Heat Lightning (Warner Bros.) (1934)

Daily Swries (Review) ‘Heat Lightning’ Dynamic Drama of the Desert Broadway Stage Hit A Masterpiece On Screen, Powerfully Portrayed By All Star Cast smouldering passion, ‘‘Heat Lightning,’’ the new Wis its sudden outbursts of suppressed emotion and Warner Bros. picture at the Strand, matches in drama the atmospheric clashes of the sun-baked desert where its events take place. The picture is based on the former Broadway stage hit by Leon Abrams and George Abbott and concerns a former dance hall girl, who escapes her tawdry existence, to open a filling station on the desert, where she hopes to find the peace and contentment she has always longed for. With her, she brings her younger sister, whom she hopes to shelter from the world of men. But she finds that she cannot escape her hateful past, when her former lover, who holds a powerful influence over. her, appears on the scene. And her sister, whom she tried so hard to proteet, finds herself bored with the unceasing monotony of the desert, and gives herself to a worthless seamp, in the hope. of finding something of the joy of life. Ann Dvorak Mat No. 2—10c. This brings to an emotional climax the lives of the two girls in a gripping scene in which the younger, in confessing her own shame, points the finger of guilt at the older. In its deeper treatment the picture has much of the tempo of “Rain,” the incessant heat acting on the nerves much as the constant downpour of the tropics, warping the brain and driving to madness. But there is a lighter vein that saves the produetion from the depression of “Rain.” Warner Bros. have again proved their showmanship by their conception of what makes real entertainment by injecting this comedy touch that hovers lightly and almost constantly over the seething emotional drama going on underneath, like the froth above some _ volatile liquid. There is a touch and go to the story, a swiftness to the action, a sparkle to the dialogue that makes the picture superb entertainment. The picture carries an all star cast headed by Aline MacMahon, who scores a triumph in dramatie expression by her emotional portrayal of ‘the dance hall girl, while Ann Dvorak as her wilful and discontented sister, hungry for the joy of living, is given the best opportunity of her ¢areer to prove her genuine talent for dramatic work. Preston Foster, in the leading masculine role, that of a fascinating despoiler of women, handles his part with a dashing virility that makes him likeable even in his villainy. Glenda Farrell, Lyle Talbot, Frank MeHugh and Ruth Donnelly keep up a byplay of comedy anties that supply the foil to the more intense dramatic moments. Others in the east who give splendid characterizations include Theodore Newton, Willard Robertson, Harry C. Bradley and James Durkin. Mervyn LeRoy has done a splendid piece of work in his direction. Warner Bros. have confined the action to a single locale in the heart of the Mojave Desert. Here is a picture, rich in drama, bubbling with comedy, picturesque in locale and with strong, human characterizations. Desert Love Drama, ‘Heat Lightning’ At __.-Theatre Today “Heat Lightning,” a drama of desert love and hate, comes to theses oo", ee Theatre: today with an all star cast headed by Aline MacMahon. This Warner Bros. picture is said to combine dynamic action with romance and light comedy. Like “Grand Hotel,” “Union Depot,” “Central Park,” and other pictures of that ilk, the action all takes place in a single locale, in this case the picturesque Mojave Desert. Enough incidents are crowded into twenty-four hours to keep the production moving in fast tempo. There are three romances, all of a celandestine character, one furnishing the smashing cli max in which a girl slays her lover. Aline MacMahon is the girl and Preston Foster her lover, a no-account but fascinating crook whom she cannot resist. A _ second love affair is that of Ann Dvorak, younger sister of Miss MacMahon, who in a mad search for pleasure, throws her heart away on a young village seamp. The third romance, if it can be dignified by that term, is carried on in a quasi-comie battle between Ruth Donnelly and Glenda Farrell, Reno divorcees out to grab all the fun there is, over the love of their chauffeur, Frank McHugh. Others in the cast include Lyle Talbot, Theodore Newton, Willard Robertson, Harry C. Bradley and James Durkin. Brown Holmes and Warren Duff wrote the screen adaptation from the Broadway stage hit by Leon Abrams and George Abbott. Mervyn LeRoy directed. ANN DVORAK RRA AREA. 8..8, ra] This popular young actress appears in “Heat Lightning,” starring Aline MacMahon and coming to the Strand on Wednesday. Mat No. 11—10c. FREAK FACTS... . A007 FM Favorites NEN Efi JEWISH BLOOD-8uT HOM gg f SOMESCOTCN, DUE TO . . tS THE FACT THAT SHE DOES —__ MOST OF HER SHOPPING AT THE TEN-CENT STORE. ~)) A) NEVER TOOK A Ste f DANCING LESSON. DID HER FIRST FILM news p APERMAN ip AND OPERA S INGER AGE AcToR cu O aus Boy nussa No WORK IN THE CHORUS AND y) IN six MontHs// (\ E WAS STUDIO —R-*e _; are bee DANCING INSTRUCTRESS AND 1S ONLY 32 YEARS OLD THESE AND MANY OTHER STARS ARE APPEARING IN “HEAT LIGHTNING” AT THE STRAND. Climb on the bandwagon with the hundreds of exhibitors who are using this popular feature. It is welcomed by newspapers every where, so get it going in yours! Mat No. 4—20c. Actors on Location In Desert Have All Luxuries Of Home The hazards and hardships of desert location for a motion picfure comnanyv aren’t what they used to be — not by one delightful desert