King of the Lumberjacks (Warner Bros.) (1940)

ICITY King of Lumberjacks Full of Action! Giant trees topple, roaring and crashing as the foreman screams “timber-r-r!” ... Frantic loggers spike and backstop in the churning chutes as a hundred thousand feet of big sticks smash and clog... Vast, towering forests, poten tial fortunes in skyscrapers, houses, bridges, incite greedy investors ... A rip-snorting, hard and lusty industry, as American and dramatic as a rodeo... And in the midst of it, in the melee of the logging camp, a most amazingly pretty girl. That’s the set-up for ‘King of the Lumberjacks”, which Warner Brothers has just produced as a tribute to the romance and adventure of a great industry which is by no means commonplace. Gloria Dickson plays the girl. John Payne, who used to be a professional wrestler, plays the King in this lusty film which opens at the Strand on Friday. To make the picture, Warner scouts located a rough and virgin forest, set up saw mills, set up a logging camp, hired hundreds of real loggers and timbertoppers, and went on location in the heart of Oregon for more than a month. “King of the Lumberjacks” emerges as a double-fisted drama of the fight for timber, of the jealousies and hi-jinks of the lumbercamps, and of the girl who managed to find her way through all of this. John Payne leaves no doubt as to who’s king of the lumberjacks, and audiences will have no trouble determining who’s queen. Mat 103—15c GLORIA DICKSON Actors Like Writing Both John Payne and Gloria Dickson, stars of Warners’ “King of the Lumberjacks”, have done bits of professional writing in their varied careers. Gloria has sold some of her poetry; John a series of romantic short stories. Has Famous Ancestors John Payne, star of Warners’ “King of the Lumberjacks”, is a descendant of John Howard Payne, who wrote “Home Sweet Home’”’. Another ancestor was Tom Payne, the philosopher of the American Revolution. Little Scenery Used Very little painted scenery was actually used during the filming of “King Of The Lumberjacks’’, since the film starring John Payne and Gloria Dickson utilized the beauty and rugged grandeur of the North Woods. It is reported that the lumbering scenes are among the best of their type ever viewed on the screen. Mat 203—30c GLAMOROUS LADY. Gloria Dickson's beauty is evident in this lovely Hurrell portrait. Golden-haired Gloria is currently appearing as star of "King Of The Lumberjacks", currently at the Strand. (Review) ‘king Of The Lumberjacks’ Thrills Strand Audience A powerful drama of life in a North Woods lumber camp made its local debut last night when the new Warner Bros. picture, “King Of The Lumberjacks” opened at the Strand. Set in a rugged background, “King Of The Lumberjacks” which costars John Payne and Gloria Dickson, crashes to the screen in a blaze of heart-pounding thrills, emerging as a lusty drama of the feud-swept timber lands. John Payne gives a vital portrayal of a young man who comes to work in a lumber camp and proves that he can master the hardships and rugged life of the camp. Beautiful Gloria Dickson is superb as a woman who is faced with the problem of being loyal to a husband she respects but cannot love. Stanley Fields proves his mettle as a fine actor in a role that combines the ferocity of a lumber crew boss with the awkwardness of a tough woodsman in love. Slim, played by John Payne, a young inexperienced city fellow applies for work at a lumber camp, where after many difficulties, he wins the admiration of the boss Dominic, played by Stanley Fields. Tina, played by Gloria Dickson, arrives at the camp just as Slim leaves to spend his vacation in San Francisco. Dominic is badly wounded in a gun fight and Tina nurses him back to health. During his convalescence Dominic falls in love with Tina and they are married before Slim returns. Dominic soon learns that Slim and Tina have been in love for some time and that she had been waiting for Slim to complete a prison sentence. Dominic becomes so enraged that he plans to kill Slim but later repents and decides that he has no right to interfere and he offers to divorce Tina. The suporting cast including Joe Sawyer, Victor Kilian and Herbert Haymond all give fine performances and give the film a genuine he-man atmosphere. The strong screenplay was written by Crane Wilbur from a story by Robert E. Kent. The direction was in the capable hands of William Clemens. ‘King of the Lumberjacks’ Rugged Northwoods Tale To be called “college boy” was a form of insult until John Payne showed the skeptical lumberjacks he could fell a tree with the best of them. Romance and action in the timber country serve as background for “King of the Lumberjacks”, Warner Bros.’ saga involving three characters caught in the stern country where you fight it out—or you don’t. In the film, which opens at the Strand next Friday, John Payne and Gloria Dickson share stellar honors with Stanley Fields in enacting this tale of rawboned drama, as vital as an ax blow. Survival of the fittest was the rule of this logging camp in the great northwest. Into six days a week went gruelling work. The seventh was