Billie (United Artists) (1965)

PUBLICITY MATERIAL TV's Patty Duke Sings, Dances, Romances In Gay, New ‘Billie’ (Production Story) Chrislaw Production’s “Billie” the gay, lilting romantic comedy with music based on the highly successful New York stage play, “Time Out For Ginger,” serves as the first Hollywood venture for Patty Duke, the talented 18-year-old actress who won the 1962 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role of the young Helen Keller in “The Miracle Worker.” The United Artists release, written for the screen by Ronald Alexander, is produced and directed by Don Weis, with Peter Lawford serving as executive producer and Milton Ebbins in charge of production. It will open asthe soe Theatre, In “Billie,” Patty Duke does an about-turn from the emotionally dramatic Helen Keller portrayal by playing the role of a tomboy teenager who can out-perform any young male athlete. Patty’s highly unusual capabilities on the athletic field are counterpointed by a mayoralty campaign being conducted by her father and an off-again, on-again romance with the unhappy youth who always comes out second best to Patty in the field events. In addition to the popular “Patty Duke Show” on television, she recently broke into the recording field by signing a contract with United Artists Records. Carrying on with her vocal talents, the young actress sings four numbers in “Billie’—“A Girl is a Girl is a Girl,” “Lonely Little In-Between,” “Butterflies,” and “Billie.” She also appears in dance numbers. Jim Backus plays Patty’s mayoraltycandidate father who is continually embarrassed politically by his daughter’s unorthodox exploits on the athletic field, and promising young actor Warren Berlinger, the star of the London company of “How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” plays her confused boy friend. Others in the well-balanced cast include Jane Greer as Patty’s understanding mother, Susan Seaforth as her older sister, Charles Lane as the high school coach, Ted Bessell as Miss Seaforth’s husband, Billy De Wolfe as the incumbent mayor, Dick Sargent as a campaign manager, and Richard Deacon as the school principal. Don Weis, who holds the production and direction reins on “Billie,” has also directed a majority of the “Patty Duke Show” television segments. John Russell handles the Techniscope cinematography on “Billie,’ and Dominic Frontiere composed and conducted the musical score. Choreography is by David Winters. Still B-46 Handsome Warren Berlinger is Patty Duke’s boy friend in the latter’s starring film, Chrislaw’s ‘“‘Billie,” Technicolor United Artists release opening ............ PAGE 8 Still B-10 Mat 2A Quite an athlete is Patty Duke in the title role of Chrislaw’s “Billie,” gay romantic comedy with plenty of Patty Duke music, which opens ................ at the Ray tee: Theatre in Technicolor and under United Artists release. Patty Duke Hits Pinnacle In Show Biz at Age of 18 Although she’s only 18, pretty Patty Duke’s story is one of the most sensational in a business of sensations! An Academy-Award winner, MC of her own television program, and a veteran of some of the best TV dramas ever produced, the young lady is now top star of one of. Hollywood’s most ambitious offerings, law Productions’ “Billie,” United Artists release in Technicolor from the highly successful Broadway production “Time Out for Ginger,” which opens ............ at thec, eles: Theatre. And she sings and dances in the new production, which, like her TV shows, was produced and directed by Don Weis, all in all offering an entirely different Miss Duke from the one she portrayed in the tensely dramatic “The Mir Mat 2C at the’s..322 Theatre. Chris acle Worker” in which she appeared as the handicapped Helen Keller. Miss Duke is among that rarity of rarities, a New York City born entertainment star. For the first eight years of her life she lived practically in the shadows of New York’s Bellevue Hospital where she was born. At the age of eight she was brought to the attention of John and Ethel Ross, famed actors’ coaches, who immediately saw enormous possibilities in her. They took her in hand and began by working the “Noo Yawk” out of her vocabulary and followed by instructing her in the rudiments of the drama. It was a long tough battle before the Rosses won a bit juvenile role for her in an independently-produced picture. It won her a role in an “Armstrong Circle Theatre” production, and then in the TV spectacular “The Prince and the Pauper.” Producer David Susskind saw her and gave her a part in his “Wuthering Heights,” and Miss Duke was “made.” When the Rosses learned that William Gibson’s great story of Helen Keller was being prepared for the New York stage they began to work on Patty to prepare her for the role. It was tough work, learning to walk and talk like a deaf and blind person, but when the producers of the play began to look for somebody to play the role, they took one look at Patty and looked no further. Miss Duke also played the Keller role in the movie version of the play, and won the coveted “Oscar” for it. Other films in which she has appeared are “Happy Anniversary” and “The Goddess,” and her own TV program—an instantaneous success—began after her smashing success in “The Miracle Worker.” Model As WAG Starts Jane Greer On Film Career The moral of