One Foot in Heaven (Warner Bros.) (1941)

ADVANCE PUBLICITY —’“ONE FOOT IN HEAVEN” ‘One Foot In Heaven’ Something New In Film Entertainment “One Foot In Heaven,” the Fredric March-Martha Scott co-starring film which goes into the Strand Theatre Friday has something brand new to offer in the way of screen entertainment. Based on the _ bestselling novel by Hartzell Spence, it tells the story of a “practical parson” and his family in the first part of the century. Spence’s own family are the characters in the real-life story, and they have been brought to life delightfully by the able cast of players. There is humor, warmth and the spirit of abiding faith in the story of the man who served God nobly, with one foot in the heaven and the other very solidly on the ground. His was no Sunday job, but an allweek, job of solving the problems, easing the sorrows, sharing the joys of his congregation. In his tasks he was ably assisted by his wife who stood by him in all times of stress and subtly engineered him into the right decision in many of his problems. To their three very human youngsters fell the task of serving as models for the children of the congregation, and the job wasn’t always an easy one. Romance and drama and rich humor were integral parts of the Spence family life and they are integral parts of the motion picture. Besides March and Miss Scott the talented cast includes Frankie Thomas, Elisabeth Fraser, Harry Davenport, Beulah Bondi, Moroni Olsen, Vera Lewis, Jerome Cowan, Ernest Cossart, Nana Bryant, Roscoe Ates and dozens of others. Casey Robinson adapted Spence’s book for the screen and Irving Rapper directed the production. Mat 106 — 15c GENE LOCKHART plays a featured role in "One Foot In Heaven." Actor Songwriter! Gene Lockhart has what promises to be an international hit song reaching the stands this week. It’s called “A Letter From London,” and is being published by Chappell’s in New York. Lockhart, who has a number of song hits to his credit, including “The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise,’ wrote both the lyrics and the music. First copies of the new song reached the actor at Warner Bros. studio, where he’s currently featured in two pictures, “One Foot In Heaven,’ and “They Died With Their Boots On.” “One Foot In Heaven” opens Friday at the Strand. Be sure your editor gets a copy of this interesting feature on Fredric March’s newest and most ‘different’ screen role. Having ‘One Foot In Heaven’ Is New Experience to Fredric March When an actor has been in the movies as long as Fredric March, Gary Cooper or even Errol Flynn, he knows pretty well what to expect in the way of experiences before the cameras. He’s certain he’ll make love to a beautiful girl. Kisses and caresses are as inevitable for him as death and taxes for the average individual. He can reasonably expect to do some fighting. It may take the form of fisticuffs, swordplay, or a shooting war. If he escapes actual personal combat, he can expect to have it out with the elements. Storm and shipwreck, flood and fire are things a movie hero has to learn to take in stride. Along with those inevitables, however, there are always new experiences to keep an actor on his toes and wondering what may come next. March has had a lot of them while playing the role of a country minister in his current Warner Bros, picture, “One Foot in Heaven,” which opens Friday at the Strand. He has, for example, baptized five babies, ranging from six weeks to three months in age. Of all his trials by water, and these have included everything from naval battles to the already mentioned shipwreck, this simple, and reverently performed, baptism ceremony, was the most severe ordeal. Fortunately, the babies were too young to be nervous, and too recently fed to be fretful. They behaved so well that March quickly overcame his attack of the jitters and even improvised a_ finishing touch for the scene. After baptizing the infant supposed to be his own and Martha Scott’s son, he leaned over and kissed the youngster’s bald head. Facing a congregation from a church pulpit was another new experience “One Foot in Heaven” gave March. He’d spent many a Sunday morning facing the minister from a pew, but today he'll tell you a church looks mighty different a Mat 211 — 30c FREDRIC MARCH makes a welcome return to the screen in "One Foot In Heaven," film version of the recent best-seller by Hartzell Spence. from the preacher’s viewpoint. Leading his congregation in prayer and hymns, performing a marriage ceremony and officiating at a funeral were other new experiences the minister characterization provided for March. Even the inevitables had their touch of novelty. March did make love to a beautiful girl and got his kisses and caresses. He marries Miss Scott early in the story, however, and doesn’t even come close to losing her