God's Country and the Woman (Warner Bros.) (1937)

GOD’S COUNTRY ann tHe WOMAN PUB £& a2 ft it Ft Carnival Freaks Chase Brent Up Ferris Wheel But Leading Player In “God’s Country And The Woman” Had To Sign Autographs The next time George Brent visits a small town carnival it will be in disguise. The Warner Bros. star was all but torn limb from limb by a mob of autograph seekers, headed by sideshow freaks when his identity was discovered at a Longview, Wash., outdoor affair he attended while on location for ‘‘God’s Country and the Woman,” the picture now showing at the ................ Theatre. It was a small show, with the usual array of games of chance, merry-go-round, sideshows and a ferris wheel, and seeking entertainment, the actor sallied forth with a friend to take in the sights. “T got .a big kick out ‘of it,” he recounted later, “until someone bellowed out my name and made a dive for an autograph book. Then the panic was on.” Brent had just finished looking over the exhibition of “man eating serpents” when he was unmasked to the crowd. “It was some display,” he said. “In a big jar of alcohol was a huge rattlesnake, which appeared to have been. dead for many years. However, the lecturer explained to the crowd that it had been killed just the previous week when it went on a rampage in Portland. “His alleged boa-constrictor looked as if it might have gone through the Chicago fire. It was in a box, under an old blanket, and the barker thrust his hand quickly inside, grabbed the badly singed remains of the serpent by the neck and waggled it quickly around, before again hastily covering it. “Looks as if you got it at a fire sale, I suggested. The man had a ready explanation, however, saying that two weeks before when the carnival was in San Francisco, it had turned cold and he attempted to warm up the snake. The box caught fire, and the reptile was slightly singed. ‘It’s all right, though,’ he assured me, but made no offer to let anyone inspect it closely. “It was about this time that the fat lady, on the adjoining platform, suddenly let out a screech and waddled down off her perch toward me. ‘You’re George Brent, the movie actor, ain’t you?’ she inquired in a voice that shook the tent. I turned and fled, pursued by the fat lady, the living skeleton, the tattoed beach-comber and the wild man from Borneo. The crowd, of course, chased the freaks.” Brent according to witnesses, fled outside and leaped into a earriage on the ferris wheel, tossed the operator a five dollar bill and asked him to put him on top and leave him there. The crowd outwaited him, however, and he finally had to come down and satisfy the autograph hounds. “The carnival management invited me to come back the next night, and even offered me a free ticket,” said Brent, “but I decided to pass up the golden opportunity.” “God’s Country and the Woman” is-a thrilling drama of the north woods based on the novel by James Oliver Curwood and photographed in Technicolor. George Brent and Beverly Roberts are featured. Others in the east are, Barton MacLane, Robert Barrat, Alan Hale, Joseph King, El Brendel, Joseph Crehan, Addison Richards, and Roscoe Ates. Three hundred lumberjacks also appear. The picture was directed by William Keighley from the screen play by Norman Reilly Raine. Brendel, He Bane One Busy Swede El Brendel, Swedish dialect comedian who has the part of a lumberjack in ‘‘God’s Country and the Woman,’’ the Warner Bros. production in Technicolor coming $0 thes.1 eae Theatre on ERR AC , is one of the busiest men in Hollywood. In addition to comedy leads in feature pictures, he stars in shorts, is on the radio and is in demand for personal appearances all over the country. Riot Of Primitive Passion George Brent (left) and Barton MacLane (right) stage the screen’s most thrilling melee in ‘‘God’s Country and the Woman,’’ the Warner Bros. Technicolor filmization of James Oliver Curwood’s great novel which opens at the oe eee ee PRCGLECE ONE Se ee. ches tee Mat No. 201—20c George Brent Has A Tough Time In North Woods Film Undergoes Many Hardships Making ‘God’s Country And The Woman” If there’s anything to the old bromide about being educated in the school of hard knocks, George Brent should be graduated from ‘‘God’s Country and the Woman,’’ the Warner Bros. all-Technicolor production now being shown at the BACs eee Theatre, with more degrees than a thermometer. For Brent, as the playboy who is suddenly thrust into the midst of a bitter feud between two hard-boiled lumber camps and has to become a he-man overnight in order to survive, has to ‘‘take it’? in a big way. It’s not entirely buffets of Fate he must weather, either, as the script puts him right in the middle of the following little incidents: He is knocked out when a husky lumberjack kisses his chin with an oversized fist. He is plunged into the icy waters of a mountain lake and has to swim ashore when his amphibian plane runs out of gas. He is beaten almost to a pulp by rival lumberjacks. He is knocked for a loop when a ‘‘bulldozer’’ hits a big log on which he is sitting. He falls six feet to the ground when a platform breaks. He is knocked out with a club in a free-for-all battle staged in the bunkhouse. He beats up an engineer and fireman and steals their engine, later crashing it through a barrieade on the track. He gives Frenchy, the villain, a good licking in a knock-down-dragout battle. And he is blown into a mountain stream when a charge of dynamite breaks a log jam and he has to swim for his life to keep from being crushed to death by the tumbling timber. Friends of the popular star will be happy to know that after this light exercise, Brent’s troubles are virtually over in the picture, he wins the girl and lives happily ever after. ‘<Tt’s the toughest role, physically, I’ve ever tackled,’’ says Brent, ‘‘and if I hadn’t spent a month beforehand getting toughened up by taking daily workouts with Mushy Callahan, former welterweight champion, daisies would be decorating the spot where I fell after the first clunk on the chin.’