Gold Diggers in Paris (Warner Bros.) (1938)

Mat 201—30c THE GIMME GIRLS WILL GET HUGH — in fact, it looks like they've got him! Hugh Herbert is the dippy diplomat and these are just a few of his girl friends in "Gold Diggers In Paris,"' coming to the Strand. (8) (Advance) MABEL TODD GETS LOIS OF LAUGHS BUT NO SYMPATHY Mabel Todd is far from being the dumb creature she seems destined to play in motion pictures — a fate, incidentally, that she made even more inescapable with her performance in a typical “‘Dumb Dora” role in ‘“‘Gold Diggers in Paris,”’ the new Warner Bros. musical featuring Rudy Vallee. As a matter of fact, Mabel has so caustic a wit and is so quick on the draw that few people who Mat 105—I5¢ MABEL TODD know her well will dare exchange repartee with her. Nevertheless something unusual — and funny — is always happening to Mabel, and so firmly established is the tradition of Mabel as a funny girl that even when some of these unusual happenings result in injury to her, she gets more laughs than sympathy. She couldn't even get into pictures in a routine manner. Born in Los Angeles in 1916, she attended school in Glendale and then went to the University of Southern California until she decided to become an actress. She didn’t try to get into pictures, because that never occurred to her. Instead she went to Chicago, where she became the “Sunshine Girl’’ with Al Pierce’s gang on the radio. After winning considerable fame, she collected her scripts and turned them into a vaudeville act which was a hit at the Oriental Theatre there. A Warner Bros. scout saw her. : ‘‘Want to go into pictures? he asked. **‘Whereabouts?”’ asked Mabel. “Why in Hollywood, of course,” he said. “It might be a good idea,’ said Mabel after some reflection, “‘you see I live there.” [a wtsnnnettiDts av (Advance) Rudy Vallee Is Columbus Of America’s Air Waves Meet Rudy Vallee, Columbus of the air lanes. Dave Rubinoff, Bob Burns, Frances Langford, Alice Faye, Burns and Allen, Kate Smith, Edgar Bergen — all stars and top-liners in their own right now — and many others equally prominent date the beginning of their success on the radio and screen to the willingness of Vallee to take a chance. He listened to them on small local programs or gave them auditions, and then he put them on his famous Vallee hour, introducing them to audiences numbered by the millions, and one and all they clicked in a big way. The amazing thing to show business, where virtually everyone who helps anyone expects payment in heavy percentages, is that Vallee has never asked nor accepted a cent from any of the hundreds he has helped. His most recent discovery is Fred Fisher's Schnickelfritz Band, which he found playing in a St. Paul night club and introduced to North America on his own program. As a result, the unusual novelty band of small town boys skyrocketed to almost immediate fame and fortune. Their phonograph records became best sellers and instead of getting a trifle more than their dinners for their musical efforts, all began to acquire sizeable bankrolls. When Vallee came to Holly wood recently, he wired ahead to Warner Bros. suggesting that the Schnickelfritzes be signed to a screen contract. His suggestion not only was accepted with thanks, but the band was placed in his new starring picture, “Gold Diggers in Paris,” which comes to the Strand Theatre next Friday. Vallee, being a modest young man, disclaims any altruistic motives in his constant search for new talent for radio. “It’s simply good business,” he says. “‘The more good performers there are on the air, the more people listen. Those of us who can hit the ball benefit accordingly. So, in reality, in helping others I help myself, too.” Others whom Vallee has introduced to his air audiences, include such well known names as Ruth Etting, Walter O'Keefe, Phil Baker, Ken Murray, Bert Lahr, Beatrice Lillie, Fred and Adele Astaire, Bob Hope, Joe Penner and Gertrude Niesen, and he has suggested scores of others, who were on _ sustaining programs, to big advertisers as likely persons to pep up their radio shows. “I’m confident the Schnickelfritz Band will score a hit in their first screen appearance,” he says. *‘They not only are excellent musicians, but they have a definite personality about their work that I'm sure will project on the screen and make them popular favorites. It’s a pleasure to give a boost to an outfit like that. I know they'll make good.” New Kind of Curtain “Requisition — Warner Bros. Studio. “One cap for