Four's A Crowd (Warner Bros.) (1938)

(Women’s Page) 1939 Fashions Previewed In New Comedy For Fashion art see fourcolumn layout on Page 19 in the Exploitation section. For “Four’s A Crowd,” the Warner Bros. comedy costarring Olivia de Havilland and Rosalind Russell with Errol Flynn, which opens Friday at the Strand Theatre, Orry-Kelly, the noted Warner Bros. designer turned out ensembles that have a crisp air of 1939 to them. In a street costume for Olivia, Orry-Kelly revives the tremendous vogue for mess jackets he started when he made one for Ginger Rogers to wear in “FortySecond Street.” The new short version of the jacket is in navy wool with lapels piped in olive green wool. The sleeveless dress is made of the green material while all accessories, including a saucer-brimmed straw hat, are navy. Olivia’s dinner dress with short sleeves has a square-shouldered bodice of wool challis which shows tiny red and white figures, picked up with sequins against a black background. For clever contrast in materials the floorlength voluminous skirt and wide crushed girdle are black taffeta. Orry-Kelly favors costume jewelry with street clothes and has designed a gold necklace in which chains form a lacy pattern for Rosalind Russell to wear with a green and rust striped rodier wool suit. This suit is made with a brief bolero which has very full sleeves gathered at the wrist and a blouse of rust crepe. Another soul-satisfying street costume in Rosalind’s screen fashions is based on a tubularskirted soft wool dress, the skirt of which is green and the shirtmaker top of which is beige. Over this goes a sleeveless sweater hand-knitted from a yarn as hard as twine and in the same natural shade. The topping swing jacket is green and black tweed in a herringbone weave. WANTS TO BE COWBOY Pat Knowles, the English actor, is trying to convince Warner Bros. Studios that he could do a series of Western pictures. Knowles, whose latest picture is ‘“Pour’s A Crowd,’’ the Warner Bros. comedy at the Strand Theatre, with Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, and Rosalind Russell in the other leading roles, confesses that he has always wanted to be an American cowboy and one of his first acquisitions after moving into his new San Fernando Valley ranch home will be a ten-gallon hat, a pair of chaps and a cow pony. LIKES ‘MELODRAMMER’ Walter Connolly, who appears in ‘*Four’s A Crowd,’’ the Warner Bros. comedy now showing at the Strand Theatre, as Olivia de Havilland’s irascible grandpappy, owns a unique collection of old melodramas, and his collection includes hundreds of the period from 1850 to 1900, when American playgoers were being treated to the most lurid of ‘‘ Villainy-Doesn’t-Pay’’ sentimental melodramas. MEET G. B. DISTEMPER Michael Curtiz, who doesn’t always remember the names of his players, said one day on the set of ‘“Four’s A Crowd,’’ the Warner Bros. comedy now showing at the Strand, ‘‘Put Distemper over there in the other corner.’’ ‘‘ Distemper’’ was simply Curtiz’s name for ‘*G.B.,’’ wire-haired Irish terrier used in the picture. The director had forgotten ‘‘G.B.’s’’ name and ‘*Distemper’’ seemed appropriate to him as a name for a dog. Mat 302—45c FOUR'S A CROWD and this crowd's a panic when they switch mates at the altar and set off on a double honeymoon. (Left to right) Rosalind Russell, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland and Patric Knowles, who play the crowd in "Four's A Crowd" the swiftly-paced and streamlined comedy hit which is currently packing them in at the Strand Theatre. PATRIC KNOWLES, who had to take a sock on the chin from Olivia de Havilland in ‘‘Four’s A Crowd,’’ said that the first two or three times didn’t hurt but on the twentieth take it shook him to the heels. ‘‘ You know,’’ he said, ‘feven the constant dripping of water will wear away a stone.’’ c) OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND’S lunch is no dainty little salad. She always orders a heavy order of roast beef, or similar meat dish, with plenty of potatoes and other vegetables, to be topped off with a rich dessert, and never worries about putting on poundage. Olivia’s latest picture is ‘‘Four’s A Crowd,’’ the Warner Bros. comedy. & ERROL FLYNN, the he-man and adventure merchant, can’t take his tea straight—he fixes it up with orange blossom honey and cream, much to the surprise of fellow ‘“Four’s A Crowd’’ players to whom he served the concoction. es MELVILLE COOPER got a gold sock and buskin to wear on his watch chain as a gift from his wife on the occasion of his 25th anniversary as an actor. He was working at the time in ‘‘Four’s A Crowd.’’ How A 3-Way Phone Conversation Is Filmed Errol Flynn was at his office desk in upper Manhattan. Rosalind Russell was downtown in a Park Row newspaper office. Olivia de Havilland was lying on her bed in her luxurious Long Island home. And they weren't thirty feet apart. It was all an invention of Director Michael Curtiz for a three-way telephone scene in "Four's A Crowd," the comedy now showing at the Strand. If you follow the picture numbers you'll see ow it was done. (1) Director Michael Curtiz directs. (2) Flynn at his desk. (3) Miss Russell at her desk. (4) Olivia makes herself comfy. Cameras A, B, and C photograph their respective subjects, while three separate sound tracks pick up the hilarious conversation, in which Flynn, a. phone in each hand, makes simultaneous dates with his two beauteous fiancees. Mat 205—30c Interesting Spot MICHAEL CURTIZ committed another assault on the English language one day on the set of ‘‘Four’s A Crowd,’’ he noticed that a laborer was sitting on a much-needed reflector. ‘‘Blankblank,’’ shouted Mike, ‘‘get yourself off that sunshine.’’ Of Interest To Women Olivia de Havilland, advances the theory that in order to get the best effects from cosmetics, they should be kept at their proper temperatures. For example, lipstick goes on more smoothly when it has been warmed slightly. Creams and astringents are much more effective and refreshing if kept in a cool place. Just try it and find out for yourself. Note to gadabouts from Rosalind Russell: To eut your packing problem in half make up a box of beauty preparations in sample-size containers and keep it in your week-end bag. Saves wear, tear and waste of your regular cosmetics, and also insures you against spending a glamorless week-end because you forgot to pack your indispensable powder base. ROSALIND RUSSELL’S answer to smart cracks of ‘‘why?’’ when she mentions the title of her novel “¢And So I Came To Hollywood’’ is ‘‘To get material for a book.’’ Rosalind was working on the final pages of her manuscript while she was playing in ‘‘Four’s A Crowd,’’ the Warner Bros. comedy. e When Michael Curtiz wanted to stimulate his cast to better ‘“‘takes’’ during the filming of ‘¢Four’s A Crowd,’’ the Warner Bros. comedy coming to the Strand Theatre Friday, he would say, ‘“Remember today is Wednesday.’’ Wednesday is payday at the Warner studio. When somebody would muff a line, he would say, ‘‘ You’re working like Tuesday.’’ e The highest compliment Michael Curtiz can think to pay an actor is to say, ‘‘He’s a nice bum.’’ The director of ‘‘Four’s A Crowd,’’ divides actors into two classes — nice bums’ and lousy bums according to ability. e ROSALIND RUSSELL gave her stand-in, Mildred Crawford, a complete new Spring outfit. to celebrate Miss Crawford’s first year with the star. Their latest picture together is ‘‘Four’s A Crowd.’’ (Current) Mister Flynn Prefers — — ‘¢Miss Otis regrets.’’ A president did ‘‘not choose to vig ba eld An actor who ‘‘prefers to be fishing’’ writes a new national quote. Errol Flyn»n, having completed ‘<Four’s A Crowd,’’ now playing at the Strand Theatre, went away to spend a well-earned vacation on his new yacht, the Sirocco, sailing aimlessly about the Caribbean. One day Flynn anchored at Havana and the Warner Bros. branch manager there immediately planned a program of interviews and entertainment for the actor and his wife, Lili Damita. Dutifully enough Flynn agreed to the necessary interviews, according to a letter received by the Warner Bros. foreign office, but the invitation to be shown the city—which naturally involved several banquets, after dinner speeches, long motor trips and sight-seeing tours—was courteously declined. The Havana manager explained this. He was not provoked, he intimated. He merely reported facts. ‘¢Mr. Flynn prefers to be fishing,’’ he wrote the home office. TRAINS AND DANES BAR SET VISITORS The ‘*No Visitors’’ sign had to be hung on the door of Stage 22 at Warner Bros. Studio by executive order in-an effort to put studio business back on a regular routine during the days when scenes for ‘‘Four’s A Crowd,’’ the Warner Bros. comedy now at the Strand, were being shot there. The notables in the cast — Errol Flynn, Rosalind Russell, Olivia de Havilland, Patric Knowles and Walter Connolly — were not the. stellar attractions. It was toy trains, ten of them, which were set up on the stage and which ran like real trains, and eighteen Great Danes, which also could run. The only difference between the trains and the Danes was that the trains ran on tracks instead of all over. The miniature railroad system, which was complete to signal towers and stop-look-listen signs, was a working reproduction of the real thing. It attracted dozens of writers, players, technicians and office help to the set, most of whom stood by in almost childish awe to watch the trains run. Then, when they finished with the trains they turned to the Danes. The visitors not only helped confusion to reign on Stage 22, but they also neglected their regular jobs, as a result of which the ‘*No Visitors’’ sign went up. PERFUME SETS MOOD Michael Curtiz, director of ‘*Four’s A Crowd,’’ the Warner Bros. comedy playing at the Strand Theatre, ordered Olivia de Havilland and Rosalind Russell to wear perfume—the more seductive, the better—in romantic sequences of the picture. Errol Flynn and Patrice Knowles were the subjects of what Curtiz hoped would be aromatic hypnosis. The director is a strong believer in perfumes as ‘‘mood setters.’’ He believes they can inspire romance more effectively even than soft, sentimental music. WHAT A PROBLEM! Olivia de Havilland reported that she had delusions of grandeur as a result of her first role as an heiress, which was in ‘‘Four’s A Crowd,’’ the Warner Bros. comedy now showing at the Strand Theatre. In the story Olivia is supposed to be heiress to $8,000,000. She said she couldn’t figure out what she would do with all that money if she really had it to spend.