THE HOTTIE AND THE NOTTIE Cast

Cristabel Abbott Paris Hilton

Nate Cooper Joel David Moore

June Phigg Christine Lakin

Johann Wutrich Johann Urb

Cole Slawsen Adam Kulbersh

Arno Blount The Greg Wilson

Mrs. Blount Marianne Muellerleile

Jane Kathryn Fiore

Randy (Creepy Albino Guy) Scott Prendergast

Stan (“Marry Me” Guy) Morgan Rusler

Extremely Unattractive Guy Ryan Alvarez

Yoga Teacher Erin Cardillo

Little Girl Samantha Bailey

Little Girl’s Dad Jeremy Scott Johnson

Cheesy Guy Gino Anthony Pesi

Young Cristabel Karley Scott Collins

Young Nate Caleb Guss

Young Arno Kurt Doss

Young June Alessandra Daniele

Midget Mime Joe Gieb

THE HOTTIE AND THE NOTTIE Financing and Production

The challenge of making an independent picture is to find all the pieces that can fit together at the same time. When we found the director and Paris, the rest fell into place… with a good amount of coaxing.

Even though we had funding, the film was envisioned at a larger budget and we had to get creative with the budgeting of resources and time. It was a quick 21­day shoot in Los Angeles with one of the most photographed people in the world. Extra security was called in to help with the invasion of paparazzi, but every day Paris Hilton was working, an encampment of cameras was set up just beyond the perimeter of our set.

The paparazzi provided some entertainment for us when filming at a Venice nightclub. They were lying in wait at a parking lot across the street when one of the production’s white SUVs pulled up. Suddenly, the paparazzi jumped over the hoods of parked cars and dodged security to get in front of Paris on the sidewalk. They lowered their cameras and let out a collective groan when they saw that it was Paris’s stunt double.

Besides herding paparazzi, the production also had to contend with weather in Los Angeles, which is usually not a factor. L.A. is well-known for its fun in the sun, but poor Paris Hilton found herself clad in a tiny white bikini on a day of record-breaking cold in January while crew members kept warm in their hats and gloves. Mother Nature showed she had a wicked sense of humor when we were shooting for Nate’s cold climate apartment in Maine. On that day, Los Angeles had near 90-degree weather. The crew was running around in shorts and t-shirts while the actors were sweating in wool coats.

The cast and crew worked incredibly hard on this film and we congratulate them on making such an endearing comedy about love lost and found in the funniest of places.

THE HOTTIE & THE NOTTIE Casting

Paris Hilton (“Cristabel”) was the natural choice to play the “Hottie.” Besides her well-known catch phrase, “That’s hot,” Paris is someone who is inherently judged in the media on her appearance. Everyone has assumptions about what she is really like. This is the same mistake Nate makes with Cristabel in the film. The challenge was in trying to find a “Nate” and a “June” to fill out the cast.

We auditioned many talented actors and actresses for the roles, but when Joel David Moore came in, we knew we had our Nate. He has the air of the “Everyman” about him, which makes audiences want to root for him to get the girl. Joel’s combination of wit, determination and charm was perfect for the role.

When it came time to find our “Nottie,” we auditioned many beautiful and talented actresses, but Christine Lakin stood out when she gave June a tomboyish vulnerability that impressed the casting directors as well as the director. The hardest part in casting Christine for the role was making her look ugly. Make-up artist Randy Westgate and hairstylist Dugg Kirkpatrick transformed Christine into the “Nottie” by creating prosthetic teeth, mole and hairpiece. Shapely legs became hairy and an infected toenail was too real for many members of the cast and crew to look at without having a physical response.

For the role of “the male Cristabel,” we had to find someone who could be threatening to Nate while still being the ideal “perfect guy” for women. No muscle-bound jock would do. The character’s name was originally “Brad,” but when we met Johann Urb, it was hard to know where the line would be drawn between the character and actor. The director thought it would be appropriate to rename the character after Johann. Johann even wrote his own song in the movie. Originally, the song to be sung in the coffee shop was “Wildfire,” perhaps too dated for our audience. So, when Johann invited us to hear his song, we realized “Someday” was the right song to watch the budding relationship between June and Johann.

The Look of the Show THE HOTTIE & THE NOTTIE

The characters’ stunted growth is expressed in the design of the show. The director, Tom Putnam, collaborated with his key crew to create a colorful look for the film. Cristabel and June’s apartment is bright, cheery and decorated with drawings and handmade objects from growing up together. The two girls are tightly bound together and their home is almost childlike and fanciful. Arno’s house is obviously stuck in a bygone era where mother offers childhood comforts like holiday candies and cozy print blankets.

Originally, the script was set in Boston. The director thought Los Angeles could be a more fitting character in the show. In a story about a “perfect 10” and an “ugly duckling,” there is no better place than L.A. to show our preoccupation with beauty and image. In a town where fashion and plastic enhancements are required to get noticed and accepted, we really felt that June could be just about any woman living in L.A. Los Angeles’ fixation on fitness trends, such as yoga, also makes Nate feel like a bit of a “Nottie” himself.

Producer’s Statement from Hadeel Reda THE HOTTIE & THE NOTTIE

I love gross-out comedies that test the boundaries of taste. Just as the lines of good taste are being crossed, the humor opens the door to a world where sensitive societal issues can be addressed. THE HOTTIE & THE NOTTIE has universal themes about love, beauty and self-confidence, which we explored while developing the project. We wanted a “Nottie” character we could laugh at and relate to at the same time.

In our body-conscious culture, we hope that people judge us for who we are and not just our appearance. It does not matter if we are supermodel or troll, we each feel like a “Nottie” at some point. Ironically, the “Hottie” is afflicted by the same issue as the “Nottie.” Being stunningly gorgeous, the character of Cristabel Abbot is also judged by her appearance. More than anything else, she wants someone to fall in love with her and not just her “perfect breasts.”

In addition to the themes of beauty and self-image, the project explores the theme of lost love and obsession. Every person can relate to the character of Nate Cooper, who wonders if Cristabel is “the One that got away.” This is what makes us so vested in his journey.

Nate’s longing for Cristabel is symptomatic of all the characters in the film still living in a childhood fantasy. He has loved her since first grade, and he has been emotionally stunted since then. All our characters carry childhood baggage. Nate is haunted by the beautiful memory of Cristabel, Cristabel remains the hovering protector of June, June is still living in the “Hottie’s” beautiful shadow, and in the most extreme case, the character of Arno Blount, still lives with his mother… and we’re not quite sure what is going on with those two. This film is about all of them (with the possible exception of Arno Blount) growing up and growing out of their childhood trauma.

Victoria Nevinny, Neal Ramer

VICTORIA NEVINNY (Producer, Nevinny-Ramer Productions):

Victoria Nevinny started her career at MPCA as a Senior Vice President in development, production and marketing. She produced the film PHOENIX for Lakeshore Entertainment. PHOENIX starred Ray Liotta, Anjelica Huston, Anthony LaPaglia and Britany Murphy, and was directed by Danny Canon. Trimark released PHOENIX domestically. Nevinny is a graduate of USC.

NEAL RAMER (Producer, Nevinny-Ramer Productions):

Neal Ramer started in the William Morris Agency mailroom. From there he went to indie distributor October Films (later USA Films), where he worked on such diverse titles as THE APOSTLE, BEING JOHN MALKVOICH, PITCH BLACK and TRAFFIC. Mr. Ramer then moved to Digital Domain in its start-up production arm, where he worked on the sleeper film SECONDHAND LIONS. From there, Mr. Ramer went to MPCA, serving as VP Production, where he worked on several features. More importantly, Mr. Ramer met Ms. Nevinny at MPCA and they founded a lasting partnership. Ramer is a graduate of Tulane University.

Myles Nestel Producer, Oceana Media Group

MYLES NESTEL (Producer, Oceana Media Group):

Myles Nestel is Founder and CEO of Oceana Media Finance, LLC, a newly formed film & distribution finance company with an initial capitalization of $100 million from American Capital Strategies Ltd.

Since 1994, Mr. Nestel has been involved in the financing of over 50 films & television productions with total production value of over $1billion with independent film producers and production companies, international film sales organizations, banks and international film distributors, along with all of the major film studios. The range of media and entertainment transactions and advisory work that he has been involved in has included single picture project financings, gap & mezzanine financings, tax/subsidy based film financings, initial public offerings, private placements, corporate lines of credit, library financing and acquisition financing.
Myles Nestel was co-founder, partner and Head of Business Affairs of the Los Angeles office of Cobalt Media Group. Cobalt was formed in October 1999 and soon became one of the leading independent film financing and international sales companies in the industry, with offices in Los Angeles and London. While at Cobalt, Mr. Nestel was directly involved in over 25 films including: HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG, starring Jennifer Connelly and Sir Ben Kingsley and released by DreamWorks in December 2003 earning three Academy Award® nominations; OPEN RANGE, starring Kevin Costner, Robert Duvall and Annette Bening and released by the Walt Disney Company in August 2003; TIMELINE, starring Paul Walker, directed by Richard Donner and released by Paramount in 2003; SWIMFAN, starring Jesse Bradford and Erika Christensen and released by 20th Century Fox in September 2002 and was the number one film in the U.S. box office on its opening weekend; BAND OF BROTHERS, a highly acclaimed miniseries that aired on HBO; HEARTBREAKERS, starring Sigourney Weaver, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Gene Hackman and released by MGM; 13 GHOSTS, GOTHIKA and House on Haunted Hill, produced by Joel Silver and released by Warner Bros. Chicken Run, released by DreamWorks & The World is Not Enough, starring Pierce Brosnan and released by MGM.

Prior to forming Cobalt, Mr. Nestel was co-head of the Los Angeles office of London-based National Westminster Bank Plc., where he spearheaded the building of the Bank’s Los Angeles Media and Entertainment Finance Group. At National Westminster Bank, Mr. Nestel provided the entertainment industry with a full range of advisory, financing and investment banking services. Films structured and financed include: WILD THINGS, LOST IN SPACE, IN LOVE AND WAR, SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET, LES MISERABLES, AMERICAN WEREWOFL IN PARIS and WAKING NED DEVINE. Mr. Nestel is also a chartered accountant formerly with the media division of KPMG Peat Marwick in London (1990 – 1994). At KPMG, Mr Nestel specialized in film and media clients (including The Rank Group). He is also a first-class honors graduate of The London School of Economics and Political Science.

Hadeel Reda Producer, Purple Pictures

HADEEL REDA (Producer, Purple Pictures):

Hadeel Reda founded Purple Pictures, a film financing and production company, in 2004. She has currently completed THE HOTTIE AND THE NOTTIE, a romantic comedy starring Paris Hilton and Joel David Moore (AVATAR). She is also prepping for THE FEAR, a smart, fast-paced horror film for distribution by 20th Century Fox. In addition, she is developing the comedies JACK VERSUS FUTURE JACK with Christopher Leone (LOST ROOM) and HARV THE BARBARIAN with writers Carmen Finestra (“HOME IMPROVEMENT” and “THE COSBY SHOW”), Jack Handey (“SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE”) and director John Fortenberry (A NIGHT AT THE ROXBURY). Also in the works is the drama SCROLLS with Fox Searchlight and TOUCH OF VIOLENCE starring Emmy® winner Tony Shalhoub.

