I Cover the Waterfront (United Artists) (1933)

Here’s the Season’s Most Unusual Cruze Poison to Villains Before He Became a Director Former Actor is Now One of The Greatest Megaphone Wielders in Hollywood The fact he is invariably included in any list of motion picture “immor¬ tals” does not impress James Cruze, who insists “you’re as good as your latest production,” and let’s it go at that. Cruze, responsible for the direction of Reliance’s romantic thriller, “I Cover the Waterfront,” for United Artists, with Claudette Colbert, Bert Lyon and Ernest Torrence in the lead¬ ing roles of the screen story adapted from Max Miller’s best-selling book, has been a prominent figure in the film industry since the early days. Started as Actor Born in Ogden, Utah, he was a stage actor in his youth, trooping with Shakespearian and stock companies and medicine shows. One of his roles in his footlight days was in “The Heart of Maryland.” Sensing the future importance of pictures as a means of playing to an unlimited audience, Cruze left the stage to become leading man for the old Tannhauser company, then mak¬ ing “canned dramas,” in New Ro¬ chelle, N. Y. From Tannhauser he went with Pathe as leading man, and then to Paramount. Seeking a wider outlet for his abili¬ ties, he became a director and sky¬ rocketed to international fame with productions such as “The Old Home¬ stead,” “The Covered Wagon,” “The Goose Hangs High,” “The Pony Ex¬ press,” “Merton of the Movies,” “The Enemy Sex,” “Beggar on Horseback,” “Ruggles of Red Gap,” “Old Iron¬ sides,” “To The Ladies,” “The Fight¬ ing Coward,” “Hollywood,” “One Glorious Day” and other silent pic¬ tures that made history. His talking pictures include “The Great Gabbo,” “Once a Gentleman,” “She Got What She Wanted,” “Com¬ mand Performance,” “Salvation Nell,” “Racetrack,” “Sailor Be Good,” and “Washington Merry Go Round.” A Fast Worker Cruze is a practical craftsman who knows what he wants and gets it. He detests “yes-men”—and “Yes-Wom¬ en”—on and off the set, and never gets flustered whether he’s directing a scene with several thousand persons and a flock of stars, or a couple of atmos¬ pheric players. He is one of the fastest working directors. His only eccentri¬ cities are his penchant for floppy white caps, which he buys by the dozen, and his refusal to be photographed. He contends the public is interested only in the people they see on the screen, not the ones behind the scenes. A giant of a man, well over six feet in height and enormously strong, Cruze’s principal hobby is growing flowers and rare plants. He is an au¬ thority on horticulture. Colbert Bungalow Shimmies When Quake Hits California Ben Lyon Volunteers With His Air Squadron for Emergency Relief Work Terrifying action not in the script marked the filming of a scene in Re¬ liance’s “I Cover the Waterfront,” when the Southern California earth¬ quake struck during the height of pro¬ duction on the romantic thriller adapted from Max MilleFs best-sell¬ ing book. Ben Lyon, who shares acting honors in the picture with Claudette Colbert and Ernest Torrence, was in bed in a hospital setting at the United Ar¬ tists’ studios, when the temblors rocked Hollywood. A moment later he was picking himself off the floor of the sound stage. All Dashed for Exits Director James Cruze and his staff, cameramen and sound men remained on the job until lights and power went off, then dashed for exits. Miss Colbert ran from her portable dressing room, which was doing a shimmy. Hobart Cavanaugh, a member of the supporting cast, who had gone through the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1905, yelled: “Stay inside.” His ad¬ vice was right, for later it was learned that most of the casualties in Long Beach, Compton and other communi¬ ties hardest hit by the quake resulted when panic-stricken citizens rushed out of doors and were struck by brick and ornamental stone work. The United Artists and other Holly¬ wood studios were undamaged, and filming of “I Cover the Waterfront,” was resumed in a short time, although Lyon immediately volunteered and was subject to call any time for duty in the stricken areas. Lyon Volunteers The actor, who plays a reporter in “I Cover the Waterfront,” is an offi¬ cer in the 322nd Pursuit Squadron of the U. S. Air Corps Reserve, Long Beach, the outfit of which his wife, Bebe Daniels, is Honorary Colonel. Lyon placed his new cabin cruiser, one of the most modern planes on the Pacific Coast, at the disposal of the authorities for any purpose it might be needed in connection with the earth¬ quake relief work. Actor Gets Atmosphere When Purnell Pratt, veteran of forty talking pictures and hundreds of stage roles, was signed for the role of a newspaper editor in the United Ar¬ tists’ thriller, “I Cover the Water¬ front,” he spent several days in the city room of a morning daily to fa¬ miliarize himself with the real atmos¬ phere of his role. Purnell had played newspaper men before, but he wanted to be sure he hadn’t grown rusty. One of Holly¬ wood’s most dependable character actors, Pratt supports Claudette Col¬ bert, Ben Lyon and Ernest Torrence in the Edward Small production for United Artists. “I Cover the Water¬ front,” adapted from Max Miller’s