Rudy Vallee, naval officer style. Dimensions— 32 feet wide by 1I1 feet high.” “Golly,” exclaimed the studio hatter, “that seems a little large. The last time I measured Vallee he wore a 67%.” A little investigation, however, revealed the fact that dimensions of the cap were exactly what Mr. Vallee required. The out-size chapeau was to be used for a dance sequence in “‘Gold Diggers in Paris.” Its purpose? Well, naturally Mr. Vallee did not wear it. It was a reproduction on a grand scale of a cap he did wear in the finale number of the picture, and it brought that big number to a close by slowly descending from above the heads of the entire company and covering them all. eindranne (SCS ‘Woo Woo’ Trademark Hugh Herbert called up his bank one day from the set where he was working in “Gold Diggers in Paris,”’ the Warner Bros. musical coming to the Strand. He wanted to know the balance of his checking account. “But, Mr. Herbert,” expostulated the bank teller, ““‘we can't give out your balance over the telephone. How would you like for some one else to call up and give your name and find out how much cash you have?” “That's right,"” agreed Hugh, *‘l wouldn't want that, and | sup pose no one can identify himself over the ‘phone. Well goodbye and — Wu Wu!” “*Mr. Herbert,” said the teller, “‘you are overdrawn.” ERO OOMEN: tM NaF EOS 97° > SR REMPECS SOT | HOW RHYTHM IS BORN — Busby Berkeley, ace dance director, puts his famous chorines through rigorous training. You'll see the results in "Gold Diggers In Paris," new musical comedy coming to the Strand on Friday. Mat 204—30c (Advance) THOSE TWINKLING TOES REPRESENT BIG. INVESTMENTS Beautiful legs are among the most attractive sights to be seen on any motion picture screen and therefore the Warner Bros. studio does not begrudge the expense entailed in enlivening a picture such as “Gold Diggers in . Paris,"” which comes to the Strand Theatre next Friday, with beautiful legs performing graceful dance routines. Still, they are an expensive addition to any film. If a dancer is engaged for the duration of a long production such as ‘Gold Diggers," the studio pays the cost of what might be termed maintenance and repairs on her legs — in other words, all bills for medical or surgical treatment or chiropody. On the sets, a first-aid man and a nurse are always on duty. Every dancer provides her own rehearsal clothes, including shoes and socks. But when production starts, the studio provides dancing shoes and stockings. The shoes cost $7.50 per pair and more than one pair may be worn out during the course of the production. When stockings are worn, they are usually full length opera hose and cost $5 per pair. If the dancer has to wear tights, she is provided with them at a cost of $35 or $40 per pair. Many Masseurs The cost of training dancers’ legs and teaching them specific routines is a considerable item. Dance directors such as Busby Berkeley command a high salary and they may devote weeks to the perfection of a single routine. They have, of necessity, a corps of assistants, piano players, masseurs, etc., all of which adds to the total balance against the drawing power of the pair of twinkling toes you see in the picture. Now that the legs have been perfected, trained and maintained in their pristine beauty, there comes the cost of the costumes to set them off. The average cost of the costumes for the “Gold Digger Girls’’ ran from a few cents for the couple of yards of cloth each girl wore in the “| Wanna Go Back to Bali’ number to $200 each for the cos tumes worn in the finale. The Sultan Approves ! When the members of the Sul tan of Muscat and Oman notified the executives of the Warner Bros. studios that His Royal Highness would be pleased to pay the studio a visit of inspection, the project immediately received approval but there was a lot of conjecture as to what the Sultan would be pleased to look at. When the visit took place, one matter which was definitely established was that the Sultan liked to look at beautiful girls. His Royal Highness was led to the set where Busby Berkeley was directing a dance routine for “Gold Diggers in Paris,"’ coming to the Strand Theatre. His comment was that their complexions were a little pale and they were a bit under-weight by Muscat and Oman standards, but they had a nice sense of rhythm. The Sultan, who presides over a British Protectorate on the Persian Gulf, must be something of an authority on such matters, for he has five wives and six concubines in his harem.