A Child Is Born (Warner Bros.) (1939)

‘A CHILD IS BORN’ DRAMA OF WOMAN'S GREAT ADVENTURE True to its reputation for trail-blazing in the field of film entertainment, Warner Bros. in their newest production, third in their fall hit parade, “A Child Is Born,” which will be presented in this city by the Strand Theatre, starting Friday, taps-the inexhaustible.store—of drama, pathos and comedy which is inevitably associated with the beginning of life. Heading the cast is the lovely Irish star, Geraldine Fitzgerald who became famous overnight for her performance in “Dark Victory” and ‘Wuthering Heights,” Jeffrey Lynn and Gale Page, both of whom achieved fame in “Four Daughters,” and Gladys George, stage and screen star. An important difference between this strikingly unusual picture and most other film dramas is that it is essentially the story of several mothers. This was accomplished by taking the story of each individual during a few short days and skillfully weaving them all together into one solid dramatic pattern. There is the tragic tale of the young couple depicted by Lynn and Miss Fitzgerald. The wife and expectant mother in this case is a young girl who has been convicted of murder because she shot a man who had attacked her. She has been moved from the prison where she is serving a long term to the hospital to have her baby. Another striking story is that of the vaudeville dancer played by Miss George. Neither she nor her husband wants a baby; in fact, he threatens to desert her and get a new partner for their act. And then she is told, after a visit to the X-ray room, that she is not going to have only one baby but will give birth to twins. Then there is the poor truck driver’s wife who expects to lose her child because of malnutrition, and there is the childish young bride who is panic-stricken over what her parents and her husband’s parents will think of her having a baby when she is only eighteen. All is not pathos or tragedy, though, for authentic warm and folksy humor is contributed by Johnnie Davis as the typical young expectant father who ceaselessly paces the floor and makes himself a nuisance generally to all the hospital attendants. And there is the portrait of serene and healthy motherhood contributed by Spring Byington, playing a woman who has come to the hospital to have her seventh child and makes very little fuss about it. Aside from the Misses Fitzgerald, Page, George and Byington and the Messrs. Lynn and Davis, the cast includes Henry O’Neill, John Litel, Johnny Downs, Louis Jean Heydt, Hobart Cavanaugh, Gloria Holden, Eve Arden, Fay Helm, Nanette Fabares and Jean Sharon, The screen play, written by Robert Rossen, was based on a stage play from the pen of Mary McDougal Axelson, who in turn gathered the material for her play during an enforced stay of seven weeks several years ago in a hospital maternity ward. Lloyd Bacon directed. New Film At Strand Following up in the season so auspiciously started by “The Old Maid” and “Dust Be My Destiny,” the Strand Theatre will next present the new Warner Bros. drama, “A Child Is Born,” the thrilling story of five women on the brink of their greatest adventure. Geraldine Fitzgerald, Gladys George, Jeffrey Lynn and Gale Page head the cast. The film is based on the novel by Mary McDougal Axelson, for which Robert Rossen wrote the screenplay. (Above) Twenty newborn infants, featured in the cast of "A Child Is Born,'’ are given expert medical and nursing care between their scenes. The film, an enthralling drama of all creation, will have its first local showing at the Strand Theatre on Friday. (Right) Geraldine Fitzgerald and Jeffrey Lynn are the heartstirring lovers in this beautifully told screen story of women on the brink of their greatest adventure —the brave story of every woman in the world. CAST OF CHARACTERS Grace Sutton... GERALDINE FITZGERALD Jet BUN cs Ree as Jeffrey Lynn Floretie. 