Garden of the Moon (Warner Bros.) (1938)

4 ‘GARDEN OF MOON’ INTRODUCES FIVE SWINGY NEW TUNES Five new songs, each of them regarded as a sure-fire hit, are introduced in “Garden of the Moon,” the new Warner Bros. musical which opens next Friday at the Strand Theatre with John Payne as its featured vocalist. Payne, the handsome, dark-haired youth with a caressing voice who stepped into the role originally intended for Dick Powell, shares the acting honors with Pat O’Brien and Margaret Lindsay. Probably destined for biggest success is a lilting melody sung by Payne which is entitled “Confidentially.” His other solo numbers, also infectious tunes with toetickling rhythms, are “Love is Where You Find It” and “Garden of the Moon.” The two other songs are of the novelty classification and are so Mat 101—15c¢ JOHN PAYNE — new and romantic singing “find” who makes his starring debut in “Garden of the Moon” coming to the Strand. cleverly presented that for many people they will undoubtedly be the most enjoyable features of the production. They are entitled “The Girl Friend of the Whirling Dervish” and “The Lady on the Two-Cent Stamp.” Payne also sings these numbers, but in each case his efforts are backed up by vocal and instrumental specialties by Joe Venuti, Jerry Colonna, Johnnie Davis and Ray Mayer, to say nothing of a large vocal chorus and the first-rate swing band that was assembled for this produetion. All five of the songs were written by a trio of songsmiths who, individually and collectively, have many other hits to their credit, namely, Harry Warren, who composed the tunes, and Al Dubin and Johnny Mercer, who collaborated on the lyrics. ‘Garden of the Moon’ Coming Friday “Garden of the Moon,” Warner Bros.’ newest musical, with Pat O’Brien, Margaret Lindsay and John Payne in the top roles, will have its local premiere Friday at the Strand Theatre. The picture is based on the recent Saturday Evening Post serial of the same name. The story deals with a hot and tricky feud between a hotel manager, played by O’Brien, and an impertinent young band leader, played by Payne, who in this piecture makes his debut as a singing, romantic star. Five swingy new tunes by Johnny Mercer, Harry Warren and Al Dubin are introduced, and another notable feature is the presentation of Jimmie Fidler, radio’s famous movie commentator, who plays himself. Joe Venuti’s swing band furnishes the captivating melody. ADVANCE PUBLICITY SEUSS ec It’s A Triangle In Swingtime (Left to right) Pat O’Brien, Margaret Lindsay, and John Payne carry the three-cornered romance of “Garden of the Moon,” a fast-moving comedy packed with hot tunes which will make its bow Friday at the Strand. Mat 206—30c¢ Mirth And Captivating Melody Fill ‘Garden Of The Moon’ Compounded of equal parts of comedy, romance and music—the best formula ever devised for thoroughly enjoyable screen entertainment — ‘‘Garden of the Moon,’’ the Warner Bros. production based on the Saturday Evening Post story of the same name, comes to the Strand Theatre. next Friday. aj Heading an impressive list of entertainers, whose joint efforts are guaranteed to make ‘‘Garden of the Moon’’ one of the most diverting films to come from Hollywood in many months are Pat O’Brien, Margaret Lindsay and John Payne. They are mentioned first, however, only because they are the most important figures in the story—and this is a musical with a real story. From the musical standpoint, the most important personages in the cast are Payne, Johnnie Davis, Joe Venuti, Jerry Colonna and Ray Mayer, and one of the best dance bands ever assembled to work in a motion picture. The comedy enlists the efforts of all those already mentioned, and, in addition, such reliable comedians as Melville Cooper, Isabel Jeans, Curt Bois, Mabel Todd and Penny Singleton, and then, as a matter of special interest, the film displays Jimmie Fidler, famous radio chatterer, playing hinself. In the face of all this impressive array of talent, however, it is believed more than likely that one name will take precedence above all the others after the picture has been viewed by the public, and ‘ that name is John Payne. The film marks the first real opportunity given that tall and handsome youth to display the full extent of his talents, and, as a result, he has emerged as a brilliant new star. Said to be especially attractive to the feminine portion of audiences, young Payne is a virile chap whose engaging manner and unforced style of acting cannot help finding favor with the males as well, and to top it all, he has one of the pleasantest voices that has been heard on the screen in lo! these many years. @ Motion Pictures Are Your Best Entertainment @ In adapting the original story by H. Bedford-Jones and Barton Browne to the screen, scenarists Jerry Wald and Richard Macaulay dropped out virtually everything which could not contribute materially to the comedy and they added several hilarious touches of their own. Insinuated gracefully into the story without any distortion of the plot structure are five swell song numbers written by Harry Warren, Al Dubin and Johnny Mereer, a trio with a multitude of past hits to their credit. Three of the songs, ‘‘ Confidentially,’’ ‘*Love is Where You Find It,’’? and ‘‘Garden of the Moon,’’ are ‘‘sweet’’ numbers, all of them, however, with a lilting, swingy rhythm, while the other two are novelty numbers entitled ‘‘The Girl Friend of the Whirling Dervish’’ and ‘‘ The Lady on the TwoCent Stamp.’’ The entire production, inecluding the effective presentation of the. song numbers, was directed by Busby Berkeley. America Gets A New Singing Boy Friend The cinema has finally accepted, perhaps unbeknownst to that very cinema, one of the First Families of Virginia. John Payne is the young man who can add F. F. V. to his name. Payne has had a varied prescreen career in spite of his Virginia heritage, which includes such shoots and branches of the family tree as John Howard Payne, who wrote ‘‘Home, Sweet Home,’’ and Tom Paine, early great American philosopher. The young man left his native Roanoke a few years ago and set out to make a name for himself without the intials F. F. V. He left behind him ag much of family tradition as he could. No talk of hunts and stirrup-cups crept into his conversation. He decided to be plain John Payne and thought incidentally, that he might be a writer. After he had gone to New York from Roanoke, where he had been attending Roanoke College, John entered the Pulitzer School of Journalism at Columbia University. His first sally into the world of commerce was in what is known as the ‘‘pulp industry’’ — he wrote for the ‘‘pulp’’ magazines. The magazines which kept Payne from having serious hunger pangs were Astounding Tales, Amazing Stories and Weird Stories. Later on John did a little professional wrestling to keep the body more or less together. Waiting on table, chauffering, scene painting and singing over the radio were other odds and ends of employment which helped him keep eating regularly. When all of his odd jobs petered out, he got a stage job. He took it because he had been able to find nothing else in the meantime. It was with the Roxbury (Mass.) Summer Stock Company. His first big Mat 102—15¢ break came when he got on as Reginald Gardiner’s understudy in ‘*At Home Abroad,’’ later playing on the same stage with Beatrice Lillie in the same show. Nine months with ‘‘At Home Abroad’’ finally brought him a screen offer from Sam Goldwyn. He came out to Hollywood and played a small part in ‘‘Dods worth.’’ He got another contract after that. Working for Major Pictures, he was farmed out to other studios. He made no great stir. Several months ago he got his release from his second Hollywood contract and stepped into his third, the current long term one with Warner Bros. ‘‘Garden of the Moon’’ marks his first picture for them. One of the things John Payne likes about his new job is the opportunity it gives him to sing. Although he carried on a nine months national broadcast from Hollywood with Betty Grable and others a while back, screen audiences will hear him sing for the first time in “*Garden of the Moon.’? John is married to Anne Shirley. They believe in keeping their careers separate and are both devotees of sun-bathing. Aside from the sun, John finds great relaxation in such sports as golf, tennis, badminton, and ping-pong. The Paynes live quietly, without display. They have a maid who is first and second floor chatelaine, butler, chef, gardener and occasional chauffeur. John still writes occasionally. Playing with airplane models is the kind of thing he does on rainy days. PAT O'BRIEN USES BELASCO’S TRICK IN GARDEN OF MOON’ The late David Belasco plays an important part in “Garden of the Moon,” the Warner Bros. film musical opening Friday at the Strand Theatre. A trick of the late great producer to get sympathy for his arguments when things were going oppositely was written into the scenario by Richard Macaulay and Jerry Wald. Belasco, the equal of his greatest star in acting ability, would habitually twirl a watch while engaged in argument. When things looked dark for his side, he would emphasize a point by pounding the desk, “forgetting” that the watch was in his hand. When it shattered and its pieces fell to the floor, the impresario would get on his knees, tears would come to his eyes as he Mat 103—15e PAT O’BRIEN — is at his hardboiled, wise-cracking best in “Garden of the Moon,” new musical comedy coming to the Strand. mourned the loss of the watch given him by his mother on his 21st birthday. “We were like brother and sister,” he would say. Then he would ask to be left alone because he felt so badly and didn’t care to talk business any further. The other arguer would be conscience-stricken, feeling that he had been responsible for the broken watch. Belasco would then, almost always, win his point. When the caller had gone, Belasco would reach into his desk drawer and pull out another watch of the dime store _ variety. He kept a drawer full for purposes of argument. Pat O’Brien, as John Quinn, manager of the “Garden of the Moon,” uses that Belasco technique in the film. Fidler Comes Back Jimmie Fidler, radio columnist who played a featured part in ‘“Garden of the Moon,’’ the Warner Bros. musical coming to the Strand, described that engagement as ‘‘a relapse.’’ Fidler was an actor once before. That was before he became a Hollywood press agent. Which was before he became a studio writer. Which was before he began writing a syndicated chatter column. And that, in turn, was before Jimmie went on the air to ‘‘bell’’ movies. He Does Mean You Margaret Lindsay, kidding Jimmie Fidler when Director Busby Berkeley gave the columnist-commentator-actor some directions in a scene of ‘‘Garden of the Moon,’’ remarked, ‘‘And he does mean you!’’ The Warner Bros. musical in which Jimmie plays an important role opens Friday at the Strand Theatre.