Maybe Its Love (Warner Bros.) (1935)

Phil Reed Learned Stage QN THE GAS Work From James Cagney Young Broadway Star Now Has A Leading Role In “Maybe It’s Love” HE red haired young Irishman grinned and said, ““That’s swell, Kid,’’ and the tall, dark boy stopped dancing. ““You’re a swell teacher, Jim,’’ replied the lad. ‘Bottle it,’’ said the Irishman. job, don’t you?”’ ‘‘Hook, kid, you need a “Yeah. I’m almost down to my last cent. You know, that vaudeville tour didn’t last as long as I expected—’’ The red-headed around Broadway as Jimmy Cag one, known ney, interrupted the other, an insignificant youngster named Milton LeRoy who had just started a theatrical career. “T’m going to do the dances on the next ‘Grand Street Follies’. I think I can get you a spot in it, if you want.” And that was how young Mil ton, now widely and favorably . known in films as Phillip Reed, landed in his first Broadway show. The “Grand Street Follies” also meant a great deal to Cagney, who not only staged the dances, hut appeared in an important role. Reed Meets Jimmy Cagney Phillip, who attracted the attention of fans in “Glamour,” with Constance Cummings, “British Agent” with Kay Francis, and who is now appearing in the First National production, “Maybe It’s Love,” at the. aire Theatre, has crowded ‘many wivid experiences into his 26 years: nr mE PES DOM Hi NOW ae OTK tat and went to school at Erasmus Hall in Brooklyn. Upon graduating he entered Cornell, intending to become an engineer. The resolution lasted only a year, however: He left college to take a job, playing bits and small parts with a Hoboken, N. J., stock company. After a few months with the stock company, Phillip joined the vaudeville act of Eddie Lambert, the quaint comedian of stage and screen, and got his first taste of the two-a-day. Returning to New York, after several months on the road, Phillip decided that since he wanted to stick to vaudeville, he had better learn tap-dancing. So he joined a class at Michael’s School of Dancing, where he met the pugnacious Cagney, who was teaching tap at a dollar an hour. Aftermath of a Flop “Grand Street Follies” was a big hit on Broadway. Besides Jimmy Cagney, the show brought Albert Carroll and Dorothy Sands to the attention of the big town. Phil left the cast to go into a show called “The Dagger and the Rose.” It was a musical version of “The Firebrand,” and it looked, in manuscript, as if it might be a big hit. It lasted five days in Atlantic City, and closed without so much as a ripple in the broad Atlantic. Phil sent a wire to Cagney. “You ean come back,” wired that young man, “if you stay until the end of the run.” Phil applied to a vaudeville producer named Max Gordon (the same Max Gordon who ranks as one of the country’s foremost theatrical impresarios) for a job, and was placed in an act with Alma Rubens, who had received extensive bookings due to her beauty and film reputation. She was already ill, with the sickness that later. cost her life, and was in no condition to work. Makes Broadway Hit But they left, in an act called “The Eternal Triangle,” and toured the RKO Circuit for 17 weeks. The act went over beautifully but the beautiful screen Page Ten They've Made Up After the battle, Gloria Stuart, —<—prch sweethaort of t “He; 72 Comes the Navy,” and “Row Alexander, top cadet of “Flirtation Walk,” show just how lovers’ spats should be ended in the First National comedy “Maybe It’s Love,” now showing © at the Strand Theatre. Mat No. 1—10c star’s physical condition made the tour anything but a pleasure to Reed. He grows sad whenever he thinks of the ill-fated actress. ‘When Phil returned to New York, he was given a part in what he ;terms one of the best modernplays, “Serena Blandish,” by S. N. Behrman, and began to make himself known around Broadway as a juvenile of definite promise. A season of summer stock in Liberty, New York, followed and then came a role in “Grand Hotel.” It was a minor role, that of the gigolo, but he understudied the “Baron” role of Henry Hull. “Melody” was his next show. Just when things looked brightest for Phil’s stage future, Max Arnow, Warner casting director, who had watched his career for several years, gave Phillip a screen test which proved. highly successful. He was