Ms. Reda executive produced 16 BLOCKS starring Bruce Willis and directed by Richard Donner. Her executive producer credits include the number one U.S. box office hit HEARTBREAKERS, starring Sigourney Weaver and Gene Hackman; the comedy SCORCHED starring Woody Harrelson and John Cleese; and Joel Silver’s actioner JANE DOE, a co-production with USA Films starring Teri Hatcher. Also in an executive producing capacity, Ms. Reda has projects set up at Sony, Paramount, Universal, Fox and Warner Bros. with other A-level talent attached such as Mel Gibson and Lasse Hallstrom.

Formerly Chief Executive Officer of Winchester Films, Inc., Ms. Reda founded that company in 1998 as the Los Angeles division of the UK publicly-traded Winchester Entertainment, plc. As CEO, Ms. Reda established innovative film financing structures, produced quality commercial films and oversaw sales for Winchester Film and Television Sales, Ltd. In this capacity, she managed a team of industry professionals and created overall partnerships with major heavy-hitting production companies including The Donners’ Company (director Richard Donner and producer Lauren Shuler-Donner), Wind Dancer Production Group (WHAT WOMEN WANT) and Chuck Gordon (DIE HARD). Ms. Reda has also overseen production, international sales and distribution on well over a dozen films.

Ms. Reda joined Winchester after four years as an executive at The Walt Disney Company, where she got her start in development at the studio and quickly moved up to a position in the International Division for Disney’s feature films, Buena Vista International. Ms. Reda was part of the initial team setting up distribution and marketing in Europe. She oversaw the international marketing campaigns for THE LION KING, POCAHANTAS and Tim Burton’s THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS.

Ms. Reda graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Film from Emerson College Boston, MA.

Heidi Ferrer Writer

HEIDI FERRER (Writer):

A native of Kansas and Louisiana, Heidi Ferrer has sold original scripts and pitches, as well as written and developed screenplays for studios including 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., Disney, MGM and New Line Cinema. She has also written episodes for television series, including “WASTELAND” and “DAWSON’S CREEK.”

THE HOTTIE & THE NOTTIE was an original spec script and is her first produced screenplay. Another original script of hers, PRINCESS, was produced by the ABC Family Channel as an original movie, and will premiere in 2008. Heidi is currently writing the sequel for that movie, with the working title of PRINCESS 2, on which she will also be a co-producer.
She currently lives in Santa Monica, CA with her husband and new son.

Tom Putnam Director

TOM PUTNAM (Director):

Tom Putnam has been recognized as one of the “25 New Faces of Independent Film" by Filmmaker Magazineand is a recipient of the Independent Feature Project (IFP) Fast Track Award. In addition to directing THE HOTTIE AND THE NOTTIE, he recently completed producing and directing the World War II feature documentary RED WHITE BLACK & BLUE, which was lauded by Varietyfor its “unerring visual acumen” in its ability to reveal the psychological scars of warfare. The film premiered at the 2006 Locarno International Film Festival, where it was the only American film chosen to be part of the festival's prestigious Critics’ Week section. A special one-hour version of the film was broadcast on PBS through their Emmy® Award-winning Independent Lens series in November 2007.

His previous short films include BROADCAST 23, an eight-minute horror/comedy that was financed by Fox Searchlight and which premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. BROADCAST 23 has gone on to play over 80 international film festivals, including the London Film Festival and Montreal's Just For Laughs.

Putnam also wrote, produced and directed the short film phenomenon TOM HITS HIS HEAD, which has played over 200 international film festivals -- more than any other short film in history. TOM HITS HIS HEAD has qualified for Academy Award® consideration and won 15 major awards, including the Spirit of Slamdance at the Slamdance Film Festival and Grand Jury Prize at Aspen Shortsfest, the world's premiere short film festival. TOM HITS HIS HEAD has been broadcast on PBS and HBO, released theatrically in Europe and is now available on home video through Vanguard Home Entertainment. A graduate of the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema-Television, Putnam is also a partner in the Los Angeles-based production company Three-Headed Monster with fellow USC classmates Michael Harbour and Jeff Malmberg. Their feature screenplay WHERE THE HELL IS BILL? was one of 32 finalists (from over 2,200 entries) for the Austin Heart of Film screenplay competition and has been a three-time finalist for the Sundance Screenwriters Labs. In addition to their short film and feature credits above, the three have optioned a number of feature screenplays and series pilots to various production companies.

Adam Kulbersh Biography

ADAM KULBERSH

A native of the Deep South with strong roots from Clarksdale, MS to Atlanta, GA, Kulbersh received a BFA in Theatre and a BA in Russian Literature from the University of Texas at Austin. He went on to study at the prestigious Moscow Art Theatre, where he performed both in English and in Russian.

After college he moved to New York City to pursue an acting career. His ability to develop physically and vocally transformative characters found him early success in commercials with national high-profile campaigns for Microsoft, Visa, Motorola, Oreo and many, many more.

These led to appearances in most of New York’s roster of television shows from “HOPE & FAITH” to “THIRD WATCH” and, most notably, a multi-season recurring stint as Computer Crimes Tech Ben Suarato on the highly successful “LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT.”
Kulbersh relocated to Los Angeles in 2006, and has already turned in memorable comedic and dramatic guest appearances on a number of TV’s hottest shows including “UGLY BETTY,” “DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES,” “DIRTY SEXY MONEY” and “HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER.”
He is also active running Heidi’s Fund, a charity in memory of his sister, which strives to create enrichment programs and safe playgrounds for young children across America.

The Greg Wilson Biography

THE GREG WILSON

The Greg Wilson began as just another Greg Wilson from the suburbs of Dallas, TX. Using his uber-keen observation skills and a loud mouth, Greg cut a wide, dangerous path to the bright lights of Broadway, TV and film. His determined willingness as a comedian and actor to go against the grain, ignore the status quo and shock the audience has been the hallmark of a career on the edge and a reputation that has to be referred to as “The”.

Just after high school, Greg became the youngest member ever accepted into the nationally renown Ad-Libs Improv Troupe at age 18. Greg and the troupe flourished performing four sold-out shows a week at the exclusive Ad-Libs Improv Theater in Dallas’ famed Arts District.
Soon Greg would break into commercials and become one of the most recognizable faces in the region. But after six years with the troupe, thousands of shows and dozens of commercials, it was time to go at it alone.

The Greg Wilson blew into NYC like a hurricane, changing the stand-up scene forever. While others were telling Seinfeld-inspired jokes, Wilson took audiences on a wild ride of gut-level observations, outlandish characters and lightning-fast crowd-work. A comedy cocktail often described as Sam Kinison, Red Foxx and John Belushi all rolled into one, TGW’s unrelenting antics electrified audiences, galvanized comedians and frightened club managers.

In August 2002, Wilson created an over-the-top carnival of comedy that combined his passion for the outrageous and the intense audience interaction Wilson perfected as a member of Ad-Libs: The Comedy Madhouse. Quickly selling-out smaller 200-seat theaters, the show later sold out the Theater at Madison Square Garden two times before moving into residency at the world-famous Supper Club in Times Square. Playing to packed houses of 1000+ fans every Saturday night, Wilson skyrocketed to the top of the NYC comedy scene.

Following in that success, Greg launched an incredible, exciting new show: THE GREG WILSON’S Stand-UpSMACKDOWN!, a fierce display of comedic combat that only a personality as big as Texas could create, control and command. The show dominated the NYC comedy scene in 2004-2005 staging classic comedy battles that will live forever in New York comedy infamy!
By 2006 Hollywood came calling. With interest in turning his Stand-upSMACKDOWN! into a television show, Greg headed for the west coast.

Upon arriving in LA, Showtime immediately snapped him up for an appearance on their new stand-up series WHITE BOYS IN THE ‘HOOD; a performance that would garner the series’ only standing ovation. This was closely followed by a featured appearance in NBC’s “STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP” and two appearances on the syndicated hit “COMICS UNLEASHED WITH BYRON ALLEN.” Greg crushed so hard, Byron offered Greg a writing job on the show and a third appearance. Greg graciously accepted. Additionally, Greg completed a pilot for NBC called “COMEDY COLISEUM” and released his “Pottymouth” CD via DEA Records. Most recently, Greg guest starred on an episode of the NBC series “LIFE” and on ABC’s “UGLY BETTY.”

Johann Urb Biography

JOHANN URB

Johann Urb was born in Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, and moved to Finland when he was 10 years old. Raised in a family of talented artists, Johann grew up surrounded by the arts. He made his U.S. series-starring debut in WB’s “THE MOUNTAIN.”

At 17, Johann moved to New York City, where he landed a scholarship to the prestigious Lee Strasberg Institute. He also studied acting with Lesly Kahn, Sandy Marshall and Arthur Mendoza in Los Angeles.

His numerous film credits include the upcoming STRICTLY SEXUAL, ALL IN, TOXIC, THE BANK JOB and a drama that he also produced, PORNSTAR. He has appeared on television shows such as FX’s “DIRT,” Fox’s “‘TIL DEATH,” the CW’s “HIDDEN PALMS” and HBO’s “ENTOURAGE.”

Christine Lakin Biography

CHRISTINE LAKIN

Christine Lakin was born January 25th in Dallas, TX and was raised outside Atlanta, GA. There, her love for performing blossomed when, at age 7, she became one of the youngest members of the Atlanta Workshop Players, a local theater company. As a child, Christine starred in dozens of national and regional commercials for top NY advertising firms and made her film debut at age 11 in the TNT civil war drama THE ROSE AND THE JACKAL with Christopher Reeve. Shortly thereafter, she landed the role of “Al” Lambert on the popular ABC sitcom “STEP BY STEP,” starring Patrick Duffy and Suzanne Somers, which ran for a successful seven seasons.
After the series finished, Christine dove into independent films such as JUNGLE JUICE(2000) with Christopher Walken, and the teen comedy WHATEVER IT TAKES(2000), with James Franco, Shane West and Marla Sokoloff. Christine also continued making appearances on television, guest starring on such popular shows as “SONS & DAUGHTERS”, “3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN,” “CSI: MIAMI,” “THE LOOP,” “BOSTON PUBLIC,” “VERONICA MARS,” “7TH HEAVEN” and “RODNEY.” She also filmed pilots for various networks including “TIM BURTON’S LOST IN OZ” (1999) for The WB, “THE RULING CLASS” (2001) for FOX/Imagine Television and “DIRTY FAMOUS” (2005) for VH1.

