Shipmates Forever (Warner Bros.) (1935)

PUBLICITY Seenes For Naval Film Taken Aboard U.S. Ship Noises Made By Pacific Fleet Interrupt Filming Of ‘“Shipmates Forever” ‘‘Ready, now, Dick. Count five after I say ‘action’ and then begin your lines.”’ It was Director Frank Borzage speaking and Dick Powell listening and nodding assent. The scene was the quarter-deck of the Pacific Fleet’s flagship, the Pennsylvania, in San Pedro Harbor, and there was under production the Cosmopolitan musical drama ‘‘Shipmates Forever,’’ which comes to the ............ WHeatTe: ON -.css: oc ,» as a Warner Bros. release. ‘‘This is what I have longed for — the open sea —’’ began Powell. There was a wild ‘‘who-oo-sh! ’’ of compressed air from the forward catapult of the neighboring battleship Oklahoma, 400 yards away, and the machine-gun-like roar of a high-powered motor as a naval fighting plane takes to the air in practice. ‘‘Hold it!’’ said Borzage, and all hands—the cameramen, sound men, light-operators and the rest —fell into an ‘‘at ease’’ position. The roar of the plane went into a distant diminuendo and then faded out. ‘Once again, now, boys,’’ Borzage ordered. ‘‘This is what I — ’’, started Powell over again. But this time the staccato puttputt-putt of a motorboat cut into the quietude necessary for a ‘“sound take.’’ A second stoppage ensued. ‘¢Look around boys, and see if there’s a plane or a motorboat anywhere in sight before we try it a third time,’’ said the director and his assistants, Lou Borzage and Bill Cannon, scanned sky and horizon. ‘All clear, Chief,’’ they re ported. And again Powell began to tell his shipmates how he loves the ocean... ‘«Ding-ding! ding!’’ It was the ship’s bell of the Pennsylvania, announcing that it was 11 o’elock. Ding-ding! Ding And—since there was a difference in the chronometers of the various vessels of the fleet lying in the harbor — the ding-dinging came from one after another of them for a full minute. Such is movie-making in the open air, especially in such a busy place as San Pedro Harbor. Frank Borzage was literally ‘‘fighting for scenes.’’ He had to snatch at every infrequent little moment of quiet he was able to get. ‘‘But it’s worth the work,’’ he said. Sol Polito, the cameraman, was shooting Powell and his Midshipmen shipmates against the stirring background of six big 18-inch guns, arranged in one turret over another, on the magnificent battleship. ‘“Clever as the studio artists and technicians are, they could never get quite as authentic and striking a background,’’ the director said. With Dick Powell in these particular scenes, were Ross Alexander, John Arledge, Richard (Dick) Foran, Robert Light and Eddie Acuff, while in the background, keeping constantly in motion were about 200 of the Pennsylvania’s 1200 officers and men. Ruby Keeler co-stars with Powell in the picture and Lewis Stone is also featured, but their parts did not eall for them to be aboard ship in this scene. The picture is a thrilling drama with catchy airs, treating of the exciting life of Annapolis cadets. Frank Borzage, who made the successful companion picture ‘«Plirtation Walk,’’ dealing with West Point cadets, directed ‘‘Shipmates Forever,’’ under the supervision, and with the cooperation of, the Navy Department and the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. There is an all star cast headed by Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler which includes Lewis Stone, Ross Alexander, Richard (Dick) Foran, Eddie Acuff, Johnny Arledge, Robert Light and Joseph Crehan. More than 2,000 officers and men of the U. S. Navy participated. Shipmates Forever 5 Lewis Stone and Dick Powell, portraying a father and son, one starting, the other ending, his career, have their most dramatic roles in ‘‘ Shipmates Forever,’’ the Cosmopolitan picture, of life in the U. S. Naval Academy, now showing at the ...... ia ee atte Theatre. Mat No. 205—20c Teamed Again They were the stars of ‘‘ Flirtation Walk,’’ and the popular screen lovers of 1935. Now Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler are sweethearts again in the Cosmopolitan Production, ‘‘Shipmates Forever,’’ which First National will present at the Ay Sea ER CQULG: Ooo oc Mat No. 110—10¢e Powell Owes Much. To Metabolism Says Specialist Dick Powell’s high spirits, even after a long and strenuous day of work on a picture, are directly due to ‘‘ positive metabolism.’’ This was the comment made by Dr. Anton Vhokovich, celebrated New York physician and psychia trist, on a Warner Bros. stage dur-. ing the filming of the Cosmopolitan musical drama, ‘‘Shipmates Forever,’’ which comes to _ the eerie Eheatre on ace : The eminent medical man, a special guest of the studio, had been watching Powell both in scenes and off the stage for an hour or more. The star, who is starred opposite Ruby Keeler, was enacting an especially dramatic and difficult scene in an engine-room of a battleship built on one of the big sound stages. ‘“Dick has a lot of pep,’’ someone commented. ‘‘That’s a good word,’’ smiled Dr. Vhokovich. ‘‘I would call it high and positive metabolism. Partly hig natural youth and innate vigor, of course.’? The physician added that the processes of metabolism referred to the bodily functions of either ‘building up or tearing down phy sical and mental energy. ‘Correct digestion, the right amount of exercise and the right amount of sleep will invariably increase positive metabolism. ‘fAt any rate, any actor who ean work, as Dick Powell is doing, for an entire hot summer day under flaming furnace heat, suffer the inconveniences of soot and grease and sweat, and still remain jovial and lively—well, he’s certainly no prospect for the hospitals.’’ ‘“Shipmates Forever’’ is a stirring drama of life at the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. There is an all star cast headed by Powell and Miss Keeler and includes Lewis Stone, Ross Alexander, Richard (Dick) Foran, Eddie Acuff, Johnny Arledge, Robert Light and Joseph Crehan. Frank Borzage, who made the successful companion picture, ‘¢FPlirtation Walk,’’ dealing with West Point cadets, directed ‘‘Shipmates Forever.’’ The screen play is by Delmer Daves while music and lyries are by: Warren and Dubin. Actors Face Real Danger In Movie Thrill Scenes Dick Powell And John Arledge Brave Flames In “Shipmates Forever” That movie actors sometimes take their lives in their hands in making thrill scenes is clearly demonstrated in a sequence of ‘‘Shipmates Forever,’’ the Cosmopolitan production released by Warner Bros., which comes to the .................... Thettée 00°. ee The episode photographed was an accident that happens aboard the battleship, U.S.S. Arkansas, in the story. Johnny Arledge is an enlisted man in the navy and Dick Powell a midshipman. A steam pipe and an oil line burst in the boiler-room of the ship. Johnny is terribly burned and scalded. He falls to the floor of the room. Dick turns off the lines and drags Johnny out. The background of the scene was a practical, working reproduction of one of the boiler-rooms of the real Arkansas. High-pressured oil blazed in seven burners. Actual steam flared from a broken pipe when the proper moment arrived. But the whole room had to appear ablaze, so between the camera and the prostrate figures of Powell and Arledge, there had to be upshooting flames. These came from benzine-soaked cotton waste placed in tin pans. Between this big blaze and the still bigger one from the seven oil burners, there was a space of just 3 feet 10 inches, in which Dick and Johnny had to do their scene. Director Frank Borzage wondered how hot it really was, so on one of the ‘‘takes’’ of the scene (there were three altogether) he had a property boy place a. thermometer under Arledge. The instrument registered 178 degrees! Naturally, every precaution was taken to prevent possible injury to the actors. Fire Chief George Kitchen, a member of the studio’s own department, was in complete charge of the situation. Around the edges of the set he stationed six firemen, each with an extinguisher aimed at the two boys. Overhead, on the catwalks, were eight more men with great open bags of sand ,ready to dump upon the flames if they got too near to Powell and Arledge. Then also, two four-inch lines of hose were ready to shoot at any second. Fortunately, nothing went wrong. Dick and Johnny got their lungs full of smoke, and were unpleasantly hot for a time, but. they weren’t even scorched. ‘“*Thank goodness that scene is over!’’ said Borzage, mopping his brow. ‘‘I’ve been worrying about it ever since we began to make the picture, back at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, in June. Nobody has ever been seriously hurt in one of my pictures, and I wouldn’t have anyone hurt for the world.’’ The making of this scene was so thrilling that everyone who could get away from other duties for a moment clustered about the set looking at it. ‘<Shipmates Forever’’ is a stirring drama of life at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. There is an all star cast headed by Powell and Ruby Keeler and including Lewis Stone, Ross Alexander, Dick Foran, Eddie Acuff, Robert Light, Joseph Crehan and Arledge. Music and lyrics are by Dubin and Warren while the screen play is by Delmer Daves. Ruby Keeler Is Thrilled By Annapolis Ring Dance Star Of “Shipmates Forever” Says Cadets Seldom Marry Sweethearts Navy sweethearts seldom become Navy wives, in spite of all the romance that seems to attach to the youthful loveaffairs of Midshipmen at the Annapolis Naval Academy and the girls to whom they are devoted in their training-school Ruby Keeler, who co-stars with Dick Powell in the Cosmo days.”’ politan musical drama _ called ‘*Shipmates Forever,’’ now showing saAtothe=..3 oe: Theatre as a Warner Bros. release, brought this rather disenchanting bit of information back with her from the quaint old Maryland town, where a large proportion of the picture was photographed. ‘One of the most charming of the many ceremonies they have at Annapolis is called the Ring Dance,’’ Ruby explained. ‘‘When a midshipman has completed two years of study, and begins his third, he is entitled to wear his class ring. This bears the numerals of his graduation year, and the crests of the Academy and the nation. ‘In the center of the dance floor of Dahlgren Hall, a huge ring, 8 feet in diameter, stands upright. Through this each couple dances. They stop within the ring, the girl slips the boy’s ring on his finger, they kiss and make way for the next couple. ‘Now, acquiring the ring is a very solemn and serious matter for the future officer of the United States Navy. It’s something he cherishes all his life, and it’s buried with him when he dies. You’d think the girl who places it on his finger and seals the ceremony with a kiss would be the most important in his life, wouldn’t you? ‘She is, invariably, at the moment. But, sad to relate, she doesn’t remain s0, as a _ rule. Searcely one naval officer out of twenty ever marries his girl of the Ring Dance. ‘Of course, there are logical reasons for this. One is that the Midshipman, after getting the ring, has two more years at the Academy before he graduates. ‘‘Two years is a long time to boys and girls in their late ‘teens or early twenties—and so the ring romances pale and fade and vanish. But it seems a shame. The Ring Dance is so lovely!’’ Page Twenty-three