packed off to California with a long-term contract in his pocket. Screen Success Arrives Reed was not rushed into overnight screen fame. For almost a year he played small roles in such pictures as “Jimmy the Gent,” “Female,” “The House On 56th Street,” “Fashions of 1934,” “Gambling Lady” and “Dr. Monica.” Then he was given larger roles and leads in “Glamour,” “A Lost Lady” and “British Agent.” His latest picture, “Maybe It’s Love,” will present him in a leading role. © Gloria Stuart and Ross Alexander have the leading roles in “Maybe It’s Love,” a sparkling comedy drama based on Maxwell Anderson’s play. Others in the east include Frank McHugh, Helen Lowell, Joseph Cawthorn and Ruth Donnelly. William McGann directed. CawthornHasHad Colorful Career On Comedy Stage Some sixty years ago, a chubby three-year-old boy made his first public stage appearance at Robinson’s Hall, New York City. He charmed the audience with his precocious singing and recitations, and Master Joseph Bridger Cawthorn thus began a long and honorable career. Nowadays, he is Joe Cawthorn, the First National character comedian who plays in “Maybe It’s Love,” which is now showing at PHC Gh ee. ee iat Theatre. Cawthorn’s career has been one of the most colorful in the history of the American theatre. For years he reigned as one of Broadway’s favorite comedians, playing with some of the most famous stars in the world. He played musical comedy, legitimate comedy and light operatic comedy. He starred in vaudeville all over the country. He became a great favorite in England. He came to Hollywood in 1926 and immediately made the name of Joe Cawthorn a sought-after one in the film colony. The talkies made him even more important, and Cawhorn’s portrayals in such films as “Grand Slam,” “Twenty Million Sweethearts” and “House “ wife” often come near to steal ing the pictures. “Maybe It’s Love” is based on the thrilling romantic drama by Maxwell Anderson which is spiced with hilarious laughter. In the all star cast besides Cawthorn, are Gloria Stuart, Ross Alexander, Frank McHugh, Helen Lowell, Phillip Reed and Ruth Donnelly. William McGann 4directed. Attended Same School But Never Met Although Ross Alexander and Phillip Reed, who have the leading male roles as rivals in love in the new First National picture, “Maybe It’s Love,” now showamgat the uote ess chi. oei kes Theatre, were both educated at Erasmus Hall in New York about the same time, they never met until they had grown up and were known as two of Broadway’s brightest young actors. Actress So Funny She Upsets Cast Maude Eburne is a tough actress to work with—because she’s often so funny in her scenes that she upsets her fellow performers! She completely upset Gloria Stuart and Phillip Reed in a scene for the First National picture, “Maybe It’s Love,” with her comedy antics as an eccentric landlady—and the scene had to be shot all over again. The picture is now showing at there e ae Theatre. Gloria Stuart Once Newspaper Reporter Gloria Stuart, who appears with Ross Alexander and Phillip Reed in the new. First National comedy, “Maybe It’s Love,” which COMGStO thes eee TheaLPO ON eee hie cial ce » was once a@ newspaper woman. She wrote about society and the theatre for a San Francisco Daily before winning fame as an actress—and as she proudly boasts, was pretty good as a reporter! Alexander Would Rather Starve Than Quit Acting Broadway Star Featured In “Maybe It’s Love” Has Been On Stage Since 16 good, Ross Alexander says that he would probably | te the stage and the movies were suddenly abolished for starve to death. He cheerfully admits that he has never wanted to be anything else but an actor, from his early boyhood days, and would be in a bad, bad way if he were compelled to stop acting. In fact, he says he’d rather starve than quit acting. Alexander is the tall, cheery young individual who has the leading male role in the First National production, “Maybe It’s Love,”? which comes to the...... PAeatresonele ec kesk ss ok He has appeared prominently in two other recent picture hits, “Gentlemen Are Born” and “Flirtation Walk.” Of course, he had to learn a bit about mathematics and literature during his school days at Erasmus Hall in Brooklyn. But while other boys were talking