Daughters Courageous (Warner Bros.) (1939)

CURRENT PUBLICITY for “DAUGHTERS COURAGEOUS” a ee (Opening Day) Four “Daughters Courageous” Come To Strand Today “Daughters Courageous,” the Warner Bros. comedy of domestic life which opens today at the Strand Theatre, could be termed a first cousin to the same studio’s highly successful “Four Daughters,” but it is not a sequel to that picture. The similarity starts with the cast, for every important player in the former picture is also in the new one; then it had the same director, and besides it was written by a writing team one of whose members was also coauthor of the screenplay which was last year’s hit. While the plot concerns different people than those in “Four Daughters,” there is a basic similarity in that the new picture is also about the joys, the sorrows, Mat 115—15e Lola, Rosemary and Priscilla Lane, and Gale Page, who play the title roles in "Daughters Courageous." the laughs, the tears in the lives of a genuinely “folksy” family. There are the same four daughters in this family and again they are played by Priscilla, Rosemary and Lola Lane and Gale Page. Their father again is Claude Rains, and their suitors again are John Garfield, Jeffrey Lynn, Frank McHugh and Dick Foran. May Robson again is a member of the household, this time, however, a faithful—and outspoken—old servant who has been with them for years. And this time the girls have a mother, in the person of Fay Bainter—the mother in “Yes, My Darling Daughter”’—a newcomer to the cast, and their mother has a suitor, in the person of another newcomer to the cast, Donald Crisp. The girls’ errant father returns on the eve of the wedding and he soon has it within his power to upset the nice future which loomed for his little family until he suddenly appeared on the scene. The working out of this situation makes a sentimentally amusing tale with a moving denouement. The director, as indicated above, was Michael Curtiz, and the screen play, suggested by a stage play of Dorothy Bennet and Irving White, was written by Julius J. and Phillip G. Epstein. Mat 301—45c IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR—and very delightful, too! (Left to right) Donald Crisp, husband-to-be; Claude Rains, ex-husband; Fay Bainter, the mother; and her four daughters, Rosemary Lane, Gale Page, Lola and Priscilla Lane, in a scene from the new screen hit, “Daughters Courageous" which opened yesterday at the Strand Theatre. (Review) ‘Daughters Courageous’ brilliant dramatic hit. definitely for your “must-see” list All the charm, all the humor, all the pathos, alh the simple, human and folksy quality of last year’s memorable ‘‘Four Daughters’? have been recaptured by Warner Bros. in ‘‘ Daughters Courageous,’’ which opened yesterday at the Strand Theatre. To make the parallel still closer between the two pictures, every member of the cast of the first has a role of equal importance in the new one. The feminine contingent again includes the ‘‘four daughters,’’ Priscilla, Rosemary and Lola Lane, and Gale Page. Fay Bainter, that supreme character actress, has been added to the original cast as the girls’ mother, and a very weleome addition she is. May Robson is again east as the crochety, lovable old family standby. The male roles are in the capable hands of John Garfield, Jeffrey Lynn, Claude Rains, Frank McHugh and Dick Foran, with the ever-reliable Donald Crisp as a newcomer to the many-daughtered family. Furthermore, the director. was Michael Curtiz who proves conclusively that the success which attended his efforts in connection with ‘‘Four Daughters’ was no mere happy accident, that he has a distinct flair for this type of sereen tale. And then the screen play, sug Cast of ‘Four Daughters” returns in fresh, captivating tale. John Garfield, Lane Girls, Fay Bainter, Claude Rains divide honors gested by a stage play from the pens of Dorothy Bennett and Irving White, was written by Julius J. and Phillip G. Epstein, the former of whom was also co-author of the ‘‘Four Daughters’? script. The Epstein brothers have, in this instance, turned out a script which fully measures up to — in fact, this reviewer is of the opinion it is even better—the ‘‘Four Daughters’’ script. With all this parallelism of cast, direction, writing, the new picture nevertheless is in no sense a sequel to the former. Claude Rains is again the father of the four girls, but this time they have a mother too, in the person of Miss Bainter. Miss Robson is not any sort of relation but a faithful old servitor. She has, however, aS much to say concerning the affairs of the family as if she were a member of it. Garfield, Lynn, McHugh and Foran are again suitors of the girls. Crisp is a solid and respectable business man of considerable means who is a suitor of the girls’ mother. Yes, she has been divorced from their father, for plenty of cause, On the eve of his former wife’s marriage to her wealthy suitor, the errant ex-husband returns and throws the household into consid Gale Could Instruct Dale In Art of If Dale Carnegie ever wants to take a post-graduate course, he can hunt up Gale Page, whose latest Warner Bros. picture is ‘‘ Daughters Courageous,’’ which opened .yesterday at the Strand Theatre. For young Miss Page, dark-haired and dark-eyed beauty, has demonstrated how a newcomer can win all of the 3000 employees of a major studio as her personal well Wishers in one year’s time. Gale Page’s dressing room at the Warner Bros. sees a constant parade of the studio workers who regard her as their personal friend. The first visitor may be a prop man asking if he can do anything to make Gale comfortable. The next visitor probably will be an assistant director wishing to borrow one of her cigarettes. A fellow with a bag of peanuts, a woman with a