Dr. Monica (Warner Bros.) (1934)

‘Fashion Notes e Personality Sketches eS Star Bits As suggested in The Film Daily’s poll of motion picture editors Kay Francis Longed To Be Trapeze Performer Star Of “Doctor Monica”” Compromised, However, On Becoming Champ Athlete OT so many years ago, an eager young beauty issued from The Misses Fuller’s Finishing School, on the Hudson. She was starry-eyed and breathlessly alive. The waiting world got an eyeful, the very first minute. She answered to the name of Katherine Clinton, and continued to do so until Fate, and a first husband, changed it to Kay Francis. Warren William is Rarely Seen in Person by Public Leading Man In “Doctor Monica”? Has Little Taste For Heroics In Real Life ARREN William, who has the leading masculine role in the Warner Bros. picture, ‘‘Doctor Moniea,’ ’which comes to the .................. THOGUOOD 556.8005 cn. , lives backstage. He is a throwback to the generation when an actor belonged to the audience until the curtain fell and then he disappeared into some mysterious world of his own, and somehow managed not to be seen again until the next performance. In Hollywood, where privacy is practically impossible, Warren William manages to achieve it. There is nothing premeditated about it. He finishes his work and disappears. He does not hurry away nor sneak away; he rather fades away. No columnist reports having met him on the Boulevard. No society column reports his presence at this or that affair. No gossip whispers of having seen him here or there. Having been a sort of matinee idol as a stock actor and later prominent on Broadway in “Twelve Miles Out,” “Under Cover,” “Expressing Willie,” “Blue Peter” and other shows, it is strange that he should yet retain a certain shyness. “An actor’s place,” he once remarked, “is on the stage. When he tries to take a part in the social or other activities of the outside world he destroys an illusion that is part of his stock in trade. Belasco, Tyler and Dillingham knew this. That is why they surrounded their stars with a certain vagueness off stage. On the screen I am a heroic fellow. Off the screen I am not heroic, nor do I want to have to pose and pretend. I go where I don’t have to pretend—home.” In “Doctor Monica,” William has the leading masculine role Warren William who stars with Kay Francis in “Doctor Monica” at the Strand. Mat No. 12—10c opposite Kay Francis. The picture, a throbbing story of a woman’s love and a woman’s sacrifice, is based on the Polish play by Marja Morozowicz Szezepkowska and adapted into English by Laura Walker Mayer. Others in the cast include Jean Muir, Verree Teasdale, Phillip Reed, Emma Dunn, Hale Hamilton and Virginia Hammond. William Keighley directed from the screen play by Charles Kenyon. Kay Francis Drives Flivver To Keep Her Feet On The Ground Kay Francis, star of the Warner Bros. picture, “Doctor Monica,” now showing at the .............. Theatre, always drives a flivver instead of the more pretentious models she could easily afford. And the reason she gives is that she finds it the surest way, mentally speaking, of keeping her feet on the ground. “Keeping one’s feet on the ground,” said Kay, is important anywhere, and nowhere more so than in Hollywood and the motion picture business. “T personally have never cared for the limousine attitude toward life, as you might eall it, which so many people think it necessary to assume, the moment they become successful. Success is such a fragile, fickle thing, anyway, particularly on the screen. And in Hollywood, especially, the temptation to try to live up to some success that has come to one suddenly and may disappear just as quickly, is overpowering unless you keep your feet on the ground, every minute. “T enjoy driving the simplest car I can find, too, because of the freedom it gives me. The greatest luxury in life, I think, is being able to be one’s self and do exactly what one pleases, at least for a certain part of the day. You can’t do that when you’re trying to live up to a lot of imaginary ideas of your own importance, whether the ideas are your own or someone else’s” In “Doctor Monica,” Miss Francis has the role of a professional woman who has a terrifie battle to hold her husband’s love. Others in the cast include Warren William, Jean Muir, Verree Teasdale, Phillip Reed and Emma Dunn. William Keighley directed from the screen play by Charles Kenyon. Four years after she first saw the light of day in Oklahoma City, this child’s education had begun in New York. She wanted to be a trapeze performer, but the Clinton family went thumbs down on high-flying. They compromised by allowing the girl to go in for school athletics in a big way. She attained a record of 12 seconds flat for the 100yard dash, which is considerable dash for any feminine runner. Kay’s education was not completed at the finishing school, but included a later course in stenography and _ typewriting. She then went abroad for eight months and put her secretarial training to good use for such prominent employers as Mrs. Dwight Morrow, Mrs. Minturn Pinchot and Mrs. W. K. Vanderbilt. By this time, her eagerness had been subdued into a charming nonchalance. Broadway called it poise and