In 2003 Christine returned to her love of theater originating the roles of Darla/Sissy in the musical SNEAUX, opposite Kristin Bell and directed by Andy Fickman. In 2006, Christine played Joanie Cunningham in Garry Marshall’s HAPPY DAYS, THE MUSICAL at Mr. Marshall’s Falcon Theatre in Toluca Lake. In 2006, she was nominated for an Ovation Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role as Casey in THE BREAKUP NOTEBOOK: A LESBIAN ROCK MUSICAL, which she originated in LA and recently won raves at the NAMT festival in New York. Christine choreographed the west coast premiere of the smash-hit musical ZANNA DON’T in 2007, for which she was also nominated for an Ovation Award. Christine is also a proud member of The Troubadour Theater Company.

In 2004, Christine re-teamed with director Andy Fickman on the Emmy® award-winning REEFER MADNESS for Showtime, which made its premiere at Sundance in 2005 and went on to win the Audience Award at the prestigious Deauville Film Festival. In another independent turn, Christine starred in the award-winning indie IN MEMORY OF MY FATHER, alongside Jeremy Sisto, Judy Greer, Monet Mazur and Matt Keeslar.

Most recently, Christine starred opposite Lindsay Lohan in Garry Marshall’s GEORGIA RULE, which premiered in May of 2007. The prestigious cast included such talent as Jane Fonda, Felicity Huffman and Dermot Mulroney. Christine was also featured in Disney’s THE GAME PLAN, opposite Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The film enjoyed two consecutive weeks at #1 this past fall.

In 2007, she wrapped the lead in the indie horror-thriller RED CANYON opposite Norman Reedus and signed a holding deal with ABC for the pilot “THE OWNERS,” created by Fred Goss and Nick Holly.

Having graduated Cum Laude in 2003 from UCLA with a B.A. in Communications, Christine is also currently writing a one-woman stage show based on her life. Christine resides in Los Angeles.

Joel David Moore Biography

JOEL DAVID MOORE

Joel first learned his craft in his home state of Oregon, where he earned a BFA in Performance Arts from Southern Oregon University and was a company player in the prestigious Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Upon moving to Los Angeles, Moore quickly secured his career-making role, opposite Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller in the Fox hit DODGEBALL: A TRUE UNDERDOG STORY. Capitalizing on his early success, Joel starred in a string of films, including the Fox/Happy Madison picture GRANDMA’S BOY, United Artists’ ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL (with John Malkovich and Angelica Houston), Anchor Bay’s HATCHET and, now, THE HOTTIE AND THE NOTTIE, opposite Paris Hilton and Christine Lakin.

Joel’s comprehensive background drove him to explore other aspects of the film industry, and in 2005 he made his directorial debut with the South By Southwest favorite short film MILES FROM HOME. He followed that up by co-writing, co-directing, producing and starring in the independent psychological-thriller SPIRAL, which will be released theatrically in early 2008 by Anchor Bay. Joel is currently signed on to star alongside Sigourney Weaver in the epic AVATAR, James Cameron’s action-adventure follow-up to his behemoth TITANIC.

Paris Hilton Biography

PARIS HILTON:

Socialite, singer, actress and entrepreneur, Paris Hilton has become a brand known the world over.

Prior completing THE HOTTIE AND THE NOTTIE, in which she both starred and produced, Paris had a starring role on the big screen in the Warner Bros. film THE HOUSE OF WAX, co-starring alongside Chad Michael Murray for producer Joel Silver. Additional film credits include: RAISING HELEN, ZOOLANDER, THE CAT IN THE HATand WONDERLAND.

On the television side, Paris’ credits include the reality series THE SIMPLE LIFE, which aired on Fox and most recently on the E! Entertainment. Her other television credits include: “THE O.C.,” “LAS VEGAS,” “VERONICA MARS” and “THE GEORGE LOPEZ SHOW.”

The Paris Hilton sportswear line recently made its debut to fashion buyers from major department stores around the country at the Directives West fashion show during the April market week in Los Angeles. The line – which includes denim, tops, dresses and outerwear – made its way into stores for the Back-to-School season in August 2007.

Paris' career continues to evolve with exciting and challenging projects. August 2006 marked the worldwide release of her debut self-titled album on Warner Bros. Records. Scott Storch produced the album, and the first single, "Stars Are Blind," was released on radio and immediately began burning up the airwaves.

She released her second book, Confess It All to Me, following her New York TimesBest Seller, Confessions of an Heiress, for Simon & Shuster in September 2004.

Her third fragrance under the Paris Hilton brand was released in October 2006.

Paris enjoys spending time with her family, friends and pets and is actively involved in numerous animal advocacy and charity organizations.

The Hottie and the Nottie Synopsis

SHORT SYNOPSIS:

THE HOTTIE AND THE NOTTIE is a comedy about opening your heart and closing your eyes. It centers on a "perfect 10" woman, CRISTABEL ABBOTT (Paris Hilton); her less fortunate best friend, JUNE PHIGG (Christine Lakin); and the guy who gets in the middle. Having pined away for Cristabel since the first grade, twentysomething NATE COOPER (Joel David Moore) must find a boyfriend for the less-than-beautiful June before he will even have a shot at landing the girl of his dreams.

LONG SYNOPSIS:

THE HOTTIE AND THE NOTTIEis a comedy about opening your heart and closing your eyes. NATE COOPER (Joel David Moore) has been smitten with CRISTABEL ABBOTT (Paris Hilton) since he first laid eyes on her at the impressionable age of six. But before he could try and snuggle up to her at nap time, or maybe send her a valentine, his family moved away. In the intervening years there have been other women in Nate's life, but none who could measure up to Cristabel. Convinced she's the only girl for him, Nate decides to move back to L.A. and track her down.

The good news: she's still single and stunning. The bad news: there's a reason she's still single. Cristabel's still best friends with the same less fortunate little girl Nate remembers from first grade, JUNE PHIGG (Christine Lakin). The two are inseparable. They live together. They go to yoga together. They would even go on double dates together...if only June could get a date. Cristabel simply refuses to leave dear June home alone.

Determined to spend as much time as possible with Cristabel, Nate sets out to find a boyfriend for June. Even when he pays them, however, guys all flee at the sight of her. Then it hits him: June needs a makeover. As Nate and June become friends she emerges from her cocoon, and Nate slowly realizes that the girl of his dreams isn't the hottie at all. It's the nottie -- who turns out to be something of a hottie herself.

1927 - 1942 Academy Awards

ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES AWARDS

Director, Actress, Actor

1927-28 Academy Awards Winners

Best Director: Frank Borzage ( Seventh Heaven) and Lewis Milestone ( Two Arabian Knights)

Best Actress: Janet Gaynor ( Seventh Heaven, Street Angel, Sunrise)

Best Actor: Emil Jannings ( The Way of All Flesh, The Last Command)

1928-29 Academy Awards Winners

Best Director: Frank Lloyd ( Weary River, Divine Lady, Drag)

Best Actress: Mary Pickford ( Coquette)

Best Actor: Warner Baxter ( In Old Arizona)

1929-30 Academy Awards Winners

Best Director: Lewis Milestone ( All Quiet on the Western Front)

Best Actress: Norma Shearer ( The Divorcee)

Best Actor: George Arliss ( Disraeli)

1930-31 Academy Awards Winners

Best Director: Norman Taurog ( Skippy)

Best Actress: Marie Dressler ( Min and Bill)

Best Actor: Lionel Barrymore ( A Free Soul)

1931-32 Academy Awards Winners

Best Director: Frank Borzage ( Bad Girl)

Best Actress: Helen Hayes ( The Sin of Madelon Claudet)

Best Actor: Fredric March ( Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)

1932-33 Academy Awards Winners

Best Director: Frank Lloyd ( Cavalcade)

Best Actress: Katharine Hepburn ( Morning Glory)

Best Actor: Charles Laughton ( The Private Life of Henry VIII)

1933-34 Academy Awards Winners

Best Director: Frank Capra ( It Happened One Night)

Best Actress: Claudette Colbert ( It Happened One Night)

Best Actor: Clark Gable ( It Happened One Night)

1934-35 Academy Awards Winners

Best Director: John Ford ( The Informer)

Best Actress: Bette Davis ( Dangerous)

Best Actor: Victor McLaglen ( The Informer)

1935-36 Academy Awards Winners

Best Director: Frank Capra ( Mr. Deeds Goes to Town)

Best Actress: Luise Rainer ( The Great Ziegfeld)

Best Actor: Paul Muni ( The Story of Louis Pasteur)

1936-37 Academy Awards Winners

Best Director: Leo McCarey ( The Awful Truth)

Best Actress: Luise Rainer ( The Good Earth)

Best Actor: Spencer Tracy ( Captains Courageous)

1937-38 Academy Awards Winners

Best Director: Frank Capra ( You Can't Take It With You)

Best Actress: Bette Davis ( Jezebel)

Best Actor: Spencer Tracy ( Boys Town)

1938-39 Academy Awards Winners

Best Director: Victor Fleming ( Gone With the Wind)

Best Actress: Vivien Leigh ( Gone With the Wind)

Best Actor: Robert Donat ( Good-bye Mr. Chips)

1939-40 Academy Awards Winners

Best Director: John Ford ( The Grapes of Wrath)

Best Actress: Ginger Rogers ( Kitty Foyle)

Best Actor: James Stewart ( The Philadelphia Story)

1940-41 Academy Awards Winners

Best Director: John Ford ( How Green Was My Valley)

Best Actress: Joan Fontaine ( Suspicion)

Best Actor: Gary Cooper ( Sergeant York)

1941-42 Academy Awards Winners

Best Director: William Wyler ( Mrs. Miniver)

Best Actress: Greer Garson ( Mrs. Miniver)

Best Actor: James Cagner ( Yankee Doodle Dandy)

Suspicion, The Little Foxes

The old master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, made Suspicion for RKO in 1941. Joan Fontaine, who had been so successful in Hitchcock's previous Rebecca, gave a performance in this one that won her an Academy award. Other principals were Cary Grant and Dame May Whitty.

Lillian Hellman's bitter and sardonic play of greed, The Little Foxes, was also transferred successfully to the screen in 1941, by Samuel Goldwyn. It was directed by William Wyler, and acted up to the hilt by Bette Davis, Patricia Collinge (repeating her stage performance), and Herbert Marshall.

Another important 1941 production was Twentieth Century-Fox's screen version of Richard Llewellyn's novel, How Green Was My Valley, a story of a Welsh mining town. John Ford did his usual firstrate job of directing, and Walter Pidgeon and Roddy McDowall, heading a large cast, turned in memorable performances. The sets were realistic and substantial. If you happened to see the film version of John Steinbeck's The Moon Is Down, early in 1943, you saw the same set, mine and all, plus a dash of snow, transferred bodily to Norway.

Metro's production of Mrs. Miniver, derived from Jan Struther's sketches of middle-class English life during the war. William Wyler, who has done good pictures for virtually all the studios, was the director. The cast included Teresa Wright, and Walter Pidgeon and Greer Garson as Mr. and Mrs. Miniver. Miss Garson's acting won her the Academy award for the best performance of the year.

