The Florentine Dagger (Warner Bros.) (1935)

DAILY PUBLICITY LEAD-OFF STORY ys ‘Florentine Dagger’ Clue Club Mystery Booked for Strand “The Florentine Dagger,’ selected by the Clue Club as one of the most thrilling and baffling mystery melodramas, is scheduled as the feature attracFlow bes Saw Theatre written by Ben Hecht, famous author of “Searface,” “Hallelujah, ’m A Bum,” “Crime Without Passion,” “Turn Back the Clock” and many others. The picture deals with the romance of Juan Cesare who has written a play about the murderous Borgias of centuries ago, and Florence Ballau, star of the production, who is called upon in the drama to slay her lover. Juan Cesare, himself a descendant of the Borgias, fears he has a phobia for murder, even as had his ancestors. He calls on Florence’s father to ask her hand in marriage and is. refused. He leaves in a daze of passion. That night he is horrified to learn that Florence has left the theatre on a pretext of illness and that her father has been found dead with _a Florentine dagger, with which the Borgias are supposed to have done some of their killings, in his heart. Juan is so confused he does not know whether he committed the crime in his dazed condition, or whether Florence had done it, although she is arrested for the deed. The suspense grows in intensity until the smashing climax in which the baffling mystery is solved and the slayer discovered. Dounala Woous aud Margaret Lindsay head the all-star cast, Woods playing the part of Juan Cesare, while Miss Lindsay is his sweetheart. Henry O’Neill has the role of the theatrical producer, while C. Aubrey Smith takes the part of a psychiatrist who is trying to eure Woods’ fear complex. Robert Barrat is the police captain and Florence Fair the housekeeper in the Ballau home. Others in the cast inelude Frank Reicher, Charles Judels, Rafaela Ottiano, Paul Porcasi, Eily Malyon, Egon Brecher and Henry Kolker. The scenes are laid in the picturesque mountains of Italy, and in gay Vienna. A replica of the Borgia castle was built for the production and is one of the most elaborate sets ever built on the Warner Bros. lot. In Her Eyes... An innocent victim of a fiendish plot, Margaret Lindsay, featured in Warner Bros. Clue Club mystery, “The Florentine Dagger,” yearns for vindication. It’s playing at the_____--------Theatre. Mat No. 3—10c Page Four during a high The Curse Of The Borgias They are but dust in the tombs, yet from the very grave this family still brings doom and disaster. Its Florentine dagger still kills. Beautiful Margaret Lindsay stands accused of the murder of her own father. Did she do it? Or did Donald Woods commit this atrocious crime planned in the Middle Ages and executed in 1935? Both are featured in “The Florentine Dagger,” in which Robert Barrat (right) and C. Aubrey Smith also appear. It’s at the __...... Theatre. Mat No. 5—20c ON THE CAST a Donald Woods Gets First Real Thrills In Motion Pictures Donald Woods, who plays the leading role in the Warner Bros. production, “The Florentine Dagger,” the Clue Club mystery which comes to the Theatre on , asserts DONALD WOODS appearing in “The Florentine Theatre. Mat No. 2 —10¢ nothing ever happened to him until he went to Hollywood and motion pictures. Then, he says, things started happening. In his first picture after signing a contract with Warner Bros., “Fog Over Frisco,’ Woods was unceremoniously “dunked,” for picture purposes, in San Francisco bay, then was more or less thoroughly beaten up three times, also for picture purposes, by thugs. Since then, he avers, life has been just one explosion after another. Prior to entering pictures, Woods worked for several years in stock companies. Before entering stock, he says, about the only exciting incident in his life was the time he broke his nose school football game. In “The Florentine Dagger,” Woods has the role of a brilliant playwright and descendant of the murderous Borgias. The picture is one of the most baffling murder mystery dramas ever screened. It was written by Ben Hecht, famous author of “Scarface,” “Hallelujah, I’m A Bum,” “Turn Back the Clock” and many others. It is enacted by a talented cast which includes besides Woods, Margaret Lindsay, ©. Aubrey Smith, Henry O’Neill, Robert Barrat and Florence Fair. Robert Florey directed the production from the screen adaptation by Tom Reed, screen writer. PRODUCTION STORY r Actress Fearing Gats, Works With Toothless Feline Because a trained movie cat had been in an automobile accident and had Jost its teeth, Margaret Lindsay, Warner Bros. featured actress, was calm and eollected during the production of “The Florentine Dagger,” the Clue Club mystery drama, which COMES oO Vthe tae Theatre fo) (Weeden et aa te aaeee afraid of cats, especially big black cats. She wouldn’t carry a eat for anything, she says. Hoever, her role in “The Florentine Dagger” called for her to carry a big black cat through an entire sequence. Politely, she told Director Robert Florey that she wouldn’t carry a cat unless it was stuffed. Anxious to keep peace, Florey located a eat without teeth. To prove this to Miss Lindsay, a couple of technicians assisted by Donald Woods, leading man in the pieture, held the cat and displayed thé absence of teeth. With this assurance on the part of the staff, Miss Lindsay gritted her own teeth and carried the eat. In “The Florentine Dagger,” Miss