The Narrow Corner(Warner Bros.) (1933)

ADVANCE PUBLICITY STORIES PRINCIPALS IN SOMERSET MAUGHAMS “NARROW CORNER” your Tst story “The Narrow Corner” An Unusual Story of Far Off Malay Isles In “Yhe Narrow Corner,” which comes to the.... Theatre...., Somerset Maugham, noted English author, has told one of his most engrossing tales of the earth’s far off and little-known islands, while Warner Bros. have given the story a superlative production. A tale of the Malay Archipelago, it begins in Sidney, Australia, goes by ketch with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Arthur Hohl, and Dudley Digges, by way of the colorful islands of this out-of-the-way group to the Dutch Kast Indies, where as exotic a romance and as mad adventure as ever screened, take place. Maugham is known for his characters, but the group in “The Narrow Corner” is representative of his best. Outcasts, polite society might call them. Devil’s spawn, the missionaries might label them. But to Maugham they are the world’s most colorful people, living literally, in their own “narrow corner.” There is old Swan, a blackbirder or slave runner; there is Frith, his son-in-law; Eric, the agent of a Dutch trading company; and Louise, Frith’s amorous daughter, who is so naive that she sees nothing wrong in a naked man or making advances to the man she loves. It is in this colorful setting that a mad passion springs up between the island maiden and an Australian youth who is fleeing from the world because he accidentally killed the husband of a woman with whom he was having an affair. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. as Fred Blake, is said to have the best role of his career. Patricia Ellis, as Louise, the young girl on the island, and Dudley Digges, as Dr. Saunders, an outcast from his own land are splendid. Old Swan is played by William V. Mong, while Reginald Owen is Frith, Ralph Bellamy is Eric and Arthur Hohl the captain of a tramp ship. Alfred E. Green directed the picture from the screen play by Robert Presnell. your 4th story Alfred Green Noted for Making Splendid Character Pictures Everyone knows that when you cast a director for a picture just as you would an actor—that is, for fitness and ability to direct it—a good picture is generally the result. And by that token, “The Narrow Corner,” the Somerset Maugham story in which Alfred Green directed Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and which comes to the. ... next... ., is one of the best. For Green’s long suit are pictures with unusual characters. “Disraeli,” Page Four Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.., Ralph Bellamy and Dudley Digges, the three “The Narrow Corner.” Cut No. 5 Cut 45e€ Mat 15e your 2nd story Finely Picked Cast of Character Stars in “Narrow Corner” As fine a cast of players as has been seen on the screen in many a day enact the various character roles in the Warner Bros. picture, “The Narrow Corner,” based upon the story by Somerset Maugham, which comes to the . . .. Theatre Cera Kach was selected for his ability to play strong character roles as it is a most unusual set of personages that Somerset Maugham delineates in his exotic story of romance and wild adventure in the East Indies. Killers, blackbirders and smugglers are in the lot, with others not the “bad” type, but strange and unique. There is Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., who is fleeing from justice because he has slain the husband of his sweetheart, wandering on the face of the waters and in strange lands to evade the law. Dudley Digges, recently seen in “The King’s Vacation” and “The Silk Express,” has the role of a famous doctor who is an outlaw for some secret crime. Arthur Hohl, who appeared in “Private Detective” and “Baby Face” among other recent pictures, has the part of tramp steamer captain, who is willing to do anything for a price from smuggling negroes to harboring a murderer. On an isolated island lives an old blackbirder and smuggler, portrayed by William V. Mong, and with him his son-in-law, a man who imagines himself a literary genius, a part portrayed by Reginald Owen. And then there is his daughter, a beautiful and innocent girl, ignorant of the wild passions that sway her, loving whom and when she wills. Patricia Ellis, who has recently leaped to fame in “Picture Snatcher” and “Kilmer the Great,” has the role. Ralph Bellamy, well known on both stage and screen, has the role of her island lover, until she meets Fairbanks. And also comes Willie Fung, a quaint Chinaman, full of wisdom