Orson Welles' Citizen Kane

No other picture of 1941 was more volubly discussed than Orson Welles' Citizen Kane. When RKO commissioned a picture from Welles, who had made a reputation in radio and as director of the Mercury Theater in New York, he was to have carte blanche as to story. He was to be author, producer, director, and, as this still indicates, the star. Charles Chaplin is the only other man, thus far, ever to have combined all these functions; even be had to own his studio before he was able to do this. The picture received sensational publicity for its alleged paralleling of the life story of a famous living newspaper publisher; and there was much gossip regarding threats of suppression and retaliation. In fact, the Hearst press never advertised, reviewed, or mentioned the film or Welles. Citizen Kane didn't need the publicity, for it was an engrossing film.

The critical acclaim approached hysteria, one critic stating that "the motion-picture industry will be learning from Citizen Kane for five years to come." Gregg Toland was the photographer.

There was excellent acting in the picture, particularly by Dorothy Comingore as Kane's second wife, and by Welles himself, in the title role.

Citizen Kane was an extraordinary achievement for a young man of twenty-five with no motion-picture experience of any sort.

Another Warner picture of 1941 was Sergeant York, a biography of the World War I hero. Gary Cooper, as the rustic conscientious objector who became the famous soldier, added to his list of fine performances. Joan Leslie, who played his sweetheart, was likewise excellent.

Though Warner's production of Kings Row was overlong and somber, Sam Woods direction kept the story moving eloquently. The leads were played by Ann Sheridan, Betty Field, Ronald Reagan, and, above, Robert Cummings and Claude Rains.

Fantasia, The Waltz of the Flowers

If Chaplin talked, Disney gave a concert. In Fantasia, released in the late fall of 1940, he disclosed something new in the line of musical entertainment. Fantasia offered a program of descriptive music, recorded by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski, with animated program notes to take the the usual printed ones. The animation, needless to say, was Disney's part of the proceedings, and Disney at his best. Deems Taylor, appearing on the screen at intervals, acted as general apologist and between-numbers commentator. The film opened with a Bach toccata and fugue, illustrated by abstract moving forms. In Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice, our old pal, Mickey Mouse, was the hero. He was the only traditional Disney character in Fantasia.

Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, a Disney masterpiece, was one of the most exquisite episodes in the series, as this shot from "The Waltz of the Flowers" indicates. A unique feature of Fantasia was the reproduction of the music. Recorded on three sound tracks, it was produced through a battery of sixty loudspeakers placed throughout the theater, giving the music a quality of astonishing fidelity.

The first half of the program closed with Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. The music to the ballet for which this was originally written caused an uproar at its first hearing and is still considered too advanced for the average taste. Nevertheless, as realized by the Disney forces, it was one of the most successful numbers on the program--a tribute not only to the public's growth in musical appreciation, but also to Disney's genius for translating sounds into action.

The second half comprised Beethoven's "Pastoral" Symphony (which aroused violent controversy over its lapses of taste), Ponchielli's The Dance of the Hours, Mussorgsky's A Night on Bald Mountain, and ended with Schubert's Ave Maria.

The Great Dictator, Pride and Prejudice, Road to Singapore

The most important cinematic event of 1940 was revolutionary in its respective way. This was Charlie Chaplin's long-awaited picture, The Great Dictator. Here, for the first time in his career, he played a speaking part. His enunciation was perfect, and his voice was pleasant in quality and, when the occasion demanded it, powerful. The great pantomimist was an accomplished speaking actor as well. Some of his best speeches, however, were delivered not in English, but in the grotesque, quasi-Teutonic jargon that was the native tongue of Hynkel, the Great Dictator of the mythical country of Tomania. Jack Oakie, as Napaloni, dictator of the neighboring country of Bacteria, shared comedy honors with Chaplin.

Chaplin played the dual role of a little Jewish barber who is the dictator's double and the dictator himself. Here he is, in the former role, being arrested by the Tomanian equivalent of the Gestapo, with Paulette Goddard, as Hannah, in the doorway. The picture's appeal was undoubtedly injured by the fact that it was begun in 1938, before the war, and was released in 1940. Many of the individual sequences in the picture were, nevertheless, worthy to rank among Chaplin's happiest inspirations. Chaplin, as usual, produced, wrote, and directed the film.

Through a fortuitous chain of circumstances the dictator is arrested in place of his double, and the little barber takes his place at the head of the army that is occupying a defenseless neighboring republic. Invited to address his victorious troops, the supposed Hynkel makes an impassioned plea for peace and tolerance. This, one of the closing scenes, shows Hynkel (Chaplin) and Schultz, his friend ( Reginald Gardiner), about to mount the reviewing stand. Many critics objected to the final speech in the picture on the ground that it took Chaplin out of character and was not in key with what had gone before.


Jane Austen's beloved novel, Pride and Prejudice, was filmed by Metro in 1940. Robert Z. Leonard directed a first-rate cast, Greer Garson especially contributing a glowing and delicate performance.

Road to Singapore brought together Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour in a riotously funny picture, and brought forth a number of even funnier sequels. This Road to was directed by Victor Schertzinger for Paramount in 1940.

They Knew What They Wanted, The Great McGinty

RKO made a film version of Sidney Howard's Pulitzer Prize play, They Knew What They Wanted, with Charles Laughton in a dialect part, and doing it well. Carole Lombard played the mail-order wife admirably.

Preston Sturges, author of the play Strictly Dishonorable and one of Paramount's best script writers, had a story, so the legend goes, that he begged Paramount to let him produce and direct. Paramount refused, but offered a large sum for the story. Sturges finally got his way by selling his bosses the story for one dollar, taking his change, as director, on the profits of the picture. The result, The Great McGinty, was a great success in 1939. He had no difficulty, therefore, in inducing Paramount to let him follow the same procedure with his later pictures, Christmas in July, The Lady Eve, and Sullivan's Travels.

In 1940 David O. Selznick made a picture of Daphne Du Maurier's story, Rebecca. Alfred Hitchcock gave it masterly direction, which, coupled with beautiful performances by Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, and Judith Anderson, made it one of the important pictures of the year.

Bette Davis added to her reputation as one of Hollywood's best actresses with her performance in a screen version of W. Somerset Maugham's play, The Letter, which Warners produced in 1940.

John Ford directed two outstanding productions in 1940. One was John Steinbeck's saga of migrant workers, The Grapes of Wrath. Nunnally Johnson prepared the script for Twentieth Century-Fox.

The other Ford production was Long Voyage Home, based on Eugene O'Neill's one-act sea plays. This was another realistic and gripping film, without fancy costumes and lavish sets. In it Thomas Mitchell gave one of his best performances.

One of the brightest comedies of 1940 was Philip Barry's The Philadelphia Story, with Katharine Hepburn repeating her stage role. M-G-M produced, and George Cukor directed it.

Golden Boy, Pygmalion, The Women, Pinocchio

Clifford Odets' play of a violinist who becomes a prize fighter, Golden Boy, was brought to the screen by Columbia in 1939, with William Holden in the title role. Rouben Mamoulian directed the film.

Another fine film from England was George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, released by M-G-M. Leslie Howard not only played the lead but also codirected the picture with Anthony Asquith. This was the first Shaw play ever screened, and Shaw was delighted with it. Here are Howard and Wendy Hiller gave an unforgettable performance as the flower girl who is transformed into a lady.

The year '39 also saw a reversal of the usual allmale cast, in an all-female screen version of Clare Booth's play, The Women, directed with verve and noise by George Cukor. One of the picture's more ladylike moments is reflected in the shot above, which reveals, in the traditional sequence, Norma Shearer, Joan Fontaine, Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard, and Mary Boland. Space and the censor do not permit a showing of the lady who sat in the bathtub, impersonated by Joan Crawford.

Early in 1940 came Pinocchio, Walt Disney's first full-length feature since Snow White. Though the story of the puppet who became a boy lacked the sentimental appeal of the previous picture, it had plenty of comedy and excitement and pictorial beauty. Technically, it carried animation to a new height of perfection. Here are four of the chief personages of the picture: Figaro, the kitten; Cleo, the amorous goldfish; Jimmy Cricket, who acted as Pinocchio's conscience; and Pinocchio himself. Like most Disney characters, human beings alone excepted, Pinocchio's hand has only three fingers and a thumb.

Cary Grant and Irene Dunne followed their hilarious The Awful Truth with another successful comedy, My Favorite Wife.

The movie fan of today will accept far sterner fare than the tales of the silent days. For instance, the screen adaptation of Joseph Conrad's Victory, as produced by Paramount in 1940. Two of the principals were Fredric March and Margaret Wycherly.

In the movie version of S. N. Behrman's No Time for Comedy, Rosalind Russell played the part created by Katharine Cornell on the stage.

In screening Christopher Morley's Kitty Foyle, Ginger Rogers essayed the most ambitious role she had attempted since giving up dancing roles to become a serious actress. Her performance won her the 1939-40 Academy award.

Dark Victory, The Old Maid, Wuthering Heights

Bette Davis gave a poignant characterization of the dying young wife in the screen version of the tragic play, Dark Victory. Edmund Goulding directed the picture for Warner Brothers.

Warners gave Zoe Akins' play based on Edith Wharton's novelette, The Old Maid, an honest, welldirected, and well-cast production, in which Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins gave notable performances. Edmund Goulding also directed this film.

Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur made an expert screen adaptation of Emily Brontë's novel, Wuthering Heights, and Samuel Goldwyn gave it a cast and production that resulted in one of the finest pictures Hollywood has ever turned out. Merle Oberon as Cathy, David Niven as Linton, and Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff were a trio that could hardly have been bettered; and William Wyler's direction was superb.

Olivier's acting talents and personality were admirably suited to the moodiness of Heathcliff's character. His was an unforgettable performance.

The great event of 1939, of course, the production that overshadowed all others, was the screen version of Margaret Mitchell's phenomenal best seller, Gone With the Wind. For two years producer David O. Selznick searched for a girl to play Scarlett O'Hara and finally gave the part to Vivien Leigh, who, although English, gave an admirable portrait of the Southern heroine. There was never any doubt about who should play Rhett Butler, and Clark Gable did.

Leslie Howard, shown here with Olivia de Havilland and Miss Leigh, was an admirable choice for the role of Ashley. Miss de Havilland's portrait of Melanie was one of the best performances in the film. The picture took nearly two years to make and cost $3,850,000--easily the most ambitious offering the screen.

Selznick took a heavy risk in presenting a picture that lasted 220 minutes, but the film vindicated his judgment. The picture ran away with most of the Academy awards for the year: it was chosen the best production; Vivien Leigh won the award as the best actress; Hattie McDaniel, as the best supporting actress; Victor Fleming, for the best direction; Sidney Howard, for the best screen play; and awards went to it for the best art direction and best film editing. David O. Selznick received the Thalberg Memorial Award.

M-G-M filmed James Hilton's novel Good-bye, Mr. Chips in England in 1939. Sam Wood went over to direct it, and did a splendid job. Robert Donat, as Chips, gave one of his best performances, and his make-up, as you can see, was a triumph. This film introduced Greer Garson to the American motionpicture public.