23 cc Gladys George Miss Bowers...5 0 i One Gale Page MOO a ee Spring Byington Ringer BOnKS. <5... i ee Johnnie Davis De. eee cee ees Henry O'Neill De Brett... John Litel Mrs. Kempner... Gloria Holden Johnny Norton... Johnny Downs Mise: Pinte ee eae ee Eve Arden The Wetegn 32 Fay Helm Mr. Kempner.........6.05.00055: Louis Jean Heydt Gladys Norton...........::.... Nanette Fabares Misi -Bonks:22 003. aca ees: Jean Sharon Mi, West eee Hobart Cavanaugh Lee KONE ears cea teat George Irving Mis. Trvitchell. oo Ses Nella Walker Mat 301—45c Mat 207—30c STORY SYNOPSIS (Not for publication). Laughter and tears, the stark drama of life — and death are the ingredients of this story. To the maternity ward comes Grace Sutton (Geraldine Fitzgerald), a murderess released from prison onlylong enough to give birth to her child; Florette Laverne (Gladys George), a vaudeville actress who doesn't want her baby because it will spoil her figure; Mrs. Kempner (Gloria Holden), a truck driver's wife who expects to lose her baby through malnutrition; Mrs. West (Spring Byington), the spirit of motherhood, expecting her seventh child. Guardian angel of the ward is Miss Bowers (Gale Page), the head nurse. It is she who smuggles Jed Sutton, Grace's husband (Jeffrey Lynn) into the hospital to see his wife, when the doctors are in fear of her life. The night wears on. Florette gives birth to twins, and Mrs. Kempner, whose baby is born dead, offers to take care of them for her. Miss Bowers gives Jed his baby with a dying message from his wife that she wants the baby to live the life she might have lived. PRODUCTION STAFF Directed by... LLOYD BACON Screen Play by Robert Rossen; Based on the Play by Mary McDougal Axelson; Photography by Charles Rosher, A.S.C.; Art Director, John Hughes; Dialogue Director, Jo Graham; Film Editor, Jack Killifer; Gowns by Milo Anderson; Sound by Charles Lang; Musical Director, Leo F. Forbstein; Music by H. Roemheld; Orchestral Arrangement by Hugo Friedhofer; Makeup Artist, Perc Westmore; Technical Advisors, Dr, Leo Schulman, Evelyn Shepherd, R.N. Running Time — 79 minutes BBB BQPEBOEBLPD BFOUBIBUBPUBPEBSUBPUSPUEBSUSUSUSLUSFUSTUSUFRUD [14] ‘A CHILD IS BORN’ 3rd IN STRAND’S FALL HIT PARADE Third in the Warner Bros.’ succession of fall show season hits, “A Child is Born,” a stirringly original drama of women on the brink of life’s greatest experience, will have its first local showing at the Strand Theatre on Friday. Geraldine Fitzgerald, the sensational acting discovery of “Dark Victory” and “Wuthering Heights,” heads the cast with Gladys George, Gale Page and Jeffrey Lynn. “A Child is Born,’ based on the novel by Mary McDougal Axelson, is set in the maternity ward of a great city hospital, and has for its theme the eternal drama, pathos and joy of women’s greatest adventure — motherhood. Into the ward come the expectant mothers, each with their secret hopes and fears, and all united by the bonds of their common experience. There is a convicted murderess, released from prison only long enough to bear her child, there is a vaudeville actress who fears that having a baby will spoil her figure, an eighteen-year-old girl coming to her first grips with life, a perennial mother, serenely awaiting her eighth baby. “A Child is Born” is the story of them all, and of the anxious husbands who haunt the hospital, waiting. Others in the cast include Spring Byington, Gloria Holden, Nanette Fabares, Johnnie Davis, Jean Sharon, Henry O’Neill, John Litel, Johnny Downs, Eve Arden, Hobart Cavanaugh, and many more. Lloyd Bacon directed, from a screen play by Robert Rossen, based on Mrs. Axelson’s novel. Woman's Greatest Adventure Theme Of Screen Drama “A Child Is Born,” number three in the Warner Bros. fall hit parade, will have its first local showing at the Strand Theatre on Friday. Rich in drama, abundant with humor, it is the frank and _ thrilling story of six women, each on the brink of their greatest experience. Startlingly realistic, yet presented in the finest possible taste, ‘A Child Is Born,” is a beautifully told story of five women on the brink of their greatest adventure in life, some meeting it joyously, some with rebellion and hatred. Geraldine Fitzgerald, the sensational dramatic discovery of the year, whose roles in “Dark Victory” and “Wuthering Heights” won immediate acclaim for the slender, dark-haired Irish actress, heads the cast, and the role of her husband is played by Jeffrey Lynn. Other leading roles are played by Gladys George, the lovely blonde stage and screen star and Gale Page. Mary McDougal Axelson, who wrote the play and novel upon which “A Child is Born” is based, kept a diary of events during the seven weeks she spent in a maternity ward after the birth of her daughter, and it is this diary which provided the material for the drama. Lloyd Bacon directed. New Star Heads Cast Geraldine Fitzgerald, the sensational discovery of “‘Dark Victory” and “Wuthering Heights,” heads the cast of “A Child Is Born,” the new Warner Bros. drama opening Friday at the Strand Theatre. Featured with her are Gladys George, Jeffrey Lynn, Gale Page and a large and capable supporting cast. The film, a story of every woman’s supreme adventure, is based on the novel of the same name by Mary McDougal Axelson. Lloyd Bacon directed.