The Mayor of Hell (Warner Bros.) (1933)

y Believe It or Not, Cagney Is Really a Timid Soul ym the public. graph hunters have him 1. Most of them approach him great deal of embarrassment ey only knew it, Jimmy is who is the most embarrassed. 'very light skin turns a fiery vhen people turn to stare at n public. Believe it or not, s Cagney blushes furiously at lightest provocation. “The Mayor of Hell,” which is a st amazing revelation of the inhuman treatment accorded boys at some of the Reform Schools, he had the benefit of his makeup to hide the blushes which came regularly. + ae ‘To these young boys Cagney was ‘2 a and being at the age of hero worship, they hung on his _ every word and gesture and followed him with their eyes admiringly, no F matter what he might be doing. And c was Cagney’s face red? Can’t Stand Stares This goldfish-in-the-bowl business me down,” Cagney confided. It is the only part of movie business that I can’t go for. Whenever people in the street or in cafes turn to stare at me, I seem to shrivel up inside.” His address and home phone number are things which he keeps secret. _ Only a few of his intimate friends » have them, and they are pledged not to reveal them to anyone. g: a, a this precaution, there have m leaks and Cagney fans have been known to ring up the Cagney home or bang on the Cagney door hoping to hear the Cagney voice or see that Cagney map. It’s all very disconcerting to the young red-headed actor. In a way, _ he understands the entire workings _ of the movie business and its asso___ @iations in the public mind, but still ~ he can’t understand the fan attitude Nee) his own case. It is one of life’s little mysteries to him why anyone should be interested in his private . life. _ here is no false modesty or aloofabout James Cagney. He just stand the strain of going 4 of “Mayor of Hell,”’ Welcomes Public’s tion, But Admiring Fans Make Him Blush THO is the most timid person in Hollywood? as Would anyone guess James Cagney, the roughest, toughest star and lady puncher on the screen? Cagney, who is now playing at the the stirring Warner Bros. picture, ‘‘The Mayor of Hell,’’ can ishait out’’ for the public on the screen but he can’t ‘‘take’’ it Theatre, around and posing as what the peo ple expect him to be. wants to be himself. Not Fake Modesty “After all, I should be allowed a certain amount of privacy in my home life,” Cagney contends. “When I get home from the studio or go He merely rking with about 350 young-) out at night, I want to forget busi8 between the ages of 12 and 17|ness and enjoy some of the things juvenile actor. Cut No.3 Cut45ce Mat15c that other people enjoy.” Whenever he goes to theatres or concerts, Jimmy arrives late so that he can walk right in while attention is being focussed on the stage. During intermission, he usually sticks to his seat and avoids the crowded foyer where, as has been his experience, members of the audience turn into autograph hunters or celebrity starers in the twinkling of an eye. Jimmy doesn’t deny that he likes the plaudits of the multitude. It means his bread and butter to him, and he realizes it. But he would much rather read about it in the papers, his fan mail or in box-office receipts rather than let the public know that he is an easy blusher when he comes face to face with it in his off-stage moments. Jimmy plays the role of a ward heeler who is appointed head of a reform school as a political plum in “The Mayor of Hell.” The head of the institution is so corrupt and the cruelties practiced on the boys so inhuman, it was dubbed “Hell.” Through the-Reform School’s nurse, Jimmy learns about the living Hell the boys have to go through. He takes up the battle for the boys and institutes reforms that clean out the’ grafting ring running the institution. He is supported by Madge Evans, popular featured player, Allen Jenkins, Dudley Digges, Arthur Byron, Frankie Darro, Sheila Terry, Harold Huber, Robert Barrat, Farina, Dorothy Peterson, Edwin Maxwell and others. The picture was directed by Archie Mayo, and is based on a story by Islin Auster. The screen play was written by Edward Chodorov. Novelty Box Told by Madge Evans While working on the production of “The Mayor of Hell,” now showing at the Theatre, Madge Evans dropped into the dressing room of a the studios and found her all fussed friend at Warner Bros. up about something. “Why all the storm clouds,” demanded Madge. _ “Nothing,” the reply, “only the boy friend forgot his was luncheon date.” “Maybe he had a flat tire,” suggested merry Madge. “T’ll say she was,” snapped the friend. A scene from “The Mayor of Hell,” the new Warner Bros. drama on view at the Strand. Most important in the film’s cast are James Cagney, Madge Evans, Frankie Darro and Dudley Digges, all shown above. In the film Cagney is seen as the superintendent o is inmates, Frankie Darro offers what is unquestionably f a boys’ reformatory. In the role of one of the finest dramatic performance of any Allen Jenkins Fought Off Stage Call For 19 Years F one is a born actor, there is no use fighting it and trying to be something else. It took Allen Jenkins 19 years to learn this lesson. He came to the screen just a short while ago in ‘*Blessed Event,’’ but in that short length of time he has built up a tre mendous following. Now he is playing with James Cagney in the Warner Bros. picture, ‘‘The Mayor of Hell,’’ which reveals the horrors of a reform school, and which is now showing at the Rc titan nae oo otto Theatre. It is not his first part with Cagney, however, for he played with him in “Hard to Handle” and the two have been pals ever since they appeared together as chorus boys in Greenwich Village Follies. Allen comes of a theatrical