Swing Your Lady (Warner Bros.) (1938)

as ws Se fh ~~ a oe eee oe oe IT FEATURES THE WEAVER BROS. G ELVIiIR-Y Mat 202—30c JUST HOMEFOLKS—(left to right) Abner, Elviry and Cicero Weaver, top-ranking entertainers, who first introduced the Ozark mountain music to the world. Theyre making their first screen appearance in 34 & “Swing Your Lady,” which is now at the Strand Theatre. (Advance ) Weaver Bros. and Elviry Take Leave For Hollywood Missouri’s most famous vaudeville team, the Weaver Brothers and Elviry, has finally gone Hollywood! Now, the act that made America ‘‘hillbilly’’ conscious can be seen in the Warner Bros.’ picture, ‘‘Swing Your Lady’? which comes to the Strand next Friday. To vaudeville and movie fans alike this will be welcome news, for few exponents of the homespun kind of humor have ever achieved the popularity which has been accorded this famous troupe. Like the late Will Rogers, they have stood for real down-to-earth amusement at a time when the country was being flooded by a now ebbing tide of sophistication and glittering artificiality. Thirty years ago, while traveling with a medicine show, the elder Weaver brother, Abner, discovered that he could get musi¢e from a regular carpenter’s saw. He sent for his brother, Cicero, and _ together they started the act which was to make them famous. Soon after that they joined the old Ward and Watts tent show and it was here that Cicero met and married June Petrie who is now known as sister Elviry. From then on success was only a matter of time. They broke into big vaudeville and made many appearances in most of the key cities of the country, particularly through the south. The company increased to twenty-six members. “heir success drew many imitators, but none could equal the Weaver, and Penny Singleton. earthy humor which was the hallmark of their act. Speaking along these lines not long ago Abner said. ‘‘Most professional hillbillies would not even be understood up in the Ozark Mountains. Lots of them have never even been there. We just do and say the things which our neighbors taught us. It’s real, and real things are always better than make believe or imitations. ’?? : Then came the talking picture and the rapid decline of vaudeville. By this time the Weavers were more than comfortably well off. Their retirement to a farm in Springfield, Missouri was interpreted by the theatrical world as the warrant of profitable vaudeville. 1937, however, saw a revival of interest in both vaudeville and hillbilly acts. Broadway gave an enthusiastic reception to the Kenyon Nickolson-Charles Robinson play, ‘“‘Swing Your lLady’’ and the movie rights were obtained by Warner Bros. The locale for the story is a small Ozark Mountain town and the opportunity for authenticity was too good to be missed. After some persuasion, the Weaver Brothers and Elviry were prevailed upon to come out of their retirement and take leading roles in the picture version. ‘‘Swing Your Lady’’ is an hilarious comedy starring Humphrey Bogart, Penny Singleton, Louise Fazenda, and Nat Pendleton. Mat 204—30c NO CITY SLICKERS are (left to right) Abner, Elviry, and Cicero They’re just a few of the grand folks you’re going to meet in “Swing Your Lady,” the mountain comedy coming to the Strand Theatre next Friday. Musical Saw Was Originated By Weaver Brothers A musical saw is not a musical saw. And learning to play a musical saw is as easy as parting a_hillbilly ’s hair. At least that is what Leon Weaver says. Leon should know. He is the senior member of the famed ‘*“Weaver Brothers and BElviry,’’ big-time vaudeville act. They are appearing in ‘‘Swing Your Lady,’’ a riotous Warner Bros. comedy which opens next week at the Strand Theatre. Leon originated and introduced the musical saw years ago and has affidavits reaching from here to there to prove it. When is a musical saw not a musical saw? ‘“When it is all dressed up with gold plating, studded with gems and gee-gaws and costs a lot of money,’’ says Leon. ‘‘ We are still using a saw which I bought in 1916 for $1.65. It’s a plain old ordinary handsaw and that’s all you need. **T can take you into a dime store, or rather those stores where the prices run to $1, and pick you out a