Madame Dubarry (Warner Bros.) (1934)

Current News @ Human Interest Stories e Casting Notes ® Star Stories As suggested in The Film Daily’s Poll of motion picture editors Owen Plays Louis XV For Second Time For the second time in his career, Reginald Owen is playing the role of King Louis XV on the sereen. His current appearance is in the Warner Bros. production of “Madame Du Barry,” which COMes tO= thea, Sgeida. ewe Theatre ra Voie ne Ae YE The first time that he enacted the role of the famous French king was with George Arliss in “Voltaire”. Dolores Del Rio has the role of Du Barry. (Review ) Dolores Del Rio Delights In Conception of Du Barry Magnificent Production of Spectacular Comedy Drama Has Local Premiere NEW Du Barry, and a delightful one, in a setting so gorgeous as to dazzle belief; a Du Barry of mirth and frivolity, rather than a scheming politician; the Du Barry who delighted as well as ruined King Louis XV came to the theatre last night in the person of Dolores Del Rio, and that glorious young star, aided by an all star cast made good Warner Bros.’ claim to having produced the most interestingly spectacular period comedy drama of recent years. Du Barry, as presented on the stage by Mrs. Leslie Carter and on the silent screen by Pola Negri, was the consummate politician, who used her charms to further her own and her sponsor, Richelieu’s, ambitions. The Del Rio “Du Barry” is a madcap hoyden, in love with life, who kept her bargain with the King, who lived and loved mightily and laughingly, and who laushingty~ went to thé “prison to which Marie Antoinette, after Louis XV’s death, consigned her. “Madame Du Barry” is a drama, full of intense and vivid situations; it is a comedy, one of the funniest screened in many seasons; it is a spectacle, for the superb costuming and magnificence of the settings beggar the imagination, while the dancing of the Albertina Rasch girls is something marvellous. Warner Bros. have outdone themselves in producing this masterpiece of the most glamorous period of history. Edward Chodorov, the author, presented the human, unmoral but very lovable, Du Barry, and Miss Del Rio has reincarnated her for audiences who, from the moment her tiny foot is presented for a Richelieu kiss, sympathize with, laugh with, and weep with her. Reginald Owen, who played Louis XV with George Arliss in “Voltaire,” again portrays the same monarch, this time in his 60th year, and he makes an appealing character of the old reprobate, who was lonely, love hungry and very ready to die. Victor Jory, as the powerful Due d’Aiguillon, Osgood Perkins as “Richelieu,” who turns Du Barry over to the King; Verree Teasdale, as the Duchess de Grammont, Du Barry’s bitterest enemy; Ferdinand Gottschalk as the inimitable valet, Lebel; Anita Louise, as Marie Antoinette; and Dorothy Tree, Maynard Holmes, Henry O’Neill, Hobart Cavanaugh, Helen Lowell and Joan Wheeler, all of whom have important roles, enact their parts with a spirit and skill that will make their presentations models for those who come after them to copy. Hundreds of other players make up the members of the court, the dancing girls, and the crowds. Magnificent sets of the Palace of Versailles, the king’s court and sumptuous gardens lend a gorgeous beauty to the general enchantment of the story. The settings are replicas of authentic buildings and furnish Page Four Leaps ‘From Rags To Royal Robes’ Dolores Del. Rio has given a new slant’ to the old phrase, “From rags to royal raiment.” The exotic star wears royal gowns for the first time in her cinematic career in the Warner Bros. production of “Madame Du Barry,” now showing at the Aa ett ae cs (aes eae Theatre. Dolores, for the most part, has won screen fame in peasant and native girl roles that required her to wear either grass skirts or rags and tatters. The star has always felt herself fitted to play modern roles, and costume pictures such as “Madame Du Barry”. “Wonder Bar,” recently re leased, proved her ability to portray up-to-date girls, and now she appears as the famous favorite of King Louis XV, whose extravagances were the scandal of the eighteenth century. With Orry-Kelly, chief designer for Warners, Miss Del Rio prepared the gowns she wears in the role of Du Barry. Yards and yards of costly fabrics are used to elothe the star as befits the favorite of a French king. Brocades from France, metal cloths from the Orient, and lace of the expensive Brussels variety were utilized in the making of thirtyfive gowns she wears in the picture. The picture, based on the story and screen play by Edward Chodorov, deals with the intimate life of Du Barry and King Louis XV. Miss Del Rio heads an all-star east which includes Reginald Owen, Victor Jory, Osgood Perkins, Verree Teasdale, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Dorothy Tree and hundreds of others. ings, as are the costumes, wigs and mannerisms. William Dieterle directed with fine understanding of the historical value of the picture, and has eaught the spirit of the various elements of the drama and woven them into an entertainment that for sheer beauty, charm and interest cannot be too highly recommended. “Du Barry,” as produced by Warner Bros. is a credit to the screen and to the producers. Dolores