Son of the Gods (Warner Bros.) (1930)

“Son Of The Gods” Is The Supreme’ Dramatic Sensation Of The Cen ury! hin y) —f 4 VAs Love bring of society. “Do something. ... kiss me.” to steal from a CutNo. 8 Cut 65¢ Mat 15¢ Directed by FRANK LLOYD The Wonder-Drama of Love In Conflicting Worlds! s East and West together. Hate parts them oceanwide. A dark-haired son of mysterious gods and a blonde playgirl His calm mannerisms and her flaming temperament that makes her say, Youw’ll be thrillbound as emotions clash and two great stars sweep you to the greatest heights of entertainment the talking motion picture has yet achieved. “Pil teach girl’s lips.” Workers In Movie Studios Can “Feel” A Picture’s Fate Allana take me in your arms with Constance you kisses BENNETT white Screen version by Bradley King. Scenes in Technicolor. A FIRST NATIONAL & VITAPHONE PICTURE “Vitaphone” is the registered trade mark of the Vitaphone Corp. designating its products. Dick Barthelmess’ Fine Horsemanship Seen In Picture (ADVANCE NEWS— VITAPHONE) Richard Barthelmess’ expert horse| manship stood him in good stead during the filming of “Son of the | Gods,” his newest starring feature which eomes to the uy eae O50 Vive.c. ee eee ee es The production opens with a thrilling polo game between two college teams. Barthelmess in the role of Sam Lee is the star of one | | the erystal chandeliers to the prom team and is called upon to make several spectacular plays. Having received his training as a boy at Hudson Military Academy, Barthelmess excellent horseman. is an The sporting sequences were filmed at the polo grounds of the Uplifters Ranch at Santa Monica, an exclusive California country club. Regular polo games were played between the Uplifters’ team and the Army team from the presidio at Monterey. The scenes were recorded with sound and dialogue via the Vitaphone system. “Son of the Gods” is based on the sensational Rex Beach novel, with Constance Bennett in the feminine lead heading an exceptionally large supporting cast of twenty prominent film players. Frank Lloyd directed. | the FILM SHOWS FAMOUS MONTE CARLO CASINO “Son of the Gods,” With Dick Barthelmess, Has Scenes Laid There (CURRENT READER) The celebrated gambling halls of Monte Carlo have been reproduced with fidelity for “Son of the Gods,” First National and Vitaphone production starring Richard Barthelat the mess now running Theatre. All the details are authentic, from enade and gallery leading to the rear of the Casino and to the terrace from which many suicides have leaped to the railroad below—ruined by the fickle goddess Fortune. The Monte Carlo scenes of “Son of the Gods” are also interesting because they introduce Constance Bennett who plays the feminine lead opposite Barthelmess. It is here that Miss Bennett as Alanna meets Barthelmess in the role of Sam Lee, an American boy raised in the belief that he is a Chinaman. The large cast supporting Barthelmess includes Mildred Van Dorn, Dorothy Matthews, E. Alyn Warren, Frank Albertson, Barbara Leonard, Geneva Mitchell, Jimmy Eagle, King Hou Chang and Anders Randolf. It was directed by Frank Lloyd. Strange Sixth Sense Augurs Well For ‘Son of the Gods” (CURRENT READER— VITAPHONE) Studio workers—from property men to supervisors—have a_ sixth sense for “feeling” a production even before it is half completed. This results in an undereurrent of whisperings—not insidious gossip of the bridge club variety, but the sort of whispeyings one hears in an art gallery—whisperings concerning an extraordinary painting which may win first prize or honorable mention. Recently First National produced a “special” with Richard Barthel mess in the starring role. It was “Son of the Gods,” the current atTRACTION -aebe bile scree ete | he Theatre. “Son of the Gods,” was one of those rare pictures which became the subject of such conversational undercurrents in a studio—the sort of studio mood that obtained during the filming of “The Patent Leather Kid” and “The Noose,” both Barthelmess productions that earned for him honorable mention by the American Academy of Motion Picture Sciences and Arts in 1928. Electricians—traditionally — hardboiled—stood behind the — scenes. They were silent and absorbed. When the scene was finished they tiptoed about their work, unconsciously mindful that they had just witnessed something fine. Lee Ying, (otherwise E. Allyn Warren) Chinese patriarch, uttered words of wisdom e ani extras strove to miss not a word. The mystic Chinese symbols throughout the luxurious Ying apartment cast a mood not easily dispelled. from cnfucius, An American boy has been raised by a Chinese under the belief that he was his son. There is a deep, ineradicable bond between them— the repressed, inward, unfathomable love that exists between a father and his son. They are about to separate—and ever since the boy as a child eame into his heart he has been his father’s only reason for living. Now they are to go their different ways. There is tragedy and the human interest that makes the whole world kin. “Remember, my son,” chants Lee Ying, bearded wise man of the East. “Remember that you are a son of the gods. The gods sent you in answer to prayer. JI cannot be with you to watch over you, and you will not take money, but I can give you jewels of wisdom spoken by Confucius many thousands of years ago.” Of such stuff is greatness, and it of such stuff that studio whisperings begin. A Barthelmess cycle is now completed—beginning with his first great role in “Broken Blossoms” and reaching its climax with “Son of the Gods.” Frank Lloyd, who did such brilliant work with ‘Weary River,” “Drag,?. and =“Young 4Nowheres,” guided the destinies of “Son of the Gods,” while Constance Bennett played the feminine lead