Female (Warner Bros.) (1933)

urrent Publicity & Male or Female You’ll Love ‘Female’ (Review ) Ruth Chatterton’s Latest Is Also Her Greatest Film ‘‘Female”’ Sparkles With Snappy Dialogue With Star in Role of Girl Who Tried to Beat Life Page Six . . Strand Theatre and see Ruth OLKS, hurry up to the. . Chatterton giving the grandest performance of her career in “Female,” her fastest and most entertaining picture. “Female” is a honey of a picture, handsomely mounted with gorgeous sets, in which the First National star fairly revels in a story, the like of which has never been put on the screen. Male or female, you’ll adore “Female.” The situations are new-fraught with sparkling dialogue-lines that will have you in stitches, and a love technique girls will be using on their own boy friends. “Female” reverses the conquered female story. As the head of a big business, Chatterton beats men at their own game—that is until she meets her match. Instead of having men play her in an effort to win her affections, she plays the men. Lighting Up at the Strand A tense and revealing climax is fol lowed by a swift-moving denouement. In background, the story is one of the most varied and colorful that Miss Chatterton has had. The action moves from the offices and workshops of a vast motor plant to the gardens of In “Female,” the new First National dramatic hit on view at the Strand, local fans once more see Ruth Chatterton and husband, George Brent, appearing together. This time, however, their roles are entirely different from those in which they appeared previously and, to judge by the film’s large audiences, are the best liked of their careers as well. Mat No. 26, Price 10c. In “Female” there is no trace of “Madame X,” nor of “Frisco Jenny,” nor of “Lilly Turner.” No, nor the Chatterton of “The Rich Are Always With Us” or “The Crash.” In her latest picture, Chatterton has departed with a vengeance from all other film characters with which she has been associated in the past. This time she is Alison Drake, smart, aggressive, attractive, head of Drake Motors, Inc., who cannot understand why a woman in a dominant position cannot command men, as the great conquerors of the world have always commanded women. Why cannot woman’s attitude be one of casual condescension? She wishes to take men as she finds them—to discard them just as casually as men discard their women when they have tired of them. In other words—“love ’em and leave ’em”—in the old masculine way. But at last this aggressive, selfconfident young woman meets defeat. Despite her power to do whatever she pleases with her life, she finds she is not as self-sufficient as she has_ believed. There is at least one man who does not surrender at her word—one man to whom she is not even acceptable. That man happens to be the only one she really wants for keeps. Alison Drake’s elaborate home; then on to street carnivals, dance halls and even a shooting gallery in a far different quarter of the city. Gene Markey and Kathryn Scola have written for “Female,” dialogue as sparkling as any that the screen has offered this season. Miss Chatterton, always an expert comedienne, makes the most of it—moving easily from the film’s lighter moments to the dramatic sequences which now and then set off the comedy. The star’s performance in “Female” is without doubt one of her major achievements—witty, brilliant and at times deeply moving. George Brent, Miss Chatterton’s husband, contributes an expert performance as leading man in a role that offers him frequent opportunities for dry comedy. There is a distinguished supporting cast, composed largely of players well known both on stage and screen. Among-.those who have important roles are Ruth Donnelly, Lois Wilson, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Johnny Mack Brown, Gavin Gordon, Jean Muir, Sterling Holloway, Walter Walker and Phillip Reed. William Dieterle, who directed, did a masterful job. His tempo is fast, his direction flawless. Be sure to see it! Opening Day “Female” Is Unusual Story of a Girl Who Tried to Beat Life One of the most startling love themes ever presented on the screen will be unfolded at the .... Theatre today with the showing of the First National . picture, “Female,” with Ruth Chatterton in the stellar role. This story, by Donald Henderson Clark, is not of one love, but of many. It reverses the role of the philandering male, with Miss Chatterton playing the part of the huntress who casts a cool and calculating eye on the handsome young men she selects for her vampish, nocturnal adventures. These are mostly employees of her own concern, for she is a big business woman who heads an automobile manufacturing plant. She