White Bondage (Warner Bros.) (1937)

SHE KNEW ONLY ONE WAY TO LOVE with JEAN MUIR GORDON OLIVER HOWARD PHILLIPS HARRY DAVENPORT VIRGINIA BRISSAC JOSEPH KING-ADDISON RICHARDS: Directed by Nick GrindeA Warner Bros. Picture Lead-Off Story WHITE BONDAGE’ DIAIE THRILLER COMES TO STRAND “White Bondage,” a melodrama dealing with the humble but picturesque cotton pickers of the remote regions of the Deep South, has been scheduled as the next feature attraction at the Theatre, with the lovely and talented Jean Muir as its star. The story has to do with that type of cotton workers known as “share croppers,” who grow and pick the cotton on a percentage basis, meanwhile getting their food, rent, clothing and so on from the large land-owners. In the hands of unscrupulous storekeepers, who represent the owners, the share-croppers are merely peons—more often than not finding themselves at the end of the season not only without money, but deeply in debt to the erooked individual who has been weighing their crops and dealing out their supplies. Joseph King, able character actor, is the storekeeper in “White Bondage,” and one of the meanest, most villainous individuals ever seen on a screen, according to the producers. Miss Muir is a winsome country lass, granddaughter of one of the share-croppers, played by the veteran Harry Davenport. Her childhood sweetheart, another sufferer from the rascally storekeeper, is handsome young Howard Phillips. Gordon Oliver is a Northerner who discovers all the crookedness, sees that it is punished, and arranges better things for the future. “White Bondage” is an original sereen play by Anthony Coldeway, and had as its technical advisor on customs, costumes, scenic effects and the like Mrs. Elizabeth Hearst. Jean Muir | As the daughter of a “share crop° per,” Jean Muir knows only one way to love—the hard way, in “White Bondage” the Warner Bros. melodrama which comes to GHEE 2. ee Theatre on ....... : Mat No. 101—10e IS THIS FILM ROMANCE REAL? Jean Muir and Gordon Oliver, who play the sweethearts in Warner Bros. melodrama of the cotton fields, “White Bondage,” seemed to put a good deal of fire into their screen love scenes while the picture was being produced. It was believed that the two featured players were doing a little rehearsing off the lot. Miss Muir and Oliver, however, refused to admit any matrimonial intentions. Their lovemaking may be seen now at the Theatre, where “White Bondage” is the current attraction. Real Review :)" ‘White Bondage’ Is Shown In New Muir Film Plight of Cotton Pickers Forms Theme of Thrilling Tale of South Very appropriately named is the Warner Bros. melodrama ‘‘White Bondage,’’ which had its local premiere at the Bivens © Theatre yesterday, and which not only thrilled audiences but gave them something to think about. The white bondage referred to is the bondage which holds some of the so-called ‘‘share-croppers’’ in certain parts of the Deep South—those humble whites and blacks who grow and pick cotton for large land-holders. Jean Muir—always_ excellent in country-girl parts—plays Betsy Ann Oraig, granddaughter of Old “Pap” Craig, a share-cropper, who, like others in this particular area, is being cheated by Trent Talcott, the scoundrelly plantation storekeeper. Harry Davenport plays Craig. Betsy Ann, her grandfather, and her sweetheart Cal Sanders— the latter notably done by young Howard Phillips—know of the cheating, but there’s nothing they can do about it. Talcott is too powerful. But along comes Gordon Oliver —co-starred with Miss Muir in “White Bondage”’—in the guise of a man-of-all-work, David Graydon. He discovers the tricky device by which Storekeeper Talcott’s scales have made lighter, by hundreds of pounds, the bales of cotton brought to him by the sharecroppers. But the wily Talcott learns of these discoveries and maneuvers Graydon into a false position where the croppers believe he is their enemy, not their friend. Taleott infuriates the croppers into a lynching mood. Indeed, they get their rope around Graydon’s neck just before Betsy Ann, in a thrilling climax, saves him. Director Nick Grinde made the picture a smooth-running, engrossing affair. Gordon Oliver A rising young Gordon Oliver has his strongest film role in “White Bondage,” screen star, now at thes. ...... Theatre. Mat No. 102—10c. Opening Day Story JEAN MUIR STARS IN STRAND FILM, ‘WHITE BONDAGE’ Jean Muir, who won her first screen fame in the role of a country girl (that was in “As the Earth Turns,” several years ago), appears again in such a role in a melodrama of the South ealled “White Bondage,’ which opens at the Theatre today. This is a far different sort of a picture, however. The earlier photoplay was a tender romance. “White Bondage” is a _ melodramatic tale of the conditions which surround the lives of the “share croppers” in remote regions of Dixie—those who grow and pick the cotton for absentee landlords, and who subsist solely upon credit extended to them by general stores owned by these lords of the land. Miss Muir plays the gyranddaughter of one of these sharecroppers. Gordon Oliver, whose ascent toward the heights has been swift in Warner Bros. pictures, is her leading man. He plays a Northerner who seeks to relieve the people of this benighted region of the burden of virtual peonage under which they exist. They are, actually, in a “white bondage” as bad or worse. than the black bondage which was slavery for the Negro. Joseph King and Virginia Brissac are a villainous couple who run the general store in this picture. Other notables in the cast are Howard Phillips, Addison Richards, Gordon Hart, Harry Davenport and Eddie Anderson. “White Bondage” is an original screen play by Anthony Goldeway and was directed by Nick Grinde. il