Drums (United Artists) (1938)

¥ =u a £2 r= THE PRINCE AND THE DRUMMER BOY PALS. Sabu and Desmond Tester strike up a charming friendship as an Indian Prince and a Scottish drummer boy, respectively, in “Drums,” Alexander Korda’s thrilling technicolor film, which comes to the Se Ree a eae a, NPY eT Woo 1) 1 eee ee ree ne eee ee 2B—Two Col..Scene (Mat .380; Cut .50) Star Refutes Theory About Englishwomen and Tweeds Valerie Hobson, Britain’s Best-Dressed Actress, Goes In For Glamour (Advance Feature) The widespread contention that a smart Englishwoman’s concern with clothes begins and ends with tweeds, is knocked into a cocked hat by the case of Valerie Hobson. For the lovely film star, who bears lightly the titles of England’s Best-Dressed Actress and The Girl With The Perfect Mannequin’s Figure, lives well within that charmed circle bounded by Chanel, Schiaparelli and Elizabeth Arden. As a matter of fact, Miss Hobson is so far from indifferent to this matter of feminine allure that when Alexander Korda cast her in the leading feminine role of “Drums,” his exciting technicolor film which comes to the........... Theatre on ears eas , she made a special trip to Paris with Rene Hubert, Korda’s fashion expert, to choose her wardrobe. No doubt, some of Miss Hobson’s clothes consciousness stems from her early ambition to be a famous designer. But a natural talent for singing and dancing made a stage career of some sort inevitable. TO HOLLYWOOD AT 17 Valerie is the daughter of an English navy officer and was educated in a convent. At nine she went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. After a year there, she turned to the ballet and spent the next six years studying dancing under the great Espinosa. At 15 she won an understudy role in “Orders Is Orders,” and not long after, her brilliant performance in “Ball at the Savoy” sent Hollywood talent scouts backstage at the Drury Lane. At 17, she was on her way to the American cinema capital to play leading roles in a succession of “mellers.” After appearing in “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,”’ “Chinatown Squad,” and “The Bride of Frankenstein,” she returned to England to appear opposite Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in his film, “When Thief Meets Thief.” In her latest film, “Drums,” Valerie shares featured honors with Sabu, the sensational Indian child discovery of “Elephant Boy,” Raymond Massey and Desmond Tester. The production was directed by Zoltan Korda from the story by A. E. W. Mason and is released through United Artists. Caste System Proves No Aid To Film-Making (Advance Featurette) Whatever other advantages or disadvantages it may boast, India’s complex caste system is not conducive to the production of motion pictures. This discovery was made by the location unit which invaded India’s treacherous Khyber Pass to film scenes for “Drums,” Alexander Korda’s thrilling technicolor production, showing............ at the BY Pago, Bee Theatre, with Sabu, Raymond Massey, Roger Livesey, Desmond Tester and Valerie Hobson in featured roles. Among the regulations which had to be observed in dealing with the Indians engaged to play fierce native tribesmen in the film were these: A Brahmin may eat sweetmeats or wheat with a man of the Kehatriyas caste, but not rice, for that would be an admission of equality. Whenever money passes from a high caste to a low caste man, it is thrown on the ground to avoid defilement. They may not stand on the same carpet or enter the same room. Caste is even respected in jail, where prisoners of high caste are provided with their own cooks and water carriers. The only place where caste is ever dropped in India is in the Third Class railroad carriage, where all castes are herded at a farthing a mile. But it is instantly resumed at the alighting station! “Drums” was directed by Zoltan Korda for release through United Artists, Hollywood’s Rags-To-Riches Tales All Pale Before the Saga of Sabu Small East Indian Film Star Once Roamed Jungle and Lived On A Handful of Rice (Biographical Feature) Hollywood is rife with rags-to-riches stories, but the cinema colony can offer nothing to match the saga of Sabu. For Sabu, the charming East Indian lad who made a sensational screen debut in Alexander Korda’s “Elephant Boy” and is currently appearing in the same producer’s technicolor pro duction “Drums” at the...... transformed overnight from a clad in loin cloth and turban and Biotechs ies Theatre, was literally waif, who roamed the jungle lived on a handful of rice a day, into a famous and highly-paid film star. And the metamorphosis did not take place in Hollywood—but in London. Born 14 years ago in the jungle of Karapur, the very heart of the wild elephant country, Sabu dreamed of becoming a_ great mahout as he followed his adored father about his duties in the Maharaiah’s elephant stables. OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS When he was eight, his father died and left Sabu an orphan. His only means of subsistence was a Government pension of two rupees a month as a ward of the stables. Then one day Sabu heard that a party of white sahibs had arrived. They were going to take pictures and were looking for a small boy to ride a large elephant. The visitors were the Korda film unit, making location shots for “Elephant Boy.” Sabu and a number of other