Lilly Turner (Warner Bros.) (1933)

ADVANCE FEATU Advance Feature Chatterton Visited Medicine Show for Screen Atmosphere Makes Rounds of Carnivals With George Brent Before Making “Lilly Turner,’”’ Her Latest Hit By CARLISLE JONES R. ROGER BARTHOLOMEW GRANT who sells ‘‘Grant’s Graduated Gland Granules’’ from an improvised counter in an empty store building on a Main Street Corner in Los Angeles, had distinguished customers recently but didn’t know it. A quiet couple, wearing dark glasses and excessively plain clothing, joined the little group of curious and ailing huddled in the store building, after the ‘‘doctor’’ had started his lecture. They listened with rapt attention and seemed to be making mental notes of the promises of good health and long life, which he was making. Since they appeared interested enough to be good prospective customers, “Doc” Bartholomew Grant neau of that car he would have seen, when they removed their dark the concoction which was to make the world brighter for them. And after they left each place they dropped the purchase in the nearest corner. What they were actually making was a tour of the medicine shows to get a necessary insight into the strange business which forms the background of their newest First National picture, “Lilly Turner,” which comes to the ................ Theatre on with Miss Chat oe ; terton as the star and Brent, her husband, in the leading supporting role. The entire story of “Lilly Turner” is told in an atmosphere of gaudy carnival troupes, medicine shows and “health lectures.” It is a daring role for the exquisite Miss Chatterton, more daring, in fact, than the sensational departure from the usual which she made in “Frisco Jenny.” For in “Lilly Turner” her beautiful form is used to attract customers to the tent show. Being a stickler for knowing the subject she deals with, Miss Chatterton made the rounds of the Main addressed many of his remarks directly toward the quiet couple. He told them that “Grant’s Graduated Gland Granules” were good for almost everything from brain fatigue to fallen arches; that they would prolong life and lighten the problems of existence. Eventually the man bought one of the gaudy blue bottles of the panacea for fifty cents and together the man and woman left the store room. But had the silver-tongued spellbinder followed his customers out of the building, he would have been doubly amazed and voluble in his remarks to future audiences. He would have seen the quiet , corner did ge driven car. And haa -dI presumptious as to pee. . the ton [Ta each place they” glasses, that his distinguished customers were Ruth Chatterton and George Brent. And had he waited until they drove away he would have been even more disconcerted to have seen that the gaudy blue bottle of “Grant’s Graduated Gland Granules” had been left on the dark sill of a side street window, it’s cure-all properties untested, it’s decorated cork untouched! | Seeking Realism | Because Miss Chatterton and Mr. Brent were out after information, not medicine, “Doc’s” place was the third such emporium of health promises they had visit~i the same night. ‘paid for the formation they absorbed by buying a bottle, or a box or a package of ro} Advance Feature Chatterton Does ‘“‘Cooch”’ Dance and Stuns Studio Star Always Does the Unexpected, But She Surprised All In Her “Lilly Turner” Role UTH CHATTERTON has been doing the unexpected all during her eventful life. Her career is an ideal illustration of the old saying that ‘‘the unexpected always happens.’’ The most significant things that have occurred to her have been _ the unexpected ones—often as much of a surprise to her as they were to everyone who knew her. Take the matter of her becoming an actress in the first place. It began as the result of a school girl ‘‘dare.’’ At the mature age of fourteen, she made some sharp but intelligent criticisms of a play she had just seen in Washington with a party of friends. One of the girls in the group rather snootily suggested that Ruth couldn’t do as well as the player she was criticising and dared her to get a job as an actress. She Took the Dare Ruth took the dare. The next day she applied for a position in the company at the theatre. To her astonishment, she was taken on. She has been on the stage and screen ever since. Her joining of Henry Miller’s theatrical companies was one of those ‘‘bolts from the blue’’ that are familiar occurrences to anyone who has followed Miss Chatterton’s career, A procession of triumphs under the Miller management followed, season after season. It is safe to say that Miss Chatterton’s entrance into motion pictures was as complete a surprise to her as it was to her friends. She had taken a screen test in the early days of talking pictures, and the director for Page Eight whom it was made had rejected it. Nothing had come of the incident except disappointment. Miss Chatterton had practically dismissed the screen from her thoughts, when Emil Jannings demanded that she be sent for. Miss Chatterton was summoned—and the rest is history. Followers of Ruth Chatterton have come to expect the unexpected from this amazing actress, who for two years has been one of the important stars of Warner-First National pictures. In ‘‘Frisco Jenny,’’ one of her most successful pictures, the star took her audiences completely by surprise in her delineation of the central figure, the uncrowned queen of San Francisco’s underworld. | Wore Diaphanous Trousers | In ‘‘Lilly Turner,’’ her latest production for First National, which COMES: 402 Ne eine cs. eat gusatsayes Theatre ON oe ,» Ruth has a series of fresh surprises in store for those w" Street “health lectures,” collecting atmosphere for her picture from| The ever charming Ruth Chatterton and Robert Barrat help to make “Doe” Roger Bartholomew Grant “Lilly Turner’ one of the most engrossing pictures ever witnessed. and others like him. Prominent in the cast are George Brent, Frank McHugh and Guy Both Miss Chatterton and Brent Kibbee. declared they enjoyed the experiCut No.6 Out 30c Mat 10c ence of visiting the shows, for