handsaw for 65 cents that will make sweet music. Of course, like other pieces of metal different saws have different tones but it is no trick to find a good one and it doesn’t have to be expensive. ‘“Lots of other people claim to have originated the musical saw but I have plenty of affidavits to prove that I did. And to impress people those pretenders claim you have to know lots of tricks to play one. ‘“Once when we were traveling, a couple of screws dropped out of the handle of the saw and we never got around to putting them back in. A fellow asked us why the screws were missing and we told him it improved the tone and before you knew it all musical saw players were taking screws out of their saws not knowing it didn’t make a mite of difference. ““To play a saw all you need to do is to grasp the saw handle firmly between your knees. The way you hold the end of the saw with your hand is important. Place your thumb on top and grasp it with your second : nd third fingers. ‘“Then you flex the saw, run a bow across the back of the blade and you have your musical notes. Low notes are low on the saw, high notes are high and the more you bend the saw, the higher the notes get. All you need is a little practice. “But don’t blame me if the saw slips out of your fingers when you’ve got it flexed, and slaps you in the face. it happened to me.’’ He Sells Trailers As a sideline to his professional work, Leon Weaver, of the famous ‘“Weaver Bros. and Elviry,’’ who will be seen in Warner Bros.’ ““Swing Your lLady,’’ at the Strand Theatre next week, is district sales manager in Arkansas for a trailer manufacturer. Frank Weaver and Elviry who, incidentally, are man and wife, and have three children, own and operate a 30-acre resort on Lake Taneycomo in the Missouri Ozarks. This is the region that was made famous by Harold Bell Wright in his ‘‘ Little Shepherd of the Hills’’ stories. How Can You Keep Them Farming? Hillbilly entertainment has become so popular that there is a serious shortage of farmhands in the hill areas, according to Leon Weaver, of the famed vaudeville act. The ‘‘Weaver Brothers and Elviry,’’? now featured in Warner Bros.’ ‘‘Swing Your Lady,’’ at the Strand Theatre. Let a radio . tation issue a eall for harmonica players and professional hillbillies will appear by the hundreds, according to Weaver. But once a hillbilly gets a taste of professional life and the bright lights, he can’t be induced to return to the more prosaic farming life. As a result there is a shortage of men to work the farms in Missouri, where Leon owns two, and a consequent shortage of feed for cattle. Should Rate An Ah! Elviry Weaver of the famed ““Weaver Brothers and Elviry’’ original hillbilly vaudeville aet, says she is certain that ‘‘Swing Your Lady,’’ in which she is appearing at the Strand Theatre, is bound to be an ‘‘ah’’ picture. On the set there were Wanda, the seript girl, Carla, the hairdresser, Cora, the wardrobe woman, Gloria, the standin, Gaya, also a standin, Donna, the dance instructor, and Elviry herself. She says such a collection of ‘‘Ahs’’ is bound to be a good omen. Cicero Is Inventor Cicero Weaver, who with Abner and Elviry, is appearing in ““Swing Your Lady,’’ invented a great many of the musical instruments used in their act, but his favorite invention is his spinning bow tie. You’ll see it in ‘‘Swing Your Lady’’ at the Strand Friday. SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS, NEIGHBOR! _ The sflap-silly Hill-Billy > Weaver Bros. & Elviry are here!..panicking the world with mountain madness! introducing for the first time.on the screen THE WEAVER BROS. AND ELVIRY ws HUMPHREY BOGART FRANK McHUGH LOUISE FAZENDA NAT PENDLETON PENNY SINGLETON ALLEN JENKINS A WARNER BROS. PICTURE Directed by RAY ENRIGHT 100 Lines—Mat 113——15c FETCH YORE GRINS WHEN THESE OZARK A-hollerin’, cebben \ a-twangin’ an’ a-tootin’! FORGIT YORE FROWN... ORIOLES STOMP T’ TOWN! They're more fun than a revenooer shootin’! / SE AFTER Introducing for the first time on the screen— THE WEAVER BROS. & ELVIRY wi HUMPHREY BOGART -FRANK McHUGH LOUISE FAZENDA NAT PENDLETON-PENNY SINGLETON -ALLEN JENKINS A WARNER BROS. PICTURE + Directed by RAY ENRIGHT 164 Lines — Mat 208—30c