The Night of Love (United Artists) (1927)

WHAT? NO WOMEN? YES! TOO MANY? Can you have too many beautiful women in a motion picture? Offhand, to the motion picture pub¬ lic, the answer is no, but all too often casting directors have been known to fear that too many beau¬ tiful women in a picture might dis¬ tract the attention of the audience from the action and from the prin¬ cipals. With Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky as the principals of “The Night of Love,” however, Director George Fitzmaurice was assured that no matter how much pulchri¬ tude was in the cast the action of the story would hold and maintain the interest of the audience. And with a woman of the internationally known beauty of Miss Banky, there was no chance that she would be overshadowed by the beauty of the supporting cast. “The Night of Love,” then, which comes to the.theatre ., has more than a plentitude of beauty; the cast abounds in good looks. In addition to Miss Banky and Natalie Kingston, who have the two major feminine roles, the cast in¬ cludes beautiful little Sally Rand, and Laska Winters, who has won fame in more than a score of pro¬ ductions through her alluring and unusual Oriental features. Natalie Kingston, former premier danseuse of the New York Winter Garden, is nationally known as a beauty, and “The Night of Love” gives her a new opportunity to dis¬ play the graceful and sinuous lines of her figure. In addition to the unusual beauty of the cast of principals, the Marion Morgan dancers were selected for a dance sequence. These girls were selected personally for their beauty by Miss Morgan from among the thousands of girls who flock to Hollywood to break into motion pic¬ tures each year and they deservedly bear the title of “Hollywood’s most beautiful women.” The dance se¬ quence in which they appear is some¬ thing unique in pictures. The men in the cast, although not attempting to compete as regards looks, include perhaps as gifted and perfectly united a group of artists as ever assembled for this type of production. Ronald Colman, the star, has won such a secure place in the hearts of American theatre-goers that further to extol his merits is unnecessary; suffice it to say, that his present role of a Spanish bandit prince suits him perfectly and is precisely the type of role which thousands of fans have been clamor¬ ing for him to play. Montagu Love, as a screen “men¬ ace,” is nationally recognized to be in a class by himself. As the Duke de la Garda he is more villainous, and a more polished villain than ever before. He kills and steals and rav¬ ishes with an eclat that wins him new admirers by the thousands at every performance. Hyman, the grotesque little fel¬ low who won such fame as a comic villain in “The Son of the Sheik,” is given a perfect comedy role in “The Night of Love.” As Colman’s bandit-lieutenant he presides be¬ nignly over the budding romance of the two stars and, of course, gets himself into humorous difficulties at every new turn. Advance Or PONALD COLMAR VILMA DANKy in THE NIGHT OF LOVE" NL4—One Col. Cut 30c. Mat 5c. JESTER’S WIT HAD TO BE FIT FOR KING The court jester, genius of buf¬ foonery, and often as not, tragic clown of fate, as well as target of heartless jibes for fiendish, half- mad masters, plays a conspicuous part in “The Night of Love,” Sam¬ uel Goldwyn’s epic of Spain’s feudal era, directed by George Fitzmaurice, and showing at the. Theatre. The jester was a very important and necessary figure in medieval life. He was generally born to his role and fell heir to it by right of heritage, as well as preparing for it by long years of arduous train¬ ing. Usually deformed physically, he, nevertheless, had keen mental pow¬ ers, notwithstanding the popular no¬ tion that a jester had negative thinking abilities—for to the jester passed all the strenuous work of keeping the king, or lord, continu¬ ously happy and in good spirits and never permitting boredom to per¬ vade the atmosphere. Such a job, needless to say, must have taken up all of a good jester’s time—and woe to the jester if he failed in his fun. His fund of jokes had to be inexhaustible, his humor never-lag¬ ging, and he was forced to laugh and be gay, even though his own heart be breaking. A jester’s life was indeed an ex¬ acting—and exciting one, and quite thankless! Shakespeare was the first poet who gave the jester proper place, and nearly all the Bard’s dramas have a jester for “comedy relief.” John George, well-known charac¬ ter-actor, plays the jester in “The Night of Love,” investing the role with as much pathos and sympa¬ thetic appeal as comedy side-lights. Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky are featured in the stellar roles. During Run VILMA BANKY WEARS FIFTY POUND COSTUME In Sunny California the climate, so it seems, doesH’t mean a thing to motion pictures! Take, for example, “The Night of Love,” Samuel Goldwyn’s Spanish romance of the feudal period directed by George Fitzmaurice, which opens at the.theatre on. Co-featured with Ronald Colman, Vilma Banky and other feminine members of the cast throughout the production wear clothes in direct contradiction to the muchly adver¬ tised California sunshine. The pictorial fashion displays in “The Night of Love” are said to be among the most artistic and beauti¬ ful ever shown on the screen. In the wedding sequence in which Miss Banky as the Princess Marie becomes the bride of the wicked Duke, Miss Banky’s bridal gown weighed 50 pounds. Costing $1,250, it was made of peach-colored chif¬ fon velvet, trimmed with peach- colored fox and embroidered in pearls. The sleeves were of chiffon, embroidered in silver threads and carrying cuffs of peach-colored fox. It took three women to carry the long bridal train, and when Miss Banky was not before the camera a corps of maids stood constantly by to protect the valuable gown from touching the floor or from being brushed or torn by negligent passers-by on the set. For weeks Miss Banky wore the 50-pound dress, in her role of a Spanish princess, although the Cali¬ fornia sunshine never diminished and the days grew hotter and hotter. Natalie Kingston’s gown, gener¬ ous below the waist and sparing above, was the source of much un¬ balanced comfort. During the early morning hours, Miss Kingston froze above the waist and was just right 'below—then in the middle of the day she roasted below the waist and was comfortable above. In the eve¬ ning she was cold all over, because bv that time she was thoroughly dis¬ gusted with fifteenth century finery. In the Moorish Bacchanalian orgy sequence the Marion Morgan danc¬ ers wore so little that the California '•limate had its first real chance. But Miss Banky and Miss King¬ ston are still of the opinion that the "omfort of being a “lady” in ancient ^nain was at considerable variance with California climatic conditions. Pick your outdoor locations close •to a golf course, is the advice of Ronald Colma.n to his brother actors. When clouds obscured the sun dur¬ ing shooting of exteriors for “The Night of Love.” Colman hurried for the nearest golf course and played a few holes of his favorite sport. When the sun apoeared again, he rushed back and became a.n actor. “The only difficulty,” he remarked, “was that some days I spent most of my time going back and forth.” “THE SLEEPING BEAUTY” LEGEND IN FILM Enter the movie camera into Fairyland! Millions of children, young and old, may resent the disillusioning en¬ croachment into their beloved do¬ main, but the movie camera is ever marching onward. The latest discov¬ ery to be made by modern motion picture research and technique is that one of the favorite childhood fairy tales, “The Sleeping Beauty,” is not a fairy tale at all, but in reality an ancient gypsy legend an¬ tedating all fairy books. The legend is used in the impor¬ tant opening sequences of “The Night of Love,” George Fitzmaur- ice’s production for Samuel Goldwyn, which comes to the.on.. and its true significance, as a tradi¬ tional gypsy custom, becomes one of the beautiful features of the picture. According to the ancient legend, the bride-to-be of a tribal leader is bound tightly, mummy-fashion, in her “grave clothes” and placed upon a silken couch about which the wed¬ ding festivities center. The men and women chant weird and forlorn cere¬ monials, young maidens in fantastic and mournful dances surround the “bier,” and the whole tribe goes through a weeping ceremony of fare¬ well to the bride’s past, as she awaits the awakening to the future by her husband’s first kiss. The girl’s father closes her eyes— symbolical of closing out her past life—then the young husband awak¬ ens her with his kiss. As she smiles on her new life, the gypsy dancers lift her from the couch and com¬ mence to unwind the “grave clothes,” turning her around and around as they do so. The bridegroom comes forward, his eyes blindfolded, and extends a gorgeous bridal shawl which he wraps about his bride’s form. He then picks her up on his shoulder, prepared, as is the custom of his people, to carry her to the nuptial domicile in the picturesque hills. As far as could be determined, “The Sleeping Beauty” legend orig¬ inated among the gypsies of Spain, the locale for “The Night of Love.” The gypsy wedding rite is said to be one of the most beautiful sequences ever shown in a motion picture. Weeks were spent in research and on actual work on this particular epi¬ sode, in order that the legend would be correct in every detail. Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky are co-featured in “The Night of Love.” Laska Winter, a dark-eyed little dancer, portrays the gypsy bride. PUPPY PREFERS PORK Three roasts of pork were required for one scene in Samuel Goldwyn’s “The Night of Love,” although only one of them registers before the camera. “Buddy,” the wire-haired fox terrier of Director George Fitz¬ maurice, became so entranced with the hot a.nd steamy viands that he followed the platter from place to place as it was moved around the set. On three occasions he suc¬ ceeded in snatching enough mouth¬ fuls of hot pork to ruin the roast beyond recognition, thus necessitat¬ ing its being replaced.