Rivers End 1930 (Warner Bros.) (1930)

“RIVER’S END”—A Warner Bros. and Vitaphone Production o (Biographical Feature) FOREST-LOVING “RIVER’S END” AUTHOR OF WAS FATALLY BITTEN BY JUNGLE SNAKE James Oliver Curwood, whose novel of the Canadian Northwest, “River’s End,” is now being shown at the. . Bros. and Vitaphone picture, was .. Theatre as a Warner famous the world over as a chron icler of the life of the great outdoors and of the operations of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police. A love-of sun and air and water, a necessity for the open, a comradeship with the wild things forests, and a wanderlust— A natural that these things should be the heritage of James Oliver Curwood, for he was the great-grandson of a full-blooded Mohawk princess and a greatnephew of Captain Marryat, the English seaman and adventurer whose. tales of the sea are still classics. Although Curwood always made his home in Owosso, the little town of the Shiaiwasse River where he was born, and thought it “the nicest place in the world,” his passion for wandering seized him early in life and at sixteen he toured most of the South on a bicycle, while at seventeen he drove a thousand miles through the Middle West selling medicine. After working his way through the University of Michigan, Curwood spent the next seven years as reporter, feature writer and_ finally editor of the Detroit News Tribune, but cities were too confining and the red\gods of the far places were call ing him to the trail. Then followed | ‘ of hardy adventuring — or the only man on whom the | conferred. He lived for long periods among tle Eskimos and often made expeditions at his own expense into the unexplored regions of the North. “I traveled three thousand miles up and down the Saskatchewan,” he een. said, “before I wrote ‘River’s End,’ and if I had not gone down the Athabasca, the Slave and the Mackenzie with the wild river brigades of God’s country, I would not have written ‘The Valley of Silent Men.’” These wild northern lands held a strong attraction for Curwood and the scenes of many of his novels are set there because of his love for it. As a young man Curwood was a great hunter and the stocks of his twenty-seven guns were scarred with notches recording his kills. Mounted heads and other trophies of his hunting expeditions hung on the walls of his home. But later when the writer became one of the most ardent supporters of the movement to preserve wild life he looked upon these as martyrs. ‘“God’s Country, the Trail to Happiness,” a record of his conversion, gave him greater joy to write, he said, than any of his other books. Though Curwood never gave up his home in Owosso, a short time before his death he found a stretch of forest in northern Michigan which delighted his heart. There in the wilderness he built a great lodge of logs selected by himself. No electric lights, telephones or baths marred the primitive surroundings. Here Curwood spent most of his time, doing his own cooking The only creatures of the forest which he disliked were snakes and it seems ironic fate that his death should have been caused by a snake bite received when Curwood visited the Florida Everglades in 1927. (Feature) Ok-lug-loo Takes Hollywood Ideas Back to Home Igloo Eskimo night life isn’t so hot in the opinion of Ok-lug-loo, native son of the frozen North, who was brought to Hollywood from Alaska with the returning Warner Bros. crew following the filming of early sequences of “River’s End,” now at the . Ok-lug-loo, which is the nearest English counterpart to the Eskimo’s name, acted as technical adviser on the set for additional scenes of the picture made at the studio. His comments on the evening diversions of the sons and daughters of the Aurora Borealis, were made from the comfort of a Hollywood hotel room =f verlooked the colorful miles of sod Boulevard, the center of the—.aight life of the film capital. Ok-lug-loo deserted the igloo life some years ago, and learned a smattering of English which served him in good stead stead when the Warner picture crew was in the market for an interpreter and adviser. After two weeks in Hollywood Oklug-loo seemed to realize what he had missed during his years of blubber eating and he took back to his people numerous ideas of amusements iwhich he figured might help tn passing the long winter evening. Full of thoughts of ping-pong and charades as well as memories of cream puffs and fried doughnuts, Ok-lug-loo left Hollywood cad DOSES. with ideas that may remake history above the Arctic Circle. Charles Bickford plays the principal role in “River’s End,” and the supporting cast includes Evalyn Knapp, J. Farrell McDonald, David Torrence, Junior Coghlan, Walter McGrail, Tom Santschi and Zasu Pitts. Michael Curtiz directed. ADVERTISEMENT WARNER BROS. Present 1-Col. Slug—Style H—Cut or Mat REVIEWS “RIVER’S END,” ENTHRALLING ROMANCE OF THE FAR NORTH, FEATURES CHARLES BICKFORD .... THEATRE—Warner Bros. present “River's End,” a Vitaphone production. Based on the novel by James Oliver Curwood. Screen play and dialogue by Charles Kenyon. Directed by Michael Curtiz. THE CAST JOHN KEITH and SERGEANT CONNISTON : CHARLES BICKFORD De PIN cy eo eee ol ora Evalyn Knapp OOP OOE a ee ee eee J. Farrell McDonald Colonel MeDewell oe a a David Torrence WE ar ee gk oe a god Walter McGrail Piss 8 oS ee a ee ee ue Zasu Pitts Pe OCIOEE a ek ee ee ee ee Tom Santschi WEE ee pee ce eee a es ne Junior Coghlan The majesty of snowswept forests and men whose passions are as stark —contrasted with others whose ideas of duty are as unchangeable as. the mountains — romance—beauty—terror —and drama that rings true--are characteristics of ‘“River’s TEnd,” James Oliver Curwood’s great tale of the Far North which began an engagement at the .... Theatre last evening. The