The House on 56th Street (Warner Bros.) (1933)

Kay Francis Took Lessons in Cheating for Film Role Star Learned How to Deal Stacked Hands for Dramatic Scenes in “The House on 56th Street” I requires her to do something unaccustomed, or master the technique of something new to her, she goes at it with a thoroughness that is characteristic of everything she does. In ‘‘The House on 56th Street,’’ her latest Warner Bros. picture, now showing at the Theatre, Kay, through force of circumstances has to turn from being a former chorus girl wife to one of society’s elite to that of a professional AY FRANCIS is a stickler for realism. When a story gambler. ecards from her father. is using a deck of marked cards against her. The sharper realizing her ability with cards proposes partnership to Kay, and thereafter, for years, the two make a living fleecing wealthy suckers at the card table. Their methods are unscrupulous, but marked by an extraordinary legerdemain. Later on, Kay blossoms out as a dealer of Black Jack in one of New York’s swankiest gaming clubs. Although Kay is an excellent contract bridge player, her actual knowledge of illegitimate card playing and card manipulation is nil. Yet at least two important scenes in “The House on 56th Street” required her to be a eard sharp of the first water. She might have chosen the easier way—it has been done before—of playing the scene in close-ups of hands and ecards, with a trained gambler to do the manipulation in front of the camera. The easiest way is not Kay’s way, however. She decided to learn enough about sleight of hand, as related to cards, to play the scenes convincingly herself. The finest card manipulator avail She is supposed to have inherited her dexterity with During the course of the drama, she beats a transatlantic card: shark. vio je able in Hollywood—where members of any profession, no matter how bizarre or unusual, can be found— was engaged by the studio for Miss Francis. The star spent two hours a day for a week, learning the fine point of palming cards, taking them out of a coat sleeve, dealing from the bottom of the deck, dealing a pat hand, and other phases of the stockin-trade of the professional gamester. “T never felt so wicked in my life,” laughed Kay, “as when I discovered that I was well on the way to being a full-fledged cheater. The amazing thing about the whole business is the terrific amount of constant practice it takes to become an adept in the mechanics of card manipulation.” The picture, based on the novel by Joseph Santley, is a powerful emotional drama in which Miss Francis turns into a professional gambler after serving a term in prison for a murder which she did not commit. There is a most unusual climax in which she saves her own daughter from the consequences of a shooting affray in her own gambling parlor after her daughter has lost a small Kay Francis Glamorous star as she appears in her latest hit, “The House On 56th Street,” now at the Strand. Mat No.12 Price 5c ——C____—_—_—_—— ee fortune at the Black Jack table presided over by Kay Francis, Ricardo Cortez has the role of the gambler, Blaine, in “The House on 56th Street.” Other important members of the cast are Gene Raymond, Margaret Lindsay, Sheila Terry, John Halliday, Nella Walker, Henry O’Neill, Phillip Faversham and Frank McHugh. Robert Florey directed the production from the screen play by Austin Parker and Sheridan Gibney. Colorful Dance of Moulin Rouge Now Shown in Film| ss! costumes Made | Forms Spectacular Feature of Kay Francis’ Starring Picture, ““The House on 56th Street” F you have never seen the famous Quadrille of the Moulin Rouge, as it has been danced for nearly fifty years in Paris, you'll have a chance to witness it this year, even though you never get any nearer Paris than the railroad station of your home town. An evening in the Moulin Rouge, world-famous Montmarte cafe and dance-hall, is one of the features of Kay Francis’ latest starring picture for Warner Bros., ‘‘The House on 56th Street,”’ now showing at the Paris is one of the highlights of the European honeymoon Kay Francis and Gene Raymond embark upon in the picture, and a visit to the Moulin Rouge is one of the highlights of the Parisian sojourn. Dubbed by Parisians the “can-can,” the quadrille, as danced by the agile exponents of Terpsichore at the Moulin famous resort GENE RAYMOND |” fw Das on Mat No.3 Price 5c erta tne i lions of sightseers from every country in the world. In reproducing the famous quadrille, Director Robert Florey, himself a Frenchman who knows his Paris intimately, strove to evoke every detail of the Moulin Rouge, as it was during the first ten years of the present century. ‘¢The five dancers who, during that period were exhibiting their charms Page Hight Theatre. and skill to the dazzled spectators nightly at the Moulin Rouge,’’ said Florey, in discussing the scene with Miss Francis on the set, ‘‘ were prob ably the five most famous dancers of their day in Europe. _£*You’ve probably heard of them, or some of them, at least. The most celebrated of all was LaGoulue—ad mittedly the finest high-kicker and acrobatic dancer of her day. Her real. name was Louise Weber, and only a few years ago she died, an old woman, incredibly fat and terribly poor, in Montmarte.’’ ‘‘The other four,’’ went on Florey, ‘‘were Grille d’Egout—a_ typical Montmarte nickname, which means ‘sewer grating’—La Mome Fromage, or Kid Cheese, La Sauterelle, or the Grasshopper, and Nini Patte-en-]’air, literally, Nini, the girl with her foot in the air, ‘‘These were the specialty dancers, leading a troupe of from twelve to fifteen or twenty line girls, An indiarubber comedian and eccentric dancer, known as Valentin le Deosse, or the Boneless One, was the only male performer in the entire troupe.’