Going Places (Warner Bros.) (1938)

GOING PLACES with ADVANCE PUBLICITY Mat 203—30c A PAIR OF WINNERS—Dick Powell and Anita Louise win the big race—and each other—in "Going Places", delightful new musical comedy coming to the Strand Theatre. ‘Going Places’ Is Swing Time Novel Type of Musical Film Musical pictures have progressed a long way since the old backstage days when every song and dance number was presented on a theatre setting. Novelty in background, as well as in routine, is the order today. A new record in this respect is set by “Going Places,” the Warner Bros. picture featuring Dick Powell Mat 104—I15c ANITA LOUISE is the lovely blonde heartthrob who plays opposite Dick Powell in "Going Places", tuneful new comedy coming to the Strand Theatre on Friday. and Anita Louise, which opens at the Strand Theatre next Friday. Four new musical numbers by Harry Warren and Johnny Mercer are introduced in the film and not one of them is presented on a stage or night club setting. The four songs are “Say It With a Kiss,” “Mutiny in the Nursery,” “Oh What a Horse was Charley,” and “Jeepers Creepers.” The first is a romantic ballad, the second a jitterbug novelty, the third a slapstick comedy routine and the last the steeplechase race innovation. Which spells variety in any musical. language. Powell sings “Say It With a Kiss,” which might be called the romantic theme song of the production. A living room setting and the moonlit exterior of a Maryland plantation home are the backgrounds for his vocalizing and he sings to Miss Louise. A colored “jam session,” staged in the formal garden of the plantation home, is the occasion for “Mutiny in the Nursery.” Louis Armstrong, the ebony trumpeter and Maxine Sullivan, sepia songstress, share featured spots with Powell and Miss Louise in presenting this novelty. This number also features a group of swingsters from Central Avenue (the Harlem of Los Angeles). A hotel room is the setting for “Oh What a Horse Was Charley” and slapstick comedy antics prevail as Powell, Walter Catlett, Allen Jenkins and Harold Huber cut up capers in supposedly improvising a song about a horse named Charley. “Jeepers Creepers” is probably the only song composed for and sung to a horse. Jeepers Creepers is the name of the four-footed man-killer Powell is forced to ride in the steeplechase. The horse has one weakness, a fondness for the song his groom (Louis Armstrong) has composed for him. Armstrong quiets the animal by trumpeting “Jeepers Creepers” and Powell uses the same strategy with hilarious effect to save his neck in the big race. Ray Enright directed the production from the sereen play by Maurice Leo, Jerry Wald and Sig Herzig. There’s a Distinction In “Going Places,” the Warner Bros. picture coming to the Strand Theatre next Friday, Louis Armstrong has to play his trumpet to a wild, man-killing horse. After watching the animal rear and plunge, Armstrong delivered an ultimatum. “T doesn’t mind playing to him,” he said, “but I sho nuff ain’t going to play with him.” Ouch in His Oomph! Dick Powell was doing a steeplechase scene for ‘Going Places,’ the Warner Bros. picture coming to the Strand Theatre next Friday. “Good horse you’re riding,’’ commented Allen Jenkins. “Puts a lot of oomph into his jumps.” “It may be oomph to you,” re . plied Powell, “but it’s ouch to me.” Dick Powell Confesses He’s Still Arkansas Boy at Heart For all his screen star standing, his Beverly Hills home and _ his yacht, Dick Powell admits he’s still a country boy at heart. He likes te get up early in the morning. He loves to putter around the yard at home. He hates noise and traffic, can stand only an occasional taste of night clubs, and the red letter hour in his day is the one when he rushes home from the studio to be with Joan Blondell and their two children. Powell was born in Mt. View, Arkansas; nine miles from a railroad. He saw a street car for the first time when he was six years old. His ancestors for generations back were country people. No amount of city life, bright lights and stage and © screen glitter can erase the results of that early environment and heritage. Singing in a church choir in Little Rock really started Powell on the way to a career. He discovered he had a voice good for something beyond his own pleasure, started