My Bill(Warner Bros.) (1938)

(Fashion) Kay Francis Has Lovely Frocks In New Film A picture starring Kay Francis rarely fails to be a fashion event, and her latest Warner Bros. film, ‘‘My Bill,’’ is no exception. However, in this picture she plays the role of mother to four adolescent children, so that Designer Orry-Kelly’s chore was to fashion clothes that would make her appear sufficiently mature but nevertheless extremely chic. Accordingly, his choice of materials was fully as important as his choice of lines. He used many prints, heavy monotone erepes and silk jerseys for Kay while, for her screen daughter, Anita Lozise, he used mainly taffeta, to emphasize her youth. One smart street dress Miss Franeis wears is done in the autumn tones of cocoa and dark brown. The dress of heavy silk jersey is styled with narrow box pleats down the front which are cobbler-stitched in brown part yay down. The lapel collar and wrist bands of the long sleeves also show this stitching. Orry-Kelly used heavy black crepe for a long-sleeved shirtmaker, a perennial favorite with American women, Fullness falls from the yoke in the form of narrow pleats, which are stitched down from the waist to lower hipline. Studs of gold and rubies close the front and fasten the cuffs. Kay Francis herself, is so partial to subdued prints that she seldom makes a picture without including at least one such dress. In ‘‘My Bill’’ she has three. One is a heavy brown and white fabric shot with silver threads. It is made with both short-sleeved, V-necked bodice and semi-full skirt _ gathered into a wide fitted waistband. LIKES TRICK HATS Anita Louise loves pillboxes and cartwheels, so that her millinery collection is divided almost equally between the two. In the winter she likes the wide-brimmed hats of dark felt, in the summer of pastel straws. Fabric pillboxes make good informal hats and Anita considers them stunning accompaniment for a dinner suit when covered with flat flowers. Anita’s latest Warner Bros. film is ‘‘My Bill.’’ Mat 203—30c KAY FRANCIS — Fascinating and famous brunette star who heads the cast of “My Bill” which is now showing at the Strand Theatre. SHORTS AND FILLERS Anita Louise keeps a diary but it isn’t the kind you might think. It’s composed entirely of comments on things she has learned during the day and clever things people within her hearing have said. A sample entry made on the set of the Warner Bros. film, ‘‘My Bill,’’ quotes Kay Francis as follows: ‘‘There’s a man who makes being useless an art.’’ Psychologists can talk all they please about yellow being a color which repels the male, but Kay Francis gives it her okay by wearing a soft suede waisteoat and gauntlet gloves in butter yellow with a grey suit in her latest picture, ‘‘My Bill.’’ Anita Louise, featured in “My Bill? models an all-through-the-day ward robe. (Left to Right) Sheer wool suspender suit; Crepe afternoon Since Kay Francis came into motion pictures in 1929, she has been the -most consitent between-scenes knitter of any of the stars, but not until her latest Warner Bros. film, ‘¢My Bill,’’ which is now showing at the Strand Theatre, did she do any knitting before the camera. The knitting scene was a regular sewing circle, with Anita Louise, Bonita Granville and Elisabeth Risdon also in it. Dickie Moore, expected by Kay Francis herself to give her strenuous competition for top scene-stealing honors in her picture, ‘‘My Bill,’’ has the most footage ever given him in any single feature in the Warner Bros. offering at the Strand. f dress with brief pleated jacket; Chif* fon dance frock with tiny velvet bows. [9] ‘Mat 401—60c (Current) To Be Another Bette Davis Is Bonita’s Goal Bonita Granville, who crashed to a unique sort of fame in probably the ‘“meanest’’ child role of all time, the tale-bearing brat of ‘‘ These Three,’’ is seeking a new high in juvenile feminine cussedness. Like Bette Davis, before Bette played in ‘‘Of Human Bondage,’’ ‘‘Fog Over ’Frisco’’ and ‘‘ Border Town,’’ Bonita sees a more interesting future in playing hated brats than beloved ones. In Warner Bros.’ new film for Kay Francis, ‘‘My Bill,’’ which is now showing at the Strand Theatre, Bonita is cast as one of the two ungrateful daughters. Anita Louise is the other, Bobby Jordan an unreasonable son. But they’re all ‘‘softies’’ beside Bonita, student of Miss Davis’s unforgettable ‘‘Mildred’’ and other bad girls. Born of theatrical parents, Bonita was on the vaudeville stage at the age of three. She got into films because of her resemblance to Ann Harding, playing Ann’s daughter in ‘Westward Passage.’’ ‘‘Silver Dollar’? and ‘‘Cavaleade’’ were other pictures in which she appeared rather inconspicuously. Then Sam Goldwyn gave her the part of that most horrible of all mean little girls in ‘‘ These Three.’’ The part made her a star with as strange a claim to fame as Bette Davis’s was when she sky-rocketed via ‘Of Human Bondage.’’ Although Bonita wants to play a sympathetic role occasionally, just so she will not be fatally ‘‘typed,’’ she wishes to grow up into an adult rival of her friend, Miss Davis, whom she worships. And who, incidentally, has the highest respect for Bonita’s talent. HE WON'T TATTLE! Maurice Murphy is the latest of actor-writers to turn down offers to write Hollywood gossip from the ‘‘inside.’’ The young actor is associate editor of one Hollywood publication but, like the others in his position, doesn’t think it fair to take advantage of his double-threat position. Murphy is in ‘‘My Bill.’’ ————