DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS - BEBE DANIELS "REACHING FOR THE MOON" 1932 MOVIE HERALD

Description

Original Herald from Uruguay and Argentina in South America. This kind of gorgeous heralds are quite scarce, they were printed by a local distributor (Max Glücksmann) just during a short period of time between the late 1920's and the late 1930's. Usually printed on both sides, in full color or in duotone inks featuring Art Deco style, they show great graphics from the films advertised. Most advertise a single feature movie, while a few examples advertise double movie programs.
Local Title:
ALCANZANDO LA LUNA
Original Title:
REACHING FOR THE MOON
Year / Country:
1931 - USA
Company:
United Artists
Director:
Edmund Gulding
Starring:
Douglas Fairbanks, Bebe Daniels, Edward Everett Horton, Claud Allister, Jack Mulhall, Helen Jerome Eddy, Bing Crosby
Size (unfolded):
296 mm x 124 mm
Condition:
Good + (Written date in blue ink, large tear at fold)
Herald advertises this film as shown at
Cine Doré
from Uruguay on
Sunday, April 17, 1932
Comments:
"Reaching for the Moon" is a 1930 American pre-Code black and white musical film. Originally released at 91 minutes; surviving versions are usually cut to 62 minutes. The film's working title was "Lucky Break" and is known as "Para alcanzar la Luna" in Spain.
The film was originally intended to be a musical with songs written by Irving Berlin but problems soon developed. From the start, Berlin found Edmund Goulding, the director, difficult to work with. Also by mid-1930 the studio realized that the public's demand for musicals had disappeared. So Goulding jettisoned many of Berlin's songs from the score. Although just five Berlin songs had been recorded, the film, even in its scaled-down form, proved very expensive to make. By the time the filming was complete, the costs had come to about a million dollars, a huge budget for the times, and one that virtually ruled out the possibility of the film returning a profit.
The one song that was retained was "When the Folks High Up Do the Mean Low Down" introduced by Bing Crosby who had filmed it late at night after completing his work at the Cocoanut Grove. Variety commented on this song specifically, saying: "None of the Berlin songs is left other than a chorus of hot numbers apparently named "Lower Than Lowdown" [sic]. Tune suddenly breaks into the running in the ship's bar when Bing Crosby, of the Whiteman Rhythm Boys, gives it a strong start for just a chorus which, in turn, is ably picked up by Miss Daniels, also for merely a chorus, and then in an exterior shot to the deck where June MacCloy sends the lyric and melody for a gallop of half a chorus.
Plot:
Wall Street wizard, Larry Day, new to the ways of love, is coached by his valet. He follows Vivian Benton on an ocean liner, where cocktails, laced with a "love potion", work their magic. He then loses his fortune in the market crash and feels he has also lost his girl.