Ive Got Your Number (Warner Bros.) (1934)

| Waarine S ‘Telephone Trouble Fixers Speak Phoney Language Odd Expressions Used by Men Whose Adven tures Are Shown in “I’ve Got Your Number’”’ By BOB HUSSEY wouldn’t permit you to listen intelligently to the conversa Yor may be well versed in the English language, but that tion of telephone repairmen. You'd be a foreigner. This interesting fact came to light in Hollywood recently, at the Warner Bros. studios during the filming of “I’ve Got Your Num ber,’ which comes to the. . .. Theatre on . ... This is a story dealing with the adventures of “trouble-shooters’—repairmen of the telephone company—when some of the real-life characters were brought to the studios to furnish technical advice. Pat O’Brien and Allen Jenkins, working in such roles, wanted Stars in Strand Hit to get the “real lowdown” on the jargon peculiar to the repairmen. They were enlightened beyond their fondest hopes and now, when they say one thing, they’re not sure they don’t mean something else. They found, for instance ,that a pair of shoes is not a pair of shoes. A telephone “troubleshooter” when he refers to “a pair of shoes” means a pair of wires used for testing purposes. ‘“Putting on the shoes,’ therefore, doesn’t mean that. It means applying these “testing” wires. When you hear someone use the slang word, “Buttinsky,” it isn’t to be taken to mean a person of inquisitive disposition. A “Buttinsky,” in the world of the telephone repairmen, is merely an instrument applied to the wires for the purpose of detecting a broken connection. ““Hand me my gun!” and “Hot rod!” aren’t expressions of the underworld referring to firearms at all. That is, not in the language of the telephone workers. The former exclamation is merely a request to pass a blow-torch to the speaker, and the “hot rod” is just another way of saying “soldering iron.” Dhereare ““Ssrunts** “amd “squeaks” in the telephone repair world as well as in “The Three Little: Pigs” A “Grunt? fs the linesman’s assistant and the cableman’s helper is called a “Squeak.” There’s no reason for all this— it’s just what such workers are called. A “Bug Hunter” is in no way interested in zoology, nor is a “Rack Monkey” of the animal kingdom. A “Bug Hunter,” any telephone worker will tell you, is an outside repairman, and a “Rack Monkey” is the testboard man’s assistant, so named because his work has him scampering all day up and down on the various cable racks of a telephone office. Tea is never served on the “tea wagon” of telephone troubleshooters, nor is their “Soup” fit to drink, ever. A “Tea Wagon” is the mechanism for _ testing mounted on rollers, and “Soup” is just another word used to mean melted wax. According to these colorful telephone workers talking to O’Brien and Jenkins, a “Dead Man” isn’t a corpse. It’s merely the type of pole used in the ground to guide large telephone poles to a straight position. And—with apologies to Ripley of “Believe It or Not” fame—a telephone pole isn’t a pole at all. The “boys” call them “sticks.” The hardy fellow we occasionally see so rapidly climbing those “sticks” aren’t climbers, either. They’re merely “Wood Walkers” to their co-workers. Any pay-station telephone is known as a “Nickel Grabber” and any telephone operator is just another “Plug Shooter” to their fellow employees. “Jack” may be a man’s name to you, or it may mean a tool for elevating an automobile when an unwelcome flat tire is to be fixed. It’s neither of these, according to authorities of the telephone-repair realm. <A “Jack” is a certain form of electrical connection, nothing more. Following their enlightenment by the helpful telephone repair MOI AY 20,000 Phone Calls Made During Picture If Warner Bros. had to pay a nickel for every phone call that was made before the cameras during the filming of “I’ve Got Your Number,” a picture featuring Joan Blondell and Pat O’Brien, which comes to the...» Cheatre on ........ the Southern California Telephone Company would have _ been richer by $1,000. In the picture Joan plays the role of a phone operator and made 1,339 calls as checked by Irma Roberts, script girl, whose duty it is to record such details. Totalling all the other calls made by operators in the picture, the grand amount is well over 20,000. “T’ve Got Your Number,” reveals the inner workings of a telephone. office. Joan Blondell doesn’t seem to be too enthused ibe the smart-cracking Pat O’Brien. They star in “I’ve Got Your Number,” which also features Glenda Farrell, Allen Jenkins and Eugene Pallette, and is coming to the Strand on Wednesday. Mat No. 6—20c Blonde Joan Blondell Is Brunette in Her New Film She’s Still Same Fast-Talking, Wise-Cracking Star, However, in “I’ve Got Your Number’”’ OAN BLONDELL can safely claim the title of Hollywood’s biggest gambler. Not that the pert screen star plays the panting ponies, the black-jack tables, or the common variety of dice games. small-town stuff. That’s Joan is now playing Lady Luck at a new gamble, with a million dollars on the side. The young lady who has gained both fame and fortune as a wise-cracking blonde in the short space of a few years, has cast her role aside and is now a refined brunette. As the yellow-topped smartie, Joan was one of the biggest box-office bets in the motion picture business. With each new release, her fan mail increased, as well as her value to Warner Bros. studios. Then with everything to gain and nothing to lose if she kept on at her present pace, the young star decided to call for a new deal and start her screen career all over. The first thing she did was allow her hair to resume its natural shade, a very becoming tint of nut brown. Perhaps she didn’t realize that this one move would change her entire personality, but it has, according to Arthur Todd, chief cameraman on “I’ve Got Your Number,” her latest Warner Bros. film, which comes to the... . Theatre on... . And Todd should know, having photographed nearly as many stars as a college astrology prof. The softness of her bobbed hair’s color has entirely altered the facial appearance of Joan. It has robbed her of her characteristic “tom-boy” atmosphere, making her more subdued, and more on the popular conception of what a lady should be. However, the hair hasn’t spoiled the quick-on-the-trigger repartee of the young star, and while