Ex Lady (Warner Bros.) (1933)

CURRENT PUBLICITY Opening Day Story Bette Davis Stars For ist Time In “Ex-Lady” At. ___, Opening Today A cosmopolitan, sophisticated atmosphere provides the background for the film which marks the rise of blonde Bette Davis to stardom. Her tremendous success in pictures during the past year resulted in _Warner Bros, giving her the star ring role in “Ex-Lady,” which opens=today ate the: =. ee oe Theatre. Her pert and vivacious manner, coupled with her own type of charm, is given as the reason why “ExLady” was considered as ideal for her first starring vehicle. The story is laid in the environment of New York’s Bohemia — the colorful atmosphere, of the artist colony — with other scenes laid in Havana casinos and night clubs. Against this shifting scene is played the story of two young people, each with a career and with advanced ideas which make love and marriage more of a problem to them than it is to workaday folk. Their solution provides the story with a clever and novel climax. The film story is based on the original by Edith Fitzgerald and Robert Riskin, and was adapted for the screen by David Boehm. A notable cast of players supports Miss Davis in her initial starring vehicle. Gene Raymond, noted for his work both on stage and screen, igs seen in the leading masculine role. Others in the cast are Frank McHugh, Monroe Owsley, Claire Dodd, Kay Strozzi, Ferdinand Gott ee : Rosing. It was directed by Robert Florey. Plant Intimate Feature “THE RISE OF BETTE DAVIS” See Page Five Davis, Peterson, are both busy people, each with a successful career, who have still found time to fall deeply and sincerely in love with each other. Shall they marry? it. marriage may do to their love, to her individuality — to everything they have found they gained by being in love without marriage. aoa linet. .to. nroave.that the ecourse.of Review Bette Davis Charms in Stimulating “Ex-Lady” local entertainment heavens, when the management of : AST night brought a new motion picture star into the the Theatre presented Bette Davis, petite, piquant Warner Bros. blonde actress, in ‘‘®x-Lady,’’ with the stellar responsibilities of the picture on Miss Davis’s slender but thoroughly capable young shoulders. Judging from the enthusiasm of the first night’s audience, it is safe to say that one of the important topics around local breakfast tables this morning was the fascinating personality of Bette : BETTE DAVIS Blonde Star of Davis as it “Ex-Lady” was revealed Cut No. 12 in this daring, Cut 15¢ stimulating Mat sc story of love and marriage among the younger moderns. Should They Marry Helen Bauer, played by Bette and her sweetheart, Don Don is all for Helen is suspicious of what Nevertheless, both are open minded — and finally events, rather than Don’s persistent pleas, sweep Helen into marrying the man she loves, against her better judgment. Then things begin to happen — crue love doesn’t run any smoother in 1933 that it ever did in any other age of the world. For a time their business and their marriage seem both to be on the rocks, but there is an ultimate solution — and it’s so charmingly and simply brought about that it must be seen to be appreciated and enjoyed. Miss Davis’s role fits her personality as admirably as her ultrasmart wardrobe fits her dainty person. She is thoroughly at home and mistress of every scene. She more than justifies Warner Bros.’ elevation of her to the perilous plane of stardom. No actress in pictures today could have more vividly portrayed the modern girl, struggling for happiness in a world where she imagines that everything, even her eternal feminine instinets and longings, are against her, than Bette Davis does in this adroitly directed and subtly suggested romance. Brilliant Cast The cast surrounding Miss Davis is brilliantly fitted to its duties. Frank McHugh earries off second honors easily as a rich and philosophical bon vivant, who firmly believes that a man must be indifferent to the woman he madly loves in order to hold her. Gene Raymond is admirable as the high-strung, harassed young lover-husband, whose days and nights are made hectic by trying to conduct a suceessful advertising agency and keep abreast of an equally high-strung, sensitive wife at the same time. Monroe Owsley, as a modernistic artist who collects “ex-ladies” and whose aim in life is to add Helen to his collection, is the nearest thing to a conerete “villain” the picture boasts, suave, polished and _ unscrupulous in his voluptuous “avocation.” Smaller but no less interesting are eontrihuted hv sueh Gottschalk, Claire Dodd, Kay Strozzi, Alphonse Ethier and Bodil Rosing. Robert Florey’s lively direction of the story is a fine piece of craftsmanship, giving the picture an incessant, pulsing tempo that perfectly mirrors the tense pace of the lives of its characters. Few stars have had a more auspicious debut than Bette Davis in her first picture. You'll like Bette more than ever as a full-fledged star. {URE EEE? BES PRINCIPALS IN NEW STRAND HIT eee BETTE DAVIS as “EX-LADY” with GENE RAYMOND (Left) THE MAN she wanted without marriage, and MONROE OWSLEY (Right) the man she wanted as a platonic friend, only. “EX-LADY,” a War ner Bros. production is now showing at the Strand. Cut No. 17 Cut 45c¢ Mat rsc accomplisned actors as Fe. .inand Ist day of run Album Of Left Handed Compliments Saved As “Ex-Lady” Star’s Aid Bette Davis, who plays the title role in the Warner Bros. picture, “Wx-Lady,” now showing at the ... Theatre, claims to have received more “left handed compliments” during her first year in Hollywood than any other young