Home of the Brave (United Artists) (1949)

Biographical Features on Robson, Dick, Love Joy, Brodie * ♦ # “# “Home of the Brave” Director-Mark Robson Worked Way Up From Back-Lot 'Swing Gang' (Biographical Feature ) In sixteen years, Mark Robson has worked his way from the back- lot “swing gang” to screen direct¬ ing, the lastest instance of which is his assignment to Stanley Kramer’s “Home of the Brave,” a daring story of the journey of five men to a South Pacific atoll, which opens at the-Theatre on. through United Artists release. Associated with Robson and Kramer on the picture, which was a prize-winning Broadway play two years ago, is screenwriter Carl Fore¬ man, and together the three men form the same crew which pro¬ duced Screen Plays’ “Champion,” the Kirk Douglas starring vehicle based on the celebrated Ring Lardner classic. Mark Robson is a native Can¬ adian, born in Montreal in 1914, and naturalized in the United States in 1935. Mark entered UCLA, majoring in Political Science and Economics, the appropriate begin¬ nings for a law career which his father had planned for him. He Seldom is an actor granted a sec¬ ond chance at a desirable role. Such, however, is the happy ex¬ perience of Douglas Dick, who plays the young Major in Stanley Kramer’s “Home of the Brave,” which opens on at the Theatre through United Artists release. Dick, who has appeared on many stages but never on Broadway, first heard of “Home of the Brave” when the original prize play by Arthur Laurents was being cast for its New York premiere. The script called for a young man in his mid¬ dle twenties upon whom rested the heavy responsibility of having men older than himself under his com¬ mand. The author’s directions read: “He is self-conscious about his rank and position (and his shortcom¬ ings) and attempts to hide his natural boyishness by a stalwart military manner.” Dick rushed to the theatre where try-outs were being held, only to learn that the part had been re¬ warded a few hours earlier to an¬ other performer. Disappointed, Dick decided to make his way to Hollywood where Producer Hal Wallis signed him for the role of the crippled son in “The Searching Wind,” an assignment which led to roles in “Saigon,” “Casbah,” “The Rope” and “The Accused.” When he heard that Producer Kramer was looking for actors for Hollywood’s “typical GI” is, ironically enough, an actor who never had a chance to don soldier’s garb in real life. Steve Brodie was rejected during World War II be¬ cause of an injury received as a Wichita High football star, but he has since worn the U. S. uniform with distinction in such films as “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo,” “Crossfire,” “A Walk in the Sun” and in his latest assignment, “Home of the Brave,” the exciting Stanley Kramer production which is sched¬ uled to open on . at the Theatre through United Artists release. Considered perfect type casting for the role of T. J. in the film, Producer Kramer claims that Brodie “looks, walks, talks and behaves like the amalgam of about eleven million men in uniform. “Home of the Brave” features him left the University to take a job and attended the Law School of Pacific Coast University at night. At the end of three years he gave this all up and applied for a job at the Fox Studios. He didn’t ask for a job at the top, but asked for one on the “swing gang,” which meant backlot working, moving sets, lumber yard heaving and any of all of the assorted crew work which falls to backlot employees. From the swing gang Mark moved into the prop department. Later he got a job at RKO as film librarian in the cutting department. From the library he moved into the process department, and ad¬ vanced to the job of assistant cut¬ ter. The step-by-step training, from backlot worker to cutter is in Holly¬ wood unusual, and is the best grounding for the responsibilities of film direction. His work on such pictures as “My Favorite Wife,” “The Great Man Votes,” “Citizen Kane” and “The Magnificent Ambersons” was the film version of “Home of the Brave,” Dick again applied for the job he had missed getting three years earlier. This time, backed by his growing screen reputation, he was given a contract on the spot. The son of Mr. and Mrs. Gamble Dick of Charleston, West Virginia, Dick recalls that he yearned to be an actor ever since he can re¬ member. He participated in the usual high school plays and, dur¬ ing college vacations from Ken¬ tucky University, he joined the Hilltop Theatre group, located near Baltimore. His first major role was in Thorton Wilder’s “Our Town.” When his family moved to Ari¬ zona, he appeared in local produc¬ tions of “Reunion in Vienna,” “Outward Bound,” “R.H.R.” and “Liliom.” After graduation he joined a stock company at East Hampton, Long Island, but before he could play a part war broke out. He enlisted in the Coast Guard, served a year and a half and was then transferred to the Naval Air Corps as a cadet. After the war, he resumed his theatrical career, appearing in a series of plays which opened out- of-town but never got to New York. It was