Arrowsmith (United Artists) (1931)

LEAD IN “ARROWSMITH” IS COLMAN’S MOST IMPORTANT ROLE Picturization of Lewis’ Novel Hero Is Most Important Role in Ronald Colman’s Career Ronald Colman has a theory that an actor goes stale both on him¬ self and on his public if he sticks too long to one kind of play or picture. That is why “Arrow- smith,” Samuel Goldwyn’s film ver¬ sion of the world-famous novel by SinclairLewis, coming to the Theatre on ., is en¬ tirely different from anything Ronald Colman has been seen in for the last two years, sharp, grip¬ ping realism instead of the melo¬ drama of “The Unholy Garden” and the comedy of “Raffles” and “The Devil to Pay.” In fact he has even figured out the cycle of different kinds of pro¬ ductions through which the actor’s career must run if he is to do right by the public and himself. Comedy, melodrama, serious drama, ro¬ mance — those are the various stages, and then back again. That is why he is thinking of doing a light romance now that “Arrow- smith” is finished. It implies, of course that the actor in question is versatile enough to get away with all four kinds of acting. But his past career seems to indicate that if anyone is that versatile, Ronald Colman is. He has hung up his name as an all-time famous performer in all four departments. His performance in such famous melodramas as “Beau Geste” and “Bulldog Drum¬ mond” is a screen proverb. In seri¬ ous drama he has “Condemned” and “Stella Dallas” behind him. In comedy he has “The Devil to Pay” and “Raffles.” He has left his mark on every kind of screen production except slapstick comedy. Plays Lead in Lewis Story Now, as the crusading young doctor in “Arrowsmith,” the United Artists picture, he is play¬ ing one of • the most important roles in his career, the leading part in the first dramatization of a Sin¬ clair Lewis novel the sound screen has ever seen. Its story of a young American scientist battle against disease and prejudice is acknowl¬ edged as its author’s masterpiece. Supporting Ronald Colman in “Arrowsmith” are such eminent stage stars as Helen Hayes, Rich¬ ard Bennett, and A. E. Anson. John Ford, who made picture history with “The Iron Horse,” directed, and the novel was adapted to the screen bv Sidney Howard, the Pul¬ itzer Prize playwright. SINCLAIR LEWIS PRAISES GOLDWYN ON FILM OF “ARROWSMITH” Author Greatly Pleased with Cast and Adaptation of His Best-Seller Novel Whatever other authors feel about picture versions of their books, Sinclair Lewis approves heartily of the motion picture Samuel Goldwyn made out of his “Arrowsmith,” which comes to the Theatre on , with Ronald Colman playing the cru¬ sading young doctor. Mr. Lewis first saw the picture at its New York premiere and im¬ mediately wrote the following let¬ ter to Mr. Goldwyn: “Dear Mr. Goldwyn: I want to thank you for “Ar¬ rowsmith”—one of the greatest evenings I have had at the thea¬ tre. I want to thank you and Sidney Howard, and Ronald Col¬ man, and Helen Hayes, and A. E. Anson, and Richard Bennett for a film which has completely car¬ ried out everything I tried to do in “Arrowsmith.” Sincerely, Sinclair Lei Coming on the heels of T dore Dreiser’s denunciation oi picture version of his novel American Tragedy,” Mr. L< warm praise of “Arrowsn made a national sensation. In p interviews he pointed to “Ar Mmith” as an example of how r mg pictures have “grown up the last few years and com emotional maturity. He decl that the legends that the authc a book is always dissatisfied its adaptation to the screen nee longer exist, now that audie and producers are ready to tr late great books into great i without distortion. Bonald Colman jtar/h'Xlrrovjsmiih" 1—Two Column Star Head (Mat, 10c; Cut, 50c) SAMUEL GOLDWYN Presents RONALD COLMAN in “Arrowsmith” with HELEN HAYES From the novel by Sinclair Lewis Adapted by Sidney Howard and Directed by John Ford United Artists Picture Martin Arrowsmith . Leora Tozer . Sondelius . Professor Max Gottlieb... The Pioneer Girl. The Old Doctor . Mr. Tozer .,. Mrs. Tozer . Bert Tozer . Henry Novak . Mrs. Novak . Dr. Hesselink . State Veterinary . Joyce Lanyon . Dr. Tubbs . Terry Wickett . Twyford .. Miss Twyford . The Governor . Oliver Marchand . CAST Settings by Richard Day Musical Score by Alfred Newman Photography by Ray June Ronald Colman . Helen Hayes . Richard Bennett . A. E. Anson .Charlotte Henry .James Marcus De Witt Jennings .a. ...B eulah Bondi .Bert Roach .John M. Qualen . Adele Watson . Sidney DeGrey .David