Sweet Music (Warner Bros.) (1935)

RUDY VALLEE An Impertinent Portrait by Fred E. Ruslander He was a boy who worked while other kids played; who played in the orchestra while his friends danced; whose college days meant only work, and while he lead the Yale band, the cheers of the undergraduates were reserved for gridiron and campus heroes. The habit he acquired from the days when he organized a high school orchestra still remains. He doesn’t know to loaf. He is extremely sensitive to color in his surroundings. His bed room is done in dark blue. His private office is almost sombre, dark mahogony prevailing. It is furnished with an enormous desk, a grand piano, a phonograph with a microphone attachment, a few leather upholstered chairs and a buffet. Rudy arises at 1 PM. His breakfast consists of orange juice, a grape fruit, one poached egg on toast and either bran or cornmeal muffins. He drinks neither coffee, tea nor milk. He never touches liquor, and eats no candy or pastry. He regards his body as an engine and tries to provide the fuel that makes for the greatest efficiency. Proper diet is one of his chief fads, and he’s always willing to discuss the science of eating. He has a hearty dinner at 9 P.M., always at his own home. He has no valet, declaring he can put on his own pants. His housekeeper declares he is the neatest man she has ever known. He retires at 5 A.M., but no matter how hard he has worked all day, he will putter with a motion-picture camera for an hour before going to bed. He is never without a camera, and his chief form of entertainment is showing his friends motion pictures he has taken himself. His taste in clothes are ultra conservative, but he wears blue pyjamas. He lives with his younger brother, Bill, and his secretary, Lester Layden, who once lead the Yale band in which Rudy played. They are attended by a housekeeper, her husband, who is a combination houseman and butler, and a cook. Rudy has a chauffeur, who sits in the back seat while Rudy drives. He changes cars yearly. Just now he has two, a Cadillac and a La Salle. Rudy is never happy without a dog. He has a great Dane at his Maine camp, a_ pedigreed Doberman-Pincher in New York, and “Windy” a half breed, at Westbrook, Me., where his sister, Mrs. Cathleen Lennenville resides. Rudy’s father lives with Mrs. Lennenville when he is not traveling. The sister is a talented musician, and _ teaches piano. Brother Bill can’t play or sing, but is a writer. There is no romance in Rudy’s life at present, despite the tendency to credit him with one every time he takes out a girl. He is apt to be moody and have spells of depression. His intimate friends are his business associates, with whom he talks shop at dinner. He does his own shopping, and has decided preferences. He designed and selected the furnishings for his Maine lodge. He has no superstitions. His dinners consist of either roast chicken, roast lamb, roast beef or grilled hbeef-steak, with green vegetables. Rudy is an inveterate theatregoer and sees all the important plays and movies. His appointments are made from a waiting list. When he finds he has time to see one or more people, his Heigh-ho Everybody! America’s top troubador, Rudy Vallee, surrounded by a studio-full of talent, steals the show from the idols of Hollywood by his work in Warner Bros.’ “Sweet Music.”” Ann Dvorak has the leading feminine role, in a cast which includes many screen favorites. Mat No. 15—20c secretaries telephone. He pays no attention to applications for positions in his orchestra. With a few minor changes, the organization has been intact for five years. If he needs a new man, he selects a top notecher with whose work he is familiar. Three of the seven men with whom he started his original orchestra in 1928 are still with him. One, who has been an invalid for four years, is still on the payroll. One started a band of his own, another went into the photography business and the other joined another orchestra. None of them were Yale students. He resents being called a crooner. He says one wouldn’t shout into a person’s ear—then why shout into a microphone? His voice is, however, naturally very powerful. He is a naval aide on the staff of Governor Brann of Maine, with a title of Lieutenant Commander. He is also a Kentucky colonel. He enlisted in the navy when but 15 years old, claiming to be 18. He was found out and bounced out of a chance to be a gob. Innacuracy in his assistants is his pet phobia. His executive offices require the serv ices of two secretaries and a librarian. His two young women secretaries have each been with him more than six years. He does not play cards — never dances, cares nothing for golf or tennis. He is a good swimmer and is an ardent fight fan. He will not look at unpublished manuscript and ambitious song writers only waste time sending him copies. He will not give personal auditions, but will listen to recordings that are sent to him. He tunes in on little known radio stations in search of talent. He got the Hertz Bros. in that way. They thought it was a “gag” when he telephoned to them at Station WAAT to come and see him. For two years he maintained a 17 hour a day schedule of work. He never refuses to play a benefit for an recognized charity if his time permits, but appeals for financial aid are earefully investigated. He gets 250 letters a day, very few of them “mash” or “crank” notes. He