Fifty Million Frenchmen (Warner Bros.) (1931)

~~ preathtaking in action. Get Out The Old Pep! Let’s See Some Real Showmanship! You’re Selling A HIT! “FIFTY MILLION FRENCHMEN,” BROADWAY SUCCESS, GREETED WITH MUCH ENTHUSIASM HERE (Prepared Review Featuring the Cast) Continuous applause greeted ‘‘Fifty Million Frenchmen,’’ the Warner Bros. comedy romance at the opening performance last night at the “Witty Million Frenchmen’ Theatre. ’ is a brilliant, natural color gereen version of the play which captured Broadway last season. Many of the same people that appeared on the stage are seen in the picturization. William Gaxton again portrays the role of Jack Forbes, the young American millionaire who wages with his two friends, Cummings and Baxter, that within two weeks he can woo and wed the pretty girl he has merely glimpsed but never met, and all without a cent in his pocket. Helen Broderick again plays Violet, the strong-minded American tourist who throws so many monkey wrenches in the machinery. Lester Crawford, who plays Baxter, was also in the play. Cummings, the originator of the wager, himself mildly desirous of the pursued lady, is deftly played by John Halliday. The lady all the fuss is about is bewitchingly played by beautiful Claudia Dell. Nat Carr and Vera Gordon make much of their clever Jewish dialect as tourists in Paris. Carmelita Geraghty is good as an excitable mamselle, and Charles Judels is his Frenchiest as M. Pernasse. But the bagful of monkeys is that outlandish team of clowns, Olsen and Johnson, who enact the pussyfooting sleuths that pursue everybody, catch nobody, but cause tremendous laughter in the doing of it. Lloyd Bacon, responsible for so many Warner Bros. successes, directed this hurricane of entertainment which hasn’t a slow moment from beginning to end. The scenes in Paris are panoramic—whether it is the famous} Ritz bar—the bo ilevards—the races with skidding: is and __.wu pvdestrians—all is gay and “Fifty Million Frenchmen” is the sort of picture which delights young and old. It is a duty you owe yourself and your friends to see it during the local engagement. Fifty million Frenchmen can’t be wrong! rf Pep —and plenty of it! Million Laughs FIFTY | MILLION f FRENCHMEN with OLSEN & JOHNSON Wm. Gaxton Claudia Dell and John Halliday A WARNER BROS. & VITAPHONE TECHNICOLOR HIT Cut No. 18 Cut 20c Mat 5c STEAM ROOMS NOT ALL IN TURKISH BATHS IN PARIS “Fifty Million Frenchmen,” Warner Bros. Comedy at Sec ee ee Theatre Reproduces Famous Parisian Rendezvous. (Advance Story) When “steam room” is mentioned it brings to the average mind a picture of a Turkish Bath with sheeted figures wiping dripping brows in a dense fog. But to a Parisian, the Begins Saturday Join The Jolly Whirl! See what makes fifty million Frenchmen get that way! Begins Saturday ORPHEUM MILLION FRENCHMEN with OLSEN & JOHNSON the maniacs of mirth WILLIAM GAXTON steam room spells something entirely different—the ladies’ bar! Jed Kiley, prominent figure in Paris night life, owner of Cafe Boulevardier, and more recently technical director on Warner Bros. production “Fifty Million Frenchmen,” now showing at the ............ Theatre, coined the phrase. He called the ladies’ bar a steam room because at the cocktail hour in Paris, it is so hot and bothered with cigarette smoke that it resembles a steam room. The name stuck and from then on the women’s salon of the bar was the “steam room.” An exact duplicate of the Ritz bar in Paris with its aeecompanving steam room was built on the Warner Bros. lot for the making of this rollicking farce adapted from the stage play of the same name. William Gaxton, Lester Crawford and Helen Broderick who appeared in the New York stage production are also appearing in the picture, together with such other notables as Olsen and Johnson, John Halliday, Claudia Dell, Charles Judels, Nat Carr, Vera Gordon and others. This screen play with Paris as its background is just one laugh after another with those two experts of monkey business, Olsen and Johnson leading the big parade. FEMININITY AND FUN IN SPEEDY FRENCH COMEDY (Advance Story) Celebrated comedians and comediennes of both stage and screen make up the all-star cast of “Fifty Million Frenchmen,” the Warner Bros. and Vitaphone Technicolor