The Letter (Warner Bros.) (1940)

HERBERT MARSHALL FOLLOWED FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS 10 FAME When acting is in the blood, you can’t raise your boy to be an accountant, according to Herbert Marshall. At any rate, he couldn’t refrain from following in his actor-father’s footsteps, even though, following gradation £.-o30:R (S45 Mary’s College, England, -he did try ac‘counting for : awhile. the son of Per2cy and Ethel Marshall, he played his first Herbert Marshall stage part at the age of 19, in Braxton, England. Two years later he was in London playing “Tommy” in “Brewster’s Millions,’ and a bit later toured U. S. and Canada in “Grumpy.” He served in the British army during the first world war, then returned to the theatre in engagements that seemed to alternate between London and New York City. His first picture was an English-made silent starring Pauline Fredrick. “The Letter,” starring Jeanne Eagela, was his first talkie. He played the lover in it. Currently he’s playing in Warner Bros. new version of the famous Somerset Maugham play, this time as the wronged husband! The picture, with Bette Davis in the starring role, is showing at the Strand Theatre. Mat 111—15c Another Week at Strand For Bette Davis Film “The Letter,’ film version of Somerset Maugham’s famous drama, with Bette Davis in the starring role, goes into its second week at the Strand Theatre on Friday. Originally scheduled for one week, the picture is being held over in answer to popular demand. Hailed by the newspaper film critics and by the large audiences who have already seen the picture at the Strand, as the greatest of all Miss Davis’ roles, “The Letter” presents her as an apparently happily married woman, who murders the man she loves, and ruins the man who loves her. Featured with her in the supporting cast is Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson, Gale Sondergaard, Frieda Inescort, Bruce Lester, Elizabeth Earl and many more. Strong Supporting Role Some observers such as Tony Gaudio and his camera crew on “The Letter” think Gale Sondergaard has made a strong bid for a second Academy Award for supporting honors, by her work in a single scene of the Somerset Maugham story, which is now showing at the Strand. “letter” Held Over The new Bette Davis starring film, “The Letter,” which is currently packing them in at the Strand Theatre, is being held over for an additional week in order to accommodate the crowds who have been flocking to see the widely praised film. Still L Pub. R; Mat 218—30c DIRECTOR AT WORK—William Wyler (left) rehearsing Bette Davis and James Stephenson in a scene for "The Letter.’ The finished film is currently breaking all attendance records at the Strand Theatre. William Wyler Has Consistent Record of Hits Nobody was mad at Willie. Willie was playing the mouth organ those bright days and everybody liked him. This was pleasant, but not according to form. Heretofore, pictures which William Wyler had directed for three weeks had seethed with the venom of discontented actors and _ sputtered with the hushed imprecations of indignant extra people. Nothing in this world can be so indignant as an extra who has been tongued-lashed in company. One school of thought has it that Willie is a master psychologist—that he gets people mad at him in order to achieve certain artistic effects before his camera. Others have alleged that Willie is just a mean man. But all his critics are curiously unanimous in this: before the picture is completed, they like Willie. They praise him as a director, thank him for the pains he took with them. The truth about William Wyler is probably simpler than either of these theories, and it’s this: Willie knows what he wants and doesn’t mind being tedious about getting it. Working on “The Letter,” the Somerset Maugham drama showing at the Strand, with Bette Davis and Herbert Marshall as the leads, Wyler rehearsed each big scene a full day before shooting it, and then many times before the camera. Fifteen takes is fast work for him on a one-minute scene. He isn’t loud or sarcastic. He doesn’t tongue-lash his players. But he has never finished a picture without a feud or so on his hands. Ruth Chatterton had black looks for him long before she finished “Dodsworth.” Humphrey Bogart and Sylvia Sidney were boiling during the shooting of “Dead End.” Miriam Hopkins burned up during the production of “These Three.” Joel McCrea, who never gets angry with anybody, is said to be the only actor that ever worked for Wyler without losing his temper. So the record of “The Letter” is something special. The explanation may be Bette Davis. Bette worked under Wyler when he made “Jezebel,” and it won her an Academy Award. She did as she was told, never complained no matter how many times Wyler wanted her to repeat a gesture or a phrase. The rest of the company followed her cue. It’s his quiet insistence on underemphasis that gets actors down. They step up before the camera ready to give their all. Wyler is a bit inarticulate. He doesn’t say just what’s wrong, but he thinks they’d better try it again. The second and the tenth and the fifteenth take don’t suit him either. But the sixteenth or seventeenth does, and then all is serene. Executives who have had to deal with Wyler are often as exasperated as the players. He doesn’t argue. He just sits. Then he goes back to the stage and takes his own not always sweet time. Well, he made “Wuthering Heights” and “Dead End” and “Jezebel.” Maybe Hollywood has caught on to the Wyler method, at last. Nobody’s mad at him now. When he gets those long scenes done, he jerks out the little mouth organ and plays “Oh Susannah.” Still BD2531; Mat 109—15c BETTE DAVIS—star of the Strand Theatre's current hit, "The Letter,'' which is being held over for an additional week, starting Friday. STEINER'S MUSIC FOR THE LETTER’ FINEST FILM SCORE All the praise which critics and public alike are heaping on the new Strand film, “The Letter,” is directed not only to Bette Davis and the supporting cast for splendid acting, or to William Wyler for his brilliant direction, but also to Max Steiner, whose superb musical score contributes greatly to the dynamic drama. In 1935, Steiner won that supreme accolade, the Motion Picture Academy Award for his “Informer” score, and since that time he has continued to turn out some of the best of all film music. His music for “The Letter” is so perfectly keyed to the dramatic mood of the film that it seems to have an actual part in the story itself. Without resorting to any of the typical, and by now hackneyed Chines? musical themes, he has, with his score, kept the audiences constantly reminded of the Oriental background that is so essentially a part of the drama. Mr. Steiner, who was born in Vienna and attained fame in Europe as both an operatic and symphonic composer, has one basic rule for motion picture music, according to statements he made during a recent interview—never let the score intrude on the action. Except in rare cases, the music in Steiner films serves as a background, so unobtrusive that the audience scarcely realizes that their emotions are being affected and influenced nearly as much by the music as by what is happening on the screen. THE LETTER’ HELD OVER FOR 2ND WEEK management of the Strand Theatre has announced that their current feature, “The Letter” starring Bette Davis, will be held over for an additional week in order to accomodate the crowds who are flocking to see the film. “The Letter,’ pronounced by newspaper critics and audiences alike to be the finest of all Miss Davis’ pictures, is based on W. Somerset Maugham’s most brilliant stage drama, originally presented on Broadway with Katharine Cornell in the starring role. It is the story of a woman who murders for love, and the consequences she suffers, even though the law acquits her. A searching drama, directed with delicacy and restraint by William Wyler, and brilliantly acted by Bette Davis and a strong supporting cast, it has been selected by Red Book Magazine as the Best Picture of the Month. Ge rren f PB. ublicity 9