Gold Dust Gertie (Warner Bros.) (1931)

~FANFOLLOWING. PLAY THEMBIG! Olsen-and Johnson, World’s Most Rabid Stunt-Pullers, Count The Day Lost That Leaves Them Unjailed Celebrated Clowns Appear Now At................ Theatre In “Gold Dust Gertie’ In Support Of The | Tomboy Of Talkiedom, Winnie Lightner (Biographical Feature) Olsen and Johnson, the famous comedians now appearing at mae Theatre in support of Winnie Lightner in “Gold Dust Gertie,” the Warner Bros. comedy, would walk a mile for a camel—if they were permitted to ride the animal down Main Street as a gag. They would go further than that for any other kind of a strange creature which offered a chance for a stunt. They recently went to Des Moines, Iowa, for a dwarf horse. Once they went out to sea after sharks, and got them. Johnson almost lost a leg in the process but the result was worth it. They got a “swell lot of publicity” out of that stunt and have the clippings to prove it. son don’t think in terms of dollars and cents or of lines and cues but gags and stunts and the other things seem to just naturally take care of themselves. POLICE RIOTS “Here’s an idea,” says Ole Olsen, or “I thought maybe we could—” suggests Chic Johnson when they meet in the morning and right there they proceed to work it out. Sometimes it stops traffic, sometimes they are arrested for disturbing the peace sometimes police appear with straight jackets in answer to riot calls, all depending upon where they meet, but invariably they work it out. Olsen has funnier ideas—Johnson has the funnier face—so its a tie, en remembers ; er but always has another line— often funnier, up his sleeve. In their act, Olsen pretends to be smart—Johnson pretends to. be dumb. Smart or dumb they divide the money and manage to get on. These “Siamese Twins” of | silliness—masters of monkey business —barons of buffoonery and kings of comedyy~as they are variously de“Signated in their own advance no i were busy with a slap stick ee in Warner Bros. “Gold Dust Gertie” starring Winnie Lightner, now at the........ Theatre, when interviewed. Johnson was about to be hit over the head with a breakaway vase 1n the hands of Dorothy Christy—and how he hated it! Johnson it 1s who takes all the punishment in the Olsen and Johnson act, the falls, the kicks, the swats over the head with crockery and furniture, but he has never grown used to it. “His hair’s getting thin there where the vases hit,” suggested Olsen. “I can hardly wait for Chick to get bald. I’ve got a swell gag with a toupee!” Anything for a gag. Olsen and Johnson have been in jails and asylums all over the world as a result of their stunts. DRIVE INTO RIVER “In Minneapolis we were arrested for trying to throw our balky Ford off a bridge into the river. We were arrested but they couldn’t decide what offense we had committed. It was our Ford!” says Olsen. “We put a hundred three hundred pound cakes of ice on the streets of St. Louis last summer with a sign on each, ‘Keep Cool with Olsen and Johnson.’ They hauled us into court for that and the judge, who had seen our show, criticized the police department for arresting us and said he thought we were doing great work in trying to amuse people in hard times,” says Johnson. “And in Seattle’—both Olsen and Johnson began together—In Seattle the boys had a great time because they crossed talents with a practical joker who had seldom been bested. The fun began when the local clown called the comedians after their first performance, told them he was a critic on one of the Seattle papers, and that their show was the worst he had ever reviewed. RABBITS AS GAGS The next day the man and a party of friends appeared in force in a box in the theatre and proceeded to read newspapers all during the Olsen and Johnson act. The night before Johnson had been rabbit hunting, with considerable success. Each time Olsen made an entrance For Olsen and John" lines—J ohnson | ¢: INDIANA sips and sips, but never slips! She’s a gold getting girlie who knows her prospects! WINNIE GOLD DUST GERTIE w ith OLSEN 6 JOHNSON Dorothy Christy Claude Gillingwater A Warner Bros. & Vitaphone Hit Cut No. 4 Cut 20c, Mat Sc during the act he tossed a dead rabbit into the box where the newspaper readers were sitting. As a climax Johnson tossed a bucket of water into the same box, while the audience howled with delight. That night Olsen and Johnson hired painters to redecorate the front of the man’s jewelry store with bright green paint. Then they advertised for men with beards and bicycles to apply for work as Santa Clause delivery boys at that store the next afternoon. The result was even better than anticipated. “It was just before Christmas,” Olsen grinned in memory of the oc | ing the street signs. 4 “We milked cows in front of a Chicago theatre, for the milk fund ‘benefit. In Australia we were taken Kangaroo hunting. d casion. “I never knew so many bearded men owned bicycles. <A crowd began to collect in front of the store and the bicycles and beards kept coming. ; “That night the man came to our dressing room and got down on his knees. Then he drew out a little white flag from his pocket and waved it. He wanted to call it quits. We left that night and the next morning he found a big sign over his store which read ‘Under new management, Olsen and Johnson’,” “We are fairly safe from practical jokers now in Seattle,” added Olsen. MULE IN PARADE “We entered the Kansas City prosperity parade with a bony mule and an old cart,” Olsen recalled. “The parade marshall was much upset but the public seemed to enjoy it.” We ended up in jail again but didnt’ stay long. It cost us ten dollars but everybody knew Olsen and Johnson were in