Stars over Broadway (Warner Bros.) (1935)

PUBLICITY HH OVER BROADWAY Pat O’Brien Helps Many Film Players To Stardom Lead In “Stars Over Broadway”’ Teaches Newcomers Technique Of Screen There aren’t enough stars in Hollywood. This is the frank opinion of Pat O’Brien, a star who not only welcomes competition but goes out of his way to develop young players who may give him a run for his money. Some time ago——at about the time Warner Bros. elevated the popular Irish actor to stardom—Pat appointed himself committee of one to see what could be done in the line of developing talent. Pat got to the top after fighting up the path of success by hard work. He knocked around for years before Broadway discovered he was the ideal man to play the managing editor in the Ben HechtCharles MacArthur smash hit, ‘“The Front Page.’’ It was his work in that play which was largely responsible for his getting an offer in the movies. Having learned what a player has to go through to get to the top, Pat does his best to help the Hollywood newcomers over the rough spots. And that’s exactly what he did while working in ‘<Stars Over Broadway,’’ the Warner Bros. production which comes ROTO! eee ee ee Theatre, The picture introduces Jane Froman and James Melton, two New York radio stars, to theatre audiences. Pat knew they were ambitious so he sort of spread a friendly wing over the two babes in Hollywood. And they reacted to Pat’s gesture exactly as director William Keighley hoped they would. Pat coached Miss Froman and Melton in the technique of facing the camera. By following Pat’s suggestions, the radio stars found the path which leads to movie stardom not half as rough as Pat found it three years ago. Only a few months before Pat started work in ‘‘Stars Over Broadway’? he connived with James Cagney and Frank McHugh, two other Irish lads, to build up Mary Gordon’s role in ‘‘ The Irish in Us.’’ It’s no secret the three virtually gave the picture to Miss Gordon, a lovable old woman who had struggled a long time for Hollywood recognition. Pat not only coached Miss Gordon in her lines and gave her encouragement, but he kept a friendly eye on Olivia De Havilland, a protege of Prof. Max Reinhardt. Pat went into ‘‘The Irish In Us’’ shortly after starring in ‘‘ Oil for the Lamps of China.’’ In the latter picture his leading lady was Josephine Hutchinson, a stage star who knew little about picture acting. Pat explained what he knew about it, told her about camera angles, lighting and numerous other technical points peculiar to movie making. Realizing the value of publicity, he introduced every writer who came on the set to see him to Miss Hutchinson. Often he talked writers into interviewing Miss Hutchinson instead of himself. Phil Regan and Winifred Shaw will always look back with a certain feeling of happiness to their affiliation with Pat in the Warner Bros. musical, ‘‘In Caliente.’’ It was in this film that they got their first real break. And it was Pat O’Brien’s advice which helped them give outstanding performances in the colorful comedy. In ‘‘Stars Over Broadway,’’ Pat has the role of a small time promoter who eventually becomes a ‘*big shot.’’ The picture is a thrilling comedy drama with music, the cast including besides O’Brien, Jean Muir, Jane Froman, James Melton and Frank McHugh. Page Twenty Stars Over O’Brien Needs Fast Car For Film Work Pat O’Brien, who has the leading role in ‘‘Stars Over Broadway,’’ a Warner Bros. picture now showing at the ................ Theatre, recently bought a fast new sedan. ‘‘Il’m being kept so busy,’’ O’Brien said, ‘‘that a fast car is necessary to get me from one stage to another for film scenes. O’Brien is working with Jane Froman and James Melton, famous New York radio stars, who will be introduced to theatre audiences in ‘<Stars Over Broadway,’’ a film directed by William Keighley. Broadway James Melton and Jane Froman, two of radio’s outstanding singing stars make their film debut with Pat O’Brien (right) in Warner Bros.’ new musical drama, ‘‘ Stars Over Broadway,’’ which opens at thé ...........:06. Theatre on Mat No. 203—20c Radio Stars Change Song Tempo For Film Director Leading Singers In “Stars Over Broadway” Find Movie Work Different Big time radio stars who are accustomed to setting their individual tempo in songs, find Hollywood not at all like a radio station. This was learned at Warner Bros. studio while Jane Froman and James Melton, whose names are known wherever there are radio sets, sing in a scane for ‘‘Stars Over Broadway,’’ which comes to the ............ccceeee PHOBENE OW paccsecs necessities The two stars stood before a camera singing ‘‘ At Your Service, Madame,’’ a song written especially for them by Warren and Dubin, ace tunesmiths. In the middle of their number Director William Keighly ordered the cameraman to ‘‘cut.’’ ‘‘Sorry,’’ he said to the radio stars, ‘‘but I think you two had better try it again and hold the ‘madame’ just a little longer. ‘<You see, while you are singing, we are going to cut to a closeup of Jean Muir. This holding of ‘madame’ will emphasize the romance which has been going on between Jean and Pat O’Brien. Now let’s try it again.’’ Miss Froman and Melton again sang ‘‘At Your Service, Madame’’ and followed Keighley’s instructions. All the while the camera played on them. ‘‘What I don’t understand,’’ said Miss Froman when the song was completed, ‘‘is why we sang that longer ‘madame’ into the camera when you said you were going to get a close-up of Miss Muir. It seems to me you should have cut away from us.’’ ‘«That’s the next thing you are going to learn,’’ Keighly explained. ‘‘Before we are through with this picture you and Jimmy probably will sing the number six or eight times. Later on you two will sing with the camera just on you.’’ ‘¢And later still you will sing as we get a close-up of Pat O’Brien. When the film editor cuts the picture he will throw out the extra parts. We shoot plenty of film to give him lots of variety.’’ Later Keighley suggested that Miss Froman and Melton ‘‘speed up’’ a line in ‘‘At Your Service, Madame.’’ ‘¢In this place we’re going to have that close-up of Pat. By speeding it up the audience will be impressed with the fact that never once in ‘Stars Over Broadway’ does Pat smile.’’ If Miss Froman and Melton had been singing the song over the radio, they would have sung the number only once and in a tempo de ~ cided upon by themselves, not a motion picture director. ‘“Stars Over Broadway’’ is a colorful story of the lives and loves of New York radio celebrities. Popular Songs Vie With Classic Music In Film “Stars Over Broadway” Offers Wide Variety Of Entertainment By CARL SCHAEFER Imagine the compositions of the imortal Franz Schubert, Guiseppe Verdi and Fredrich von Flotow sharing program honors with the ultra-modern works of Harry Warren, Al Dubin and a cowboy whose name was forgotten long ago. It would be impossible to stage such a program in Carnegie Hall, Aeolian Hall and the Hollywood Bowl; and in the Central Park Casino, the Waldorf Roof and MHollywood’s famous Trocadero. It’s such impossibilities which intrigue the movie producers. The ‘<jmpossibility’’ of producing a talking picture inspired the Warner Bros. to make one, a feat which revolutionized the motion picture industry. For some time producers have toyed around with the idea of making a movie which would completely satisfy the varied tastes of music lovers; those who relish the works of the great masters, those who swear by popular music and the group which dotes.on cowboy and hill billy numbers. Credited with starting the socalled ‘‘G Men,’’ ‘‘musiecal’’ and ‘“mystery’’ motion picture cycles, Warner Bros. have been successfully experimenting in the field of music. New Type of Musical Effecting a compromise between the definitely classical musie of “CA Midsummer Night’s Dream’’ and the tin pan alley numbers of — ‘“Tn Caliente,’’ Warner Bros. have now produced ‘‘Stars Over Broadway,’’ which comes to the ............ cee ee ‘Theatre: on caesk.ee This film differs from every other musical picture ever produced and offers a world of variety in music. It introduces James Melton and Jane Froman, two personalities known throughout the world of radio, to screen audiences. James Melton wears the robes of Rhadames. the Egyptian warrior who is about to lead an army against the Ethiopian countrymen of the little slave girl he loves, and sings ‘‘Celeste Aida,’’ one of the most beautiful and famous arias in Verdi’s ‘‘ Aida.’’ Melton likewise does another classical bit by singing an aria from ‘‘ Martha,’’ the von Flotow opera first introduced Christmas Day, 1847, in the Court Opera, Vienna. The young lyric tenor, a versatile chap, drops his classical cloak and sings ‘‘ Where Am I[?’? a ballad written especially for him by the ace song team of Warren and Dubin. Then with Jane Froman, whom he has wooed and won hundreds of times to thrill radio audiences, Melton sings ‘‘At Your Service, Madame,’’ a character novelty staged by Bobby Connolly. Two Bathtub Tenors In addition to these numbers, the Singer Stands in For Stand-in To Get Warm James Melton, New York radio star playing in the Warner Bros. production, ‘‘Stars Over Broadway,’’ which comes to the ............ Fane ae Theatreon 290), put one over on his stand-in during the filming of the picture. It was a cloudy day and Melton, a Southerner, was cold. In a moment of inspiration he addressed his stand-in, Walter De Palma. ““Hey, Walt; how’d you like to take a rest and let me stand in for you?’ De Palma apparently thought well of the idea so he took Melton’s seat. ‘Now this’s better,’’ exclaimed the Georgia-born radio star as he rubbed his hands in the hot rays of a big studio lamp. ‘‘Stand-ins have a snap on cold days.’’ young tenor plays the piano and sings ‘‘Carry Me Back to the Lone Prairie,’’ a cowboy song he introduced a year ago February while on a concert tour with George Gershwin. The cowhand who first hummed the song has been forgotten, but his number lives on. Miss Froman, whom radio editors of the United States and Canada early this year named their favorite woman singer of popular songs, sings a Warren and Dubin torch song, ‘‘ You Let Me Down,’’ the number she sings with Melton. The surprise package in ‘‘Stars Over Broadway’’ is the appearance of the lovely Jean Muir as a church choir soloist. She sings ‘CAve Maria,’’ a Franz Peter Sehubert composition. Heretofore Miss Muir has been known to movie audiences as only a dramatic actress. Her newly discovered singing talent is expected to win Miss Muir a host of new fans. Two Who Don’t Sing The Morgan Family—Bill Morgan and his seven kiddies—sing — several hill billy songs as part of their act in the amateur radio hour sequence conducted by Frank Fay. The only members of the allstar cast of ‘‘Stars Over Broadway’’ who do not sing are Pat O’Brien and Frank McHugh, two Irish lads who prefer to confine their vocalizing to the privacy of their bath tubs. The wide variety of music offered in ‘‘Stars Over Broadway’’ was not thrown into the picture as one would stuff a laundry bag. Director William Keighly saw to it that the music fitted perfectly into the continuity. ‘“‘Stars Over Broadway’’ is: a colorful story of the lives and loves of New York radio celebrities. In addition to marking the film debuts of James Melton and Jane Froman, both nationally famous radio stars, the picture has an all star cast headed by Pat O’Brien, Jean Muir and Frank McHugh. There are many other film favorites and scores of pretty girls in special numbers staged by Busby Berkeley and Bobby Connolly. The screen play is by Jerry Wald and Julius Epstein. Stars Of Song Jane Froman and James Melton, famous radio songbirds, make their debut in ‘‘ Stars Over Broadway’’ now showing At thé ........cccee Theatre. Mat No. 108—10c