The Dawn Patrol, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Only Angels Have Wings

The Dawn Patrol, which had featured Richard Barthelmess and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., in 1930, was remade by Warners in 1938, this time with Errol Flynn and David Niven, a popular newcomer, as the leads.

One of the best pictures of 1939 was Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, which Frank Capra produced and directed for Columbia.

Howard Hawks' production of Only Angels Have Wings offered several fine performances by the principals.

Mitchell also gave a memorable performance as the drunken doctor in Walter Wanger's Stagecoach. This was a really first-rate Western, superbly directed by John Ford.

Disney's most notable production of the year was The Ugly Duckling, and it got an Academy award.

An exceptionally honest and powerfully acted picture was the screen version of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, which Lewis Milestone produced and directed for Hal Roach. Thanks to a script that was virtually a literal transcript of the play, brilliant direction, and a fine cast, the picture made a deep impression.

One of the best comedies of 1939, Bachelor Mother, was directed by Garson Kanin for RKO. Ginger Rogers, Charles Coburn, and David Niven, abetted by an excellent script by Norman Krasna, gave irresistible performances.

Three Comrades, Suez, Snow White, Seven Dwarfs

M-G-M's Three Comrades, adapted from Erich Maria Remarque's novel of postwar Germany. Frank Borzage directed an excellent cast. In particular, Margaret Sullavan's performance as the doomed girl was beautiful and touching.

Despite the two million dollars that 20th CenturyFox put into the production, Suez, featuring. Tyrone Power, Loretta Young, and Annabella, didn't quite come off.

When Walt Disney announced his intention of making a feature-length animated cartoon, to cost nearly two million dollars, his sincerest well-wishers told him that he was crazy. In the first place, the public wouldn't sit through so long a cartoon; in the second place, an adult audience certainly wouldn't sit through a fairy tale, and the juvenile audience wasn't large enough to pay for the cost of production. Disney listened politely, and released Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which promptly broke attendance records all over America, grossed about eight million dollars, played in forty-one different countries, and had a sound track in ten different languages.

Snow White had everything--magic, animals, love interest, menace, comedy, and pathos. A special Academy award went to Disney in 1938 for this picture.

Algiers was the American version of a French film Pepe le Moko, and it featured two lovely girls: Sigrid Gurie and the Viennese Hedy Lamarr, whose extraordinary beauty so hypnotized the spectators that they didn't care whether or not she could act.

The acting was provided by Charles Boyer, whose undeniable talent and brooding Latin charm did to the female onlookers what Hedy Lamarr did to the male ones by Gene Lockhart, who played the villain.

Ginger Rogers had another straight acting art in Vivacious Lady, and she and James Stewart delighted the customers with this comedy.

Frank Capra did a wonderful job of direction when he brought George S. Kaufman's and Moss Hart's lunatic play, You Can't Take It With You, to the screen. The father who pays no income tax because he doesn't approve of it; the mother who paints, but who took up writing because somebody delivered a typewriter at the house by mistake; the boarder who makes fireworks in the basement; the son who plays the vibraphone; the daughter who mistakenly thinks she can dance--they were all there, and funnier than ever.

The Old Mill, The Life of Emile Zola, Tom Sawyer

Walt Disney won the Academy cartoon award in 1937 with The Old Mill, in which he first made use of his "multiplane" camera, a device by which his drawings take on a startlingly three-dimensional character. The cartoon had no plot in the ordinary sense of the word, but the charm of its details and the beauty of the film as a whole made it irresistible.

In The Life of Emile Zola, Paul Muni again played a biographical role in a story that stuck largely to facts and was devoid of the usual "love interest." Again, as in the Pasteur picture, the experiment was successful. Muni's make-up as Zola was amazingly like the novelist's portraits, and his performance was brilliant, rising to memorable heights in the trial scene.

William Dieterle directed Zola for Warner Brothers in 1937, and the film won the Academy award for the best production of the year. Another striking performance in the film was Joseph Schildkraut's superb playing of the role of Dreyfus.

George S. Kaufman's and Edna Ferber's play of theatrical life, Stage Door, came to the screen with Katharine Hepburn in the leading role. The picture also gave Ginger Rogers a chance to show what she could do with an important straight part not calling for dancing ability.

By 1938 the Spanish Civil War was sufficiently uppermost in the public mind to attract Hollywood's attention. Walter Wanger produced Blockade, an original screen play by John Howard Lawsofi, which William Dieterle directed. It was a noble attempt, for the Civil War was a delicate subject, and not only to Hollywood. Henry Fonda and Madeleine Carroll were the principals.

Jackie Coogan had done Tom Sawyer in 1930. Eight years later, David O. Selznick introduced another Tom to the screen public, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, in the person of Tommy Kelly, a newcomer who endeared himself at once.

Dead End, The Good Earth, Lost Horizon, A Star Is Born

Sidney Kingsley's dramatic hit, Dead End, was brought to the screen by Samuel Goldwyn in 1937, with settings that were a faithful extension of Norman Bel Geddes' original set. William Wyler was the director. The Dead End kids, who had been such a striking feature of the play, were brought to Hollywood en masse.

Another spectacular production, still one of the high lights of motion-picture making, was M-G-M's adaptation of Pearl Buck's novel of Chinese life, The Good Earth. Irving Thalberg, the producing head of M-G-M, sent a cameraman to China to make background and atmosphere shots. Sidney Franklin directed the picture, and Paul Muni as Wang, and Luise Rainer as O-Lan, gave superb performances. Altogether, The Good Earth was three years in the making (the actual production took eleven months). Thalberg never saw the completed film, for he died before it was finished.

Columbia's Frank Capra made a beautiful and generally impressive picture from James Hilton's modern fairy tale, Lost Horizon. The cast was uniformly good. Outstanding, both for acting and make-up, was Sam Jaffe's performance as the two-hundred-year-old High Lama.

In writing the screen play for A Star Is Born, Dorothy Parker, Alan Campbell, and Robert Canon disproved the old movie superstition that the public is not interested in stories of movie life. Expertly directed by William A. Wellman, the film offered a deeply moving performance by Fredric March as the fading picture star whose career ends in drunkenness and suicide as his actress wife rises to stardom.

The same year saw the screen advent of Emlyn Williams' psychopathological chiller, Night Must Fall. Robert Montgomery, reprieved from an endless succession of light-comedy roles, gave a performance of sinister power that stamped him as a superb "straight" actor. Richard Thorpe directed the picture.

The year was rich in comedy, producing least three pictures that are still fondly remembered and frequently revived. One was The Awful Truth, directed by Leo McCarey for Columbia, in which Cary Grant and Irene Dunne gave splendid performances.

Another was Hal Roach's picturization of Thorne Smith's Topper, in which Roland Young played the title role. Constance Bennett, as a materialized ghost, contributed admirably to the general hilarity. The picture was directed by Norman McLeod and was replete with camera tricks--doors that opened by themselves; tools that changed tires; and, the best trick of all, Miss Bennett's taking a shower while she was invisible, with the water splashing off her invisible body.

Nothing Sacred was another of these comedies. William Wellman directed it, and Carole Lombard, Fredric March, and Walter Connolly were the leading players.

San Francisco, The Petrified Forest, Dodsworth, The Prisoner of Zenda

San Francisco, produced by M-G-M in 1936, was easily one of the biggest thrillers in years. The cast included Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Jeanette MacDonald, and Jack Holt, with W. S. Van Dyke directing.

Robert E. Sherwood's The Petrified Forest was transferred to the screen by Warner Brothers in 1936. Archie Mayo directed the film in a slow but tense style. The performances were also first-rate, especially Humphrey Bogart's. This was one of his first films, and he played the character that he had created on Broadwav.

Another successful transference from stage to screen was Sidney Howard's Dodsworth, from the Sinclair Lewis novel. William Wyler handled the direction, and Walter Huston, Mary Astor, and Ruth Chatterton turned in excellent performances. United Artists released this Goldwyn production in 1936.

Despite a rather sickening advertising campaign, "Garbo loves Robert Taylor in Camille," it was a first-rate refilming of the old Dumas fils classic. Garbo's performance was one of her best, and George Cukor's direction one of his best. Metro release the film in 1936.

The really super-production of 1936 was M-G-M's screen biography of Florenz Ziegfeld, The Great Ziegfeld. Robert Z. Leonard handled the massive job of direction, and William Powell played the name part, with Myrna Loy as Billie Burke, and Luise Rainer as Anna Held.

When Anthony Hope wrote The Prisoner of Zenda, the Edison Kinetoscope had just been exhibited to the public. The two--the story and the moving picture--were to meet many times in future years. Ramon Novarro, for one, played it in 1922. In 1937 it reappeared on the screen, this time with Ronald Colman in the title role, with Madeleine Carroll as the heroine. John Cromwell directed it for Selznick.

With Victor Fleming directing, M-G-M produced a film version of Rudyard Kipling's epic of New England, Captains Courageous. Spencer Tracy won an Academy award for his performance, while Freddie Bartholomew proved that his success in David Copperfield had been no accident.

Fury, Three Smart Girls, Show Boat

Spencer Tracy, under Fritz Lang's direction, gave a fine performance in Fury, an uncompromising study of mob madness that had many a thrilling moment. This is one of them, where the mob tries to break into the jail in order to lynch one of the inmates. Failing to get its intended victim, the mob burns down the jail.

One of the best comedies in recent years was My Man Godfrey, which Gregory LaCava produced and directed for Universal in 1936. William Powell gave a polished performance, while Carole Lombard turned out to be one of the best zanies on the screen.

In Three Smart Girls, a hitherto unknown youngster named Deanna Durbin leaped into instant popularity. Universal promptly featured her in One Hundred Men and a Girl, with Leopold Stokowski. It made a star of her, and she became one of Universal's biggest moneymakers. Thanks to exceptionally intelligent handling by her producer, Joseph Pasternak, and her director, Henry Koster, she appeared in a series of pictures that took her through the difficult years of adolescence with undiminished popularity.

Lloyds of London made a star of Tyrone Power overnight. Henry King directed this historical film for Twentieth Century-Fox in 1936. Heading the cast were Freddie Bartholomew, Madeleine Carroll, and Power.

Universal remade the Edna Ferber-Jerome Kern musical Show Boat in 1936 and did a splendid job. James Whale, taking time out from horror pictures, directed it. Irene Dunne, as Magnolia, Allan Jones, as Gaylord, Charles Winninger, as Captain Andy, and Helen Westley, as Mrs. Hawks. Helen Morgan repeated her stage role.

From a volume of short stories by Roark Bradford, Marc Connelly fashioned the play The Green Pastures, which ran for years in New York and on the road. The film version, produced by Warners and directed by Connelly and William Keighlev, was almost as successful.

