The Private Life of Don Juan (United Artists) (1934)

Gypsy FEET LEI DOUG TO HEIGHTS Star’s Adventurous Spirit Resulted In New Type Of Film (BIOGRAPHICAL FEATURE) Douglas Fairbanks owes his success in films to what he calls his “gypsy feet’’. Because he managed to impart his zest for life and his love of travel and adventure to his first big film, he created an entirely new type of enter¬ tainment. “The Private Life of Don Juan,” in which he returns to the screen of the .Theatre, ., after an absence of two years, is in the best Fairbanks tradition, — a swashbuckling, gay, romantic comedy based on the adventures of the famous Spanish heartbreaker, full of daredevil stunts, and spirited swordplay. Although it was produced in Eng¬ land by Alexander Korda for London Films, in spirit it’s as American as Doug himself who, as you know is a product of Denver, Colorado. His family being fond of dramatic art and possessing notable friends in the profession, Doug was unintention¬ ally trained for the films on Shake¬ speare, and his characteristic enthu¬ siasm made him keenly ambitious for the stage. Stage Career Begins At seventeen Frederick Warde, a family friend, added Doug to his repertoire company in New York, where he ran the whole gamut of Shakespeare and acquired invaluable experience. Before long Doug was a popular Broadway star. A chat with David Wark Griffith at the New York premiere of that dis¬ tinguished producer’s “The Birth of a Nation” resulted in his being induced to enter the then silent film field at a salary of $2,000 a week. The young man with the boyish grin and the amazing aptitude for injecting incred¬ ible acrobatics into the most casual everyday affairs met an overwhelm¬ ingly enthusiastic reception in the new medium, and eventually allied himself and his own producing com¬ pany with United' Artists Corporation, the other founders of which were Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and D. W. Griffith. Enters New Phase He entered a new and even more successful phase in the field of ro¬ mantic comedy with such pictures as “The Mark of Zorro,” “The Three Musketeers,” “Robin Hood,” “The Thief of Bagdad,” “Don Q, Son of Zorro,” ^“The Black Pirate,” “The Gaucho,” “The Iron Mask” and in Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew,” in which he co-starred with his wife, Mary Pickford. “Reaching for the Moon,” which followed, was Doug’s first modern vehicle in years. Then he made a trip around the world and made a film record of his travels released under the title “Around the World In 80 Minutes.” The success of this led to “Mr. Robinson Crusoe,” a modern ro¬ mance made on the Island of Tahiti. But, before this picture was released, Doug was off again—this time to hunt Douglas Fairbanks 6 —One Col. Star Head {Mat .05; Cut .20) long-haired tigers in Manchuria. He didn’t make another picture for al¬ most two years. Then, during a vaca¬ tion in England, he was invited to see “The Private Life of Henry VIII,” in The Private Life Of DON JUAN “DON JUAN” DOUG’S MOST LAVISH FILM Douglas Fairbanks, Merle Oberon, Benita Hume, Binnie Barnes and Joan Gardner in London Films’ “The Private Life of Don Juan,” Doug’s new romantic comedy released through United Artists and currently at the Theatre. Thirty Real Beauties In “Don Juan 99 Cast (ADVANCE STORY) “The Private Life of Don Juan,” Douglas Fairbanks’ new film which comes to the .Theatre ., boasts thirty beautiful girls. A number of lovely damsels were required to represent Don Juan’s many loves in this London Films production, and director Alexander Korda deter¬ mined that every girl in the film, even those taking the smallest parts, should be notable for her beauty. The gorgeous Merle Oberon, one of the most glamorous personalities in the film world today, is seen as Doug’s leading lady. The role of Pepilla, the dancer, is an ideal one for the Australian beauty, and her castanet dance, for which she went into training for several weeks, is one of the high spots of the film. Benita Hume has never looked love¬ lier than she does in her gorgeous Goya costume and mantilla, in the role of the great lover’s wife. Dolores. Be¬ witching little Joan Gardner, whom American audiences saw in “Catherine the Great,” plays the part of Carmen de Alcala, who falls in love with Roderigo, a successful impersonator of Don Juan, and Binnie Barnes, makes a fetching barmaid in the Inn where Don Juan goes into hiding under an assumed name. Fortunately, the role gives Binnie an opportunity to use the lovely singing voice she exhibited in “The Private Life of Henry VIII.” A song entitled “The Sun Came Up In The Morning,” was written es¬ pecially for her. Dress houses, cabarets, theatres and casting offices were scoured to locate which Korda had made for London Films. He at once decided to go to Elstree, England’s Hollywood, and place him¬ self in Korda’s hands to make “The Private Life of Don Juan,” for release through United Artists. Now Doug would like to make two pictures a year—but whether he’ll make them in Hollywood, Elstree or Timbuctoo depends entirely upon where those gypsy feet have carried him by the time he’s ready to shoot. additional beauties. Hundreds of girls were interviewed before the number was complete. Prominent among the “discoveries,” were Patricia Hilliard, whom Alex¬ ander Korda considered sufficiently promising to place under a five year contract; the strikingly beautiful Princess Natalie Paley, daughter of the Russian Grand Duke Paul and granddaughter of Tsar Alexander III, who has starred in French pictures; and Toto Koopman, tall, slim, exotic beauty who is probably the most fam¬ ous photographer’s model in London It will be interesting to watch these gorgeous girl in this Alexander Korda production, released through United Artists, for among their num¬ ber there should be considerable of