Secrets of an Actress (Warner Bros.) (1938)

(Lead) Francis, Brent Coming Friday To Strand Giving, as the title implies, a really intimate glimpse of the private life as well as the public career of an actress, the Warner Bros. picture, ““Secrets of an Actress,’’ comes to the Strand Theatre next Friday with a cast — headed by Kay Francis, reorge Brent and Ian Hunter — that is advance certification of its fine quality. Kay Francis is, of course, the actress of the title, and it is no secret that the part she plays: is that of a glamorous woman, who has two im‘portant men in her life. At the outset of the picture, Kay is a stage actress who has trouped the length and breadth of the country but has never had a chance on Broadway. This chance she finally gets when the producer played by Ian Hunter reads a play she owns and decides to produce it. George Brent is an architect working for Hunter who designs the scenery for the production which introduces Kay successfully to Broadway. The actress and architect fall in love, but Brent happens to be married to a selfish creature, played by Gloria Dickson, who was about to divorce him but decides not to go through with it when she learns that her husband is in love with Kay. Meanwhile, partly in despair and partly out of gratitude for what he has done for her, Kay consents to marry Hunter, who is also in love with her. But, before that marriage takes place, Hunter learns that his star is in love with his scenic artist. This intriguing insight into the behind-the-scenes lives of typical Broadway notables was filmed from an original screen play written by Milton Krims, Rowland Leigh and Julius J. Epstein, and it was directed by William Keighley. Prominent in the cast, besides those already mentioned, are Isabel Jeans, Penny Singleton and Dennie Moore. Congrats For Kay First to congratulate Kay Francis on her engagement to Baron Raven Erik Barnekow, announced while she was working in ‘‘Secrets of an Actress,’’ which opens Friday at the Strand Theatre, was her screen sweetheart, George Brent. The latter plays opposite Kay in the Warner Bros. film. Second to congratulate her was Ian Hunter, who loses her to George in the film. A few minutes later Hunter was congratulating the star in a scene of the picture, because, according to the script, she had just announced her engagement to Brent. That’s the movies for you! GLORIA DICKSON, who plays a meanie in ‘‘Secrets of an Actress,’’ the Warner Bros. picture opening Friday at the Strand Theatre, viewed a number of special showings of old ‘‘vamp’?’ pictures, hoping to get some gags for comic vamp parts. Mat 106—15c IAN HUNTER — who loses the lady of his choice, Kay Francis, bowing out in favor of George Brent in “Secrets of an Actress.” Mat 201—30c GLAMOUR IS THE WORD which best personifies Kay Francis, playing the lead role in “Secrets of an Actress,” the Warner Bros. comedydrama coming Friday to the Strand Theatre. @ Motion Pictures Are Your Best Entertainment @ (Advance Feature) Kay Francis Tells The Secrets Of An Actress Mystery ceased to be showmanship when pictures began to talk, according to Kay Francis, revealing some of the ‘‘Secrets of an Actress.’’ That opinion was voiced by the raven-haired Warner Bros. star in refuting accusations that she has deliberately tried to be mysterious. ‘‘Talking in films and on the radio removed the seventh veil, so far as the glamour of mystery in pictures is concerned,’’ Kay remarked. ‘‘In the first place I deny that I’m mysterious, and if, unconsciously, I have given that impression, it is because I don’t carry my screen career into private life. ‘*T haven’t had the slightest trouble from fans because I insisted on living a normal and quiet private life,’’ the star continued. ‘‘In fact, I think the tales of fans ‘mobbing’ stars and otherwise being rude and unreasonable are vastly exaggerated. ‘*Fans I’ve encountered have been uniformly kind and courteous. This applies not only in Hollywood, where it is no uncommon experience to find oneself walking or shopping or sitting at a cafe with a film celebrity — but in other towns where I’ve travelled. ‘“‘Unlike so many picture actresses who can pass unrecognized in a crowd unless they obviously disguise them selves with dark glasses and so on, I’m usually recognized. People will often smile and nod, or ask if I’m Kay Francis. Children, of course, frequently want autographs. Grownups ordinarily are simply kindly and polite and seldom even stare curiously or rudely at anyone, as I’ve so often read they do. ‘“‘This isn’t my experience alone. Friends of mine who are top-ranking in screen popularity, both men and women, find the fans equally understanding and sympathetic.’’ Kay voiced this opinion on the set of her newest film at Warner Bros., ““Secrets of an Actress,’’ which comes to the Strand Theatre next Friday. CAST OF CHARACTERS Marian Plantagenet Miss Reid Miss Blackstone Thompson Harrison Spencer Carstairs KAY FRANCIS GEORGE BRENT Ian Hunter Gloria Dickson Isabel Jeans Penny Singleton Dennie Moore Selmer Jackson Herbert Rawlinson Emmet Vogan James B. Carson PRODUCTION STAFF Directed by Original Screen Play by Photography by Sound by Film Editor Art Director Gowns by WILLIAM KEIGHLEY {Milton Krims, Rowland (Leigh and Julius J. Epstein Sid Hickox, A.S.C. Charles Lang Leo F. Forbstein Owen Marks Anton Grot Orry-Kelly (Advance) George Brent Hollywood’s Ace Rebel Born an Irish xebel, George Brent lived to be a Hollywood rebel. His rebellion in Hollywood has been 100 per cent successful. He’s filmtown’s outstanding nonconformist. You may think of James Cagney, Spencer Tracy, Lee Tracy and a few others in that connection before you think of Brent. That’s because they have flared up at times and gotten headlines. Brent’s type of rebellion has kept him out of headlines. When, on two or three occasions, he found them screaming his name it wasn’t his doing nor by his will that he was temporarily in the limelight. His Ivish temperament, easily intoxicated by romanee, tricked him into those headlines. Ask him to be the subject of some publicity stunt that might get him some very beneficial notice and he’ll say, before you’re half-way through, an emphatic ‘‘No!’? Recently he was anxious to finish a picture, though the engagement was pleasant, opposite Kay Francis and Gloria Dickson in ‘‘Seerets of an Actress,’’ the Warner Bros. film opening Friday at the Strand Theatre. George admitted it was a grand troupe to work with, and then explained the secret of his uneasiness. It seems that in Brent’s desert hide-out near Garnet, Calif. — a mere shack, at an abandoned mine — lives a Mexican family, and at times one or two old prospectors the actor has grub-staked. Right in the middle of filming ‘‘Secrets of an Actress’’ came word to the effect that one of the miners had struck some exciting ‘‘color’’ in a back range. ‘‘He’s been on the trail of one of those ancient ‘lost mines’,’’? Brent explained to a crony on the set. ‘*He’s been following leads systematically and has set his old heart on living long enough to test his theory that this particular range contains a rich rocked-up shaft.’’? Adventure is suggested there. Thus does George Brent, the nonconformist, go his own way. Choosing his own friends, refusing to do those things expected of a Hollywood star, Brent has long ago been warned against impending downfall, but the fact of the matter is, George Brent’s popularity rises with every picture. Brent Boxes Daily George Brent keeps in shape by boxing every day, even when he is working in a film. Mushy Callahan, or any one of several other boxers on the Warner Studio lot, serves as sparring partner. During the filming of ‘‘Secrets of an Actress,’’ which comes to the Strand Theatre next Friday, his handsome stand-in and pal, Don Turner, who is one of filmdom’s most famous stunt men, was the actor’s sparring mate. Mat 105—15c GEORGE BRENT — who wins the hand of Kay Francis in “‘Secrets of an Actress,” the film coming Friday to the Strand Theatre. Page Seven