEWELL teestiae WANDA, McKAY Lew Davis. NESTOR PAIVA Mork Hogers. . 2... sos Ae ee BYRON FOULGER Agent..... VINCE BARNETT Eana Hogers 3 3.5. MINERVA URECAL And “The Rubenettes” Stopover Turns Into Long Stay Trips often have an unexpected ending, especially in these hectic times. Back in 1936 it wasn’t so turbulent, but that didn’t prevent Constance Worth’s trip from Australia to England from winding up at another terminal point. The actress was on her way to start a film career in English pictures, but on her way over she stopped in Hollywood for a fortnight. And that’s where she has remained ever since. Miss Worth’s latest appearance is registered in “Sensation Hunters,” a dramatic story with a nightclub background, which opens _ next Seite ean at the ........ theatre, with Robert Lowery and Doris Merrick in the featured roles. Constance Worth is one of the few Australian actresses in Hollywood. Her banker father brought her up in Sydney, Australia. He was interested in his daughter acquiring a broad and varied education, so Constance went to Paris for a course at a finishing school. On her subsequent return to the land “down under,’ Miss Worth went into amateur theatricals, and from there was signed by Cinesound, the Australian film company. A bid to appear in pictures in England started her trip across the world, but it was the stopover in Hollywood for a sightseeing visit that got her into the ranks of the cinema city’s stars. Sometimes, Miss Worth agrees it pays to travel. “Sensation Hunters” was produced by Joseph Kaufman, with Christy Cabanne as the director. * The cast which |sne becomes an entertainer interprets this gripping story is unusually capable, and lends a convincing quality to the production. Robert Lowery and Doris Merrick are featured, and both are excellent in their roles. Others who do good work are Eddie Quillan, Constance Worth, Isabel Jewell, Wanda McKay, Nestor Paiva, Byron Folger, Vince Barnett and Minerva Urecal, while a gay note is added by a group of night club dancers known as “The Rubenettes.”’ In the story Miss Merrick, driven to leave home by the constant bickering of her family, goes to a night club with her sweetheart, Quillan, who plays in the orchestra, and her young friend, Miss McKay. Here the girls strike up an acquaintance with Lowery, a ne’er-do-well with no visible source of income, and as the story proceeds the unsophisticated Miss Merrick is drawn into his shady way of life. It is after in a low night club that Doris finally comes to a crisis, which she solves in a highly dramatic fashion. “Sensation Hunters” is _ finely played and excellently mounted, a tribute both to director Christy Cabanne and producer Joseph Kaufman. Dennis Cooper has written an absorbing screenplay from the original story by John Faxon, and photography by Ira Morgan is very good. Film and Radio Actress Versatile When she was portraying a night club hostess in Monogram’s “Sensation Hunters,” opening at the theatre, Isabel Jewell appeared on an evening radio show as Abraham Lincoln’s mother. Featured in the dramatic Monogram story are Doris Merrick and Robert Lowery, and Christay Cabanne directed. TITLE BY PROXY Although she never lived there, Doris Merrick was named ‘Miss Milwaukee” when the Mayor of Milwaukee arrived in Chicago to find a girl pretty enough for the title. Miss Merrick is currently seen in a featured role opposite Robert Lowery in the Monogram drama, “Soansation Hunters,” now at the aera 5 ae theatre. THE STORY (Not for Publication) Oppressed by the constant whining of her mother, Edna Rogers (Minerva Urecal), and her sister-in-law, Katie Rogers (Janet Shaw), Julie Rogers (Doris Merrick), a pretty young factory worker, and her friend, Helen (Wanda McKay) are taken to a night club by small-time musician Ray Lawson (Eddie Quillan), who is belittled by Julie's bickering father, Mark Rogers (Byron Folger), and brother, Fred (Maurice Murphy). At the club, the two innocent girls strike up a chance acquaintance with Danny Burke (Robert Lowery), a ne’er-do-well with no visible source of income, and Julie falls in love with him. Julie and Ray are disgraced by a gambling raid. Ray goes to jail and Julie is thrown out of her home. On her own, Julie searches for Danny for assistance. She appeals to Irene (Constance Worth), operator of the ill-tamed “Paradise Club” and former love of Danny, who helps him out of a financial scrape with gangster Lew Davis (Nestor Paiva). Mae (Isabel Jewell), one of the hardened entertainers of the club, tries to dissuade Julie from entering the night club professional world, but Julie becomes a chorine. When Ray gets out of jail, he and Julie are offered a good night-club job by his agent (Vince Barnett), but Danny has dragged her so low that she doesn’t think she would be acceptable at a good night club. When Danny tells her that he is leaving town with Helen. still an innocent factory worker, Julie, now bitter and hard, shoots him. Before he dies, Danny kills her with the same gun. | BEHIND THE SCENES | $20 The master of ceremonies sends the girls in the night-club chorus out on the floor for another number in “Sensation Hunters,” the startling Monogram drama coming to the theatre on In the w 0. 