accepting invitations to sing at club gatherings, parties and theatres and before he quite realized what had happened was signed with a professional orchestra as soloist. The orchestra took him to Louisville, Kentucky; where Warner Bros. theatre scouts saw him, picked him as a winner, and took him to Pittsburgh. He remained in Pittsburgh three and a half years as master of ceremonies in Warner theatres, then was brought to Hollywood to star in Warner Bros. pictures. That was six years ago. During those years, Powell’s fame and salary have skyrocketed. His personality, his outlook on life, and his simple mode of living have not been changed at all, however. Except for the fact that he is now married, and most happily, to Miss Blondell, he’s the same chap he was when he first arrived in Hollywood. Personally, Powell doesn’t consider Mat 105—I15c DICK POWELL—handsome young singing star heads the cast of the swingy new comedy "Going Places,'' coming to the Strand Theatre on Friday. that remarkable. He can’t understand why in the name of common sense success in pictures should change anyone. The Powells usually spend their week-ends cruising on Dick’s 47-foot yacht. Norman Scott Powell, their four-year-old son, already is a veteran sailor, and since Dick has had a nursery fitted up on the boat, Baby Ellen, the new daughter, goes along on these cruises. Powell’s largest car is a Ford station wagon. One of his greatest pleasures is to load the family and a picnic supper into it and drive to the country for the sort of outing he used to enjoy when he was a kid in Arkansas. Trio of New Tunes In Strand Film “Going Places,’ the new Warner Bros. comedy which is scheduled to make its local debut at the Strand Theatre on Friday introduces a batch of new tunes that are already being heard over the airwaves. Penned by the inimitable team of song writers, Harry Warren and Johnny Mercer, the songs are “Say It With A Kiss,” “Mutiny In the Nursery” and “Jeepers Creepers.” Dick Powell, who stars in the picture, gets some able musical assistance from Louis (Satchelmouth) Armstrong and his trumpet, and Maxine Sullivan, dusky songstress who started the current craze for swinging old favorites with her “sweet swing” version of “Loch Lomond.” The big “jam session” scenes in the picture also features a group of colored swingsters from Los Angeles’ Central Avenue (the equivalent of Harlem in New York). Also deserving of musical mention is the horse “Jeepers Creepers” who will race only to the tune of his theme song. Even comedians Allen Jenkins, Walter Catlett and Harold Huber join in the general vocalizing with a novelty number. The comedy which centers about the famed Maryland Steeplechase also features Anita Louise, Ronald Reagan, Minna Gombel, Allen Jenkins, Harold Huber, Walter Catlett and Thurston Hall. Sig Herzig, Maurice Leo and Jerry Wald wrote the screen play, and Ray Enright who is one of MHollywood’s ace directors of comedy, directed. [6] Swing's the Thing In “Going Places” Hot trumpet and sweet swing effected a film merger. Louis Armstrong blew the hot trumpet. Maxine (Loch Lomond) Sullivan sang the sweet swing. Armstrong had a 20 piece orchestra to back up his trumpet. Miss Sullivan’s sweet swing was supported by a chorus of 85 voices. The merger was staged at the Warner Bros. Studio for a “jam session” sequence of “Going Places,” the Warner musical farce coming to the Strand Theatre next Friday. It was the first teaming of Armstrong and Miss Sullivan and the ace sepia entertainers were as tickled as children at a picnic over working together. The number they did is a novelty symposium by Harry Warren and Johnny Mercer called “Mutiny in the Nursery Room.” Armstrong and his torrid trumpet went to town with syncopated tune interpretations of childhood jingles. Miss Sullivan interpolated her own version of swing in soft melodying such nursery favorites as “Little BoPeep” and “Rockaby Baby.” Warner Bros. staged a talent raid on Central Avenue (the Harlem of Los Angeles) to supply Armstrong and Miss Sullivan with their supporting swingsters., Ace singers and musicians from the favorite colored night spots comprised the chorus and band. The jam session builds to a climax in which Dick Powell and Anita Louise participate, but in its early stages, its all colored.