family. His first memories as a child are of trouping with his parents. He didn’t care for it much. He wanted to be something else, and he made up his mind that he was going to do something about it at the first opportunity. That opportunity came during the ward. When he was 17 years old, he got a job in a shipyard and became absorbingly interested in marine engineering. He worked in the daytime and studied at night until he was well on his way to becoming a fullfledged marine engineer. For six months after the war he continued to work in the shipyards. “T felt all the time there was something wrong, that something was missing,” Jenkins said. “I didn’t know what it was until I was 19. “Then I discovered I had been bitten by the theatre bug. “Tt wasn’t a case of being stage struck. I was just homesick.” Allen was in such a hurry to get back on the stage which he had deserted as a/boy that he grabbed the first thing that came along, a job as a chorus boy in a musical production. In this capacity he worked for two seasons. He saved enough money out of his two seasons in the chorus to go to the American Academy of Dramatic Art, after which he felt himself well equipped to get out and rustle up a legitimate job. His first play was the Sam Harris production of “Secrets.” He played two roles in the one production. One of them was as a Western farm hand, and then he would change costume and be an English butler. “T had only two short lines to speak in the butler part, and imagine,” said Jenkins, “I wore a powdered wig, knee breeches and a plush coat. Wotta costume!” If you have seen Jenkins on the screen just try to imagine this “tough mug” in plush and satin. He didn’t go hardboiled until he played in “What Price Glory,” and then he went “mug with a vengeance. So much so that producers have found it profitable to make him stick to it. Added to his toughness is an individual brand of comedy—so Allen Jenkins has had to stick to being a tough comedian. “One of these days they will get tired of seeing me as a tough mug,” Jenkins said, “and then I'll get a chance to do something else. But in the meantime, I’m content to go on doing it for a while.” Cagney’s Pal In “The Mayor of Hell,’ Jenkins plays the role of a tough mug pal of Cagney, the chief of a gang of ward heelers. The production, based on Islin Auster’s story, is a startling revelation of the cruelties to which boys are subjected i school. Besides sented of boys flogged and do boiled politician nurse, leads to cleaning 0 ring and instituting a model school. Others in Cagney’s fine supporting east of “The Mayor of Hell” include Madge Evans, Arthur Byron, Dudley Digges, Frankie Darro, Sheila Terry, Harold Huber, Robert Barrat, Farina, Dorothy Peterson, Edwin Maxwell and others. The picture was directed by Archie Mayo from the screen play by Edward Chodorov. Exacting Order Is Quickly Filled By Casting Office OTION picture fans may have often wondered how and where motion picture casting directors get the people of various types and in such quantities as are shown in a picture like ‘‘The Mayor of Hell,’’ without spending weeks and weeks getting them together. A collection of over 350 boys, ranging in age from 12 to 17 years, used for the Reform School scenes in James Cagney’s latest Warner Bros. picture, ‘‘The Mayor of Hell,’’ now atethes acer oe Theatre, is a shining example of perfect casting. One would imagine the many different types, ages and nationalities used are the result of much labored hand picking over a period of time, but as a matter of fact, they were gotten together on very short notice. Maxwell Arnow, Casting Director at Warner Bros. Studio, had a very exacting order on the “Reform School” boys required. Director Archie Mayo insisted that they be of all colors and nationalities, and look like street gamins. Mayo didn’t want boys picked because they looked “pretty enough to be in the movies.” He wanted the “run of the mill” such as comprised the average street gangs. Before anyone realized that Arnow had started on the job, he had over 600 boys at the studio from which group Mayo could pick his 350. There were Chinese boys and Japanese boys, Negroes, Poles, Swedes, Russians, French boys, German boys and several other nationalities, including just plain American boys. Some were sweet looking young boys, others were tough, hard-boiled kids. Some looked particularly bright, while others looked quit the opposite. The group was all-inclusive. The casting office doesn’t have to go out and round them all up. Enough boys have been registered with the Central Casting office in Hollywood, to supply a dozen pictures like “Mayor of Hell.” Just as among grown-ups, there are character players so are there character boys amongst the registered youngsters. A telephone to the Central Casting office describing what’s wanted and the boys are on the way. A second eall for another batch to pick from is seldom necessary. The boys used in “The Mayor of Hell” are all inmates of a reform school around which the plot evolves. Just as “I am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang,’ revealed the harsh life in the Chain Gang camps, so does “The Mayor of Hell,” realistically and authentically disclose reformatories in which boys are browbeaten and subjected to such cruelties that they come out hardened, potential criminals. Conditions are so terrible that the institution earns for itself the name of Hell, The revelations are based on actual facts and painted in stark realism. In support of Cagney in “The Mayor of Hell” are such sterling players as Madge Evans, Arthur Byron, Dudley Digges, Frankie Darro, Harold Huber, and Robert Barrat. JAMES CAGNEY Cut No.7 Outi15ce Matic Page Nineteen