Lindsay has the role of a dramatic actress who is accused of killing her father. The picture is a melodramatic thriller written by the famous author, Ben Hecht. There is a talented cast which includes besides Miss Lindsay, Donald Woods, C. Aubrey Smith, Henry O’Neill, Robert Barrat and Florence Fair. C. Aubrey Smith Pays Chauffeur’s Mortgage C. Aubrey Smith who has the role of a psychiatrist in the Warner Bros. mystery drama, “The Florentine Dagger,” now showing PEP C1 ye eI a Sate Theatre, under the auspices of the Clue Club, is held by his fellow players as one of the kindest hearted men in Hollyood. They tell the story, about him that when his chauffeur was about to be evicted from his home on a mortgage action involving $3,000, he quietly paid it off himself. The story leaked out later. OPENING DAY STORY co Glue Glub Murder Mystery Film Opens Today at ______ “The Florentine Dagger,’ War ner Bros. new murder mystery melodrama, produced under the auspices of the Clue Club, opens Uist NG. erway as Theatre today The picture deals with the murder of a theatrical producer with both his daughter, who is the star of a play in his theatre, and the playwright suspected of the crime. The playwright, a descendant of the murderous Borgias is torn with doubt as to whether he committed the crime or not. He also is in a quandary as to whether the star of the play, the woman he loves, may have done it. There is a talented cast with Donald Woods in the role of the playwright and descendant of the Borgias, Margaret Lindsay as the star of the play and the sweetheart of Woods. Henry O’Neill has the role of the theatrical producer with C. Aubrey Smith as a psychiatrist, who with the wily police captain, Robert Barrat, eventually solves the crime, in one of the strangest and most exciting climaxes on record. Others in the cast include Florence Fair, Frank Reicher, Charles Judels, Rafaela Ottiano, Paul Poreasi, EHily Malyon, Egon Brecher and Henry Kolker. The picture has an interesting background in Italy and Vienna. Robert Florey directed the production from the screen play by Tom Reed, based on the story by the famous author, Ben Hecht. Baffled Donald Woods is struggling to believe Margaret Lindsay is innocent. But you must see them in “The Florentine Dagger,” the Warner Bros. Clue Club mystery coming to the Theatre. Mat No. 4—10c New Mystery Drama By Famous Author Ben Hecht, famous magazine writer, novelist and playwright, wrote the Warner Bros. latest mystery thriller, “The Florentine Dagger,” which the Clue Club selected as its third picture, which comes jtoctheisy. 6-9 1c. RC ALTes OM. sos ree , directly for the screen. Among Hecht’s numerous sereen plays are such pictures as “Scarface,” “Halleljuah, ’m A Bum,” “Turn Back the Clock” and “Crime Without Passion.” He collaborated with Charles MaceArthur. in “The Front Page.” REVIEW + Big Hit Scored at Strand Premiere of ‘Florentine Dagger’ Ben Hecht, long famous as a writer of bizarre and unusual novels and film plays, a list which includes such works as “Scarface,” “Front Page,” “Crime Without Passion” and many others, has scored again, with the weirdest most baffling mystery story of his career, “The Florentine Dagger,” which opened locally at the...... Theatre last night. The Clue Club selected this story for the third picture to be produced by Warner Bros. under its auspices, and again this organization of mystery fans has made an admirable selection. The audience shivered and thrilled, as the strange and unusual romance was unfolded by an all star cast headed by Donald Woods: and Margaret Lindsay. A theatrical producer, whose daughter is the star of one of his plays, is murdered with an ancient Florentine dagger similar to one used in the show. The tragedy followed an altercation with the author of the play, who was in love with the actress. It happened that the young author was a descendant of the notorious family of Borgia, that noble medieval group which poisoned its enemies and frequently turned its killing propensities on one another. The young dramatist suffered from the belief that he had inherited these murderous traits, and was afraid he might, unconsciously, have killed the father of the girl he loved. Nor was he sure that the girl herself, hypnotized by the role she portrayed, may not have wielded the weapon. Each confesses to the crime to shield the other, and the mystery grows until it is explained in a most startling and unexpected climax. Usually the romantic lead in a mystery thriller gets little or no opportunity to strut his acting stuff—if he has it. But Donald Woods last night gave the audience a startling portrayal as a sensitive, tortured young man, enamored of a beautiful girl, yet horrified at the consequences of this love. The intensity and genuine passion which he brought to the role will unquestionably give him a secure place among the mortal “immortals” of Hollywood. And for Miss Lindsay and her gripping depiction of a young girl accused of patricide, her work stands pre-eminent. She treads the cinematic boards with dignity and nobility, certain in the belief that her innocence will emerge and her honor be vindicated. Her conquest of such a difficult and exacting part is a notable accomplishment. Henry O’Neill is excellent as the father, while exceptional work is done by C. Aubrey Smith, as a doctor, and Robert Barrat as the police captain.