The Crash (Warner Bros.) (1932)

CURRENT FEATURE STORIES (CURRENT FEATURE) Ruth Chatterton Born to Succeed—Has Royal Grace Born in another age, Ruth Chatterton, who is now at the EROS eo ee Theatre .... ESTE ves oes , in ‘‘The Crash,’’ might have been the power behind some throne, a woman of destiny whose whims and fancies would have changed the history of nations. She has the power, the regal air, the assurance and the intelligence to have done all that and more. The theatrical world has been her oyster since that eventful day when she won a leading role in a Henry Miller stage production—by telephone. But any other world would have been hers too, had she turned her exceptional talents in another direction. Born to a modern world — a world of popular government and fading monarchies, Miss Chatterton has used her amazing powers to climb to her place as one of the first ladies of the stage and screen. She has competition, of course. But she has survived it all with a serene confidence in her own destiny and a supreme indifference to the challenge of the others. Garbo, Swanson, Bennett, Pickford —had they been born in time—might also have swayed history, but none of them would have ruled with quite so steady a hand, with quite such mental and physical poise as could Ruth Chatterton. Even now they might dispute Miss Chatterton’s title given her by some as “First Lady of the Screen,” but Chatterton would take no part in the dispute. It is one of the prerogatives of royalty—even theatrical royalty—to be indifferent to the pretenders’ claims. Has Powerful Personality A unique and powerful personality is Ruth Chatterton. It is evident now that nothing could have stopped her in her march to fame and fortune. It is true that she was born to that American counterpa~t of royalty, riches, and that sh »ad lost that hhawi¢n —Sa ._av she could act as well as a leading lady she had just seen perform on a Washington stage. It is also true that she got her first theatrical place on a dare—but the amazing thing is that she got it without training, preparation or recommendation. It is equally true that for a time Miss Chatterton and her mother lived on a miserly self apportioned allowance of fifty cents daily to make the family exchequer last over lean times, but it is not true that Chatterton herself was ever discouraged at heart or ever became unconvinced of her eventual success in the medium she had~chosen for her life’s career. After her first success, Ruth Chatterton bought a fur coat and went to Europe. Private Life Her Own If there have been lean spots in her life since then the world knows nothing of them. In truly regal fashion she has decreed that her private life is her own and not even the insistence of a Hollywood chatter writer can make her change her mind. She neither confirms nor denies reports about her and her favorite statement to would-be interviewers is: “Ask me no leading questions—beeause I'll give you no answers.” Chatterton reached Hollywood, a eountry new to her, as a stage producer. She carefully weighed an offer for a screen test and eventually agreed to it. The test was a failure with everyone except Emil Jannings, just then tottering from his Hollywood throne because of the advent of the new talking pictures. One of the last gestures this actor made in America was to demand Ruth Chatterton as his leading lady in “Sins of the Fathers.” When the Jannings regime fell the Chatterton reign started. It has carried on ever since. “Madame X,” “Sarah and Son,” “The Right to Love,” “Once a Lady,” and “Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” followed “Sins of the Fathers.” When Warner Bros. signed Miss Chatterton to a long term contract, beginning with the production “The Rich Are Always With Us,” the actress was about the most popular American feminine star in the motion picture business. Her position is still unchallenged as First National releases her latest picture, “The Crash.” Miss Chatterton’s truly royal statas in pictures is accepted almost unconsciously by members of the casts and crews with which she works as well as by the public generally. She is a quiet, kindly, thoughtful member of the cast when working on a picture— but it is an impersonal attitude. Is Popular with Casts She is dignified always, charming without fail, aloof and glamorous, fascinating in her imperious inner solitude. Her associates feel this and respect it. She is uniformly popular with those who worked with her in “The Crash,” but not many of them can say they really know the real Ruth Chatterton. She never eats in the. studio restaurant. Even the scintillatine ~-~ce Bennett, who worked on tug same studio lot, does not approach the unapproachable Chatterton in her attitude of detachment from studio life in general. Miss Chatterton is the only star on the Warner Bros.First National roster of stars — and it ineludes such names as George Arliss, Richard Barthelmess, Barbara Stanwyck, Kay Francis, William Powell, Joe E. Brown, Edward G. Robinson and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., as well as many others almost equally famous — who is accorded the comfort of a studio bungalow. Alone Has Studio Bungalow Within its charming if simple confines, she lives a secluded existence between scenes during the making of a picture; there she entertains her friends, indulges in her favorite pastime of arguing about important issues of the times. Garbo is mysterious. Bennett is spectacular. Swanson is extravagant. But only Chatterton is regal in Hollywood. Born to a modern world, Ruth Chatterton has to be content to reign over the world of make-believe on stage and screen. But had she reached this mundane sphere a few hundred years earlier she might easily have played hob with a good many pages of history. “The Crash” is Miss Chatterton’s second picture under the First National banner. George Brent, who played opposite her in the first, “The Rich Are Always With Us,” and who has recently married Ruth Chatterton, is again her leading man. The cast includes Hardie Albright, Lois Wilson, Helen Vinson, Paul Cavanagh, Ivan Simpson, Henry Kolker, Richard Tucker and Barbara Leonard. William Dieterle directed this picture, adapted from Larry Barratto’s great novel, “Children of Pleasure.” PLAY THESE VITAPHONE SHORTS FOR A WELL BALANCED PROGRAM An E. M. Newman “World Adventures’”’ A Looney Tune A Two-Reel “Broadway Brevities’”? Musical A Pepper Pot Novelty