? Special costumes that are faithful reproductions of the gowns worn by the dancers of the quadrille were designed by the Warner Bros. wardrobe experts, especially for the scene. The interior of the Moulin Rouge was faithfully copied by the scene builders from drawings and photographs of the celebrated dancehall as it looked in those days. Lee Moran, veteran comedian of the screen, was engaged to play the role of the agile Valentin. And in casting the dancers, care was taken to obtain girls who looked as nearly as possible like La Goulue and her sinuous associates. The result on the screen is a flash of pre-war Paris that will probably make every lover of the Montmarte who sees it homesick for another evening at the Moulin Rouge, The picture, based on Joseph Santley’s novel, begins with the early part of the century and comes down to modern times. It is the dramatic story of a chorus girl who marries a wealthy New York aristocrat and is deliriously happy until she becomes mixed up with a former lover and is convicted of his murder, though innocent. There is a smashing climax where, after she is released and becomes a gambler, she daughter from a similar fate at a great sacrifice. Ricardo Cortez, Margaret Lindsay, Frank McHugh, Nella Walker, John Halliday, Henry O’Neill and Phillip Faversham are other important members of the cast. The screen play is by Austin Parker and Sheridan Gibney. saves her Kay Francis Own Home Is Opposite of Movie House| Simplicity Marks Star’s Abode in Contrast to Ornateness of “The House on 56th Street” IMPLICITY distinguishes the home which Kay Francis has established in Hollywood. Simple tastes, simple living, sensible expenditure are much in evidence there. It is quite different from the ‘‘House on 56th Street,’’ which Miss Francis occupies in the Warner Bros. picture of that title, now showing at the Theatre. The house on 56th Street, the home a wealthy and aristocratic New Yorker built for his chorus girl bride, is a palatial residence with spacious rooms, marbled halls and ornate furnishings. There are several floors. It is not the kind at all in which Miss Francis likes to live. Her Hollywood house is an old fashioned cottage on an almost forgotten street. It is a frame bungalow, of seven rooms all on one floor with a long narrow porch across the front. The wide front door opens directly into a square living room of average bungalow size. The walls are papered in plain buff, the woodwork is painted white. A white tile mantle, old fashioned but housing a real fireplace, is the only distinguishing feature in the severely plain room. A small dining room, in which not more than eight people could possibly be seated in any comfort, occupies the east one-third of the street side of the house. A pantry and kitchen, two bedrooms and a bath and small sun room projecting from the back of the house, complete the establishment. A separate garage houses two cars. Into these limited quarters, Miss | Francis moved enough furniture to supply a somewhat larger house. The living room is not crowded but it is well filled with attractive furnishings. A deep couch and a eretonne covered day bed, the first named against a wall and the second standing almost diagonally across the room, offer convenient and companionable havens for visitors. A grand piano is pushed tightly into one corner, making room for two occasional chairs, two tall, slim bookcases and a number of antique small tables supplying conveniences to the occupants of any seat in the room. On the mantle stands a unique timepiece, several curious knickknacks and a pair of beautiful vases which Miss Francis values almost above all else in her home. The dining room glitters with highly polished mahogany and silver. One doorway from the living room opens into a narrow hall which leads back through the house between the kitchen side and the bedroom side, exactly like the halls of ten thousand other California bungalows. The back, corner bedroom belongs to Miss Francis. It is simply decorated in gold cloth and features several fine samples of early furniture. The small sun room at the end of the narrow hall, is a tiny place, partially glass enclosed and looks out directly into a small service yard and a bank of trees. In spite of its severely simple proportions and style, the Francis home is one of the most popular places in the film colony. Most of her friends live in impressive style in mansions boasting of living rooms as big as this whole house, yet they find here a hospitality and comfort which many of them are lacking. The actress has her reasons for maintaining the simple establishment that she does. “K big house,” she” says, “is lonesome, especially when Mr. McKenna is away. It becomes a burden too.” Additional company is provided for Miss Francis when her husband is away, by two dogs, one her favorite, a Dachshund, and the other a bounc§ ing, furry English sheep dog. There ig a bed for the Dachshund in one corner of Miss Francis’ boudoir. Miss Francis’ latest picture, “The House on 56th Street” is the dramatic story of a show girl who weds a wealthy youth she loves, only to have a former clandestine love affair bob up and bring tragedy into her happy life. There is a strong supporting cast, including Ricardo Cortez, Gene Raymond, John Halliday, Margaret Lindsay and Frank McHugh. Robert Florey directed it from the screen play by Austin Parker and Sheridan Gibney. It is based on the novel by Joseph Santley. Tense Scene From Strand Hit Kay Francis and William Boyd in a thrilling moment from the great Warner Bros. drama, “The House on 56th Street,” now playing at the Strand Theatre. Beautiful Kay gives one of the finest perfor mances in this latest of her long list of successes. Mat No.18 Price 10c