and oriental mysticism. “Old English,” “Man From Blankeley’s” and “Silver Dollar,” to name but a few, are strong character pictures which Green directed. “The Narrow Corner,” a Warner Bros. picture, presents several of the most interesting presented on the screen in many a day. There is, to begin, Dr. Saunders, played by Dudley Digges—opium smoker, philosopher, stoic—a man of the Kast, cognizant of its ways, tolerant of its faults, helpful when. he can be, but not going out of his way to mix himself in any one else’s business. Dr. Saunders is a real Maugham character, comparable to the protagonists of “Of Human Bondage” or “Moon and Sixpence.” There is Frith, played by Reginald Owen, who is working on a translation from the Portuguese which has taken him half a lifetime. A recluse from society. Valuing nothing but his work and his privacy. % a . . . 3 bd male principals in Warner Bros. your 3rd story Actors Swam in Icy Pacific for Scenes in “Narrow Corner” Lolling about the beach of the Pacific in summery garments or disporting one’s self in the waves in next to nothing along in March is anything but an idle pastime, according to the members of the cast of “The Narrow Corner,” a Warner Bros. picture, which comes to the... . TheBile ON. lates Somerset Maugham, the author, chose the East Indian Islands as the setting for his story of madcap adventure and romance, an archipelago laved by the lower Pacific and Indian oceans, where it is summery even in March. Not being able to send the company to the spot, the scenes were shot along the California coast at Catalina Island and Laguna Beach. ‘The male members of the cast were clad in light cotton shirts and flannel trousers, while the women wore the native costume of the islands, a sarong, which is a single piece of cloth wrapped about the body. The March winds are chilly enough ordinarily, but during the production a gale set the actors shivering through their scenes, which took several days to shoot. In addition Douglas Fairbanks, J rs and Ralph Bellamy were compelled to disport themselves like porpoises in the waves, clad only in trunks. ‘These scenes took several hours to photograph. Between scenes the players thawed themselves out in a portable dressing house before a roaring fire. Kven Patricia Ellis, who has the leading feminine role, was compelled to take a dip in nature’s bathing suit. it was along the beach that many of the passionate love scenes and some of the thrilling action shots called for in the picture were taken. Alfred . Green directed the produc tion from the screen play by Robert Presnell, SS ee There is old Swan, William V. Mong—aged and evil, but helpless. A sailor he had been, coasting among the islands of the world, a smuggler and a blackbirder. He had made money, had settled in the Dutch East Indies, and Frith had married his daughter. There is Louise, the daughter, Patricia Ellis. Sweet and fresh and ignorant, in love with a young Dutchman, Ralph Bellamy, and later with young Doug, a castaway from society. There is Captain Nichols, Arthur Hohl, belching his way across the seven seas, always ready to take a hand in anything shady that will pay him well. ‘There are others, but these are indicative of the sterling types Alfred E. Green was called upon to direct in “Lhe Narrow Corner.” your 5th story Patricia Ellis Peses as “March Morn” for “The Narrow Corner” We have had a “September Morn” and now we have a “March Morn.” Patricia Ellis is the “March Morn” ~-and as lovely a “March Morn” as any one might dream of—taking a dip in the Pacific at Laguna Beach in her rosy birthday garments on a late March day. It was called for in the script of “Vhe Narrow Corner,” a Warner Bros. picture taken from Somerset Maugham’s exotic romance of the Kast Indies, which comes to the... . ‘Theatre on... . As the only white girl on a lonely isle, she is brought up in native simplicity, innocent and unashamed. And so Maugham contrives to have her meet her lover for the first time when the two are in nature’s garb. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., is the stranger who is destined to become the lover, swims to Patricia’s isle from his partially wrecked ketch and bumps into the little lady right in her seaside bath. it is left for Fairbanks, a scion of civilized lands, to blush, for Patricia is clothed in naive innocence. As Patricia, with her sarong at hand, quickly wraps her body with this native one-piece robe, only the rocks and the waves can tell what they saw. ‘This is one of the rare scenes in a picture of unique character and strange situations in uncharted seas and Malaysian islands, so wonderfully described by the famous author of “Rain.” Other members of the cast include Ralph Bellamy, Dudley Digges and Arthur Hohl. The picture was directed by Alfred E. Green from the screen play by Robert Presnell. your 6th story In “Narrow Corner” Patricia Ellis Wears Less Than Gunga Din Without any thought, it may be said, of Patricia Ellis or her costume or part in the Warner Bros. picture, “The Narrow Corner,” Kipling described Gunga Din’s garb as: The uniform ’e wore Was nothin’ much before, An rather less than ’arf O’ that be’ind; For a piece o’ twisty rag An’ a goat skin water bag Was all the field equipment ’e could find. © It is just as likely that, when Somerset Maugham wrote his exotic love Sfory“The Narrow Corner,’ which comes to the Sree heatre One 6525. <5 he didn’t have either Patricia Ellis or Kip ling’s soldier in mind, but the fact re PATRICIA ELLIS mains that he Cut No. 2 gave the Cut 5e Mat 5c Date Et y Pat something to wear that wasn’t even a dress. It was a sarong—something like Kipling’s “twisty piece of rag”—at any rate it twists around. Pat is supposed to be a Dutch East India girl, living on one of the numerous islands of that archipelago, and her use for clothes is slight. When Douglas Fairbanks, Jr—who has the other leading role in the picture— finds her, she isn’t dressed in anything at all, but behind a convenient rock she drapes herself—the sarong. A sarong is the single strip of cloth in which the native women wind themselves, and which upon occasion is fetching, if you’re an adept at winding it. So now there’s no one left to blame but the author. Like all authors, he probably observed the little Dutch East India girl’s costumes hastily, and forgot to inquire what she wears when she wants to change from the sarong to a party dress. Or if he did inquire he probably figured that for the purpose of the story and the censors the sarong would suffice. Advanee Shorts Director Alfred Green Is Old in Experience ‘There are very few cameramen in Hollywood who, at one time or another, haven’t worked with Director Alfred E. Green. And that isn’t because Al is so old in years. It’s merely that he’s old in movie experience. His knowledge of cameramen became evident on the set of “The Narrow Corner,’ coming to the .... Theatre. His assistant told him of a new cameraman they were getting for some of the exciting sea shots in the picture. “Who is he?” demanded the director. “You wouldn’t know him,” said the assistant. “He’s never worked for us.” But the assistant was wrong. Green not only knew him; he had worked with the cameraman on five pictures, years before. Balloon Warns Planes From Picture Location Director Alfred E. Green experienced great difficulty in taking scenes for the Warner Bros. production, “The Narrow Corner,” which comes to the... . Theatre on... ., because of airplanes flying overhead. ‘The company was on location at Laguna Beach, which is the direct route of planes flying from Los Angeles to San Diego. Fourteen planes were counted in a single hour. The noise made is recorded by the sound apparatus, and as the picture location is in the Malay Archipelago where there are no airships, it was impossible to proceed with the picture. Finally Green got in touch with the airports and arranged a plan of procedure. A balloon was hoisted when the company was actually shooting, upon observing which, pilots circled around the spot. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and Patricia Ellis have the leading roles in the picture, taken from a story by Somerset Maugham, author of “Rain.” Prizefighter Has Role in “Narrow Corner" Sam Baker, giant negro heavyweight who fought Harry Wills when the latter was a serious contender for the heavyweight crown of the world, is one of the players in “The Narrow Corner,” Somerset Maugham’s story of the Dutch East Indies, which is due at the .... Theatre on... Sam, who plays the role of a Malay sailor, is pure African. The story called for a giant Malay—but Malay giants are few and far between in Los Angeles, the average weight being about 185 and the average height being about five feet five inches. Sam is six feet four inches in his stocking feet and weighs in at 230 pounds. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and Patricia Ellis have the leading roles. Ellis the heroine of “The Narrow Corner’ is superb. She’s one of the newest and most promising screen personalities. Delightful Patricia as ut No. 6 Cut 15¢ Mat 5c