The Narrow Corner(Warner Bros.) (1933)

e oo HE SWAM INTO HER LIFE Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Patricia Ellis as they appear in Warner Bros.’ excellent adaptation of Somerset Maugham’s “The Narrow Corner. ~ Cut No. 7 Opening Day Story “The Narrow Corner” by Somerset Maugham Gomes to.... Today A powerfully effective and colorful story and a notable cast mark the opening today at the Theatre of Warner Bros.’ picture, “Lhe Narrow Corner,” by Somerset Maugham. The author of “Rain” has again written of the little known by-places —the “narrow corners”—of the earth, where men spin out their lives pretty much as they please. The present story is laid in the Malay Archipelago, on one of the islands of the Dutch least Indies, after opening in Sidney, Australia. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Patricia Ellis, Ralph Bellamy and Dudley Digges have the leading roles in this all-star production. Miss Ellis, a newcomer to the screen, is not only an exquisite beauty, but a very able actress who played for years on the New York stage with her father, the musical comedy producer, Alexander Leftwich. But it is the colorful background, the unusual situations, the strong delineation of the picturesque characters which are said to make this one of the most appealing pictures of the year. Cut 30¢ Mat 10¢ 1st Day of Run Arthur Hohl Learned Gockney Jargon for “The Narrow Gorner” ‘The coming of speech to the screen has occasioned some rapid changes for actors called on to play roles of ditferent nationalities one after another. Perhaps no greater change of this sort was ever made than that by Arthur Hohl when he went from the role of a flatfoot detective with a corner-of-the-mouth brand of New York slang in “Private Detective 62” to that of an Australian “limejuicer.” As the English skipper of the little ketch in which Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., sails the South Pacific in “The Narrow Corner,’ a Warner Bros. picture now showing at the _.. Theatre, Hohl had to swing from One extreme to the other in his speech, ‘The Kast Side New Yorker and the Cockney Englishman may be in about the same social class, but they are miles apart in speech. Hohl, who ordinarily speaks perfect English, mastered both brands of vernacular in the short space of a few weeks. “Lhe Narrow Corner” is a story of passionate love and wild adventure with a glamorous setting in the Dutch Kast India Islands, inhabited and visited only by strange and unusual characters, people usually beyond the pale of society. It was written by Somerset Maugham, noted author of “Rain.” (Prepared Review) ‘The Narrow Corner’ Exciting Mad Romanceand Adventure 6 his novel, “The Narrow of the same title, which opened . . . ioned from this theme. HORT thereof is man’s life; and narrow is the corner of the earth wherein he dwells,” says Somerset Maugham in Corner.” Warner Bros.’ picture . at the .... Theatre, is fash It is a strange tale, this, full of the color of strange places and strange people—and yet at bottom, as are all the characters of a Somerset Maugham story, these people are vibrant with the same life we all live. They act and move and feel just as we all do. The story opens in Sidney, Australia, with a wealthy man sending his son away, secretly, in the night, aboard an old ketch with an out taw skipper— bound for nowhere, told only to keep moving, and not to get too near to a hab DOUG FAIRBANKS, yr. ‘tation where Cut No. 1 white men Cut 15e Mat 5c might be. it winds up in a colorful island of the Malay Archipelago among as strange an assortment of human beings as it would be possible to meet, including a retired sea captain, wealthy from heaven knows what deviltries on the seven seas, his sonin-law and granddaughter, an innocent girl of primitive passion, and a Dutch trader. The picture is a triumph in exciting and thrilling plot, in unique characterizations and in its exotic, glamorous and picturesque settings. The strange characters are delineated with unusual fidelity and strength by the members of an all-star cast. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., has never been better than he is in the escaping young Australian, wanted for the murder of his paramour’s husband. Dudley Digges as Dr. Saunders, an opium-smoking outcast, is a revelation; Reginald Owen, William V. Mong and Ralph Bellamy are all better than this reviewer ever remembers having seen them before. The surprise of the picture, however, is the work of youthful Patricia Hillis in the role of the girl, Louise. A comparative newcomer to the screen, her acting is flawless. Her talent, beauty and charm should take her far in screen work. Alfred E. Green, who directed from a screen play by Robert Presnell, has done a splendid job, for he keeps the story going at a never-lagging pace. No one who cares for