Mr Dodd Takes the Air(Warner Bros.) (1937)

fn. ehestaaala as PAGE 6 1 Mr. Dodd opens his 2 Something isn’t the way it used to be. *“What’s the matter?” mouth to sing ‘‘Here Comes the Sandman.”’ ‘Mr Dodg Takes the M8 (Current Story) Kenny Baker of the Radio Now Film Star Idol Of Millions Of Radio Fans Gets His First Starring Role In “Mr. Dodd Takes The Air’ Kenny Baker, now a famous radio and screen star, didn’t know he could sing until five vears ag —_—_ he sang for company when he was ten or eleven years old. He also played the violin at that time. ‘“Wonderful Mother of Mine’’ was the violin as well as the vocal solo. Kenny started singing in a school Glee Club. He enjoyed it KENNY BAKER Mat No. 104 10¢ and knew he could carry a tune well enough to stay on the “team.” He always sang in the group. Another consideration was the half-point of credit he got out of the Glee Club. The tenor discovered his voice when he was chosen once to sing a solo. Even then he really didn’t discover his voice for himself. The teacher told him he had pretty good voice quality and ought to study. She took him to a teacher who taught him to sing “Where My Caravan Has Rested.” This was his solo spot. And he was seared to death. He gave up singing for the time being and left high school to earn his own living. One of the things he did was to sell ink and stamp pads from door to door. Then he decided to be a singer after all. Kenny entered Long Beach (Calif.) Junior College to study all the singing and music courses they gave there. Miss Edith Hitchcock was his teacher and he gives her great credit for her aid and encouragement. Music was the thing he liked to stay after school to study. But no one seemed anxious to pay him any money for his services as a Singer, so Kenny subjugated his musical ambitions for a while and got himself a job on Boulder Dam. That was al right for awhile, but pretty soon Kenny was singing again — at entertainments, church socials and other functions — and he was studying music for ‘all he was worth. By that time Kenny had gained confidence in his voice and had begun to make use of it. He sang whenever he could, whether he got paid for it or not. He entered contests of all kinds and finally won one. That contest brought him to the notice of Mervyn Le Roy two years ago, because the prize was a week’s engagement at Hollywood’s famous Cocoanut Grove. The meeting marked another turning point in the young crooner’s life. The producer-director placed him under personal contract and got him his job with the “Jell-O” program. Two years after their first meeting LeRoy cast him in “Mr. Dodd Takes the Air.” Clarence Budington Kelland wrote the original story, which was called “The Great Crooner.” LeRoy figured that Kenny fitted the show and put him to work in his first leading role. He had had a vocal bit in “The King and the Chorus Girl” and in a couple of other films, but “Mr. Dodd Takes the Air,” now playing at the Strand, is his first movie job as a leading actor. His many radio fans will be delighted to learn, when they see Kenny on the screen, that he’s a handsome young six-footer, with a good deal of acting ability. Even without that golden voice of his, he’d be a sensational young romantic actor — with it, he’s tops!’ He sings five songs by Al Dubin and Harry Warren in the course of it. Alice Brady, Gertrude Michael and Jane Wyman have the leading. feminine parts in the picture, directed by Alfred E. Green. 9. Tn to that, tima the only song he knew was ‘‘Wonderful Mother of Mine’’ which He stops a moment and reaches for his throat questioningly. es 4 “Go on. Your voice is much better than before your operation.” 9 CANDID CAMERA PREVIEW OF KENNY BAKER SINGING Kenny Baker of duction of ‘‘Mr. -ture. He is operation. Company. Suitable for 5-col. Publicity Plant. 