Landau Myrna Loy .Claude King Russell Hopton .Alec B. Francis .... Florence Britton . Lumsden Here Clarence Brooks THE STORY Martin Arrowsmith, a young medical student in the Midddle West, dreams of devoting himself to scientific research under Max Gottlieb, a great medical discoverer who teaches him. But during his interneship, he meets Leora Tozer, a nurse in, his hospital, and marrying her makes it necessary for him to go back with her to her home town in So. Dakota and become a practicing physician. He chafes under the necessity of dosing farmers for colds and stomach aches, and finally has an opportunity to do some really scientific work in developing a serum to cure a cattle disease which is ravaging the country. This discovery brings him an invitation from the McGurk Institute, a great research foundation in New York, to join their staff; Gottlieb is also on the McGurk staff and Arrow- smith and Leora go to New York. The head of the Institute is Dr. Tubbs, a rich man who cares only for the publicity that comes out of the work. After Arrow- smith has worked for two years without making any startling discoveries, Tubbs wants to dismiss him, but Gottlieb defends him. Presently Arrowsmith seems to be on the verge of developing a highly important serum-cure; before he is ready to publish his discovery, Tubbs announces it to the newspapers. Then they dis¬ cover that a French doctor has already announced a similar dis¬ covery and Arrowsmith will be in disgrace with the scientific world unless he can prove Tubbs’ extravagant claims. On Gottlieb’s advice, he goes to a small island in the West Indies where bubonic plague (The Black Death) is raging, accom¬ panied by Dr. Sondelius, a famous plague-expert, and Leora, who insists on going with him. At the risk of their lives they succeed in demonstrating that the serum is all it was claimed to be; but Sondelius and Leora are killed by the plague, leaving Arrowsmith to go back alone. Tubbs has a triumphant reception prepared for him in New York and Joyce Lanyon, a beautiful divorcee whom he met in the West Indies makes advances to him. But he ignores both her and the reception and goes, a broken man, to see Gottlieb, his old master. He finds that Gottlieb also is broken; his mind has given way after too strenuous work for his beloved science. When Tubbs brings in the reporters to see the two of them together, he denounces them all in a rage and walks out of the Institute, to devote the rest of his life obscurely to his work, far away from the shouters of the world. Ronald Colman and Helen Hayes Portray Stellar Roles in Goldwyn’s “Arrowsmith” John Ford Directs Screen Idols in Film Version of Sinclair Lewis’ Powerful Drama and Best-Seller “Arrowsmith,” the masterpiece of Sinclair Lewis, the only American novelist ever to win a Nobel Prize, comes as a motion picture to the Theatre on , in a great production by Samuel Goldwyn, with Ronald Colman playing the title role of the crusading young doctor. Metropolitan critics have al¬ ready hailed “Arrowsmith” as one of the most important pictures of the year, and Sinclair Lewis him¬ self, after witnessing its New York premiere, acknowledged publicly that it had succeeded in doing everything he had tried to do in the book. The distinction of its story, the importance of its cast and the acclaim with which it has been received combine to make it a cinematic event. Helen Hayes, the stage star who recently triumphed in her first screen appearance in “The Sin of Madelon Claudet,” plays opposite Ronald Colman in the role of the devoted wife who risks her life for her husband’s career. Richard Ben¬ nett, the stormy petrel of the stage and father of Constance, Joan and Barbara Bennett, has a major role as Sondelius, the plague-fighting Swede, and A. E. Anson, an emi¬ nent stage figure making his mo¬ tion picture debut, has another rich character role. Splendid Support Cast Myrna Loy, Florence Britton, Claude King, Alec B. Francis take important parts, and several of the minor roles are filled by the same galaxy of expert actors who made every character in Samuel Gold¬ wyn’s “Street Scene” an individ¬ ual event. The story of “Arrowsmith” is the story of one man’s devotion and ambition in the battle of hu¬ manity against the death-dealing plagues which have always been the scourge of mankind. It sweeps from the mid-western countryside to a tropical island in the West Indies, where young Dr. Arrow- smith and his colleagues go to bat¬ tle against