strange romances in picturesque settings, or for mad and thrilling adventure, should miss ‘Ihe Narrow Corner.” VRRENT PU | _ 2nd Day of Run “The Narrow Corner” Gharacter Formerly Managed Geo. Arliss Dudley Digges, who has the role of Dr. Saunders in the Warner Bros. production of Somerset Maugham’s novel, “Ihe Narrow Corner,” now showing at the... . Theatre, has had a long and distinguished career extending over more than twenty-five years in the American theatre. Chief among the most prized experiences of his theatrical activity are the seven years in which he was associated with George Arliss as his stage manager. During those years, Digges was identified with some of the outstanding successes of Mr. Arliss’ career, notably “Disraeli,” “Paganini,” “Hamilton” and “The Professor’s Love Story.” Digges has a strong characterization in “The Narrow Corner,” that of Dr. Saunders, a one-time famous physician, now a social outcast because of some affair, who wanders in the remote parts of the world. It is one of the unique characters of which Somerset Maugham, the author, is so fond of drawing. There are other characters equally strange in this exotic romance of the East indies and wild adventure on an isolated island of the Malay Archipelago. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and Patricia Ellis have the leading roles in “The Narrow Corner.” Other important members of the cast are Ralph Bellamy, Reginald Owen, William V. Mong, Henry Kolker, Arthur Hohl and Willie Fung. Alfred E. Green directed the production and Robert Presnell was the author of the screen play. BLICITY—FEATURES (Current Feature ) “The Narrow Corner” Laid in Far Off Malay Islands T > now at the. . HE MOLUCCAS, Dutch East Indian Islands, which are the locale for Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.’s latest Warner Bros. picture, “The Narrow Corner,’ . . Theatre, are among the least well known, and yet most interesting spots on the globe, according to Max Haasmann, the technical director of the picture, who comes from there. They comprise several thousand pelago, east of Java and west of lation of sixty million souls, of whom less than a million are whites. The Moluccas are a Dutch possession, and so the whites are mostly Dutch, with a sprinkling of Americans and English. ‘he islands are entirely tropical, the equator cutting right through the midst of them. Haasmann himself was born in Batavia, the son of the Finnish Consul there. He grew up in the islands, had his early schooling there, and later, after a trip to the United States and some time spent in Hollywood, returned there to direct a series of medical films for the Rockefeller Foundation. He has also filmed pictures in Sumatra, Borneo, Arabia, China and India. He calls the Archipelago “the greatest melting pot in the world.” it was originally, he says, an arm of the Indian peninsula which ended with Australia as its tip. Thus the Malay, the native of the islands, is the product of the Indians of India and the Bushmen of Australia. The Malay is in no way, as is popularly supposed, related to the Filipino or the Polynesian of the South Sea Islands. A seafaring race, they have spread small islands of the Malay ArchiNew Guinea, with a total popu their language to the coast of China and India, from Bombay to Singapore and Hong Kong, and of later years have mixed freely with the natives of China, India, Arabia and most other Asiatic countries. Fierce and warlike, the Malay pirate was the scourge of early shipping in Asiatic waters, and very few Englishmen or Americans have become acquainted with him. Consequently he has colored our literature very little. ‘rhe exceptions, of course, being Somerset Maugham, author of “The Narrow Corner,” H. M. Tomlinson and a few others, who have travelled extensively throughout the Archipelago and written absorbing tales around the Malays. “lhe Narrow Corner” is a thrilling drama of these islands with a romance between a handsome young Australian adventurer and a native white girl brought up on one of the Malay islands. Patricia Ellis has the part of the girl. Others in the cast include Ralph Bellamy, Dudley Digges, Arthur Hohl, Reginald Owen, Henry Kolker and William V. Mong. Alfred E. Green directed the screen play, which was written by Robert Presnell. (Advance Feature ) Studio Builds an Ocean Hurricane on a Desert SEVENTY-MILE gale whipped the rigging of a vessel to shreds, swinging the splintered boom dangerously near the mate’s head as he desperately clung to the spokes of the wheel. Boiling Pacific seas rolled and crashed, burying the valiant little Emma III under its foam. After each blow, the staunch two-master with dogged determination staggered into the teeth of its cruel adversary, only to be beaten down “Cut,” cried Director Alfred E. Green, and the storm ceased. For this terrific