Angels with Dirty Faces (Warner Bros.) (1938)

“ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES” ‘Features —Readers—Shorts ADVANCE PUBLI CITY on cast ann propuction Mat 211—80c “NOW TALK, DOUBLE-CROSSER," commands Jimmy Cagney, holding a menacing revolver in Humphrey Bogart's ribs. The scene is from "Angels With Dirty Faces," the Warner Bros. drama coming soon to the Strand Theatre. > Warner Bros. Art Director Duplicates Tenement Dist. Robert Haas Solves A Housing Problem For Filming Of “‘Angels With Dirty Faces” Driving along a road back of the Warner Bros. Studio last August, one saw underwear, sheets, pillow cases, dish towels, overalls and shorts hanging against the sky line. It looked as if someone in the studio was taking in washing, but the clothes were really props for ““Angels With Dirty Faces,’ Warner Bros. powerful gangster film co-starring James Cagney and Pat O’Brien which . opens tomorrow at the Strand Theatre. The clothes line looked down on the New York tenement street Art Director Robert Haas had built for the film. This was Haas’ first tenement in a good many years. He is best known for his ultra-modern dwellings, his country estates and his mountain cabins. But he’s as good a tenement builder as any art director in town when he sets his mind to it. Haas took a street set, remod-eled the buildings, put up some more, brought in push carts and _-__-“yegetable stands, scattered let tuce leaves and orange peels and cabbage leaves on the pavements and hung laundry and mattresses from fire escapes. In a week he had created as dismal a tenement district as can be found. Tenements present a peculiar problem to art directors. They must look old and dirty without being old and dirty. They must give the impression of having been lived in by an endless procession of big and careless families, families who throw garbage. into the streets. If art directors could use dirty clothing, old lumber, and _ real garbage, it would be simple enough. But studios are sanitary places. Studio heads don’t expect their actors and actresses to work in filth. So the art director must make new lumber look old, clean clothing look dirty, and sanitary streets look unsanitary. Lettuce and cabbage leaves make the best and most sanitary film garbage. When the “Angels With Dirty Faces” tenement street was being used, fresh lettuce and cabbage leaves, bits of newspaper and the like were scattered on the pavements in the morning, but they were swept up at night. 0 All the clothing seen hanging from the buildings was clean. So were the blankets and mattresses. But they had been sprayed with chemicals to make them seem old and not too clean. One of the tricks of building a tenement is to overcrowd the _ streets with push carts and veg etable stands, according to Haas. He had hundreds of them in his ““Angels With Dirty Faces’’ tenement district — carts loaded with china, books, tin ware, clothing, food. He feels that the more cluttered up the place seems the better the tenement district is. Discounts Heroic Feats Of His Youth The only truly brave men are those who perform heroic feats while laboring under great fear. George Bancroft advanced this thought one day during the filming of “Angels With Dirty Faces,” the Warner Bros. melodrama opening tomorrow at the Strand Theatre, in which he plays an important role in support of the starring team, James Cagney and Pat O’Brien. “It’s easy for a nerveless man to be brave,’ he said. ‘‘The medals. should go to the man who must fight overpowering fear as well as the actual danger confronting him.” Bancroft has seen many men of both types. As a young, man he fought as a gunner aboard the U. S. S. Baltimore in the battle of Manila Bay. Of that, he says: Mat 112—15c George Bancroft “I didn’t have sense enough to be afraid.” He served also in the Boxer Rebellion. He was decorated and appointed to Annapolis for his feat in diving to ascertain the amount of damage done to the hull of the U.S.S. Oregon when it struck a submerged rock off Chefoe lighthouse near Peking in 1900. Of that he speaks lightly. “But,” he concluded with a smile, “if I did the same thing today, I’d probably deserve two or three medals, because I have more sense now — or at least I think I have.”’ 4 Noted Priest Visits Set Of New Melodrama Father Dudley, Superior of the Catholic Mission Society, famous author and lecturer, who was on a world lecture tour, visited the Warner Bros. Studio one day last summer as a guest of Father J. J. Devlin, technical adviser on “Angels With Dirty Faces,” the Warner melodrama coming to _ the Strand Theatre. The priest spent some time on the “Angels With Dirty Faces” set and was photographed with Pat O’Brien (who plays a priest in the picture) and James Cagney, the stars. Cagney and O’Brien Give Away The Gag Marie Wilson pulled a characteristic stunt at the Warner Bros. Studio one day. She conspired with a messenger boy-guide to take her through the studio with a party of guests. She sat in the reception room with them, then was taken on into the studio and toured one set without being recognized. On the next, that