mails out 300 photographs a week, mostly to college students and fraternities. He joined the “S.A.E.” fraternity at Maine and is still an active member. He never allows a letter to be published, but insists on seeing all mail commenting on his programs. Since he stopped specializing in singing love songs, his letters from love lorn ladies have fallen off in quantity. He considers the year he spent at the University of Maine the happiest of his life, but went to Yale because there was more orchestra work to be found in New Haven. He spent a year in England and refused to give the Prince of Wales saxophone lessons because he wanted to return to Yale and get his degree. Rudy has been in several motion pictures but says that the only one which really gave him a chance to act is “Sweet Music,” the newest Warner Bros. musical spectacle which opens at the Pitas hea hestTe ON 2.08 oy Rudy Vallee Names Most Beautiful Film Players But Comedian Playing With Him In “Sweet Music’”’ Doesn’t Think They’re Hefty Enough UDY VALLEE is a brave man. He has dared to name the twelve women he considers the most beautiful in Hollywood. Rudy only named his list after some considerable persuasion. He was at first very doubtful about taking such a chanee, and as naming beauties always arouses discussion, so did Rudy’s choice. Joseph Cawthorn doesn’t entirely agree with Rudy and said so right out loud. Not that he doesn’t think the particular set of girls mentioned are all right, but he prefers more weight. Both Rudy and Cawthorn were working on the Warner Bros.’ musical, ‘‘Sweet Musie,’’ which COMOS~tO. The s.0 50s. dseeses Theatre OTP Scien , when asked about the matter. ‘*Why should I ineur the hatred and scorn of the thousands of beautiful girls in Hollywood?’’ Rudy demanded when first questioned. ‘‘Who am I to say who is beautiful, and who isn’t? How can any man pick the ‘most beautiful’?’ women? There is no standard for beauty. I know no more about the subject than any other man,” He was told that because he is idolized by millions of women, many of whom are convinced that when he sings he is singing direetly to them, that the public might be interested in gaining his views on feminine loveliness. Rudy’s Twelve Beauties ‘“Very well, then, I’ll pick a list of beauties,’’ he agreed, ‘‘ but understand—I’m not saying that RUDY V ALLEE Mat No. 19 10¢ they are the most beautiful women. That’s only my opinion. All right. Here goes! ’’ Rudy then chose Dolores Del Rio, Fay Wray, Marion Davies, ‘Ginger Rogers, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Ann Sothern, Barbara Stanwyck, Carole Lombard, Alice Faye, Ann Dvorak and Joan Crawford. ‘“Now,’’ he was asked, ‘‘whom do you consider the most beauti ful actress of them all?’’ ‘*T think that Dolores Del Rio is the most beautiful brunette,’’ he replied, without blinking his eyes, ‘‘and I think Alice Faye is the most beautiful blonde. You may quote me on that, but I have absolutely no comment on my other selections. I think their charms speak for themselves.’’ Then Cawthorn put in his oar. ‘“Rudy Vallee is one of the swellest young men I ever met,’’ he said. ‘‘He’s a genius as a musician and as a showman. He’s a good actor. He’s a loyal college man and a credit to his parents. But he’s all wrong when it comes to picking beautiful women, and I ean prove it. ‘“Let’s go back to Cleopatra and Helen of Troy and on up to Lillian Russell. ‘“Not one of them weighed under 160 pounds. ‘“Took at the models of Michaelangelo and Raphael. ‘‘Were they slim and fragile? ‘*They were not. ‘‘The New Universities Dictionary defines beauty as ‘an assemblage of graces or properties which command the approbation of the senses.’ Only 1320 Pounds of Beauty ‘“When a girl is so slim, you have to look at her twice to make sure you saw her, how ¢an she be an ‘assemblage of graces’? ‘‘Young Vallee has very good taste in features. His list shows that. He has picked as pretty a lot of women as anybody could on a world journey. ‘‘But there is only about 1320 pounds of beauty in all in his entire list of beauties. You could almost equal this with Kate Smith and a couple of blondes from any burlesque show. ‘When I was Rudy’s age — and weight — I might have made the mistake that he has made, but all the great classical painters could not have been wrong. ‘“From Hebe to Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, beauty proclaimed the grandeur of size. It is impressive, only if it carries weight. ’’ Rudy has the romantie role and Cawthorn a comedy part in ““Sweet Music,’’ Warner Bros.’ latest and most spectacular musical romance. Others in the east include Ann Dvorak, Ned Sparks, Helen Morgan, Robert Armstrong, Allen Jenkins, Alice White and Al Shean. Dances and ensembles in which scores of beautiful girls take part were staged by Bobby Connolly while the music and lyrics are by the noted song teams of Warren and Dubin, Fain and Kahal and Dixon and Wrubel. Alfred E. Green directed. Three Famous Music-Makers Rudy Vallee joined two other famous Warner Bros. stars, both noted for their singing, when he became star of that company’s newest musical, “Sweet Music,”’ which opens at the heatre Ose ae » Dick Powell, Rudy Vallee and Al Jolson are shown above as they met on the ‘lot’? in Hollywood. Ann Drorak has the leading feminine role in “Sweet Music,” which also features Helen Morgan, famed songstress. Mat No. 12—-20c Page Nineteen