current best-seller, was directed by Tames Cruze. Claudette Colbert and Ben Lijon in” I Cover the Waterfront 6— One Cot. Scene ( Mat .05; Cut .20) Radio Rounds Up Actor Missing in Studio Player in “I Cover the Waterfront” Had Gone for Drive Radio came to the aid of Hollywood in finding a “lost” actor during the filming of “I Cover the Waterfront,” Reliance’s romantic thriller for United Artists, with Claudette Colbert and Ben Lyon in the leading roles of the screen story adapted from Max Mil¬ ler’s best-selling book. Hobart Cavanaugh, who shares chief supporting honors in “I Cover the Waterfront,” with Ernest Tor¬ rence, left the studio one noon under the impression he was not needed for a couple of days. When James Cruze got ready to direct a scene with Miss Colbert, Lyon, Torrence and Cavanaugh, the latter was no place to be found. Telephone calls and visits of studio representa¬ tives to Cavanaugh’s home and his other Hollywood haunts failed to lo¬ cate him. Tames Cruze, directing the Edward Small production, appealed to KMTR, radio broadcasting station affiliated with United Artists. Within a few minutes calls for Cavanaugh were go¬ ing out on the air all over Southern California. Cavanaugh, whose car is equipped with a radio, happened to turn the dial as he was driving along an ocean high¬ way 30 miles from Hollywood, when he heard the message from the studio. Luckily, he did not encounter any traffic patrolmen as he flirted with speed regulations on his way back to the studio, where Cruze and his aides were preparing to rearrange the pic¬ ture’s entire shooting schedule if Cav¬ anaugh could not be located within the next hour. Claudette Colbert and Ernest Torrence- in. " I Cover the Waterfront" 1 —Two Col. Scene (Mat .10; Cut .40) New United Artists Producers Make Bow in Waterfront Film Reliance Pictures, Inc., Organized by Harry M. Goetz and Edward Small A new Hollywood producing or¬ ganization, releasing through United Artists, makes its bow under auspi¬ cious circumstances with the smash hit picture, “I Cover the Waterfront',” an adaptation of Max Miller’s best-selling book, with Claudette Colbert, Ben Lyon, Ernest Torrence and other per¬ sonalities in the cast. The new name to reckon with in the film world is Reliance Pictures, Inc., which is headed by two veterans of the entertainment world, Harry M. Goetz and Edward Small. Both Veterans Goetz, making his headquarters in New York, is president and treasurer of the new organization, while Edward Small, in active charge of production at the United Artists studios in Holly¬ wood, is vice-president, secretary and general manager. Both Goetz and Small have been prominent for years in the picture in¬ dustry. Goetz formerly was assistant treasurer and comptroller of produc¬ tion at Paramount. He. established the first Warner Brothers film exchanges and was a leader in the distributing and sales end of the picture business. Small for years has been one of Hollywood’s most consistent produc¬ ers of successful pictures. He pro¬ duced a dozen pictures for First Na¬ tional release and many others that have gone down in annals of the in¬ dustry as outstanding box-office hits. Claudette Colbert in Lead For the first Edward Small produc¬ tion under the United Artists banner, the Reliance Company recruited Claudette Colbert, Ben Lyon and Er¬ nest Torrence as the leading players and James Cruze as the director, Ray June, “ace” Hollywood photographer, as chief of the camera battery and Wells Root as author of the screen play. Future production plans of the Re¬ liance organization include the filmiza- tion of “Shanghai Gesture,” one of the most sensational stage successes of modern times. Wanderwell Murder Yacht, Carma , Shown in New Waterfront Picture Young Captain Recently Met Death in Baffling California Mystery Several of the night sequences in “I Cover the Waterfront,” romantic thriller of the screen adapted from the best-selling book by Max Miller, were filmed against a background of scores of ships and other craft moored along the docks at San Pedro, Calif. One of the boats riding at anchor in the eerie atmosphere while cam¬ eras clicked out climatic story action of a master smuggler brought to bay by government officers, with the dis¬ covery of Chinese being brought into the country in the stomachs of giant sharks, was the yacht, Carma, which had figured in a murder mystery as baffling as any motion picture thriller. It was aboard the Carma that its master, Captain Walter Wanderwell, leader of a band of world adventurers, including an English lord, was shot to death just before filming was launched on “I Cover the Waterfront,” in which Claudette Colbert, Ben Lyon and Ernest Torrence play the leading roles. The murder remains one of Cali¬ fornia’s most famous unsolved mys¬ teries, although a former member of the expedition was tried for the crime and acquitted. During the filming of night scenes in the vicinity of the Carma, an excitable, imaginative member of Director James Cruze’s staff thought he heard ghostly noises coming from the murder yacht, but investigation proved them to be echoes from the sound-recording ap¬ paratus. Fate Is Fickle Fate, as far as Ben Lyon is con¬ cerned, depends upon