Evening Star Newspaper, February 1, 1925, Page 59

AMUSEMENTS WM.COLLIER JR. Palace News ancl Comment By W.H. Landuofgt. ILLIONS of our people, all over this great country, ranging from the homes of culture and refinement to the humbler dwellings the poor, are the real censors, the worthwhile critics, of our theater and of our screen entertainment. else are responsible for the zeal and ambition of the producers, and, by the same token, they are answerable for the shortcomings of the stage and Their pocketbooks, weighty or shabbily thin, furnish the motive power that moves the producer’s energy, that directs his aim. They can dictate to any box office, and with that power they can compel the production and the presentation of the entertainment they desir If offensive plays and pictures crowd the boards and the silver sheet, it is because the people’s money has guided their producers and made their product a success. A lean box office will kill any play or picture in the shortest order. If those that some believe should be killed continue financial successes, it is because the people’s money has made them so. And nobody but the patrons of such entertainment is responsible for th existence. Manifestly the censor is not a remedy for this condition of affairs. In a free country the people have the right to what they want f, in sufficient numbers, they proclaim their will. What they want may not L. what some may think they should want. But who is to decide in such a clash of opinion? screen. * ok kK HE basic principles of right living, culled from the experience of the entire world and not necessarily from any religious faith or creed, would seem to be worthy of preservation and most fitting for the regu- lation of human life. Indeed, without them human happiness is a mockery. Virtue is its own reward. Degradation and misery are the infallible product of degeneracy. People may not indulge a wicked little whim for passing thrills and amusement without the sudden realization that there is a penalty. Those who have patronized the forbidden on the stage and on the screen for the indescribable thrill and shock it brought can- not justly blame the producer who has provided it, for his business is to please his public in order that he may make money with his occupation. Theatrical and screen producers are in business for that purpose. They arc the servants of the public. They cannot live without its patronage. Week in and week out we are regaled with abuse of the movies. Does it ever occur to the orators and writers along these lines that it is the people themselves who are to blame for the faults of which they com- lain How do they expect censors, either in the form of the drastic g\ nan or the far-reaching law, to remedy the evils of which they com- plain? “Thou shalt nots” are not reckoned abundantly in latter-day suc- cesses. People resent them, and if their offense be great they disregard them. The remedy would seem to lie in reaching the minds and hearts of those who are really responsible for them. It is silly hypocrisy to say that the great body of the American people are lazy, indolent simpletons, casily tempted and more easily led astray by a small group of producers who_have only wickedness in their heads and hearts and are willing to sacrifice their millions simply in order to put it over. the stage and of the screen is primarily and fundamentally in the hands of the people themselves, It is not to be achieved with drastic laws or more drastic censors. The work is that of doctors of the minds, of the hearts and of the morals of the people themselves. And that these doc- tors may do their most effective work, it would be well if they devoted the energy spent in damning the disease to honest endeavor in removing tRe cause, even as physicians and ministers to the human body direct their efforts to conquer its ailments. * ok ok ok NE of the most prominent producers in America during the week, in sheer desperation, apparently, pleaded for the information gathered by The Star’s reviewers to enable him to determine if the people really want “clean pictures.” He frankly admits “There’s more real enjoyment in making clean productions than in making the other kind, but, after all, T cannot use the U * * * as a plaything. And equally, of course, there is the natural temptation to say, ‘The clean stuff is the best in the long run We would all like to believe that * * * but is it true, in your opinion?” Here is a frank, sincere plea from a man high in the industry, ho wants to do the right thing, but who is not sure the people who mately pay for his product will continue their patronage if he does make “clean pictures Suppose he does confine the endeavors of his mammoth production plant to the making of “clean pictures” and the people fail to find them interesting or thrilling, what will be his position vith the stockholders of his concern? Who is responsible for this un- certainty on the part of a man whose inquiries and investigations already have been penetrating every available nook and corner of the country for information for his guidance? And who is there to clear up for him the uncertainties, if not the public itself which he is seeking to serve? isn’t it singular that such a man should really be in doubt as to the manners, the morals and the desires of the American people? What help does a censor, or a drastic law, afford in such a case? ¥ % ok ok ECENTLY this column invited attention to an Indiana organization created to promote “good plays.” Its methods do not include the condemnation of “bad plays,” but an earnest, fair-minded search for the best, and, when found, its recommendation to the members that it may re- ceive the reward of generous patronage. All the words of praise that can be uttered will never help, if paying patronage be withheld. The eéxample of t society is worthy of emulation in every part of this great country. 