is as ruthless in love as in her financial dealings, for she carelessly casts the young men aside as soon as she tires of them and they try to carry the courtship into the office. As Alison Drake, the business executive, she feels that she is a super-woman who is not bound by the ordinary conventions of the world about her. It is not until she discovers there is one man who will not succumb to her wiles that she wakes up to the fact that her slant on life is a twisted one. Not in a long while has Ruth Chatterton offered so powerful a portrayal and so moving a drama. George Brent plays the leading masculine role, his fourth time opposite the star. Others in the cast include Lois Wilson, Ruth Donnelly, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Johnny Mack Brown and Philip Reed. The picture was directed by William Dieterle from a screen play by Gene Markey and Kathryn Scola. Tst Day of Run George Brent Gave Chatterton Ducking In Making “Female” George Brent gave Ruth Chatterton a ticking during the production of the First National picture, “Female,” which ‘is now at the. . ‘Theatre. . And it was not in the script. It all happened in a scene in which Miss Chatterton invites Brent, one of her**handsome young employees, for she is a big business owner, to a picnic party of two, in order to make him fall for her charms. Brent, one of the strong, outdoor types, is only impressed by women who are feminine, the kind he can protect. In order to impress him with her helplessness, she steps into a canoe rather awkwardly, making it rock dangerously. The actor is supposed to steady the canoe. But when Brent laid hold of the canoe, rocking on an artificial lake at the North Hollywood Studios, he made it rock the more instead of steadying it. ‘The result was that Miss Chatterton lost her balance and was thrown into the lake. The water was only two feet deep at the spot and Brent leaped in and helped Miss Chatterton to shore, suffering nothing but a wetting. “Female” -is*a somewhat sta:tling story in which Miss Chatterton plays the part of a super woman who takes her loves without regard to conventions. Others in the cast include Lois Wilson, Ruth Donnelly, Ferdinand Gottschalk and Johnny Mack Brown. The picture was directed by William Dieterle from a screen play by Gene Markey and Kathryn Scola. 2nd Day of Run Chatterton Worried About Being Able to Cry at Proper Time Most ladies are afraid, in certain situations, that they’ll break right down and have a good cry. But not so many are afraid they won’t. Ruth Chatterton had the latter experience which she related in between shots while working on the production of “Female,” now showing at the ... . Theatre. During her recent visit to England, Noel Coward asked her to go with him to see his “Cavalcade” screen version. “Y’m not asking anyone else,’ he said. “I want to sit with you all by myself so I can watch your reactions.” Miss Chatterton was terrified. Her reactions! Would she be able to cry in the right places? She was very much afraid that, with the eagle eye of the author upon her, she would not. In fear and trembling, she accompanied him to the theatre. ‘They sat in the royal box. “For the first half hour,” she says, “I was petrified. I couldn’t think. I simply sat there frozen, wondering what [ could substitute for a good cry.” Then suddenly she forgot herself. A tear dropped down her cheek. Soon it was followed by more tears. All was saved—and Noel Coward was happy. Miss Chatterton’s latest picture for First National, “Female,” is a story of a super-woman who guides a gigantic industry by day and plays the part of a huntress of men by night. She is as ruthless in her many love affairs as she is in her business dealings. The picture is a startling story dramatized for the screen by Gene Markey and Kathryn Scola. In the cast with Miss Chatterton are George Brent, Lois Wilson, Ruth Donnelly, Ferdinand Gottschalk and Johnny Mack Brown. William Dieterle directed. Ruth Chatterton, more lovely than ever in her new First National hit, “Female,” current Strand attraction. Mat No. 38, Price &e Ruth Donnelly Again Plays Secretary Role Ruth Donnelly has played the role of secretary on both stage and screen more often than she can remember. Her latest appearance in a secretarial part is in the Ruth Chatterton starring vehicle for First National, “Female,” now at the... . Theatre. She is engaged as Miss Chatterton’s secretary in place of one of the male secretaries, who has been one of his boss’s lovers, but couldn’t forget about the affair during business hours. She is the old maidish type of secretary, the kind that is gushingly sentimental and fond of Passion Flower perfume.