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

keature Stories Ruth Chatterton Actress of Many Contradictions Star in Real Life as Contradictory as in Role in “Journal of a Crime”’ “Journal of a Crime,” now showing at the. . . . Theatre, R & CHATTERTON, star of the First National picture, is known, in Hollywood, as the lady of many contradic tions. Noted for her “grand manner,’ she nevertheless chews gum violently and almost constantly during studio working hours. A patron of the opera and a perennial holder of season tickets fer the Hollywood Bowl concerts, she also enjoyed the slightly ribald songs which the late Wilson Mizner delighted in introducing between scenes on the sets of her pictures. 5 ~ Always difficult and often impossible to interview, she will at times talk with startling frankness and bluntness to any one fortunate enough to be on hand to report it. Aloof in manner and imperious in her demands she often unbends unexpectedly — and unnecessarily, to reassure an obviously uncomfortable visitor or a co-worker suffering from an inferiority complex. Unable to live happily with her first husband, Ralph Forbes, she divorced him, or persuaded him to divorce her, and then proceeded to adopt him as a good friend and confidant. Notoriously extravagant in many ways—she has made and lost several sizeable fortunes. She still drives a hard bargain and has a keen money sense when it comes to selling her services to producers. ° Famous in Hollywood for the perfect appointments of her dinner table, the brilliance of her “small talk” and the smartness of her dinners, she likes to wind up such an evening playing checkers on the floor in front of the fireplace after raiding the kitchen icebox for titbits which can be eaten without benefit of forks. Recipient of countless manuscripts, sent her by ambitious playwrights, she sometimes sur prises ‘the author of a returned play by remembering his name, the subject matter of his play and by making suggestions for its improvement or proper placement, when she meets him, months afterward. A paragon of dignity she can be found on occasions, doing the ocean front. “pike” with a company of congenial friends, and specializing on the roller coasters and the “bump the bumps.” No wonder Ruth Chatterton is known as a contradictory lady in Hollywood. In “Journal of a Crime,” Miss Chatterton is also a woman of many contradictions. A high-bred society woman, she does not hesitate to spy on her husband and his sweetheart whom she eventually kills. The picture is based on the powerful emotional drama of the Parisian theatre as it touches the life of a playwright written by Jacques Deval. Adolphe Menjou plays opposite Miss Chatterton as her husband, while ‘Claire Dodd is the other woman. Others in the cast include George Barbier, Douglas Dumbrille, Noel Madison, Henry O’Neill, Phillip Reed and Henry Kolker. William Keighley directed the picture from an adaptation by F. Hugh Herbert and Charles Kenyon of the French play. La Chatterton Gorgeously Gowned in Latest Picture Star of “Journal of a Crime’ Has Role of Wealthy Parisian Society Woman OMEN who are addicted to costumes designed especially \ \ for wear in their own homes will find ideas and inspiration galore in the creations designed by Orry-Kelly for Ruth Chatterton in “Journal ‘of a Crime,” in her latest starring First National picture which comes to the. . .. Theatre on.... Miss Chatterton’s own favorite was a filmy robe of white chiffon, the full gathered skirt showing a train, while the upper half is fashioned after a friar’s robe, knee length, girdled at the waist with a heavy silk cord, and relieved at the high neckline with a circular capelet collar. Another model is in eggshell satin, set off by sable shoulder capelets in lavish contrast to the plain lines of the garment. This particular design is an eloquent reminder that it is usually garments almost severely simple in their lines which are most effective in creating a successful impression. The traditional satin and lace negligee is presented in a novel combination of icicle grey trimmed with deep ecru lace. The neckline is high and plain, with a short cascade of the lace at the front opening, and gathered lace cuffs that make a flattering frame for the hands. The final member of this quartet of intimate robes is a floorlength tailored style of white crepe with cuffed sleeves and round lapels. Daytime clothes are also worn by Miss Chatterton in the production, the ever popular black and white combination being seen on three different occasions. Miss Chatterton’s gowns are especially elaborate in “Journal of a Crime,” as she plays the part of an aristocratic French society woman, wife of a famous playwright. Claire Dodd as the theatrical star also wears a wide variety. of styles. One of the most outstanding is a crinkly crepe fabric in a pale salmon shade, shot with gold threads. A dress coat of striped summer ermine, cut swagger style, completes the ensemble. The picture, based on the French play by Jacques Deval, affords Miss Chatterton the greatest opportunity of her career in displaying her unusual dramatic talents, it being a study of the effect of a murder on a woman who kills her rival to protect her home and happiness. There is a strong cast supporting Miss Chatterton, which includes besides Miss Dodd, Adolphe Menjou in the leading masculine role, George Barbier, Douglas Dumbrille, Noel Madison, Henry O’Neill and Phillip Reed. William Keighley directed the production from the screen play by F. Hugh Herbert and Charles Kenyon. Dog Fight on Stage Ruins Film Scene Even canine actors are sometimes subject to temperament. At least Satan, a DobermannPinscher, showed it unmistakably in the First National picture, “Journal of a Crime,” which comes to the... . TheaENE SONS. ss Satan has an important part in the play as the pet of Adolphe Menjou, who has the role of Ruth Chatterton’s errant husband. One morning during production Miss Chatterton made a sad mistake. She had recently purchased a Sealyham, Jackie, and brought it to the studio with her, leaving the dog in her dressing room. Miss Chatterton and Menjou were