opposite the star this remarkable sereen version of Rex Beach’s novel. is in DICK’S GREATEST Richard Barthelmess, First National star, has the most dramatie and colorful role of his career in “Son of the Gods,” which comes to the ..... Theatre That is the judgment of eritics and audiences wherever the picture has been shown. In this sereen version of Rex Beach’s novel he enacts the role of Sam Lee, an American boy who is raised by a dignified Chinese nobleman and believes himself a Chinaman. The tragic and dramatic situations into which this leads him make what is being generally heralded as the greatest Barthelmess feature since “ToVable David.” Cafe Manager Wagner THE CAST RICHARD BARTHELMESS CN Boa eee Constance Bennett EET ees Dorothy Matthews Ss Barbara Leonard Lee Bees King Hoo Chang ee oe Geneva Mitchell i ae E. Alyn Warren “Se > ee os Ivan Christie CS ee George Irving Be les ae, < Claude King oe et Dickie Moore eimet.. ne OE See aS Official Billing First National Pictures Presents RICHARD BARTHELMESS “SON OF THE GODS” With CONSTANCE BENNETT From the story by Rex Beach Screen version and dialogue by Bradley King A Frank Lloyd Production A First National and Vitaphone Production Color scenes photographed by Technicolor Process Soh See Jimmy Eagle = ee Frank Albertson SYNOPSIS (Not for Publication) Lee was not his name. He knew what his real name was. But Sam Lee was a Chinese cognomen, and, as far as he knew, Lee Ying, the wealthy Chinese merchant, was his father. Sam never There were facts concerning his life of which Sam Lee was ignorant. Facts which were not revealed to him until d dramatic moment in his young manhood—a moment fraught with disillusion and irony. Lee Ying was the proud descendant of a celestial dynasty, and there came a time when he was parting with Sam Lee and said: “Remember, my son, that you are a son of the Gods.” Raised in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Sam Lee found himself a student at Eastern College. His class leadership, his skill at polo, plus the advantages of untold wealth behind him, made Sam Lee a popular student —after a fashion. Sam Lee was popular—after a fashion. Fellow students who needed money were very fond of him. And girls were warmly attracted to him— ‘until they learned he was a Chinaman. Sam Lee left Eastern College. There was no sourness in his soul, only a determination that he would make the world like him for. himself. He would work his way to Europe. The day that Sam Lee made ready for his departure he was visited by Bileen Dugan, whose heart belonged to Sam, though he did not know it. Sam loved Hileen, but not as Eileen would have it, and so she said nothing. And Sam went away. In Europe Sam Lee met one Bathhurst, a novelist. The fact that Bathhurst’s current work contained Chinese atmosphere made Sam Lee invaluable him. The latter was now meeting interesting and charming to people. One of them was Alanna Wagner, daughter of a wealthy American. Sam Lee’s manly attractions shook the foundations of sophistication from under Alanna’s well-shod feet. She loved Sam as she had never believed herself capable of loving anyone. And Sam’s cautiousness, acquired by virtue of his ‘college experiences melted before her desirable beauty; but still he was not sure, and he wanted so much to be sure. So one day he sat on the beach at Cannes and began to tell her about himself. But Alanna held her jeweled hand over his mouth and said: “I don’t care whether you are a beggar or a thief. I don’t want to know anything about you. I know only that I love you more than anything in the world.” Sam Lee went away with his heart full of high hope and high love. That late afternoon, as the Mediterranean sun was flirting with the West, Sam Lee sat at a table dressed in dinner clothes awaiting the coming of his love—Alanna, She came! At the far end of the dining pavilion appeared the figure of Alanna attired in a riding habit! In her hand was a riding crop. Hev eyes flashed a venomous fire! “You cheat! You liar! You rotten yellow Chinaman !” Up went her riding crop and she slashed him across the face. When Sam Lee returned to Bathhurst’s office found a telegram from his father in which he found news that the patriarch was dying. Kileen Dugan met Sam Lee upon his return and took him to his father, who had died before he could get back. Meanwhile Alanna’s heart told her that she had lost the greatest thing that life gave her. She compelled her father to take her back to America and there she once again met Sam and apologized to him, telling him that she cannot live without him. At this time Kileen seeing that Sam was unhappy, talked to her father, Officer Dugan, and asked him to reveal the secret of Sam’s birth and nativity. Dugan came to Sam and told him that as a child he was left an orphan by white parents and Lee Ying, who had prayed for a son, had adopted him and raised him as Chinaman. The last barrier was swept aside, and love welded Sam Lee and Alanna forever. a BABY ACTOR SPEAKS ROLE ON SCREEN (CURRENT READER— VITAPHONE) Little Dickie Moore, four-and-a half-year-old actor, plays an important role in “Son of the Gods,” the First National and Vitaphone pieture starring Richard Barthelmess which is now attracting huge crowds to the Theatre. Dickie is a veteran of the cinema despite his brief span of life. He has appeared in many important films—recently in “Three Sisters” and “Tummox.” Also he is no stranger to the new-fangled talkies, for he has spoken his way in two and is also heard in “Son of the Gods.” In addition to Dickie the cast of “Son of the Gods’ includes Constance Bennett in the feminine lead, as well as E. Allyn Warren, Claude King, Anders Randolf and others of note, Frank Lloyd directed.