Hot Money (Warner Bros.) (1936)

oe ee es HOT MONEY ----- | ae Bh ah 262 a pth eae Most Unique Settings Built For ‘‘Hot Money”’ They Consist of Luxurious Office, Shack and Gate of Penitentiary They didn’t ask Art Director Esdras Hartley for the average forty-five settings employed in a motion picture when they assigned him to the Warner Bros. comedy romance, ‘(Hot Money”, Which-comes tocthe:s 2.524.222 oes ‘Eheatre* ons. kas cts They asked him for only three, a record low as far as avail able statistics show. But they couldn’t possibly have asked him for a wider variety with such a small number to build. “Give us,” they said, “ a swell suite of offices, a shack and the gate of a penitentiary.” Hartley gave them their three sets and with them an illustration of the ease with which a motion picture art director leaps from the sublime to the ridiculous. In the office suite set he gave them one of the most luxurious of its nature ever built by the studio art department. It covered almost one entire sound stage. In these surroundings Ross Alexander, the fast smooth-talking promoter, Beverly Roberts, his secretary, Joe Cawthorn, the “front money” for their plan to promote gasoline substitute, and their dummy, three-dollar-per-dayapiece board of directors, disported themselves. After finishing the suite of offices, Hartley went to work on the shack, supposedly the “laboratory” and workshop of one Dr. David, played by Paul Graetz, the eccentric inventor» who discovers the chemical substitute for gaso+ line around which the story revolves. The shack, not much larger than a closet, was supposed to coincide with the character of its-occupant, a grimy, greaseshe-spattered individual who sleeps on his workbench and spends all his wakeful hours tinkering with a discarded automobile motor on which he tests his substitute. Throughout the interior of this cabin, between bottles, across corners and between joists he spread countless spider webs with a rubber spinning device known as an “Akron spider”. Then he liberally doused the whole place with a coat of oily dust and another of dry dust with an air gun. The prison gate was easy. The studio has a permanent penitentiary setting for just such eventualities. The picture is a hilarious comedy romance directed by William McGann from the screen play by William Jacobs based on an idea by Aben Kandel. Ross Alexander Changes Suits 140 Times For Film Ross Alexander at present has no ambitions toward the virtually extinct vaudeville stage. Should he change his attitude at any time in the future, however, he certainly could qualify as a “quick-change” artist as a result of recent experience. In his current Warner Bros. picture, “Hot Money”, now showi At Di isascicesscares Theatre, the film is a comedy-romance dealing with the enterprise of a fast-talking, smoothworking promoter, Alexander is required to wear numerous handsome suits, ranging from tails and morning attire to a shabby, threadbare old suit. As a consequence, during the production, Alexander was forced to make 140 “between scenes” costume changes. His biggest day was seventeen changes, his smallest, four. Playing opposite Alexander in “Hot Money” is Beverly Roberts. Paul Graetz, the noted German character actor, plays the role of an eccentric inventor and Joe Cawthorn portrays the much-worried individual who puts up the “front money” for Alexander’s promotional exploits. William McGann directed. Ross Alexander Now Learning Piano Ross Alexander who plays the part of a fast talking promoter in the Warner Bros. comedy romance, “Hot Money”, now showing Bile UNC hatte. sosse0sse ce Theatre, is taking piano lessons three times a week. As a child he rebelled against taking them and won out despite his parents’ insistence. Now he’s sorry ! How To Make A Million That’s the frenzied story of Warner Bros. riotous financial farce, “Hot PEGG AE ENB iii itascesenceshasosness Strand. Left to right, it’s Ross Alewander Paul Graetz and Joseph Cawthorn in a scene from the picture. ? Mat No. 202—20c Cawthorn Last of Old Dialect Comedians “Last of the old-time Germandialect comedians” is the title given appropriately to Joe Cawthorn, who has the leading comedy role in “Hot Money”, the Warner Bros. picture which comes to the dagtes sts inausi steerer FECAL E OM sssxeseseosstteaces “Joe Weber and Lou Fields were perhaps the most famous of the so-called Dutch dialecticians,” Cawthorn says. “Louis Mann was another. Then there was the wellknown and _ successful team of Kolb and Dill, and many another ‘single’. But death, retirement and the decline of vaudeville has thinned out the list. Maybe I’m not the last of them, but I’m the most active.” The delightful romance in “Hot Money”, which was directed by William McGann, is cared for by Ross Alexander and Beverly Roberts. Beverly Roberts Sets Motorcycle Fad Beverly Roberts, who has the leading feminine role in the Warner Bros. picture, “Hot Money”, which. comes to the.............00. TheBETES ONS cscs » sent the studio into an uproar one morning when she rolled through the studio gate on a motorcycle. The studio was more surprised when it learned that Miss Roberts often leaps on her trusty two-wheeled vehicle, evenings, Saturday afternoons and Sundays for a_ spin around the Southern California countryside. She learned to ride in England three years ago. Ross Alexander Goes Back To The Soil Ross Alexander, who plays the part of a high pressure promoter in the Warner Bros. comedy romance, “Hot Money”, which comes to -theivcisaccaes (Pheatre<oniakck..i & is the latest member of the film colony to join the “back to the soil” movement. Alexander has moved from his Hollywood Hills home to a tenacre ranch in the San Fernando valley near Encino. In Encino Alexander will have such celebrated neighbors as the Al Jolsons (Ruby Keeler), the Warren Williamses, the Paul Munis, Leslie Fenton and Ann Dvorak, Edward Everett Horton, Barton MacLane and dozens of other people prominent in the film world. Plays Four Leading Roles In 5 Months Beverly Roberts has been in Hollywood only a short time, all of that time under contract to Warner Bros. In five months she made four pictures. First she had the feminine lead opposite Al Jolson in “The Singing Kid’, then she was featured in “Sons O’ Guns” with Joe E. Brown and Joan Blondell. Her third picture was “Two Against the World”, in which she played the feminine lead opposite Humphrey Bogart and her fourth picture is “Hot Money”, a comedyromance which comes to the............ "Phew tret On e-cssscczesencissccessozs , and in which she plays opposite Ross Alexander. Ross Alexander Buys Miniature Railway Upon completion of his role in the Warner Bros. picture “Hot Money”, which comes to the............ NIVEA ERE: OM s.ciistasssacesas cosbesvieksaosase , Ross Alexander made a hurried trip to downtown Los Angeles and purchased two hundred and seventyfive dollars worth of equipment for his miniature railroad. The equipment included two electric locomotives, a baggage car and more than 100 feet of three rail track. The actor, with whom miniature railroading is a hobby, will set up his track at his newly-purchased property in Encino. Beverly Roberts’ Favorite Sport Is Bicycle Polo Beverly Roberts, who has_ the feminine lead in the Warner Bros. picture, “Hot Money”, now showANU Ae UG seeeeewescetees «cs Theatre, is definitely an outdoor girl. She rides horseback like a bronco-buster, she swims like a mermaid, her golf and tennis are excellent and her favorite Sunday sport is bicycle polo, a game in which the opposing teams ride bicycles and push a large rubber ball toward their respective goal posts with short mallets. The sport requires considerable proficiency on the two-wheeler vehicles, but Miss Roberts considers it child’s play compared with the 1200-mile bicycle tour she and a traveling companion once made through Southern England. The two young women went to London a couple of years ago hoping to get parts in an English stage production. The parts failed to materialize, however, so the young women decided to see the English countryside. “Hot Money” is a riotous comedy romance directed by William McGann from the screen play by William Jacobs, based on an idea by Aben Kandel. Besides Miss Roberts, the cast includes Ross Alexander, Joseph Cawthorn, Paul Graetz, Andrew ‘Tombes, Anne Nagel and Addison Richards. Great German Actor Reunited With Reinhardt One of the most interesting reunions occurred on the Warner Bros. lot when Paul Graetz, the celebrated German character actor, met Max Reinhardt, the German producer and director of Warner Bros”, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, for the first time in several years. Graetz played Bottom in Reinhardt’s original outdoor presentation of the “Dream” in Germany many years ago, “too long ago to remember accurately”, as Graetz chuckled. Graetz and Reinhardt were associated on the German stage for many years, then their paths parted. Two and a half years ago Graetz went to England to make pictures. Recently he was signed to a contract by Warner Bros. studios and he is now playing the leading character role, that of an eccentric inventor, in “Hot Money”, which is showing at the.......... Theatre. Reinhardt went to Warners to direct “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. He will direct another Shakespearean production starting toward the last of the year. “Hot Money” is a_ rollicking comedy drama with more delightful nonsense than has been packed into a screen play in many a month. There is a talented cast, which includes Ross Alexander, Beverly Roberts, Joseph Cawthorn, Graetz, Andrew Tombes, Harry Burns, Ed Conrad and Anne Nagel. William McGann directed it from the screen play by William Jacobs. Ross Alexander Will Build Sports Ranch If Ross Alexander, now appearing in the romantic lead of “Hot Money”, showing at the.............0.. Theatre, carries out his present construction plans, his newly-purchased ranch in Encino will rival the combination zoo, botanical gardens and general picnic grounds belonging to Hugh Herbert, a fellow player at the Warner Bros. studio. While Herbert has gone in for animals, flowers and poultry raising, Alexander will devote his ten acres to sports. His present plans eall for two badminton courts, a tennis court. and a swimming pool. Beware,Beverly When City Slicker Ross Alexander is on the loose, it’s time for Bev erly Roberts to watch out. It’s Warner Bros’ “Hot Money”, fren zied farce of furious finance, com VU VODNG asec sivcatesesssvtaresweoeee heatre next week, Mat No. 102—10c Joe CawthoriJust Can’t Cheat On Camera Angle Every film player does his or her share of “cheating” during the course of a day’s camera work, but Joe Cawthorn, the veteran character comedian, is perhaps Hollywood’s only exception to the rule. Cawthorn, who is playing a leading role in the Warner Bros. pro duction, “Hot Money”, which COMES: CO’ EDRs aecareng ieee Theatre OM-s.5-cscsoectvareenttnse , simply can’t and won’t cheat. He either plays on the square or not at all. “Cheating”, in the parlance of the motion picture sound -stage, consists of pretending to look at someone off-scene who actually, because lights or cameras occupy the space on which the other player’s eyes are focused, is some distance from that point. This is particularly true of socalled “close-ups”, when the motion picture camera is focused upon one of a group of players in a scene. The other players, during the progress of the scene, are merely “off-stage” voices. As a consequence of this practice, the instructions, coming from director or cameraman,“ cheat your look a little’, are heard many times each day on every motion picture set. During the production of “Hot Money” at Warner Bros. studios the camera was on Cawthorn for his close-up in a scene with Ross Alexander, Beverly Roberts and Paul Graetz, the celebrated German actor recently imported to Hollywood. “Now cheat your look a little toward the camera,” Director William McGann instructed. Cawthorn tried, but blew his lines in the middle of the scene. “Tt’s no use,” he commented. “T’ve tried dozens of times, but I just can’t cheat. I’ve got to look at people I’m talking to or I can’t talk.” McGann promptly changed his camera position so that Cawthorn could “play square”. LENGTH OF FILM 6287 FT. RUNNING TIME 68 MIN. Page Seven