Sweet Mama (Warner Bros.) (1930)

Alice White and Official ““SWEET Art Director Gangsters, Chorus Girls Great Film Recipe Says Director “Gangsters and chorus girls in a big-town background, mixed with sufficient cleverness and _ realism, make a sure-fire recipe for film entertainment,” declares Edward Cline, noted film director. “In fact, they are so sure-fire that the recipe has been much overworked. I was glad to read the ‘script? of my latest picture for First National and Vitaphone production, ‘Sweet Mama,’ and learn that while it had in it these elements, the author, Earl Baldwin, had compounded them in an entirely different way. “The new slant he discovered makes ‘Sweet Mama” an entirely different sort of film drama _ without losing the value of the most interesting modern story atmosphere a writer or dramatist can find in the world_todayt———_. “Sweet Mama,” which features Alice White at the head of a great east including David . Manners, Kenneth Thomson, Rita Flynn, Lee Moran and other favorites, is coming to the Theatre STAR TAKES TIP FROM PUGILISTS Alice White “Weighs In” For Every Film Role Now (ADVANCE READER— VITAPHONE) When Alice White appears at the SSeS ees meheatren soo Ss a First National’s Vitaphone dramatie special, “Sweet Mama,” she will be seen as a very trim, slim little girl, with pleasing curves correctly placed. That’s because of Alice’s recently established principle of “weighing in at stage-side” for every film role. She took a tip from gentlemen of the ring, and finds that she can control her weight in much the same manner as prize fighters. Says Alice: “Qver-weight denotes laziness. Adopt strenuous training methods. Don’t baby yourself, and you’ll put it on where you want to, and take it off where you don’t want it. I can control my weight within a range of at least fifteen pounds, and I only require about two weeks to change from maximum to minimum.” Alice’s weight at this time ranges from 110 to 122, but she weighed-in for “Sweet Mama” at 116. To do this she had to add four pounds, beeause she “strips down” with the other girls seen in this exciting story of dancers and racketeers. To compare favorably with them in figures, a bit of extra poundage was needed. David Manners, Kenneth Thomson, Lee Moran, Rita Flynn and other favorites appear with Miss White in “Sweet Mama,” which Edward Cline directed. The story, which is packed with surprises and thrills and comedy, was written and adapted by Harl Baldwin. Page Two Box-Offi FIRST NATIONAL PICTURES, Inc. presents with ALICE WHITE | Directed by Edward Cline Copyright MCMXXX by First National Pictures, Inc. All Rights Reserved | Photographed by Sid Hickox \ Edited by Ed. Schroeder Screen version and dialogue. by Earl Baldwin A FIRST NATIONAL & VITAPHONE PICTURE | \ f { { Billing MAMA’”’ Anton, Grot | i Alice White Tells A Beauty Secret (CURRENT READER SILENT) Alice White, whose hands have been the object of comment from artists because of their beauty believes that every girl can have attractive hands if. they, are properly cared for. She gives’ out a little secret of how she cares for her nails. “First of all, keep the blood cir culating well around the nails,” says Miss White. This can be done by massage and using a nail brush when cleansing the nails. Large half moons at the base of the nails are the most important feature of beautiful nails. The cuticle surrounding them must be kept soft and pliable and loose enough to gently press back from the moon. This is not difficult if the circulation is kept good. “The skin of the hands can be kept soft and velvety by applying a good hand lotion or cream after washing and before retirine ea: h night.” e—Atice Wilte Sian ~ -.— ational picture, “Sweet yMama,” is now playing at the Theatre. David Manners is the. boy in this story which was directed by Eddie Cline. with WHITE. X""MANNERS Cut No. 20 Cut 20c Mat 5c Star Says Sex Appeal Comes In Various Varieties Alice White, in “Sweet Mama” Gives Views On “It”? Subject (CURRENT READER— VITAPHONE) Alice White, blonde, First National star who is now apTheatre in First National’s Vitaphone feature, dynamic pearineg-at-the:. 32>. “Sweet Mama,” thinks that sex appeal isn’t all in the curves. “Did you ever notice how popular some girls who wouldn’t measure up with a modern Venus are?” queries Miss White pointedly. “Others who have this, that, these, and those to perfection sit alone and twiddle their thumbs. “Tt isn’t in their curves always; fifty per cent of sex appeal is in the mind, and maybe seventy-five per cent. Your sex appeal above the ears, you see, governs the way you walk, talk, and look out of the eyes; it even regulates the blood pressure!” Miss White is a splendid exponent of both varieties of “SA.” in “Sweet Mama,” wherein she has to use all her charms and her brains, too, to ‘iiatch Wits With a gangster for the very life of a boy she is trying to get out of “the racket.” The story, adapted and written in dialogue by Earl Baldwin, has lots of thrills, rected. fe be) ON KUNSKY CIRCLE As modern as today. A Sweet Mama whose smile and _ cute ways prove a better weapon than a gangster’s gun. Watch America’s Girl Friend work fast when she has to save her boyfriend! Cut No. 11 ’ Cut 4goc »/ Mat roc . A FIRST NATIONAL \ One of the most sensational stories that ever came out of the underworld ALICE WHITE DAVID MANNERS LEE MORAN RITA FLYNN Directed by Edward Cline CATCH % % David Manners. The Newest — e Money Team. Get ’Em Over: / LINES Gangsters and their girls of the chorus. * She vamped a gangster to save her stage-door ‘‘Johnnie.”’ *% * + A sensational new plot on gangsters and chorus girls. ¥ + % Pep and pistols, spice and gangsters! * *% *% {inside stuff on gangsters who rule the cafe world and chorus girls. ss * Alice White’s greatest role since “Broadway Babies.” % + % Blonde, dynamic Alice White scores a knockout as a chorine who matches wits with a smooth gangster! % % Gangland intrigue and love . Yraising thrills! * * A showgirl comes through for * & % spice in a recipe for hair * her boy in gangland. * Something different and refreshing in chorus girl and gangster pictures. MODERN FILM CONTRACTS MAKE MANY DEMANDS ON PLAYER Acting Only Part of the Requirements, Alice White Points Out to David Manners, Her New Leading Man in “Sweet Mama” (CURRENT : FEATURE STORY) David Mannéts, the latest recruit to motion pictures from the stage, who is appearing opposite Alice White in ‘‘Sweet Mama,’’ at the . Theatre was such a sensation as a young stage lead and in this picture that he was signed on a five-year contract by First N ational. Now Manners is learning about contracts, and proving that some of the things Miss White told him *hout th-~ “Signing..a— long-term contract sounds pretty fine, and it is fine,” Alice told him. “No more worry about getting jobs, if you continue to make good of course, and a nice fat salary on a sliding scale piling up for you, and a big film company behind you, working for your interests and making you famous. “Sounds soft and rosy, doesn’t it? But let me tell you that in talking pictures, some of them in Technieolor, you have to do so many things as a contract player that your acting becomes only incidental!” That happens to be true. Of course it did not deter Manners from putting his name to the contract, and he is now glad he did, for the free lance has troubles of his own; plenty of them. The point is that the job of the contract player is no longer a sinecure. Making pictures has become a highly complex industry, with many ‘allied industries that are regarded as mere branches—at least in a player’s contract. Did you ever think how nice and obliging it was for a player to “come on the air” over the radio, for instance, and entertain you gratis with song, sketch and story? It’s in the contract! Did you ever wonder at a player leaving a nice Hollywood bungalow to travel somewhere and make a personal appearance far from his familiar haunts? It’s in his contract! Did you ever wonder how the publicity men got the stars to pose in so many seemingly silly ways— great tragedians, for instance, dressed like children and surrounded by toys for “Christmas photos?” Quite simple. tract! Manners, for instance, is always at the call of the publicity department to take “gag” pictures or sittings for regular photographs, when he is not needed by the production department. So, for that matter, is the star, Alice White. He mustn’t get out of touch with the studio by telephone, telegraph or messenger, for a sudden need for him may occur at any time of day—and one might almost say, of night. There may be a midnight It’s in their con -en true. — ee matinee at which he must appear, in evening clothes and wearing a pleased smile. It’s in his contract! He has to take any number of tests. They may be tests of his voice, or of a new talkie device, a new costume, a new makeup. They don’t necessarily concern him, but merely as a standard testing basis; i.e., an actor whose photographic or voice peculiarities have been pretty thoroughly established by previous experiment. He sometimes has to don elaborate makeups hairdress and costumes for stills—still photographs. He is sometimes host at teas given for visiting, out-of-town exhibitors, film salesmen, or Eastern executives. But of course he would not exchange his First National contract for the status of a free-lance. He merely learns that hard work is demanded of the screen player in return for the many benefits that accrue. “In my case, I have a morals elause in my contract,” Miss White declares. “Most film girls have, and I suppose they thought that with the sort of roles I play I needed it even more than most. I have to ‘conduct myself at all times in a decent and respectable manner’ in my private life, and ‘promise and agree not to do anything that would injure my reputation as a star or reflect upon the company,’ and so on. “IT also have to keep my weight within bounds—that’s the case with all screen. leading women and feminine stars—and preserve my health and looks.” Kenneth Thomson, Rita Flynn and Lee Moran are other important players in the cast of “Sweet Mama.” Is Lady Diana’s Kin David Manners, sensationally successful young New York stage leading man and the hit of his first and second talking picture, is Lady Diana Manners’ cousin. The family is descended from Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall. His latest hit is opposite Alice White in First National’s offering at the Theatre, “Sweet Mama.”