town.” “We used to send a monkey in a cage as a gift to the mayor or chief of police in a city where we were opening,” added Johnson, “It always got a break in the papers. The mayor wasn’t always pleased and never knew just what to do with the present, but it was grand fun.” “Let’s do that scene again,” interrupted Lloyd Bacon, director for “Gold Dust Gertie.” Johnson’s face grew long. He rubbed the thin spot on the back of his head. “All my life’s been like this,” he complained as he walked away. STUNTS PAY BIG Olsen and Johnson have been together in foolishness for fourteen years. They have never done the same act twice. They don’t always know when they start a performance, just what change they will make but they are agreed that it shall be made. The making of pictures has tied them to a more or less certain routine while one scene is being filmed and refilmed but even so they manage a new twist in almost every take. The result is that any director is apt to be a little jumpy after completing an Olsen.and Johnson picture. For fourteen years their flare for stunts has paid big dividends. They take to a new gag suggestion with an enthusiasm that often leaves the suggester breathless. “They gave us a press party in St. Paul,” Olsen remembered while Johnson prepared for a new crack over the head. “We rented a horse drawn hearse. Chick drove and I rode in a casket. We got lost. So we rode through street after street of bright lights with me sitting up in the casket inside the hearse read We caught a baby Kangaroo and had it for a pet for a time on the streets of Brisbane. “We advertised in Seattle once that we would drop twenty pound turkeys from an airplane. The humane society and the city fathers all got hot on the trail. Of course we knew we couldn’t get away with it, but it made a story.” The dwarf horse which Olsen and Johnson have recently featured in Hollywood, was found in Des Moines, Iowa. It is a freak, not a Shetland but a dwarf. They had the animal in Chicago and appeared with it in various theatres, hotels, night clubs and other places. BOUNCED FROM HOTEL “The only place in the country where we have been thrown out when we brought the horse in with us, was a Hollywood hotel” Chick Johnson said when he rejoined our group, rubbing his head gingerly. “Yes, funny, isn’t it?” asked Olsen. “We get away with a gag anywhere in the country except in Hollywood, the home of gags.” “Once more,” called Bacon, the determined director. A property man rushed by with a third breakaway vase. “This will be the death of me yet,” moaned Chick Johnson. “He always hollers,” Olsen confidede, “but we bat him over the head just the same. It’s been that way for poor Chick for fourteen years. It’s a great gag.” ~ The cast of “Gold Dust Gertie” also includes Dorothy Christy, Claude. Gillingwater, Arthur Hoyt, George Byron, Vivian Oakland, Charley Grapewin, Charles Judels and Virginia Sale. : CATCH ETN ES * * * HER TENDER “TOUCH” TURNS HEARTS TO GOLD! * *% * SHE MAKES DOUGHBOYS OUT OF SLOW BOYS!.... * * * SHE KNOCKS “L” OUT OF PLAY AND MAKES IT PAY! % * * GOLD DUST GERTIE—SHE CLEANS UP—AND HOW! * % * HIT THE LAFF TRAIL WITH LIGHTNER! * % % SHE MAKES PROF-IT OUT OF “IT”! ok * SHE’LL LEAVE YOU LIMP WITH LAFFTER! Lightner Laugh Hit Presents Danger Of Too Many Husbands “Gold Dust Gertie’ Comes To (Advance Story) “Gold Dust Gertie,” the Warner Bros. picture which stars Winnie Lightner with Olsen and Johnson in support and opens.......... at the Theatre next, is one of the most riotous of comedies, teaming as it does, the screen’s outstanding comedienne and the most famous pair of stage clowns in America. Winnie turns vamp in her own behalf in “Gold Dust Gertie” a role in a way like her uproarious one in “Gold Diggers of Broadway.” The story involves a bathing beauty contest and a hilarious ocean voyage on a private yacht, with three yf Winnie's” pective one, complications. The cast includes Claude Gillingwater, Charles Judels, Charley Grapewin, Virginia Sale, Dorothy Christy, Vivian Oakland and Arthur Hoyt. Lloyd Bacon who guided Winnie Lightner through “Sit Tight” and who directed Olsen and Johnson in “Fifty Million Frenchmen,” is responsible for this particular feature comedy. contributing to the e€x-huisbands and a pros-| Lightner Believes In Big Prophecies Of Fortunetellers (Current Story) “Gold Dust Gertie,” the Warner Brothers comedy, now at the...... Theatre, was the first picture made by Winnie Lightner during what she refers to as her lucky year. It is generally known that Winnie is a fortune-telling fan. Never a week goes by but that she puts her trust in some new seer who professes to be able to foretell the future. All of those consulted agreed that 1931 was the Winnie’s big year. “T haven’t done so poorly up to now,” said Miss Lightner, when she returned to Hollywood from a New York visit and a personal appear ance tour fo start work. yu iGold Dust Gertie,” so that must mean this year is to be my best! “Gold Dust Gertie’ the noted comedienne is paired with Olsen and Johnson, comics of stage and screen. Others in the cast are Claude Gillingwater, Vivian Oakland, Dorothy Christy, Charles Judels, Charley Grapewin, George Byron, Virginia Sale and Arthur Hoyt. Lloyd Bacon directed. Her “PACE” is _ Her FORTUNE !@ Fastest worker that ever slayed the boys with love! She takes the gold right out of their teeth. She’ll take the laughs out of your heart— faster — louder — longer than ever! XQ QQ RG AQ INNIE WG. LICHTNER WAGE FE SS j j Co Y \ "GOLD DUST / ‘~, GERTIE Wy “Ny, : V Uy with = 9 OLSENand JF , wagner Now %Y JOHNSON Z bkros. & Y GY NVITAPHONE Playing 4, WINTER ——— HIT! UY Cut No. 9 Cut 40c, Mat 10c Page Nine