thereafter. He also got his share of fighting, but as most of it was with the devil he couldn’t use swords or guns. He no doubt was tempted to resort to fisticuffs in some of the secondary skirmishing with recalcitrant church boards and selfish parishioners, but the script didn’t let him succumb. Only the elements ran true to form and gave him the usual pasting. He worked in driving rain five days and then, when he got back under cover, the roof leaked. New Strand Film ‘One Foot Is Saga Of Small Town Life If the movies continue their present trend toward stories of small town life, slum clearance is due to become a major activity on the studio lots. The busiest sets in the studios these days are the small town streets and village squares. Already the demand for such backgrounds is exceeding the supply. As a result, tenement districts are undergoing a process of ruralization. Carpenters, sign painters and general renovators were busy very recently transforming an East Side New York thoroughfare on the Warner Bros, back lots into a Midwest Main Street for “One Foot In Heaven,’ the movie based on Hartzell Spence’s recent best-seller. The corner delicatessen became a general store — “staple and fancy groceries, hardware, gent’s furnishings and ladies’ notions.’” The cheap cabaret in the middle of the block became a home cooking restaurant. The drug store got a new sign and a wooden, cigar store Indian. There are, of course, Midwest streets and village squares on the Warner Bros. back lot that were built as such. They’ve seen plenty of action in “One Foot in Heaven,” but there weren’t enough of them. Of the seventy-six sets used in this Fredric March-Martha Scott costarring picture, all but five are small town or country backgrounds. Some 45 of them were built on studio sound stages. Half a dozen more were constructed on the Warner Bros. ranch among the rolling Calabases hills. That still left more than a score to be accommodated In Heaven’ In Early 1900's on the back lot of the studio. It happens “One Foot in Heaven” is only one of several small town background pictures being filmed at Warner Bros. currently. “Kings Row” has a Missouri town as its locale. Even “The Man Who Came to Dinner’ comes no nearer to a metropolis than being based on a Broadway stage hit. Bette Davis, Monty Woolley, Ann Sheridan and Richard Travis engage in their battle of wits in a small town. As in the case of “One Foot in Heaven,” the sound stages accommodate most of the sets for these pictures. But while the Brownstone front street, the foreign sections, and the metropolitan avenues on the back lot stand silent and empty, the village sets hum with activity and have a waiting list. Family Picture Embraces Actors Of All Ages It’s good news to the movie actors and actresses when a family picture goes into production. Everybody works, including father, in the family film. Instead of the acting job being limited to a few romantic age adults and a sprinkling of character supports, they’re available to players from three to three-score and ten. In “One Foot in Heaven,” which Warner Bros. made with Fredric March and Martha Scott co-starring, the talent runs the gamut from the cradle right up to the limits of the picture’s title. Five infants, ranging in age from six weeks to three months, steal the spotlight in one of the more important sequences by receiving baptism in church. And among the character veterans in the picture are at least a couple who cheerfully admit theyll never see seventy again. The youngsters fared particularly well in this picture. It happens that the Reverend and Mrs. William Spence, the real life characters March and Miss Scott are portraying, had three children. The children grow up during the relating of the story, and naturally have to have playmates of the proper ages. All told, some 250 youngsters received Warner Bros. pay checks from “One Foot in Heaven,” thanks mostly to the three Spence children. The adults do even more handsomely. The Rev. Spence is a country minister, and it takes all kinds of people to make a church congregation. The Rev. Spence has three congregations. Los Angeles Church Seen in New Film One of Los Angeles’ most beautiful churches, the Wilshire Methodist, opened its doors to a motion picture company recently, to permit scenes of the Warner Bros. production, “One Foot in Heaven,” to be filmed within its walls. The picture, co-starring Fredric March and Martha Scott, tells the story of a minister’s family. Through the courtesy of Dr. Willsie Martin, the pastor, the two stars and a company of 50 technicians worked most of the day doing interior scenes within the church. Some exteriors of the beautiful Gothic edifice also were made. The scenes depicted March viewing a California church for the purpose of arriving at a decision whether or not to become its pastor.