Journal of a Crime (Warner Bros.) (1934)

Ruth Chatterton Is Given Dynamic Role in ‘Journal of Crime’ Ruth Chatterton will be the stellar attraction at the ; Theatre next ...., when she appears in her latest First National picture, “Journal of a Crime,” which is said to afford her the greatest opportunity of her. career to display her unusual dramatic talent. The picture is based on a powerful drama by the noted French playwright, Jacques Deval, and depicts the effect of a murder on a woman of fine instincts and delicate sensibilities who kills an unscrupulous rival because she is wrecking her home. Not that the picture is purely a psychological study by any means, for there is plenty of action, beginning with the slaying of a popular musical star in a theatre during rehearsal, the chase and capture of a criminal in the flies, and winding up with a climax that is said to have one of the most novel twists ever conceived for the screen. Miss Chatterton has the role of the murderess who loves her husband, a part played by Adolphe Menjou, with such desperation she can’t bear to give him up for another. Menjou, really in love with his wife, but so infatuated by the star of his musical show that he is ready to break up his home, eventually finds that love again through one of the most unusual incidents. Claire Dodd has the role of the home-wrecker who pays for it with her life, while Noel Madison plays the part of a murderer, who also is accused of killing the star because he is caught in the theatre. Douglas Dumbrille is the prosecutor who sends the assassin to the guillotine, and George Barbier is the producer in whose theatre the tragedy occurs. Others in the cast include Henry O’Neill, Phillip Reed, Henry Kolker, Frank Reicher, Edward McWade, Walter Pidgeon, Frank Darien, Clay Clement and Else Janssen. The more dramatic scenes take place in the theatre during rehearsals of a musical show, which also affords an intimate insight into the backstage life of Parisian theatrical folk. Other sequences take place in a fashionable Parisian home, in the prosecutor’s office, behind the grim walls of the famous Sante prison, in the gay cafes and night clubs and on the French Riviera. F. Hugh Herbert and Charles Kenyon adapted Deval’s play to the screen while William Keighley directed it. Hollywood Beauty, Claire Dodd, Denies Any Beauty Secret Claire Dodd, accepted as one of the outstanding beauties in Hollywood, has no beauty secrets. The beautiful actress maintains that sleep is the main essential of health and that beauty, in the natural scheme of things, follows health. For that reason Claire is a devout adherent to Morpheus. It isn’t unusual for her to sleep twelve or fourteen hours and she believes that sleep obtained in the early hours of the night is doubly valuable. The shooting schedule on the First National picture, “Journal of a Crime,” now showing at the .... Theatre, with Miss Dodd in an important role, required many hours of night work and it is only such instances of actual business necessity that are permitted to interrupt her regular sleep routine In “Journal of a Crime,” Miss ‘Dodd has the role of a beautiful Daily Stories Stars of “Journal of a Crime” Adolphe Menjou and Ruth Chatterton don’t seem to be afraid of much in this scene from “Journal of a Crime,” their latest hit, now showing at the Strand Theatre. Claire Dodd is in this exciting First National story of Parisian life and intrigue, along with an all-star cast. Mat No. 1—20c Marathon Diet Kept Slim as Girl of 16 Ruth Chatterton, starring in “Journal of a Crime,” the First National picture now showing at the . . . . Theatre, holds the remarkable record of having been on the same diet for five years. By way of encouragement to other diet marathoners, she states that it gets easier to keep all the time. There have been no_ black coffee breakfasts, lettuce leaf luncheons and melba toast dinners on Miss Chatterton’s food regime. The lovely Chatterton figure has, as yet, shown no signs of having to be held down. All the credit for this delightful state of affairs is due to the unfailing observance of the diet. “At the time of my arrival in Hollywood,” says Miss Chatterton, “there was a great deal of publicity regarding a young actress whose contract had _ been cancelled because she had become too plump. Right then I decided that an ounce of prevention was worth a pound of cure, so I went to a physician and asked his advice on the subject. “He warned me of the dangers to my health which could result from what he called a ‘starvation diet,’ but suggested the permanent elimination of a number of fattening foods, and a regular time schedule for all meals. I have adhered strictly to that diet ever since.” As a young society woman in “Journal of a Crime,’ Miss Chatterton displays the slender figure of a girl of sixteen, which she attributes to this diet. The picture, which concerns a strange murder and its consequences, is based on the powerful French drama by Jacques Deval and adapted to the screen by F. Hugh Herbert and Charles Kenyon. Adolphe Menjou has the leading masculine role, while others in the cast include Claire Dodd, George Barbier, Douglas Dumbrille, Noel Madison and Henry O'Neill. William Keighley directed the picture. and talented singer in a musical show who is slain by Ruth Chatterton, star of the picture, for stealing the latter’s husband, a part played by Adolphe Menjou. The picture is based on the powerful drama by Jacques Deval and was directed by William Keighley. Suave Adolphe and Ruth Chatterton as | Fastidious Ruth Are Gast in Same Film At last the actress held to be the most fastidious of either stage or screen and the actor who has the reputation of being the best dressed man in Hollywood and most representative of the suave man-about-town type are playing in the same picture. Never before have they played together although both have been working in pictures for some years. ADOLPHE MENJOU appearing in “Journal of a Crime” now at the Strand Mat No. 7 10c The two are Ruth Chatterton and Adolphe Menjou, who head a notable cast of talented players in the First National picture, “Journal of a Crime,” which comes to the... >. Dheatrevon-3<.2:..she two are husband and wife in the picture and it is because of Menjou’s philanderings with the star of his musical show that Miss Chatterton ends her rival’s life with a bullet. No two more notable players, nor two more adaptable to each