Varsity Show (Warner Bros.) (1937)

PUBLICITY — VARS ET YY: 8S H-O:-W (Review) Dick Powell, Fred Waring Score In *‘Varsity Show”’ ‘‘Varsity Show,’’ a musical comedy along altogether new lines, and possessed of a sparkling cast, met with an enthusiastic reception at the Strand Theatre yesterday when it was presented by Warner Bros. for its local premiere. A star individual—Dick Powell—and a star organization—Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians—are the top-liners in this melodious, laughable, fast-paced tale of college life as the movie-makers see it—and as, doubtless, all college boys and girls wish it were. Tt is the tale of how the undergraduates of a little fresh-water educational institution try to put on a show under the supervision of a dignified and gloomy professor, only to realize that he’s ruining it with his highbrow notions. Then they go to the city and dig up Dick Powell, a graduate, who by now is a successful Broadway producer, and induce him to come back to school and supervise a real show. Dick and his partner—none other than the goofy Ted Healy—take over the job. And after many a battle between the modern and old-fogey elements in the school, a show is put on—and what a show! Maybe you can imagine Fred Waring himself and all his bandsmen, some 50-odd, as college students and the negro pair Buck and Bubbles as singing and dancing janitors of the school. ‘¢Varsity Show’’ is a refreshing relief, in its story, from the wellworn ‘‘back-stage’’ routine into which many musical comedies have been kept. There is an air of briskness and youth and gayety to it rarely found in movie-musicals. Rosemary Lane, lovely to look at, is Dick Powell’s romantic femimine interest, while her sister Priscilla is one of the most original and adept dancers to be seen upon the sereen in recent years. There are, of course, plenty of dances, both solo and_ chorus. The smashing finale of the show— devised and directed by Busby Berkeley—shows no less than 200 girls and 200 boys in a picturesque and_ stage-filling routine, dancing up and down a high and wide flight of steps at the college. Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians, impersonating the college band, have plenty to do in the musical way, and there are half a dozen hit songs by Dick Whiting and Johnny Mercer, who wrote the great ‘‘ Night Over Shanghai’’ number for Dick Powell in ‘‘The Singing Marine.’’ BERKELEY FINALE TOPS ALL OTHERS Fifteen thousand dollars a minute is what Warner Bros. paid for the grand finale number of ‘‘Varsity Show,’’ now showing at the Strand Theatre, With Dick Powell and Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians as stars. Busby Berkeley, premier dance director, promised Director Wil liam Keighley a number that_ would top all others ever seen on the screen. And having confidence in ‘*Buz’’ and relying on his past performances as a criterion, studio officials okayed his budget of $150,000 for this particular part of the picture. It runs a scant ten minutes on the screen, thus making the cost exactly $15,000 per sixty seconds. The entire cast participates in the finale, including, besides the Lane sisters—Priscilla and Rosemary—Lee Dixon, Fred Waring, Rey Atwell, Walter Catlett, Scotty Bates, Ted Healy, Mabel Todd, Sterling Holloway, George MacFarland, Johnny ‘‘Seat’’? Davis, ‘*Poley’’ McClintock, Buck and Bubbles, Ben Welden and Emma. Dunn. New Powell Tunes In ‘“‘Varsity Show’ Written by Dick Whiting and Johnny Mercer, the numbers in ““Varsity Show,’’ Warner Bros. musical coming Friday to the Strand, are said to be the greatest collection of hit tunes in a single musical in years. ‘‘Have you Got Any Castles, Baby?’’ ‘‘Love Is On The Air Tonight,’’ and ‘‘Old King Cole’’ are but three of the ten numbers, which will shortly be competing with Dick Powell’s last picture’s songs like ‘‘Night Over Shanghai’’ and ‘‘T Know Now.’?’ THE NEW AND OLD. Way back in 1919 Fred Waring’s Banjo Orchestra of Tyrone, Pa., the hottest quartet a-goin’ in the jazz age right after the war included Poley McClintock at the drums, Fred at the banjo, brother Tom at the piano, and the now deceased Freddie Buck, kneeling at right. With three of original four in the band, they appear in “Varsity Show’ with Dick Powell, Mat No. 802—330e Every member of Fred Wa ring’s Pennsylvanians is covered by insurance, through a ruling of the organization, which is an incorporated firm. It is estimated that more than $1,000,000 are represented in the policies. * * * As a hobby, Fred Waring collects miniatures of orchestras and individual groups of musicians carved out of wood and moulded in gold, glass and other materials. Fans knowing of this hobby frequently send additions to the collection. % * * Favorite songs of Fred Waring are “Finlandia” and “The Night is Young” and “You’re So Beautiful.” peepee Fred Waring has invested more than $50,000 in a model of a fruit juice machine which will soon be placed on the market. The machine represents a radical departure in the method of mixing drinks. Any kind of