The Bargain (Warner Bros.) (1931)

DON'T BE AFRAID TO HIT HARD LEWIS STONE SAYS THERE CAN BE NO SUCH THING AS A FAVORITE ROLE, SINCE THE PLAY’S THE THING Screen Favorite Coming To Strand Theatre On Next In “The Bargain,” First National Drama, Says That The Real Actor Wants To Act (Feature-—Plant Week Before Coming of “The Bargain” in Sunday Newspaper) Lewis Stone, featured in ‘‘The Bargain,’’ the First National picture which comes to the next, was recently asked to mention his favorite role. Theatre He was enjoying his favorite breakfast of waffles and honey in the dining room of the Warner Bros.-First National Studios in Burbank, California, at the time and quizzically lifted an eyebrow, and delivered to the young interviewer the following opinions: “There can be no such thing as a favorite role. A person may have a favorite food which he will eat all his life. Or he may have a favorite chair in which he always sits. But a favorite role which he plays all his life—heaven help us!” Ten years in motion pictures, together with his earlier stage experience and his military training have given Mr. Stone a mature and clearvisioned view of the profession and all of its ramifications. He _ sees values as they really are and. is content with the part he plays in the general scheme. He does not aspire to be otherwise. “Many a goed ploughboy has been ruined by becoming a poor poet,” he quoted. “I do not aspire to play Hamlet. I know that the roles in which I am best are those which fit my age, personality and abilities. I may show a preference for one certain thing I have done, but that cannot be called a favorite role beeause the producers and the public do not think the same way I do about it. They are more apt to laud me highly for something which, in my opinion, is far inferior.” The part he was working on at the.time the interview took place, was in “The Bargain.” ; The part he plays is that of a business man—a soap factory executive—whose early ambition to become an artist was frustrated by his marrying and having to make a living. The struggle between art and business—love and career—is the main theme of the play, and Lewis Stone is the man who fights a tortured destiny. Yet, in real life, as he stressed over and over again, he has known no other work than acting; has no desire to enter any other work, and would not know what to do if he were forced to leave the profession which he loves so much. Though the character of the man he pertrays is foreign to his personal nature, he plays it with a realism which is thoroughly convincing. The subject turned to good and bad actors: “There is no such thing as a bad actor,” Mr. Stone said. “There are only bad stories. No matter how fine an actor is, a poor story can ruin him. We have seen many eases of great stars absolutely ruined by a series of poor stories. “Given a play which is logical and reads well on paper, and a group of actors suited by their general temperaments to fill the roles, the picture will act itself out and prove successful. In ‘The Patriot,’ for instance, I put forth no greater effort than I had ever done — and that was always my utmost. The public responded to my work in that picture as though it were the greatest thing I had done. It required no more effort on my part than any other picture. The only difference was that the story was so well constructed, that I had no difficulty at all in fitting right into it. “Of course, in the early days of the silent pictures there were people who were considered bad actors. But they were not so. They were not actors at all. It is the talking picture which decides whether a person is an actor or not. Dialogue does it. “Tn the silents, the actor was always at rest. If he could walk and go through a few everyday mo ons, he was good. When it came speech, he would just have to ‘Blah, blah, blah’ and the film it on the first ‘blah’ for the in n of the subtitle, and you do Ten Apfel Celebrates His Twentieth Screen Year (Current Reader) Oscar Apfel celebrates this year the twentieth anniversary of his entrance into motion picture work. He was one of the pioneer actors of the screen, having first gone to work with the old Edison Company in 1911. He is now being seen in “The Bargain,” the First National production which IS“ PUNNING ab Asses. a ke oss We Theatre. He appears with Lewis Stone, Evalyn Knapp, Charles Butterworth, Doris Kenyon, John Darrow and Una Merkel. Robert Milton directed. Darrow Hits Screen After High School And Makes Hit (Current Reader). John Darrow, who has the juvenile lead in First National’s production “The Bargain”, which is now playing at the came to the screen in 1928. Without any previous experience of training, he was given a leading part in “High School Hero”, in which he acquitted himself so well that he has been in demand ever since. Lewis Stone, Evalyn Knapp, Doris Kenyon, Una Merkel and Oscar Apfel are in the cast. Robert Milton directed. TODAY Be: WANN {MIMO A FIRST (Gar ae, \ REXY, y w eae This is the prize play of Philip Barry who gave and Bound.”’ NY y LIFE’S SUPPRESSED DESIRES! STIFLED IMPULSES! INHIBITIONS! Put on parade before your eyes! For the first time— ARGAIN dares tell the truth about Life! with LEWIS STONE—CHAS. BUTTERWORTH DORIS KENYON — EVALYN KNAPP UNA MERKEL — JOHN DARROW — OSCAR APFEL “Holiday” **Paris WY STRANGE \ \ ANI UII WWW Cut No. 3 Cut 0c Mat r5c NATIONAL VITAPHONE HIT! not see him again until he has finished his last ‘blah’... and that is why those who were not actors were dropped when talking pictures came in, “But what I can’t understand,” said Mr. Stone, abruptly switching to a different theme, “is why the layman thinks that acting is a lazy man’s job. They do not understand the training and experience that is necessary, nor the hard work which it requires to make oneself fit into a part. “Girls and boys, young and old, flock to the stage and screen secure in the belief that they will make good because they happen to look something like John Barrymore or Bebe Daniels. I have not met a person yet who has not openly or secretly believed himself to be capable of reaching great heights in the acting profession. Staid business men will occasionally come out with a reminiscence of how they knocked them out of their seats in the high school play, and with what he knows about it now, he could stand them on their ears.” Lewis Stone’s lips puckered in that perculiar smile of his — the smile which is one of his best known screen characteristics, and which gives him such poised charm in real life. At this point, felt that I should perhaps get a little more out of him|STONE CAN ACT BETTER while I had him on hand. Opening my “Manual for Interviewers of Movie Stars,” I picked stock question No. 14 at random: “Do you prefer the stage to the screen—and why?” “T am thoroughly domesticated” Mr. Stone answered, his smile, for some reason or other, becoming a little broader. “I prefer the screen because I have my home here and am not in the mood to travel hither and yon over the country. But the stage is the finest training in the world—for younger people. “And by the way,” he went on, again bridging the gap to something altogether different. “Do interviewers ever give the interviewed any chance of wiggling out of a tight question? A lot of them are somewhat on the order of: ‘Have you stopped beating your wife yet? Answer yes or no.” They get you coming and going.” Which came just in time, for I was on the point of springing Question No. 27: “Supposing you are a gourmet—what is your favorite dish?” But Mr. Stone had risen, and, I knew it was my cue for ending my questionnaire. Others featured in “The Bargain” are Evalyn Knapp, Charles Butterworth, Doris Kenyon, John Darrow, Oscar Apfel and Una Merkel. THAN HE CAN PAINT (Current Reader) Una Merkel, who poses as a model for a portrait painted by Lewis Stone in “The Bargain,” the First National feature picture now playing at the tee tes re ee Rae Theatre, in reality posed for the studio artist, who painted the canvas used in this production. Featured in “The Bargain” are Charles Butterworth, Doris Kenyon, Una Merkel, John Darrow and others. Robert Milton directed. FROG INTERRUPTS ‘“*THE BARGAIN” Strange noise, rudely interrupted the filming of “The Bargain” the First National picture, now at the Theatre. Evalyn Knapp and John Darrow were seated in a swing in the imaginary garden engaged in a more or less tender love scene. Silence is rigidly enfi while cameras grind and my phones record, but in the midst of it all came the odd sounds. Director Robert Milton scanned the face of each member of his crew. But all looked innocent enough and the noise kept on. In constructing the garden, real bushes and shrubs were used, and a frog had been transplanted with them. It took a good half hour before the green intruder was located and evicted. Also featured in “The Bargain”? are Lewis Stone, Charles Butterworth, Doris Kenyon, Oscar Apfel, Una Merkel and Nella Walker. Milton Directs ‘“Bargain” On Stage And Screen (Current Reader) Robert Milton, the director of Bargain,” the First National yp.vduction which is now running at the Rn eon aia one Sune Theatre, was able to start work on the picture in a fully prepared manner. He had directed its year’s run on the New York stage before directing it for the screen. The same was true of “Outward Bound”, which he had made into a stage success before bringing it to the screen. Miss Knapp Once Napped On Hollywood Stage | (Current Reader) Evalyn Knapp, who plays a leading role in “The Bargain” the First National production which is now playing at the Theatre, once spent four months in Los Angeles without venturing within five miles of the film center. She 7s then playing in a stage prod of “Broadway,” and the thoug entering the movies was quite reuve from her mind. She returned to New York without even having seen Hollywood. Write Good Plays And Go To Live In Southern France (Advance Reader) Villa Lorenzo in Cannes, France is the home of Philip Barry whose successful plays have made him one of the real figures in the theatrical and literary world. His latest, ‘Tomorrow and Tomorrow” is one of the biggest current hits of Broadway. “The Bargain,” the First National picture which comes to the Theatre is an adaptation of his Harvard prize play, “You and I,” which had a New York run of over a year. Featured in “The Bargain” are Lewis Stone, Falyn Knapp, Charles Butterworth Kenyon, John Darrow, Oscar Una Merkel and Nella Walker. ert Milton directed. dev PRIZE FILM mel 1931! Cut No. LEWIS” ‘STONE CHARLES BUTTERWORTH DORIS KENYON -EVALYN: KNAPP STRAND 13 Cut goc Mat roc ee