The Night of Love (United Artists) (1927)

A Page of News Features “NIGHT OF LOVE” SETS EXPRESS FILM’S MOOD One of the greatest forward steps in motion pictures has been in de¬ signing sets to the action of the pic¬ ture, according to George Fitzmaur- ice, director of “The Night of Love,” for Samuel Goldwyn, which comes to the.theatre. Originally motion picture sets were just any old thing the pro¬ ducers could locate and consisted usually of two walls and whatever furniture was easily available in the property room. Once in a long time some director would feel artistic and hang a framed photograph, usually a still-life bowl of fruit, on the walls. Those days luckily are gone for¬ ever but with even as great strides as have been made in cinema art slow headway was made in express¬ ing tension, emotion, or menace in the settings for the picture. In designing his sets for “The Night of Love,” George Fitzmaurice had made a large quantity of wooden blocks of every shape and descrip¬ tion. Taking these blocks the direc¬ tor and Carl Oscar Borg, the art director, assembled them and built the designs of the sets, endeavoring always to have them express the emotions which the actors were to portray. For example, when Miss Banky as the Princess Marie leaves her lover and returns to the castle of her husband the duke she ascends the castle by a long stone stairway flanked to right and left by immense square cut pillars of stone. The whole atmosphere of the set suggests menace and disaster, and the tiny figure of the beautiful duchess in her torn and bedraggled wedding finery is dwarfed by the loneliness and majestic grandeur of the huge bleak castle. As soon as Mr. Fitzmaurice and Mr. Borg had designed with the blocks a set which they felt would be appropriate a sketch was made of the setting with figures and ac¬ tion indicated. Models were then made of every set and these models were photographed in order that the director might know with accuracy just how the finished and dressed set would look. The grand ball room of the castle where Montagu Love as the Duke de la Garda holds high revelry was among the most impressive sets de¬ signed for the production. With this set Mr. Fitzmaurice attempted to express barbaric splendor, luxury and wealth. Co-ordinating with this atmospheric setting Miss Marion Morgan staged one of the most beau¬ tiful dance sequences ever used for a motion picture and during the course of the dance placed her danc¬ ers in positions so that they would harmonize and accentuate the splen¬ dor of,the architectural background. This Moorish Bacchanalian orgy is one of the most thrilling scenes in the production. The settings expressing ominous evil and horror were also used by Mr. Fitzmaurice for the scene in the dungeon of the castle where Miss Banky is held prisoner awaiting tor¬ ture and death. The walls are of rough, gray stone, damp and forbid¬ ding in aspect and covered with slime. The ceilings are low and op¬ pressive. Spider webs fill every niche and cranny while rusty chains VILMA BANKY VB1—One Col. Cut 30c. Mat 5c. VB2—Two Col. Cut 50c. Mat 10c. “PERFECT MAN THREE= FOURTHS VILLAIN” —COLMAN “A villain of three-fourths and a hero of one-fourth make a perfect man,” according to Ronald Colman, featured player in George Fitz- maurice’s production for Samuel Goldwyn, “The Night of Love,” now showing at the.The¬ atre. Never before has Colman been called upon to play a villain through four reels and then become a hero in the last two reels. But in “The Night of Love,” Col- man’s role of the Spanish gypsy bandit demands that he commit all the dastardly deeds of the true vil¬ lain, even to abduction and rob¬ bery. It is only in the final episodes of the thrilling story of the early feudal period that the actor turns hero and claims the right of all heroes—the girl. Generally, heroes never vacillate from their perfection. Very often their virtue becomes annoyingly acute. Not so in this new kind of l»ve story. Almost with the first crank of the camera, Colman starts out a bandit, ravishing feudal lands and wreaking his vengeance on the wide dominions ruled by his hated enemy, the Duke De La Garda. Not until the last reel or two does the villain turn hero, realizing his career of banditry must end when the loves the beautiful Princes Marie (Vilma Banky). “I hope all my future roles will be as human and inspiring as the role of Montero. Montero is my favorite thus far—because he lived and breathed as a real man, devoid of all movie sanctimoniousness.” and implements of torture are strewn over the moldy earthern floor. Using settings in this manner to help get over the spirit of the ac¬ tion although not entirely new has perhaps never been accomplished so thoroughly as in this production. “The Night of Love.” VILMA BANKY TO BECOME AN AMERICAN CITIZEN Vilma Banky, the beautiful Hun¬ garian actress, is about to remove all traces of her foreign ancestry, for she announced recently that she will file her first naturalization pa¬ pers soon to become a citizen of the United States. In 1925, Miss Banky, who is featured in Samuel Goldwyn’s “The Night of Love,” came to