1i its practices become sufficiently widespread, no producer will be left in doubt as to what the public wants. But the public must make up its mind itself as to what it really does want, and at the same time it must keep in mind its other important desires, such as what sort-of morals and manners it wishes to flourish in the land.. The producers have wasted millions in experimenting that has led them nowhere, except to a point that calls down upon them the exercrations of idealists in morals and manners. TIn all fairness the public should now assert itself frankly, sin- cerely and, at the same time, generously, if it really wants “clean and better pictures.” And it owes it to itself as well as to the producers to establish a standard and type of “clean and better pictures” to which it give its support. Just a Real Kid. NFANT prodigy is a formidabletitle| After a morning shower, gradually for ‘a chubby litile @irl to earry |mada cold, Baby Peggy takes some s B TS e by pug. | broathing exercise. This is followed gy. Her unique position as the|DY @ breakfast of cornflakes and a Hlumgest starin otlon. plecures, | 5oft bolled egg. When ~working, means no more to her than does the | B0V CeEEY I8 OB tle st wmage ub much-talked-of, and mythical, “mil- | (Y her dad) at 9. A bredthing spell occurs at 11, when she drinks contract with Sol Lesser. Ono rolele kT er d A Re who will be seen in Captain January,” displays no ab- normalities of character. She is just a child gifted with intelligence be- vond her vears, but lacking in none of the graces of childhood Her life is perhaps more carefully regulated than that of other children, by reason of her motion picture work. FKrom 7:30 in the morning until 1 p.m. Baby Peggy runs on lion dollar” Baby Peggy, an egg shake. working day. After a light lunch followed by a nap, Peggy and her 7-year-old sister, Louise. spend. the .afternoon hours with their dolls and tea sets and story books, and many a romp with Tarzan, the beautiful police dog. With all her fame little Peggy is totally unspoiled. She is wonderfully <chedule, but after that the freedom [obedient, and it was this trait that \ccessary to mormal development is|ultimately placed her among the Lera. _|stars of the screen. 3 v They and nobody | The reform of | MeIGHAN Y Cetiral *Message to Garcia” to Be Filmed. SHOW I Carried the Messa Gareia,” the true story of Col. Andrews Summers Rowan, has been purchased by to in addition to Elbert Hubbard's fa- mous pamphlet, “A Message to Gar- cla.” The Hubbard pamphlet, based on Col. Rowan’s story, is one of the most famous historical publications ever | issued in America. | Col. Rowan, who is in possession of | numerous original documents of that period of the Spanish-American W will loan them for the picture pro- duction. This will assure an authen- tic atmosphere and give the film a genufne historical value. Myatery Exp]ainable. WITHOUT in the lcast giving away any studio secrets, it may be said that a little old German chemist is the man responsible for that al- most welrdly uncanny effect of seeing something where there’s nothing to | be seen in Douglas Fairbanks motion picture sentation, “The Thief of Bag- dad,” which is entering its third week at Loew's Columbia Theater. This strange screen illusion comes in the scene of “The Cloak of In- visibility.” The scene was handled in such a way that the audience is shown an ‘“Invisible” man moving kither and thither through a crowd of people, In this scene Mr. Fairbanks wanted to show to the spectators a some- thing pushing its way through a great crowd, a somethiug not jostling and elbowing persons out of the way, but just sort of melting through them. So he asked one of his tech- nical staff about it, and the little old German chemist asked for two or three days to think it over. At the end of the second day he went back to his chief with the idea of a whirl- wind that moves about, here and there and anywhere, and is accom- plished by chemistry, plus a little slectricity. “The audience actually sees me throw the cloak of invisibility about my shoulders,” says Mr. Fairbanks, n discussing this much-discussed phase of his film masterplece. “The audience actually sees me disappear, and then this chemically devised whirlwind is seen dancing through the mob at the palace, pushing this way and that, advancing and retreat- ing, solid substance melting before it, and finally it is seen to emerge— carrying the princess.” And the cloak