You Can't Get Away With Murder (Warner Bros.) (1939)

PAGE 22 CURRENT PUBLICITY —‘YOU CAN'T GET AWAY: WITH MURDER?’ Sing Sing Prison Is Reproduced In New Strand Drama Warner Bros. devoted one entire sound stage to an accurate reproduction of interior portions of Sing Sing penitentiary for its gripping picture of prison life based on Warden Lewis E. Lawes’ original story, ““You Can’t Get Away With Murder.” Exterior sets representing the prison yard occupied an area of more than three acres on the studio back lot. Authenticity of sets was vouched for by Dr. Herman Lissauer, head of the studio research department, who provided the still pictures of cell tiers, prisoners’ dining rooms, kitchens, the convict shoe plant, chapel, the warden’s and principal keeper’s offices from which the ‘‘synthetiec’’ penitentiary was built. Sing Sing prison authorities cooperated with the studio toward accomplishing the spirit of authenticity that marks the extraordinary production. Set designers deseribed the interior prison sets, which covered the entire floor space of stage twelve, as being the most extensive and elaborate ever built for a motion picture production. The cell tiers housing Humphrey Bogart, Billy ‘‘Dead End’’ Halop, Henry Travers and other principals, for example, were several stories high and reached from the sound stage floor to its 35-foot ceiling’ and extended the entire length of the huge stage, a dis tance of more than 200 feet. Hailed As Kid Muni Billy ‘‘Dead End’’ Halop is being hailed by critics as a younger and combined edition of Paul Muni, Edward G. Robinson, Jimmy Cagney and Spencer Traey as a result of his gripping performance in his first individual starring production Warner Bros.’ ‘‘ You Can’t Get Away With Murder.’’ A Hollywood preview audience was held spellbound by the youngster’s amazing acting as the youthful convict in the exeiting story of prison life based on Warden Lewis E. Lawes’ original. Crities found mueh in his work to remind them of four of the screen’s outstanding dramatie actors, and coast paper reviews hailed the youthful Halop as most promising youth of the year. Halop is featured in the film which stars Humphrey Bogart, and together the two combine to make one of the outstanding screen contributions of the year. | | Gale Page TakesBand For A Ride Stopping off for dinner one night with some girl friends at Vista del Arroyo Hotel in Pasadena, Calif., Gale Page was so much impressed by the melodious plunking of a serapeclad Mexican orehestra, that she sent home for her station wagon, loaded the orchestra, herself, and her friends inside the small truck, and spent the rest of the night going around to serenade her good friends in Hollywood. tial a formal party for our friends,’ Gale said, ‘‘but the orchestra was so lovely that it just seemed a shame not to let everybody hear it. So I changed my plans for the party right then and there.’’ had been intending to give ’ One of the friends who traveled about in the station wagon audience with Gale and her musicians was Rosa Ponselle. Gale, who has made remarkable progress as a motion picture ace tress in the year that has elapsed since she left a Chicago radio station to come to Hollywood, has the feminine lead in ‘‘ You Can’t Get Away With Murder,’’ the Warner Bros. melodrama now playing at the Strand Theatre. Actor Invents Novel Landing Aid Harvey Stephens does his flying on an even dozen tennis balls. The handsome young leading man, eurrently in ‘‘You Can’t Get Away With Murder,’’ the picturization of the play by Warden Lewis E. Lawes of Sing Sing, which is now at the Strand Theatre, has a novel use for the white spheroids customarily associated with the tennis court. In designing his new motorless sailplane, Stephens cast around for something to serve as a shock absorber between the landing skid and the fuselage of the light craft. He finally decided to try tennis balls. As a consequence, whenever Stephens brings his trim glider to a landing twelve tennis balls absorb the shock. | | { | | | ' Lawes Opposed To Capital Punishment Although he has directed the legal execution of 150 men and two women during his nineteen years of service as warden of Sing Sing, one of the world’s most famous penitentiaries, Lewis E, Lawes is irrevocably opposed to capital punishment. One of the reasons for his attitude is contained in his original story, “You Can’t Get Away With Murder,’ which Warner Bros. recently produced as the motion picture, opening next Friday at the Strand Theatre with Humphrey Bogart as its star. An innocent man avoids the electric chair by a matter of seconds in the climactic sequence of the grim prison story. The situation is based on an actual incident, according to Warden Lawes. Billy Halop's