went for it in a big way. From a part in the modernized version of “Hamlet,” she graduated into stock work with Stuart Walker and then came her chance in “Venus.” Following this were “Crime” and “Elmer The Great” with Walter Huston. When she heard that Huston was seeking a leading lady for his motion picture “Gentlemen of the Press,” she went after the job and got it. When the Lonsdale type of dialogue reached the talking screen, there arose need of people to whom the airy persiflage of the drawing room was not a strange language. Kay Francis was elected. Patrician in appearance, always well groomed and in perfect taste, she never fails to bring distinction to a part. “One Way Passage,” “The Keyhole,” “Street of Chance,” “Raffles,” “For the Defense,” “Cynara,” “Passion Flower” and “Transgression” are all a credit to her. Her latest Warner Bros. picture, “Doctor Monica,” now showWe BE ANG? oo. gts sce Theatre, is reported to be her finest. In real life, Kay Francis is a charming, wholesome young woman with a penchant for sunshine, fresh air and soap. They are not only her beauty secrets, but indices to her character. Her pets include dogs, cats, parrots, rabbits, birds, goldfish and frogs. She reads a great deal, understands what she reads **Doctor Monica,”’ and talks about it intelligently. “Doetor Monica” is a thrillingly dramatic story in which two women battle for love and happiness. Kay Francis has the title role while others in the east include Warren William, Jean Muir, Verree Teasdale, Phillip Reed and Emma Dunn. William Keighley directed from the screen play by Charles Kenyon. We Things Are Looking Up Kay Francis and Warren William seem to contemplate the heavens in this scene from “Doctor Monica,” Warner Bros.’ dramatic triumph with a cast including Jean Muir and Verree Teasdale. The picture comes to the Strand Wednesday. Mat No. 10—20c¢ Screen Stars Just Like Plain Citizens When They’re Home The popular idea that screen stars, at home, sit around in golden chairs, with liveried servants hovering near with trays, while other lackeys slowly wave peacock fans, is far from true. Everybody who can read is familiar with the various diversions of his particular idol — where she dines, where she dances, where she spends her vacations. But no matter where a star goes, she is more or less in the public eye, and must act accordingly. About the only place a screen player can do as he or she pleases is at home. It is an interesting commentary on the sereen stars as just folks, that they do about the same things Mr. and Mrs. Plain Citizen do. Of course, if one is to believe the pictures in the magazines, the players rush home, put on their cutest sport togs, call the family together and sit on a flowery porch against the background of a California garden. Some vary this by curling up before a camera with a nice big book, and some by finding a large pair of prop shears and standing in front of a rose bush, with a smile almost as broad as the garden hat, designed by Lanvin. But take a look into the homes of the four stars who are now appearing at the .............0..... Theatre in the Warner Bros. production of ‘‘Doctor Moniea.’’ There’s Kay Francis in an old pair of slacks, a dark blouse with sleeves rolled up and a lot of papers spread out on her dining room table. She is figuring up her account, and giving very sensible instructions to her cook. When she finishes this task, she will put on a disreputable old hat that no press agent would admit she owned, and putter around her garden. Verree Teasdale may be found with a pair of scissors, a pattern and a piece of dress goods. She loves to design and cut out clothes. Warren William, dapper young hero of the screen, will be found in a pair of overalls, with a saw, a hammer and an eye searching hungrily for something that needs repairing. Jean Muir will be found in slacks reading a book or out in her garden tending her roses. ‘“Doctor Monica’’ is a stirring drama of two women who loved one man. Names Two Stars As Screen’s Best Dressers “If a woman possesses a talent for dressing smartly her geographical whereabouts has nothing to do with her ability to express it,” says Orry-Kelly, Warner Bros. designer. “Kay Francis and Verree Teasdale would be distinguished for their chic in any cosmopolitan group, and there are scores of other Hollywood women who merit praise for their taste in clothes when they appear on foreign ground.” Miss Francis and Miss Teasdale both are appearing in the Warner Bros. picture, “Doctor Monica,” now showing at the eda taste tugs Theatre, and in which they exhibit advanced new styles in costuming. Verree Teasdale Wins Palm for Memory Verree Teasdale, who has an important role with Kay Francis, Warren William and Jean Muir in the Warner Bros. picture, ‘‘ Doctor Monica,’’ which comes to the secedges ramen Theatre On ...........cs0n) was awarded the palm for a quick memory by Director William Keighley. A last minute change was made in the script which altered her lines. She looked the new lines over once and went through three sequences without a mistake. Study In Black Like a painting, is this pose of Kay Francis, star of “Doctor Monica” at the Strand. Mat No. 6—106 Page Seven