Sinners Holiday (Warner Bros.) (1930)

“SINNERS' HOLIDAY" — A Warner Bros. and Vitaphone Production (Feature) CHARACTER PORTRAYAL MosT || LUC EXACTING MISS LA VERNE “Character acting has often been|must get inside the skin of the role called easy by eritics,’ says Lucille LaVerne, noted character actress of the stage who plays the role of Ma Delano, proprietress of a penny arcade in the Warner Bros. and Vitaphone picture, “Sinners’ Holiday,” w°7s from Marie Baumer’s successze play and now at the e. “Such erities usually think of character acting as putting on a wig, making up with artificial wrinkles, donning outmoded or threadbare costumes. They think of character act ing in terms of make-up. But char acter acting is more than that. “The character actor or actress (Current) 200 YOUNG SINNERS PAID WELL TO TAKE “SINNERS’ HOLIDAY” The following is the experience of nearly two hundred extras during the filming of “Sinners’ Holiday,” the Warner Bros. and Vitaphone melodrama featuring Grant Withers and Evalyn Knapp which is now showing at the Theatre. Hired to furnish atmosphere in the amusement park, which forms the background of this Coney Island story, the lucky players were. not only furnished small change with which to try their luck at the various pleasure and gambling conces ions, but were given the usual fee ee __ =v aE AU, Y And to make their jobs seem even more like a dream, every man, woman and child was furnished with all of the hot-dogs, candy and sodapop that they could consume. “Sinners’ Holiday” is a thrilling cross-section of amusement park life, bringing to the screen a human story of love among the racketeers and one of the most gripping murder mysteries ever filmed. Those appearing with Mr. Withers and Evalyn Knapp who play the featured roles are James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Lucille La Verne, Noel Madison, Otto Hoffman, Ray Gallagher, Hank Mann and Warren Hymer. John Adolfi directed. ART SAYS ' he is playing just as completely as does the leading man or leading woman. A ‘character’ role on the stage and the screen is that of a person who is unusual, picturesque, bizarre or ‘queer.’ One that is a ‘character’ in the sense in which that word is used in New England. It is usually ILLE LA VERNE ““Ma Delano”’ of an elderly or middle-aged person | % whose character has ‘set’ or ‘jelled.’]§ He has a strong personality, with a strongly personal outlook on life. He may be slightly ‘cracked’—that is the customary supposition—but he ~must. be out of the ordinary run of individuals or he is just an everyday human being and not a ‘character,” . “T have spent most of my life playing ‘character’ parts, though I have played many ‘straight leads,’ and find the ‘character’ role just as difficult to act as the ‘straight’ part. One must study the idiosyncrasies. and the philosophy of the ‘character’ role in order to keep the person portrayed always in character. It is not merely a matter of dress and] seeeorcs: make-up and speaking broken or|: slangy English. The spirit of the role must shine through the makeup, the speech and the dress. To accomplish that result the player must study the part, submerge his own personality in that of the character portrayed and never step ‘out of character.’ “It requires an actor of experience to fuse his own character into fiat of another POreOR who may be n+ thao aww nse <b Uw UPPOSUe “pure” UL persunattty from himself and to make his assumption of that personality always credible. That is why I claim that charaeter acting is as difficult as ‘straight’ acting and often more difficult. It is easy to burlesque such a role and they are usually played for comedy, but we all know ‘characters’ that have no sense of humor —no more than Widow Cagle had in ‘Sun Up’ which I played on the stage for years, nor Ma Delano in “Sinners’ Holiday.” They are both character roles played ‘straight’— that is, without burlesque or exaggeration for effect. The public liked my interpretation of Widow Cagle and I hope they will like my Ma Delano on the talking screen as well.” wen de ee Take time off for Bad Behavior— It will do you Good! WARNER BROS. Present With Grant Withers ‘Evalyn Knapp Two Column Ad—Style H—Cut or Mat Scene from “gl nerd Holida A Warner Bros. Productign: Production No. 5—Cut or Mat (Feature) HOUSE FLY MASQUERADES A HIGH FLYER IN FILMING © Sound experts have been faced with many problems since the coming of talking pictures. Much of their trouble in eliminating noise which interfered with perfect voice recording was abolished with the construction of sound proof stages, but the filming of exterior scenes brought more problems, and a new wrinkle was added to the already well creased brows of Warner Brothers sound experts during the filming and recording of “Sinners’ Holiday,” the Vitaphone melodrama of Coney Island life which is now showing at the Theatre. Much of the action takes place (Current) WARNERS MAKE A CONEY ISLAND A complete amusement park street, including a penny arcade, photographic gallery, penny pitch, shooting gallery, palace of joy, hot dog stand and other concession booths, was constructed in detail by