Two years after their initial triumph in The Thin Man, Myrna Loy, William Powell, and Asta appeared in its successor, After the Thin Man. For once, the sequel was up to the original. It took courage for Columbia to transfer George Kelly's Pulitzer Prize play, Craig's Wife, to the screen, for the theme--at it is no virtue to be too good a housekeeper--ran contrary to the best movie traditions. Although nothing like a smash hit, the picture fared encouragingly well, thanks to an uncompromisingly honest performance by Rosalind Russell and to fine direction by one of Hollywood's few women directors, Dorothy Arzner.

The Little Colonel, Modern Times, King Vidor

Shirley Temple was a veteran picture star, with a following of faithful admirers that numbered millions. The child's uncanny charm was admirably exploited in The Little Colonel, made in 1935.

Came 1936, and with it the first Chaplin picture in five years. Again Charlie stuck to his guns and presented a picture in which--except for one sequence of unintelligible jargon--he and the rest of the cast remained silent. For a lesser artist the risk might have been fatal, but to his fans Chaplin could do no wrong. Modern Times was a tremendous success.

The plot utilized the basic Chaplin formula--the picked-on little man befriending a waif who is worse off than he. This time the waif was Paulette Goddard, a newcomer to pictures and one of his discoveries.

King Vidor directed, produced, and collaborated on the story of Texas Rangers for Paramount. Basically, it was a horse opera, but done on a grand scale that raised it above the level of the ordinary Western. As this shot of the company on location indicates, some of the credit for the picture's success should go to nature's well-designed settings.

An important Thalberg production of 1936 was Romeo and Juliet. Having planned it as a vehicle for his wife, Norma Shearer, he gave it a magnificent production with a cast that included, besides Miss Shearer as Juliet, Leslie Howard as Romeo, Basil Rathbone as Tybalt, John Barrymore as Mercutio, and Edna May Oliver as the nurse. Incidentally, Miss Shearer surprised many of the prophets by giving a skilled and sensitive performance.

The production was notable for the historical accuracy of its settings and costumes, for Thalberg had sent research men to Italy to verify every detail of architecture and clothing. In Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Gary Cooper, relieved of the necessity of playing the strong, silent man, went to town on his own hook and revealed himself as an engaging and talented comedian. Frank Capra directed the picture brilliantly from a script by Robert Riskin.

Captain Blood, A Tale of Two Cities, The Story of Louis Pasteur

Another spectacular sea picture of 1935 was a screen version of Rafael Sabatini's Captain Blood, produced by Cosmopolitan-First National and featuring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. As this shot indicates, it was a boon to the extras.

Ronald Colman had one of his most congenial and successful roles as Sydney Carton in the 1935 screen version of A Tale of Two Cities. The picture was notable for the size and historical fidelity of its sets. Here is one of the film's most impressive sequences, the storming of the Bastille, as reconstructed by M-G-M.

In 1927 Garbo had played Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, with John Gilbert as her leading man--a silent picture, of course, and entitled Love. Eight years later she remade Anna Karenina, this time with Fredric March as Vronsky. Clarence Brown directed this version for M-G-M.

What is a "character actor"? He was an actor who can step completely out of his own personality to become, for the moment, a completely different person. He may be good or bad. He may be a ham, or he may be a great actor. Paul Muni was a character actor, and a first-rate one. In 1935 he made what was, at the time, a daring experiment--The Story of Louis Pasteur, the life of the great scientist with no concessions to the supposedly indispensable "love interest." The picture won him an Academy award and embarked him on a series of biographical pictures.

Samuel Goldwyn produced The Dark Angel in 1935 and starred Merle Oberon, Herbert Marshall, and Fredric March in it.

In the summer of 1934 Max Reinhardt staged a spectacular production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in the Hollywood Bowl. The great Max had never considered the films, but confessed that he found them "interesting." It was no surprise to the knowing ones, therefore, when he agreed to collaborate with William Dieterle in a screen version of the play, for the Warner Brothers. The cast was large, the ballet was trained by Bronislava Nijinska, Erich Korngold wrote the music, and Hal Mohr did the photography, all of which cost well over a million dollars. Unfortunately, the public was not amused.

Hearts of the World, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, Private Worlds

Since Hearts of the World, Noel Coward had not appeared in an American picture until Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur induced him to join forces with them in a film they wrote, directed, and produced--The Scoundrel. It turned out to be the year's artistic success.

One of the thrillers of the year was Paramount's The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, based on the autobiography of Yeats-Brown. Henry Hathaway directed the film in a masterfully tense fashion. In this scene are Kathleen Burke, Gary Cooper, Douglas Dumbrille, Franchot Tone, and Richard Cromwell.

Frank Lloyd directed the exciting Mutiny on the Bounty for M-G-M, with a cast that included Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone, and Dudley Digges. It won the Academy award for the best production of the 1934-35 season.

In a totally different vein was Laughton's performance, as the valet won in a poker game, in Ruggles of Red Gap, which Leo McCarey directed for Paramount.

Liam O'Flaherty's novel The Informer was filmed by RKO in 1935, and won Victor McLaglen the award for the best male performance of that year. Not only the acting was superb, but also the direction, for which John Ford was responsible.

Private Worlds, made by Paramount, dealt with mental derangement and psychiatrical therapy and handled this difficult theme with skill and sympathy. Gregory LaCava directed this Walter Wanger production. Above are Charles Boyer and Claudette Colbert in a scene from the film. Joan Bennett also gave a memorable performance.

Ginger Rogers had gone to Hollywood after scoring a hit in George Gershwin's Girl Crazy. There, after various roles, she was teamed as a dancer with Fred Astaire, whose sister-partner, Adele, had deserted her career to marry into the British peerage. The two speedily became the most popular dance team in pictures.

The Barretts of Wimpole Street, The New Moon

Metro brought Katharine Cornell's stage success, The Barretts of Wimpole Street, to the screen in 1934. Fredric March played the poet Browning, Norma Shearer, Elizabeth Barrett, and Charles Laughton, her father. Sidney Franklin handled the direction.
Jesse L. Lasky, producing for Fox, turned out an excellent screen version of John L. Balderston's play, Berkeley Square, directed by Frank Lloyd, with Leslie Howard playing the role he had created on the stage.

As has been noted, when Lawrence Tibbett and Grace Moore appeared together in The New Moon, Tibbett was an immediate success, while Miss Moore was not. Columbia cast her in a story about the operatic stage, One Night of Love, of which little was expected. The picture was an instant hit and made a star of Miss Moore. Tullio Carminati, shown in this scene with the star, also scored a success with his performance as her romantic singing teacher.

Madame Du Barry was an elaborate and lavish chronicle of the life and adventures of the famous courtesan, with Dolores Del Rio in the title role. Hollywood's first nights were world-famous, and the most spectacular of all occurred at Grauman's Chinese Theater, on Hollywood Boulevard.

The year 1935 saw the first feature-length picture to be made entirely in the newly developed threecolor technicolor process. This was Becky Sharp, a screen version of Thackeray's Vanity Fair, with Miriam Hopkins in the title role.

Marlene Dietrich appeared in The Devil Is a Woman, with the screen play by John Dos Passos, and it was not a success. This was the last picture of the Dietrich-von Sternberg combination made for Paramount.

One of the best pictures of the year was M-G-M's David Copperfield, produced by David Selznick. Under George Cukor's direction, it held strictly to the Dickens story, with admirable results. Frank Lawton played the grown-up David; Edna May Oliver, Betsey Trotwood; Lionel Barrymore, Mr. Peggotty; and Basil Rathbone, Mr. Murdstone. The child David was played by a newly discovered youngster of great talent, Freddie Bartholomew, while W. C. Fields contributed a fine portrait of Wilkins Micawber.

The Thin Man, Music in the Air, Imitation of Life

The Thin Man, besides producing such sequels as After the Thin Man and Another Thin Man, boosted the reputations of its two stars. Myrna Loy, after a career that had consisted largely of a dreary succession of Oriental seductresses, revealed herself as an irresistibly adroit comedienne. William Powell, who had been known chiefly as a heavy, emerged as the perfect type of polished, urbane man of the world.

Gloria Swanson temporarily gave up the drama to appear in a Fox edition of the musical-comedy success, Music in the Air. (June Vlasek (later, and more pronounceably, June Lang), Douglass Montgomery, Al Shean, and Miss Swanson).

The couple eying each other in apparent consternation are Jeanette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier as they appeared in Ernst Lubitsch's production of The Merry Widow, made by M-G-M in 1934. The picture was so expensive that only a boxoffice miracle could have made it profitable. The miracle did not occur.

Though she had appeared in pictures earlier, Shirley Temple first gained attention in a Fox revue of 1934, Stand Up an Cheer, which featured Warner Baxter, Madge Evans, and James Dunn. Miss Temple appears here with Dunn. Her next picture, Little Miss Marker, released the same year, definitely established her as a box-office draw.

The greatest tear-jerker of 1934 was Fannie Hurst's Imitation of Life, starring Claudette Colbert and featuring Louise Beavers. John M. Stahl directed for Universal.

The year 1934 was memorable for the unheralded debut of one who was destined to become a worldfamous star. His name is Donald Duck, and he made his first appearance playing a small part in Walt Disney's The Orphans Benefit.

Will Rogers was another screen favorite whose screen career was nearing an untimely close. This scene, with Stepin Fetchit, is from Judge Priest, a picture made in 1934, based on Irvin S. Cobb's well-known series of short stories. Rogers, with the aviator Wiley Post, was killed in a plane crash the following year.

John Ford directed an all-male cast in The Lost Patrol. The film featured taut direction and a number of fine performances, especially by Reginald Denny and Victor McLaglen. RKO produced it in 1934.

Voltaire, W. Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage

George Arliss added another celebrity to his list of characterizations with a picture entitled Voltaire. With him in this scene are Margaret Lindsay and Doris Kenyon. Frisco Jenny, starring Ruth Chatterton, was a story of mother love, with the San Francisco earthquake thrown in for good measure.

RKO's production of W. Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage, in 1934, starred Leslie Howard, but it made a star out of Bette Davis. As the scheming waitress, Miss Davis gave a memorable performance that established her as one of the most talented of the younger Hollywood actresses.

Richard Barthelmess forsook his customary romantic roles to play in a Western melodrama about Indians and the wrongs done them by unscrupulous government agents, Massacre.

In 1934 came the immortal It Happened One Night, directed by Frank Capra for Columbia. Its two romantic stars, Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable, turned in comic performances that won them Academy awards for the best performances by actress and actor. The picture itself won the award as the outstanding production of the year; Capra won the award for his direction; and Robert Riskin won the award for the year's best screen play.

Clarence Brown directed Chained for M-G-M in 1934. It featured a popular trio--Otto Kruger, Joan Crawford, and Clark Gable. Miss Harlow's untimely death in 1937 cut short an acting career of unusual promise.

Dashiell Hammett's detective novel, The Thin Man, was a leading best seller and, naturally, had most of the studios bidding for it. M-G-M finally got it and entrusted the film version to Myrna Loy and William Powell, with Hunt Stromberg producing and W. S. Van Dyke directing. Its instantaneous success, however, exceeded the wildest speculations of its sponsors. The idea of treating a murder mystery in terms of high comedy was fresh and appealed to a public that was weary of conventional whodunits. Moreover, to a movie audience that had been brought up to see marriage, in the films, an an ordeal, the sight of two ultra-smart, sophisticated people very much married and very much in love was reassuring and oddly moving.