reserved for an explosion of raucous merriment that often spilled into bloodletting, result of a feud or overharsh words of ‘‘misunderstanding.” All this tangy, salty life has been recreated by Warner Bros. for “King of the Lumberjacks”, in which John Payne, Gloria Dickson and Stanley Fields roar their way across the screen in turbulent drama. Mat 102—15c JOHN PAYNE Gloria Dickson Thanks Hard Work for Fame Gloria Dickson, currently starred in Warner Bros.’ new dramatic film of the Northwest, ““King Of The Lumberjacks”, opening Friday at the Strand, has been keenly interested in acting ever since she can remember. When she was born, in Pocatello, Idaho, twenty-three years ago, her parents named her Thais. Some people found it difficult to pronounce, so for professional reasons. it became Gloria. She received her education at the Lincoln Grammar School in Pocatello and at Polytechnic in Long Beach, California. Her first appearances behind the footlights were in school plays in Long Beach. She believes she did her best work in Zangwill’s play, “The Melting Pot”. Upon leaving school, she made her professional debut as an actress playing a small part in a tent show. Each night’s gate was divided among the players. Gloria’s share ranged from $1.10 to $3.75 a performance. Someone told Gloria about the Federal Theatre Project. How the WPA was sponsoring the presentations of stage productions to create work for actors. She went and got the job. Her first role under the WPA banner was that of Diane in “Seventh Heaven.” Then she played the feminine lead in “Holiday”, cep ma bin Thru “and “The Devil Passes”. The final curtain fell on the last performance of “The Devil Passes” and Gloria found a talent scout from Warner Bros. waiting to see her. He persuaded her to make a screen test. The next thing she knew, she had signed a contract and started to work in “They Won’t Forget” for Warner Bros. Her ambition is to be a first rate emotional actress. Outside of that, she thinks she would like to write novels. She is also very much interested in music and literature, but she doesn’t play any musical instrument nor has she ever sung professionally. She is five feet four inches tall, weighs 113 lbs. has bluegray eyes and blonde hair. Some of the Warner Bros.’ hit films she appeared in are “They Won’t Forget”, “Gold Diggers In Paris”, “They Made Me A Criminal” and “On Your Toes”. Mat 105—15c Gloria Dickson Actor Former Fighter From the boxing ring to a Hollywood sound stage is the long jump made by pugilist Stanley Fields. And he’s done well by himself in both exploits —once matched with the then boxing champ Benny Leonard, now in an impressive featured role in Warner Bros.’ “King of the Lumberjacks” with John Payne and Gloria Dickson. John Payne Stars In Action Drama On the set of Warner Bros.’ “King of the Lumberjacks’, John Payne, who stars with Gloria Dickson in the film, which opens at the Strand Theatre next Friday, was telling about his varied career. As a husky kid in New York, fresh from Virginia’s Episcopal High School and the Columbia School of Journalism, he made his living by bouncing drunks out of bars; managing a pool room, wrestling, writing for pulp magazines, waiting on tables and singing. As John tells it, he eventually became an actor, because his interesting roster of jobs ran out and there was nothing else at the moment he thought he might do for a living. He was thrown out of the Shubert office with no chaperonage from an agent, but, remarkably, he was called back. He got an engagement with a touring company for 20 weeks, during which he sang various bits and played small roles. His biggest job on the tour was three parts in “The Student Prince’”—as a whippersnapper, as an old man and as a captain of the guard. There was one line per part. Out of a job again, he understudied for Reginald Gardner in “At Home Abroad’, and later took over the role with Miss’ Beatrice Lillie. This brought him to the attention of Sam Goldwyn, who brought him to Hollywood for a small part in “Dodsworth.” This role won him no big-term eontracts until Warners spotted him and gave him a role in “Garden of the Moon”. Since then, he has been featured and starred in Warner productions. John would still like to be a writer, but not for the wood pulps again. Thinks he might do good short stories and novels, and that he would go to sea and write them if he ever lost his film job. Varied Transports For Troupers Airplanes, automobiles, Pullman trains, gasoline speeders, logging trains and horses were used to transport members of the Warner Bros. troupe engaged in filming, “King of the Lumberjacks”, the action-crammed drama coming to the Strand Theatre on Friday. The company spent more than a month on location in the virgin timberland of Southern Oregon which accounts for the wide variety of transports. OFFICIAL BILLING WARNER BROS. Pictures, Inc. Presents “KING OF THE with 40% 5%o LUMBER JACKS” 100%, JOHN PAYNE — GLORIA DICKSON 40% STANLEY FIELDS Directed by William Clemens Screen Play by Crane Wilbur From a Story by Robert E. Kent A Warner Bros.-First National Picture 20% EWA 3% 2% 5%o Page Seven