grimly glamorous picture opens with a man hunt in the icy wastes of the Arctic. And when fugitive and captor meet they find themselves as alike in appearance as though they were brothers, but as far apart in temperament as the poles. On the way back through the wilderness the captor dies and the hunted man dons his clothes and makes an attempt to bluff his way through the outposts to freedom. Once there he finds that he has been proved innocent of the murder of which he had been accused— but dares not divulge his identity BICKFORD SUPERB IN DUAL ROLE IN pone suory ruses v0 sent “River's iat Sts S Miatd wood: Screen play and dialogue by Charles Kenyon. Directed by Michael Curtiz. The cust includes Charles Biekford, featured in the dual leading role— Evalyn Knapp, J. Farrell McDonald, David T'orrence, Walter McGrail, Zasu Pitts, Tom Sanutschi and Junior Coghlan. per & ries DICK his pertrayal of pursued and pursuer. His vigorous manliness is evidenced in the trying part and Evalyn Knapp is bewitching as the girl loved by both men. Kveryone loves honest melodrama. Here it is with the bigness and sincerity which lifts it forever from the hackneyed. You will agree that “River’s End” is the finest melodrama of the great outdoors you have ever seen. “RIVER’S END” WINS ACCLAIM AS BEST WESTERN FILM Last evening marked the first performance of “River’s End,” the Warner Bros. and Vitaphone production, at the .... Theatre. This picturization of the most exciting of James Oliver Curwood's stories of the Canadian Northwest, features Charles Bickford, the screen’s finest portrayer of vigorous he-men, in the dual role of a member of the Royal Mounted Police and as the man he pursues. Evalyn Knapp charmingly plays the part of the girl both men love. Others in the rare cast are J. Farrell McDonald, David Torrence, Walter McGrail, Zasu Pitts, Tom Santschi, and the child actor, Junior Coghlan. Screen play and dialogue are by the veteran Charles Kenyon. Michael Curtiz directed. “River’s End” is honest melodrama, of the type that rings true. There is a great story, a fine cast, photographic perfection and the direction of a man who has proved his ability in other screen successes. The greatest of all westerns is “River’s End.” No writer has so vividly pictured the life of the great Northwest, and especially that of the Royal Mounted Police, as has James Oliver Curwood, whose recent passing was a distinct loss to American letters, Audiences at the ... . Theatre last evening enthusiastically received the brilliant picturization of the greatest of his novels, “River’s End.” Charles Bickford, one of the prime favorites of fandom, plays the vigorous dual role of a police of the Royal Mounted and the alleged killer he means to “get.” It is not only in the. exciting sequences that Bickford succeeds but in the romantic scenes with the girl whom both men love. Charming Evalyn Knapp plays the girl with bewitching artlessness. _ Zasu Pitts makes much of a small part and Junior Coghlan as the orphaned waif who befriends and is befriended by the refugee, proves himself among the few really gifted child actors. Great dramatic possibilities exist in the situation created in “River's End” in which the supposed killer, escaping from his captor, and passing himself off as his foe, on account of an amazing resemblance, gets back to civilization to find himself freed from the murder charge. In the meantime his captor has died and he cannot reveal his identity without again exposing himself to suspicion. “RIVER’S END” is the most dramatic of all the North Country romances of James Oliver Curwood ome as sep castin aaa aie ‘| with the “Mentioned ADVERTISEMENT ~ WARNER BROS. Present RIVERS FR Sts i 1-Col. Slug—Style J—Cut or Mat ‘“RIVER’S END” PROP MAN TREASURES HIS OWN PROPS The property man on a motion picture crew must be jack of all trades, a collector of curious information and en occasion a war hero. If John More, familiar to the Warner Bros. studio employees as “Jock,” hadn’t been all of these, production in “River’s. End,” now at the... Theatre, might have been delayed some days. The story opens upon the manly chest of a Canadian Mounted Policeman—said chest carrying several important British war medals. Those at the moment in the Warner Bros. collection wouldn’t do. Michael Curtiz, once an officer in the Austrian army and possessor of some decorations on his own account, finding none of them usable in this instance, shook his head. Then “Jock” displayed the studio medals. Same result. “Maybe “Jock” # leaf and the Allies Medal. “Jock” had been a sergeant in the Highland Light Infantry of kilties, and had seen four years of rather desperate service before starting his trade as stage property man. “They will do,” smiled Curtiz, “they will do nicely. I imagine I can trust you to see they are not lost!” es (Current) ‘““RIVER’S END” HERO LOOKED COLD BUT WASN’T REALLY “When I seemed to be coldest I was actually melting pounds off my frame and when I looked warn and comfortable in the moonlight I was in reality shivering with the cold!’ These odd remarks were made by Charles Bickford during the filming of “River’s End,” the current Warner Bros. feature attraction now at the... Theatre: Close up scenes of Bickford and his dog team struggling against a blinding blizzard were of necessity made at the studio in Hollywood, under the blaze of studio lights. Nature had steadfastly refused to stir up a real blizzard »while the company was on location in Alaska, and even if it had, it is doubtful if it would have been as scenically effective as the one made of gypsum and cornflakes in Hollywood. Many of the beautiful shots of “River's End” were made against two of nature’s most famous backgrounds, the high Sierra mountains of California and Alaska. Michael Curtiz directed.