0, 6:(o. 0.0078 ,0 center is Doris Merrick, featured in the film with Robert Lowery. Two Column Scene Mat No. 820 CLIMBS LADDER TO STARDOM WITH NARY A SLIP EN ROUTE “T was all set to put feminine hearts a-flutter,’ Robert Lowery confesses with a smile. He was thinking back to the days when he first arrived in Los Angeles with ambitions to sing with some “name” band. Bob’s ambitions to be in the theatrical field have come true, not as a vocalist bu rather as one of the cinema city’s¥ busiest young leading men. His latest film is Monogram’s exciting “Sensation Hunters,’ which opens re erate at the theatre, and in which he is featured with Doris Merrick. Los Angeles seems to be the center of attraction for most young people interested in singing, dancing or acting in the movies. When handsome Bob Lowery arrived in town he wasn’t at all interested in| a film career. Singing was his number one heart’s desire. “But I never got a chance,’ he shakes his head sadly; “singers were a dime a dozen.” So the young fellow took a job in a paper factory to earn his weekly handful of green paper. A chance visit to a Little Theatre presentation awoke an interest in theatricals, is the way Lowery tells it. Ambitious and hard working, the good looking six-footer had little difficulty in securing roles in forthcoming Little Theatre productions. It wasn’t long before talent scouts discovered they had a find. Once he appeared on the screen Lowery proved his supporters weren’t wrong. Principal supporting roles in “Sensation Hunters” are in the hands of Eddie Quillan, Constance Worth, Isabel Jewell, Wanda McKay Nestor Paiva, Vince Barnett and Minerva Urecal. Joseph Kaufman produced the flim based on John Faxon’s original Story which was adapted for the screen by Dennis Cooper. Christy Cabanne directed the Monogram hit. “Down Under" Cowgirl Constance Worth, soon to be seen in Monogram’s “Sensation Hunters,’ due next at the theatre, was an expert horseback rider in Australia, her. home land. Robert Lowery and Doris Merrick have the featured roles in the melodrama. BEAUTIFUL When Wanda McKay modeled in New York she was voted one of the ten most beautiful models in the country by a New York photographers’ association. Miss McKay will be-seen, Next’ 22552255. ab Nes. acc theatre in Monogram’s tense drama, “Sensation Hunters,’ which features Robert Lowery and Doris Merrick. | ALRRD CASE 2). S-} Robert Lowery is a_ sophisticated ne’er-do-well in “Sensation Hunters,’ the absorbing Monogram drama now at the .......... thea tre, with Lowery and Doris Merrick in the featured roles. One Col. Scene Mat No. SI Producer's First Has Star Cast A movie producer sometimes has | a tough time getting a competent, well-known cast to appear in his piccure, especially if it’s his first. As in other fields, a newcomer has to start from scratch, and not expect too much. However, producer Joseph Kaufman has proved himself a capable diplomat, for he has performed the trick of getting an ex ceptional group of actors to appear | in his first producing assignment in Monogram’s timely drama. “Sensation Hunters,’ opening MUZE ore Was ate theatre. Featured in the dramatic story are Robert Lowery and Doris Merrick. Other film favorites appearing in the picture are Eddie Quillan, Constance Worth, Isabel Jewel, Wanda McKay, Nestor Paiva, Byron Folger, Vince Barnett and Minerva Urecal. Christy Cabanne directed the screenplay by Dennis Cooper, which was based on John Faxon’s original story. Cigarette Model Brightens Screen A few years ago billboards from coast to coast blossomed forth adorned with a picture of an especially attractive “Chesterfield Girl.” Since then, the young lady who posed for these cigarette posters has come to life on the screen in the person of Wanda McKay, who will be seen in Monogram’s “Sensation Hunters,” opening at the theatre. A Portland, Oregon, girl, it wasn’t long before Wanda’s beauty attracted so much attention that she decided to abandon a business career for lucrative modeling offers from New York. The big city went for the trim-figured lass in a large way, with a photographers association naming her one of the ten most beautiful models in the United States. They didn’t pick the wrong girl, because Wanda won a Kansas City bathing beauty contest and then garnered the title of “Miss American Aviation,” as official hostess model for TWA Airlines. Beauty may be skin deep, but charm and personality go further, and since Wanda had an abundance of all, she got no further than the film set when she made a visit to a Hollywood studio on one of her flights across the country. The studio officials signed her up with the first pen they could find. Robert Lowery and Doris Merrick are featured in “Sensation Hunters,” and the cast includes Eddie Quillan, Constance Worth, Isabel Jewell, Nestor Paiva, Minerva Urecal, Byron Foulger and Vince Barnett. Christy Cabanne directed the drama for producer Joseph Kaufman. Favorite Type In Picture If you ask Doris Merrick what type of man is her favorite, she’ll say without hesitation, “A man who likes sports and athletics.’ Robert Lowery is just that kind of a fellow. He was an all-star athlete in his school days, and still keeps up his athletic activities to keep in trim for the movies. Miss Merrick had a chance to meet her favorite type of man in Monogram’s “Sensation Hunters,” opening at the theatre. Both she and Lowery have featured roles in the emotional drama, which was directed by Christy Cabanne for producer Joseph Kaufman. CREDITS Produced by JOSEPH KAUFMAN Directed by CHRISTY CABANNE Associate Producer CLARENCE BRICKER Cinematographer IRA MORGAN, A.S.C. Dialogue Director MONTY F. COLLINS Assistant Director BEN KADISH . Film Editor MARTIN COHN Settings by DAVE MILTON Set Dresser VIN TAYLOR Recording by THOMAS LAMBERT Songs by JACK KENNY and LEWIS BELLIN Dance Direction PHYLLIS AVERY Screenplay by DENNIS COOPER Original Story by JOHN FAXON