The Famous Ferguson Case (Warner Bros.) (1932)

your L. story This story contains complete information about “The Famous Ferguson Case” and is known to showmen as a “routine story.” “Famous Ferguson Case’”’ Comes To .._... Theatre Next... With Joan Blondell and Great Cast Will a genuinely realistic newspaper picture ever be made? They’ve been asking that, for years; and now from jlollywood comes word that the trick has been turned at last. The picture that is said to meet all the requirements is “The Famous Ferguson Case,” which was finished not long ago at the First National studios and which will open ....... StU E MRS Bt ee son gece od peaLTe. Joan Blondell is the star of “The Famous Ferguson Case,’ which is said to present # a highly vivid panorama of a erime of nationwide notoriety !— the sort of :crime that is t blazoned in the front-page headlines of seven the most feconservative newspapers. As Gd Nes te the big Cut r5¢ Mat 5c town tabloids, they simply go wild about. it! Besides Miss Blondell, the cast of “The Famous Ferguson Case” boasts a long list of well known players including Tom Brown, the nineteenyear-old leading man , who _ has ereated such a sensation in Hollywood lately, Adrienne Dore, Walter Miller, Leslie Fenton, Vivienne Osborne, J. Carroll Naish, Purnell Pratt, Russell Hopton, Kenneth Thomson, Grant Mitchell, Russell Simpson, Leon Wayecoff, Miriam Seegar, Spencer Charters, Willard Robertson, George Meeker, Mike Donlin and others. ‘She production was directed by Lloyd Bacon. But the most remarkable fact about “The Famous Ferguson Case,” according to those who have seen it, is the lifelike picture it affords of the rush of reporters and photographers that descends upon the scene of a really notorious murder, the manner in which they work, the strange and varied types of men and women that move in the orbits of modern journalism. As may well be imagined, “The Famous Ferguson Case” is a thrilling story, all the more so because it deals with the very stuff of life in the raw. The script was written by Courtenay Terrett and Granville Moore; and every good newspaper man who lives within a radius of many hundred miles of New York knows who Courtenay Terrett is. His fellow-journalists call him “Brick,” and he has covered most of the high spots in the nation’s news for a number of years. Among his outstanding assignments were the Synder-Gray murder, the Halls-Mills tragedy, the sinking of the _ submarine S-4, and a sensational series of articles on the development of racketeering in New York, which was featured by the New York World. He knows newspapers and he knows life; and this combination has helped to make “The Famous Ferguson Case” what its heralds proclaim it to be—the greatest of all newspaper pictures, and the first genuinely realistic one. your 9 story Joan Blondell Plays Central Role In ‘Famous Ferguson Case”’ It was a murder that shocked the nation. It was “The Famous Ferguson Case.” The new First National feature picture bearing that title is comTITAS EMRE Le at TOON Ure anne eae! Theatre, and if advance reports are true the local publie is going to have a plentiful supply of chills and thrills. Also it will get a peep into the real world behind the scenes of newspaper-making, such as has never before been granted to the great army of newspaper readers. Joan Blondell plays the central role in “The Famous Ferguson Case” —that of Maizie Dickson, a “sob sister” or woman reporter for a sensational paper. She is assigned to write “sob stuff’ for her sheet about the dreadful affair at Cornwall when the wealthy banker, Mr. Ferguson of New York, is’ found murdered under circumstances which point the finger of suspicion directly at Mrs. Ferguson and her elose friend Judd Brooks. All the great newspapers of the United States were represented at the scene of the murder twenty-four hours after it was committed. Clue followed clue; a weak district attorney was cajoled and browbeaten into taking one sensational step after another; each day had a new thrill for the front pages. Wherever “The Famous Ferguson Case” has been shown since its re cent release, critics and public have hailed it as the most vivid and pulsing drama of its kind ever issued from a Hollywood studio. A warm and human love story runs through the exciting progress of the plot. Besides Joan Blondell, the cast numbers among its members Tom Brown, one of the newest Hollywood leading men, Adrienne Dore, Walter Miller, Leslie Fenton, Vivienne Osborne, V. Carroll Naish, Purnell Pratt, Russell Hopton, Kenneth Thomson and Grant Mitchell, besides many others of equal standing in popular favor. Lloyd Bacon directed. your eB ea story Star Reporter Wrote ‘Famous Ferguson Case”’ For Screen A wealthy man murdered after a quarrel with his wife; the wife involved with another man; a motive clearly apparent — and what’s the answer? That is “The Famous Ferguson Case,” the new First National picture which will have its first showing SANA Maen hit PUR Oe eh DRL Varian cuit) clave began Theatre. From advance reports it is, as one may say, a typical American murder mystery of the first magnitude—a screen presentation of a tragedy of real life and of the manner in which it is handled by the newspapers. In fact “The Famous Ferguson Case” is said to be an authentic portrait of the actual workings of the press. A veteran newspaper man, Courtenay (“Brick”) Terrett, who has covered most of the famous crime cases of recent years, wrote the original story of “The Famous Ferguson Case.” Lloyd Bacon, widely familiar with journalistic theory and practice, was the director. The cast is headed by Joan Blondell, and in the lineup are Tom Brown, Adrienne Dore, Walter Miller, Leslie Fenton, Vivienne Osborne, J. Carroll Naish, Purnell Pratt, Russell Hopton, Kenneth Thomson, Grant Mitchell and many other players. There