feminine player in pictures. She has a collection of them at home in a special scrap book. From the moment when Bette came into prominence as leading lady opposite George Arliss in “The Man Who Played God,” critics and reviewers were constantly praising her with reservations. “There were more ‘ifs, buts and thoughs’ in my notices than in a financial forecast,’ Bette declares. “Tf her makeup were less obvious,” one would say. “But her resemblance to Constance Bennett seems a little too studied,” another would read. “Though she is much too thin to be beautiful,” claimed another. Here eyes were too big, her lips too dark, her hair too blonde, her features too small to make good movie material, it was pointed out — but she fooled them all. She claims now she is getting fat, thereby removing the last reported obstacle to a career in the reviewer’s opinions. To Bette’s credit it should be said that she studied these early reports and profited by them. “They were right about the makeup,” she says, “but I hated to have it said. When I agreed to change it I found out I had been wrong. But I was plenty mad at the time.” The reviews have been getting hetter after each -pieture sinan that. VUES H14tUG vaiwu memorable appearance with Arliss. To the credit of the reviewers it may be said that few of them passed Bette by without comment of some kind. She nearly always rated special mention in those early pictures, even if the compliments had handles to them. “T should have thanked them,” Bette agrees. “They talked about me. I didn’t always like what they said but if I had been smarter I would have been pleased that they talked. Anyway, I learned a lot from them and when I get a little stuck on myself — I’m apt to you know —I get down that ‘left handed compliment’ book and read those early notices over.” In “Ex-Lady” Bette has the role of a highly sophisticated young lady who prefers love to marriage. In the cast with her are Gene Raymond, Frank McHugh, Monroe Owsley and Claire Dodd. Robert Florey directed. 2nd day of run Hot Guban Rhumba In “Ex-Lady” Done By Scantily-Clad Dancer One of the highlights in “BxLady,’ a Warner Bros. picture replete with startling situations, now showine--atthee a oe Theatre, is a genuine and highly exotic Rhumba dance, performed by a Spanish dancer, Ynez. Her slender and sylph-like figure, costumed with a smile and a modicum of flimsy material, weaves in graceful motion to the rhythm of a Cuban orchestra. The soft lights of a gay and festive Havana casino add to the beauty of the scene. Other spicy scenes take place in studio parties in New York’s Bohemian art colony. The picture, based on the story of Edith Fitzgerald and Robert Riskin, treats of the theories of the youthful generation on the problems of love and marriage. Bette Davis has the title role with Gene Raymond playing opposite her. 3rd day of run “Ex-Lady” Has Newest Evening Gown Models Worn By Bette Davis The stock market may be gradually creeping upwards, but Milady’s evening gowns are reaching for a new low, according to the styles displayed in recent motion picture productions. — Studio designers try to anticipate the trend of fashion as the gowns they design are fashioned many months before they reach the sereen. One of the new types of low cut evening dress was made for Bette Davis in “Ex-Lady,” now ShoOwine sat theres es ee Bette, who was recently selected by a New York designer as one of the seven smartest women of filmdom, wears in the picture a gown of pink mat crepe, with high beaded collar, cut to an extreme -decolletage both under the arms and in the back. The front neckline, however, is high, In “Ex-Lady” Miss Davis has the role of a sophisticated young woman of the New York artist colony who scoffs at the conventions of marriage, believing that love can only last with freedom. The complications that arise through this mode of life forms a lively and entertaining subject for the screen. Ath day of run “Gome Out To Supper, We’re Having Beans,” Bette Tells Her Friends —True tu her New pugland an try, Bette Davis, who is playing her first stellar role in the Warner Bros. picture, “Ex-Lady,” now showing at the Theatre, serves her dinner guests beans. Her favorite invitation is: “Come out to supper. We’re having beans.” Born in Boston and proud of it, Bette is an ardent enthusiast for the justly famous New England “suppers,” particularly those featured by Boston baked beans and Boston brown bread. She makes no pretense of cooking these things herself. She leaves all the housekeeping details to her mother. : But Bette strays far from the ideals of her straight-laced New England ancestry in her role in “ExLady” for the part is that of a modern girl who believes that marriage dulls the edge of love. 5th day of run Rhumba Dancer Awes Frank McHugh But Can’t Stop Wisecrack During the production of “ExLady,” a Warner Bros. picture, starring Bette Davis, and now showing at the Theatre, Frank McHugh, a member of the east, strolled on to the big Havana restaurant set, where a real Cuban version of the rhumba was being performed. The slender, golden skinned young woman who was dispensing her idea of the rhumba was clad in a costume that was conspicuous for its economy. Most of it consisted of a long ruffled train that trailed behind her. Frank watched the dance with wide-eyed fascination until director Robert Florey called “Cut!” Then he turned to Florey. “Who is she?” he asked in a slightly awed voice. “One of the best rhumba dancers in Cuba,” answered Florey with a smile. “Oh,” exclaimed Frank. “I thought she was a fugitive from a nudist colony.” Page Three a eee