Evening Star Newspaper, May 26, 1924, Page 9

AMUSE Metropolitan—"Abraham Lincoln . e ; One of the really worti-while mov- ing pictures, one of the few that can be counted on the fingers of one hand since the very inception of the art, is Abraham Lincoln,” the screen ver- sHn of the dramatic and vivid life and career of America’s most pic- turesque and lovable figure. playing this week at the Metropolitan The- ater. Never before has anything like Abraham Lincoln” been attempted. Other historical dramas have been broduced with success, but in them history has been used more or less #s a background for some romantic theme. This is simply and purely the life-story of the martyr President, with scenes of the times worked in to Rive color, but it Is portrayed so verfectly, so accurately and with such & richness of detail as to be intensely en bssing from beginning to end. Two things make it a remarkable plcture: the completeness with which every phase of Lincoln’s life-story is worked out from early boyhood to the final scene of the murder in Ford's Theater, exc. n done, and the b.rfllitlnl terization done by George A. Billings, questionably one of the finest pieces of difficuit acting ever done. Not for one min- ute does he fail to portray the Lin- coln, young and old. as all the world kno nd loves him. Scenes throughout the piay, the days of his youth as a young lawyer, as a young politician, as President in Washington, seem to be staged most faichfully, and other characters in the drama give the impression of lifelike naturalness, particularly Walter Ro- G t. James Welch as . Lee, m Humphrey as Ste- phen A. Douglas and William Moran 4 John Wilkes Booth, On the other hand, the picture has its weakncsses. [t lacks natural hu- mor. The difficult problem of light- ening up an otherwise somewhat hea: and serious drama has been solved by making a humorous char- acter of Lincoln during his young manhood The result has been to! make hi.n appear a fool, an awkward, grotesque dullard, slightly simple- | minded in som ris, This cannot | help but be distasteful to the thou- sands that reverence and honor Lin- coln and never had quite that com- ception of his character. Lincoln’s love affair with Anne Rutledge is made rather idyllic, Launcelot and Elaine brought up to date, with Anne Rutledge the very pretty but colorless type. the whole romance not quite ringing true and not natural, incon- sistent with the splendid reality of the rest of the play However, ghese discrepancies de- tract but little from so magnificent a production. It is something that every one should see. Children will get a finer conception of the great emancipator than they ever had be- fore, and feel that they know and understand better the real Lincoln. Columbia—"The Purple.” “The Unknown Purple.” shown at the Columbia Theater this week, the play by Roland West and Carlyle Young, transferred to the screen, re- tains the appeal that made it one of Broadway's successes a Year ago. The picture is released under the Truart banner and is directed by Ro- land West, one of the authors. The story has to do with & youns inventor, who has perfected a for- mula containing a curious purple ray, which has the property of rendering whoever holds it invisible to the naked eye. Betrayed by his wife, to whom he is deeply devoted, and going to prisun as the result of a plot engineered by her lover, the in- ventor, upon his release, devotes his ius and energies to balancing the count. Adopting the gulse of & great financial and diplomatic. power, and with the aid of the purple rays, the inventor systematically brings about the ruin of his betrayers. In the hands of Henry B. Walthall the inventor is most convincing both before and after his rise to fame, and Alice Lake. as the beautiful but vicious wife, shows her usual his- trionic Roland West has handled the mys- terious purple rays in a manner both skillful and convincing, and the pic- ture leaves little to be desired in the way of thrills or settings, though we were rather skeptical of the genuineness of the moon in the last fade-out. The cast includes, in addition to the two leads, Stuart Holmes, Helen Ferguson, Brinsley