The Emperor Jones (United Artists) (1933)

CROWN yowr ADVERTISING with PIJRLICITY EUGENE O’NEILL OKAYED SCENARIO Producers of “Emperor Jones” Flew to Author’s Retreat For Conference By KARL KRUG From his hermitage at Sea Island oft" the coast of Georgia, Eugene O’Neill took enough time out from his writing of two new plays for the Theatre Guild to exert a pow¬ erful influence in the preliminary manufacture of his “Emperor Jones” into a photoplay. It is no secret that Mr. O’Neill has never been exactly partial to motion pictures, although a few of his plays have eventually found themselves transferred to the cinema. While it may seem para¬ doxical, the country’s foremost play¬ wright had always prepared a script for the screen adaptation of his plays but, up to the time of “Em¬ peror Jones,” none of the movie im¬ presarios had bothered to consult him one way or another concerning the treatment of his works when they left the legitimate theatre. It was Dudley Murphy, director of “Emperor Jones,” which will be shown as a United Artists release at the . Theatre ., who first spoke to O’Neill about bring¬ ing the saga of Brutus Jones to the screen. That was eight years ago, but nothing came of the idea until a few months ago, when Murphy met kindred spirits in the persons of John Krimsky and Gifford Coch¬ ran, those enterprising young pro¬ ducers who imported “Maedchen in Uniform,” and who were casting about for a picture to produce. DuBose Heyward was called in to prepare the continuity and dia¬ logue and then the quartette— Krimsky, Cochran, Murphy and Heyward—flew by special plane to Sea Island to consult the play¬ wright, who has little use for vis¬ itors of any kind. He heartily approved the script. The cause of his unusual enthusiasm soon came to light. O’Neill had himself written a screen interpreta¬ tion of “Emperor Jones,” a play in which he has always taken unusual pride, as it was the one that first brought him definitely to public attention, and the Murphy-Heyward treatment was very similar to his gwn. A conference that lasted two days was held, with O’Neill forgetting two unfinished plays. In the end the two adaptations were welded into one. “Emperor Jones” went before the cameras and microphones with the full and unqualified ap¬ proval of the author. Eugene O’Neill had shown his first manifestation of interest in the screening of one of his plays and, as a result of his enthusiasm, even went so far as to pose for news pho¬ tographs with the Messrs. Krim¬ sky, Cochran, Heyward and Murphy. He thus broke another rule. It was the first time the scowling play¬ wright had tolerated a cameraman in the vicinity of his retreat at Sea Island. Queen Confers Honor Upon Scene Designer Of ^^Emperor Jones” (Advance Feature) Herman Eosse, while engaged by John Krimsky and Gifford Cochran as art director for their film pro¬ duction of Eugene O’Neill’s “Em¬ peror Jones,” showing . at the . Theatre, was honored by Queen Wilhelmina of Holland. Her Ma.jesty appointed Eosse to a pro¬ fessorship in decorative design at the University of Delft. In accepting the appointment, Eosse returns to the school where he made his first juvenile experi¬ ments in art some thirty years ago. Later he studied in London and at Stanford University in California. He did the decorative designing for The Peace Palace at The Hague, which is the city of his birth. He decorated the Dutch section of the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. He devised the decora¬ tions for numerous offerings of the Chicago Opera Company and many stage plays. His settings for “The King of Jazz” won him the award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the most memor¬ able designs of the year. “Frank¬ enstein,” “East Is West,” “Strictly Dishonorable,” “Eesurrection” and “The Boudoir Diplomat” are other films that received his attention. “Emperor Jones” is Krimsky and Cochran’s initial production, with Paul Eobeson, famous Negro actor and singer, making hie screen de¬ but. Dudley Digges is cast for an important role. It’s a United Art¬ ists release. HARLEM BUFFET FLAT INTRODUCED ‘Emperor Jones’ Reveals Social Custom Elxclusively Negro’s (Advance Feature) Have you ever been to a buffet flat? It’s neither a lunchroom nor a variation of a Western plain. It’s peculiar to Harlem, yet few white visitors to that Negro haven in New York City ever hear of it, and prac¬ tically none get into one. In “Emperor Jones,” a picturiza- tion of Eugene O’Neill’s famous play, released by United Artists and playing . at the . Theatre with Paul Eobeson and Dudley Digges in the leading roles, a buffet flat is shown in all its colorful detail. A buffet flat is simply a Harlem apartment to which people come to sit around, eat, drink, talk, sing and dance. It is Harlem at its most natural. The owner of the flat is usually a woman of some maturity —perhaps an actress or singer— whose personality and flair for the dramatic attract everyone to her apartment and thus allows her to earn her livelihood. The buffet flat is the modern Harlem counterpart of the salons of classical