Broadway Musketeers (Warner Bros.) (1938)

Marie Wilson Gets Gift From Fan ‘She Doesn't Even Know’ Marie Wilson was proudly displaying her latest gift from a fan one day on the set of ‘‘ Broadway Musketeers,’’ her latest Warner Bros. picture, which is now playing at the Strand Theatre. The gift is a solid gold cross of exceptionally graceful lines on a tiny gold chain. In the center of the cross is a erystal setting, and by looking through this crystal one sees the Lord’s Prayer, which has been engraved on the interior of the cross. Ann Sheridan, Margaret Lindsay, John Litel, Dick Pureell, little Janet Chapman and others in the east of ‘‘Broadway Musketeers’’ gathered around to admire it. ‘CA lady in Chicago sent it,’’ Marie explained happily. ‘‘Wasn’t that sweet?’’ John Litel was admiring a coat ornament which Marie was wearing. It was a dog made of platinum and set with tiny diamonds and an emerald. ‘‘Another gift from a fan?’’ he asked. ‘Oh, no,’’ Marie replied flutteringly. ‘‘That’s just something from Nick.’’ (Nick is Direetor Nick Grinde, her fiance). ““T get it,’’ John said jokingly. ‘«He’s just the boy friend, so he doesn’t count.’’ “Oh, I don’t think you should have said that,’’ Marie said in dismay, her eyes wide. ‘‘Of course he counts. Why, whoever could think that I thought he didn’t count? But don’t you think it’s wonderful that a lady I’ve never met should send me such a lovely gift and letter?’’ Castles In The Sand The prop department at the Warner Bros. Studio went to considerable pains to make a mould for use in making a sand castle in a beach seene for ‘‘ Broadway Musketeers,’’ the Warner Bros. picture now at the Strand. Between scenes, little six-yearold Janet Chapman amused herself making her conception of a sand castle. The studio-made castle didn’t look real but hers did, and so they used hers. Considerate Of Pet Janet Chapman, tiny six-yearold Warner Bros. starlet, insisted on putting the mechanical horse given her on completion of her first picture, ‘‘Little Miss Thoroughbred,’’ out in the pasture with her new pony. The latter was acquired to celebrate the completion of her second Warner Bros. film, ‘‘Broadway Musketeers.’’ The doll horse will keep the live one from being lonesome,’’ was little Janet’s explanation. Harlow Fans Like Ann More than 75 per cent of the Jean Harlow fan clubs have written to Ann Sheridan, flame-topped Warner Bros. beauty, announcing that they have selected her as their favorite since the passing of their beloved Jean. Ann’s latest picture is ‘‘Broadway Musketeers.’? _ CAST OF CHARACTERS Isabel Dowling... Margaret Lindsay Fay Reynolds.......... Ann _ Sheridan Connie Todd............ Marie Wilson Stanley Dowling............ John Litel Judy Dovwling..... Janet Chapman Vincent Morreil........ Dick Purcell Phil Peyton.............. Richard Bond ING GR eres eaten Anthony Averill Gurk o..6.. 2 Horace MacMahon a) 1 SA eaenreaeae. Wes Dewey Robinson NT ELC REN ee ee Dorothy Adams SRST eT rie ete James Conlon Schoolteacher ................ Jan Holm (Review ) ‘broadway Musketeers’ Packed With Dramatic Entertainment STORY SYNOPSIS: (not for publication). Brought up together in an orphanage, the lives of Isabel (Margaret Lindsay), Fay (Ann Sheridan) and Connie (Marie Wilson) become strangely interwoven when they meet for a reunion many years later. Fay, a cabaret singer, marries Isabel’s husband, Stanley Dowling (John Litel), when Isabel leaves him for a handsome wastrel. Gangsters kidnap Isabel and her small daughter Judy (Janet Chapman), in order to collect a gambling debt, and there is a dramatic climax, when she sacrifices her life in order to save her child. There are four heroines in ‘“Broadway Musketeers,’’ ‘which opened yesterday at the Strand Theatre, but this proves to be no embarrassment of riches. A uniquely dramatic story, packed with those precious ingredients of entertainment — comedy, romance and pathos — it is first rate movie fare for everyone. The ‘‘ Musketeers’’ of the title are Margaret Lindsay, Marie Wilson, Ann Sheridan, and Janet Chapman, a sixyear old trouper with a wistful grin. And there’s no serap for aeting honors. The girls