Corsair (United Artists) (1931)

Four Women Support Chester Morris in “Corsair” a Roland West Picture Producer Surrounds His Star With Four Women Due to the Many Backgrounds in the Plot of the Walton Green Novel Far be it from Roland West, the United Artists producer, to make a ladies man out of Chester Morris. Having discovered Chester, he is the apple of his producer’s eye. But the pride of discovery cannot ex¬ plain away the fact that in “Corsair,” which comes to .theatre on., the producer has -- CHESTER MORRIS SCORES IN ROUND WEST’S NEW PRODUCTION, “CORSAIR” Former Broadway Actor Makes Another Screen Triumphant Under Producer’s Regime surrounded his star with four wo¬ men. Pretty women — yes, beautiful women — tall ones, short ones; slender and plump ones—red heads, brunettes and blondes—but all of them beautiful enough to make all but a misogynist leave home. There is that mysterious beauty Alison Loyd, whom the Hollywood secret service has disclosed to be none other than Thelma Todd, a comedienne whom Roland West is converting into a dramatic actress. Then there is the vivacious Gay Seabrook. Those who read Walton Green’s magazine serial or pub¬ lished book “Corsair” from which West adapted his screen play, will recall her as the man-chasing society girl, Susie Grenoble. And there are Addie McPhail and Mayo Methot. A Four-to-one Situation Producer West agrees that four women against one man is a situa¬ tion which needs explaining. And his alibi he believes will be as convincing as his film production “Alibi” in which he made Chester Morris a screen star. For one thing, says West, “Cor¬ sair” is a story of many back¬ grounds. Chester Morris starts out as an All-American football hero who is taken up by society after he scores the touchdown that beats the champion Eastern team. If there is anything the young society crowd likes better than an All-American it is several All- Americans, and inasmuch as Ches¬ ter Morris, is neither twins, a quar¬ tette or an entire football eleven, the multiplicity of his admirers is justifiable. College, New York society, Wall Street the underworld and the high seas — all are different environ¬ ment, and each environment has its own type of women. And after all, says West, the hero of “Corsair” is a one-woman man—but the pro¬ ducer declines to reveal before¬ hand who is going to win Chester Morris in his photoplay. Chester Morris emerges in “Cor¬ sair,” at the .theatre on .. as a full-fledged United Artists star—an elevation which brings the young actor into the ranks of Chaplin, Fairbanks, Colman and Cantor. Thus a Broadway actor who three years ago was unknown to picture audiences has reached the heights of stardom. In 1929, it will be recalled, Morris was imported from Broadway to portray the leading role in “Alibi,” a picture which made him a celebrity almost overnight. His work since that time in “The Divorcee,” “The Big House,” “The Case of Sergeant Grischa” and “The Bat Whispers” —each role quite unlike the others —brought him a following which is extremely flattering. Discovered by Roland West It was Roland West, United Artists producer, who discovered Chester Morris, and West has spon¬ sored him through his career and their friendship is a particularly firm one. Chester bought Roland’s house, they week-end with their wives, the former Sue Kilborn of Paramount and the former Jewel Carmen of Mr. Ziegfeld’s Follies. On the stage in New York Ches¬ ter Morris played with Claudette Colbert in “Fast Life.” His best stage role was in “Crime.” Cecil B. De Mille and David Wark Griffith registered enthusiasm for him as a picture possibility, and Mr. Griffith tested him. But it was Roland West, looking at some old tests at United Artists studio, who saw the test of Morris and wired him to take the first train out of New York. SHORT SYNOPSIS OF “CORSAIR” When Johnny Hawks runs the length of the field for the touchdown that brings victory to his small college team over the champion Eastern team, he becomes the hero of the hour. To everyone, that is, but Alison Corning. Alison has Johnny baffled. The daughter of Stephen Corning, of Wall Street, she has that mysterious aloofness, that cold beauty and sense of superiority, that goes with great wealth. And Johnny is a poor boy who has worked his way through college. He is infatuated with Alison, but is goaded by her indifference. Secretly she is pleased with his modesty. She invites him to a large party on her father’s yacht, the Ventura. There Johnny’s interest in Alison grows, but he finds that she is engaged to a young man, Bentinck, in her father’s office. He decides he is through with her, and is going back to coach at his mid¬ west college—but finally accepts the job she secures for him in her father’s office. Johnny learns the ruthlessness of Wall Street. But when he is ordered to take the savings of women in return for some of Coming’s bonds which he knows to be worthless, he refuses—and is fired. He gets no sympathy from Alison. She is contemptuous of his softness. That is her philosophy of life—ruthlessness. Money is the only