other’s work, could have been placed together. Miss Chatterton is famous for such pictures as “Female,” “Frisco Jenny,” “Madame X” and “Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” while Menjou will be remembered for his parts in “Convention City,” “Easy to Love,” “Morning Glory” and a score of others. Claire Dodd, one of Hollywood's most famous home-wreckers, has the role of Menjou’s enamorata while other important parts are portrayed by such well known players as George Barbier, Douglas Dumbrille, Noel Madison and Henry O'Neill. In lesser, though important, roles are Phillip Reed, Henry Kolker, Frank Reicher, Edward McWade, Walter Pidgeon, Frank Darien, Clay Clement and Else Janssen. The picture is based on the dramatic story by Jacques Deval, the noted French playwright, and adapted to the screen by F. Hugh Herbert and Charles Kenyon. William Keighley directed. Claire Dodd Sings Love Lyric as She Is Slain in Film Snatches of three love lyrics will be heard in Ruth Chatterton’s latest starring vehicle for First National, “Journal of a Crime,” which comes to the .... Theatre on .... Many of the more dramatic scenes of the picture take place in a Parisian theatre, in which Adolphe Menjou, a_playwright and Miss Chatterton’s hus-~ band, is putting on a show with Claire Dodd in the role of the star. It is while Miss Dodd is singing during a rehearsal that Miss Chatterton shoots and kills her from behind the wings for wrecking her home. Miss Dodd is possessed of a charming voice and renders part of an operetta with telling effect when the shot rings out and stills her voice. Another lyric is sung by Walter Pidgeon, as well known for his voice as for his histrionic talent. He too is abruptly halted in the middle of his song, but in no such drastic a manner as was Miss Dodd. It is a_ rehearsal and Pidgeon is halted by the stage manager, a part played by George Barbier. The final lyric is sung by Haze) Hayes, a professional singer, at a celebration in the theatre after the one hundredth performance. Music also is furnished by a male chorus of thirty voices. “Journal of a Crime” is based on the thrilling drama by Jacques Deval and is a study of the effect of a murder on the murderess. William Keighley directed the picture from the screen play by F. Hugh Herbert and Charles Kenyon. La Chatterton May Direct Own Films With Brent as Star Ruth Chatterton plans either to produce or direct pictures on the expiration of her contract with First National, according to the opinion formed by her associates during the production of “Journal of a Crime,” her latest First National picture, which comes to the .. «& Theatre on,. It is well known in Hollywood that the “first lady of the screen” has long had a suppressed desire to wrestle with the problems of direction and production rather than to devote all her time and talents to acting. She took one step in this direction more than two years ago when she directed her first husband, Ralph Forbes, in the stage play, “Let Us Divorce,” which played in several West Coast cities during the months she herself was engaged in picture work. Years before Miss Chatterton translated and produced the play “Ta Tendresse,” in which she was also starred. These ventures gave her a taste of both the problems and pleasantries of direction and production and she has never since been entirely contented with her lot as an actress. Although in her latest picture Adolphe Menjou plays the leading role opposite Miss Chatterton instead of her husband, George Brent, as has been the case in most of her pictures, Hollywood gossips have it that he will star in her own productions. “Journal of a Crime” is a particularly strong Chatterton vehicle, being based on the _ powerful French drama by Jacques Deval. Others in the cast include Claire Dodd, George Barbier, Douglas Dumbrille, Noel Madison, Henry O’Neill and Phillip Reed. William Keighley directed the picture from the screen play by F. Hugh Herbert and Charles Kenyon. Menjou Now Playing Opposite Chatterton _in Place of Brent For the first time since she became a First National star, Ruth Chatterton worked without the presence of George Brent on the set. In “Journal of a Crime,” which comes to the... . Theatre on . ...y Miss Chatterton has a new type of leading man in Adolphe Menjou. This worldly, urbane actor, somewhat more mature than Brent, plays the successful playwright-husband of the star. In only one other film, “Frisco Jenny,” was Miss Chatterton seen without Brent in an important supporting role, and during the shooting of this picture the latter was constantly on the set with her. He happened to be at work on an adjoining sound stage at the First National studios and spent the intervals between his own scenes with Miss Chatterton. This time, however, while “Journal of a Crime” was shooting, Brent was engaged elsewhere and _ couldn’t pop in—even at lunch time. “The Rich Are Always With Us,” “The Crash,” “Lilly Turner,” “Female”—in all of these he has played with her. Now the succession ends—and Hollywood is wondering when it will resume. In “Journal of a Crime,” while Menjou is Miss Chatterton’s husband, he is an unfaithful one, and she kills his sweetheart. The picture is a powerful emotional drama based on the play by Jacques Deval, which was dramatized for the screen by F. Hugh Herbert and Charles Kenyon and directed by William Keighley. Others in the cast include Claire Dodd, George Barbier, Douglas Dumbrille, Noel Madison, Phillip Reed, Henry O’Neill and Henry Kolker. Film Prosecutor Knows His Law Doug Dumbrille, who plays the role of the public prosecutor in the First National production, “Journal of a Crime,” which comes to the .... Theatre on . ... y with Ruth Chatterton in the stellar role, is probably better versed in criminal court procedure than most actors on the American stage. The criminal courts have always exerted a fascination over Dumbrille. During his years on the New York stage he attended most of the important criminal trials. When he was on tour, Doug never missed a trial that was going on in any large city where the company played for an engagement of a week or longer. He has an extensive library dealing with the famous criminal trials of the last two hundred years, both in this country and abroad. Claire Dodd (2 PRQRIRIRORRRROOODOKODO™, LO0000: 0000000" 3X Alluring player appearing in “Journal of a Crime,” current Strand success. Mat No. 8—10c aa ne Page Three