in the midst of an important scene in which Menjou’s love for Satan acts as a sword thrust in the Chatterton heart. Satan was doing his work nicely until Jackie crept out of the dressing room and spying Miss Chatterton rushed into the scene. Whether Satan thought that Jackie was.trying to steal the limelight from him is known only to himself. At any rate he made a dive for, the Sealyham. Lights were knocked over and cameras joggled amid a series of yelpings as the dogs threshed about the stage. Drink Your Fill of Beauty Ruth Chatterton Won Her First Stage Role on Dare Same Spirit Carried Star of “Journal of a Crime”? to Top of Theatrical Ladder ciates, but Ruth Chatterton was launched upon her remark 1: ISN’T generally known, even by her close friends and asso ably successful theatrical career because she took a dare! Born in New York City one Christmas day of English-American parents, she was christened Ruth because of her father’s distaste for the use of nicknames. He had decided that Ruth was absolutely “nickname-proof” as a girl’s name, but before she was three years old the entire neighborhood was calling her “Mike.” The girl who was to become Hollywood’s First Lady spent an unhampered and _ unrestrained childhood in Fordham Heights, for that region at the time provided acres of forests and beautiful gardens as her playgrounds. Her first literary exploration was Dickens, and she consumed the entire works of the author before she was twelve. She waded through Shakespeare, and with a parrotlike memory chanted the speeches of Lady Macbeth and Juliet. This reading, strangely enough, stirred in her no yearnings for the stage. She had no desire to “act,” but leaned more to music. She was a natural musician, at the age of Our hearts beat a bit more rapidly as we tell you that this gorgeous specimen of femininity is Claire Dodd, who appears in “Journal of a Crime,” First National’s sensational melodrama, along with Ruth Chatterton and Adolphe Menjou. The film will be presented at the Strand next Wednesday. Mat No. 4—20c Noted Composer's Debut in Pictures Cecil Stewart, noted West Coast composer and _ conductor, who handled the orchestra for such productions as “Lady Be Good” and “The Desert Song,” makes his debut in pictures with the First National production of “Journal of a Crime,” which comes to the a» a, Lheatre-on,. . , with Ruth Chatterton in the stellar role. Many of the important scenes take place back stage in a Parisian -theatre during the rehearsal of a musical show. Stewart’s part is to tinkle the piano for the rehearsal. He will be seen tickling the keys when Miss Chatterton slips into the wings and shoots down the star of the production, a part played by Claire Dodd, screen vamp. nine creating a sensation in a piano recital in Carnegie Hall. Since becoming a dramatic actress of note, Miss Chatterton has never forsaken her love for music, even adding singing to her many accomplishments. It was when Ruth was fourteen that there came the dare which shaped the course of her future. She was invited to spend her birthday and the Christmas holidays with an aunt in Washington. Following a matinee party Ruth made a criticism of the work of an actress in the play. An argument ensued and one of the girls dared Ruth to get a job on the stage and do better than the actress she had criticized. Taking the dare, she called on the manager of a nearby theatre and asked for work. To her astonishment she was given a job! The stock company where she applied was comprised of players who later were to scale the heights of fame. Lowell Sherman was the leading man, Pauline Lord was playing second leads, Lenore Ulric was playing small roles and Helen Hayes was enacting child parts! What a combination of names and talent! The successful outcome of the first dare that Ruth took inspired her to accept others and perhaps that accounts, in her challenge acceptance spirit, for the speedy manner in which she rose to fame. She was, as a matter of fact, a star on Broadway at the age of seventeen. Miss Chatterton is an adept at French and found particular delight in her latest First National screen portrayal, that of a woman who kills her rival to protect her home, in “Journal in a Crime,” from the French play by ‘Jacques Deval, and now showing at the -.. . Theatre. She read the original play script in French and kept it on the set together with the regular script being used. Adolphe Menjou, playing opposite Miss Chatterton in “Journal of a Crime,” is also a fluent speaker of the French language and the two carried on lengthy conversations in the foreign tongue, recounting many of their experiences in visits to France. Miss Chatterton told of some of her first experiences in the theatre when, at the age of twenty, she was directing and translating many of her own productions from the French. That was another cycle of events that came about as a result of a dare. Ruth was known to be capable with the French language, but it wasn’t until a friend dared her to try to translate and produce a play of that language that she actually did. The experiment proved highly successful and a series of such plays followed to bring praises to the young actress. The Chatterton record of achievement proves that it’s not safe to dare her to do anything if one doesn’t want that thing done. ‘She’s in no way timid, but in almost every instance where she _ has forged ahead to new glories, it has come about because someone had dared her to accomplish something. Hollywood knows that Ruth always takes a dare, but it doesn’t generally know that taking a dare was what really started her in her theatrical career. Someone dared her to become an actress and today she is accepted as Hollywood’s greatest artist of drama. An especially capable supporting cast will be seen in “Journal of a Crime” with Miss Chatterton, who declared this is her finest screen portrayal. They include Claire Dodd, George Barbier, Douglas Dumbrille, Noel Madison, Henry O’Neill, Phillip Reed and Henry Kolker. William Keighley directed the picture from the screen play by F. Hugh Herbert and Charles Kenyon. eee eee nnn cena enn eee Sessa Page Five