Warner Brothers for the filming of “Sinners’ :| Holiday,” the all talking Vitaphone melodrama featuring Grant Withers and Evalyn Knapp, now showing at the Theatre. SS SS eessssstansasseesnsesrenssnnstnsue (Feature) BE SCOTCH! TAKE HER OUT TO A PENNY if von a fe Tent Agwy Fe van ~~ pee etre dollar ome iat tn ae your best girl a good time, take her to a penny areade! There your lone sheckel will be increased a thousandfold. With the one hundred pennies you get from the cashier, you may safely use twenty-five of them yourself and spend the remaining seventy-five on your sweetheart. With them you may show her how strong you are by ringing the bell on the punching bag or what fine lungs you have by blowing the airplane in the wind machine to limit height, And stall you will have plenty of pennies left to secretly take a peek at “A Night In A Turkish Harem” and “The Danee of the Seven Veils.” By the time your girl has spent all of her wealth on fortune telling machines and hot dogs, the afternoon will have waned and it will be time to take her home. There is probably no other form of amusement more popular with children and grownups than a penny areade, and it is in, and around such an establishment that much of the action takes place in “Sinners’ Holiday,” the Warner Brothers and Vitaphone melodrama of Coney Island racketeers, which is now showing at the .. Theatre. Grant Withers and Evalyn Knapp head the all star east which includes (Current) GLOBE TROTTER LIKE HER DAD Joan Blondell, who plays an important role in “Sinners’ Holiday,” the Warner Brothers and Vitaphone production featuring Grant Withers and Evalyn Knapp, which is now showing at the Theate, has travelled across the United States fifty-six times. Miss Blondell is the daughter of Eddie MBlondell, famous as_ the Katzenjammer Kid. 2 Taeot} ARCADE! suen stage and sercen” artist’ “as Lucille La Verne, James Cagney, Otto Hoffman, Joan Blondell, Hank Mann, Ray Gallagher, Purnell B. Pratt, Noel Madison and Warren Hymer. Harvey Thew did the screen adaptation from the stage hit by Marie Baumer. George Rosener did the dialogue. John Adolfi directed. (Current) BLAZE OF GLORY IN ““SINNERS’ HOLIDAY” Enough artificial light to illuminate a small city was manufactured by generators at Warner Brothers studio for the filming of night scenes in “Sinners’ Holiday,” the Vitaphone production featuring Grant Withers and Evalyn Knapp which is now showing at the Theatre. To illuminate the amusement park setting, which forms the background for this gripping story of Coney Island life, more than 3,500 fifty-watt lamps were utilized, nearly 400,000 candlepower in studio lamps. Prior to the first day of work on the picture, studio electricians spent three weeks in wiring and rigging the mammoth set. “Sinners’ Holiday,” which was adapted to the screen from the play by Marie Baumer, depicts the lives of show-people of the amusement world. Evalyn Knapp enacts a featured role opposite Grant Withers and the supporting cast includes James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Lucille La Verne, Noel Madison, Otto Hoffman, Warren Hymer, Ray Gallagher, Hank Mann, Purnell B. Pratt and many others. George Rosener wrote the dialogue. John Adolfi directed. J in addition to | in a beach amusement. park, and it was while filming a scene betwe’ Grant Withers and Evalyn Kna who play the featured roles, that sound engineers met their neme. ~ The throaty hum of airplanes had been causing trouble, and Director John Adolfi and his assistants were in the habit of casting an eye toward the sky before commencing a scene. There were no planes in sight, and Adolfi gave the order to shoot, Everything was perfectly quiet as the cameras started to turn over, but the Vitaphone mixer pounded on the glass front of his sound proof booth, at the same time telling Adolfi over the telephone that he eould hear the hum of airplanes. The cameras were stopped and everyone scanned the sky for planes. There wasn’t one to be seen, but the buzzing noise could still be heard over the recording apparatus. It was Grant Withers who finally discovered the trouble. He glaneed upward to the concealed microphone, and there, attracted either by grease paint or fresh calcimine, were three or four very busy flies. It was just another fly in the Vitaphone engineer’s ointment of trouble, but one that was quickly removed by an ambitious property man and a sprayer full of insect killer. Others in the all star supporting cast include such well-known players of the stage and sereen as James. Cagney, Joan Blondell, Lucille La Nae! Madican Otte TTA 2 Se ae oe wevy seUElIGia, Wares Hymer, Purnell B, Pratt, Ray Gallagher, Hank Mann, and many others. “Sinners’ Holiday,” is'a fast-moving story of love and crime among the racketeers adapted to the screen by Harvey Thew from the stage hit by Marie Baumer. -The dialogue was written by George Rosener. ADVERTISEMENT Her kisses save aman’s * life in WARNER BROS. present SINNERS HOLIDAY coment VITAPHDNE ‘sone One Col. Ad—Style jon or ade “SINNERS’ HOLIDAY” *“Sinners’ Holiday”’ adds a thrilling day to your calendar — the most vivid vacation you ever spent.