As the Earth Turns (Warner Bros.) (1934)

xploitation Ideas Your NO BUNK Publicity Follow through on your No Bunk promotion with these prepared stories. Even if you're using the straight from the shoulder angle, each one of these stories offers a legitimate reason for extra newspaper space. There’s a big idea here — give it a moment’s thought before you present it locally. Fate of MovieHokum Will Rest On Votes of New Film Patrons Mr. and Mrs. Moviegoer—and Miss Moviegoer, too—you are go: ing to have a chance to express your preference as to the kind of pictures that should be offered for your entertainment. Do you like “hokum”? Or do you believe that motion pictures should be honest, straightforward, simple and natural in their treatment of stories? A vote will be taken among the patrons of the Theatre, where “As The Earth Turns,” the new Warner Bros. feature film with Jean Muir, Donald Woods and a large supporting cast, will open ................. : “As The Earth Turns” is based on the best-selling novel by Gladys Hasty Carroll—a novel about American life as it is actually lived today. Im its screen version, “As The Earth Turns” has been produced in the same spirit in which the book was written—with honesty and directness and with not the slightest tinge of the cheap twists and turns that Hollywood describes as hokum. There is no false sentiment, no tawdry straining for effect, in this picture. Do the picture patrons of (name of town) like that kind of picture? Are they tired of unreality and flamboyant pseudoromanticism on the screen? They can vote yes or no after seeing “As The Earth Turns” at the Similar votes have been taken in other cities where this picture has been shown, and in every one of these cities there has been an overwhelming majority in favor of the daring experiment made by Warner Bros. in producing an honest stery in an honest way. Alfred E. Green, director of many screen hits, also directed. “As The Earth Turns.” He describes it as “the most honest picture ever made in any Hollywood studio.” The suecess of “As The Earth Turns” has already made a revolution in Hollywood. The studios realize that a new era is dawning for the screen—that the American public wants motion pictures that have the breath of actual life and that the day of hokum is nearly over. Movie Critics Hail ‘As the Earth Turns’ As Free From Hokum “A picture without hokum!” That is how Hollywood—hardboiled, hokum-ridden Hollywood —desc¢ribes “As The Earth Turns,” the new Warner Bros. picture of American country life which will open ..............-. at the MO Vareaaccv snake Theatre. And that is how newspaper critics and audiences, where the film has already been shown, have described it. What will (name of town) think of “As The Earth Turns?” Does the public demand hokum— humbug, false sentiment, the sort of thing that is invidiously described as “theatrical”—or has it been waiting for a picture that tells a moving human story in an entirely honest way, simply and naturally and with perfect sincerity? “As The Earth Turns,” based on the remarkable novel by Gladys Hasty Carroll, has been produced by Warner Bros. frankly as an experiment in public taste. The novel was straightforward, simple, frank and uncompromising in its presentation of a story of real life. The picture has been brought to the screen in the same way. It would have been easy to “jazz it up,” in the Hollywood phrase; to put in false and glaring high-lights, pseudodramatic situations, the many tricks and twists that are so often employed to “give the publie what it wants”—or what it is supposed to want. But the Warner studios, with Alfred E. Green directing and with Jean Muir, Donald Woods, Emily Lowry, William Janney and many other players old and new in the cast, chose to test the general taste of the film-going public with “As The Earth Turns;” and from reports sent out from the cities where the picture has played to packed and enthusiastic houses, the test seems to have been a satisfactory one, At last “a picture without hokum!” Hollywood’s eyes are open wide. Other honest, direct, truly human films are likely to follow as a result of the courageous venture of one studio. Does Picture Public WartFactorHokum? New Film To Decide Does the movie-going public demand hokum? Does it want to be kidded? That is a question that will be answered, so far as (name of town) is concerned, when “As The Earth Turns” opens ............ tata: hacea escent Theatre. “As The Earth Turns,” based on the novel by Gladys Hasty Carroll, is a story of life on a New England farm. It deals with the realities of existence—with love and hatred, birth and death, marriage and its many problems for men and women. Jean Muir and Donald Woods, two of Warner Bros.’ newest players, head the cast. Alfred E. Green, veteran director, was in charge of the production. Director Green’s motto during the filming of “As The Earth Turns” was: “No compromise.” He tells himself of the spirit in which the picture was made: “We decided that ‘As The Earth Turns’ was to be produced entirely without hokum. Nothing cheap or tawdry, nothing that was not an honest and logical factor in the plot, characterizations and settings, was to be given a place. And we carried out our resolution to the best of our ability. It will be interesting to see how the publie reacts to what I believe is the most honest picture ever made in any Hollywood studio.” Already “As The Earth Turns” has been shown in certain key cities of the United States and Canada; and the reception given the film by audiences and critics has been enthusiastic. This in turn has had a significant effect in Hollywood, where hokum has so long reigned triumphantly. Jean Muir, the heroine of “As The Earth Turns,” believes the success of the film means that the cinema public is changing— “growing up,” as she puts it. “After all,” says the young actress, “real life is dramatic, intense, thrilling enough to be presented honestly and truthfully. A famous writer has said, ‘Truth is the only really interesting thing in the world.’ Then why not tell the truth in motion pictures? I am proud to have been associated with a picture that does exactly that.” “As the Earth Turns’ Movie Without Bunk To Open Here Today Today, “As The Earth Turns,” the new Warner Bros. film which has been hailed by critics and picture patrons in many cities as “a picture without hokum,” opens at the Theatre. Jean Muir and Donald Woods head the cast, and other players in the lineup are Emily Lowry, William Janney, David Landau, Dorothy Peterson, Dorothy Appleby, Sarah Padden, Clara Blandick and Egon Brecher—to name only a few of them. Alfred E. Green directed from the best-selling novel of the same title by Gladys Hasty Carroll. Patrons of the Theatre will be asked to vote, after seeing the picture, on whether they prefer pictures with, or without, hokum—the cheap theatricalisms and false effects that have reigned so long on the screen. In other cities where “As The Earth Turns” has already been shown, heavy majorities have been piled up in favor of the honesty and realism for which this film stands. Newspaper critics have united in a chorus of praise for a film that bids fair to create a revolution in Hollywood—a revolution in favor of truthfulness and sincerity in screen story-telling. “As The Earth Turns” is a stoty of farm life in present-day New England—it is as modern as President Roosevelt’s administration, yet it depicts a fundamental existence as ancient as man’s cultivation of the soil. The story of the girl Jen (played by Jean Muir) is the story of woman’s life as it has been lived since the dawn of human existence. “A picture without hokum!” That is what the Warner Bros. studios resolved to make, in the faith that the movie-going public is ready for sincerity and simplicity in its favorite form of entertainment. Hokum Reign Ended By Landslide Vote Of Local Film Fans Evidently (name of town) likes “a picture without hokum.” This is demonstrated by the success achieved by “As The Earth Turns,” the new Warner Bros. picture now at the .............. Theatre, based on Gladys Hasty Carroll’s best-selling novel. Jean Muir and Donald Woods head the east. Pstrons=0f [the aussarsavaes Theatre have voted heavily on “opinion cards” in favor of the kind of picture represented by “Ag ‘the Earth Turns’—the kind of picture that tells its story with sincerity, with honesty and straightforwardness, and without the tricks of false romanticism that are displayed in so many Hollywood products. Similar ballots cast in theatres throughout the country have made a great impression in the West Coast studios, and it seems likely that “As The Earth Turns” will open a new chapter in the history of the screen. According to many good judges, this film has afforded proof that what is wrong with the screen in most cases is, in a word, hokum; and that the public is tired of it. Theatre patrons are responding to “As The Earth Turns” because it is devoid of that quality, because it makes no compromise in the straightforward honesty and reality of its presentation of the Carroll story, and because it is demonstrating that the depiction of human life in all its lights and shadows is dramatic enough in its own right and needs none of the meretricious sentimentality of the ordinary motion picture. There were doubts when “a picture without hokum” was made at the Warner Bros. studios in California. Was the public ready for it? The answer has been triumphantly given. Honesty In Role Portrayal Wins Quick PublicAcclaim Jean Muir, Heroine of “As The Earth Turns”’ Welcomes Ousting of Picture Hokum. HE ousting of ‘‘hokum’’ as the important factor in motion picture production, and inauguration of truth in story and characterization, exemplified for the first time in the big Warner Bros. production, ‘‘As The Earth Turns,’’ which has just opened at the Theatre, is considered the most essential step the motion picture industry has taken in years, by Jean Muir, who portrays the role of “Jen” Miss Muir, less than a year in Hollywood, is a featured actress who is rapidly approaching stardom. Twenty-two years old, tall, slender and beautiful, she was as successful on the Broadway stage as she has been in Cinemaland, and her selection for so important a role was made because her acting is as free from hokum— trick devices and artificial sentiment—as is the picture itself, which has been described as a “picture without hokum.” “One of my favorite writers, E. V. Lueas, has said that ‘truth is really the only interesting thing in the world’,’ said Miss Muir recently. “That is why I think Warner Bros. were wise and farseeing in making ‘As The Earth Turns’ as they have done —with sincerity and without compromise in the treatment of the story. I would have been miserable if I had had to play Jen in any cheap or affected way. It is a charaeter that took possession of me; I believe in it utterly, and I think, for that in that production. reason, audiences, too, will believe in it when they see Jen on the screen. “J am very glad that I have become a motion picture actress at a time when the public taste is turning to reality and honesty in pictures, as it undoubtedly is. The reception which is meeting ‘As The Earth Turns’ proves that.” Jean Muir was born as Jean Fullarton in New York City. She is of Scottish Highland descent. Her education was at the Dwight School in Englewood, N. J., and at the Paris Sorbonne. On the stage she appeared in “Bird in Hand,” “Saint Wench” and with a number of stock companies. Since being signed by Warner Bros. she has had important roles in “Bureau of Missing Persons,” “The World Changes,” with Paul Muni and “Son of a Sailor,” with Joe E. Brown. Now, in “As The Earth Turns,” she is being lifted to stardom by “ a picture without hokum.” Page Thirteen