Go Into Your Dance (Warner Bros.) (1935)

© Feature Huge World Built For Unique Dance Ensemble Created For Specialty Number In Latest Musical, ‘Go Into Your Dance’ By BOB HUSSEY with assurance to Johnny Hughes for advice. \ NYONE looking for new worlds to conquer can turn He creates worlds and countries while you wait and he ean handle continents and oceans with no more trouble than it takes to breathe. Hughes is an art director at First National Studios and to him fell the task of designing four large sets of varied locales in the center of which was a mammoth replica of the universe inter-cut with an artistic stairway crossing the globe in four directions. It was constructed in its entirety within the confines of one sound stage for the filming of one of the Bobby Connolly dance ensembles in the First National picture, “Go Into Your Dance,” which: ;comes to the.......¢.52.. Theatre on...... PSUR nested: » with Al Jolson and Ruby Keeler in the stellar roles. With the Warren and Dubin song, “A Latin From Manhattan,” as the tune about which the number was to be created, Connolly and Hughes worked out an idea to express a most amusing thought. It was decided that the evolution of the tango would be revealed, showing it starting on the pampas of the Argentine and moving on to Spain, then to smart Park Avenue and finally to a cheap dime-a-dance ballroom where the tango became a dance quite unrecognizable from any of its predecessors. The huge world erected in the eenter of these sets is used in showing the spread of the dance as dancers moved from one setting to another over seas, con tinents and through the elouds by way of the North Pole. This sounds involved, but think of the difficulties that come up in building the sets. The way Hughes went about solving the problem makes it appear almost simple. One end of the sound stage was used for the Argentine and Spanish settings. The Argentine set had pampas grass, shrubs and architecture of that land. Low archways and grated windows, sparkling fountain and awning covered porch. The Spanish setting, lighter in color and feeling, had rose entwined arbors, gaudy bullfight posters, dried fruits beneath window-sills and other touches distinctive to the land of the senoritas. The other end of the stage was occupied by the Park Avenue and the dime-a-dance sets. They, too, joined each other, with the dividing line as pronounced as though it held apart two separate worlds. : The Park Avenue set was magnificent. There was a gleaming dance floor in the center and on the sides were terraces with modernistic tables and _ chairs. Beautifully gowned women and Old-Fashioned Cocktails—Old Fashion Gals Looking for something new in the way of a spicy cocktail? Here’s a recipe that simply can’t miss pleasing the most fastidious taste. The ingredients? Simple:—one part of a new blend—Al Jolson and Ruby Keeler, co-starred for the first time; a shot of icy Glenda Farrell to give it real pep; a dash of bubbling Patsy Kelly and a bit of Helen Morgan. Know the name of this exciting mixture? Of course, you do. It’s “Go Into Your Dance,” the Warner Bros. musical special, being served all week at the __ Mat No, 19—30c Theatre. tS well groomed men were enjoying themselves with attentive waiters in attendance. In the distance were the flickering lights of New York. The highly original architecture of this setting was_ effectively brightened by the use of cellophane, more than fifteen hundred square yards going into its construction. The dime-a-dance ballroom which adjoined, too, was especially well done. In all of these settings everything had to be in accord. The costumes in each had to be ap propriate, the orchestras, the music. The globe, built in the center of the four sets, was eighteen feet from top to bottom and sixty feet in circumference. A jagged stairway led up to the top from four sides and a smooth platform represented the North Pole territory. Fog effects rose from, the floor surrounding it to give the impression of clouds and high in the background, on all sides, were the various planets which go to constitute the Celestial system. “Go Into Your Dance” is First National’s latest mammoth musical based on the story by Bradford Ropes. Besides Jolson and Miss Keeler, the cast includes Glenda Farrell, Helen Morgan, Barton MacLane and Gordon Westcott and Benny Rubin. Seven Song Hits By Warren-Dubin In New Musical Nearly all screen musicals have one song which is outstanding, but when more than one scores a hit in the same production, it’s more than likely that Harry Warren and Al Dubin are the song writers. In the First National picture, “Go Into Your Dance,’ which Comesy-fo%x, the: Is7 eee Theatre OM aha cores Ne , with Al Jolson and Ruby Keeler heading the allstar cast, there are seven song hits. The two big Bobby Connolly dance ensembles in the picture eenter around “A Latin from Manhattan” and “About A Quarter to Nine,” both of which are sung by Ruby and Al. Then there’s heart rending torch song, “The Little Things You Used To Do,” sung by Helen Morgan in her plaintive way. Al Jolson, acknowledged the greatest “mammy song” singer of all times, introduces a new style mammy song by the title of “Mammy, I’ll Sing About You.” There’s nothing old fashioned, really, about the song, “Have An Old Fashioned Cocktail With An Old Fashioned Girl,” the way Keeler sings and dances to it. “Casino de Paree” is the title song of the New York night club that Jolson owns in the film and he sings the song with a new found verve, just as he does “Go Into Your Dance,’ the theme song. The screen play is by Earl Baldwin, based on a story by Bradford Ropes. Others in the east include Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane and Phil Regan. Page Twenty-four So Al Jolson seems to be saying. It’s a great day for Mrs. Jolson’s little boy. You see, Ruby Keeler is appearing with him in a picture for the first time and the picture is Warner Bros.’ latest musical hit, “Go Into Your Dance.” It’s on view all this week at the Se Petes Theatre. Meet the Missus! Mat No. 2—20c Ruby Keeler and Jolson Smash Film Traditions Each Tries To Give Other Best Breaks In ‘Go Into Your Dance’ By BOB HUSSEY Jolson and his pretty wife, Ruby Keeler, started to Hy vison ena tradition was smashed to bits when Al work on their first picture together. It is commonly supposed that stars always enter into rivalry during the filming of a picture, each hoping to have more scenes and more close-ups than the other. Just the reverse held true in the case of Ruby and Al in the First National picture, ‘‘Go Into Your Dance,’’ now SHOWINGS: a bs bern ee here ee Theatre, in which they co-star at the head of an all-star cast. Both husband and wife went to the greatest lengths possible to see that the other was “given the breaks” and Director Archie L. Mayo, as a result, had his hands full in trying to satisfy the two stars. “Ruby should have this closeup,” Al would suggest. “Oh, no!” Ruby would chime in. “I think Al should have this close-up.” “In all my days directing pictures,’ explained Mayo to a visitor, “I’ve never encountered players who are ag anxious as these two in seeing that the other gets the breaks. They don’t apply that idea just to each other, either. “For that matter, both Ruby and Al are always keen on haying some lesser player get a chance in a scene. One particular trying day was drawing to a close when Al sneaked over to Director Mayo the minute that Ruby’s back was turned. “Can’t you finish this sequence tomorrow?” asked Al. “I know Ruby’s terribly tired—but don’t tell her I spoke to you about this.” Mayo promised to finish as quickly as possible. Then, a few moments later, enjoyed a chuckle when Ruby came to speak to him while Al was beyond earshot. “Why don’t you start taking those shot of me now, Archie, so Al can be excused and_ start home? I don’t mind staying here for a while longer, really I don’t, but I wish you’d let Al go home now. He looks awfully tired to me.” “Go Into Your Dance” is: a mammoth musical with specialty numbers staged by Bobby Connolly in which scores of beautiful girls take part. Musie and lyries are by Warren and Dubin. The cast includes, beside Jolson and Miss Keeler, Glenda Farrell, Helen Morgan, Barton MacLane, Sharon Lynne, Patsy Kelly, Benny Rubin, Phil Regan and Gordon Westcott. The screen play is by Earl Baldwin.