thing that counts. So Johnny decides to follow the ruthless course to wealth. He decides, however on the more romantic career of hi-jacking rum runners. He is joined in his enterprise by a wealthy college mate. Chub, who goes into it for adventure. They learn the game from Slim Herman, a notorious racke¬ teer. Johnny gets hold of the yacht “Corsair,” which he equips with guns and a crew of ex-college men. Johnny decides, since he is preying on rum runners, to pick only on the biggest, and selects the fleet of Big John, New York’s bootleg king, as the object of his attentions. He is able to get information on Big John’s fleet through Sophie, Slim Herman’s mistress, who is working as assistant to one of Big. John’s chief of operations, and radios him in code the movements of ships and size of cargoes. At first Big John is merely annoyed by Johnny’s depredations. As his ships begin losing cargo after cargo, and the booty mounts into the hun¬ dreds of thousands of dollars, however. Big John decides to get the “ama- choor,” as he calls Johnny. Sophie’s practice of tipping off his fleet’s movements is discovered, so Big John’s chief purposely allows her to send out word that the schooner Queseda is sailing from Cuba with several hundred cases of champagne. Johnny’s practice had been to arrange with rich New Yorkers to deliver champagne in hundred case lots or more to their yachts at sea, then to secure the cargo by hi-jacking—the whole operation being based and timed with information from Sophie. In this way he never has to touch an American port with his liquor, and is able to do his pirating outside the 12-mile limit. With Sophie’s information on the Queseda, Johnny gets into the presence of Stephen Corning and offers to sell him the cargo, valued at $430,000. Corning accepts, and agrees to have his yacht, the Ventura, at sea waiting for delivery the following day. So Johnny sets out in the Corsair—only to discover that Alison Corning has stowed away aboard his boat. With her is her fiance, Bentinck, who, unable to dissuade her from her escapade, has insisted on accompanying her. Alison thinks it is going to be an exciting adventure. The excitement is forthcoming surely enough. Sophie learns too late to inform Johnny that Big John has planted time bombs in the cases of cham¬ pagne on the deck of the Queseda. Slim Herman manages to get aboard the Queseda as a cook, but he is discovered. He is imprisoned in the hold when the Corsair overtakes the Queseda. Johnny is surprised at the will¬ ingness with which the schooner’s crew surrender and permit his men to transfer the deck load to his yacht. But after the transfer is made and the Corsair is pulling away, he learns the reason. Slim manages to escape overboard and gets his message to Johnny just as Big John wings him with a well-aimed rifle shot. There is no time to be lost. Johnny orders the Corsair’s party to abandon the Corsair, and they escape in the launch just as the Corsair is blown up. Johnny is fighting mad over the killing of Slim Herman, and despite the fact that Alison Corning is on board, makes for the Queseda to fight it out. They catch the Queseda unprepared, but Big John is crafty, and captures Johnny. Only momentarily, however, for Johnny’s partner Chub, through a ruse, enables him to turn the tables on Big John, and the “amachoor” and his crew take over the Queseda and turn Big John and his henchmen adrift. John then goes on to keep his rendezvous at sea with Stephen Corning. He has threatened to get even with Corning, and after transferring the champagne cargo to the Ventura, he makes Corning write out a check for twice the $430,000 previously agreed on, reminding Corning of his statement in firing him, that it doesn’t make any difference in business how you get your money—so long as you get it. It is the revenge that Johnny has long been planning. And to his sur¬ prise Alison is delighted rather than chagrined over his triumph. She tells him that she has broken her engagement with Bentinck for him. She intends to marry him, and in face of her arguments John is helpless. And Corn¬ ing, delighted with Johnny’s nerve, takes him back into his firm. Gets 'Em By Hunch Roland West, United Artists producer, never bothers with screen tests in signing players for his pic¬ tures, and he has made some of the greatest successes in the past few years. In “Cor¬ sair,” the Chester Morris pic¬ ture which comes to the .theatre on. he signed his entire company on hunches. “Screen tests don’t mean a thing,” he explained, “ex¬ cept to scare a player before the camera, just as orators are terrified the first time they face a microphone.” CHESTER MORRIS PORTRAYS STAR ROLE IN “CORSAIR” NEW ROLAND WEST PRODUCTION New Vehicle Offers Morris Powerful Role Dealing With Modem Pirates Upon the High Seas— a Sensational Cast Emerging after three spectacular years as a star in his own right, Chester Morris comes to the .Theatre on. in “Corsair,” the Roland West adaptation of the Walton Green novel of society piracy upon the high seas. Thus the scion of one of Amer¬ ica’s most