resort, a projection machine and a sheet of white cloth. The Warner Bros. company while making “Heat Lightning” on the Mojave Desert under Director Mervyn LeRoy, had all the advantages and comforts of Hollywood, while remaining on their location for two. weeks. A portable projection machine, including a sound amplifier, was sent to the North Verde Ranch, a dude ranch where Director Le Roy and the players Aline Mac Mahon, Ann MDvorak, Preston Foster, Lyle Talbot and others were staying. The day’s film shots were run off for them each evening just as at the studio. This entailed keeping a_ fleet of fast ears traveling between the studio’s laboratories in Hollywood and the location where the company was working, but had the advantage of keeping the film workers, as well as the executives at the studios, in constant touch with the film’s progress. If mistakes were made, or changes are needed, the company and its director knew it the very day after the scene in question was filmed. No expensive retakes, with a company reassembled for the long trek into the desert were necessary. The company also had its own radio and newspapers and other luxuries were brought in by plane daily. “Heat Lightning’ which is based on the Broadway stage success by Leon Abrams and George Abbott, is a strange drama of desert love and hate. Film Actors Freeze At Night and Roast By Day on Desert The Mojave Desert near VictorCalif., of the strangest things it ever has seen set down in the middle of its sweltering heat. ville, saw two Those two things are salamanders and ice! And that’s because the company of motion picture workers from Warner Bros. studios, while making “Heat Lightning,” now desert has a way of being very unlike a desert in the early morning. The thermometer on more than one morning during the time the company was on location there, dropped to ten above zero! And the little white marker in the thermometer mounted very slowly until after the sun, which Director Mervyn LeRoy says comes up “Boop!”, has been an hour or more in the sky. Hence the almost IJudicrous sight of fifty people standing about two heating salamanders in the middle of America’s “hot spot” waiting for that sun to go “Boop!” The ice is of course more understandable. And is shipped out daily from San Bernardino, the midday heat on this desert registering as high as a hundred and twenty-five. The picture is a thrilling drama of desert love and desert hate based on the Broadway stage hit by Leon Abrams and George Ab bott and dramatized for the screen by Brown Holmes and Warren Duff. The all-star cast includes, Aline MacMahon, Ann Dvorak, Preston Foster, Ruth Donnelly, Lyle Talbot and Frank McHugh. Mervyn LeRoy directed. Film Work Separates Ann Dvorak From Her Husband First Time Ann Dvorak and Leslie Fenton were separated for the first time after a year and a half of married life, during the filming of the Warner Bros. picture “Heat Lightning,” which comes to the AF Rai NCH 5 Theatre on But both bore up bravely as the separation was only for twelve days. Ann had to go on location at Victorville in the Mojave Desert, a hundred miles from Hollywood where scenes were shot for the picture. The entire action of the play is laid at a desert filling station—and the filling station, with its outlying buildings and auto camp cabins, was built on the desert near Victorville. To take the edge off their separation, Ann and Leslie talked to each other nightly by telephone. All the same, Leslie admitted that it was mighty lonely on the San Fernando Valley ranch that he and Ann eall home. But the couple who elaim to be still honeymooning, were reunited when Ann finished the production in which she has the role of a wilful and unhappy girl who is betrayed by the man she loves. The picture is a highly emotional drama in which Aline MacMahon has the leading role. Others in the cast inelude Lyle Talbot, Glenda Farrell, Preston Foster, Frank MeHugh and Ruth Donnelly. Mervyn LeRoy directed the picture from the screen play by Brown Holmes and Warren Duff. Mervyn LeRoy directed. Gay Reno Divorcee On Screen Is Happy Wife In Real Life In “Heat Lightning,” the WarBros. ner production of the Broadway Leon Abrams and George Abbott, now showing at the success by Theatre, Ruth Donnelly is one of the merry, carefree graduates of the Reno divorce mill. In real life, she is one of the happiest wives in the entire motion picture colony. According to Miss Donnelly, marriage is not half so much a lottery as it is a lot of other things. It’s not a game of chance; it’s a game of skill. Successful marriages, to her way of thinking, depend a great deal more on brains and common sense than on luck. “Marriage and bridge have a great many things in common,” observed Miss Donnelly one day on Mlojave Desert a hundred miles from Hollywood, where Warner Bros. built a filling station, store and auto camp for the production of ‘Heat Lightning.’ “Good bridge players learn not to trump their partner’s aces. So do good husbands and wives. “A good bridge player doesn’t expect to play every bid, but plenty of husbands and wives insist on their partners being the dummy in every game. “The game of matrimony would go much more smoothly if its partners would apply the same rules to their domestic relations.” “Heat Lightning” is a thrilling drama of -desert love. Aline MacMahon, Ann Dvorak, Preston Foster, Lyle Talbot, Glenda Farrell and Frank McHugh are the other principal players. Mervyn LeRoy directed the film. Seen reese Ss SS SSS SSS SSS SSS SSS SSS SSS SSS SSS SSS SSNS Page Four