of invisibility isn't the only astounding feature in this film that has been drawing capacity throngs everywhere it has been shown. There are the magic carpet, the winged horse, the magic army that springs from nowhere by the thousands, the dragon and the valley of monsters—and other things too numerous and too startling to men- tion. A Surprise Enfamille. LIVE BROOK, the English actor, Wwho recently came to these shores from London, went on a loca- on trip to Laguna Beach with the Enticement” company, of which he ‘was a member. Mrs. Brook, a petite English girl who was formerly on the stage, wanted to go along, but it was Mr. Brook’s first location trip in this country, and he was/not sure about hotel accommodations at the beach, 80 he advised against it. A day or so later the casting di- rector approached Mr. Brook and told him with a smile that he be- lieved Brook would be interested in knowing he had just signed a pretty English girl to do “bits” with them while on location. Brook expressed polite interest, but was amazed later to find Mrs, Brook, make-up box in hand, waiting with other members of the company. The star's wife had applied for work under her stage name and had been accepted. The casting director didn’t know her and Brook never im- agined she wauted to go so badly. . { Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, i ASTOR. Metropolitar. KEGINALD s DENNY P Rialte JULANNE, JORNSON ~ Columbia 1925—PART 3 AMU EME MA RUBENS Lincolw Au ALTO-—"Oh, Doctor.” METROPOLITAN—"Inez From and evening. PALACE—"The Devils’ Cargo.” COLUMBIA— evening TIVOLI—"The Dixie Handicap.” AMB: and evening. CEl ning. LINCOLN (colored)—"Greed.” Rialto—"0Oh, Doctor!™ Reginald Denny, motion picture star, and Harry Leon Wilson, fiction- ist of humor and pathos, constitute an entertaining team. It is this team that will be seen at the Rlalto, beginning today, in “Oh, Doctor!” a Universal-Jewel film version of the story written by Wil- son and published serially in a maga- zine. Reginald Denny will be seen in the role of a young man who, since childhood, had been coddled and nursed. For reasons vital to three men who have loaned him money, they desire to keep him alive for three years, when they will have | possessed themselves of his great for- tune. Hoping to get his mind off his health, the schemers employ a beau- tiful nurse, with whom the hero falls in love. He finds, however, that she has no use for one who is lacking in courage and strength, and he sets about to accomplish daring things. A strange marriage proposal is the result. Mary Astor is the nurse, and others are Otis Harlon, William Mong, Tom Ricketts, Lucille Ward and Mike Donlin. A feature of the program will be the first appearance in Washington of Mischa Guterson as the new musi- cal director of the Rialto Orchestra. Guterson formerly was the leader at Grauman’s Theater, in Los Angeles, Calif., and has recently left the Pica- dilly Theater, New York, as musical director, to assume his position here. The overture selected is Tschaik- owsky's “Marche Slav,” and included is an International News reel, a Pris- ma scenic, and Josephine Rochlitz and Sylvan Lovin, in “A Miniature Musical.” Metropolitan S "Ine: From Hollywood.” Waring's Pennsylvanians last week scored such an unequivocal hit as a special added attraction at Crandall's Metropolitan Theater that they are being held over for a second and final week, beginning this afternoon, in an entirely new program. The film attraction will be First National’'s production of “Inez From Hollywood,” a screen adaptation of the story by Adela Rogers St. John and featuring Anna Q. Nilsson, With Lewis S, Stone and Mary Astor. Dur- ing one brief studio luncheon scene the action is participated in by Wal- lace Beery, Ben Lyon, Ford Sterling, | Lloyd Hughes and Antonio Moreno. | "It concerns the experiences of a | famous movie vamp who, on the | screen, had all men at her fget, but |in private 1ife was called upon to | make the greatest sacrifice love can lask to assure the happintss of her | younger sister. Miss Nilsson is cast as the siren of silent drama, Mr. Stone as the principal male character and Miss Astor as the sister. The auxlliary attractions will In- SADOR—"Inez From Hollywood.” RAL—"Fighting Romance.” P}_lotoplays T]'u:s Week‘ At the Photoplay Houses This Week Shown this afternoon and evening. Tollywood.” Shown this afternoon Shown this afternoon and evening. The Thief of Bagdad.” Shown this afternoon and Shown this afternoon and evening. Shown this afternoon Shown this afternoon and eve- Shown this afternoon and evening. clude the Metropolitan World Survey, scenic and other short camera sub- jects The Metropolitan Orchestra will contribute the orchestral settings for the pictures. Palace—"The Devil's Cargo." A powerful story of the romantic £01d rush days of Callfornia is pic- tured in the first of Paramount's s ond “Famous Forty” serles of photo- plays, “The Devil's Cargo,” which is announced as the feature at Loew's Palace this week, beginning this afternoon, together with the latest epic of hilarious burlesque for Ben Turpin, “The Wild-Goose Chaser’ the Pathe news plctures, Toplcs of the Day and orchestral