Shaw, Ethel Gray Terry, Richard Wayne and James Morrison. Combined with the Gumps, a com- edy based on Sydney Smith's car- toons, which contains real humor, and ejects many sponstaneous laughs, the program this week is thrilling and delightful. Added attractions include Interna- tional News, quips from the Literary Digest and Mr. Brusiloff's musical offerings. Unknown Rialto—"B;adway After Dark." Adolphe Menjou is the sophisticated, man-about-town hero of “Broadway After Dark,” another of those pic- tures that is sprinkled generously with glittering Broadway midnight parties, the feature at the Rialto Theater this weck. Norma Shearer provides him with an_excellent foil as the poor young girl. Anna Q. Nilsson and Carmel Myers uphold the beauty requisites of the screen and Willard Louis is convincing as a handsome young waster. The story might weil Cheese New York State. ...... English Dairy Style... Swiss Imported........75¢ Roquefort Imported. ...75¢c ‘Edam Holland........$1.75 Gouda Holland. ........60c Kraft’s Soft Swiss. .....60c Kraft's Old English. ... .60c Magruder, Inc. Best Groceries Conn. Ave. and K St. Established 1875 SLIP COVERS Cretonnes or Linens at 39¢ yard up. Labor charges nom- inal. Reupholstering By Experts, at Reasonable Rates have been .40c .48c ~ Draperies Made to Order Overstuffed Furniture Made to Order 3-pc.Suite from $98 to $325 Covered in All Mohalr. Call, phone or write. Estimator will giadly call with samples. Ernest Holober Company 610 F St. N.W. | delighttully MENTS called “A Man in Search of a Thrill,” for it is told entirely from the view- point of the character played by Mr. Menjou, one of the most finished actors in the films. He is a mascu- line Glorla Swanson in thls picture with a de Mille-ish bathroom and & general superluxurious style of liv- ing. He does not seem to do any- thing useful except take beautiful ladies to parties or thelr apartments, but he does manage to fall in love with the unfortunate young heroine and is last seen with her in a rice- strewn taxicab promising to give up his “date book.” Interesting sidelights of the film are the scenes of the actors’ equity ball, showing many famous screen and ' stage stars in informal glimpses, and the second-rate actors’ boarding- house with typical “roomers” and the usual hard-boiled, scheming landlad One might almost suspect that this pleture is an attempted bit of propa- ganda for the actors and thelr trou- bles, now so prominent in New York. One of those wholesome children’s comedies. Hal Roach’s “Our Gang” in “Derby Day" is added feature that aroused constant chuckles and frequent gales of laughter from the audience. Farina and her companions are priccless in this latest plcture of thelr very human antics. A news recl completes the bill. pnlnce—'Th—; Meanest Man in the World."” “The Meanest Man in the World" born of the imagination of Play- wright McHugh, dramatized into stage personality by George H. Cohan and transferred to screen life by Bert Lytell—accounted for his three-ply populerity yesterday at Loew's Palace Theater by proving the title to be self-conferred by a hero too generous for his job. It is & story of everyday life, from a rent collector's point of view, with & magnate to glve orders for evict- ments, and for at least one clerk too soft-hearted to obey. When Young Clark ignominiously fails to turn a family with a sick on the street, he loses his position and is advised by a more successful colleague that to achieve business success a MAn must dig a hole and bury his heart in it. Desperately poor, and ambitious, the youngster determines to become the meanest man in the world, and in de- fiance of the withdrawn order to go to & small town to call in & mortgage on a grocer who has failed to meer payments, Clark goes, accompanied by a college chum, and demands pay- ment from the grocer, who turns oue to be a pre v girl Blanche Sweet as the young grocer and Bryant Washburn in the role of the college chum who helps his friend to outwit the rapacious uncle nave an equal share with the hero in the working out of the plot. Considered as a “production” the meanest man is without peaks and canyons of emtion, and