comedy special which opens at the Theatre The distinguished group of comedians is headed by Olsen and Johnson, mirthful maniacs of “Monkey Business.” Well-known as footlight laugh-makers, this comedy combination made their film bow in “Qh, Sailor Behave!” William Gaxton, John Halliday, Charles Judels, Lester Crawford and Nat Carr contribute to the comedy of the picture. Gaxton has the leading romantic comedy role. the part he created in the original stage version. Helen Broderick, Claudia Dell, Daisy Belmore and Vera Gordon have important feminine roles in this comedy hit of Americans in Gay Paree. Miss Broderick, prominent Broadway comedienne, has the same characterization she originated on the New York stage. “Fifty Million Frenchmen” is adapted for the screen by Joseph Jackson with special dialogue by Al Boasberg and Eddie Welch. Lloyd Bacon directed. star of the Broadway stage hit CLAUDIA DELL and JOHN HALLIDAY IC) Peppiest, Funniest, Frenchiest of com edies. The kind of fun American tour WARNER f BROS. & ists see — never VITAPHONE talk about — and TECHNICOLOR never, never forget! PRODUCTION ; SRN NO AAR SEE EL LEB, oR a ae Cut No. 15 Cut 60c Mat rsc Who’s Who Between |Funniest Play of Year Olsen and Johnson|®o™m2nce of Gay Paree Helen Broderick Repeats Broadway Stage Success (Advance Story) Helen Broderick, the Philadelphia girl who has been so successful on the stage, scores again in “Fifty Million Frenchmen,” the Warner Bros. and Vitaphone production in Techni (Current Story) “Fifty Million Frenchmen,” the Warner Bros. and Vitaphone production in Technicolor, which comes to the Theatre next, beside being a gay romance of youth and love is one of the most uproarious pictures of the year. Olsen and Johnson, known as the nuttiest nuts of nutland are in evidence as sleuths, and the cast ineludes William Gaxton, Helen BroOthers in the cast of this swiftest of derick, Claudia Dell, Lester Craw-|French comedies are William Gaxton, ford, John Halliday, Vera Gordon, | Claudia Dell, Lester Crawford, John Nat Carr and hundreds of support| Halliday, Olsen and Johnson, the celing players. “Fifty Million French| ebrated clowns, Nat Carr, Vera Gormen” is filmed entirely in Techni-|don and hundreds of supporting Lloyd Bacon directed. players. Lloyd Bacon directed. Marked Resemblance of Clowns in “Fifty Million Frenchmen at Theatre, Mystifies Studio Visitors. (Current Story) “Which one of you mugs is Johnson?” The widely known remark which has been used by Olsen and Johnson, celebrated stage and screen comedians, in their footlight shows for many years has followed them into real life. Visitors to Warner Bros. studio when the nuts of nonsense were making “Fifty Million Frenchmen,” the} color. Vitaphone Technicolor comedy special now playing at the Theatre with an all-star cast, constantly asked to have the boys identified. The question was put in many different ways. Some said, “Which one is Johnson?” Others queried, “Which one is Olsen?” Still others asked, “Which is which?” or “Who’s Who?” But invariably there was someone in each group who would come forth with: “Which one of you mugs is Johnson?” a pointed question which never failed to get a laugh out of the boys. For those who are as yet in the dark as to the individual identity of the comedy pair who made their first sereen hit in “Oh, Sailor, Behave!” the lads are easily distinguished, once you know how. Olsen is the taller. He has black hair and is more familiarly known as Ole. Johnson, who is known as Chick and is the one with the hysterical laugh, has medium blonde hair and is about a head shorter than Olsen. The cast of “Fifty Million Frenchmen,” which is adapted from the Broadway comedy hit of the same name, includes William Gaxton, John See oe pene ae ee Claudia Dell and William Gaxton lend some charming romance to that NST aed tad age ord, Charles Judels,| comedy riot of the season, “Fifty. Million Frenchmen.” Olsen and Nat Carr, Vera Gordon, Carmelita| Johnson, Helen Broderick, John Halliday and Nat Carr are some of the Geraghty and others. other notables of the cast. color which comes to the Theatre the part of a strong-minded tourist. next. She plays oo een merece r eres In Comedy-Romance of Gay Paree Cut No. 23 Cut 30c Mat roc Page Five