The Sea Wolf (Warner Bros.) (1941)

ADVANCE PUBLICITY—THE SEA WOLF’ vances of his mutinous crew. “The Sea Wolf” Still SW96; Mat 206—30c WOLF AT BAY—Edward G. Robinson, as Wolf Larsen, in Jack London’s famed story of sea-going terror, fights off the murderous ad opens Friday. Robinson and Garfield Battie In ‘Sea Wolf’ Ida Lupino Stars With Them In Strand Action Drama A couple of New York Lower East Side boys who never met on Essex Street met daily on Set No. 21 on the Warner Bros. lots, where they were making Jack London’s “The Sea Wolf,” which opens Friday at the Strand. Co-starred with them is lovely Ida Lupino. The two East Side boys who are making good here are Edward G. Robinson, who has been making good in Hollywood for quite a while, and John Garfield, nee Jules, who has been here two years or so. Both have worked for Warner’s for some long time but neither had a chance to sit down with the other to discuss the days when they were both “cop fighters” and pushcart raiders on the teeming East Side. So between “‘takes” on the huge windjammer that served as the background for the emotional and physical violences that London served up with a smoking pen, the two retailed experiences that may indicate a misspent youth— unless one understood the fundamental strength of character possessed by Robinson and Garfield. Older of the two, Robinson, however, admitted that he was less tough than Garfield. “T never had the advantage of a reform school,” he stated jocularly, referring to the time that Garfield spent in P. S. 45. Garfield rose quickly to the defense of his alma mater, pointing out that P. S. 45 was not a reform school but an institution for “problem children.” “Furthermore,” Garfield added soberly, “Angelo Patri was head of the school and he was one of the greatest influences in my life. He encouraged me to take up debating, which led me to the stage—the Group Theatre.” The Group Theatre is one of the prides of Garfield’s life. It was with this group, he claims, he learned real acting. The other East Side boy— Robinson—rose from the streets to become one of the top flight actors of the Theatre Guild, no less. With some ten big productions to his credit before joining Hollywood. Strangely enough, though both were shaped into toughness by their early environment, they are the best examples of ‘‘mental”’ actors, as differentiated from the very physical roles they’ve portrayed in various movies. The very “mental” Robinson, who collects paintings, and the very “mental” Garfield who collects music seem destined, however, to meet in what is probably the apotheosis of the physical in acting. Still SW63 ; Mat 205—30c ON THE HIGH SEAS—John Garfield and Ida Lupino in a tense scene from “The Sea Wolf,” screen version of Jack London’s famous novel of life aboard a hell-ship. Film opens Friday at the Strand. ““‘Sea Wolf’ Strongest Hole I Ever Had,” Says Edw. G. Robinson It is nothing unusual for a Hollywood actor to be quoted. They say many things for publication. Some becauge it is good business, some for so-called studio policy, some perhaps to please a boss. But there is one thing an actor never says unless he means it; that he likes his role. Such a statement puts a performer on the spot. It leaves him no alibi. He is on record that he is satisfied with his part and from that moment he knows he must make good on his judgment. At least in Hollywood, it is important that Edward G. Robinson says that “The Sea Wolf” which opens Friday at the Strand is the best role he has ever played. Those who know Eddie at all know that he has never hesitated to speak up when he had anything to say. More than once he has told writer friends that he disliked a part. The thing he has fought hardest has been what he calls “general sameness.” In spite of the fact that most people think first of his gang Every so often a wide awake agent “discovered” Ida Lupino. He rushes around to the studios and with great enthusiasm describes his “find.” Just about the time the agent has sold Ida again he finds that she is under contract to some one else... discovered again. Ida has been discovered more times than has any other actress in the business. Actually she’s always been around. The biggest “discovery” of Ida’s career came a few years back when Paramount found her in England, where she had been around for some fifteen years, although she had been on the stage and in the movies only about 12 of the fifteen years, rushed her to America where she was given an ingenue role. After this discovery Ida languished in obscurity until she was re-discovered by the same studio in “The Light That Failed.” By that time her contract was already abrogated, when Warner Bros. discovered her. Again she languished for a short while until the discovery crews began operating. She was found again in “They Drive By Night.” She seems to be staying put in “High Sierra,” and her latest “The Sea Wolf,” in which she plays a drab role into greatness. In “The Sea Wolf,” . which opens on Friday at the Strand Theatre, she is co-starred with Edward G. Robinson and John Garfield. She was chosen for the role of heroine in the screen version of Jack London’s famous novel because of her brilliant work in “High Sierra” and “They Drive By Night.” Mussolini is also one of Ida’s discoverers. He has been watching her work over a period of time, a letter from one of his representatives stated. As a good old Lupino, which is certainly Italian, she owed it to her country of origin to come there and make a movie, the letter concluded. Ida didn’t bother to answer that the Lupino’s had been kicked out of Italy more than four centuries ago. Nor that her father was now a fire warden on the night patrol in London. Ida has been discovered in England from time to time by her countrymen. She made her Still SW pub. A40; Mat 102—15c EDWARD G. ROBINSON ster roles, he has really played a wide variety of parts. There was certainly no “Little Caesar” in Julius Reuter or “Dr. Clitterhouse.”” Nor was the editor of ‘‘Five Star Final’ even a distant relative of ‘Brother Hollywood ‘Discovers Ida Lupino! Orchid.” Each was a distinctly different type of role. Robinson holds that the measure of an actor is his ability to “re-make himself.” “T can’t understand,” he said, “how an actor can think a role is good simply because it is long. No actor ever made a success by playing long parts, but by making himself over for each part. “My role in ‘The Sea Wolf’ requires more making over than any role I can remember.” “It requires that I be sardonic, cruel, conniving. Still, it will not allow me to be a heavy in any sense. If I am fortunate enough to play it well, I will have to convince the audience that I am a terrible man only because of honest convictions. I am heartless because mercy is weakness. “Incidentally, I do more fighting in ‘The Sea Wolf,’ than in any six pictures I ever made. There is not much fun in making these fights. They are hard work. But besides the nine in which I participate there are 38 I can watch. “To watch Mike Curtiz stage fights is worth anybody’s time.” Still IL56; Mat 204—30c IDA LUPINO whose work in “They Drive By Night,” “High Sierra” and her current film “The Sea Wolf proves her one of the screen's finest dramatic stars. ‘Sea Wolf’ opens Friday at the Strand. stage debut at the Palladium, where numerous Lupinos before her made their first bows. She was about the age when girls begin to wear their first long dresses. Ida had her first starring role in a motion picture — “Her First Affair.” Thereafter Ida’s memory is 4 confusion of plays and roles. It all clears up at the point where she worked with Ann Sheridan in “Search For Beauty.” She watched Ann getting discovered and decided that the motion picture business was slightly cockeyed, so tested for a role of the 70 year old Mary Morris in “Double Door.” She got the role. She was less than twenty at the time. “T sure felt 70,” the youngster explained. Seventy or no seventy, she couldn’t cry. The role demanded a lot of it. The only way she could cry without glycerine tears was to hold Ann Sheridan’s hand. She doesn’t know what she would have done if Ann wasn’t in the same cast. A year later she found she could cry alone and she was happy. Ida is married to Louis Hayward, also an actor. She is not afraid to reveal that she is twenty-four years old. 17