The Emperor Jones, Night After Night, Secrets, The Song of Songs

Eugene O'Neill's fine play, The Emperor Jones, has also been produced in an operatic version composed by Louis Gruenberg and as a picture. The film was directed by Dudley Murphy and released by United Artists in 1933. It staffed Paul Robeson.

Mae West's first picture, Night After Night, had made her a star. Her second, based on her own play, Diamond Lil, and rechristened by Paramount She Done Him Wrong, was far more successful. Lowell Sherman directed it, and Gilbert Roland, here being compromised, played one of the leads. It was in this picture that Miss West delivered that immortal line: "Come up and see me sometime."

Mary Pickford produced Secrets, a heart-throb story of pioneer days, for United Artists in 1933. Seated with Mary is Leslie Howard.

That same year, Samuel Goldwyn unveiled a new Russian actress, Anna Sten, who, he thought, was going to become another Banky, Garbo, or Dietrich. She was undeniably beautiful, as eloquently evidenced by the scene below with Lionel Atwill, but her acting was hardly expert, and her all-too-Russian accent was better suited to comedy than to tragedy. Her first American picture, an adaptation of Zola's Nana, didn't help much, either, being slow and on the dull side. Dorothy Arzner directed.

Walt Disney won another Academy award in 1933 with Three Little Pigs, still one of the most popular cartoon shorts ever made.

Speaking of love interest, Marlene Dietrich played in an adaptation of Sudermann's The Song of Songs, under Rouben Mamoulian's direction. Others in the cast were Brian Aherne, playing his first picture lead, and Alison Skipworth, shown here. A life-size statue of the star, in the nude, was featured in the picture, and reproductions of it were displayed in a great many theaters showing the film. Still, the picture was not successful.

The Power and the Glory, Ziegfeld Follies, Little Women

A Lasky production of 1933 was The Power and the Glory, in which he starred Colleen Moore and Spencer Tracy.

W. C. Fields had become famous as a tramp juggler and pantomimist first in vaudeville, then with the Ziegfeld Follies, when Poppy, a musical comedy in which he appeared with Madge Kennedy in 1923, revealed that he had not only a speaking voice, but also an unerring gift for delivering comic lines. When talkies came to Hollywood, so did Fields.

Mitchell Leisen began his picture career as a designer and then as art director for Cecil B. DeMille, a post he held for twelve years before becoming a director on his own. His first picture was Cradle Song, for Paramount. It featured Dorothea Wieck, who had been brought to Hollywood as a result of her touching performance in Mädchen in Uniform.

Louisa May Alcott's classic, Little Women, was screened in 1933, under George Cukor's direction. Here are the feminine members of the cast: Jean Parker (Beth), Joan Bennett (Amy), Katharine Hepburn (Jo), and Frances Dee (Meg), Spring Byington, as their mother.

Paramount brought Alice in Wonderland to the screen in 1933, with an all-star cast that included Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Charles Ruggles, Jack Oakie, Richard Arlen, Alison Skipworth, Edna May Oliver, and, as Alice, Charlotte Henry. Norman McLeod directed. Despite all this array of talent, the picture was disappointing. Everybody was masked (the Plum Pudding is a good example), so that the actors had only their voices to rely on, and the whole production was heavily literal and left nothing to the imagination.

The Invisible Man

THE INVINSIBLE MAN ( 1933)

Another Lasky production of 1933 was an adaptation of the stage success, The Warrior's Husband. Elissa Landi played the role originally acted by Katharine Hepburn.

David O. Selznick produced Dancing Lady, a story of backstage life, for M-G-M in 1933, starring Joan Crawford, with Clark Cable and Franchot Tone. Fred Astaire and Nelson Eddy played insignificant supporting parts.

H. G. Wells' fantastic novelette, The Invisible Man, finally reached the screen, with Claude Rains, shown here, playing the title role. James Whale directed.

Greta Garbo, who had returned to her native Sweden for a vacation, talked of retiring from pictures. She returned, however, in 1933, to find M-G-M waiting for her with Queen Christina, a script based on the life of the famous ruler. Her leading man was John Gilbert. Rouben Mamoulian directed.

In 1933 the girl who had been briefly featured in Forty-second Street was promoted to be Fred Astaire's dancing partner in Flying Down to Rio. So began the career of the screen's most famous dance team. Thornton Freeland directed the picture for RKO.

The success of Wallace Beery and Marie Dressler in Min and Bill made a follow-up to that picture inevitable. It emerged in 1933, as Tugboat Annie, and received a warm welcome from the fans. This was one of the last pictures Miss Dressler made. She died in 1934.

Frank Capra was one of a handful of motion-picture directors

Frank Capra was one of a handful of motion-picture directors whose names on the marquee of a theater mean something to the moviegoer. He started as an odd-job man with Christie comedies, worked for Columbia, became a Hal Roach gagman, and directed Harry Langdon pictures. At Columbia he finally hit his stride to become one of Hollywood's most successful directors. One of his pictures filmed in 1932 was The Bitter Tea of General Yen, in which Barbara Stanwyck and Nils Asther were the love interest.

Frank Capra was famous for directing a picture with such charm and humor that the audience hasn't time to notice the holes in the story. His first big success, Lady for a Day, came out in 1933. It featured May Robson as Apple Annie, shown here collapsing on discovering that her daughter is on the way to America. The story was adapted by Robert Riskin from an original Damon Runyon yarn.

M-G-M filmed Dinner at Eight, from the play by Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman. George Cukor directed an all-star cast, including John and Lionel Barrymore, Marie Dressler, who was miscast, Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow, Edmund Lowe, and Billie Burke. Critics were agreed that Beery and Harlow turned in the best performances.

Emest B. Shoedsack and Merian C. Cooper, the producers of the unusual documentary picture, Grass, collaborated in 1933 to direct another that was equally spectacular, though in a very different way. This was King Kong, the story of a colossal, gorillalike creature who causes an enormous amount of trouble before he is finally cornered on top the Empire State Building.

Shanghai Express, Tarzan, Ape Man

Marlene Dietrich appeared in Shanghai Express, which Josef von Sternberg directed for Paramount. Despite its authentic-looking settings and beautiful photography, the Chinese considered it a misrepresentation of Chinese customs.

Edgar Rice Burrough's character Tarzan made the sound films with Tarzan the Ape Man. The title role was played by Johnny Weissmuller, formerly a swimming champion, who so succeeded in identifying himself with Tarzan, in the minds of the younger fans, that he could play nothing else. There have been a number of sequels, and they have all been popular.

About as handsome a trio as you'd care to meet were Kay Francis, Herbert Marshall, and Miriam Hopkins, as they appeared in the sophisticated comedy, Trouble in Paradise. Ernst Lubitsch directed it for Paramount in 1932.

Founded in 1927, with its membership comprising producers, directors, actors, writers, technicians, and executives, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents series of annual awards for distinguished achievement in the motion-picture field. The bronze statuettes, or "Oscars," as they are irreverently called, that symbolize the awards are highly prized not only in themselves, but also because an Oscar is a very hand thing to have around when discussing salaries and contracts. Helen Hayes won the award for the best performance by an actress for The Sin of Madelon Claudet, while Fredric March received the corresponding award for actors for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. At the time, Miss Hayes was working in A Farewell to Arms, under Borzage's direction.

The screen version of Ernest Hemingway's novel A Farewell to Arms was as successful as the stage adaptation had been. Credit for its faithful picturization goes both to the principals and to its director, Frank Borzage. Gary Cooper as Frederic Henry, Helen Hayes as Catherine Barkley, and Adolphe Menjou as Lieutenant Rinaldi. All three gave superb performances. It was produced by Paramount in 1932.

Jesse L. Lasky left Paramount in 1932 to join forces with Fox. Here he produced a number of pictures that were a credit to his taste. The first, Zoo in Budapest, released in 1933, with Loretta Young and Gene Raymond, was particularly notable for some beautiful photography by Lee Garmes.

More than a dozen screen writers and more than half a dozen directors, including Ernst Lubitsch, Norman Taurog, Norman McLeod, and James Cruze, worked at concocting If I Had a Million. Paramount produced it in 1932, with an all-star cast that included Gary Cooper, George Raft, Charles Laughton, Mary Boland, Jack Oakie, and W. C. Fields. It was something of a hodge-podge, and ushered in no new era in picture-making, but it was undeniably entertaining.

Mata Hari, The Animal Kingdom, Rasputin and the Empress

1932's Movies

In 1932 Garbo played the ill-fated international spy, Mata Hari, in the M-G-M picture of the same name. Ramon Novarro played opposite her.

Another play filmed in 1932 was Philip Barry's The Animal Kingdom. RKO made it, with Ann Harding and Leslie Howard in the leading roles.

Rasputin and the Empress brought together the three, Barrymores, John, Ethel, and Lionel. Richard Boleslavsky directed this famous trio for M-G-M in 1932.

Katharine Hepburn first attracted Hollywood's attention when, an unknown and virtually inexperienced actress, she scored an instantaneous hit in the stage version of The Warrior's Husband. Brought West, she disregarded all rules of the game, went about in overalls and a hired Rolls Royce, snubbed her fellow actors, sassed her director, refused to do the routine publicity stunts, made an all-round nuisance of herself--and made an immediate success in A Bill of Divorcement. RKO promptly starred her in Christopher Strong and then in Morning Glory, a scene from which is shown here, with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., as leading man. Hepburn received the Academy award for her performance in Morning Glory.

"Goodness, what beautiful diamonds!" exclaims one of the characters in Night After Night. To which Miss West remarks, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie." Miss West, after a tumultuous stage career as author, director, producer, and actress, in the course of which she managed to land a jail sentence, went on to triumph in her first picture, playing but a small part.

In 1932 came the film that reintroduced the musical craze, Forty-second Street. The acting was good, the direction swift, and the production numbers were lush. Lloyd Bacon directed for Warner Brothers.

Paul Muni has long been one of the most expert character actors on the screen. One of his early successes was I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, which Mervyn Le Roy directed in 1932. This Warner Brothers picture was also notable for handling a socially vital theme intelligently and movingly.

Warner Brothers also produced one of the screen's best love stories in 1932--One-Way Passage. William Powell and Kay Francis played the lovers, under Tay Garnett's sensitive direction.

One of the most ambitious productions of the year, M-G-M's adaptation of Vicki Baum's Grand Hotel, enlisted the talents of a group of Hollywood's biggest stars. Joan Crawford, as the stenographer, Wallace Beery, as the industrial magnate, and Lionel Barrymore, as the man who has only a few months left to live.