not a triangle in sight But it is & humorous story of the evelyday life that most people live. Ben Turpin is ludicrous in “Yukon Jake,” and the news pictures included a_ glimpse of the world airmen in Alaska. Strand—"Seminary Scandals.” “Seminary Scandals,” a syncopated musical farce, heads the bill of vaude- ville features and motion pictures this week at the Strand Theater. The farce, elaborately staged, and with & company of eight headed by Miss Tommie Allen, is a diverting bit of en- tertainment, well produced. “Around the ‘World in Danceland” is a bright dancing and singing act by Evelyn Earle and Harry Matthews. Nada Norrain s heard in “Double-Voice Melodies,” while other numbers which are well received include Willlam G. Le Clair and Billy Sampson, in “Amusing Pantomimic Travesties,” and Sam E. Mann, “Father Joy's Boy,” in “Hinky Dinke Parle Vous." The motion picture feature of the week is the William Fox production of E. M. Hull's story, "“The Shadow of the East” a colorful, romantic story of the far east, a titled English- man and his Indian wife. The cast includes Frank May Mildred Harris, Don’t Wait Until Hot Weather, Have Awnings Made Now! saviog and you will be ready for the hot days. Paperhanging and painting. Charges very reasonable. CORNELL WALL PAPER CO. Ti4 13th St. N.w. Mnain 5373-3374 A Special Offer A Beautiful Picture of Baby Eyes Dr. CLAUDE . SEMONES Eyesight Specialist 409-410 McLachlen Bldg. 10th and G Sts. N.W. | MccCormick Modical College ¢ ¢ ¢ TSSOSO DT T TS TSSOSO S Telephone Main 2329 > THE EVENING Norman Kerry, Bertram Grassby, Evelyn Brent, Edythe Chapman, Joseph Swickard and Lorimer John- son. Subsidiary film features of interest and an entertaining musical program round out the Strand's bill. Tivoli—Vl\:;villg_ Music and Pictures. There are two musical attractions at the Tivoll Theater this week that seem to arouse as much interest in the audience screon features. One, the Russian orchestra, with Paul Tisen as leader, is costumed in gay embroidered cloaks and trouser8, with the high boots typical of Russian dress. The Tartar airs played by this group are quite different from the Russian music heard here on or- chestral concert programs, and _re- mind one of the old tales of BSko- morokhi, or wandering minstrels, that used to travel the Russian step- pes. The one feminine member of the orchestra, the planist, gave a charming " solo on her instrument, showing mastery of technical diffi- cultles combined with colorful in- terpretation. In spite of costumes and melodies of anclent days, the orchestra seemed up-to-date and full of American pep in the way in which the members attacked their Instru- ments. The other musical feature, aside from the usual orchestral selection which opened the program, was “Songs of the Countryside,” sung by the National Male Quartet of New York city, which has extended its en- gagement. The volces of this en- semble blend in harmony and the old songs time had decided appeal. The screen feature, Laura La Plante, in “The Dangerous Blonde," was another of those comedy films that seem to be put up in similar style to standard boulllon cubes to have so much hot water added and heated up to the bolling point, If possible. Miss La Plante is very pretty. but the plot of her story is exteedingly trite, and the develop- ment of the varfous situations does not stir any undue emotion in_the audl- ence. “The Mysteries of Mah = is a falrly comprehensive the principles of the Chy country. events' reel completed the program. Ambassador—"Let Not Man | P“t Aflundcr.“ The problems and lessons of di- vorce are dealt with in an unusually pleasing manner in Basil King's novel, “Let Not Man Put Asunder,” the feature picture at Crandall's Amba sador the first part of this week. The | production Itself is excellently screened and portrays situations from which lessons really can be learned. The drama is greatly added to by the abllity of Pauline Frederick and Lou Tellegen, who take the leading roles and head a very capable cast. The story centers round the trials of three couples and takes the spectator STAR, WASHINGT traveling into the somber and gay spots of America and Europe and through a matrimonial tangle that is unique in that it includes the divorce and iIntermarriage of the three couples and their subsequent reunion with one another. Pauline Frederick and Lou Tellegen are provided with plenty of opportunity to demonstrate their ability in some very splendid dramatic acting. News reels and a comedy, “The Lunch Brigade," together with pipe organ recitals by Otto F. Beck, com- plete the program. Crandall’s—"The Conuul .