Reel Handsome George Brent as he appears in the role of Ruth Chatterton’s husband in the Warner Bros.First National hit, “The Crash.” Brent and Chatterton are also man and wife in real life. Cut No. 25 Cut 15c Mat 5c (CURRENT FEATURE) George Brent, Screen’s Most Popular Leading Man Ruth Chatterton and George Brent, who have already announced their engagement, are playing together again in the new First National picture, “The Crash,” at. the 2.:...... Theatre. They are man and wife in the picture, and also man and wife in real life, haying been married recently. And back of this announcement lies a tale. Less than a year ago George Brent was unknown to screen audiences. A young Irish-American, who has played more than three hundred stage roles in various stock companies and on Broadway, he had failed in every at _tennot to crash the movies One day an enterprising agent managed to show a film test of Brent to Warner Bros.’ officials. They were seeking a leading man for Ruth Chatterton for “The Rich Are Always With Us,” her initial First National picture. So Miss Chatterton saw the Brent test. “Where has this man been all my life?” she asked, and he was signed at once for the role. And he also won more than public recognition in this picture. He won the love of Ruth Chatterton just as he did in the picture. His phenomenal success in this picture is now screen history. But before the picture was released, Brent was the most sought-after leading man on the Warner Bros. lot. Almost every star was asking for him, as her leading man. He played twice opposite Barbara Stanwyck, twice opposite Miss Chatterton; he played with Loretta Young in two pictures, in one with Joan Blondell. From an unknown player, seeking in vain to get his break in pictures, Brent became “No. 1” on the list of leading men in Hollywood. Walter Winchell, famous columnist in his column said that George Brent today is No. 1 in fan mail. In facet, famous stars in other studios asked in vain for his services as leading man. Such an unexpected zoom to cinema height must be deserved, and Brent demonstrates again in “The Crash,” according to critics who have seen the picture, that he is no “screen ‘ accident,” but rather a very handsome and talented player who simply needed a break to gain his just recognition. “The Crash” is a modern story dealing with the effect of the stock market erash on the idle rich. Brent portrays a struggling young broker in this story. Miss Chatterton is his wife, whom he sends to win tips on the market with her “charm.” The story is said to be unusually dramatic and startling, and to provide this now-popular screen team with exceptional roles. The story was adapted from Larry Barratto’s successful novel, “Children of Pleasure” and was directed by William Dieterle. Others in the fine cast are Lois Wilson, Hardie Albright, Helen Vinson, Henry Kolker, Ivan Simpson and Barbara Leonard. (CURRENT FEATURE) Ruth Chatterton Sold On Films, May Abandon Stage Ruth Chatterton, starring in “The Crash,” the First National picture, WiSthesses tee ee Theatre, thinks it very unlikely that she will ever return to the stage. That conviction, she adds, is not a prejudice against the acting medium that Broadway offers—a medium in which she has been conspicuously successful in the past. On the contrary, she confesses that it seems an admission on her part rather than a boast. She has decided simply that it takes too long to adapt herself to a new style of acting. In the few seasons of her Hollywood career, Miss Chatterton has developed a technique which she had never so much as attempted until she made her cinematic debut opposite that fine German actor, Emil Jannings, in “Sins of the Fathers.” That experience, as she recounts it, was a revelation of new and exciting possibilities of screen histrionics. In subsequent pictures she set to work to experiment with these very possibilities and to find for herself the method which would be most telling in sereen work. _ In the past year or two, she feels, this development has reached its most effective and confident phase. She is no longer uncertain and searching. The process, she doesn’t mind confessing, was a long and difficult one. No more difficult, perhaps, than the apprenticeship required before one reaches stardom on the stage—but certainly different. Besides, in her case, she wasn’t starting as a novice but from secure stardox. «0 another medium, which fact might make the road either more difficult or easier, depending upon the temperament of the individual. In her case, she feels that it added to her difficulties. There was really more for her to unlearn than there would be for the inexperienced beginner to acquire. Warm as is her feeling for the stage —where she registered outstanding Broadway hits in such plays as “The Rainbow,” “Daddy Long Legs,” “Come Out of the Kitchen,” “A Marriage of Convenience,” “La Tendresse,” and others — Miss Chatterton believes she would find the transition hard work once more. “I’m really not very good at sudden changes,”? she says. “T would have to slip into it slowly — the ‘easing process’,”? she continued, discussing the subject in a recent interview. ‘And that would take such a long time. Some actors ean do it — and I’ve been positively emerald with envy at times when I’ve watched them.” The star continues to believe, however, that in her own case the approach would be new and strange and the change in tempo trying in any readjustment to the stage. ~ “Vm not growing ‘soft’ — don’t get that impression,” she said, and smiled. “I’m working just as hard, or harder, than I ever did in the stage days. But I guess I’ simply don’t like change. At all events, let’s say so—and let my case against the stage rest right there. All the other subtle little things that enter in are hard to explain.” Her initial production for First National was “The Rich Are Always With Us,” and “The Crash” is her second. The screen play, adapted by Earl Baldwin from Larry Barratto’s novel, “Children of Pleasure,” deals with the fate that overtook a group of people in the stock market crash of 1929. Miss Chatterton again has as her leading man young George Brent, who scored such a hit opposite her in “The Rich Are Always With Us.” Others prominent in the cast are Henry Kolker, Paul Cavanagh, Lois Wilson, Ivan Simpson, Barbara Leonard, Hardie Albright, Juliette Compton and Helena Phillips. William Dieterle direeted. Page Nineteen