that magic quantity known as “star material.” THE STORY Don Juan returns to Seville secretly, to evade the ire of the wife he had left years before and who has threatened to have him jailed on sight. Infuriated to learn that a young impostor has preceded him and is successfully impersonating him, he vows to find and kill him. His search is forgotten on Carnival night when he meets Pepilla, a beautiful dancer in a cafe, and a romance ensues. A young and attractive matron accepts the impostor as the real Don Juan and is surprised by her husband who kills the man. All Seville believes that the real Don Juan has been killed. Taking advantage of the opportunity this misunderstanding offers him, Don Juan attends his own “funeral” unrecognized and then retires to a little Inn in Valencia to rest-and eat, without thought of his figure. After six months, he longs for the old exciting life again and tries all his old wiles on a waitress. He is stunned to find that, diVested of his romantic name, he is regarded simply as an old, fattish man with romantic notions. Believing that regaining his figure will effect the return of his former success, he immediately takes steps to repair the ravages of time and neglect. But, after perilously scaling a wall to reach the boudoir of a lovely but closely guarded senorita who casts him an inviting glance, he is crushed to find that she desires of him no more romantic favor than that he deliver a letter to her youthful beloved. He returns to Seville, the scene of his former triumphs, but is greeted by further disillusionment. Even Pepilla, who has become famous because she had attracted Don Juan, refuses to believe he is the great lover, and ignores him for a younger man. Visiting a theatre where a play based on his life is being presented, he finds the plot so far from the truth that he leaps angrily to the stage and stops the show. In the ensuing uproar he tries vainly to convince the audience that he is Don Juan. When his wife, who is in the audience, is called upon to identify him, she punishes him by declaring him an impostor. Dejected and realizing at last that his reputation was greater than himself and that, shorn of his name he is nothing, he returns to the wife who, after all these years, still loves him and is willing to take him back. But before she does, she compels him to resort to all the wiles he had used to intrigue the numerous women in his life. Korda Spared Neither Time Nor Expense In Making Romantic Comedy (PRODUCTION FEATURE) Some idea of the lavish scale on which London Films produced “The Private Life of Don Juan,” Douglas Fairbanks’ new romantic comedy based on the legend of the great heart- wrecker, showing.at the.Theatre, is con¬ tained in the fact that a huge Spanish theatre, complete in every detail, was erected for a single scene in this lat¬ est offering of the producers of “The Private Life of Henry VIII” and “Catherine the Great.” This was the largest set ever con¬ structed in England. Four tiers of boxes were built on each side of the stage, which was itself complete with curtains, scenery and the candle foot¬ lights peculiar to the period. There are no seats in the body of the theatre for the simple reason that Spanish theatres do not have seats ex¬ cept in the boxes. The crowd stands or strolls about during the performance and in the intervals sits in groups on the floor. 400 Players In One Scene Nearly four hundred gaily cos¬ tumed players were required to fill this enormous set. Eight make-up men and a number of dressers worked at top speed to get them ready by 9:30 each morning. Ladies of fashion and their escorts occupy the boxes while peasants, soldiers and the like crowd the floor. On the stage, a scene from the play “Don Juan” is in progress. The real Don Juan, whom all Spain believes dead, mingles with the audience until, incensed by the inaccuracy of this portrayal of himself, he leaps to the stage and announces his identity, only to be met by a roar of derisive laugh¬ ter. Another of the striking sets de¬ signed for the production by art di¬ rector Vincent Korda, who is not to be confused with Alexander Korda, who directed the film, represented the Spanish Inn, where Don Juan goes into hiding. This was faithfully re¬ constructed from sketches brought back from Valencia. Didn’t Spare Time or Expense Neither time nor expense was spared to make this production, which was released through United Artists, an epic of realism and beauty. Every minute detail was checked for authen¬ ticity and the Marquis de Portage, who acted as technical adviser, was on the set at all times with his eye peeled for inaccuracies. It was he, for instance, who pointed out that the straw encased wine bottles orig¬ inally used in furnishing the bar in the Spanish Inn, were Chianti bottles —an Italian wine unknown in Spain at the period in which the story is laid. The costumes—and there are ap¬ proximately 2,500 of them—were de¬ signed by Oliver Messel, and are con¬ ceded to be the most elaborate as well as the most accurate historically ever screened. Rare Art Treasure Used Many of the rare and costly jewels worn by Merle Oberon, Benita Hume and other beauties in the film, as well as the priceless art treasures used to ornament the sets, were obtained through the cooperation of the Span¬ ish Art Gallery in London. The rare tapestry which is seen hanging be¬ hind Don Juan’s bed, is conservatively valued at £5,000, and is perhaps the piece of greatest interest. Even the swords used in the picture are no ordinary swords, for each boasts a colorful history of its own. Behind this unflagging vigilance and minute attention to detail was the producers’ determination to make “The Private Life of Don Juan” their most pretentious achievement, and just how well they have succeeded is clearly evidenced by the finished pro¬ duction.