while both have been troupers, their sphere of activities were far removed from the gaudy tent show. “Lilly Turner” presents the gilt and glitter of the carnival show, with a realistic picture of the dives of those engaged in this lowly form of entertainment. There is a strong supporting cast which includes Frank McHugh, ADVANCE SHORTS Ruth Chatterton First To Wear New Style Hat Robert Barrat, who plays Ruth Chatterton is the first acjs strong man in Ruth Chatterton’s toss: 10. Weak the new style deep |jatest First National picture, “Lilly crowned hat. She appears in it in| Turner,” now showing at the her latest First National picture, “Hilly Turner.” which opens at the ot eS PEGE sie “Tt isa matter of record that to the” It isa wide brimmed, black satin| yery end of Barrat’s scenes, in picture hat. The day of the shal-| which he plays the part of a mad low crowned, pancake or pill-box hat | man, every man working on the set g| Jumped each time Barrat cut loose. Actor’s Maniacal Shout Frightened Film. Players the Ru‘ Donnelly, Guy Kibbee, Gordon Westcott and Marjorie Gate Theatre, is conceded to have the most blood-curdling maniacal th eee eee eee? George Abbott. rashly believe they can predict what she will do next, or feel certain they have plumbed the depths of her versatility. During the course of the drama, Miss Chatterton is called upon to do an oriental ‘‘coochi’’ dance, as the chief woman performer in the tawdry carnival show she is traveling with. She did turkish and everything else that it—in a manner that caused Director William A. Wellman and her fellow-players to watch her it—diaphanous trousers went with amazement and There had been not a few private bets around the set that the would ask to ““double’’? do the dance itself, con with open-mouthed admiration. star have a fining her own appearances to a few close-ups which would not detract from the dignity of a great dramatic actress. The betters failed to reckon with Ruth Chatterton. To her, the dance was as important a part of the drama as any other scene in the picture, and she mastered it with the thoroughness that is typical of anything Ruth Chatterton does. Those who know Ruth Chatterton best will tell you that it’s a waste of time to try to predict what she will do in a given situation. You ean be sure of one thing—it : always be the unexpected. George Brent has the leading role in ‘‘Lilly Turner’’ opposite the star. The supporting cast is an unusually large one and includes such accomplished artists as Frank McHugh, Guy Kibbee, Ruth Donnelly, Gordon Westcott, Marjorie Gateson, Robert Barrat, Grant Mitchell, Arthur Vinton, Margaret Seddon, Hobart Cavanaugh and Mae Busch. William Wellman, who directed ‘<Frisco Jenny,’’ was in charge of ‘‘Lilly Turner.’’ The picture depicting the glamorous life of the traveling carnival tent shows, is an adaptation of the play by Phillip Dunning and George Abbott, the screen play being f Gene Markey and is over according to First National’ millinery designer, because they are not becoming to the majority of women. Chatterton Pulls Fast One on Fellow Players Ruth Chatterton pulled a fast one on her fellow players at the First National studios during the production of “Lilly Turner,” which comes to the Theatre on As Lilly Turner, the Carshe does a _ hoochie coochie dance on a_ platform nival Queen, in front of a medicine tent show. All the members of other companies on the lot, as well as the Chatterton company, were anxious to see the stately Chatterton wiggle her hips in the cooch, and crowded about the tent at the scheduled time for the scene to be shot. But Miss Chatterton took one glance at the crowd and whispered a quiet word to Director William A. Wellman. The result was that the “shooting” time was changed so that no one knew it was being taken except those directly concerned. Mad Actor Tosses Fellow Player Through Window Frank McHugh walked with a limp for several days after a scene in “Lilly Turner,” Ruth Chatterton’s latest starring vehicle for Warner Bros. which comes to the The scene calls for Robert Barrat, a carnival strong man, to beat him up and throw him out of a window. Barrat, who is supposed to have gone suddenly berserk, as a result of his unrequitted love for Lilly Turner does a good job both of the beating and tossing. He hurled McHugh bodily through a window, sash Theatre on and all. McHugh fell to the ground considerably bruised though not seriously injured. BIOGRAPHIES GEORGE BRENT George Brent, featured player at the Warner Bros.-First National Studio, who will next be senn in an important role in ‘‘Lilly Turner’’ with Chatterton, was born in Dublin, Ireland, and educated in the University there. His first stage experience was with stock companies of which he has at one time or another owned six. His first screen role was with Ruth Chatterton, to whom he is now married, in ‘‘The Rich Are Always With Us.’’ Other pictures in which he has had prominent roles are ‘‘Baby Face,’’ ‘‘The Keyhole,’’ ‘‘The Crash,’’ ‘‘ They Call It Sin,’?’ ‘*The Purchase Price,’’? ‘‘Week-End Marriage’’ and ‘‘Miss Pinkerton,’’ also ‘‘So Big’’ and ‘‘42nd Street.’’ RUTH CHATTERTON Ruth Chatterton was born in New York City. She began her stage career at fourteen and was a star at seventeen and director of her own company at twenty. One of her greatest stage triumphs was in ‘‘Mary Rose,’’ by Sir James Barrie, she, along with Ethel Barrymore and Maude Adams, being the only American actresses ever to be starred in one of Sir James’ plays. At the time of her advent into pictures, she was one of the leading stars of the American stage. Always a consummate actress and richly endowed with stage experience, she easily adapted herself to the changed conditions of a screen role and was outstanding in her first effort in pictures. Since then she has gained even a greater popularity then she enjoyed as a stage star. Some of her biggest screen successes are, ‘‘Madame X,’’ ‘‘Sarah and Son,’’? ‘‘Once a Lady,’’ and the First National pictures ‘<Friseco Jenny,’’ ‘‘The Rich Are Always With Us’’ and ‘‘The Crash.’’