which street you walk through on your way to work. Ben, who is co-featured with Claud¬ ette Colbert in “I Cover the Water¬ front,” the United Artists romantic thriller, was on his way to work in New York one day when he happened .to pass a motion picture studio upon which hung a sign announcing that “Extras” were needed. The kid walked in — he was very young then — and he has been at the business ever since. Stars Get Kick From Amateur Photography Claudette Colbert and Beh Lyon Most Proficient in Hobby Some of Hollywood’s stars get' a bigger kick out of photographing somebody or something than of being photographed. They think it’s a lot more exciting to stand behind a camera instead of in front of one. The most rabid “photo fiends” among the stars are Claudette Colbert, Leslie Howard and Ben Lyon. They ride their hobby to the extent of de¬ voting all their spare time to study of photographic art, snapping thousands of pictures annually, and maintaining elaborate dark rooms, developing, re¬ touching and printing quarters in their own homes. Miss Colbert and Lyon, teamed in “I Cover the Waterfront,” had ample opportunity, while they were working in Reliance’s romantic thriller for United Artists, to make extensive ad¬ ditions to their private collections of photographic art. On location and in the studio during the filming of the screen story based on Max Miller’s best-selling book, Claud¬ ette and Ben vied in seeing which one could make the most unusual shots. They carried personal cameras with them wherever they went. Whenever they were missing from the set, it was safe to assume they were some place in the vicinity, figuring out unique angles, unusual subject matter or the use of a new camera gadget. Once, when Director James Cruze was all ready to start a scene at color¬ ful Fish Harbor, San Pedro, Califor¬ nia,. Lyon was discovered perched high up in the rigging of a schooner, shoot¬ ing down at the motion picture cam¬ era battery on the dock location, with Miss Colbert on the deck of a small fishing boat, photographing up at Lyon. Picture Lucas Appeared in More Than 1,000 Films Veteran Started 26 Years Ago With Old Biograph Company Few actors any place in the world can even approach the record of Wil¬ fred Lucas, veteran of more than 1000 pictures, who plays an important role in “I Cover the Waterfront,” Reli¬ ance’s romantic thriller for United Ar¬ tists, with Claudette Colbert, Ben Lyon, Ernest Torrence and other per¬ sonalities featured in the screen story based on Max Miller’s best-selling book. It will be seen at the_ theatre on.— Since 1907, when many of the screen luminaries of today were yet unborn, Lucas has faced the cameras for most of the important companies in Amer¬ ica and abroad. For years he was a star in his own right, and has sup¬ ported practically every star of the past quarter century. Lucas’ characterization in “I Cover the Waterfront,” an Edward Small production directed by James Cruze, permitted him to take over “command” for two days, of a United States Coast Guard cutter which figures in a spectacular chase of smugglers on the high seas. A native of Ontario, Lucas was edu¬ cated at McGill College, Montreal, and later studied art and music in London and Paris. After achieving popularity on the stage, Lucas was one of the first established actors to associate with an infant art that his fellow thespians scoffed at. It was twenty-six years ago that he started with the old Biograph Company, which schooled Mary Pick- ford, D. W. Griffith and others who were to make film history. “Old Ironsides” Shown in New Picture Historic Frigate Photographed in “I Cover the Waterfrot” The visit of the U. S. S. Constitu¬ tion, popularly known as Old Iron¬ sides, to San Pedro, Cal., while the Re¬ liance Company was on location in the same harbor, filming “I Cover the Waterfront,” for United Artists, had a particular significance to James Cruze, director of the picture. For it was Cruze who several years ago directed a picture titled “Old Iron¬ sides,” using a replica of the historic United States fighting ship in filming the production. At that time, Cruze and a company of thousands spent sev¬ eral months off Catalina Island, near the California coast, bringing a story woven around “Old Ironsides” to the screen.. By a coincidence, Cruze was direct¬ ing “I Cover the Waterfront,” with Claudette Colbert, Ben Lyon and Er¬ nest Torrence in the principal roles, along the docks at the port of Los Angeles, when the original Old Iron¬ sides arrived for a twenty-one day stay. As soon as the public was per¬ mitted to inspect the famous frigate, Cruze was one of the first aboard, with Miss Colbert, Lyon, Torrence and other members of the “I Cover the Waterfront” company in his party. They spent two hours sight-seeing on the vessel that has played such a prom¬ inent part in American history. During Old Ironsides’ stay at San Pedro, it was visited by nearly a half million persons, many of whom took advantage of the opportunity to also watch “I Cover the Waterfront,” based on Max Miller’s popular book, being filmed while they were in the harbor district. Claudette Colbert and Ernest Torrence in 1 Cover the Waterfront" 7 —One Col. Scene (Mat .05 ; Cut .20)