this story is “If you want to become a film star get your mother a job in the War Department.” That, at least, is the way it worked for lovely Jane Greer, one of Hollywood’s busiest actresses, who essays one of her few comedy roles in Chrislaw’s “Billie,” gay comedy starring Patty Duke, openrh Abeba easel atethe se. ces Theatre in Technicolor and with music under United Artists release. You see, it was this way: In the early days of World War II, much thought was given to the uniforms the WACs were to wear and when one was finally evolved, Life Magazine rushed to the scene to get pictures. Somebody had to model the uniform and, through her mother who worked in the War Department, the job was managed for Jane. Life published a layout of these pictures and used a close-up of Jane on its cover. The rest is history. Jane’s phone began to ring. From Hollywood. When it was all over she was signed to Howard Hughes and the rest is history, too. She became, and still is, one of Hollywood’s busiest players. She play’s Patty’s mother in this gay comedy with music, and they are supported by Jim Backus (as her husband), Warren Berlinger, Billy De Wolfe and Dick Sargent. Don Weis, who puts Patty through her paces on TYV’s “Patty Duke Show,” produced and directed the film which is from the Broadway hit “Time Out for Ginger.” Peter Lawford served as executive producer with Milton Ebbins in charge of production. erecta oer Ce aan ra Stull B-47 Mat 1B Lovely Jane Greer plays Patty Duke’s mother in the latter’s starrer, Chrislaws’ “Billie,” United Artists release in Technicolor opening ............ at the pon eee Theatre. Don Weis produced and directed. 4 New Songs Patty Duke, star of TV’s “Patty Duke Show,” unveils four new popular tunes in her forthcoming Hollywood starrer, Chrislaw Production’s gay “Billie,” United Artists release in Technicolor which Theatre. These are “A Girl is a Girl is a Girl,” “Lonely In Between,” “Butterflies” and the title song “‘Billie.” The music for the new romantic film, which is from Broadway’s successful “Time Out for Ginger,” is by Dominic Frontiere. Film was produced and directed by Don Weis with Peter Lawford serving as executive producer. Milton Ebbins was in charge of the production. Pushmobile Gets Berlinger Going ‘Handsome Warren Berlinger, who plays the enviable role of Patty Duke’s Number One _ boy friend in Chrislaw’s gay, romantic “Billie,” United Artists’ Technicolor release opening ................ at the Wee Theatre, is where he is because he was where he was on that fatal day in Brooklyn some years ago. And that was on a homemade pushmobile heading north on a southbound street in Brooklyn, as fast as the old roller skate could carry him. In doing so, he narrowly averted knocking over a matronly neighbor whose daughter was a professional dancer and who thus knew what was going on in the entertainment world. “Tell your mother,” said the neighbor when she caught her breath, “that they’re casting for kids like you over at Warner Brothers! For ‘Life With Father’.” Mother and son repaired to Warner’s forthwith but somebody else got the job. However, the casting director there, remembered Warren when Rogers and Hammerstein were casting for “Annie Get Your Gun” starring Ethel Merman, and suggested that mother and son go there for a try out. Not only did Warren get the job as Ethel’s kid brother, but, because he was a slow grower, kept it for three years. That made him a vet and a pro and it wasn’t long before he was playing juveniles in important Broadway productions in regular sequence. Along the way he met pretty Betty Lou Keim, who is now Betty Lou Berlinger, and when “A Roomful of Roses,” in which both appeared, was purchased for pictures as “Teenage Rebel,” both applied for and got the lead roles. And thus broke into pictures, in which they have been ever since. Warren has also made many and important TV appearances and makes periodic returns to his first love, the legitimate stage. He and Betty are now the parents of a boy and girl and live in Southern California where he is an ardent Los Angeles Dodgers fan, probably a carry-over of some sort from his Brooklyn days. He would not say if his son owns a pushmobile. Olympic Champ "Billie' Adviser No less an authority on athletics than Rafer Johnson, winner of the 1960 Olympic Decathlon, was athletic technical adviser for Chrislaw’s gay comedy with music, “Billie.” The United Artists release, which was filmed in Technicolor, will open at the SRE sta Theatre. The film is Patty Duke’s first Hollywood starrer and in it she’s a tomboy who’s pretty good at the athletic pitch and, in order to make it ring as true as possible, Johnson was called in to weed out the boners if any. The story is from Ronald Alexander’s Broadway smash “Time Out for Ginger.” Patty’s TV producer and director Don Weis did similar honors for her film appearance, and Peter Lawford served as executive producer. Patty Duke's Switch Where Patty Duke was a fairly abominable creature in the dramatic screen thunderbolt ‘The Miracle Worker’—so abominable in fact that she won an Oscar for it — she’s gay, girlish in a tomboyish way, and altogether a joy to behold in her first Hollywood starrer, Chrislaw’s Technicolor comedy with music “Billie,” which OPeNsS 2.22.0... atthe eau ja Theatre through United Artists release.