Gold Dust Gertie (Warner Bros.) (1931)

HOW THEY WILL LOVE HER! Chic’s Clever Sister Is ‘ ° rT; 1a.” Lightner Aides In “Gold Dust Gertie oe ee Prove That One-Hundred -Per-Centing In Nonsense Pays Biggest Dividends (Current Reader) Virginia Sale, who plays a sup porting comedy role in “Gold Dust Gertie,” Warner Brothers Winnie Lightner-Olsen and Johnson Olsen and Johnson, Who First Included All Acts Of Vaudeville Show In Their Own Finale, Discover That Total Insanity Wins Laughs Where Partial Fails (Short Feature) Dividends from delirium—profits from poppycock—Olsen and Johnson, the comedians playing in “Gold Dust Gertie” with Winnie Lightner at the........ Theatre have made one hundred percent foolishness pay and pay big. Bit by bit all semblance of sense had been knocked out of their routine, their acts, their parts in pictures. They have systematically become sillier and more popular with the public and profitable to themselves all the time. Fifteen years ago when Harold Ogden (Chic) Johnson and John Sigvard (Ole) Olsen left college and started out in vaudeville, they had a semi-serious piano and singing act. Johnson played the piano Olsen sang. According to Ole they “weren’t so hot.” Gradually they sandwiched in more comedy with the songs and piano playing. The public liked that better and each succeeding act saw more foolishness and less music. When they decided they needed more people in their act to furnish comedy material they couldn’t afford to hire any additional talent, so they gave the property man in each theatre twenty-five cents each performance to play straight for them. As their popularity increased and their pay grew, the property men began to look forward to the Olsen and Johnson act knowing that they would expect five or ten dollars a day extra pay for standing in on their act. Then the property men unionized and that plan was no longer feasible. The comedy team, by that time becoming famous over various vaudeville circuits, began conscripting supporting talent from other acts that appeared on the bill with them. They organized what came to be known in vaudeville as the “end piece,” a hodge-podge of comedy following the other acts in which not only Olsen and Johnson took part but as many people from the other acts as were willing to help out. The end piece became tremendously popular and the idea was widely copied on all circuits. It had one weakness. It’s success depended entirely upon the cleverness of the people appearing on any given program and sometimes the Olsen and Johnson act was much funnier than other times. Following a season in New York with a show of their own, Olsen and Johnson organized their own permanent company and no longer depended upon outside assistance to complete their act at each performance. During the years in which these changes were taking place Olsen and Johnson had gradually eliminated all serious moments from their routine. “We depend upon speed and building,” explains Olsen. “Every time we succeeded in getting an audience into an hilarious mood and then tried a song we found that all impetus was lost, that we had to do all that hard work over again to build up the next gag. So we quit the serious moments and settled down to a steady diet of foolishness.” latest feature picture, now playing at the coe ae Theatre, is a sister of the Within recent months she has won herself a defi famous “Chic” Sale. nite place in the film colony as a comedienne of ability, appearing in “Viennese Nights,” “Moby Dick” and many other recent pictures. oe Wr i" WINNIE LIGHTNER Her pace is her fortune! She takes the dough from every man—Takes the breath from every wife—In her own “sweet” way! GOLD DUST GERTIE Faster than “Gold Diggers of Broadway”! Funnier than “Life of the Party”! Bigger and better than both combined! OLSEN and JOHNSON America’s Craziest Clowns Dorothy — Christy Claude Gillingwater Vivienne Oakland Virginia Sale Cut No. 2 Cut 60c, Mat 1Sc Tomboy Of The Talkies Here In Her Funniest ae (Advance Reader) Only Expert Swimmers In “Gold Dust Gertie” Profiting from this experience, Warner Brothers have never attempted to make Olsen and Johnson do anything sensible in pictures. Concentrated nonsense without a grain of reason is what they do (Current Reader) best, what the public likes and what they feature in “Gold Dust Gertie” in support of Winnie Lightner. Others in the cast of “Gold Dust Gertie” are Dorothy Christy, Claude Gillingwater, Arthur Hoyt, George Byron, Vivian Oakland, Charley Grapewin, Charles Judels and Virginia Sale. Roy Del Ruth directed. Winnie Lightner, whose latest starring vehicle “Gold Dust Gertie” the Warner. Bros. comedy, is coming to the........ Theatre. to. next, won her title “Tomboy of the Talkies” when she stole honors in “Gold Diggers of Broadway” almost two years ago. She lives up to her reputation. fe Fortunately for the comedy sequences in “Gold Dust Gertie,” Warner Brothers feature comedy starring Winnie Lightner and featuring Olsen and Johnson, none of the principals are afraid of water. If they had been this story could never have been filmed. It.is showing now at the........ Theatre. Director Always Takes Topspeed Slapstick Bits In His Pictures (Advance Reader) Lloyd Bacon, who directed “Gold Dust Gertie,” starring Winnie Lightner and featuring Olsen and Johnson, for Warner Brothers, always finds a bit part for himself in every picture. In “Gold Dust Gertie,” which comes to the........ Theatre ==. next he plays a minor role but is betting his best friends they will not recognize him. Mr. Bacon is the son of Frank Bacon, author and star of “Lightnin’” which broke all Broadway records when produced there. =». She’s In Great Shape For Another Whirl At Nonsense A WARNER BROS. & VITAPHONE PICTURE! Bathing Beauty Parade In “Gold Dust Gertie” (Current Reader) A bathing beauty parade, featuring the most advanced styles in beach costumes, is a feature in “Gold Dust Gertie,” the new Warner Brothers picture starring Winnie Lightner and featuring Olsen and Johnson. “Gold Dust Gertie,” now showing at the....... Theatre. Miss Lightner is at her funniest in this one. Drives Players Loco In Winnie's New Hit “Gold Dust Gertie” Starring Miss Lightner, With Olsen and Johnson Comes to The.......... (Advance Story) Warner Bros. were on the right way to satisfy public demand when they decided to star Winnie Lightner, queen of slapstick, with Olsen and Johnson as queen’s fools for the three can treat ’em rough and make ’em like it, as nobody else can. The uproarious trio will be seen in “Gold Dust Gertie”’........ at-thes) 3 = fHeatte 2 next. Winnie and the famous pair of comics, were put through paces that left them breathless. They were ducked and __half-drowned—they were given a fish bath—they were made to endure the uncomfortable presence of eels in their lingerie— they were swatted over the head with breakaway vases and given one of the most thrilling speedboat rides in the history of motion pictures. The three are certain they earned their money in “Gold Dust Gertie.” Winnie dubbed Director Lloyd Bacon her Simon Legree. Other well known comedians who assist in building this riot of comedy are Claude Gillingwater, Charles Judels, Dorothy Christy, Charley Grapewin, George Byron, Vivian Oakland, Virginia Sale, and Arthur Hoyt. Too Laugh Crammed For Laugh Timing, “Gold Dust Gertie” Winnie Lightner’s Latest Warner Bros. Comedy Comes................ Next to the 2.33.55 Theatre me _ (Advance Storv) _ The ditiiculty of tints vor laughs — in the making of a modern screen comedy is complicated by the cleverness of the comedians in the cast. As a consequence “Gold Dust Gertie,” Warner Brothers latest feature picture starring Winnie Lightner and featuring Olsen and Johnson, which comes to the.......... ‘Theatre. >... next, offered the sound recording departments altogether new problems because practically every member of the large cast is rated as a first class screen comic and is certain to share in the laughter which the picture provokes. High-speed action and fast lines were necessary to keep the tempo of the hilarious farce at full speed ahead. There is little time for waits to let the audience catch up it’s laughing, yet it is so timed that no lines are lost and no situation left vague because of the noise of appreciation that always. greets the antics of Winnie Lightner, Olsen and Johnson or any of the supporting players. Claude __Gillingwater, Dorothy Christy, Vivian Oakland, Virginia Sale, Arthur Hoyt, Charley Grapewin, George Byron, and Charles Judels are in the cast of “Gold Dust Gertie” and share in its tumultuous fun. Lloyd Bacon directed. Winnie Turns Public Disdain Into Ducats (Current Story) Winnie Lightner, who is starred in “Gold Dust Gertie,” the Warner Bros. comedy now at the.......... Theatre, first meant to be a devotee of the tragic muse, but got off on the wrong foot in her first public appearance on a_ Buffalo stage, and was laughed at in return for the sob song she offered. The laughter gave her a sure hunch, that her business was to make people laugh instead of cry. She started on this new track and was able to turn the smarting memory of that day when she got the cold shoulder, into plenty of good cold cash. Others who add moments of merriment to “Gold Dust Gertie” are the clowns de luxe, Olsen and Johnson—Charles Judels, Claude Gillingwater, Arthur Hoyt, George Byron, Charles Grapewin, Dorothy Christy, Vivian Oakland Virginia Sale. Lloyd Bacon directed. Page Seven