One Way Passage (Warner Bros.) (1932)

“ONE WAY PASSAGE” PUBL EGIT Y Bill Powell, Kay Francis Star In Their Sixth Film Contrasting Personalities Complement Each Other in “One Way Passage” No record of famous motion picture teams could omit William Powell and Kay Francis, stars of Warner Bros. production, ‘‘One Way Passage,’’ which is soon to open at oo: Soar eee eas Theatre. ‘‘One Way Passage”’ is their sixth mutual starring vehicle. Most of the outstanding teams of the past have been comedy teams, usually of the same sex, like Beery and Hatton, Dressler and Moran, Wheeler and Woolsey, Murray and Sidney, MeLaglen and Lowe. Romantic alliances between a man and a woman on the screen have been relatively short-lived. A few pictures and the appetite of the public for the combination is dulled if not jaded. Kay Francis in “One Way Passage” at the Strand Mat No. 104 —10c Not so the Powell-Francis alliance. It is well into its fourth year, although there was an interval when the team was dissolved and each star—both had attained that eminence by then —went their separate ways. The artistic parting of the ways—proved to be a wise move. If there had been any doubt as to ‘whether theatregoers had grown tired of Powell-Francis pictures, that doubt was set at rest by the persistent queries that began to flow in from all quarters, asking for a reunion of the two personalities. “Jewel Robbery” was the first picture in which they appeared together after a screen separation of more than a year. The enthusiastic reception accorded Powell and Francis in this delightful romantie satire, deter mined the studio to follow it with a hicle. “One Way Passage,” with its extraordinary second co-starring ve romance, is the Together Again William Powell and Kay Francis are once more teamed in their greatest film success, “One Way Passage,” the Warner Bros. drama coming to the_______-_------ Theatres on = ee : Mat No 101—10c ideal vehicle for the combined talents of William Powell and Kay Francis. A single reading of the story brought a delighted affirmative from both stars. Powell enjoys nothing better than playing in a picture with Kay Francis, and Kay heartily reciprocates the sentiment. The record already made by “One Way Passage” has proven the sagacity of the Warner executives’ decision. The acclaim with which a growing PowellFrancis public hailed the rebirth of the combination makes it a certainty. Their First Picture It was a picture called “Behind the Makeup” that brought these two fascinating personalities together for the first time. Powell was then in the first cyele of the popularity that the character of Philo Vance had brought him. Kay Francis was just rounding out her first year in pictures. “Behind the Makeup” caused no unusual stir, except in production circles. Significantly enough, a month later Bill Powell was starred in “Street of Chance,” and Kay Francis was his leading woman. The picture was an immediate success. Within the next ten months the process was repeated twice—in “For the Defense” and ‘Ladies’ Man” —each time to the emphatic satisfaction of motion picture lovers throughout the country. Then a series of changes in production plans swept the two apart. It was none of Powell’s or Kay Francis’ doing. From the first, they have been attracted to each other as artistic complements. They appreciate each other’s personalities. They have the liveliest possible admiration for each other’s abilities. They get a real kick out of working together. “It’s positively stimulating to work with Bill,” Kay has exclaimed on more than one occasion. Powell Lauds Kay “Tf there is a more intelligent or invigorating personality to be associated with in a picture than Kay Francis, I don’t know who she is,” is Bill Powell’s tribute to his brunette colleague. “She has a mind that works like lightning. Her grasp of essentials is amazing. Her capacity for work is more than the ordinary man’s. And I have never failed to admire the way in which she can walk out of a difficult scene and relax almost instantly, gathering strength for the next one.” Distinctly different from anything Powell and Miss Francis have ever done before, “One Way Passage” offers a drama that is far from the traveled highways of motion picture stories. Supporting the two stars in the production are such _ exceptional players as Warren Hymer, Aline MacMahon, Frank McHugh, Frederick Burton, Douglas Gerrard and Herbert Mundin. Tay Garnett directed the picture. Dares All For Love William Powell, who is co-starred with Kay Francis in the Warner Bros. drama, “One Way Passage, Theatrecon 2522 2 ee eee ee which opens at the________------------ sens oe , is said to have his greatest emotional role in this unusual picture based on a love that even death cannot conquer. Mat No. 204—20c Wm. Powell Refuses To Let Studio Use Double For Him Star and Director Leap From Deck of Liner While Manacled Together and Condemned Man Saves His Pursuer The majority of motion picture actors are glad enough to have stunt men double for them when it comes to performing dangerous feats in a picture. Not so William Powell. He so much dislikes to have any one double for him that several times he has risked his neck in a picture, much