Gambling Lady (Warner Bros.) (1934)

And a pretty picture, too. Barbara Stanwyck and Pat O’Brien do a bit of headline hunting in Warners’ “Gambling Lady,” coming to the Strand Theatre on Thursday. Mat No. 4—20c. Miss Stanwyck Blossoms Out in 29 Stunning Gowns Extra Number of Creations Required for Role of Gambling Lady and Society Queen She’s been forced right off the map by her more Pp the poor movie clothes horse! talented sisters, who have succeeded in proving that they ean wear clothes as well as they can act. Barbara Stanwyck, whose brilliant dramatic per formanees have been applauded by critics and public alike, now takes her place as one of the silver secreen’s best gowned women. In her latest Warner Bros. starring vehicle, ‘‘Gambling Lady,’’ OM an es es ,» She wears twenty-nine creations designed by Orry-Kelly, studio designer. Not only in number and novelty are these styles arresting, but the easy distinction with which Miss Stanwyck models them is_ expected to create a decidedly favorable impression among her countless feminine followers. Elaborate Formal Clothes It is significant that OrryKelly divided the group into two classes. The first, a series of elaborate formal clothes made of rich fabries, trimmed with luxurious furs, and intended for wear on the most gala occasions. The second group is made up of daytime suits and dresses ranging from the severely tailored type to the more feminine styles preferred by many women. Deep strawberry pink bagheera is made into a dinner gown suited to the gayest of parties. Even the use of chinchilla on the tine cape which covers the decolletage, and on the skirt, does not detract from the cheery feeling that comes even from a glimpse of the dress. White beaded chiffon in a seroll design interrupted with diagonal rows of bugle beads, forms another stunning evening gown, cut low at the neckline and showing a detachable cape banded with sable. The wrap, which accompanies the gown, is a short nap white velvet cut in Oriental fashion. Creates New Styles Pale blue satin forms a dress negligee, trimmed on the fanshaped train with bands and bands of soft pink maribou which also adorns the intricate neckline. Particularly graceful when in motion, this creation would delight the heart of any woman who requires formal intimate clothes. One of the most striking of now playing at the fri 3-8 A ee ee ees Theatre the daytime designs is a twopiece suit, the black skirt of sheer wool being topped with a black and white shepherd cheek jacket, nipped in at the waist and sporting patch pockets. Another suit adapted to practical uses is a cadet blue wide wale cloth that shows an unusual wrap-around skirt fastening in back and topped with a knee length coat, slightly bloused and buttoned with gold colored frogs. The chauffeur’s collar reveals a gay blue and white striped scarf. Royal blue triple georgette with gold threads running in a horizontal stripe is made into a two-piece frock effectively flattering. The skirt has kick pleats at the front, back and sides, and is topped with a belted hip length blouse with a wide stitched ecollar slashed at its outer edge, sunburst fashion. The Spanish bolero is presented in a new way. A black velvet skirt -is attached to a blue, gold and black striped velvet bodice, over which a tight sleeved bolero tries valiantly to reach the waistline. Striking Wedding Gown One of the most striking costumes, and next to the wedding gown, Miss Stanwyck’s favorite, is a black crepe five o’clock gown of the two-piece variety. The floor length skirt is in moulded lines, while the brief jacket shows a slashed front fastening that reveals a silver cloth vestee. The full length sleeves are garnished with rows and rows of silver military braid applied herringbone fashion and reaching from the neckline to the wrist. Brilliant jewel clips are used at the neck and waist as fastenings. Off white panne velvet is transformed into a stunning wedding gown. A slight cowl is clipped with brilliants at the neckline, Barbara Stanwyck, Injured, Gamely Finishes Picture Star of “Gambling Lady” Slept Strapped to Board Every Night to Aid Recovery of Hip her latest Warner Bros. picture, ‘‘Gambling Lady,’’ ( AMELY determined to carry through studio plans for now showing at the... Lee ere a) Theatre, Barbara Stanwyck took heroic measures and endured almost constant torment during the production. Her close friends were frankly worried about her condition and her constant insistence that she would finish work on the picture as scheduled. Her damaged hip, hurt in two accidents which occurred almost exactly a year apart, brought about her collapse on a Boston theatre stage shortly before she started the picture. Since then she underwent strenuous treatment hoping to effect a permanent cure. Every night Barbara slept strapped to a specially designed board which relieved all pressure on the injured hip bones. For four hours each day she was baked under healing lights and X-rays. The remaining hours she spent uncomplainingly in studio conferences, being fitted for clothes for the picture and in actual production work. Gambling with Life “Gambling Lady” they eall it. Those who know Barbara best know that she was really gambling—gambling with her health and perhaps with her beauty, true to the tradition that even a picture show must go on. Not many knew that Miss Stanwyck’s injuries might, if neglected, result in permanent lameness—might even cause one leg to become shorter than the other. It was to prevent any such result that, at the instruction of her doctors, she took to sleeping on the board and to spending the long hours under the special lamps. ’ Little or no hint of her condition and the suffering she endures because of these strenuous measures, reached other members of the cast at the time. Her smiling answer to every inquiry as to