desired fruit, ice and other ingredients are placed in the machine. Pennsylvanian Pointers SEVEN YEARS a freshman and Ted Healy (right) is still going strong. Here he tells Dick Powell, fellow frosh, about the campus cuties in ‘‘Varsity Show.” * * * Rosemary and Priscilla Lane, with Dick Powell and Fred Waring in “Varsity Show,” are sisters of Lola Lane, actress who was in “Marked Woman.” The Lane Sisters, Priscilla and Rosfmary, greeted the opening of the} sweet corn season with an old-fashioned Iowa “roasting ear bake” at their home. The girls are rom Iowa where the tall corn gTOWs, Francis Foster, violinist, now boasts a native California daughter in his family. The daughter, Carple Ann, was born in a HolIy¥bod hospital. \ * * * Thhnny (“Seat”) _Davis, sang steadily for three hours and ten minutes to record one song. Johnny, ‘known as the only white edition of Cab Calloway, sang the song “Old King Cole,” ten times and was ready to drop with fatigtie, The 11th was the best and th one used. POSer and brother of Fred Warint, is a talented portrait painter.) To amuse himself between Sc€hes he made many sketches of ‘his fellow actors, in “Varsity Show.” : Waring, pianist, and com A | 4 PAGE 5 (Feature) Chewing Gum Starts Girl On Way To Picture Glory This is the tale of a wad of gum and we’re not stuck with it, either, but—Priscilla Lane, the movie actress, was. With the wad of gum in her mouth she was very much in the predicament of the person hanging onto a lion by its tail and afraid to let go. But that wad of gum five years ago, when she was a tiny lass of 14, started her on a brilliant career that has led her to Hollywood, where she and her sister Rosemary play UGLY DUCKLINGS LAND GOOD JOBS Ugly ducklings are having their day in the movies to such an extent that even personable girls are hiding their attractiveness to accept roles which place them in the former category. Attractive Mabel Todd, Los Angeles-born girl, is the newest actress to win fame in that way. Hiding her lovely blue eyes behind horn-rimmed_ glasses and dressing her hair in grotesque dishevelment, she is now portraying a comic college girl in Warner Bros.’ new musical, ‘‘ Varsity Show,’’ which opens at the Strand Theatre next Friday. It is her first screen role. Well known to radio listeners through her work for four years on Al Pearce’s program as the ‘“Little Sunshine Girl,’’ Miss Todd looked forward to the day when she could see her audience and be seen. Like any girl she wanted to look her best, making the most of her natural beauty. Leaving radio she became a sensation on eastern stages, doing eccentric comedy songs and monologue in vaudeville. Denied then the privilege of looking beautiful she looked forward to that opportunity in pictures when Warner Bros. talent scouts saw her at the Oriental theatre in Chicago and gave her a screen contract. Two days after her arrival in Hollywood she was working in ‘“Varsity Show’’ and resigned to her fate. Dick Powell and Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians are co-starred in the picture. Records Triumph William Keighley, winner of the Film Daily national poll, recorded another directorial triumph with ‘“Varsity Show,’’ following up ‘¢The Prince and the Pauper.’’ ed the two feminine leads in Warner Bros.’ glamorous new musical. ‘“Varsity Show,’’ starring Dick Powell and Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians. The picture will be seen next Friday at the Strand Theatre. The tale really begins in a rehearsal room of the music publishing firm of DeSylva, Brown & Henderson in New York City. Fred Waring, intrigued by the freshness and liveliness of voices raised in song, stopped to investigate and discovered Rosemary and Priscilla. _ During a friendly, informal chat it was revealed that Priscilla was a recent graduate of the Fagin Dramatic School and that Rosemary had just completed her course in music at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. Suddenly Waring, with characteristic directness, said something that rendered the girls speechless. ‘*T am Fred Waring,’’ he said quietly. ‘‘How would you like to join the Pennsylvanians?’’ Within a few days Rosemary and Priscilla were rehearsing for an opening at the Roxy theatre in New York. The opening night as Priscilla waited in the wings for her cue to go on she was stricken with an overwhelming nervousness. To quiet her nerves she placed a stick of gum in her mouth. Forgetting to remove it, she went on the stage and discovered she couldn’t sing with thegum in her mouth! Observing what was wrong, Waring stopped the band and _ began to ‘‘rib’’ Priscilla. But Priscilla was equal to the occasion. Her nervousness gone, she answered Waring in kind and her frank responses had the audience in stitches. Realizing the flair she had for comedy, Waring made the most of it from then on. When the Pennsylvanians went on the radio Priscilla, or Pat, as she is known to her intimates, scored a hit with her patter and songs with ‘‘frogvoice’’ Poley McClintock, and Johnny Davis, ‘‘scat’’ singer.