301-B—30c from Order Mat No. Campaign Plan Editor, 321 West 44th St., N.Y.O. WOW NOW FAMOUS MOVIE STARS WANGLED THEIR WAY 224 HER FIRST BIT PART IN “MY MAN GODFREY.” WAS SIGNEO BY WARNER BROS. TO PLAY IN “THE KING AND THE CHORUS GIRL" AS JOAN BLONDELLS CHORUS GIRL FRIEND .. BROWN HAIR ,BROWN YES, 118 LBS. NET, radio fame, signed to a personal contract by Mervyn LeRoy for his proDodd Takes the Air” at Warner Bros., captured by the candid camera in a preview glimpse from the picsinging Comes the Sandman’’ by Al Du bin and Harry Warren. comedy, his voice changes from 4 Daritone to tenor atter a quinsy He doesn’t konw about the change of voice because the doctor has told him not to sing for two weeks after the operation. The two weeks are up the night he goes on the air for the Morpheus Mattress “Here In the Not bad. It seems to 6 “Look Il try a high be working all right now even if it is tenor. note. Let’s see how that will go over.” 1 “That was okay. Now IPIl really go to town in a big way. (Advance Story) “No More Coquettes” Says Screen Siren Gertrude Michael, Arch Vamp of The Movies, Bemoans Modern Girls’ Lack Of Feminine Wiles ‘‘Where,’’ asks Gertrude Michael, the movie actress, ‘‘are the coquettes of yesterday?’’ The blonde star, appearing wit Kenny Baker and Jane Wyman in Mervyn’ leRoy’s*musical ~~ comedy for Warner Bros., ‘‘Mr. Dodd Takes the Air,’’ fears She says, that coquetry, principal charm of femininity, is becoming — if not ‘‘has become’’—a lost art. ‘‘Women seem to be losing a good deal of their charm,’’ says Gertrude, whose long lashes flutter flirtingly at young Mr. Baker in ‘‘Mr. Dodd Takes the Air.’’ ‘‘For whom are they living, I’d like to ask 7 them?’’ she continues. ‘‘They certainly don’t seem to be pay more. BORN 25 YEARS AGO 30 MILES FROM HOLLYWOOD BUT DIDN'T FIND IT $0 EASY BREAKINGIN... STARTED HIS CAREER SINGING IN A CHURCH AT $19 AND ‘CAKES’ FOR HIMSELE AND THE MISSUS,.. SANG ANYWHERE FOR ANYGODY... LANOED A SMALL JOB IN RADIO... DIRECTOR MERVYN LEROY HEARD Him THE REST 15 LEGEND... HAS TITLE ROLE IN"MR. DODD TAKES THE AIR” Is FROM HOMESTEAD, PA.. . TOURED THE COUNTRY WITH HIS PARENTS AND SIX BROTHERS IN REPERTORY... IN LONDON WITH JAMES GLERSON IN “IS ZAT SO’ AND “THE FALL GUY"... WAS HIT ON BROADWAY STAGE ‘ er” KY SELF TO MILLIONS BY HIS UNIQUE Comeo' -++1$ ALSO A"GAG" WRITER, “PLAYED IN STOCK AND SERVATORY OF MUSIC. ++1% AN “OLO-TIMER" IN HOLLYWOOD... HAS ENDEARED HIM; ALWAYS PRETENDING... SHE 1S THE DAUGHTER OF WM. A.BRADY, FAMOUS NEW YORK PrRopUCER AND MARIE RENE, DANSEUSE... CONVENT BRED. .sHE’ WON HIGH HONORS ON THE STAGE ano Mat No. 202—20c ing a good deal of attention to the men any more. And I think that ought to be their chief function. They don’t flirt any They don’t flatter the men and make them believe they are lords of creation. I don’t know what’s wrong with them!”’ Miss Michael cites the presence in business of women as one of the charm-debunkers of the period. ‘“You can’t expect men to be susceptible to a feminity which very often outdoes them at their own games. Women ought to be soft and charming coquettes, sirens who have the men at their feet. Why, men don’t even tie shoe laces for the ladies any more. And where are the feminine frills of clothing that the ladies of yesterday knew how to use so well?’? Miss Michael herself is one of the arch-apostles of femininity in filmdom, She believes in coquetry as one of the aids to beauty, as one of the attractions the ladies can use to good advantage. ““There is nothing so charming as a woman who ean flirt well,’’ says Gertrude. ‘‘Some of them still coquette a bit, but it’s not the way it was in the days of Madame Pompadour and Ninon. And it’s a lot of fun. ‘*Me, I’m all for coquettry.’’ In ‘‘Mr. Dodd takes the Air,’’ Miss Michael demonstrates her ability as a coquette very effectively. She plays the role of a siren who very nearly takes over crooner Kenny Baker for all his worldly goods, and a little more besides. But—as often happens in real life, true love wins out, and Jane Wyman (who is no flirt) gets the man. ‘Mr. Dodd Takes the Air,’’ which opens next Friday at the Strand Theatre, was adapted from the Clarence Budington Kelland novel ‘‘The Great Crooner,’’? and was directed by Alfred E. Green. a ‘ : Ney