share them equally — and charmingly. Margaret Lindsay has played many roles in the seven years that she has been in pictures but never one with so much of real dramatic ‘‘meat’’ as that in her latest film. Depicting a weakwilled woman, who deserts her husband and child for the wastrel with whom she is infatuated, and on the road to utter ruin, Margaret gives the role everything that she has — and that’s plenty. Blonde Marie Wilson, who is winning the hearts of film audiences everywhere with her role in ‘“Boy Meets Girl,’’ carries on the good work in this one. Ann Sheridan, whose extraordinary beauty is a delight to anyone’s eyes, performs her difficult role with true distinction and also treats the audienee to a full portion of the singing talent she disclosed much too briefly in ‘‘San Quentin.’’ She sings two swell songs written for ‘“Broadway Musketeers’? by M. K. Jerome and Jack Seholl entitled ‘‘Has It Ever Occurred to You???’ and ‘Who Said That This Isn’t Love?’’ As for Janet Chapman, the engaging little starlet who recently made an overwhelmingly successful debut in ‘‘Little Miss Thoroughbred,’’ there seems to be no doubt that she is a find of finds. Hers is the natural charm of the six-year-old plus the ability to me Mat 201—30c STEMS FROM THE MAIN STEM — Margaret Lindsay, Ann Sheridan, and Marie Wilson as the three ‘Broadway girls who head the cast of “Broadway Musketeers,” which opens at the Strand Theatre today. @ Motion Pictures Are Your Best Entertainment @ plunge herself completely into her role. A wistful little serap of childhood, she winds herself about the heartstrings of the audience with no apparent effort. John Litel gives great distinetion to a thoroughly sympathetic portrayal of a man made unhappy by the treachery of his wife and the temporary loss of his child. Most of the other male characters are a sinister collection of rascals, and they are played to the hilt by Anthony Averill, Dick Pureell, Richard Bond, Dewey Robinson and Horace MacMahon. The plot of the screen play, an original by Don Ryan and Kenneth Gamet, starts with a reunion of three girls who were brought up together in an orphan asylum, and then it follows their strangely interwoven fortunes, which lead one to dishonor and death, a noble death, and the other two to dearly won happiness. John Farrow, who took the bows as Janet Chapman’s discoverer and directed her first picture,-was also selected to direct her second one, and the result proved the choice to have been a happy one. ‘Broadway Musketeers: Opens Today| ‘‘Broadway Musketeers,’’ the Warner Bros. picture opening at the Strand Theatre today, is con cerned chiefly with the fortunes and misfortunes of a trio of girls portrayed by Margaret Lindsay, Ann Sheridan and Marie Wilson—three of the most charming young actresses in Hollywood — but there’s another young actress who will also come in for a_ goodly share of the glory. That young miss is tiny, sixyear-old Janet Chapman, who scored so sensationally when she made her debut in ‘‘Little Miss Thoroughbred.’’ This is her second picture, and again she is given plentiful opportunity to display the amazing dramatic ability which gave her top ranking among juvenile stars virtually overnight. For the three older girls, the film marks new advancement in their careers. Miss Lindsay, who usually portrays gentle, dignified types, has a strongly dramatic role as a woman who rushes headlong toward destruction to satisfy her search for thrills. Ann Sheridan, as a cabaret singer, gets a chance to have her melodious voice heard on the screen in two ‘‘torch’’ song numbers, and Marie Wilson follows up her sensational success in ‘“Boy Meets Girl’’ with another splendid characterization of a different type. The male members of the cast of ‘“Broadway Musketeers’’ are head wx Mut 107—13¢ ‘*BROADWAY MUSKETEERS’’ — Margaret Lindsay, Ann Sheridan and Marie Wilson play the title roles in today’s Strand film. ed by John Litel, and they include as sinister a group of villains as have ever been gathered for one picture, notable among them. be [9] ing the darkly handsome Anthony Averill, as well as Dick Pureell, Richard Bond, Horace