Housewife (Warner Bros.) (1934)

is George Brent’s Career Is One of Constant Thrills No Dull Moments Have Marked Life of Actor Co-Starred in ‘‘Housewife’’ HATEVER else it is that life has in store for George Brent, who is now appearing in the Warner Bros. produc tion of “Housewife,” at the ...0:0.000060..0065 Theatre, one thing may be considered certain. It will not be dull. Young and active, quick tempered and Irish, Brent has had few really tranquil moments in his life. Even the year and a half of his unsuccessful marriage cannot be considered altogether lacking in adventure. A thumb nail review of this young actor’s life reveals more excitement per hour than has been crowded into the lives of half a dozen average picture stars. Orphaned at seven, Brent left his native Ireland and his favorite peat bogs and fishing holes while still a boy to make his home with relatives in America. He returned a few years later, with just money enough to pay his crossing, at the behest of a young priest who had fired him with two ambitions; one to attend the University at Dublin, the other to help set Ireland free. Became Revolutionist He was, eventually, only partly successful in doing either. He was expelled from the University for fighting with a member of the faculty, a famous fight, staged inside a cab, but he stayed on temporarily as a member of the famous Abbey players, where he received the dramatic training which was the foundation of his later stage success. His revolutionary activities brought him both fame and trouble. As a dispatch carrier for Michael Collins until that leader was ambushed and killed, he had the whole British army technically at his heels. He made a thrilling dash through England, after Collins’ death, hiding by day and traveling by night and finally evaded capture and probable death before a firing squad, by catching an American bound tramp steamer on the fly out of a leaky row boat. The captain of that. boat was Irish, too, it happened, and so Brent was landed safely enough in Canada. He returned to the United States and his family and, after several attempts at other jobs, resumed his dramatic work in various stock companies. Failed as a Producer He saved some money and invested that in a stock company of Building of Film Sets Means Tremendous Work Infinite Detail Required to Construct Background of New Film, ‘‘Housewife”’ unobtrusive that the uninitiated might fail to realize that Bibs term “simple, human story” sounds so humble and while the story might be simple—the production of it is far from simple. “Housewife,” the Warner Bros. production which comes to the Bab NA ee io Re es Theatre on ...... A rate oe , is a case in point. If the name suggests a living room, dust rag and kitchen utensils, it might be well to remember even a simple story goes far afield when it is told on the screen. In “Housewife,” Dvorak, at first live in a small suburban home. the technical department had to reproduce in detail the exterior and interior of such a house in all details, furnishings and atmosphere. The husband works in the office vt a big concern. To show him at work, this office must be built from hallway to switchboard. The right type of employees must sit at the cight kind of desks doing the right sort of tasks for this particular business. Marble floors, panelled wainscoting, glassed partitions— everything in exact verisimilitude of the real thing. Create Hotel Lobby When the hero seeks another job, he must see an important man who lives at a big hotel. This means building a complete hotel lobby, upper halls and a bedroom suite on a scale of correct elegance. Scores of people must be engaged to move about the lobby as well as bell boys, porters, clerks and doormen. Even the news-stand with its proper display of countless periodicals, candy and what-nots must be provided. When Bette Davis, the villainess of this “simple” story, appears on the scene, she invites the little wife to a luncheon at a swanky restaurant. This restaurant must be built. Impressive fluted columns guarded the entrance to this elaborate cafe. There are great arched windows with rich drapes, perfectly appointed tables at which are well-dressed people. A wrongly placed salad fork in a close up shot might cost somebody his job. Detail is a fetish in modern production, especially one as important as “Housewife.” When the ambitious young man obtains a better job, he goes to the hero, George Brent, and his wife, Ann For this setting, work in another office. This requires the building of another pretentious set. The technicians and artists must devise a set in no way similar to the office already shown. Different