Noahs Ark(Warner Bros.) (1928)

—| Gores Costello in oaks Ark” w George OBrien-@ Werner bros. Production Production No. 10—Cut or Mat Heart on her lips And soul Within her eyes Soft as her clime And sunny As her skies. —Byron. “SUNRISE” OPENS NEW DAY FOR O’BRIEN Sunrise and a new day is a perfect saying in its application to George O’Brien and his present status in pictures. O’Brien’s rocketing career as a leading man received a startling impulse with the release of “Sunrise.’ Before the first wave of that impulse had subsided O’Brien was caught on the crest of another and as a result scores a remarkable triumph in the most imposing film of all time—‘“Noah’s Ark.” Even before “Sunrise” was publicly released it was intimated in reliable sources that O’Brien would score a tremendous hit in the picture. It was at this time that Warner Bros., after three years of research and _ preparation, were rounding up their plans for filming “Noah’s Ark” as a_ $2,000,000 super-production. O’Brien, with his robust phy sique, general popularity and handsome face, appeared to fit naturally into the romantic role, opposite Dolores Costello as the star. J. L. Warner, production chief, after conferring with Darryl Francis Zanuck, associate producer, who wrote the original story for “Noah’s Ark,” and personally conducted much of the research, and with Director Michael Curtiz, opened negotiations and as a result O’Brien transferred his make-up box to the Warner studio. In “Noah’s Ark,” O’Brien appears as Japheth, son of Noah, in the Biblical sequence, and as Bill Travis an American, in the modern. 8 despite the fact that for over three} DOLORES COSTELLO in “NOAH’S ARK” with GEORGE O’BRIEN—The Spectacle of the Ages Production No. 11—Cut or Mat REAL MAKERS OF “NOAH’S ARK” Dolores Costello, Vitaphone Spect . While it seems a certainty that a great deal of credit for the making of “Noah’s Ark” will be given its director and the various people gathered together by Warner Bros. for the picture’s production, | there is one group that played a| big part in it which is more than likely to be overlooked by the’! movie public. This group is the) one made up of the research staff attached to Warner Bros.’ studios. It is questionable if any one will ever give a thought to these men years they labored diligently in digging into the records of the past so that the scenes, costumes and thousands of little details con-| nected with the picture now showing here might be correctly repro-| duced on the screen. What the public see in “Noah’s Ark” on the screen is the outcome of over three years’ work. Many things will impress it and most of | all the immensity of it all, for it was intended to be the biggest mo| tion picture ever made. Some of its settings are tremendous. When) the Warners found they were being. cramped in their own back yard) they moved out into the country. Their back yard in Hollywood, by| the way, is a mere forty acres in ith George O’Brien, in Warner Bros. Now Playing at the... .. Theatre extent. All through the picture there are evidences of great physical work in the building of the production, but there are men in Hollywood who declare the hardest work of all was done not by the builders, costumers or artisans, but by the research staff. If ever a man selected for a picture a subject requiring research, that man was Darryl Francis Zanuck, and ' the picture, “Noah’s Ark.” There were all kinds of questions and problems for the research department to look into and in doing so its staff was forced to comb libraries, both private and public, all over the world. Every available interpretation, version and revision of the Bible was _ painstakingly searched. When it is recalled that the Bible was revised between thirty and forty times before the adoption of the present text, an idea of the amount of work in connection with this phase of the subject is afforded. Such questions the as exact nature of the Ark’s construction, | Noah’s home life, what the infidels of his time looked like and how they dressed, what their cities were built of and hundreds of other questions were given to the research department to solve. MARY HOPES TO SEE TRAVIS AMONG SOLDIERS SHE ENTERTAINS MAKERS OF “NOAHS ARK” ZANUCK WRITES “NOAH’S ARK” Darryl Francis Zanuck, Associate Executive at the Warner studios, has had as interesting a career as anyone with the motion picture industry. He was born in Wahoo, Nebraska, where he received his education. At the entry of the United States in the World War, Mr. Zanuck enlisted in the 37th Division and was sent overseas where he served through three major offensives. During the Argonne drive, the man who had been sending the divisional contributions to “The Stars and Stripes” was killed, and Mr: Zanuck volunteered to carry on the work. He enjoyed it so much that on his return home he began writing short stories. He met with instant success. Early in 1921 he suggested a plot for aesmevinepieture-to* William Russell who purchased it and made the picture for Fox. This was the beginning of his scenario writing. Today he is one of the most prolific writers for the screen. In addition to his executive work at the studio he has written the original stories for several Warner specials, among them “Ham and Eggs at the Front,” “Old San Francisco” and “Noah’s Ark.” BA TE BNE A ATO TCT TN SCTE TE LAS OTA TT RITA TTS WHEN DRAMATIC } LICENSE IS TABOO That elastic thing known in the theatre as “dramatic license” has been guilty of many sins. There are few playwrights who haven’t availed themselves of its alleged privifeéges and the public has become so used to them that it receives even flagrant liberties with a shrug. There is one subject, however, with which there can be no flirting, and that is history. And when it comes to Biblical history, the writer taking liberties with it would be considered out of his mind. For this reason it seems like a brave gesture on the part of Warner Bros. to even dream of producing a picture based on the story of “Noah’s Ark” and the Deluge. If ever there was a subject that had to be handled with reverence this was it. Furthermore, it had to be as meticulously correct in its details as it was humanly possible to make it. Of these things the Warners were well aware. Could |they assure themselves that it was possible to get the real facts all would be well. The only way to do this was by research and three years before cameras began clicking men in various parts of the world were delving into evervthing connected in any way with the story of the Ark. The result of all the research should be tremendously interesting apart from the great pictorial beauty and dramatic power of the story. For one thing, the picture will give Bible students an opportunity to satisfy their curiosity regarding the exact nature of two important structures, the Ark and the Tower of Babel. Both have been reproduced in actual proportions. The reproduction of these structures is believed to be the first ever attempted in motion pictures. “Noah’s Ark,” the most monumental attempt at stage or screen production—comes to the .... Theatre .... next for an extended run. Dolores Costello is starred with George O’Brien as her leading man. Darryl Francis Zanuck wrote the story. Michael Curtiz directec RESEARCH Philologists, who chase A panting syllable Through time and space; Start it at home And hunt it In the dark, To Gaul, To Greece And into Noah’s Ark! —Cowper. For use in Program as Filler