little Indian boys followed the party everywhere. Numberless children had been tested without success. Then Director Zoltan Korda saw Sabu fearlessly riding a huge elephant. A preliminary test was made and the boy was given the role of Little Toomai in the famous Kipling story. SABU MAKES GOOD Sabu proved such a fine natural actor and a youngster of such unusual charm that he was taken back to England under contract to Alexander Korda. Today, Sabu is a film star of the first magnitude. His days of jungleroaming far behind him, he lives ina luxurious apartment, hob-nobs with celebrities, goes to school in Beaconsfield, plays football and tennis like any other small Britisher, and handles his midget racing car with the same uncanny skill with which he once handled the giant pachyderms in the Maharajah’s elephant stables. Sabu’s second film, “Drums,” which Zoltan Korda invaded India’s dangerous Khyber Pass to film in natural color, features him with Raymond Massey, Valerie Hobson and Desmond Tester. The film is released through United Artists. Sabu Heads Cast of Korda’s “Drums” (Advance Reader) Sabu, the handsome East Indian youngster who made a sensational screen debut in “Elephant Boy,” makes his second film appearance heading the cast of “Drums,” Alexander Korda’s thrilling technicolor drama of intrigue and romance on India’s Northwest frontier, which DEGINS aires cece ae day engagement RUAN. oo. ha. Theatre on........ Featured with Sabu are Raymond Massey, Roger Livesey, Desmond Tester and Valerie Hobson in this adaptation of the A. E. W. Mason story of a boy’s loyalty and a woman’s courage in a land of seething intrigues. “Drums” casts Sabu as little Prince Azim, who is menaced by a power-crazed uncle, Prince Ghul, (Raymond Massey), who has murdered Azim’s father and plots to filch the boy’s throne and rid his country of British rule. Sabu strikes up a friendship with a little Scottish drummer boy (Desmond Tester), whose regiment has been sent to India, under the courageous Captain Carruthers (Roger Livesey), to put down the uprising being fomented by Prince Ghul. The two boys arrange a private drum signal, for use in time of danger, and through this Sabu is enabled to foil his uncle’s plot, save the regiment from the machine gun slaughter the madman had planned as the fiendish climax to a five-day ceremonial feast, and regain his rightful place on the throne. Lovely Valerie Hobson plays the only Western woman in a world of thousands of men as the bride who courageously accompanies Carruthers on this dangerous mission to India’s farthest-flung outpost. The breath-taking natural color shots of India’s treacherous Khyber Pass, were actually filmed in the historic gateway to the plains of India, which no motion picture camera had hitherto penetrated. “Drums” was directed by Zoltan Korda for release through United Artists. A DRAMATIC SCENE IN "DRUMS" SABU, Valerie Hobson and Roger Livesey in a tense moment from “Drums,” Alexander Korda’s exciting technicolor production which COMES NO te. — ee 38B—Two Col. Scene ‘Theatre: on:.--22 ser ee (Mat .30; Cut .50) Sabu 7A—One Col. Star Head (Mat .15; Cut .25) Turban-Twisting A Lost Art To Western Winders (Advance Feature) To the famous rope trick and other unfathomable mysteries of the occult East, add the gentle art of turban-twisting. Although nothing could possibly look simpler, we have it on unimpeachable authority that, to unpracticed Western hands, the business of erecting a turban on one’s head in authentic Indian fashion is a baffling one. Our informants are members of the motion picture unit which travelled to India to film scenes for Alexander Korda’s technicolor film “Drums,” which brings Sabu, Raymond Massey, Roger Livesey, Desmond Tester and Valerie Hobson to Chere res DNR bER; Ob. (Ste orden through United Artists release. Bent on emulating the native actors, who wore snug, trim turbans against the blazing midday sun, the Western invaders nobly tugged and turned and twisted. But it was no go, and they finally had to admit defeat, 70 YARD TURBAN The Englishmen found the chief reason for their difficulty lay in the fact that the Indian headdress consists of no less than 70 yards of fine muslin, about two feet wide. Wound tightly—but not so tightly as to constrict the flow of blood to the head— it must be carefully adjusted to stay above the eyebrows in emergencies. Swathed in 70 feet of muslin, the Englishman usually found most of his turban encasing his feet. Designed with an eye to the weather, the outlandish clothes of the Indians are well adapted to protect them from extraordinary heat, or from the cold they encounter during mountain nights. Their wardrobe consists for the most part of two pieces of cotton cloth without hem or stitch, one 10 to 12 feet long, the other 16 feet in length and four feet in width. With the first piece they cover their shoulders. With the second they gird their loins. Those who live in the north, near the mountains, have a kind of large sheet with which they wrap themselves at night. Since European piece goods have been brought in by the British, those who can afford it buy materials of brilliant red, marking them as men of high standing and position. The lack of laundry facilities is another reason for the Indians’ sartorial traditions. These simple garments are easily washed daily in cold water.