the black death. His re¬ lations with the little nurse he marries as a struggling country doctor, continuing throughout the picture, weave a broad current of romance through its stirring scenes. Awarded Nobel Prize “Arrowsmith” as a novel is ac¬ knowledged by most critics to be the finest work of Sinclair Lewis, its author. It won a Pulitzer Prize on publication, only to have Mr. Lewis refuse to accept the award as not representing his work. Last year his eminence as an interna¬ tionally important writer was rec¬ ognized by the award of the Nobel Prize for literature, the greatest such award in the world, previous¬ ly won by no other American. John Ford, who has been one of the best-known directors in motion pictures ever since he did “The Iron Horse,” directed “Arrow- smith” for Samuel Goldwyn. It was adapted from the novel by Sidney Howard, the famous dramatist and winner of a Pulitzer Prize several years ago with his “They Knew What They Wanted” as presented by the New York Theatre Guild. NOTED PLAYERS CAST IN SAMUEL GOLDWYN’S “ARROWSMITH” AUTHOR SATISFIED WITH THE SCREEN VERSION OF “ARROWSMITH” Ronald Colman Heads Cast in Screen Version of Famous Sinclair Lewis Novel Three of the foremost players of the speaking stage, and an actor who is foremost on the screen in his own right, appear together in “Arrow- smith,” Samuel Goldwyn’s produc¬ tion of Sinclair Lewis’ novel, which comes to the .. Theatre on . Besides Ronald Colman, who plays the leading role of the crusading young doctor, there are Helen Hayes, Richard Bennett and A. E. Anson, all of them bring¬ ing years of fame and experience to this production. Such an array of artists would be impossible on the stage, where no single producer’s pocketbook could afford so many. It is unusual in films too, for that matter, but Samuel Goldwyn, sparing no effort to make “Arrowsmith” an outstanding pro¬ duction, has assembled a cast which bids fair to be historic. Stellar Cast Selected Helen Hayes, recently introduced to the screen as a star in her own right in “The Sin of Madelon Claudet,” occasioned a furore on Broadway a few years ago in “Coquette” and has ever since been recognized as one of the queens of the stage. Previously she had been an eminent comedienne with stage ex¬ perience dating back to her eighth year. Richard Bennett, as the father of Constance, Joan and Barbara Ben¬ nett, is already famous in the screen world. His activities have, however, been largely confined to the stage where, for the last twenty years, he has been one of the most eminent American actors, appearing with huge success in plays of the calibre of “They Knew What They Wanted,” “He Who Gets Slapped,” “The Dove,” “Damaged Goods.” “Jamegan” and “Beyond the Hori¬ zon.” He recently appeared in sup¬ port of his daughter Constance in “Bought.” “Arrowsmith,” the United Artists picture, is A. E. Anson’s screen de¬ but, rounded off a long career which has included supporting Doris Keane in all her long runs of “Ro¬ mance” and constant activity in both New York and London. In addition, the cast of “Arrow- smith” brings back Beulah Bondi, who was the individual hit player of Samuel Goldwyn’s “Street Scene” and Myrna Loy. John Ford di¬ rected. Success of Film Proves That American Cinema Has Come to Full Maturity, Lewis Sinclair Lewis, the only Ameri¬ can novelist ever to win a Nobel Prize, is convinced that American motion pictures have at last “grown up.” He was convinced by witnessing the New York premiere of “Arrowsmith,” the motion pic¬ ture made by Samuel Goldwyn out of “Arrowsmith,” Mr. Lewis’ mas¬ ter novel, now playing at the Theatre, starring Ronald Colman. Contrary to the usual notion that authors are always annoyed by what happens to their books when they become motion pictures, Mr. Lewis wrote to Mr. Goldwyn after the premiere that the picture had “completely carried out everything I tried to do in ‘Arrowsmith.’ ” In press interviews afterwards he ex¬ pressed the opinion that pictures like “Arrowsmith” prove definitely that the American cinema has come to full maturity. Since Mr. Lewis is one of the most eminent living American novelists, with famous works like “Main Street,” “Babbitt” and “Dodsworth” to his credit, most of his books have been filmed at one time or another. But “Arrow- smith” is the first picture made from a Lewis novel which the author has publicly approved. H0I0D Hayes, featured player in Samuel Qo/duuyns '^lTOWSmith'' 6—One Column Player Head (Mat, 5c; Cut, 30c)