Union Depot (Warner Bros.) (1932)

your lL. story This story contains complete information about “Union Depot” and is known to showmen as a “routine story.” In a season of great pictures ‘‘Union Depot,” the First National production which=comes to, fhe sos kn Thea(LEG ae ae bulks as one of the big ones. It is big in every way, in story, in cast and in setting. “Union Depot’’ which has Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and Joan Blondell at the head of a cast of 3,090, is the story of a group of people thrown together by cir : i cumstances in one Doug Fairbanks, Jr. of the great rail Cut No. 13 road terminals of ae $6 At 5 the country. The drama covers only four hours of a day, but it is packed with thrill and romance, one of the fastest action stories brought to the theatre in many seasons. It originally was a play, written by Gene (Great Mouthpiece) Fowler and Joe Laurie, Jr., and was adapted to the screen by Walter De Leon and Kenyon Nicholson. Kubec Glasmon and John Bright of ‘‘Public Enemy”’ and ‘‘Smart Money’? fame wrote the dialogue. Alfred E. Green, who did the memorable “‘Disraeli’? with George Arliss, directed. y For this production, the largest interior set ever built in Hollywood was put together, the structure filling an entire sound stage covering more than a city block. The cast of ‘Union Depot’’ is, without question, one of the finest ever brought together for a picture production. There are ninety “‘name’’ characters and more than 3,000 additional players who lend verisimilitude to the story. They are literally hundreds of types in the depot throng, in keeping with the realism of the story and the production. Realistic in the extreme, the main story is told in the midst of many little human stories of travelers of all sorts and conditions. Mr. Fairbanks is supported by Joan Blondell as leading lady—Guy Kibbee, Alan Hale, George Rosener, David Landau, Mary Doran, Rita Flynn, Polly Walters, Ruth Hall, Mae Madison, George MacFarlane, Earle Fox, Louis King, Frank McHugh, Lillian Bond, Spencers, Ben Taggart and Robert Homans. Among the many screen favorites who play characters in the ‘‘Union Depot’ crowds are Claire McDowell, Dickie Moore, Raymond Turner, Junior Coghlan and George Ernest. “Union Depot,’’ as a whole, is regarded as one of the finer things brought to the screen during this season and sets a mark that will make Hollywood step some fo duplicate. your 2 nd story “Union Depot’? Filmed On Largest Indoor Set “Union Depot,” the First National picture which comes to the ............ GBI Saul As , is what is known as a “‘one-set’’ picture. Practically the whole story is told in one great interior, the inside of a Union Depot in a MiddleWestern city. But if any one labors under the impression that because it is a one-set picture it must of necessity be an inexpensive picture to stage, he reckons without understanding just what the replica of a great railroad terminal involves. The ‘‘Union Depot’ set, in every way a duplicate of a large city station, involved the building of practically every other kind of a modern set. It would be perfectly possible to spend a life time inside New York’s Grand Central Terminal and never want for anything. It would be equally possible to live a life time inside the ‘‘Union Depot”’ set on the First National lot if it were not dismantled as soon as the picture finished. All of these services and many more are provided in the great set for the new picture featuring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr, and Joan Blondell, and each of them made necessary the building of a set within a set. About the sides of the enormous waiting room are many of these’ interiors. There is a modiste shop, elegant and ornate, a showy and attractive drug store, a candy store, a magazine and news stand. Beyond those is a telegraph office and a check room, information desk and taxi and sight-seeing bus stand. On one side is a restaurant, fully equipped and feeding dozens of people. In one corner is a rest room and the men’s wash room. The baggage room opens from one corner and the ticket selling counters and offices behind take up one full side. The superintendent’s office, the ramps to the trains, a florist shop, a real estate company’s display window, a branch department store, a “‘gift’’ counter and a fruit stand add to the problems of the set designer. All of the twenty to forty sets that are used in the average picture are really incorporated in this one big interior — the biggest, incidentally, ever seen on the First National lot and, so far as is known, the largest single interior ever built in Hollywood. A constant flow of extras over this enormous set served as the background for the romance in which Doug, Jr., and Joan Blondell play the leading parts. Others in the cast of 5,000 include Guy Kibbee, Lillian Bond, Dickie Moore, Polly Walters, David Landau, Frank McHugh and Earle Foxe. It is the biggest directorial job ever handled by Alfred E. Green. your 5; rd story Seven Famous Writers Created “Union Depot’’ “Union Depot,” the First National and Vitaphone production starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and coming to the ..... Wheathe> vs ac este next, is the result of the collaboration of seven distinguished figures of the literary and dramatic world. The original play is the work of Gene Fowler, Joe Laurie, Jr., and. Douglas Durkin. Mr. Fowler, until recently a newspaperman, is the author of ‘Trumpet In The Dust’? and other novels, and of several biographies, the latest of which is ‘‘The Great Mouthpiece.’ Joe Laurie, Jr., is a Broadway comedian who for years did a column for ‘‘Variety.’’ Mr. Durkin has written extensively for stage and screen. “Union Depot’? was adapted for the screen by Kenyon Nicholson and Walter De Leon, the former author of many stage successes, among them being ‘‘The Barker’’ and ‘‘The Torch Song.’”’ De Leon is a writer of short stories and scenarios. The dialogue is from the dynamic pens of Kubec Glasmon and John Bright, most prolific screen writers of Hollywood, who include in their output ‘‘Public Enemy,” “Smart Money’? and the hard-hitting modern jargon of Jim Cagney’s ‘‘Taxi!”’ Mr. Fairbanks is supported by Joan Blondell as his leading lady. The cast is augmented by five thousand extra people. Alfred E. Green, who directed ‘‘Disraeli,’”’ -“Smart Money’’ and other successes, di rects the exciting sequences of ‘“‘Union Depot.”’ Doug 2 Fairbanks, Jr. Cut No. rr Cut rsc Mat 5c Se Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and Joan Blondell who form a fascinating love team in “Union Depot’’ Cut No. 12 Cut r15c Mat 5c your A. story “Union Depot,”’ the First National production which comes to the ......... MIMCAIKe 6 eo oe ate , will have one of the largest and most notable casts of the screen year. There are 90 principals and 3,000 extras. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and Joan Blondell are featured, while other standpoints are George Rosener, George MacFarlane, formerly a_ stellar baritone of Broadway operetta, and Earle ' Foxe, who has been a prominent figure in pictures for many years. The list also includes Lillian Bond, Guy Kibbee, Ralf Harolde, Mary Doran, John Wray, Rita Flynn, David Landau, Alan Hale, Polly Walters, Frank McHugh, Ruth Hall, Mae Madison, Louis King, Lex Lendsay, Claire Dodd and Charles Sylber. Rich on newly-found money, Doug plays Robin Hood to a pretty actress who is stranded in ‘Union Depot’’ and in need of victuals, dress and a ticket back home. In providing the delightful lady (Joan Blondell) with these necessities, he runs into counterfeiters, gunmen, cops, madmen, souses, secret service men, charmers old and young, kiddies, collisions, and numberless other things—and does it all -with such boisterous, agile, youthful bravado, that he has the house with him till the final fade-out. On the shoulders of director Alfred E. Green was placed the responsibility of blending all the episodic incidents and characters into a concrete and fast moving drama and still retain the continuity of the story. Advance reports indicate Director Green has more than succeeded. your D th story Hollywood Producers Using More Extras. Over 3,000 Appear In “Union Depot’’ The champ cast of this or any other season since the advent of talking pictures is ‘Union Depot,” a First National production in which Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., stars at the top of an all-star roster that includes lovely little Joan Blondell and many famous actors from the Broadway stage. There are 90 name parts, about 35 of which have important lines in the unfolding of the story. You will seeitat-the...30 0%. 2 ‘Theatre 725, 9.7, If this matter of big casts is a Hollywood device for dissolving the depression in so far as it relates to the theatre, it most assuredly has been a blessing in disguise for the actor element for they have been more consistently in demand in the studios recently than at any time since talkies were introduced. The extras have come in for the greatest prosperity they ever have known. Between August 1 and November 1, a matter of three months, there probably were 100,000 days of work for extras and bit players on the various lots in Hollywood. “Union Depot,”’ the Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., special, seems to run into superlatives any way you view it. For one thing, it is a one set picture, with the entire drama transpiring in a union station; the set is the largest interior ever built in Hollywood. Its cast of 90 players includes, besides Fairbanks and Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee, Alan Hale, Junior Coghlan, little Dickie Moore, Polly Walters, Mae Madison, Lillian Bond, David Landau and Georgie Ernest, boy star. It was directed by Alfred E. Green. Dickie Moore Cut No. 3 Cut r5c Mat 5c Opening Day Story Young Doug’s In Town Today In “Union Depot’’ With Joan Blondell Managerianc2, ofthese Theatre is pleased to announce the opening of the much-heralded ‘‘Union Depot,”’ the First National and _ Vitaphone production _ starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and featuring the charming Joan Blondell. This is the first time the youthful favorites have been cast together, and all who see them— as the gay hobo Joan Blondell who is a ‘gentleCut No. 14 Cut 15¢ Mat 5c man’ for a day 2 s and the stranded small-town actress he aids—will hope it may not be the last. “Union Depot’’ is a rare combination of comedy, romance and thrills. Its exciting scenes are laid in a vast railway station. Beside the large cast which takes part in the story itself, many well-known screen people portray characters in the crowd of travelers. Alfred E. Green has manipulated situations and players with his usual sensitive understanding. Principals are Guy Kibbee, Alan Hale, George Rosener, David Landau, Mary Doran, Rita Flynn, Polly Walters, Ruth Hall, Mae Madison, George MacFarlane, Earle Fox, Louis King, Frank McHugh, Liflfian Bond, Spencer Charters, Ben Taggart and Robert Homans. Young Doug Fairbanks does his most effective work in ‘‘Union Depot,’’ which is his third starring vehicle. Doug, Jr., and Joan Blondell form one of the most fascinating love teams on the screen. Program Squib It was during the shooting of “‘Union Depot,” the big First National picture featuring Doug Fairbanks, Jr., and Joan Blondell at. thei ee Theatre, that a group of the players conceived the idea of whiling away the tedious hours between scenes by exchanging examples of queer mistakes connected with the movies. Some pretty tall tales were told, but little Ruth Hall capped the climax with this one. ‘‘l was in a picture once,’’ Ruthie insisted, ‘‘where they decided to go a little arty by inserting a scene showing the Three Graces dancing around. ‘Oh, let’s not be so cheap,’ the assistant director begged, ‘let’s get some more girls and have a DOZEN graces!’ "’ Page Three