MaeMahon and Dewey Robinson. The girls portrayed by the Misses Lindsay, Sheridan and Wilson were children together at an orphanage, became separated and then meet again as adults at the outset of the film story. Margaret is prosperously married and the mother of Janet, Ann is an entertainer at cheap night clubs and Marie is a stenographer. Their lives are strangely intertwined then as Margaret leaves her husband for a handsome Broadway chiseller. Ann subsequently marries Margaret’s former husband, and Marie tries valiantly to be friend and helper of both. The exciting climax of the picture comes after the man with whom Margaret is infatuated has been slain by gangsters, who then kidnap both Margaret and her child. Learning that the gangsters intend to kill both her and her little daughter, Margaret manages to hide the child and then leaps to her death from a window, but before she dies she reveals the child’s whereabouts, and Janet is restored to her father and foster mother. The screen play was an original by Don Ryan and Kenneth Gamet and the production was directed by John Farrow, who also directed the picture in which little Janet Chapman made her debut. New Baby Starlet Not To Be Built Up As A Glamor Girl Tradition has been shattered. Precedent has been upset. History is made! Here is a studio which announces that a promising young starlet will not be built up as a glamour girl! Going even further, the studio— Warner Bros., to be exact—is going to extremes to keep the promising young starlet from becoming a glamour girl! The talented miss is Janet Chapman who astounded Hollywood by, snatching the title role in spectac-., . war fashion and walking away with all honors in her very first picture, ‘‘Little Miss Thorough-: bred.’’ Now she is adding to her. fame with her work in her second picture, ‘Broadway Musketeers,’’ the Warner production which is the. current attraction at the Strand Theatre. Be it known that six-year-old. Janet is gifted as a singer and. dancer in addition. to possessing great talent as an actress. But Janet will never portray a role in which she is required to. sing and dance. The Warner Bros.:. Studio, where she is under long: term contract, emphatically announees that nothing will be done to develop her singing and daneing talents. And for a very good reason. Janet Chapman is not to be a glamour girl. She is to be merely Janet Chapman, the sweet, natural little girl who captured the hearts of studio executives and film fans entirely on her own and without any help from touting agents. It’s A Labor Of Love The greatest number of auto-. graphs given to famous persons during the past year is a record that probably belongs to tiny sixyear-old Janet Chapman, Warner Bros. starlet, whose second picture, ‘*Broadway Musketeers,’’ is now showing at the Strand Theatre. All the stars on the film lot, ineluding Paul Muni, have solicited —and gotten—her painfully printed signature, chiefly because they find the impish faces she makes while struggling over it, amusing. She’s No Snake Fan Marie Wilson, who has followed up her success in ‘‘Boy Meets Girl’? with a swell performance in ‘*Broadway Musketeers,’’ the Warner Bros. picture now playing at the Strand Theatre, is ‘‘scared to death’’ of the rattlesnake skin belt, pair of cuffs and vest -— eighteen snake skins in all — a Hopi Indian fan sent her. She has written for permission to pass on the gift to someone who’s less afraid of snakes. Wasn’t Aping Garbo The minute Margaret Lindsay left the set of ‘‘Broadway Musketeers,’’ she would put on her dark glasses. She wasn’t attempting a Garbo trick, however, but wore the glasses only because she had on an eye makeup intended to make her look haggard and worn. PRODUCTION STAFF Directed by............... John Farrow Original Screen Play by............ Don Ryan and Kenneth Gamet Dialogue Director..Frank Beckwith. Photography by.......................00... L. Wm. O’Connell, A.S.C. Film Editor.............. Thomas Pratt Music and Lyrics by.................M. K. Jerome and Jack Scholl Sound iby n0...50..David Forrest Art Director........ Stanley Fleischer Gowns by............... Howard Shoup