The Flirting Widow (Warner Bros.) (1930)

_ at the Material In This Press Sheet Can Be Adapted For Silent Version With Slight Changes “Flirting Widow” Is Well-Constructed Film Comedy Good Story And Splendid Acting Scores Heavily With =. Audiences (PREPARED SILENT REVIEW) Dorothy .Mackaill seems to become a better farceusé with every succeeding film and in “The Flirting Widow,” the First National pieture now enjoying a successful run are eee yee Theatre, the delectable Dorothy displays all her varied talents as a comedienne. “The Flirting Widow” is a bright little comedy about the difficulties Celia Faraday, a young Englishwoman, encounters when without haying gone through the formality of acquiring a husband, she suddenly announces that she has become a widow. The events that transpire when an English army officer with the same name as Celia’s supposedly late husband appears on the scene are delightfully original and always amusing. When the pair realize that they are really in love, matters become even more complicated correspondingly funnier. “The Flirting Widow” and moves along at a brisk pace and keeps the audience in a jovial humor. The situations are cleverly constructed and the comedy ig always spontaneous, never forced. Basil Rathbone as Colonel Smith, the officer, lends admirable aid to Miss Mackaill’s hilarious antics and satisfactorily handles his part of the romantic interest. William Austin, Leila Hyams, Claude Gillingwater, Emily Fitzroy, Flora Bramley, Anthony Bushell and Wilfred Noy, the supporting players, have captured the spirit of the piece and prove themselves adept at farce. Whoops, My Dear! FLI with DOROTHY ~ MACKAILL BASIL RATHBONE What would you do if you announced your marriage to a man you thought dead only to find him alive. And’ how would you get out of it if he suddenly appeared to claim you? Don’t dare think about it until you’ve seen the matrimonial merriment in this exciting farce! A Wm. A. Seiter Prod. Look Who’s Here! |DIRECTOR EDITS RTING IDOW PICTURE WHILE IN PRODUCTION William A. Seiter Secures Best Results By Lessening Work of Film Editor William A. Seiter, who directed Dorothy Mackaill, Basil Rathbone, Leila Hyams,’ William Austin, Emily Fitzroy, Claude Gillingwater, Flora. Bramley, Anthony Bushell and Wilfred Noy in “The Flirting Widow,” the First National and Vitaphone. comedy which opens at the eee TNOR EO 25s on eee one of the most prolific directors engaged in film production. He is. known in Hollywood for the ease with which he turns out many ecareful, workman-like pictures which rarely fail to register at the boxoffice. “I try to edit my pictures in the course of production,” Seiter says: by way of explaining his success. “The usual procedure is to ‘shoot’ the sequences called for in the script and then turn the production over to a film editor who eliminates superfluous footage and cuts thepiece to the proper length. The film editor also arranges scenes in their’ proper sequence since they are ‘shot?’ without regard to their place in. the finished production. In ‘The: Flirting Widow’ for example, the: first scene we did was the one which. comes in the middle of the film where Dorothy Mackaill and Basil’ Rathbone have dinner together. “When a story is given to me I try to vision it as the theatregoerwill see it I do at least part of the: cutting in the process of production so that the film editor’s task consists of placing the sequences in their proper order. “This system conserves the »en ergy of the players, Guts _prodnetions——— costs almost a fourth, and is other-wise, and gives me a clean concep- ; need for clean, brisk wellcon yam poe |= Flirting Widow” fills a long ~ = ee and canbe thoroughly recommended as capital Be entertainment. It is one of the cleverest comedy-romances that has come this way in many a moon. The direction by William A, Seiter is well nigh perfect, Director Discovers Americans Have Best “English Accent” (ADVANCE NEWS) The best English accents are sometimes those that do not come from England. Director William A. Seiter learn ed this while filming “The Flirting Widow,” First National and Vitaphone comedy of an English family’s