Edge of Darkness (Warner Bros.) (1943)

HELMUT DANTINE AIMS 10 PORTRAY TRUE-TO-LIFE NAZIS Captured and interned by the Germans with the fall of his native Austria, Helmut Dantine is taking any Nazi roles he can get in pictures, in order to give audiences a chance to see the real article, rather than the comic-strip version of what a Nazi is supposed to be. Dantine knows his Nazis. He saw thousands upon thousands of them roll into fallen Austria in March, 1938. He saw and heard Hitler’s harangue in April of the same year in Vienna’s principal square. And when, that same month, he was thrown into a _ concentration camp, along with five thousand other leaders of Austria’s youth movement, he had ample time to concentrate on what Nazis are made of. He doesn’t think much of the ingredients. Still ED 610x; Mat 101—15¢ HELMUT DANTINE Helmut Dantine, who first came to the attention of American film audiences in his role as a Nazi aviator in ‘Mrs. Miniver,” is currently busy depicting a young, vainglorious German officer in Warner Bros.’ “Edge Of Darkness,” which stars Errol Flynn and Ann _ Sheridan. The picture is scheduled to open Friday at the Strand Theatre. He’s glad of the chance to play the part: not, entirely, for its value to his career as an actor, but’ for the opportunity it affords him of giving expression to a few of his own theories about Germans as fighters and as men. Helmut’s role in “Edge Of Darkness” is that of a young Nazi who is the perfect German officer. He is a fine soldier, a highly polished cog in a satinsmooth machine. He is a good fighter, a fierce fighter, but he has a fault so grievous that it will prove his eventual undoing. This is it: The Nazi soldier, trained to do without thinking, is just now beginning to think. In spite of all the doctrine poured into his ears, he is beginning to ask himself the why and wherefores of what he is doing. That is the thing feared most by the Nazi high command, and that is precisely what is happen ag Just Head Photo of Ann Sheridan Isn't Enough for Men in Service Warner Bros.’ star, Ann Sheridan, who is currently seen at the Strand Theatre in “Edge Of Darkness,” a story of Nazi-occupied Norway, has been deluged with complaints from men in the armed forces. Answering requests for pictures, Ann has been send ing autographed head shots of herself, want full length photos—and how! typical letters: My dear Ann: You sent me an autographed picture but it’s just of your face. Now some people claim that the imagination can supply the missing links in life. But I am a simple soul. I’ve got to see something in order to appreciate it. Therefore will you please send me a picture of the complete Sheridan so I can relax without any undue strain on my imagination. Sincerely, P.S. Annie was happy to ing today. Dantine, who talked with hundreds of young Nazis in Germany, was told by them that when they left Germany they had no idea they were invading Austria. They were told, they said, that Germany was “protecting” Austria. They left for Austria with the firm belief that Austria had asked for “liberation from its foes.” The soldiers were amazed, he says, to learn that the Austrians sought no protection from anyone save the Germans. Nazis No Supermen A current myth Dantine would like particularly to destroy concerns Americans’ conception of the Nazi soldier as near-invincible; a superman among’ fighters. This, he says, is so much bunk. Many German soldiers told him, he says, that they have strict orders never to attack unless their forces exceeded the the enemy’s at least two to one. Germany will be destroyed, he feels certain, by the simple method of dispersing its fighting forces in such a way that at no time will it be able to bring to the attack forces that do not exceed the enemy’s two to three to one. Fighting anywhere near parity of forces, Dantine thinks, Germany is lost. The German soldier, superb in the mass and with all the breaks coming his way, is hopelessly lost when dispersed into~ small ‘groups, or when the tide begins to turn against him. lLeaderless, the Nazi soldier, he says, is done. Wounded U.S. Hero Plays Nazi Role Max Factor (no relation to the make-up man) is the latest to learn that anything can happen in Hollywood. The 18-year-old hero of Midway and Wake islands and the Coral Sea has just been set ; for his first : movie role — playing the } part of a Nazi | storm-trooper. Through the : intervention of | Errol Flynn, | the youth, who ,; was injured in the eye by a bomb splinter in the battle at Wake and and was honorably discharged from the Navy, got a job at Warner Bros. The handsome star introduced young Max Factor to Lewis Milestone, his director in “Edge Of Darkness,” and the latter asked him if he’d like to appear in front of the cameras. “Sure,” said Max. “Fine,” said Milestone, “you look just the type to play a Nazi storm-trooper.” Mat 111—15e Errol Flynn The boys Here are two Dear Miss Sheridan: When I was a little boy I used to lick tke cream off a charlotte russe and throw the rest away. But today I know better. It’s the combination of the cream and the cake that goes to make up the dish. So, Miss Sheridan, while I appreciate the picture of your beautiful face, will you please be so kind as to send me the cake, too? Best, oblige the boys! NANCY COLEMAN GETS SLAPPED INTO FILM FAME Like the boys in the armed forces, Hollywood women starsto-be must first undergo a sort of toughening-up process before the breaks start coming their way. That’s the way it was with Mat 109—15c NANCY COLEMAN Bette Davis. That was the setuo with Rita Hayworth, Greta Garbo and Jean Arthur. And that, precisely, is true in the case of another star-in-the ‘making—pretty, vivacious Nan cy Coleman. There’s something about how a fledgling star reacts to a good bust