of ‘“‘Angels With Dirty Faces,’’ which opens Friday at the Strand Theatre, Pat O’Brien and James Cagney spoiled the gag by greeting the “Boy Meets Girl” girl affectionately. They asked why she'd embarked on such a tour. “To learn what people say about actors,” was Marie’s reply. And He Meant It! Director Michael Curtiz, who was worrying about a couple of excess pounds around his waistline, informed Jimmy Cagney on the “Angels With Dirty Faces” set that “everything I eat goes to my stomach.” The picture comes to the Strand Friday. Thousands Gambled, But Prop Man Keeps Eye On Studio’s Chips Big Gambling Scene In “Angels With Dirty Faces” Big Worry To Technicians There was a good deal of gambling going on one day recently on the Warner Bros. set for “Angels With Dirty Faces’ and the local authorities did nothing about it. Scores of well-dressed men and women were risking thousands of dollars on the turn of a card, the roll of the dice and the spin of a wheel. Yet no cops battered in the doors of the luxurious gambling hall to arrest and carry the proprietors and patrons off to the can. Nor did any cops smash the roulette wheels, dice tables and chuck-a-luck layouts. The reason the law ignored this open disregard for city or dinances was that the gamblers weren't playing for keeps. At the end of the day they gave their “‘play’’ money, and their chips back and went home. It was all for a scene in Warner Bros.’ sensational gangster picture “Angels With Dirty Faces,” which is coming Friday to the Strand Theatre. James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart and George Bancroft were the proprietors of the Warner Bros. casino. But they didn’t get the chips and money back from the patrons. Limey Plews, the property man, did. He kept his eye on the players to see that they didn’t sneak off with studio property. Art Director Robert Haas built the casino. He was very proud of it because he had the equipment made to order. The roulette tables, save for the conventional wheel and board, were like no others ever built. The crap tables had curved legs and so did the poker and black jack tables. The chuck-a-luck cage, MM, WOULD YOU LIKE James Cagney, And ae Sheridan Stroll All Day For Movie Scene Many a girl would look with pleasure on the. prospect of a stroll with James Cagney but beauteous Ann Sheridan took a walk with him and called it work. Ann's pronouncement was not without justification. The walk was for a sequence in Warner Bros. “Angels With Dirty Faces,” opening Friday at the Strand Theatre, in which she Mat 101—15ce ANN SHERIDAN-JAMES CAGNEY in "Angels With Dirty Faces." plays the only feminine role and Cagney and Pat O’Brien are starred. She started walking with Cagney at 7:30 one evening and finished the stroll at 3:30 a.m., having traversed a total of eight miles. On the screen the walk was but two blocks and Constituted, ‘as a matter of fact, the longest “dolly,” or moving camera, shot on record. The scene was filmed at night because it was night time in the story. Down a darkened tenement street, with its eerie shadows and lurking dangers, Ann and Cagney walked. For two blocks, while Ann said, in effect, “Don’t look now, but I think we're being followed.” Then an about-face to do it over again, and again, and again, until the scene was filmed. By actual computation Ann and Jimmy walked eight miles before Director Michael Curtiz was satisfied and Jimmy was able to get rid of Ann without letting -her know he knew they were being followed and then he would take care of things in his own way. *‘Much as I like walking,’” Ann says, “I did not take a walk for the next few days.” T0_TAKE A WALK? er eee ~ wads ““‘Dead End’”’ however, was standard. The casino stood on Stage Six. You walked smack into _ it through the big double doors. One minute you were in a barnlike structure. The next you were knee deep in carpets, with crystal chandeliers dripping down on you and people in evening dress all over the place. Croupiers were telling the folks to make their bets. Dice were rattling in the cages. Thin-faced men with black hair were dealing cards. And looking down on the whole proceedings from the big camera crane was Director Michael Curtiz. “More excitement,’ Curtiz commanded. ‘More Look like you are winning money.” The gamblers, dress extras who get $16.50 a day and furnish their own tuxedos and evening gowns, tried it again and this time Curtiz was satisfied. He and Cinematographer Sol Polito came down to earth, the camera was taken off and put on a dolly and Assistant Director Sherry Shourds called for Ann Sheridan and Cagney to do a close-up scene. While the new lighting set-up -was being made, some of the ex tras, who had been wagering thousands of bucks a throw, shot craps for pennies. Cat Gives Reprieve Shooting of the death cell sequence of the Warner Bros. melodrama “Angels With Dirty Faces,’ which comes fo the frand !neatre Kg friday, . held up momentarily one morning by a cat. During the night the cat had seven kittens under the electric chair. The family had to be moved before James Cagney could be “electrocuted”’ for the smashing climax of the picture. Clothes Make The Man, Bogart Learns Clothes do make the man — in the movies —Humphrey Bogart has discovered. Just to get away from the inevitable snap-brimmed hat of the film gangster, he wore a derby in a scene for Warner Bros. sensational melodrama, “Angels With Dirty Faces,’’ which opens next Friday at the Strand Theatre. A Knowing that gangsters, like people in other walks of life, show a variety of taste in their wardrobe, he felt he was being authentic in wearing the hard crowned headpiece. Director Michael Curtiz thought it was a good idea, too. After the rushes of that scene were run off, however, Bogart received a memo from the higher powers that be. He was ordered to go back to the snap-brimmed felt and to ‘stick to it. It was explained that while Bogart was entirely correct in wearing a derby, the public would not believe his characterization! Through long custom and practice the films définitely had established gangsters as men who wore only snap-brimmed hats. In fact, in motion pictures derbies are generally worn only by comedy characters. “People forget the baby-faced killers among the gangsters,” says Bogart. “They think of a gangster only as a leering, hardfaced individual. And | suppose I should be glad, because it would be pretty difficult to make. a baby face out of the features nature gave me.” = Coming In 2 Days “Angels With Dirty Faces,” which presents the famous team of James Cagney and Pat O’Brien as co-stars, will open at the Strand in just two more days. The powerful tale of the seamy side of life in a big city was directed by Michael Curtiz. Featured in the cast are the six kids, Humphrey Bogart, George Bancroft and Ann Sheridan. Pear 5 am : phrey Bogart. smoke. : oat = in ol ethiys Bes resin ad HUMPHREY BOGART | FORCED BY FANS T0 “LIFE: OF GRIME Patrons Prefer Tough Roles For Warner Bros. Star The visitor to the set of Warner Bros.’ “Angels With Dirty Faces,’ which opens next Friday at the Strand Theatre, shook her head. “I remember when he was a nice boy in white flannels who always came in with a tennis racket in his hand,” she said. She was talking about HumAt the moment, Bogart was being shot to death by James Cagney for his misdeeds. The visitor wasn't the only person who has been amazed by the things Bo gart is doing these days. New Yorkers, who used _ to see him in plays like “Cradle Snatchers, remem ber him best as the spirited juvenile who was always rushing in and suggesting a set of tennis or a Mat 106—15c sp i n around Humphrey Bogart the lake or a session in the moon-drenched garden. Which brings us around to our point that one play or one picture can change the course of an actors career. ‘Petrified Forest’ did it for Bogart. Before he played the brooding, inarticulate Duke Mantee in the Sherwood play he was typed by play producers as an acceptable leading man. But for “Petrified Forest” he might not be under contract to Warner Bros. That play and the picturization of it made the fans conscious of Bogart. He had been in pictures some time before but got very little notice. That's because the first company that rified Forest’ that he could do more than lug a tennis racket around, and he became a star. Several attempts have been made to clean up Bogart’s screen character. He has been a good guy in several pictures but the fans haven't like him so well. They go for him when he’s sinister, so he will probably be sinister for the rest of his screen life. Bogart isn’t, of course, the only actor whose career has been influenced by one part. Until he appeared in “Public Enemy,” James Cagney tried various types of parts with moderate success. That gangster part showed the fans what a tough guy he could be and that’s what he’s been doing most of the time since. He changed his screen character for “Boy Meets Girl’’— a thing he wants to do occasionally — but he’s very hard again in “Angels With Dirty Faces.” “Keeping Fit” Creed Of beorge | Bancroft Veteran of many years in motion pictures and of a life of stirring adventure since his early teens, George Bancroft is Hollywood's foremost exponent’ of the keeping fit creed. During the filming of Warner Bros.” “Angels With Dirty Faces,” coming soon to the Strand Theatre with James Cagney and Pat O’Brien as its stars, Bancroft, who also played an important role, revealed his health habits and the advantage of following them. For today the robust Bancroft is little changed from the day he won his first great film success in ““The Pony Express’ and ““Underworld.”’ _For years he has followed a rigid daily routine of athletic activity with Jim Davies, his trainer. Besides doing road work, he boxes daily, swims, hikes, plays tennis and engages in other athletic pursuits. As a result the six-foot-twoand-one-half-inch tall Bancroft is a man of brawn and muscle today. His brown hair is slightly grayed but his blue eyes are clear as ever and there isn’t an ounce of fat in his 195 pounds. Always keenly interested in athletics, he enlisted as an apprentice boy in the Navy when many of the ships were still of wood and the men were made of iron. It was a hard life for a boy but it built the physique he is still jealously preserving. ‘hared._Aim —s av blmM Only as a | leading m@n. He prdved in “‘Pet— Mat 209—30e THREE STARS of "Angels With Dirty Faces,’ from left to right, James Cagney, Ann Sheridan and Pat O'Brien. The human drama of life in the slums which is scheduled to open at the Strand Theatre on Friday. Family Man Pat O’Brien Stays Close To Fireside Star Of “Angels With Dirty Faces’? Eschews The Gay Life For Wife, Two Children His home is a heaven-on-earth to Pat O’Brien, the pop ular Irish movie star. He can’t get there quickly enough when he’s through with a day’s work at the studio. It is with real reluctance that he leaves it on the occasions when he has to. The low, rambling, one-story Spanish-type house in fashionable Brentwood Heights — a community midway between Hollywood and the beach city of Santa Monica — holds the three persons that are dearest to the black-haired, blue-eyed actor. These are his lovely brunette wife, Eloise Taylor O’Brien, and Mat 109—15e PAT O'BRIEN — Starred in “Angels With Dirty Faces." their youngsters, Mavourneen, just beyond four, and Patrick Sean, just entering his third year. Behind the house is a goodsized, eliptically-shaped swimming pool. This is Pat’s first objective after he has been welcomed home by the kisses of his family. Little Mavourneen al ready is a splendid swimmer; lit tle Sean (Shon is the pronunciation, Gaelic for John) is being taught. The whole O’Brien family goes in the water together. Likewise, maybe, a pal or two whom Pat has brought home for dinner. There’s a concrete handball court at one side of the house. _ Here the actor gets his exercise. He's a first-class player. Within Cagney Buys Island But Not To Live On Almost everyone has had dreams of owning an _ island. James Cagney, star of Warner Bros. “Angels With Dirty Faces,” coming soon to the Strand Theatre, is no exception. But, unlike most of us, ‘Cagney realized his dream, for last summer he bought a_two-acre island in Newport Bay, on the coast near Hollywood. There are six houses on the island — one big one and five bungalows. Cagney doesn’t plan to live in any of the houses. He bought the property only as an investment. Missed The ‘Mile’ Pat O’Brien, Warner Bros. star, who is one of the directors of the Del Mar (Calif.) race track, couldn’t attend the opening day races at his track. While the horses were running’ that day, O’Brien was watching James Cagney walk ‘‘the last mile’’ in the death house scene of “Angels With Dirty Faces,” their latest co-starring picture. the house, at one end, is a playroom. It contains an old-fashioned bar, presided over by Young Black Joe, the man-of-allwork. Everyone who steps up to this is made to carve his initials in the wood. There are hundreds of these. Boxing-gloves of champions, footballs used in Marquette University triumphs, all sorts of sports relics drape the walls. There’s a big phonograph, on which Pat loves to play Irish records. He has the largest collection in America and is constantly getting new ones. Likewise he has a fine library of Irish literature. With music and reading he occupies himself when there’s no company — though such times are rare, the O’Briens being gregarious folk. The Spencer Tracys will drop in of an evening, Spencer being Pat’s close pal, and fellow townsman from Milwaukee. Or the Jimmy Cagneys. (Pat recently finished co-starring with Jim in Warner Bros.’ powerful melodrama “Angels With Dirty Faces,’ which opens next Friday at the Strand Theatre.) Or the Frank McHughs or the AIlen Jenkinses. These men are all comrades since their struggling stage days. The friendship bond between them is firm and lasting. There'll be singing and dancing, cards and conversation, a bit of good cheer (never too much) — altogether, a homey, heartwarming get-together. Or perhaps Pat’s parents will journey out from the Hollywood home which he bought them, and have a quiet family dinner and chat-fest. It’s a very happy home life that this actor enjoys, and he knows and appreciates it. “T’m a lucky mugg,”’ he’ll tell you. “And I’m a thankful mugg!”’ Fan Takes Picture Of Star In Picture A new wrinkle in autograph requests was disclosed by Humphrey Bogart, the Warner “star who is featured in “Angels With Dirty Faces,’’ sock drama coming to the Strand Friday. Bogart received a package in his fan mail containing a somewhat diffused portrait of himself. A note of explanation read: “I made this picture in a theatre where ‘Racket Busters’ was showing. I simply took a picture of you on the screen and this is the result. Will you please sign it and return it to me?” Bogart autographed the picture and returned it with a clearer and more professional studio portrait. Famed Choir In Film Robert Mitchell’s famous choir at St. Brendan church in Los Angeles, often called the finest choir in the United States and one of the best in the world, sang in Warner Bros.’ “Angels With Dirty Faces,’ which opens next Friday at the Strand. The choir, consisting of 25 boys, was organized by Mitchell three years ago. :