she looks entirely different in “I’ve Got Your Number,” she can still hold her own in matching wits with Pat O’Brien, Allen Jenkins, Glenda Farrell, Gene Pallette and Hobart Cavanaugh, noted screen comics who support her in the cast. Just how the millions of Joan Blondell movie fans will take to the new edition of their favorite, no one can tell, and least of all the star herseff. And that’s where Joan’s big gamble comes in, for Pat O'Brien Purchases A California Ranch Pat O’Brien, who has the role of a telephone trouble-shooter in the Warner Bros. picture, “I’ve Got Your Number,” now showing at the .... Theatre, has decided to settle down in California and grow up with the country. He has purchased a handsome ranch home in Brentwood Park and during his leisure moments in “I’ve Got Your Number,” he _ helped Mrs. O’Brien furnish the house in early American style. men, O’Brien and Jenkins had great sport trying out their new “language” on Joan Blondell, playing the feminine lead in “I’ve Got Your Number.” Joan was completely bewildered by the antics and expressions of the actors and promptly shooed them on Director Ray Enright. Enright listened in amazement to the queer gibbering for a time and then-said, in assumed disgust, “Come on now, fellows, you know I can’t speak Greek. I’m an American !” “l’ve Got Your Number,” a romance of the human side of telephone operation by Warren Duff and Sidney Sutherland blends hilarious comedy with _ thrilling action. There is a large and talented supporting cast, which includes Glenda Farrell, Eugene Pallette, Gordon Westcott, Henry O’Neill and Hobart Cavanaugh. “T’ve Got Your Number”’ Realistic Phone Drama Many of the Dramatic Scenes Are Shot in a California Telephone Company ring dynamic Joan Blondell, and now showing at the ae GOT YOUR NUMBER,” a Warner Bros: film, star .... Theatre, brings to the screen for the first time the throbbing story of the telephone. If one believes the telephone system to be a cold mechanical means of communication, he has but to see this thrilling film. “T’ve Got Your Number” reveals inner workings of the system with the incessant hum of wires bringing joy and sorrow, tragedy and success. Joan Blondell plays the role of a telephone operator. Accord ing to telephone officials, the saucy Warner Bros. star resembles her real sister operators more than any other screen player. Her alert, decisive manner is one of the necessary requisites at a switch-board, where a problem of momentous importance may flash at any time. ‘Tragedy or success depends upon the intelligence and quick-wittedness of the girl. Each member of the large cast, which includes such screen favorites as Glenda Farrell, Pat O’Brien, Allen Jenkins, Eugene Pallette, Henry O’Neill, Hobart Cavanaugh, together with a score of others, was carefully selected from Hollywood’s thousands to personify on the screen the countless employees of the telephone system who serve the public night and day. “Pve Got Your Number” includes many of the big events which have recently occurred, and as a proof of the story’s timeliness, one of the greatest atrocities of modern times was solved when two kidnapers were trapped in California not many miles from the spot where the picture was being filmed. A girl at a switchboard, because of her courage and initiative, accomplished what the police and thousands of citizens had been unable to do. if the reaction is negative, then she has tossed a million dollar identity into the well known ashcan. But Joan’s game to take the chance, feeling confident that she has made a change for the better, and that if people liked her before as a dazzling blonde, they’ll like her even better as a natural brunette. “T’ve Got Your Number” will tell the story. But the fling with fate is a courageous step and those who know Joan Blondell believe the public will like her better than ever before. In “I’ve Got Your Number” Joan has the role of a telephone operator who gets into more trouble than the “beautiful man” himself. The picture combines hilarious laughter with melodramatic action in which thrill piles on thrill to a smashing climax. Ray Enright directed it from the screen play by Warren Duff and Sidney Sutherland. Trojan Grid Hero Puts Up Stiff Fight in Film When Russ Saunders used to knock ’em bow-legged for his Trojan football mates, he was known to the opponents as a very tough guy. Russ is now an assistant director in Hollywood and_ recently proved that he’s still a good man to have around when there’s work to be done. In “I’ve Got Your Number,” which comes to the , eDeAbre ON nk. us An: 10 which the erstwhile grid hero assisted, the big scene was a freefor-all fight between Pat O’Brien, Allen Jenkins and their telephone cronies versus a gang of thugs. Director Ray Enright didn’t think the action was fast enough, and after five “takes,” asked Russ what could be done to speed it up. Russ’ solution to the problem was that he get in the fray, too. And, the next shot was a dandy! In the daily routine of telephone employees, there is comedy as well as thrills in the thousands of vivid incidents. Especially in the “trouble-shooting” end of the game. “lve Got Your Number,” by capitalizing on this, furnishes some of the most rollicking comedy ever shown on the screen. Striving realistically to portray on the screen every bit of thrilling drama found in the real life of the story, Warner Bros. shot most of the film in authentic telephone exchanges. Experienced operators worked side by side with the famous stars. And while the former got a great kick out of the combination, the picture got its true atmosphere. The story of “I’ve Got Your Number” provides an accurate cross-section of its pulse-quickening drama. Romance, action, pathos, and hilarious comedy are wrapped together in what the world regards as cold, mechanical, bundles of instruments and wire. “ve Got Your Number’ was written for the screen by Warren Duff and Sidney Sutherland, both of whom spent many weeks in close contact with the people they portray on the screen. All of the material contained in the story was gained first-hand. Ray Enright directed the film. TE TT ae, TE TT IE TC ESE TE SE SEE TE PSE ES EPS A I IE BE eS BSR! SS TT ESP ST SERED PO SS EEE SESE STN ETI AS TEES ILE IE IRE SEDER IE IIE DOSE YI ILE CRETE ITIL EI Page Fourteen