Flirtation Walk (Warner Bros.) (1934)

Current News e Star Bits « Production Briefs As suggested by Film Daily’s poll of Editors Gigantic Musical Drama Comes To ... Theatre Today A pieture heralded as a thrilling revelation in musical spectacles comes to the .....00..00..... Theatre today with the First National production of “Flirtation Walk.” There is an all star cast headed by the inimitable songster, Dick Powell, charming Ruby Keeler playing the romantic lead opposite him, and Pat O’Brien in the role of a hard-boiled army sergeant. There are two great specialty numbers that are said to outdo anything ever presented before for originality and novelty. One is an authentic Hawaiian Love Feast with its traditional unique native dances performed by sixty Hawaiian beauties and as many men. Age old folk songs are RUBY KEELER Mat No, 2 10e sung to the rhythmie beat of gourd drums in a setting of a moon-lit cocoanut grove and a rippling lagoon. Dick also sings a Hawaiian number to the aecompaniment of Sol Hoopii’s famous native orchestra. The second big specialty is the presentation of West Point’s Hundredth Night Play by members of the cast in which there are more beautiful girls. In this number Powell sings three catchy original songs by the famous song team of Allie Wrubel and Mort Dixon. These include “Mr. and Mrs. Is the Name,” the title song, “Flirtation Walk” and “No Horse, No Wife, No Moustache.” The West Point graduation ceremonies, in which officers and cadets participate, the parade grounds, the lovers’ promenade, Flirtation Walk, with its Kissing Rock, all come in as a part of the plot. These scenes were all taken on the Academy grounds with the full cooperation of the U. S. military authorities. Col. Timothy J. Lonergan and Lieut. M. P. Echols were the technical advisers. The story is a romance of glorious youth and is filled with thrilling adventure and dramatic situations. The novel dance numbers were directed by Bobby Connolly, noted Broadway musical comedy producer. Others in the cast include Ross Alexander, Glen Boles, John Eldredge, Henry O’Neill, Guinn Williams and John Arledge. The picture is a Frank Borzage production, directed from the screen play by Delmer Daves and based on the original story by Daves and Lou Edelman. (Prepared Review) ‘Flirtation Walk’? Scores Big Triumph at Strand First Military Musical Proves Ideal Vehicle For 7 Keeler — Powell and O’Brien HERE were tears very close to the laughter that it evoked ; thrilling scenes and gorgeous spectacles; it had a plot that rivalled those of serious dramas, and never has a happier combination of youth, talent, music, suspense and beauty been brought to the screen than in this, First National’s masterpiece, ‘‘Flirtation Walk,’’ the first military musical ever filmed. The audience that filled the gies Ore oy EN ey ee Theatre at the local premiere of this greater and better musical last night, did not hesitate to show its appreciation, even though Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler and Pat O’Brien could not hear its applause. Keeler and Powell are perhaps the country’s most popular screen lovers. Their work in this picture will greatly increase that popularity. Both show real dramatic ability. Pat O’Brien, always a man’s actor, is better even than he was in “20 Million Sweethearts” or “Here Comes the Navy.” There are two spectacular dance numbers that will make their director, Bobby Connolly famous. One is the first screen reproduction of an Hawaiian luau, or“Feast. of Love,’ in which scores of native Hawaiian dancers and musicians participate. The other was filmed at West Point’s historic “Flirtation Walk” in which additional scores of the most beautiful girls in Hollywood are seen. Another enchanting West Point spectacle presents the traditional “Hundredth Night Play” of the Academy, and the June graduation ceremonies are worked into the plot as well as scenes on the parade grounds, the famous promenade, “Flirtation Walk,” from which the picture takes its title, and the Kissing Rock where no maiden dare deny her lover. These scenes were all taken at the Academy under the super vision of the War Department with many officers, their wives and daughters and West Point cadets appearing in the sequence. Powell sings three catchy songs in the West Point spectacle. They were written especially for the production by the famous team of songsters, Allie Wrubel and Mort Dixon. These include “Mr. Stars Of Strand Hit and Mrs. Is the Name,” probably the most tuneful of all, the title song, “Flirtation Walk,’ and “No Horse, No Wife, No Moustache.” In the Hawaiian sequence he also sings native Hawaiian songs and an original by Sol Hoopii. And never has Powell sung with more telling effect than in this picture. Es Ruby Keeler never was more sweet and winsome than as the general’s daughter in love with Private Dick, who later becomes a cadet, but whose romance is beset by many tempestuous storms. The simplicity and genuiness of her work gives her characterization a sincerity that few actresses could hope to equal. Pat O’Brien is excellent as the hard-boiled, scrapping top sergeant who disciplines his men with a rough hand and loves them with a warm Irish heart. Several younger players do commendable work, including Ross Alexander, Glen Boles, John Eldredge and John Arledge. Henry. O’Neill, Guinn Williams, Frederick Burton and Jolin Darrow, all talented actors, also“give exceptional performances. Frank Borzage, Hollywood’s ace director, who produced such pictures as “No Greater Glory,” “Little Man, What Now?” and others equally as fine, handled the production and has instilled it with such life and fire as to make it one of the finest pieces of artistry conceivable. Delmer Daves has done a fine piece of work in dramatizing for the screen an original story on which he collaborated with Lou Edelman. : “Flirtation Walk,’ altogether, is the last word in sereen entertainment, a picture that no one should miss. The three.who shoulder the dramatic burdens of “Flirtation Walk,” and shoulder them right well, are Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell and Pat O’Brien, pictured above. This Warner Bros. action-drama, with musical interludes, is coming to the ................ Theatre on .................. Mat No. 12—20c Dick’s Darling Isn’t Ruby Keeler just delicious? If you think so, wait ’till you see her in “‘Flirtation Walk,” at theme ee Theatre. Dick Powell is her singing sweetheart again. Mat No. 9—10¢ Hawaiian “Luau,” Native Love Feast, Brought to Screen After all the years that the Luau has eluded the cameras, Hollywood has caught up with it. Bobby Connolly, conscripted from the New York stage after a score of successes as a dance director, is responsible for the filming of the» Hawaiian traditional ceremonial dance. The Luau is a Hawaiian feast in honor of a native deity who is the goddess of love. In “Flirtation Walk,’ the First National production now showing at the Theatre, is an authentic reproduction of the feast of love, with Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler watching it from the hills above a beautiful lagoon. The rhythm of the dance is set by gourd drums and the “steps” are not steps at all, but a series of gestures, undulations and graceful postures. The strange routine of this ceremony has been handed down to a chosen few of each new generation for centuries. Only the natives seem able to master its intricate forms. Sixty dancers were imported by Connolly for this unusual spectacle. In some of its mass formations, Bobby used about forty trained specialty dancers who worked for him in Broadway musicals. In “Flirtation Walk,” the dance is given in a special set that required the entire space of the largest stage on the First National lot. Here a cocoanut grove was built, against a background of overhanging rocks that edge a beautiful lagoon. The lagoon was large enough to accommodate a fleet of Kanaka Toreh or fishing smacks. This kind of fishing is common only in the islands of the Pacific archipelagos. The fishermen, stripped to the waist, carry tanks on their backs and from these, curve the long torches, fed by the oil from the tanks. The flickering illumination is sufficient for the keen-eyed natives, who spear the fish. “Flirtation Walk” is a glowing romance with special music and lyries by Allie Wrubel and Mort Dixon with dance numbers, in which scores of beautiful girls take part. Frank RBorzage directed the picture from the screen play by Delmar Daves, based on the original story by Daves and Lou Edelman. Ruby Keeler, Star Of Film Musical, Is Expert Golfer Ruby Keeler, who has the leading feminine role in the First National production, “Flirtation Walk,” now showing at the ..... Theatre, is the most serious golfer among the feminine stars of the screen. During the four years preceding her screen debut in “42nd Street,’ Ruby became a devoted follower of the game, due largely to the influence of her husband, Al Jolson. Jolson isn’t a dub golfer by any means but he has steadfastly refused to make his handicap public. Ruby, on the other hand, has been knocking at the eighties for a long time and her skill with the clubs is well known in the film colony. During rest periods between pictures which Miss Keeler is allowed under her contract, she works strenuously at golf. There is a rumor that Ruby occasionally beats Al but, being a sensible wife, she has never been heard to brag about it. “Flirtation Walk” is a gigantic musical special with Dick Powell, Miss Keeler and Pat O’Brien heading an all star east. Musie and lyries were written for the production by Allie Wrubel and Mort Dixon with dance numbers directed by Bobby Connolly. Frank Borzage directed the pieture from the screen play by Delmer Daves, based on an original story by Daves and Lou Edelman. Keeler and Powell, Screen’s Popular Lovers, In New Hit The most popular co-starring team on the screen today, Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell, make their fifth appearance together in “Flirtation Walk,” the new First National musical romance, which comes to the ...... Stee Theatre ODS siekiea hoa appeared in “42nd Street,” “Gold Diggers of 1933,” “Footlight Parade” and “Dames.” Where their other successes have presented them against a theatrical background, “Flirtation Walk” shows them in an entirely new setting. Their romance begins in Hawaii, where Ruby, a General’s daughter, meets Dick, a young private in the army. Then the action switches to West Point, where Dick is trying to make himself an “officer and gentleman.” Frank Borzage, famed for “Seventh Heaven” and “Little Man, What Now?,” directed the new Keeler-Powell picture in which Pat O’Brien has a leading role as a tough army sergeant. There are several magnificent dance sequences, directed by Bobby Connolly and featuring hundreds of Hollywood’s most beautiful girls. The Hawaiian dance number introduces Sol Hoopi and his Orchestra, known to all lovers of the theatre. Others in the cast of “Flirtation Walk” are John Eldredge, Ross Alexander, Henry O’Neiil, Guinn Williams, John Arledge and Glen Boles. The music and lyrics are by the famous team of Allie Wrubel and Mort Dixon and the screen play by Delmar Daves, based on an original story by Daves and Lou Edelman. Page Five