France and the coffee houses of Queen Anne’s day. Or, more correctly, it is a combination of those two, plus a dash of the gypsy clubs of pre-Bolshevist Eus- sia. Greatest care was exerted by pro¬ ducers John Krimsky and Gifford Cochran to recapture for “Emperor Jones” the correct atmosphere of a buffet flat. Actual habitues were rounded up and persuaded to appear at the studio. Then they were turned loose on the set and allowed to enjoy themselves. The results were heartily endorsed by Dudley Murphy, the director. Authentic touches of Negro life from Carolina to Harlem, from a Pullman car to the West Indies— which is the scope of the story— are present throughout in “Emperor Jones,” which was adapted from the O’Neill play by DuBose Heyward. Mailman Studied Drama (Advance Story) Prank Wilson, generally credited with ranking second only to Paul Eobeson among our native Negro actors, plays the role of Jeff in sup¬ port of Eobeson in “Emperor Jones,” the United Artists release adapted from the stage play by Eugene O’Neill and showing . at the . Theatre. Wilson, like Eobeson, has found his stage activities confined to a few roles because of his color. He got his start as understudy to Jules M. Bledsoe in “In Abraham’s Bosom.” An attack of temperament on Bledsoe’s part gave the role to Wilson for several weeks. This per- FAMOUS O’NEILL DRAMA SCREENED Paul Robeson Making Screen Debut As Fugitive Who Becomes Emperor (Flay Bate B&ader) “Emperor Jones,” which is only the fourth play of the great play¬ wright, Eugene O’Neill, to be filmed, is the feature attraction today to . at the . Theatre. This picture marks the screen debut of Paul Eobeson, famous Negro con¬ cert singer and actor, and the initial production of John Krimsky and Gifford Cochran, those intrepid young men who brought “Maedchen in Uniform” to this country. In contributing “Emperor Jones” to the screen the Messrs. Krimsky and Cochran, with the acquiescence and endorsement of Mr. O’Neill, have elaborated the story in such fashion that the career of Brutus Jones is traced from the day in which he confidently leaves his South Carolina home to enter the marts of commerce and adventure as a Pullman porter. The O’Neill play has been pre¬ served intact, but before we see Jones about to flee from his voo¬ doo-supported throne, the life of the outlawed porter is portrayed in brief slices leading up to the event¬ ful day when he is washed ashore on a tropical island, a fugitive from justice. His rise and fall, his avarice, his romances, his arrogance and his ego¬ tism, are all pictured, whereas, in the original, Jones’ sins and trans¬ gressions are only discovered when ghosts of them turn up to be-devil him as he barges deliriously through the forest. The task of establishing Jones prior to the O’Neill portion of the picture was entrusted to DuBose Heyward, author of “Porgy” and “Mamba’s Daughters” and well- known for his authentic studies of native Negro life. That his treat¬ ment met with the approval of Mr. O’Neill is evident from the fact that Krimsky, Cochran, Heyward and Dudley Murphy, director of the pic¬ ture, flew by special plane to O’Neill’s Georgia island, where the playwright read the script and gave it his complete endorsement. Dudley Digges plays Smithers, the only white character in the stopy. Fredi Washington plays Jones’ Harlem sweetheart and Euby Elzy his home town girl. His pal, Jeff, is played by Frank Wilson. United Artists is releasing “Emper¬ or Jones” as one of their first pic¬ tures on the new season’s program. formance won him the leading role in the Theatre Guild’s production of “Porgy.” » During these stage activities he stuck to his regular job—a letter carrier in Harlem. He gave it up only to go on tour and to England. During his letter carrier days he studied for four years in the Ameri¬ can Academy of Dramatic Arts and wrote Negro playlets. Dudley Murphy Ambition Eight Years Realized After Many Disappointments Chance Meeting Succeeils (Advance Feature) Dudley Murphj', for eight years, wanted to put Eugene O’Neill’s “The Emperor Jones” on the screen. It was not an idle ambition. He wrote an adaptation for it, traveled throughout the South, haunted Har¬ lem and made a deep study of the Negro. He tried to sell the idea to various major film producers. Some of them waxed enthusiastic, but invariably found themselves caught up in the net of their own fears and supersti¬ tions. They were afraid of the very power of the O’Neill story! Now “The Emperor Jones” has been brought to the screen—it’s a United Artists release showing . . . at the . Theatre with Paul Eobeson in tlie title role, and sup¬ ported by Dudley Digges—and it is interesting to see how Murphy’s desire Avas a magnet that drew to him, at the right moment, the right persons to bring about its produc¬ tion. It so happened that one day Dud¬ ley Murphy ran into O’Neill’s agent when he was having lunch at the Algonquin, in New York, with John Krimsky. Krimsky is the young man Avho, with Gifford Cochran, lAresented the sensationally success¬ ful “Maedchen in Uniform” in this