to the chagrin of studio executives. Not necessarily that the executives love William more, but that they love the expense entailed in typing up a pic ture through injury to a star or leading player, less. Yes, . very much less. Every day that a picture is held up adds tremendously to its cost and may easily run into many thousands of dollars. Nevertheless Powell had _ his way in a stunt scene in “One Way Passage,” a Warner Bros. picture, now playing at the..... Theatre, with Kay Francis again co-starred. The script calls for Powell, a prisoner on board a Pacific liner, together with his jailer, played by Warren Hymer, to fall off the deck of the boat into the water. The scene is taken aboard the steamship Calawaii, at the port of Wilmington, Calif., on the Pacific. When the deck shots had been finished, Director Tay Garnett turned to Powell and said: “Tll have a stunt man here tomorrow to take the fall for you.” “No, you won't,” said Powell, looking over the side of the vessel. “It’s not so far. Ill do it myself.” “Tt’s exactly forty-eight feet,” replied the director, “and you go overboard handcuffed to Hymer. Nothing doing. There’s too much risk.” But Powell insisted, and eventually had his way. Then Hymer, not to be outdone, declared that he would take the leap also. Both men are excellent swimmers, and have need to be, for although handcuffed together, they have to swim around the stern of the vessel to the dockside where they are picked up. According to the script, Hymer cannot swim and is rescued William Powel in “One Way Passage”? at the Strand Mat No. 112 —10c by his prisoner, but inasmuch as the water at the point is thirty feet deep, the director felt considerably easier to have experts on the job. The two men lean against a rail on the top deck, which Powell, the prisoner, loosens, plunging both men into the water. The two with one wrist of each manacled, whirled over and over in the air, but both managed to straighten out enough so that they struck the water head on. Both Powell and Hymer were gasping for breath, however, “One Way Passage” opens at the fe CALTOs ONes rari. Powell-Francis Appear in Sixth Screen Romance “One Way Passage,” the Warner Bros. production which comes to the Theatre: on 4 2)": marks the sixth time that William Powell and Kay Francis have been teamed, to the delight of their thousands of admirers all over the country. Seldom has the popularity of two stars grown so steadily with each succeeding story in which they have played together, as has been the case with Powell and Miss Francis. “Behind the Make-Up” and “Street of Chance” marked their first joint appearances, followed by “For the Defense” and “Tadies’ Man.” For more than a year after that there were no Powell-Francis pictures. Then, Warner Bros. decided that “Jewel Robbery,” the sparkling Viennese romance woven around a gentlemen robber and a capricious baroness would be an ideal vehicle for the combined talents of these two stars. So decisive was their success that “One Way Passage” was immediately selected as another PowellFrancis production. It was popular demand which induced Warner Bros. to revive “One Way Passage,” a picture which for veiled tragedy and brooding loveliness has rarely been equalled on stage or screen. This atmosphere has been emphasized by the photography—which in some strange way contrasts the lights and shadows of the ship plying the Pacific with the stolen delights of the doomed lovers. — The unusual drama of “One Way Passage” is enacted on a Pacific liner enroute from the Orient to San Francisco, with a brief land interlude at Honolulu, where the trans-oceanic steamer puts in for a day. In the supporting cast are such capable players as Aline MacMahon, Warren Hymer, Frank McHugh, Herbert Mundin, Douglas Gerrard and Frederick Burton. Tay Garnett directed the picture from the sereen play by Robert Lord, the adaptation and dialogue being the work of Wilson Mizner and Joseph Jackson. SS ————————————————EE when they rose to the surface. Thinking they were stunned by the shock, assistants in a life boat nearby started toward them to pick them up. But Powell finally shouted his line, “I’ve got him—l’ll bring him in,” so the guards kept out of range of the camera while Powell towed his jailer around the boat to safety. “Pm used to swimming and diving,” said Powell, “and I see no reason for anyone doubling for me in this case. Naturally, if it was a stunt with which I was not familiar, such as looping-theloop and making nose dives in an airplane, I should prefer to have someone else do it. “But an ordinary stunt I prefer to carry out myself. I think it makes a much more authentic picture where you do not have to camouflage such an effect. In some stunts it might not make so much difference, but in this case there is a closeup just as I go overboard and another when I coms out of the water. It was quite a fall but I feel none the worse for it.” The supporting cast of “One Way Passage” includes Frank McHugh, Warren Hymer, Frederick Burton, Douglas Gerrard, Herbert Mundin and Aline MaeMahon. The powerfully dramatic romance is based on a story by Robert Lord and the screenplay is done by Wilson Mizner and Joseph Jaekson. Page Eleven