1932 Hollywood Theatre Program for The Dark Horse, Plus Odds and Ends

I picked up this 1932 Hollywood Theatre program on the cheap and am pretty happy with it despite the creases. Warren William looms over Guy Kibbee and Bette Davis in an ad for The Dark Horse featuring the old “It Sets the Laugh Pace for the Presidential Race!” tagline across the bottom along with the more awkward “What This Country Needs is a Good 5-to-the-Minute Laugh Picture” up at the top left.

The Dark Horse premiered in June of ’32, but it was playing at the Hollywood Theatre on October 30 and 31 of 1932, just over a week ahead of Election Day, 1932 on November 8. On the 8th Franklin Delano Roosevelt would win his first term in a trouncing of incumbent Herbert Hoover.

I love these little theater programs and for a very simple reason which also justifies my acceptance of the creases on this one. This was just everyday ephemera that theatergoers would have placed in their hands advertising the coming pictures. It was easy to get then and just as easily thrown away after the movie.

In the case of my 1932 movie patron they folded up this dark blue 4-page sheet twice, leaving four horizontal creases, and more than likely stuffed it in their pocket until they got home that evening. For some reason they saved it. They saved it well beyond the expiration date of the films being shown inside. It survived 80 years before making its way to me.

Also advertised inside the program are the films Bachelor’s Affairs picturing stars Adolphe Menjou, Joan Marsh and Minna Gombell; The Woman in Room 13 picturing Elissa Landi; and on the back cover a sketch of a flaming building is shown on the left advertising John Mack Brown, Noel Francis and Marjorie Beebe in Flames and to the right Helen Twelvetrees stars in Young Bride.

Beneath the Young Bride advertisement is the text in all caps, “Don’t Miss It.” Under that our 1932 Hollywood Theatre visitor has written darkly in pencil, also in all caps, “I Won’t.”

Coming Soon

The Dark Horse is one of the few non-Lone Wolf movies I’ve covered on the site recently, you can read that one here. I still owe you one more Lone Wolf article as I never covered Warren’s ninth and final turn as Michael Lanyard in Passport to Suez. I will sometime soon.

But I’m going to write about another Warren William movie before I get to Passport to Suez–I’ve delivered an awful lot of Lone Wolf pages lately, I think we could all use the break.

So be on the lookout for an article about one of Warren’s better known films in the coming weeks before I return to finish the Lone Wolf. I’m also planning to post a single page Lone Wolf summary guide with links to all nine articles after I complete that ninth one!

Coming Soon … to Your TV

There are two Warren William movies featured on Turner Classic Movies during 31 Days of Oscar: Cleopatra runs again on February 20 and Arizona on the 24th. Then nothing until Gold Diggers of 1933 on March 20. They’re making me miss his Lone Wolf already.

Warner Archive continues to press the most uninspiring Warren William titles it can lay hands on with The Firefly looming as one of the newest releases to their otherwise fantastic film trove on February 7. It’s also been added to the WarrenWilliam.com Shopping Page, though it’s not available on Amazon for another month.

Why do I feel like The First Hundred Years or Arsene Lupin Returns is next. We want pre-codes!

Plugging Myself

I actually have a pretty neat Warren William collectible at auction on eBay this week, only because I already have one. Sometime in the mid-1930’s Quaker Oats released a set of (at least) 32 different 7-inch high Standees. These are die-cut black & white head shots of some of the biggest stars from the biggest studios printed on a thick board with pre-scored corners intended to be folded back so the item could stand on a flat surface.

I currently have 29 different at auction, each listed individually, with bidding ending Thursday evening. As of yet no one has bid on Warren, so there’s a chance you might be able to steal him at the $9.99 minimum bid. Trust me, these don’t come up very often.

If you want to know more about the Quaker Standees in general you can check out this page on my other site, Immortal Ephemera.

Warren William Around the Web

Warren William is the Blaggard of choice over at A Person in the Dark. Miriam Hopkins heads the post but down below is a look at Warren in two favorites, The Mouthpiece and Employees’ Entrance … Imogen Smith takes a look at The Match King on The Chiseler … Warren wins the spot of favorite mustachioed actor at Caftan Woman’s place … And hot off the presses at Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings, Laura takes a look at one I haven’t even covered here yet, Lillian Russell. While it’s an Alice Faye movie through and through it’s hard not to have a soft spot for a title that Warren shares so many scenes in with the great Edward Arnold!

Any Requests?

As I mentioned I’m going to write about one non-Lone Wolf title before returning to complete the series with Passport to Suez. Are there any Warren William titles I’ve yet to cover on the site that you’re dying to hear about?

The Warren William Filmography page includes links to all titles I’ve already covered. You’ll notice I haven’t touched upon many of his biggest titles yet, largely because he’s usually not the focus.

Feel free to help me narrow it down. I’m in between the following: Arizona and Gold Diggers of 1933, each of which I’d like to write about before they air on TCM anyway; also Imitation of Life, Satan Met a Lady and Go West Young Man are in the running. Please point me towards one and I’ll do my best.

Thanks for your help and I’ll see you soon!