immediately after his great disappointment with the original “Home of the Brave” company that he was signed for pictures and eventually got his second chance at — of all things — “Home of the Brave.” as the perpetually-griping GI, a role that seems to have pursued him ever since he first hit Holly¬ wood in 1943. Born John Stephens in Eldorado, Kansas (he changed his name for his acting career), Brodie got his first peek into the entertainment world when he was hired as prop boy for a Salina, Kansas stock company. When war broke out, Brodie re¬ turned to Wichita to enlist, but was rejected because of a football injury. He studied torch-welding and ended up by working on mili¬ tary planes in Oklahoma, Texas and California where he did war work by day and studied dramatics at night. In 1943 an MGM talent scout saw his performance and started his GI movie career by signing him for a featured role in “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.” so outstanding, he became one of the most sought-after cutters at the studio. “The Seventh Victim” was his first directional assignment. His “Youth Runs Wild,” a modest bud¬ get film, was picked by Time Maga¬ zine as the “Picture of the Year,” and “Bedlam,” which he directed in England, was chosen by Life magazine as another “Picture of the Year.” When Stanley Kramer started work on the Kirk Douglas starrer, “Champion,” based on the famous Ring Lardner classic which has be¬ come a solid hit, he called on Mark Robson to direct. “Home of the Brave,” Kramer’s current pro¬ duction, is a strong, dynamic and dramatic saga of hate and prejudice among a small group of men on a South Pacific island. With this, Mark Robson, young and with a fresh viewpoint, got the kind of directing assignment for which other directors in Hollywood wait the length of their entire careers. NEWCOMER FRANK LOVEJOY HAS FAMILIAR VOICE ( Biography ) Although audiences viewing Stan¬ ley Kramer’s “Home of the Brave” may not recognize Frank Lovejoy, who plays the important role of Mingo in this United Artists release which opens next . at the . Theatre, they have been listening to him on the air for the past 14 years. Lovejoy is making his film debut in this daring adventure tale deal¬ ing with five men on a dangerous reconnaissance mission on a South Pacific island, but immediately prior to facing a movie camera he chalked up his 10,000th performance in radio. This film newcomer was born on Broadway, a stone’s throw from the Bright Light’s leading theatres. After finishing school, Frank be¬ came a broker with offices in Chicago. After the stock market crash, he quit the brokerage busi¬ ness and became an actor, his first major part being a role in Elmer Rice’s play, “Judgment Day,” in 1934. Lovejoy has been one of the most active and versatile performers in radio. The shows in which he has starred include “Gangbusters,” “Your FBI,” “The Man Behind the Gun” and a number of shows pro¬ duced by Arch Oboler and Norman Corwin. It was while he was work¬ ing in radio in Hollywood that he was spotted by Producer Kramer for the sympathetic role of Mingo. Chefs Special Fred Norris, who is by profession a Hollywood “grip,” which means that he moves props and building sets, etc., recently added a new function to his job. On the set of Stanley Kramer’s production, “Home of the Brave,” Norris be¬ came a “chef extraordinaire.” The transition came about when Lloyd Bridge$ and James Edwards were cooking their GI lunch of K-rations for one of the scenes in the picture. Norris, who served for more than two years in the South Pacific, and who fought his way through a dozen island jungles, became a master at cooking K- rations to make them taste, like anything else — but. He passed his culinary skill on to the actors, who worked out the same “cooking” process with their box of rations for one of the important scenes in “Home of the Brave.” The picture, a United Artists re¬ lease, opens next . at the . Theatre. DOUGLAS DICK WAITED 3 YEARS FOR ROLE IN “HOME OF THE BRAVE” (Biographical Feature) STEVE BRODIE PLAYS TYPICAL “GI” IN SCREEN PLAY “HOME OF THE BRAVE” (.Biographical Feature) BACK TO THE “HOME OF THE BRAVE”, a trip to the States is won by Frank Lovejoy and James Edwards in this scene from “Home of the Brave”, now at the . Theatre. of the Brave”, now at the . Theatre. Still No. SP-139 MAT (2A) Still No. SP-139 MAT (2A) STIRRING UP TROUBLE. In this dramatic scene from Stanley Kramer’s “Home of the Brave,” GI Steve Brodie has a perpetual gripe on because of the presence of the Negro (James Edwards) on a dangrous mission in the South Seas. His companions, Frank Love¬ joy, Douglas Dick and Lloyd Bridges, cannot change his intolerant way of thinking. Still No. MAT (2L) FIGHTING THE ENEMY WITHIN, two members of a dangerous in¬ vasion mission exchange blows over a slurring remark made by one against another member of the mission—a Negro. Lloyd Bridges and Steve Brodie portray the battling buddies in this scene from the sen¬ sational new picture, “Home of the Brave”, opening . at the Theatre. Still No. SP-70 MAT (2B) Page Twenty-one