“ Nothing of Raymond famous musical comedy Douglas MacLean's picturization of “The Yankee Consul’” but the title invented by Henry Blossom, jr. The changes, however, make it ‘a more suitable vehicle for the talents of the young screen comedian. “The Yankee Consul” is good fun. The fact that the locale shifts from New York to Rio de Janeiro instead of to Santo Domingo only paves the Wway for a serles of episodes in a sup- posedly haunted castle and a motor car dash down a mountain side. In addition to MacLean's clever work, performances are_ contributed by DPatsy Ruth Miller, Eric Mayne, Arthur Stuart Hull, Stanhope Wheat- croft, Fred Kelsey, Eulalie Jensen and Lee Shumway. The comedy for the first three days of the week is the two-ree) Mermaid, “Family Life,” in which many unique devices for occasioning laughter have been employed. Abbreviated camera subjects and pipe organ accompaniment and solo interludes round out the program. Yankee Hitchcock's remains in Central—"F, orty-Horae Hawkins."” “Forty-Horse Hawkins,” at Cran- dall’s Central Theater for the first four days of the current week, does not derive its title for horse thievery or any other visible activity concern- ing equines. The young man who bore that title had once driven that many horses in one team name had stuck Now him, in the person of Hoot Gibson, en- gaged in being the Poo-Bah of a small western town, Lariat, where he meets and becomes desperately in- fatuated with a young actress who gets her notice in the village and is compelled to return to New York, where a clever villain plans to get her starred. “Forty-sorse,” being a wise young fellow thwarts the scheme, goes to New York himself and secures a job S per” in the girls' company and by a lucky fluke converts what would have been a failure Into a rousing success. The supporting cast is excellently chosen and presents Richard Tucker || as the oily rene doom of “our Nel The comedy is “Sunday Calm,” by “Our_Gang. “Three Minutes de who plots the with the United A O WE’LL MAKE YOUR WINDOW SHADES AS Practically any color 830 13th St. NW. I YOU WANT THEM AT FACTCRY PRICES Phone Main 4874 ‘W. STOKES SAMMONS, Propristor For a perfectly balanced O’Donnell’s Super Gland Builders The most valuable treatment for glandular disorders is with the remedy that regulates and normalizes the whole glandular system. Radium Tonic Tablet (For Men) —are a scientifically compounded preparation containing the greatest gland restoratives known to science, Radium and extract from the glands of young animals. tablets and have youthful vigor restored to the entire body. Peoples Drug Stores Other Leading Drug Stores glandular system, use these Drug Stores DTS OTSTSTSTSTTT ‘The Cavalier— A Beautiful New Slipper— An Exclusive Model You’'ll want it for over the holiday; it’s just the thing. Developed in White Kid or Morocco Calf—a creation of infinite charm. Notice the novel cut- out effect and the perky and the low heel adds to appearance and comfort, too. Kid, Patent tie in front; McCallum Silk Hosiery— “You just know she wears them”—we provide them in all the colors that spring and summer fashions will demand. STETSON SHOE SHOP Thirteen Five F Street DD D DD DA A DA A DA CDADA A DA D DDA DECLARES BISHOPS ‘KNOCKED T0O MUCH’ California Pastor Makes Point in Methodist Session—Five Prelates Consecrated. By the Associated Press. SPRINGFIELD, Mass., May 26.