The Sign of the Cross, Thunder Below, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Cecil B. DeMille, feeling that it was about time for him to be delivered of another spectacular picture, produced The Sign of the Cross, a combination of mob scenes, religion, sex, and movie stars that was heralded as being "bigger than The Ten Commandments." The critics didn't care much for Nat Pendleton's strolling through the picture, using American slang, but the public loved all of it, especially the Christian-eating lions.

Tallulah Bankhead, after a vain struggle to get her acting talents recognized at home, went to England and rapidly became one of the foremost attractions of the London stage. Brought back by Paramount, she made a number of films which--largely because of miscasting and indifferent stories--were not successful.

Clowns traditionally want to play Hamlet. Occasionally, too, a leading man forsakes glamour and takes a fling at gooseflesh-raising. John Barrymore made a silent Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, in 1920, that terrified his fans, and in '32, Fredric March starred in the same story, giving a performance that established him as a first-rate actor and won him an Academy award.

Two of the most successful zanies on the screen are Laurel and Hardy, whose short pictures have been contributing to the hilarity of the movies since the silent days. One of the best and most idiotic of their melees was Brats, produced by Hal Roach.

Still another play to reach the screen that year was Eugene O'Neill's Strange Interlude. It was no easy job to compress a play that took five hours to perform into a film lasting about two, but M-G-M's director, Robert Z. Leonard, managed it. He even made the asides intelligible to the audience. Norma Shearer played the lead, with Clark Gable, here kissing her hand, as the doctor.

The Lunts, Arrowsmith, City Lights

The Lunts were not the only distinguished newcomers from the theater in 1931. Irving Thalberg, one of the M-G-M bosses, finally induced Helen Hayes to give the screen a chance. Her first picture, The Sin of Madelon Claudet, whose screen play was written by her husband, Charles MacArthur, established her as one of the screen's finest actresses and won her the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award for the best performance of the year. (Jean Hersholt, Frankie Darrow, Marie Prevost, and Miss Hayes).

Helen Hayes' second film, Arrowsmith, established her even more firmly as a star on screen as well as on stage. Samuel Goldwyn produced this excellent picturization of Sinclair Lewis' novel, and John Ford did a superb job of directing. United Artists released the film in 1931.

In 1931 Chaplin released his first picture since The Circus. Naturally, there was much speculation about whether he would talk, now that sound was here to stay. But the great master of pantomime was in no hurry to alter the technique that had made him world-famous. The long-awaited picture was City Lights, and the actors, including Chaplin, did not speak. There was music on the track, however. The story concerned a derelict who falls in love with a blind flower girl and goes through a series of silly and pathetic adventures to raise the money for the girl's rent and for an operation to restore her sight. Virginia Cherrill played the flower girl.

Some of the most diverting moments in the picture were supplied by Chaplin and Harry Myers, the latter playing a man about town who is Charlie's bosom friend when drunk but refuses to recognize him in his sober moments.

Under Wesley Ruggles' direction, RKO made a spectacular and genuinely impressive picture out of Edna Ferber's novel of the Oklahoma land rush, Cimarron.

Flowers and Trees, The Guardsman, Entitled The Champ

In 1931 Walt Disney made his first animated cartoon in technicolor. It was called Flowers and Trees, and it won an Academy award.

After long persuasion, that great stage couple, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, reluctantly consented to make the film version of Molnar's The Guardsman. Despite the success of the picture, directed by Sidney Franklin, they never made another.

The filming of Trader Horn was Hollywood at its tragicomic best. M-G-M sent an entire company and crew to Africa, in order to ensure the authenticity of the location shots; then, when the company returned to America, reshot most of the scenes on the M-G-M lot. The tragic phase of the episode was that Edwina Booth, who played the role of the white girl turned native priestess, contracted an obscure tropical malady from which she never fully recovered.

The flood of gangster pictures continued. One of the better ones was Public Enemy, in which James Cagney demonstrated that one way to charm the ladies in the audience was to be rough with the ladies on the screen.

The success of Moana encouraged Paramount to release another South Sea island picture, Tabu, which was directed by F. W. Murnau from a story by himself and Robert Flaherty. It was one of the most glamorous and beautiful pictures ever made.

Jackie Cooper raised himself to stardom by his engaging performance of a comic-strip character brought to life--Percy Crosby's Skippy. Norman Taurog won an Academy Award for his direction.

Beery also costarred with Jackie Cooper in a story, by Frances Marion, about a drunken ex-champion prize fighter who is regenerated by his little boy. Entitled The Champ, it was one of the lachrymal hits of 1931.

Street Scene, The Easiest Way, A Free Soul, Frankenstein

1931's Movies

Elmer Rice's grim play, Street Scene, reached the screen in 1931, in a faithful adaptation directed by King Vidor. Sylvia Sidney played the role Erin O'Brien Moore had created on the stage. A perfect reproduction of a shabby New York street, on which most of the action took place.

M-G-M remade Eugene Walter's old play, The Easiest Way, with Constance Bennett playing the role that Frances Starr had created in the theater. Anita Page played the honest, hard-working sister (who wasn't in the original play), with Clark Gable, a promising leading man, as her truck-driver husband (who wasn't in the original play). Here be is ordering Constance Bennett out into the night with her baby who wasn't in the original play).

Norma Shearer had already embarked on a series of sophisticated roles. One of her 1931 pictures was A Free Soul, from the novel by Adela Rogers St. Johns, in which the daughter of a brilliant criminal lawyer falls in love with the gangster whom her father has saved from the chair. Lionel Barrymore played the father, and Clark Gable acted the gangster in a manner that established him as a definite box-office draw.

Another of Norma Shearer's pictures was Noel Coward's brilliant, slightly bawdy, and roughhouse Private Lives. She and Robert Montgomery took the roles originally played by Coward and Gertrude Lawrence.

Douglas Fairbanks' 1931 picture was, surprisingly enough, not a costume piece but a straight melodrama, called Reaching for the Moon. This in no wise prevented him from performing the characteristic Fairbanks gymnastics and turning the decks of a transatlantic liner into a one-man track meet.

Lon Chaney's death in 1930 robbed the public of a great master of grotesque make-up. However, Chaney ad a successor in Boris Karloff (born Charles Edward Pratt), who chilled millions of spines with a bloodcurdling performance as the monster in Frankenstein ( 1931). It was such a success that Universal followed it with The Bride of Frankenstein ( 1935) and The Son of Frankenstein ( 1939).

Someone once remarked that the present younger generation is going to grow up with the firm conviction that all the great men of history looked like George Arliss. In 1931 the distinguished actor continued his gallery of historical portraits with Alexander Hamilton, with Doris Kenyon as his leading lady.

Depressing as most persons find it, Tolstoy's novel Resurrection has been adapted several times for the screen. Dolores Del Rio made it as a silent in 1927, with Rod La Rocque playing the male lead; and Lupe Velez (of all people) remade it in 1931, with John Boles.

The Dawn Patrol, The Vagabond King, Moby Dick

Another Barthelmess picture of 1930 was the successful The Dawn Patrol, an aviation picture directed by Howard Hawks.

From the musical-comedy stage came Dennis King, in one of his former stage triumphs, The Vagabond King. Just to make sure of its being a hit--which it was--Paramount filmed it in technicolor, and co starred him with Jeanette MacDonald.

In photography, the impossible is so simple to achieve that most attempts at transferring phantasy to the screen have left nothing to the onlooker's imagination. Fox's production of Liliom, with Charles Farrell and Rose Hobart, was painstaking and elaborate, but it failed to capture the imaginative persuasiveness of the Theater Guild's original production.

Warners starred John Barrymore in a version of Mel ville 's great novel, Moby Dick, notable for Barrymore's extraordinary make-up and distinguished acting. Barrymore had played this role in the silents, the film then being called The Sea Beast.

Howard Hughes sank well over a million dollars into Hell's Angels, which he began as a silent film in 1927 and finally released in 1930. When sound came to stay, he was obliged to scrap much of what had already been shot and begin over again. Accidents and the difficulty of retaining the services of his actors for long periods of time were other handicaps that Hughes had to face. He was determined, however, to make this air thriller of thrillers, and eventually be succeeded. The flying sequences (the airplanes were the real stars of the picture) have seldom been surpassed.

Greta Nissen was originally cast as the vamp of Hell's Angels, but either because of her accent or because she was no longer available, she had to be replaced. Jean Harlow, who had been playing minor roles, was given her chance in the part and revealed herself as a good actress and the embodiment of sex appeal.

Fox brought John McCormack, the great Irish tenor, to Hollywood and starred him in Song o' My Heart, released in 1930. You see him here. In the carriage is Maureen O'Sullivan, whom the director, Frank Borzage, had discovered in Dublin.

Another scene from Song o' My Heart, showing McCormack and lovely Alice Joyce, who played opposite him. This was one of the few pictures he ever made. His own explanation for the shortness of his screen career was, "They said I had no sex appeal."

It was inevitable that, sooner or later, Jackie Coogan, whose performance in Chaplin's The Kid had made him a child star, should grow up to play America's legendary boy character, Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer. This he did, in a talking picture of 1930, ten years after his screen debut.

Stolen Heaven, Girl of the Golden West, Morocco

1930's Movies

Nancy Carroll starred in Paramount's Stolen Heaven, with Phillips Holmes, the son of the stage favorite, Taylor Holmes, as her leading man.

Warner Brothers, with Little Caesar, started that cycle of gangster pictures that made "taken for a ride," "on the spot," and a dozen other underworld phrases such household words during the early thirties. It was this picture, too, that started Edward G. Robinson on his long career of tough-guy impersonations. Little Caesar was directed by Mervyn Le Roy from an adaptation of W. R. Burnett's novel.

Two other promising youngsters attracted considerable attention in 1930. They were Fredric March and Claudette Colbert, both of whom had been in pictures for about a year. Paramount remade Manslaughter, a former Thomas Meighan silent, and featured them in it.

Ann Harding's long, authentically blonde hair, her well-modulated voice, and her transparent sincerity made her as popular in films as she had been on the stage. She retired temporarily from the screen to marry Werner Janssen, the orchestral conductor, but recently returned.

The wave of musicals that had engulfed 1929 subsided somewhat a year later, but the producers still reckoned that there was gold in them thar trills. The call went out for opera singers. Lawrence Tibbett went from the Metropolitan to make the successful film, The Rogue Song. M-G-M then put him in The New Moon, with Grace Moore. Tibbett went on to greater popularity, but the producers shook their heads over Miss Moore. She was not, they said, photogenic. More of that, later.

Marlene Dietrich's first American picture, Morocco, made her a sensation. Josef von Sternberg directed, as lie did so many later Dietrich films. Gary Cooper was starred opposite Dietrich in this Paramount production.

The life of Abraham Lincoln has been the basis of many pictures. One of the best was Abraham Lincoln, directed by D. W. Griffith in 1930 for United Artists. Walter Huston played the title role, with Una Merkel as Ann Rutledge.

In Son of the Gods, Richard Barthelmess went back to the Oriental atmosphere of Broken Blossoms. This Warner Brothers production had elaborate sets and intricate lighting that outreached even Hollywood's usual extravagant standards.