on the nose that interests Hollywood producers strangely. Bett2 Davis got slapped and slapped hard in the picture that put her on top: “Of Human Bondage.” She took the slaps as befits a star and so, before long. she became one. Rita Hayworth got shoved all around the old Fox Jot as a dancing slavegizl, proving her mettle to the most doubtful by standing. up under actual physical abuse. But it all stood her in good stead in the long run because once more, producers were sure she could take it; hence, rolled out for her the long red rug. Few may know it, but Jean Arthur got kicked around plenty in a series of two-reelers when, most of the time, she was on the receiving end of such pie hurlevs as Slim Summerville and Monte Banks. Her black and blue marks helped get her out of the red and into studio esteem. Garbo, too, was tossed from one corner of the Metro lot to the other in her early, films. She THERE'S PROFIT IN VILLAIN ROLES-THANKS TO HITLER Adolph Schicklegruber Hitler is an ill wind who is, unintentionally, blowing a number of players financial good in Hollywood. If it weren’t for the Nazi fuehrer and his depradations about the world, Helmut Dantine, for one, might not be the current screen sensation that he is and most certainly he would not now be playing the important role of Captain Koenig in Warner Bros.’ “Edge Of Darkness,” now at the Strand. In fact, were it not for Hitler, “Edge Of Darkness” would never have been written. And, in that case, a number of actors who are earning their livelihood just now playing the roles of villainous Nazis and Quislings in that picture would have been out of work. Errol Flynn and Ann Sheridan would probably be playing in some other picture but the “heavies” in the production might have been entirely out of luck. Chinese Actors Busy So, too, Hitler can have a certain begrudging credit for keeping many of the Chinese actors in Hollywood busier than usual, depicting the hated Japanese. Several of these appeared in the Humphrey Bogart picture, “Across The Pacific,” and even Sydney Greenstreet, the ‘fat man” of “The Maltese Falcon,” “Across The Pacific” and “Casablanca,” would have had no chance to display his genius for unpleasantness in screen roles if the Nazis had never undertaken to upset the world. Even so stalwart an actor as Raymend Massey has made use of the Hitler menace in furthering his career as an occasional screen villain. He appears as such in “Desperate Journey,” but hastily retrieves himself in the current “Action In The North Atlantic” as the heroic skipper of an American merchant marine vessel. George Coulouris has made a name for himself on the stage and at Warner Bros. Studio, for his work in the stage and the forthcoming screen version of “Watch On The Rhine,’ and Henry Daniell is soon to be only slightly less hated by screen audiences. Even so innocent a person as Harvey Parry, stunt man at Warner Bros., stood up under it and finally walked away with a starring contract. Nancy Coleman, who came to film prominence in Warner Bros.’ “Kings Row,” is remembered chiefly in that picture for the way she was slapped by Charles Coburn. Nancy took the slaps, not just a couple but more than 50, like a little trouper, and Warner Bros., impressed, found more for her to do on the lot. Right now she’s being slapped and kicked around by Nazis in “Edge Of Darkness,” starring Errol Flynn and Ann Sheridan. The picture opens Friday at the Strand Theatre. But that’s okay with Nancy Coleman. By playing “She Who Gets Slapped,” she knows she’s joining an illustrious sorority. HobbyNowWarProject What started as a hobby has developed into a serious wartime project for Walter Huston, currently featured by Warner Bros. in “Edge Of Darkness,” now at the Strand Theatre, who recently signed a deal to triple his ranch holdings in Porterville to raise beef for the government. Huston now has almost 4000 acres of grazing lands, and is already set to handle 2500 head of cattle. has found that he makes an acceptable Jap with his face painted and his hair greased and he appeared as such in “Across The Pacific. For “Background To Danger,” the new George Raft picture, which also has Brenda Marshall and Osa Massen in important roles, a number of players can thank the former paper hanger for a chance to play characters that would never have disgraced a screen if he had not set out to make his ugly dreams of conquest come true. Among these are Otto Reichow and Kurt Katch, who are making a very comfortable living just now, thank you, out of showing the Nazis to the picturegoing public in their true light. Martin Kosleck, who has made what almost amounts to a career of Goebbels roles, Otto Preminger, whose bald-headed Nazi characterization is hated by millions, Carl Esmond, Henry Victor, Robert Davis and numerous others have all made movie capital out of Herr Hitler’s unpleasantness. To them he is an ill wind which has blown them some financial good. Mat 108—15c ERROL FLYNN Judith Anderson Lauds Stand-Ins Hollywood’s stand-ins are its forgotten people. That’s no idle sentiment, but the opinion of one of the greatest actresses of all time—the brilliant Judith Anderson, star of .a hundred Broadway successes and one of the most notable Shakesperean players of theatrical history. Miss Anderson expressed herself as amazed with the natural acting talent, too often left buried, she has found among Hollywood standins. To prove that all many stand-ins need is a chance, Miss Anderson is already working with little Juanita Roberts, currently her own stand-in for her role in Warner Bros.’ “Edge Of Darkness,” now at the Strand. Since she started giving Juanita lines to memorize and acting conditions to simulate, Miss Anderson says she has discovered much talent in the girl. Mat 106—15c Judith Anderson