Devotion (Warner Bros.) (1946)

Actor Offers Striking Contrast To Film Roles Paul Henreid, currently to be seen in Warners’ “Devotion” at the Strand, will sit down with you and try to explain his European ancestry, if you’ve got a spare hour or three— but there are only two things he is definitely sure about. First, the suave strapping actor will never forget the exact date he filed his final U. S. citizenship papers— August 12, 1945. He had them ready for almost six . months in advance! Second, the ten years that have elapsed since he fled from Hitler Europe to satirize Der Fuehrer on the British stage have convinced him how right he was in his early Nazi-hating days in Vienna. : | About that background of.his: Paul’s mother was Viennese. He was born in Trieste in 1910, a year when that disputed city was Italian. But his home was Vienna, which at that time was Austrian, and his father was Swedish and, later, an Austrian subject. You figure it out! to night clubs. On the screen, Henreid appears distinguished, subtle, romantic, ardent—whatever qualities should be ascribed to a star whose most striking attribute is a continental manner. It is impossible to maintain this il air raid warden in London and enrolled as an air raid warden in Brentwood. He is under contract to Warner Bros. and made his first Warner picture as leading man to Bette Davis in “Now, Voyager.” In “Devotion” he shares starring honors with Ida Lupino, Olivia de Havilland and Sydney Greenstreet and it is because of their. love for him that the two actresses, who porMat No. 110—30e tray sisters in the film, encounter tragic heartbreak. Still No. PH 120 PAUL HENREID causes -a rift between ‘two sisters in Warners’ new romantic drama, "Devotion,"" now at lusion off-screen. Paul is friend-.. ly, simple, and determined to be — an American. He served as an: 1-Col. Newspaper Fashion Feature Available. . . e— Plant this one-column fashion mat, featuring Ida Lupino and crediting your playdate, in daily women's pages or special Sunday supplements. | ORDER Decotion”™ |Fashion Mat No. 102B., Lie from Warner Bros.” Pa Three green bands flecked with sequins, A encircling waistline, hips and wrists, Campaign Plan Ed distinguish the beautiful dinner dress Ww. modeled here by Ida Lupino, lovely itor, 321 44th star of Warner Bros.’ new film drama, Sa. N. Y. 16 N. ¥. ee = a = sf 2 “Devotion.” Brother In ‘Devotion’ Says Being Weak’s Tough Just why Arthur Kennedy should have seemed a natural choice to play the role of Branwell Bronte, weak but lovable brother of the famous Bronte sisters and novelists in Warner Bros.’ “Devotion,” currently-at the Strand, is a little uncertain. Perhaps an earlier success as the heavy-drinker in “They Died With Their Boots On” had something to do with it. In that one he tried to ruin the entire Seventh Cavalry and most of the Indians in the Dakota Territory by providing too much strong drink at his trading post. the Strand. Ida Lupino, Olivia de Havilland and Sydney Greenstreet . are also starred in the film. Henreid’s father tagged a “von Wassel-Waldingau” onto his Swedish monicker when he became a leading Viennese financier. But Paul has always ignored the addition, on the theory that things were confusing enough, as it was. So he went on the stage in Vienna, went over to London in 1935 and hasn’t been on the continent since. “The Madman of Europe,” a bitterly anti-Nazi play, was his first English production, and it gave him a fortunate start. It also cost him his Austrian estates, valued at about $100,000. His first American motion picture, “Joan of Paris,’ quickly established him as a _ leading man of the romantic school, but his initial success as a screen actor was in the role of villain, notably in “Night Train.” Henreid was married nine years ago to a Viennese girl whose quick talent as a designer of clothes saved the pair from financial embarrassment more than once. This was particularly true when they first came to America. Already rated as a European star, Henreid was expected to live like one, but $20a-day-hotel rooms were far out of his class. Mrs. Henreid’s talents saw them through this crisis for several months. Now, of course, the career is all Henreid’s; they live in a_ small house in Brentwood, rarely go Canine Rivalry Flares On Set At Warner Bros. Olivia de Havilland and Ida Lupino trapped director Curtis Bernhardt smack in the middle of the toughest casting problem he ever faced. There was a spot for a dog in their current Warner Bros.’ picture, ‘‘Devotion,’’ now playing at the Strand, and both girls offered their own pooches as candidates. Olivia’s candidate was the three month old airedale, “Shadrack,” and Ida’s was the veteran and highly intelligent German shepherd, “Duchess.” Although they kept the dogs on the set constantly, showing them off, extolling their photogenic qualities to Bernhardt, vastly to the amusement of the “Devotion” company, the director solved his problem by employing a third animal, a shaggy sheep dog, who can be seen in many of the film’s sequences. Besides the Misses Lupino and de Havilland, “Devotion” also stars Paul Henreid and Sydney Greenstreet. Mat No. 103—15c Olivia de Havilland Or, perhaps, it was his sensitive face and flying blond hair that brought Kennedy to particular attention for this very fat role in a very big picture. He looks like a young man who might become a drunkard, just as the talented, sensitive Bronte brother did. He looks the part, even though he has never lived up to it in real life or on the stage. As the ne’er-do well brother of the gifted family—which includes, in “Devotion,” Olivia de Havilland, Ida Lupino and Nancy Coleman—Kennedy has many pleasant moments to play. Scenes with his sister Emily, for instance, when he tells Miss Lupino what she has evidently never believed before, that she and her sister Charlotte are in love with the same man. He isn’t always reaching for the nearest bottle. Kennedy holds some sort of a record in Hollywood. He became an actor deliberately by finishing a four-year dramatic course at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. He accepts and plays the roles he does because he believes they are good roles, worthy of his best talents and most strenuous efforts. Such a role is the one he plays in “Devotion.” It is not easy, in his opinion, to be a drunkard effectively on the screen—especially a half-lovable weakling with a taste for strong drink. “Tt’s a role which practice will never make perfect,” he says. “So I don’t rehearse week-ends or evenings. Besides, my wife wouldn’t like it.” Mrs. Kennedy, incidentally, is an actress of some note herself, having appeared with her husband on the New York stage as Mary Cheffey. During the time she worked with him on the stage, however, he was never singled out to specialize in weakling roles. He was, in fact, once Ethel Barrymore’s leading man. The changing screen world and work is taken in stride by Kennedy. He played Shakespearean roles in the Globe Theatre of New York during the late, almost forgotten World’s Fair there. Before that he toured with a traveling stock company playing many varied roles—one of them requiring him to parade about the stage carrying an umbrella in driving rain. After such experiences nothing will surprise or distress Kennedy except a poor role or a bad performance. The weak Bronte brother of “Devotion” was the determined, single-purposed brother of James Cagney in “City for Conquest,” chosen for that role because of the same sensitive face which makes him peculiarly eligible to play Branwell Bronte. He has also had a fine supporting role in “Desperate Journey” and followed that with an important part in Warners’ “Air Force.” Besides Olivia de Havilland and Ida Lupino, “Devotion” also stars Paul Henreid and Sydney Greenstreet. Page Thirteen