attempt to marry off their daughters, which comes to the Theatre. Dorothy Mackaill and Basil Rathbone, featured players, were both born under the British flag and had stage training in London. Their English speech, which the American calls “English accent,” was realistic, but not nearly as good for the microphone as that of Claude Gillingwater, who was born in Missouri. Leila Hyams, born in New York City, spoke dialogue with the accent of a Londoner, outdoing other members of the cast who were born in England. Miss Hyams and Gillingwater are the only non-British born persons in the company. “The Flirting Widow,” is from A. E. W.>Mason’s play, “Green Stockings.” Cut No.7 Cut 60c Mat rsc Based on_ story Stockings” by A. Mason. ‘ Laughs, giggles, guffaws, titters, chuckles and real, resounding roars. Yowll find them all in this epic comedy romance. A FIRST NATIONAL \WUpAPHo Miss “Vitaphone” is the registered trade mark of the Vitaphone Corp. SE SSS SE Old English Custom A medieval custom required an eldest daughter to wear green stockings at the wedding of younger sisters provided she herself had not already acquired a husband. The practice forms the plot basis of A. E. W. Mason’s story, “Green Stockings,” which has been adapted to the talking screen as a vehicle for Dorothy Mackaill. The film version is called ‘‘The Flirting Widow,” a First National production which opens at the Set eum ors Theatre... 3-4 and Vitaphone Cut No. 19 Cut 406 Mat roc Page Four \ MANY BEAUTIFUL GOWNS DISPLAYED IN NEW COMEDY (CURRENT READER) “The Mackaill’s Vitaphone picture now filling an engagement at the Theatre, presents the star in the type of light Flirting Widow,” new First National Dorothy and. comedy which has made her most popular. London society provides a smart background for the story of a young Englishwoman who in order to oblige her family went-a-hunting for a husband. It members of the cast, Miss Mackaill, also affords the feminine Leila Hyams, Emily Fitzroy, and Flora Bramley an opportunity to wear a group of what are said to be the. most beautiful new gowns seen in recent films. Other principals are Basil Rathbone, William Austin, Claude Gillingwater, Anthony Bushell and Wilfred Noy. “The Flirting Widow” was adapted from “Green Stockings,” a story by A. HE. W. William A, Seiter directed. to the talking screen Mason. Rathbone’s Epigrams According to Basil Rathbone, one of the most distinguished artists to desert the footlights for the audible screen: “The mediums of stage Vitaphone drama is difference between the acting and the closeup. “The so-called English accent as frequently practiced by many players is merely affectation. an English “Talking pictures will eventu ally swallow up all other forms of amusement the world over.” Rathbone has the male lead opposite Dorothy “The Flirting Widow,” Mackaill in the First National and Vitaphone feature now enjoying a successful run Atcthet: eee Theatre. tion of the story on which to build: further action.” Corinne Griffith’s “Outcast,” and “Prisoners; Colleen Moore’s “F'ootlights and Fools;” “The Love Racket’’’ and “Strictly Modern” featuring Dorothy Mackaill, are among Seiter’s. successful pictures. “The Flirting™ Widow” ‘is considered an excellent example of his directorial policy. Soldier Of Fortune Finds Pot Of Gold In The Movies. (CURRENT READER) Basil Rathbone, famous Engglish stage and screen actor, has been both a soldier and a soldier of fortune,. but wars didn’t bring him gold. It remained for the talking picture to do that, after he had already made: a reputation on the stage here and abroad. Rathbone is featured opposite Dorothy Mackaill in First National’s. “The Flirting Widow,” now playing at the Theatre. The English player was born in London,. was a captain in the Liverpool Scottish Regiment, and got a Military Cross during the world war. In “The Flirting Widow,” by the way, he enacts the role of an army officer too. The heroine of the story pretends to be married to him while: he is away on duty in Arabia, and afterwards she announces that he has been killed. When he returns to find who has been taking such liberties, the spicy, snappy plot begins to step!