Big Hearted Herbert (Warner Bros.) (1934)

Guy Kibbee Once Stormed Hollywood Gates In Vain Then Fickle Film Capital Smiled — Now Has Title Role in “‘Big Hearted Herbert’ UY Kibbee, who is now safely ensconced inside one of Hollywood’s leading film studios with a long term contract in his pocket, and who is recognized as one of the sereen’s leading comedians, still remembers vividly when he was outside of those impassable walls, trying to scale walls that were, to him, as impregnable as Gibraltar. Battered and broke, he left Hollywood and made his way to New York where after a struggle he eventually climbed to success. It was in making that suecess on the Broadway stage, his biggest and final stage hit being “The Torch Song,” that fickle Hollywood, which once would have none of him beckoned him with a smiling welcome. Guy returned to Hollywood to find all doors were open to him. He has played important parts in more than a score of pictures, his latest being the title role in the Warner Bros. production, “Big Hearted Herbert,” now showing at the .......... Bes a Theatre. Enroute To Broadway “T just could not get a job in Hollywood,” said Guy. “I was down to just $11.50. Returning from a round of the studios discouraged, I met an old friend who invited me to dinner. “That dinner was epochal. Over a bottle of cheap wine, he told of his plan to leave for New York next day and suggested that I go along. I did not have the money but he said he would finance the trip. “The next morning, I looked over my car. My wife ‘Brownie’ and I had nicknamed it ‘Rabbit,’ not because it was fast, but because its natural gait was a sort of hop. “Everything went well until we hit the outskirts of San Bernardino, when we burned out a bearing. “The friend paid a $10 repair bill, but I could see that he was wondering how much of this his bank roll would stand. “At Needles my friend explained that he had been a bit overenthusiastic when he agreed to finance us. Brownie and I watched him drive away. But I knew then that we were not going back to Hollywood. A Glimpse At Success “How we ever got to New York in the Rabbit trap is a Aren’t they the cutest couple? Two Little Love Birds Guy Kibbee and Aline MacMahon look so compatible here, but they sure do plenty of scrapping verbally in that most hilarious of all comedies, “Big Hearted Herbert’ the Warner Bros. laugh-hit, coming to the Strand. Patricia Ellis, Phillip Reed, Helen Lowell and Robert Barrat are in the cast of this adaptation of the play that had Broadway laughing for a year. Mat No. 22—20c. Sa a a tle ne long, long story.. The Rabbit balked at every way station and often in between. We pawned everything we had, borrowed what we could and tightened our belts. But we eventually arrived on tireless rims to be sure, but we were there Broadway. “I phoned Hugh McConnell, who had a little apartment. in Greenwich Village. Then we moved in on him. “The next day I met Hugh at on the great the Lamb’s Club for lunch and a friend who booked for the National Broadcasting Company rushed up to me and asked if I was working. A character man had walked out on him and there was a sketch going on the air that night. “Tt only pays $45.00,’ he said, ‘but I’d appreciate your doing it for me.’ “Since I had reached New York the day before flat, it was no favor to him that I grabbed it. I did two of these sketches within the week. Returns In Triumph “Then I got a stock engagement in Kansas City and later tried out in a play in Syracuse. “Next I went back to Kansas City and after finishing the season went to New York again. This time, I got the part in ‘The Torch Song’ that changed the Kibbee jinx into a mascot. “The next time I _ reached Hollywood, it did not look like the place I had left. The flowers were blooming, the sun was shining, work was easy to get and I wouldn’t think of leaving it,” In “Big Hearted Herbert,” Guy plays the part of a self made man who boasts about it until every one else is fed up with him. The plot his wife hatches to cure him makes an uproarious picture. It is based on a play adapted by Sophie Kerr and Anna Steese Richardson from Miss Kerr’s_ story. There is an all star cast ineluding besides Kibbee, Aline MaceMahon, Patricia Ellis, Helen Lowell and Phillip Reed. William Keighley directed. Aline MacMahon Aets Serious to Be Funny Lead In “‘Big-Hearted Herbert’? Has Distinctive Method Of Her Own LINE MacMahon who has the leading feminine role in the Warner Bros. production, ‘‘Big Hearted Herbert,’’ which comes to the .......... Se Sewanee pars Toeau.e, 0c Oy Ae ok. eae. , is the one actress in Hollywood who has no competition in her own line of parts. , Too versatile to be typed, she has a method so distinctive that her brand of comedy has become identified as peculiarly her own. Without exception, the