glibly of becoming engineers and bond salesmen, Ross never loss sight of the fact that sooner or later, he would be behind the footlights, thrilling vast audiences with his acting. When he was 16, the principal suggested to his parents that since their offspring was much more intent upon becoming an actor than a student, it might be wiser to allow him to go on his merry way. Ross didn’t mind a = bit; ire adds: He joined a stock company and went about getting the experience that older actors told him was necessary. For several years he played in stock and road companies, and finally made _ his Broadway debut in a play called “The Ladder.” “The Ladder” still has some sort of record on Broadway by playing for two years to the lowest grosses ever recorded along the Great White Way. It dealt in reincarnation, and is said to have cost its producer, a wealthy oil man from Oklahoma, more than $2,000,000. Ross remained in the cast for over a year and a half. Then for the next couple of years, he played in two big hits, “Let Us Be Gay,” the Rachael Crothers comedy success, and “That’s Gratitude,” starring Frank Craven. These plays established him firmly as one of the cleverest actors in New York. Among other plays that Ross appeared in later were “After Tomorrow,” “The Stork Is Dead,” “Honeymoon,” “The Wooden Slipper” and “The Party’s Over’— some successful and some flops. But in each play his dramatic stature grew. Alexander was brought to Hollywood by one of the major film plants, all set for good film roles, only to find that he had nothing to do but draw sizeable weekly pay checks. The company, as sometimes happens in the film colony, couldn’t decide what to do with him. Max Arnow, casting director at Warner Bros.-First National, had long been an admirer of Alexander’s acting, and managed to get his release at the studio which had signed him originally. His new picture, “Maybe It’s Love,” offers him the type of role that made him famous on Broadway. In this adaptation of a Maxwell Anderson drama, Ross appears as a struggling young clerk, whose battles with economic problems in his efforts to find happiness with his bride, Gloria Stuart, pathetic. Alexander admits that he isn’t athletic by temperament, although he enjoys tennis and swimming. He is interested in music, although he plays no musical instrument particularly well. He ruefully says that he doesn’t know how to save money, and guesses that he’ll have to get a business manager. And the only thing he collects is — not first editions or etchings — but debts! Others with Ross Alexander in the cast of “Maybe It’s Love,” which was directed by William McGann, are Gloria Stuart, Helen Lowell, Frank McHugh, Ruth Donnelly, Phillip Reed, Joseph Cawthorn and Maude Eburne. are both amusing and Alexander Played Lead in “Ladder” For Two Year Run* Ross Alexander played in one show for a year and a half to audiences that paid nothing for their seats! Alexander, the new Warner Bros.-First National character juvenile, had one of the leading roles in a play that is still Broadway history, “The Ladder.” It’s an interesting tale, the saga of “The Ladder.” It was produced by a multi-millionaire oil man, Edward Davis, and dealt with reincarnation. When it opened to extremely Ross Alexander Mat No. 7 —10e unflattering notices Davis declared “The Ladder” would break all long-run records, whether the public attended or not. So a east of first-rate Broadway performers enacted the reinearnation drama for two years, often to an audience of a dozen or two. Seats could be obtained all over New York without paying a penny! Ross Alexander was in the original cast, and he remained with it some twenty months. Alexander now has the leading masculine role in “Maybe It’s Love,” an ultra modern drama of the trials and troubles of a pair of young lovers, which is showINS HAD VON Os Geshe. aks ey, Theatre. It is based on the sparkling drama of Maxwell Anderson, the famous Broadway playwright. Gloria Stuart has the feminine lead while others in the cast include Frank McHugh, Helen Lowell, Phillip Reed, Joseph Cawthorn, Ruth Donnelly and Dorothy Dare. William McGann directed the picture from the screen play by Jerry Wald and Harry Sauber. The adaptation was by Lawrence Hazard. ena cy?