country. Krimsky, only a few days before, had heard “The Emperor Jones” as an opera at the Metroplitan, and had become inflamed with the pos¬ sibilities of the O’Neill play for reproduction on the screen while listening to Lawrence Tibbett sing the title role. Murphy didn’t need to waste any of his Celtic eloquence on Krimsky. That gentleman was only too eager for the adventure, as was his asso¬ ciate, Gifford Cochran. Mr. O’Neill acceded to their pro¬ posals when he learned that Du¬ Bose Heyward, the author of “Porgy” and “Mamba’s Daughters,” would write the screen version. An airplane trip was made by Krimsky, Cochran, Murphy and Heyward to the author’s retreat on Sea Island, off Georgia, and he found Heyward’s script almost identical with one he himself had prepared. The selection of Paul Eobeson, who was brought from London for the title role, was heartily approved. Many years ago Dudley Murphy had talked to Eobeson about “The Em¬ peror Jones” for the screen, and O’Neill had autographed a volume of his plays “In gratitude to Paul Eobeson, in whose interpretation of Brutus Jones I have found the most complete satisfaction an author can get—that of seeing his creation born into flesh and blood.” Eobeson has played “Emperor Jones” many times on the stage. “Emperor Jones” has a musical setting of Negro music, arranged and directed by Eosamond Johnson. Paul Eobeson, making liis screep debut, sings “Water Boy,” ‘TSTow Let Me Ply” and “I’m Travelin’,” and spirituals, blues and jazz are Avorked logically into tlie script. Paul Robeson "Emperor Jones" 3— One Col. Sta/r Head (Mat ,05; Cut .20) ^^Emperor Jones^^ Is Fourth O Weill Play to be Filmed Paul Robeson’s One of Finest Screen Performances (Current Feature) With “Emperor Jones” currently giving new thrills to audiences at the .Theatre, it is interesting to note that, of the many plays Eugene O’Neill has contributed to the theatre since “Bound East for Cardiff” was first played at the Wharf Theatre in Provincetown, Mass., back in 1916, but four of them have found an outlet on the screen. “Anna Christie” was the first of tlie O’Neill plays to be reproduced in celluloid. It was both a silent and talkie and won especial acclaim both times. The next of the O’Neill dramas to be filmed was “Strange Inter¬ lude,” the much-discussed nine-act drama. Its vogue on the screen suf¬ fered no whit as compared Avith its popularity on the stage of the Guild Theatre. More recently a third of the O’Neill series has been elaborated into a picture—one of his little knoAvn one-act plays, “Eeckless- ness,”—under the title of “The Constant Woman.” “The Emperor Jones” is the fourth O’Neill play to be screened. It is the saga of a Pullman porter who rises to be the tsar of a tropical island through his ruses and sor¬ ceries. Paul Eobeson, whose portrait of Brutus Jones is one of the finest pieces of acting the screen has ever recorded, is making his film debut, but he has played the role before. Charles Gilpin first enacted it. Eobeson played it in various re¬ vivals and abroad. Lawrence Tib¬ bett sang the role in the operatic version put on at the Metropolitan last Winter. “Emperor Jojies” is the first pro¬ duction of John Krimsky and Gif¬ ford Cochran, two young indepen¬ dent producers who have put a quar¬ ter of a Tnillion dollars into the pic¬ ture and gotten results that are well AAmrth the investment. ‘‘Emperor Jones” Stage Play, Opera and Movie (Current Story) “Emperor Jones,” United Artists release starring Paul Eobeson, with Dudley Digges, at the . The¬ atre until ... , has been pre¬ sented to the public in three differ¬ ent forms. It was first presented in 1920 as a drama and brought into prominence its author, Eugene O’Neill. It has been played through¬ out the Avorld and had many re- Advals. In January, 1933, the Metropoli¬ tan Opera gave the first perform¬ ance of “Emperor Jones” as an opera, with a modern musical set¬ ting by Louis Gruenberg, and Law¬ rence Tibbett singing the title role. Now John Krimsky and Gifford Cochran, making their debut as film producers, present “Emperor Jones” as a cinema. In the film A-ersion the original drama has been elaborated upon by DuBose Heyward, its adaptor, to show hoAv Jones becomes a cast¬ away on a West Indian island. It includes much native Negro music — not the Gruenberg score, but Negro spirituals arranged and di¬ rected by Eosamond Johnson. Eobeson, whose glorious baritone has thrilled crowned heads of Europe, sings several songs, includ¬ ing the ever popular “Water Boy.” Jealousy Flames Battle The easiest scene Dudley Murphy ever directed was the fight between Undine and Belle, two Harlem beauties who scrap over Brutus Jones in “Emperor Jones,” United Artists’ presentation of Eugene O’Neill’s famous play shoAving. . at the . Theatre. The actresses playing the roles had been vieing with each other for Eobeson’s favor, and when the script called for a real hair pulling, eye scratching fight, the scene only needed Murphy’s signal to begin. It worked itself up to such a pitch that it was continued after the girls had gone to their dressing rooms,