question about the right way to handle a complicated stitch in knitting, an invitation to somebody’s birthday party, a publicity man with a request for a photo sitting, an emmissary from the makeup department wishing to know if Gale would like to try some innovation in cosmetics, a colored messenger boy who wants to show his friendship by taking her new shoes and gettia nee them shined: they all troop to Gale’s easy chair, where they make their individual gesture of comradeship. How does Gale Page makes these ee GALE PAGE (Mat 108—15c) erable turmoil. His daughters feel they should hate him, but he is such a charming fellow that they can’t. He takes more interest in the lives of his four daughters than his former wife feels he has any right to do, his worst offense, in her eyes, being to encourage the youngest girl, played by Priscilla, in her infatuation for the fascinating, though brash and seemingly worthless, son of a Portuguese fisherman. The latter role is played by Garfield. The picture leaves one with that same warm glow of sentimental happiness, tinged with a little sadness, that was the dominant quality in ‘‘Four Daughters.’’?’ What makes it seem just a little bit better is the fact that it has a bit more comedy along the way, and the comedy is exceptionally bright and witty. About the acting of a cast so large and so obviously brilliant as that of ‘‘ Daughters Courageous,’’ there is little need to comment. It may be a little unfair to select any members of the cast for special mention, since they are all so fine, but it would be dodging a responsibility to fail to mention that Garfield again tops all the others, even if it is only by a little bit. Particularly fine also are Priscilla Lane and Miss Bainter. Winning Friends friendships so quickly? The dark-eyed society girl, niece of former U. S. Senator Miles Poindexter, the girl who crashed the radio on her singing voice, became a five year sensation over Chicago broadcast stations, and then came to pictures ‘‘cold’’ and proved that she was a ‘‘find’’ as a dramatic actress, isn’t even aware that she possesses the gift which Dale Carnegie writes about. In a profession where some of the high salaried brackets carry a certain aloofness with them, Gale Page is all the reverse. Three thousand Warner Bros. Studio employees don’t know how they first became aware of the new and refreshing personality that was among them, but they all know Gale Page. And she knows practically all of them — in a year. It’s something that Dale Carnegie may wish to figure out. Family's Character Is Reflected In Their Film Home The 5% acre estate of Mrs. W. T. Beatty, at Stillwater Cove, Pebble Beach, Calif., was chosen to represent the ‘‘ Monterey cottage’? occupied by Fay Bainter, the three Lane sisters and Gale Page, as their film home, in the Warner Bros. picture, ‘‘ Daughters Courageous,’’?’ now playing at the Strand Theatre. The Beatty estate, ‘‘Live Oak Meadows,’’ and its splendid home, designed by Julia Morgan, architect, occupies a tree-shrouded bluff gazing out over the blue Pacific. The grounds are bordered by the fifth and sixth fairways of the famous Pebble Beach golf course. The view in every direction is dramatic, which, of course, was an asset that the motion picture men prized highly. It is one of the most picturesque properties along the famous ‘‘Seventeen Mile Drive’’ near Monterey, Calif. Twenty-three live oak trees with beards of Spanish moss, scores of cypresses twisted by the shifting ocean breezes, and graceful eucalyptuses line the grounds where the film troupe pitched their trailers, prop wagons, lunch trucks and generators. The stately trees bestowed dignity and local color upon the scenes in which the feminine players were directed for their episodes of romance and good humor with the male leads: John Garfield, Jeffrey Lynn, Claude Rains and Donald Crisp. The Beatty home was singled out for the Warner picture of family life because it so closely represented the kind of attractive and comfortable abode which any American household would choose, if ‘‘its ship came in.’’ In ‘‘Daughters Courageous’’ this home in itself communicates a feeling of leisure and: friendliness to the picture and all the characters who participate in it. ““Boys Blush Easiest” —Says May Robson Following completion of her role in “Daughters Courageous,” the Warner Bros. comedy coming to the Strand Theatre next Friday, May Robson branched out as a public speaker and made a hit before a Los Angeles Breakfast Club gathering which had invited her to make a speech comparing the young people in her generation with those of the present. , “The young people of the present are more mystifying,” said the 75-year-old actress. “You see one of them walking down the street ahead of you, wearing slacks, some kind of a loose jacket, low-heeled shoes, no hat, and the hair cut short in back, and you don’t know whether the person is a girl or a boy. So you go up and tap the youngster on the shoulder and say, ‘Hi-ya, Toots!’ If she turns around and blushes, she’s almost sure to be a boy.” Curtiz Checks His Girls For Changes Before Priscilla, Rosemary and Lola Lane, and their friend, Gale Page, who plays the “fourth daughter,” played their first scene in their new Warner Bros. picture, “Daughters Courageous,’ which opened yesterday at the Strand Theatre, Director Michael Curtiz lined the four girls up and looked them over carefully. “T just wanted to see if any of you looked like grandmothers or whether some of you looked younger than you did before,” said Curtiz, who directed the same quartette in the memorable “Four Daughters.” He told all four girls to get their hair cut shorter and directed Miss Page to wear bangs over her forehead for her new role as a home girl who is very stage struck.