architecture, different decorative scheme, different office furniture and a different type of employees. Meanwhile the “simple” story of a young couple in modest circumstances and the husband managing to better himself has required a prodigious amount of production effort. In addition to the sets mentioned, are many lesser ones, such as the interior of an elevator, the doorway to a building, private offices and other minor sets. All of this is merely unintrusive background but all essential. In the husband’s new job as an advertising man, his work takes him to a broadcasting station. This means more _ building — hallways, reception rooms, studio proper. Design, construction and minutae of detail must be accurate and authentic. Many Technical Details With an improvement in the fortunes of the hero, his surroundings change. His little house becomes a big one. The “Housewife” now has a boudoir in place of the small bedroom. A walled garden replaces the small front yard. A great. hallway opens into a gor geous drawing room, instead of the tiny living room. The master bedrooms and guest rooms are now the last word in interior planning. Rugs, carpets, draperies and furnishings are now in the grand manner. The main story is still a study of human hearts and the elemental emotions that stir them, but how his own, a venture which ended in failure and financial ruin for him. A marriage and a divorce punctuated this trying time in his life. Another considerable period with stock companies led Brent eventually to Hollywood where he missed several good roles almost by min Four Happy People utes. He played in a few forgotten pictures and returned to stage work. He made three separate tries for a break in Hollywood and was just about to give it up forever when he was called to Warner Bros. to make a test for a picture role opposite Ruth Chatterton. This merry foursome constitutes the leading players in “Housewife,” the Warner domestic comedy-drama, coming to the Strand. Starting with John Halliday, the dignified gentleman at the left, we find Ann Dvorak, George Brent and Bette Davis. And .. . Robert Barrat, Ruth Donnelly and Hobart Cavanaugh help keep things moving. Mat. No. 5—20c¢ ever simple the tale, the production must mount to magnificence. The drama that enters the story with the appearance of the “other woman” demands more sets, the rooms to which she invites the hero. These are among the most artistic backgrounds in the entire film. The ultra-modern character of the woman is reflected in the atmosphere of her apartments. An interesting twist in the story of “Housewife” takes the main characters to court and an unusual court room setting has been devised. This sequence, alone, would almost be sufficient justification for calling this a “big” production. It is done on a scale that required a building program of vast proportions to provide for the mass scenes to be staged at the trial. “Housewife” is a dramatic story of domestic entanglements by Robert Lord and Lillie Hayward, Miss Hayward also collaborating with Manuel Seff in the screen dramatization. Brent, Miss Dvorak and Bette Davis are co-starred in the picture while others in the cast include John Halliday, Ruth Donnelly, Hobart Cavanaugh, Robert Barrat, Joe Cawthorne and Phil Regan. Alfred E. Green directed. Music and lyrics are by Mort Dixon and Allie Wrubel. Broadcasting Room Built for Film One of the interesting sets used in the Warner Bros. picture, “Housewife,” which comes to the tines (GR aan PHeatRe ON! er es is the interior of a broadcasting station. Not only is the broadcasting room shown but also the glass enclosed control room with its complete panels and paraphernalia. While movie goers have _ seen microphones in pictures, they have never had such a comprehensive view of the inner workings of a radio studio. George Brent, Bette Davis and Ann Dvorak are co-starred in the picture, a story of marital tangles. Ann Dvorak Is Now Writing Music Ann Dvorak, now appearing with George Brent and Bette Davis in “Housewife,” the Warner Bros. picture which comes to the Ol heen eens Theatrevon: o.,.6:.4 is also a talented composer. She is now engaged on a symphonic symposium of early California music. Bette Davis Is Besieged By Public for Film Gowns He won the role and a few months later he had won Miss Chatterton, in what was at the time the most sensational courtship of the colony. He waited in Hollywood while Miss Chatterton went to Europe and her husband, Ralph Forbes, got the necessary divorce, leaving them free to marry. Six months later, they went to Europe together, where Brent’s energetic nature boiled over again and he tried bull fighting on an