prominent stage families reaches heights commensurate with those attained by his parents in an- OCEAN TRIP PREPARES MORRIS FOR “CORSAIR” Quite by accident Chester Mor¬ ris found himself prepared by ex¬ perience to step into a role of a modern sea pirate in Roland West’s adaptation of the Walton Green novel, “Corsair,” which comes to the .theatre on. He gained that experience ship¬ ping on a freight steamer plying between California and Europe. other generation. As befits a star, Chester is surrounded by four lead¬ ing women in “Corsair,” which is a United Artists picture. One of the four is unrecognizable by name, but fans will know her in¬ stantly when they see her upon the screen, for the first leading wo¬ man, — Alison Loyd, — has been known for years as Thelma Todd. Miss Todd has changed her per¬ sonality in this picture from that of a light comedienne to that of a dramatic actress, and her screen name was changed to fit the meta¬ morphosis. The other three leading women are Mayo Methot, Gay Sea- Chester morris star of Roland West's Corsair* 1—Two Col. Star Head (Mat 10c; Cut 50c) ROLAND WEST’S “CORSAIR” starring CHESTER MORRIS with ALISON LOYD From the Liberty Magazine serial novel by WALTON GREEN Co-directors.Rollo Lloyd and Robert Ross Adaptation.Josephine Lovett Art Director.Richard Day Cameraman.Ray June CAST John Hawks.Chester Morris Alison Corning.Alison Loyd Richard Bentinck.William Austin “Chub” Hopping.Frank McHugh Stephen Corning.Emmett Corrigan “Big John”.Fred Kohler “Fish Face”...Frank Rice “Slim” . Ned Sparks Sophie .Mayo Methot Susie Grenoble.Gay Seabrook Jean Phillips.Addie McPhail UNITED ARTISTS PICTURE brook and Addie McPhail, all for¬ mer stage actresses. In bringing Chester Morris to “Corsair,” Producer West has left no stone unturned in his determin¬ ation to make this the best picture of his thirteen years of film-mak¬ ing, and when one considers that he has been among the leading producers ever since he left the stage for Hollywood one can gain an idea of the heights he aimed at. West Reads Scripts He read hundreds of plays, novels and short stories before he hit upon “Corsair,” from the pen of the man who gained his infor¬ mation about hi-jacking while chief investigator of Prohibition En¬ forcement in Washington under General Lincoln C. Andrews. Wal¬ ton Green, who was a newspaper publisher and editor before those Washington days, turned author after his retirement from public life, and already has to his credit scores of short stories, novels and magazine articles. Josephine Lovett, the young wo¬ man who wrote “Our Dancing Daughters” for Joan Crawford, and “The Trespasser” for Gloria Swan¬ son, did the adaptation and con¬ tinuity, and a cast to support the new star was hand-picked. Besides the above-mentioned young women, it includes William Austin, Fred Kohler, Frank McHugh, Emmett Corrigan and Ned Sparks. As co¬ directors Producer West had Rollo Lloyd and Robert Ross. Sea Scenes Used Most of the picture was shot upon chartered ships twenty miles off Catalina in California, and the fleet was so large that West was forced to direct their operations by use of radio telephone. He was in touch at all times with all of the ships, with his base at Catalina Island, with the Hollywood studios and with the Coastal authorities at San Pedro. The story of “Corsair” concerns an all-American football half-back who starts his business career in Wall Street only to encounter the ruthlessness of a certain financier. In order to circumvent the power¬ ful multi-millionaire, he turns hi¬ jacker upon the high seas and thus not only brings him to his knees, but wins his arrogant daughter. Roland West and Chester Morris have worked shoulder to shoulder ever since the time three years ago when the star was imported to Hollywood ito take the lead in “Alibi,” the greatest gang, picture of its day. At the time Morris was playing in “Crime,” the A1 Woods stage production, and in his very first picture he became an over¬ night screen sensation. He came into tremendous demand, and in quick succession he appeared in “The Divorcee,” “The Big House,” ‘The Case of Sergeant Grischa,” “Woman Trap,” “Second Choice” and “Fast Life.” First Starring Role Then West recalled him and gave him the featured part in “The Bat Whispers,” which is still being- shown throughout the world. Thus “Corsair,” his first starring vehi¬ cle, is his third picture under West’s contract. For ever since those first days, Morris has been under contract to West, but had been borrowed by other companies. In each instance, though. West in¬ sisted upon scanning the stories in which he appeared for other com¬ panies before agreeing to loan him. Chester Morris is the son of William Morris, leading man for Olga Nethersole, Mme. Modjeska and Mrs. Fiske. His mother was Etta Hawkins, well known to the theatre of the eighties and nineties. Now his father, mother, sister and brother, all players, are living in Hollywood, and Adrian, the brother, has just made an enviable name for himself in support of Billie Dove in “The Age for Love,” the Howard Hughes film.