average wise-cracking comedienne has a Big Hearted Aline pert, breezy _ sophistication. Aline’s smartest lines are delivered with a calm, steady naturalness that gives the impression Aline MacMahon, who does a grand job of emoting as the wife of “*Big Hearted Herbert,” played by Guy Kibbee, in the Warner Bros. comedy of the same name. Patricia Ellis and Phillip Reed are included in the cast of the farce which is now playing at .the Strand. Mat No. 29—20ce. Page Twelve that she did not know they were funny. This technique is deliberate. Aline explains it thus: “Very few good story tellers laugh at their own stories. I noticed that years ago. Why, then, should a character in a play seem to enjoy her own lines? The funniest things in real life are those which simply happen, not those which set out to be funny.” Miss MacMahon is tall and slender and has purposely cultivated a gangling gait, though she is naturally graceful in her movements. She deliberately makes up to hide her natural attractiveness and often uses the most outlandish hair-dress. Her first real success in New York was in the Grand Street Follies, which preceded her tri “umph with Earl Carroll’s Vani ties. The old stage adage that only a thin line must separate the laugh from the tear is proved by many of Aline’s performances. In “Once in a Lifetime,” “FiveStar Final,” “Life Begins,” and “Side Streets” her funniest lines always seemed to have been spoken, in order to cover something deeper that she left unsaid. In “Big Hearted Herbert,” she is the wife of a man who is so opinionated that he allows no member of his family an idea that does not agree with his own. In a modern setting, this results in hilarious situations, but Aline MacMahon never allows the audience to forget that she suffers for her husband’s shortcomings. “Big-Hearted Herbert” is an uproarious comedy in which “father’s” old-fashioned ideas clash with those of his up-to-date family. Aline MacMahon and Guy Kibbee head the all-star east which includes Patricia E]lis, Helen Lowell, Phillip Reed, Robert Barrat, Henry O’Neill and Marjorie Gateson. William Keighley directed the picture from the screen play by Lillie Hayward and Ben Markson, based on Sophie Kerr’s and Anna Steese Richardson’s adaptation of Miss Kerr’s story. Actress Says Husband Mustn’t Be Too Bossy Aline MacMahon Shows “Father”? What’s What In ‘‘Big-Hearted Herbert’ by ALINE MacMAHON (Feminine Lead in Warner Bros’. Hilarious Comedy Romance, now Showing at the ..... ‘*Big-Hearted Herbert,’’ Bs cat ee Theatre) HILE ‘‘Big-Hearted Herbert’’ is a comedy, it brings up a very timely question, which might be ealled the theme of the play. To what extent should a husband dominate his house hold? The average woman is willing for the husband to be the head of the house, but will not tolerate petty tyranny. The romantic ideal of a home is a balanced partnership in which two people adapt themselves to each other through a series of compromises. The difficulty of this arrangement is that two strong wills are very likely to disagree as to just where the compromises should stop. The old-fashioned idea simplified this by making the husband’s word the law. He was the court of last resort. There was no appeal from his decision. At first flush, this may seem to have been harsh and unfair to the woman, but it had its advantages. Along with the responsibility for his decisions, the husband also took full responsibility for the outcome. The so-called freedom that woman now enjoys in her full partnership with her husband also imposes upon her new burdens which she did not have to carry under the “husband-is-boss” system. In “Big-Hearted Herbert,” Guy Kibbee who plays my husband is the sort of man who wants to run everything. Worse than that is his insistence on his own viewpoints. It is heresy for any member of the family to have an opinion at variance with his own. He has prejudices with which his modern children do not agree, and he makes their lives miserable, trying to impose his will on them. One of his pet phobias is college education. He never had one and therefore, a college education is worthless. He does not like college men and will not have his daughter go out with them, nor will he let his son enter college. Meanwhile, his wife is the buffer between him and the children. She knows that he is bigoted, but—because she loves him—cannot side with the children. In the end, she is smart enough to show him the error of his ways without humiliating him too much. , The modern household must have room for more than one opinion on every question. Children should be encourged to think for themselves. With all of its laughs and humorous situations, “Big-Hearted Herbert” has a very definite lesson for husbands and wives who are still undecided as to who is boss.