Cain and Mabel (Warner Bros.) (1936)

‘CAIN and MABEL } . PU. Boh € ak BY Now They're Movie Stars --But They Went To ne | Ruby Keeler was j a chorus girl in a popular night club before she became : a Follies star. a St Many of today’s film luminaries were yesterday’s prancing ponies, and chorus boys are not always what they seem. MARION DAVIES PROUD SHE WAS A FOLLIES BEAUT And few remember that such screen rough-necks as Pat O’Brien and Allen Jenkins danced for their meals while fighting for a foothold on Broadway. by Fred. E. Ruslander HE next time you read that a ‘‘chorus girl has been jailed as mobster’s ae moll,’’ wink your right eye. in “Cain and Mabel.” Ninety-nine times out of a hundred the lady in question has never been nearer to a Broadway stage than the tenth row in the baleony. Giving their occupation as ‘‘chorus girl’’ is a favorite device of young women — and older ones — who are being finger-printed and questioned at police headquarters. “‘Chorus girl’’ sounds better than their actual usual occupation, and besides, it looks better in the newspapers. Take it from one who knows, the average chorus girl is a mighty hard working, clean living, self respecting young person who is fighting hard for success, supporting herself and often contributing to the upkeep of a home. The ‘‘stage door John’’ with his offers of diamonds, limousines and easy Marion Davies, most glamorous of screen stars who is proud of the fact that she started in the chorus of Ziegfeld’s Follies. Carol Hughes, one of the more recent examples of chorus girls who made good. living is a myth, and while occasionally a chorus girl has a chance to choose between her career and luxury, the route usually leads through the church to the strains of ‘‘Here Comes the Bride.’’ Nor are chorus boys all ‘*sissies.’’? Some of the most popular movie stars of today danced as chorus boys yesterday, for no other reason than that they could dance and had to eat. No man alive knows the chorus girls and boys of Broadway and Hollywood better than does Bobby Connolly, the famous dance director who staged the production numbers of the new Cosmopolitan picture ‘‘Cain and Mabel’’ starring Marion Davies and Clark Gable, which opens at the ................ Theatre on. .......... iangaes: as a Warner Bros. release. Connolly is on record as stating that chorus girls make the very best wives. And he should know, for he married one. So far as the records show, Clark Gable was never a chorus boy, but Marion Davies, who is not only the film’s outstanding star, but one of the world’s great women, was a Ziegfeld girl and she’s mighty proud of it. Pat O’Brien, the ‘‘man’s man’’ of the screen was once in the chorus. The daughter of a Supreme Court Judge, Miss Davies was born in Brooklyn, N. Y. and christened Marion Douras. She was not quite 15 years old when she borrowed an older sister’s dress and got herself a job in the chorus of the Ziegfeld Follies. Within a week she was one of Ziegfeld’s glorified beauties, but she didn’t quit there. She could dance, sing and developed a flair for mimicry that is unsurpassed. She kept on working and learning. She went up the ladder of fame and stayed there. And the list is long of those who have done likewise. There is Barbara Stanwyck, for instance, and Virginia Bruce. You’ve heard of Joan Crawford? There’s a girl that really had to fight her way up. Every film fan knows her today. Ruby Keeler, the Warner Bros. star who is the wife of Al Jolson, was in the chorus of a night club Ann Dvorak, screen star and scientist, not only was a chorus girl but a dance director. before she went into the Follies. But she had the talent. Ann Dvorak is another Warner Bros.’ star who not only began in the chorus, but learned to dance so well she became a dance director. Today she is not only a real film star, but is one of California’s most erudite young women. She is a bacteriologist and is seriously interested in other sciences. But she ean still dance. Then there are Gloria Swanson, Virginia Bruce, Bilhe Dove, June Knight, Carol Hughes, Alice Faye — but what’s the use? Touch a leading feminine film or stage star and you’ll probably touch a girl who’s been in LIFE IN THE CHORUS Marion Davies shows what it takes to jump from chorus girl to star in “Cain and Mabel,” in which she, Clark Gable and scores of film favorites will come to the ...................... De apace DP TROCETE: Oth rshc.s asks eee Allen Jenkins, screen roughneck and fight trainer in “Cain and Mabel,” was a chorus bay. the chorus at some time or other. The chorus is the start — the end of the road is fame and fortune for those who have what it takes and the courage to use it. To a lesser degree the same thing is true about men. Time was when the name ‘“echorus boy’’ was not an altogether complimentary appellation. It used to be said that while the chorus was the starting place for girls, it was the stepping off point for men. But no more — Many a former chorus boy had reached stage success, but the dancing page in the book was kept carefully closed. Then the late Rudolph Valentino broke the spell. And today consider such film stars as Pat O’Brien, Allen Jenkins and William Powell. Really and truly, Pat O’Brien, who ealls himself ‘fone of the mugs of Hollywood’’ danced in the chorus, and Jenkins will tell you lots of chorus boy stories if you catch him in‘a talking mood. And there are plenty others. ‘“Talent scouts are always watching the chorus for exceptionally gifted players,’’ says Connelly. ‘‘If they have the particular something that lifts them above the crowd, they ll get their chance. In ‘Cain and Mabel’ we use 165 chorus dancers, to obtain which we looked over a thousand applicants. Of the 165 selected, one or two have made a distinct impression. It won’t be long before they are called for other things. They’re on their way.”’ For Sunday or Magazine Feature Page — Can Also Be Used In Lobby Frame. Order Mat No. 502 — 50c Page Ten