Del Rio In “Du Barry” At... . Today “Madame Du Barry,” the Warner Bros. production depicting the intimate life and loves of the famous beauty who ruled the court of King Louis XV, comes TOMER Oe eat ey Theatre today with Dolores Del Rio in the stellar role. Although the intrigues of the court, as in any story of Du Barry, will be apparent, Edward Chodorov, the author of the eurrent screen play, is said to have concerned himself with the lighter side of the king’s favorite. The picture, while billed as a comedy drama, with the emphasis on the comedy, also is a mammoth spectacle with its gorgeous reproductions of the court, the palace at Versailles, the famous Colonnade Gardens, where the grand ladies and resplendent courtiers disported themselves in gaiety and luxury, while the people starved. Nor is the picture without its dramatic moments when Du Barry fights intrigue with intrigue, usually outwitting her enemies, who would gladly thrust a dagger through her beautiful back. Yet even in these more intense sequences, the irrepressible Du Barry usually manages to end them with a laugh—at the expense of the enemy. There is a gorgeous and novel dance staged by the famous A\lbertina Rasch dancers. The. picture has an unusually large cast of talented players in the principal roles and hundreds of others in minor parts. Dolores Del Rio has the part of Du Barry with Reginald Owen playing opposite her as King Louis XV. Others include Victor Jory, Osgood Perkins, Verree Teasdale, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Dorothy Tree, Anita Louise, Maynard Holmes, Henry O’Neill, Hobart fe Del Dolores “Madame Du Barry,” now at the Strand. Mat No. 14—10c Rio, star’ of SSS SEE_™____ SSS SS SSS SSS SEES TE ES ST Z i= ZB REGINALD OWEN CAPTAINED -~ THE CRICKET | TEAM AT : CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY IN. ENGLAND “MADAME DU BARBY= WASHED DISHES IN A LUMBER CAMP~ THE ONLY JOB HE COULD GET AFTER BEING GRADUATED FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA/ This great cast.is part of that assembled for “Madame Du . Barry,’ the new Warner Bros. production at the Strand. DOL > tO KEEPS ON HAND 37 VARIETIES OF PERFUME ) FOR USE IN SYMBOLIZING 37 OF HER NUMBEBLESS MOODS VERREE TEASDALE HAS THREE PET § TURTLES WITH THE WORDS “FORGET ME NOT” SET IN DIAMONDS ON & THEIR, BACKS. THEY.” ARE THE GIFT OF ADOLPHE MENJOU ANDO LIVE IN HER Mat No. 17—20c Dolores Del Rio Now Established As Leading Star ff fr ; Cavanaugh and Helen Lowell. 4 Dolores Del Rio, after years of playing leading film roles, is now a full fledged motion picture star. The beautiful Mexican girl who leaped to film fame in the First National picture, “Joanna,” with Dorothy Mackaill, afterwards reaching top success in her characterization of “Charmaine” in “What Price Glory,” has attained stardom as the Countess Du Barry, favorite of King Louis 22 XV, in the Warner Bros. produc tion of “Madame which comes to the THEATER ONU a. fh isso oes Du Barry is her ideal role. The gay, scheming and tempestuous favorite of Louis XV had an exciting time of it during her unofficial reign of the French court —and her adventures have been carefully and authentically adapted to the screen by Edward Chodorov. Miss Del Rio will have a superb supporting cast in the picture, including Victor Jory, Verree Teasdale, Osgood Perkins and Reginald Owen. Du_ Barry,” Road to Success Says Film Actor A good actor is never an accident, claims Reginald Owen, the distinguished character actor who plays Louis XV in the Warner Bros. production of “Madame Du Barry,” which comes to the LS ah ae Theatre on Owen says that no matter what inherent dramatic talent one may have, it can’t be properly presented until one has acquired a great deal of actual experience. In Owen’s case, he entered ‘concerned in “Mme. Du Barry” Is A Veritable League of Nations In Hollywood they called the production of “Madame Du Barry,” now showing at the... Soe Ree Theatre, the “Warner Bros. League of Nations.” The list of those importantly this production reads like a roll call at Geneva. Dolores Del Rio, the star, is of course a Mexican. She was born in Durango as_ Dolores Asunsolo. William Dieterle, the director, is German, as is Henry Blanke, supervisor of the film. Dieterle was an actor in Berlin before his arrival in Hollywood a few years ago. Blanke has been in this country for about ten years, having come over originally with Ernst Lubitsch. Reginald Owen, playing Louis XV, is an Englishman. Sol Polito, cameraman, is Italian and Frank Flanagan, “oaffer’? (and that means head electrician) is Irish. The film treats of Du Barry as a woman, giving the intimate side of her life and loves. The story. and screen play are by Edward Chodorov, with dance creations by the Albertina Rasch Daneers. Tree’s Academy of Dramatic Art in London shortly after his sixteenth birthday. Owen graduated from Tree’s Academy with high honors, including the Bancroft Gold Medal for Acting—quite a high honor for an aspiring young actor. “Madame Du Barry” is an intimate story of that famous lady’s love affairs in King: Louis’ court. It was written by Edward Chodorov. Others in the cast headed by beautiful Dolores Del Rio are Victor Jory, Osgood Perkins and Verree Teasdale.