Photo Aids Charity Fund In a little town. in Nebraska there is a fan who does not believe that the best things in life are free. At least she believes in paying for what she gets. Sometime ago she wrote to Billy Halop, one of the ‘‘Dead End’’ kids, asking for an autographed portrait and enclosing a $10 bill. Billy had a large portrait finished especially for the fan and when he mailed it he returned the currency. Recently, on the set of ‘‘You Jan’t Get Away With Murder,’’ the Warner Bros. picture opening Friday at Strand Theatre, Billy received a request for an other portrait from the fan. With it was enclosed a #20 bill. The letter explained that the writer had read Billy was collecting a library of swing reeords and, as it wasn’t practicable to mail reeords, Billy was to take the $20 and buy them. She pleaded with Billy not to return the money this time and Billy didn’t—it was spent for reeords. But a certain Hollywood charity also is $20 richer, for Billy turned over the gift. the No Golf — No Joy Humphrey Bogart is a most unhappy man if he is deprived of the opportunity of playing golf, his principal means of keeping fit, for more than a day or two at a time. When not working he virtually lives on the Lakeside Country Club eourse. During the summer, when evenings are long, it is not unusual for him to play a round of golf after leaving the studio. His latest Warner Bros. picture is ‘‘You Can’t Get Away With Murder’? at the Strand. Todays SCREEN STORY Johnny Stone (Billy Halop) is a promising youngster until he meets up with Frank Wilson (Humphrey Bogart) a smalltime crook older than Johnny. Johnny’s sister, played by Gale Page, and her fiance, to discourage the friendship between Johnny and Wilson, now engaged in pulling several ° Finally after a some years a detective, try who are small ‘“‘jobs.’ robbery, a pawnbroker is found dead — killed by a revolver left behind, and which is found to belong to Johnny’s sister’s fiance! Mat 401B—60c 22> Johnny’s sister (Gale Page) has always pleaded with her young brother (Billy Halop) to give up his friendship with Wilson, but it is now too late! /ON COOK'S DAY OUT re Mat 204——30c GALE PAGE—the charming Seattle girl who has demonstrated her dramatic ability on stage, radio and screen—whose next role is | in Warners’ “You Can’t Get Away With Murder,” frankly acknowledges that cooking is one of the indoor sports that she thoroughly enjoys. This is a favorite recipe. GALE’S GRAHAM MUFFINS cup graham meal cup bread flour tablespoonsful sugar teaspoonsful baking powder oh em 1 teaspoonful salt 1 cup milk 1 egg 1 teaspoonful melted butter Mix together the dry ingredients, add the milk gradually, the egg well beaten and the shortening. mold; Thanks HerLucky Dime! Bake in hot, oiled gem pans 20 minutes, or pour into a well-oiled steam 3 hours, serving it as a pudding with molasses sauce. No matter where she goes, whatever she may be doing, be it traveling, swimming, horseback riding or acting in front of the motion picture camera, Gale Page, the dark-eyed, dark-haired Warner Bros. actress, is never without her lucky ten-cent pi When she goes horseback riding she carries the dime in her pocket. When she’s swimming, which is often, she carries the lucky coin attached to the shoulder strap of her bathing suit. The dime is pierced and has a small chain inserted through the hole so that it pan be tied to articles of clothing or attached to the wrist or worn at the throat like a locket. In a discussion of superstitions one day on the set of her latest Warner Bros. picture, ‘‘ You Can’t Get Away With Murder,’’ now showing at the Strand Theatre, Miss Page said seriously that she has a great deal of confidence in the lueky coin. ‘‘T don’t recall exactly 4 ece. caused me to become superstitious about the coin,’’ she said, ‘‘but I do know it has brought me good luck a great number of times.’’ For example: ‘“When I went to Chicago from my home in Spokane, Wash., five years ago I haunted the NBC broadcasting studios for weeks without getting a job. ‘*One morning I took a taxicab from my apartment to the studios beeause it was raining. When I went to pay the driver I found I was ten cents short. I offered the driver my lucky dime, but he refused it. That day I signed a con what | tract as a blues singer with NBC.’’ crimes, about the murder. “You Can’t Get Away With Murder’ Both sentenced to Sing Sing for other Wilson (Humphrey Bogart) fears Johnny’s cracking and telling the truth He plans a jailbreak. Humphrey Bogart stars in the First National picture with Gale Page, Billy Halop, John Litel. The prison break is unsuccessful. capture the pair to find Johnny, shot by Wilson himself, alive long enough to tell the truth about the murder! Now at the Strand. Guards