amateur scale. In Trouble 20 Years A few months later he was in difficulty with both his studio and his wife. These troubles culminated a few weeks ago when Miss Chatterton announced their separation —not necessarily a friendly one— and Brent himself capitulated to studio demands. For twenty years George Brent has been almost continually in hot water. Periodically throughout that time he has been broke. He is broke, so far as having a fortune of his own, now. But he has a studio contract and his future, unencumbered, ahead of him. No one knows what the future has in store for Brent. But those who know him best are sure it will not be dull. In “Housewife,” his first picture since his separation from Miss Chatterton, Brent has the role of a man who wins success through the inspiration of his wife and takes up with another woman. Bette Davis is the other woman and Ann Dvorak the wife. Others in the cast include John Halliday, Ruth Donnelly, Hobart Cavanaugh, Robert Barrat, Joe Cawthorne and Phil Regan. The story is by Robert Lord and Lillie Hayward, Miss Hayward also collaborating with Manuel Seff on the dramatization. Alfred E. Green directed. Feminine Lead in “Housewife” Explains That They Don’t Belong to Her Ann Dvorak in the Warner Bros. production of “House Bi’: DAVIS, who is co-starred with George Brent and 39 wife, which comes to the aeons ae Theatre on She tries to answer all the pleasant ones but she never sends the clothes. She can’t. And she thinks it is time someone explains to the public generally, just why she can’t. All screen actresses who appear in well-dressed roles receive hundreds of such requests. To com added ones the first few gifts of this nature would be sure to bring, would tax the resources of the most highly paid star on the screen. But the first and best reason Bette can’t send the clothes she wears in her pictures to those who write in asking for them, is that they aren’t her clothes. They belong to the Warner Bros. studios and once Bette is finished with a picture and through with the gowns furnished her for that production, she returns them to the studio wardrobe and never sees them again. Gowns Used Often The wardrobe, in turn, remodels them and they are worn in other pictures by bit players and extras. They are valuable properties for the studio which frequently is called upon to supply dresses for several hundred extras for big scenes. The studio can no more be expected to give these dresses away than it can be expected to supply cameras or film or electricity to anybody who asks for it. “My own wardrobe wouldn’t begin to go around if I tried to send clothes to all who write asking for them,’ Bette explains. “And if I had the biggest closets in Hollywood and ‘they were all full of clothes— which I haven’t and they aren’t—it would be next to impossible to separate the requests of the deserving from the undeserving, without expensive investigation. “Giving away clothes blindly to people they probably wouldn’t fit would be frightfully wasteful. I think every actress does give clothes to families she knows are deserving and who will make good use of them. But it is a purely personal matter, not the hit and ply with them all, and with the a ES miss method of answering requests by letter.” Sending Gifts Disastrous Long ago the sending of. gifts of any kind, except photographs, in answer to fan mail requests, was tried out and found disastrous. Every such gift brought an average of more than five hundred additional requests. It is simple mathematics to figure how fast the news travels and how rapidly the cost piles up. With very few exceptions all the dresses worn by stars and featured players in pictures belong to the producing studio. These are designed and made expressly for the person who wears them. They will actually fit almost nobody else without remodeling. In Bette Davis’ case, any of her dresses, such as those she wears in “Housewife,” are of an extravagant, sensational nature, fitted to the part she plays but not suited to the use of the average woman at all. They aren’t even suited to the real Bette, for that matter, but they are made daring and spectacular to emphasize the character she portrays. In “Housewife,” Bette plays the role of a home wrecker in an intensely human drama by Robert Lord and Lillie Hayward. Miss Dvorak has the title role with Brent playing the part of her husband. Others in the cast include John Halliday, Ruth Donnelly, Hobart Cavanaugh, Robert Barrat, Joseph Cawthorne and Phil Regan. Alfred E. Green directed from the screen play by Manuel Seff and Miss Hayward, while music and lyrics are by Mort Dixon and Allie Wrubel. Page Eleven > —