America. At that time she could not speak a word of English. Since then she has learned the language so well that she now speaks without a trace of accent. She has adopted the best of American manners, clothes and customs. Best of all, she has announced that she intends to make her home permanently in Hollywood. “Please do not think,” says Miss Banky, “that I am unloyal to the country that gave me birth. I love Hungary, and it will always be close to my heart. But I do believe that the United States, where I have found wealth and happiness, and perhaps some fame is entitled to some return on my part, and I can think of no better way to return the many blessings I have found here than to swear allegiance to this flag.” In motion pictures, Miss Banky has played roles of many nations: an English woman in “The Dark Angel,” a Russian in “The Eagle,” a French girl in “The Son of the Sheik” and a “born in the blood” American as Barbara Worth in “The Winning of Barbara Worth.” In “The Night of Love,” in which she is again appearing with Ron¬ ald Colman, Miss Banky has the part of a French princess, the in¬ nocent center of sword duels, bat¬ tles, intrigue and romance. The story is of feudal Spain of 400 years ago and is based on the ancient feudal custom of the right of the lord to the first night. Vilma assumes an entirely new personality in her role as the little princess with her blond curls twisted into a unique headdress. She wears many beautiful costumes, the wed¬ ding gown which she wears in one sequence costing more than $1,000. Hollywood really knows little about Miss Banky. Around her as around her co-star, Mr. Colman, hangs a veil of mystery which has never been entirely lifted. Dame Rumor, that most popular of Hollywood ladies, has found no opportunity to touch Vilma. Her name has never been linked with a man’s in any of the “engagement” stories so popular with Los Angeles newspapers. Go to ten premieres and you may see Miss Banky at one of them, attend ten parties and you may see her once. Her friends are few and mostly of old acquaintance. Emil Jannings is one, Victor Varconi, Ernst Lu- bitch, and a few other old acquaint¬ ances—and that is all. “The Night of Love” is the second picture Hyman has played for George Fitzmaurice, as he had a prominent comedy role in “The Son of the Sheik,” Rudolph Valentino’s last picture. VILMA CUT HERSELF A PIECE OF CAKE The hope or failure of the love¬ lorn, supposed to lurk within the ielectable filling of a wedding cake, has been found to be absolutely meaningless, according to actual ex¬ perience recently befalling Vilma Banky, co-featured with Ronald Colman, in the George Fitzmaurice production, “The Night of Love,” for Samuel Goldwyn, now showing at the . Theatre. If the experience of Miss Banky, and others in “The Night of Love” cast, is to be taken seriously, no fur¬ ther significance should be attached to the traditional “burying” of a ring, a thimble, and a penny within the layers of a wedding cake. For this is what happened to Miss Banky, Montagu Love, who por¬ trays a wicked feudal duke in “The Night of Love,” and Bynunsky Hyman, the comedian. In the spectacular wedding se¬ quence, a wedding cake, four feet high and seven feet in circumfer¬ ence, is baked to be served among three hundred guests who come to Duke De La Garda’s (Mr. Love) palace to celebrate his nuptials to the Princess Marie (Miss Banky). Naturally, such a cake had to be the real thing, especially since Mr. Love was to slice it with his sword and pass the pieces out among his friends. And Mr. Fitzmaurice, al¬ ways with the eagle eye for real¬ ism, ordered the cook, who was en¬ gaged to bake the cake, to make the scene traditionally perfect by secreting a ring, a penny, and a thimble in the icing. BUT—the wrong thing happened! Miss Banky, the bride, received the thimble, symbol of old-maid- hood—and all America knows such a hapless future could not possibly await anyone so charming as Miss Banky. Mr. Love won the penny, meaning great wealth. And Bynun¬ sky Hyman, the humorous little comedian, by a whim of fate, fell heir to the ring, although, according to his own admission, he never in¬ tends to marry. Now, besides the cook still losing sleep over the mathematical calcu¬ lation of how many barrels of flour go into a wedding cake four feet by seven, Miss Banky is sad over the thimble symbolization, Mr. Love says he is poorer than Job’s turkey, and Hyman says a ring found in a wedding cake doesn’t mean a thing in his young life. DRESSED IN STYLE Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky each had three dressing rooms dur¬ ing the filming of Samuel Goldwyn’s “The Night of Love.” Both of the stars had their permanent dressing rooms at the studio. These rooms were luxuriously furnished and equipped with showers, baths, din¬ ing compartments and reception rooms. In addition each of the stars had a portable dressing room on the set which was moved hither and yon to keep as close as possible to the focal spot of the camera. On location work, the stars dressed in their limousines, which usually were parked within walking distance of the camera.