—Five new bishops of the Methodist Episco- pal Church were consecrated at spe- cial ceremonies held in the municipal auditorium here yesterday. They were the Rev. Wallace Elias Brown, pas- tor of University Church, Syracuse, N. Y.; the Rev. Dr. Titus Lowe, sec- retary of the board of foreign mis- sions, New York City; the Rev. Dr. George Richmond Grose, president of Depauw University, Greencastle, Ind.: the Rev. Dr. Brenton T. Badley of Calcutta, India, executive secretary of the Centenary Mission in India, and the Rev, Dr. George Amos Miller, su- perintendent of the Central American Mission, Panama City, Panama. A change In the conduct of the Methodist Book Concern, which con- trols the publications of the church, was approved at the Methodist Epis- copal conference today. An execu- tive committee to consolidate the work of headquarters in New York, Chi- cago and Cincinnat! was established — to replace local committees previ- ously chosen from the New York and Cincinnatl territories. The conference rejected minority reports giving the power of electing the executive committee to the book committee instead of to. the general conference and reducing the number of publishing agents from three to one. Asks Less Knoeking, A declaration that “there has been too much knocking of the gemeral superintendents (bishops) was made by the Rev. Edward P. Dennett of Galifornia, (n opposing a clause of the majority report which ended the practice of allowing two bishops to sit with the book committee in fllling vacancies in the book council. His remark was applauded and the clause was ordered stricken out. The chairman’s table and chair, made by the Methodist School In T e et —— T L e States Navy” is a brief film subject. The bill is completed by added short reels and special pipe organ accom- paniment by Miss Irene Juno and W. E. Thompson and solo recital by Mr. Thompson. STUDEBAKER Just Drive It; That's All KAPLOWITZ | BROS., INC. | 721 NINTH STREET, N. W. \ { CONTINUING THE ANNUAL CLEARANCE SALE FOR THE RENAINING DAYS OF THE MONTH | GOWNS - SUITS - WRAPS | FOR EVERY PURPOSE AND OCCASION MISSES SIZES 14 to 18 WOMEN'S SIZES 56 10 46 ‘Washington's Foremost Fashion Establishment Venice, Italy, for this conference, was auctioned today. Mrs, A of Detroit, a_visitor, made the win- ning bid of $2,000. The money will &0 to the school and Mrs. Kresge announced that the table and chair would be given to the Sunday school ‘t" I:he Metropolitan Church in De- rolt. The delegates voted to send greet- ings to the Presbyterian general as sembly now in session at Grand Rapids, Mich, The Manhattan Service Is Scientific Laundering Even:ybody knows that water is ideal for washing clothes. It is lacking in all the constituents that harm, and rich in the elements that cleanse. At the Manhattan Laundry your clothes are washed in water that possesses the same elements as rain water. Our research experts have made this possible. With the use of the nets —the net gets the wear and the clothes get the wash —and your work goes through the process from beginning to end as an individual unit. Thus are you sure always of per- fect service—rendered “The Man- hattan Way.” Phone North 3954 and let our wagon call for your wash this week. Test it and see how superior the Man- hattan Service. Manhattan Laundry Service Co. Plant, 1346 Florida Avenue—Phone North 3954 Branch Office, 2506 14th St.—Phone Col. 5596 rain RO (I IR T 1L I T e St T = Eis El TS| Kresge Prices That Remind You of the Sale Months We’d Call Lifetime Seventh Street If We Were Governed By Our Prices Instead of Our Policy This a Sale. Furniture Is A Quarter-Million-Dollar Lifetime Furniture Repricing ADHERING steadfastly to its policy of but two sales a year, Mayer & Co. holds sales only in February and August—even though some- thing unusual takes place at some other time. with a repricing of a quarter of a million dollars’ worth of genuine Lifetime Furniture that has made values NOW commensurate with saletime prices, we feel that you should know about it. Coming in between February and August Sales and distinctly different from them, the Mayer & Co. repricing does not include everything in stock. Yet there are hundreds of fine suites and single pieces at prices as low as any sale has ever offered. Only in the great sales of February and August is it possible to choose from such a large and varied assortment at the same price advantage. With such adjusted prices refurnishing should be considered NOW. More MAYER & CO. Than A Name