are, in all, thirty-seven separate characters in the story, besides a large background of extras and “atmosphere” players. “The Famous Ferguson Case” has attracted widespread attention wher ever it has been has been arous verdict is that i eyes a most si American life j tury—that of tl in its monopoly when such a eas which the pictu Controversy the general ds before our it problem of twentieth cenr of the press e public mind s as that with s. “a disher-out of hooey,” says one local newspaper man. She piles on the agony; she wrings the heart and makes the flesh creep whenever a crime has been committed, especially such a crime as starts the plot going in “The Famous Ferguson Case.” As for Joan Blondell, she admits that if she were not an actress she Joan Blond Ferguson C porting the your * “Sob Siste: comed By “ve always) sister, and nov fulfilled.” Thus said J ficure) of) bn Case,” the 3 feature film co. thes. ae ell And what is. She’s a wi porter who sp <enneth Thomson as they appear in “The Famous First National and Vitaphone Production. Sup am Brown, Vivienne Osborne and Grant Mitchell. Cut No. 3 Cut 30c Mat roc .th story Role Weln Blondell to be a sob had my desire londell, central amous Ferguson First National Re, to Theatre. b sister? newspaper” rezeS in emotion— would rather be a journalist than “T like to write,” she declares, “and I’m anything else in the world. keenly interested in human nature. Sometimes even now, after more than a year in Hollywood, I am tempted to make the experiment of getting a job on a paper and seeing whether I can make good.” With these sentiments Joan threw herself whole-heartedly into the role of Maizie Dickson, who is sent by her paper to write “sob stuff” about the tragic occurrence in “The Famous Ferguson Case.” Tom Brown, the nineteen-year-old leading man, one of Hollywood’s latest sensations, also has a journalistic role; he is a kid reporter who, at the end, teaches the veterans of the press from New York and other large cities some fine points about their profession. your D th story Actual Murder Mystery Forms Plot Of ‘Famous Ferguson Case”’ “The Famous Ferguson Case” was a celebrated murder mystery. A slain husband, an unhappy wife, another man — there was the problem faced by the detectives assigned to cover the case, and by the reporters . who swarmed down upon the scene of the murder from newspapers all over the country. The wife was suspected; her male friend was arrested. Which of them was guilty? Or were both of them culpable? They seemed to be straight, clean, honorable American folk such as live their lives in peace and usefulness all around us; but the motive was clear and the evi dence was sinister. “Passions spin the plot,” even when the chief figures of a tragic story are anything but villains. Were Marcia Ferguson and Judd Brooks guilty lovers? What of the strange sights seen by young “petters” in a nearby lane? What of the evidence of the old woman who rode a donkey? “The Famous Ferguson Case” which: vopens ‘atthe ems ii Dheatre: oc sie is described as a dramatic romance of the first water; and the cast, an exceptionally large one, is made up of such sterling players as Joan Blondell, Tom Brown, Walter Miller, Leslie Fenton, Vivienne Osborne, J. Carroll Naish, Purnell Pratt, Russell Hopton, Kenneth Thomson, Grant Mitchell — and about twenty others, whose perform Adrienne Dore, ances were directed by Lloyd Bacon. Although the title has been changed to disguise the real-life tragedy on which Courtenay Terrett based the story of “The Famous Fer guson Case,” many of those who atBONG Apes see ve ke POST yin, See will recognize the true characters and remember their real names. Opening Day Story Ace Of New York Reporters Author Of Sensational “Famous Ferguson Case,” Opening At .__.. Today Courtenay Terrett, writer of “The Famous Ferguson Case,” the First National picture featuring Joan Blondell and an all-star reporteractor cast, which opens at the ...... Theatre today, became New York’s ace newsgatherer in nine years, a brief time as reportorial success goes. Terrett, knewn to fellow-reporters as “Brick,” began his meteoric newspaper career in Butte, Mont., as cub reporter on the Butte Miner. Coming to Columbia University, Terrett could not wait for his degree, but immediately sought employment in New York’s historie Park Row. At eighteen he was given a job on the Tribune rewrite desk. In two years he had become Assistant Night City Editor. Terrett then moved over to the Evening Post, transferring to the Telegram after two and a half years with the Post. His Telegram job was followed in 1929 by a position with the Morning World, lasting until that paper became history. Terrett’s nine years saw him coyering the Hall-Mills murder mystery, the Snyder-Gray tragedy, the Shenandoah disaster, the sinking of the Submarine 8-4, an exposure of racketeering, gangsters’ funerals, the return of Lindbergh, the Vestris tragedy and the Red riots at City Hall and Union Square. On the Vestris story he set an all-time speed record for turning out copy, writing ten columns in 265 minutes, ® “Brick” Terrett has written into the “Famous Ferguson Case” all the highlights of his own sensational association with the biggest stories that broke in the papers during the past decade. He has blended the gripping murder mysteries which earned him his first fame into what has been ealled the greatest and most realistic newspaper picture ever sercened. Supporting Joan Blondell in this Terrett-written and Lloyd Bacondirected success, is one of the largest ‘name casts” gathered for one picture. It includes Tom Brown, Adrienne Dore, Leslie Fenton, Vivienne Osborne, J. Carroll Naish, Purnell Pratt. Russell Honton, Kenneth Thomson, Grant Mitchell, Mike DonIm _ and hundreds of others. PLANT THESE STORIES WELL IN ADVANCE OF YOUR OPENING. Page Three