her health was always the same. “em aileaehts lm: fine:? Her best friends in the Warner Bros. studios are the women who fit her screen clothes and the girls who dress her hair and they knew the symptoms of pain on her face even though a casual acquaintance might think its calm beauty undisturbed. They heard her catch her breath as an accidental turn or move wrenched the inflamed muscles and injured bones. They knew and quietly they let others know that Barbara Stanwyck was going through a little hell of her own in her effort to maintain her reputation for letting nothing interfere with a picture’s course. Series of Accidents The accidents which caused the original damage to Miss Stanwyck’s hip did not take place at the Warner studios to which she is now under contract. The first was a double injury. A falling object struck the star on the head and knocked her temporarily unconscious. A workman, carrying her to the first aid station, fell with her in his arms, and she landed with her hip across a metal piece on the floor. Just a year later she was thrown from a horse during the filming of a seene, landing on the same hip and almost duplicating the damage. The possibility of a bone splinter being loose in the fleshy part of the hip has been discussed but X-rays have failed to reveal it. Never since that time has Miss Stanwyck been altogether well nor continually comfortable. She has learned to spare the injured hip in her outside activities but she seldom mentioned the fact that certain positions assumed at director’s suggestions for camera purposes were actual torture for her. Fighting for Health She is a peculiar young woman and will faint before she will complain. Now, however, Miss Stanwyck has become convinced that strenuous methods are necessary to insure her future health and her ability to continue in pictures. The sleeping board and the special lights installed in her house are the result of this realization. And true to form, Barbara finished the picture on _ schedule. The picture is the story of a girl who gambles not only with ecards at the fashionable night clubs, but with life and happiness.': It is based on the dramatic story’ by Doris Malloy, which was adapted to the screen by Miss Malloy and Ralph Block. There is a strong supporting cast which includes Joel McCrea, Pat O’Brien, Claire Dodd, OC. Aubrey Smith and Phillip Reed. Lessons in Gambling Given To Prepare Star for Role Barbara Stanwyck Groomed for Gambling Lady by Noted West Coast Card Manipulator ROFESSIONAL gamblers — in real life — are apt to P have many interesting adventures, but the job re cently handed Dan Sheedy, a noted card manipulator of the West Coast, sets a new record. Dan — no relation to the late famous ‘‘Pat’’ Sheedy of New York — was turned into a tutor of the intricacies of the slippery pasteboards and galloping ivories, and given just three weeks to make a real ‘‘professional’’ out of Barbara Stanwyck. Dan took the bet and won, and the skill now demonstrated by the famous star of “Gambling Lady,” which opens at the...... ‘Ne abr em Ollie oe.’ La aan would insure the success of any college in which he might hold the chair of “riffliing,’ shuffling and the sundry niceties of the “profession.” and a eireular flounce on the skirt dissolves into a twelve foot train. The tulle wedding veil is cut in two panels and dotted with a myriad of ermine tails, which form a coronet around the tiny tulle cap that holds the veil in place. A muff of the velvet is also trimmed with a cluster of the ermine tails. In “Gambling Lady,” Miss Stanwyck uses more than the usual number of gowns needing many both in her role of gambler in swanky night clubs and later when she weds a wealthy society man. The picture is based on a thrilling drama by Doris Malloy which was adapted for the screen by Ralph Block and Miss Malloy. The supporting cast includes a number of noted players, among them Joel McCrea, Pat O’Brien, Claire Dodd, C. Aubrey Smith, and Phillip Reed. When Miss Stanwyck was selected to head the east of the famous Warner Bros. feature film, she knew nothing of gambling, and had never even played ecards. To depict, convincingly, the part of a professional gambler she had to have an intimate knowledge of roulette, faro, craps, twenty-one, and, most particularly, poker. She had to shuffle cards, and shuffle them like a real expert. This brought about the employment of Sheedy, and it brought about many other things as well —particularly visits of Director Archie Mayo to strange places which crusading “reform” officials are never able to find. The scenes of Monte Carlo presented no difficulties. Every big studio has a Monte Carlo casino set in its scene loft. But getting inside of a notorious combination gambling house, restaurant and speakeasy was not so easy, particularly when it meant taking pictures that someone might use for purposes of identification later. So the director visited some of the more noted institutions of chance, and obtained a list of Joel McCrea Handsome player in “Gambling Lady,” Warners’ dramatic film now at the Strand Theatre. ° Mat No..7—10c. manufacturers of gaming devices, as well as mind pictures of exactly how the scene is laid to most easily separate the gullible from their money. A “fashionable Park Avenue establishment” was constructed on three studio stages. Roulette tables, craps tables, draw poker tables, chuck-a-luck cages, twenty-one tables were purchased. A restaurant and bar, the replica of the famous New York establishment, was erected and for one afternoon the Warner’ Bros. studios housed a strange collection of croupiers, bartenders, dealers, and the like amidst which Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Pat O’Brien, C. Aubrey Smith and others played their several scenes. “Gambling Lady” does not glorify the gambler, or gambling. Page Seven