? ‘¢God’s Country and the Woman’’ is a thrilling drama of the North Woods, based on the novel by James Oliver Curwood. Others in the cast include Beverly Roberts, Barton MacLane, Robert Barrat, Alan Hale, Joseph King, El Brendel, Joseph Crehan, Addison Richards and Roscoe Ates. The picture was directed by William Keighley from the screen play by Norman Reilly Raine from the story by Peter Milne and Charles Belden. Dynamiting Of Log Jams Shown In Woods Picture Spectacular Logging Drive Also Seen In “God’s Country And The Woman” The log drive — one of the most exciting features of the lumber business, has been put out of business by the courts. Not so many years ago, before the introduction of railroads and modern machinery into the big tree country, rivers and creeks were the only means loggers had of getting their timber to market. The operation was simplicity itself. A good stand of timber was chosen close to a stream, the trees were felled and cut into proper lengths. When the snow melted from the mountain peaks and the spring rains drove the rivers over their banks, the logs were rolled into the water, and herded down stream by a crew of expert river men. But as more settlers established homes along the rivers, the log drive gained rapidly in unpopularity. Huge logs, weighing tons, swirling in the swift boiling waters of mountain streams, raised havoc as they tore their way down toward tidewater. Great hunks of valuable farmland were torn away by the drives, and ranchers, especially in the States of Washington and Oregon began to protest. Lumbermen, resenting this influx of settlers and_ rebelling against any restraint in a land of which they had been absolute monarchs, often invaded the ranchers’ houses and tied them hand and foot to prevent any interference with the loggers. With the settlement of the country, and the organization of ranchers into powerful community and political groups, this situation changed, and courts were forced to issue injunctions stopping the lumber barons’ depredations. This proved a great benefit to them, however, as they were forced to devise better methods of getting out the logs, and this increased production tremendously and boosted their profits. A spectacular river drive of logs, is one of the features of ‘¢God’s Country and the Woman,’’ the Warner Bros. Technicolor picture now showing at the ............ sae Theatre. Incidentally, this is the only phase of lumbering that is not entirely accurate in every detail as it is carried on today in the Northwest. But for dramatic purposes, this license was taken. Special permission had to be obtained from Washington State authorities to stage the log drive in the Toutle River, in virgin timber country thirty miles from Longview, Wash., where the ‘¢God’s Country and the Woman’’ company was on location for two months. An isolated spot, where there are no ranches for many miles, was selected, and cables were stretched to prevent the logs from actually floating into settled districts and damaging farms along the river banks. Special permit also was necessary to dynamite a log jam on the river, an important development in the story plot and it was timed ahead of the salmon run in the Toutle River to avoid killing any of the great fish which annually swim up to the headwaters of the stream where they were born to deposit their eggs. ‘¢God’s Country and the Woman’’ is.a stirring drama of the North Woods based on the novel by James Oliver Curwood. George Brent and Beverly Roberts are featured and the cast includes Robert Barrat, Alan Hale, Joseph King, El Brendel, Joseph Crehan and Roscoe Ates. William Keighley directed the picture from the screen play by Norman Reilly Raine. Cry Of “Timber!” Warns Of Crash Of Giant Trees The first thing a man learns when he decides to go into the big timber country and become lumberjack, is to keep his ears wide open for the eerie, half-chant, half shout: ‘‘Qoo0000000-00! Timberrrr When he hears it he takes a quick look, ducks, and runs as fast as his legs will carry him, because it means a great tree has been cut through and is falling. And when a tree, two hundred or more feet tall and ten to twenty feet in diameter crashes, it’s best to be as far away as one can get. Scores of men, annually, lose their lives in the woods of the Northwest by being caught by one of these widowmakers, as they are called. A lumberjack is as _ jittery when he hears the ery as an old soldier when a superior officer suddenly shouts, ‘‘’Tenshun!’’ back of him, and is apt to start running no matter where he is, or what he’s doing when it sounds. yr? A member of the Warner Bros. company, on location at a logging camp near Longview, Wash., discovered this his first night at the place while ‘‘God’s Country and the Woman,’’ which comes to the Be Soe TM @AtNOs, ONL =o -aés..ssacsseary was being filmed. Having been in the woods before, he explained the call to a newcomer, and then proceeded to demonstrate what he meant a few minutes after lights were out in the bunkhouses and most of the lumberjacks were asleep. He laid back his ears, opened his throat and cut loose: ““Qooo000000-00! Timberrrr!’’ There was an instant reaction from the silent bunkhouses, and a series of thumps as sleeping loggers, reacting subconsciously to the traditional warning, leaped from their cots in wild alarm. The camp was in an uproar for several minutes and a watchman came pounding along the boardwalk, looking for the prankster. Emboldened by the success of his effort to stir up some excitement, the Hollywoodite eut loose again about ten minutes later. But this time, the watchman was waiting just outside his cabin and grabbed him before he had completed his yell. He received a dressing down from the camp boss and studio officials that he’ll probably never forget. He didn’t attempt to be funny afterward. ‘<God’s Country and the Woman’’ is a thrilling romance of the lumber camps based on the novel by James Oliver Curwood, and photographed in Technicolor. George Brent and Beverly Roberts are co-featured and the cast includes Barton MacLane, Robert Barrat, Alan Hale, El Brendel and Joseph King. It was directed by William Keighley from the screen play by Norman Reilly Raine, adapted from a story by Peter Milne and Charles Belden. Page Fifteen