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.
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