tropical hurricane was made ‘to order for Warner Bros. latest picture, “The Narrow Corner,” which comes to the. ... Theatre next . . . . With Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Patricia Ellis, Ralph Bellamy and Dudley Digges. The locale of W. Somerset Maugham’s colorful best-seller is in the South Seas where young Doug, aS a ne’er-do-well whose life has been ruined by too many women, meets a white girl, played by the sensational newcomer, Patricia Ellis, whose beauty is more devastating than that of those from whom he flees. ‘Lhe meeting of the young couple, which completely changes the course of Doug’s adventurous career, is brought about by, a tropical storm which drives his vessel ashore on the island on which she dwells. And thus the whole success of the picture depended upon filming this whipping hurricane. Shooting it to catch all of its unleashed power was the gigantic task which faced Director Al Green. Needed the Hurricane “You see we had already shot most of the sea stuff off the Southern California coast,” explained Green, “and naturally we had to match our handmade storm exactly with what we had on film. Doug, Patricia, the cast and myself had spent six weeks tossing about on the ocean, as well as living on a Pacific island. We had shot everything we needed except the hurricane, which was the most important thing of all. Of course we couldn’t wait for a howler to blow up for us, and to tell the truth we probably wouldn’t have relished one if it had. So we came home and told the technical research department to brew us a corking one in the middle of a desert. “Having no precedent to go by, the boys had quite a task, but they came through splendidly, as they always do again. when we have a tough job for them to do. First, our carpenters built a duplicate of the Emma III stern, the actual boat used at sea, and then mounted it on mechanical rockers so that it could be pitched and rolled at will, exactly as if being buffeted by a violent storm. We next rigged up three high-velocity wind machines to whip the required gale through the sails and struts, and to pelt the rain which beat down on the deck from over-head pipes. With a lightningmachine to create electrical effects we were all set to go, with the exception of the ocean itself. Five 700gallon spill-tanks were filled with river water and placed near the Emma 111. Then we were set for our ideal storm. The Storm Broke “At a given signal skies darkened. thunder growled ominously, occasional jags of lightning split the growing darkness. ‘The wind-machines turned over and in a few seconds a hurricane roared. The rockers were set in motion and the boat stern rolled, squeaked and groaned. Then the overhead pipes were opened and the deluge of rain started. As the boat rose and fell, the men handling the spill-tanks let a few gallons of the “Pacific”? down the chute to wash the deck. As the storm grew, so dia the size of our waves, and soon they were pounding down, sweeping everything before them and nearly washing Arthur Hohl, who plays the captain overboard into a sand-dune. At its height it was the greatest home-made . or natural ... storm I’ve ever seen.” Scenes such as this are said to make the picture surpass the book version of “Narrow Corner,” as well as Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.’s best work. A strong supporting cast includes Ralph Bellamy, Dudley Digges, Reginald Owen, Wm. V. Mong, Henry Kolker, Willie Fung, and Josef Swickard. Robert Presnell did the screen treatment of the famous novel by W. Somerset Maugham. Current Shorts Learns Danish Dialect in Just Three Seconds Ralph Bellamy claims he acquired a Danish accent for the Warner Bros. production, “The Narrow Cor ner,” which opens at the... . Theatre on... ., in three seconds. He plays the part of an educated Dane on a lonely island in the East Indies in Somerset Maugham’s story of mad adventure. Director Green had told him he was not to use an accent, but just as the camera began to grind he called to him to talk in the broken English that would be used by a Dane. Bellamy remembered the speech ot a Danish friend in New York and imitated it perfectly. “The Narrow Corner" Shows Unique Scenes oer Lhe Narrow Corner,’ a Warner sros. production, which comes to the ‘Theatre on . + presents many unique scenes in out-of-theway places, but none are more strange than Kim Ching’s opium den, gambling house, bar and general store combined. He also keeps a sort of hotel in which reside outlawed whites, Javanese, Arabs and Chinese with naked Chinese babies, pigs, chickens and mangy dogs running about the underfoot. Hoor climaxes his screen career with his marvelous Dougias Fairbanks, Jr., characterization in Warner Bros.’ “The Narrow Corner,” the screen 9 edition of Somerset Maugham’s stirring story. Cut No. 4 Cui 15c Mat Se Page Five