embellish- ment, under the direction of Thomas Joseph Gannon. In “The Devil's Cargo” the cast in- cludes Wallace Beery, Pauline Stark, Willlam Collfer, jr.; Claire Adams, Raymond Hatton, George Cooper, Dale Fuller, “Spec” O'Donnell, Emmett C. King, John Webb Dillon and Louis H. King. Directed by Victor Fleming, the story i based on Charles Whittaker's novel, “The River Boat.” The daugh- ter of a resort proprietor, at the sug- gestion of her father, attempts to lure a young editor into a compro- mising position in order to end his usefulness to the Vigilantes, = and, while the girl succeeds in bringing the young man into grave suspicion, she loses her heart to him in the process. When the Vigilantes act the editor and the girl he loves are both put aboard a flimsy river craft that has been chartered to dump a lot of undesirables at some other point. Outside the Sacramento River and in the wider reaches of San Francisco Bay, a giant, dull-witted stoker of colossal strength (Wallace Beery) appoints himself captain, ter- rorizes the whole vessel and makes plans to acquire the girl. Columbia—"The Thief of Bagdad." . Loew's Columbia still announces Douglas Fairbanks' latest and most wonderful screen achlevement, “The Thiet of Bagdad,” for its final week, | beginning this afternoon. In going into a third week “The Thief of Bagdad” achieves a new suc- cess regarded as entirely proportion- ate to its spectacular engagement in New York City, where it ran for a year as a regular §2 attraction. In closing the engagement next Satur- day night the management belleves that all patrons of the Columbia wil! be afforded an ample opportunity to witness the current showing, par- ticularly if advantage is taken of morning performances. Nothing that Douglas Fairbanks has ever brought to the screen in the past can serve as a comparison ‘by which “The Thief of Bagdad” may Disputes Hamlet. HE old wheeze, “The play’'s the thing,” does not apply to pic- ures, is the opinlon of John Grif- fith Wray, “Rather it is the story-telling,” Wray asserts. “Many think that the play and the story are synonomous, but they are mistaken “Many of Shakespeare’s plays were not so great as plays, but rather as he told them. His construction made them literature. “When picture book they buy a producers buy a story. Then, from | that story shey must build the form| and construction of a film drama.| Sometimes the story is easily adapted to the screen. Sometimes not. That explains why many great books do not make smashing screen plays Either they are not screen material or the producer fails to build prop- erly from the story.” Wray referred to the fact that there are but 37 fundamental plots, and that every story contains one, or a part of one, of these plot be judged. Its wonderful settings, its alluring romance and its fasci- nating drama, with rare touches of hilarious comedy and glowing fan- tasy, place it in a class by itself. The cast Includes beautiful Julanne Johnston as the princess, Anna May Wong as a Mongol slave, “Snitz” Edwards as the thief's companion, and a whole company of talented players. A beautiful musical score is provided for the orchestra. Tivoli—"The Dixie Handi- cap. “The Dixie Handicap,” a thrilling drama of the race tracks, will be seen at Crandall's Tivoli Theater today and tomorrow, beginning this afternoon, the leading roles played by Claire Windsor, Lloyd Hughes and Frank Keenan; also Walter Hiers, in_“A Fat Chance"; Tues- day and Wednesday, Eleanor Board- man, John Gilbert and Afleen Prin- gle, in “Wife of the Centaur,” Stan Laurel, in “Short Kilts,” and “The Lady Bird,” a new release in the “Mysteries of Life" series; Thursday and Friddy, “Dante’s Inferno,” with Lawson Butt, Ralph Lewis, Pauline Starke, Josef Swickard and Gloria Grey; Harry Langdon in “All Night Long,” and “Champions,” a sport reel by Grantland Rice; Saturday, “Troup- ing With Ellen"” with Helene Chad- wick, Mary Thurman and Gaston Glass: “Our Gang,” In “The Goat Get- ters,” and “Galloping Hoofs,” No. 5. Ambassador—"Inez From Hollywood. Anna Q. Nilsson, Lewis S. Stone, Mary Astor, Laurence Wheat, Rose Dione and Snitz Edwards will be seen at Crandall's Ambassador Theater today, tomorrow and Tuesday, be- sinning this afternoon, in “Inez From Hollywood,” shown also at the Metro- volitan all week, and a comedy, “The Fighting _Fluid,” starring _ Charlie Chase. Wednesday and Thursday, Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer and Joh Gilbert, in “He Who Gets Slapped,” and Mack Sennett's “Galloping Bungalows.” Friday, “The Dixie Handlcap,” with Claire Windsor, Lloyd Hughes and Frank Keenan, and Lige Conley, in “Poor Butterfly.” Saturday, “The Tornado,” with House Peters, Ruth Clifford and Richard Tucker; Neal Burns, in Christie’s “Easy Pickin's,” and “Galloping Hoofs,” No. 6. Central — “Lightning Ro- mance. Reed Howes, a new star of the flims, will be pictured at Crandall's Central Theater today and tomorrow, be- ginning this afternoon, In “Light- (Continued on Fourth Page) nFilmo grams A, P YOUNGER'S adaptati ® Jack Londen's “Adventure,” to Victor ¥ left for an is Pacific, where the biggest the plcture, a huge cannibal hunt, with hundreds of native taking part, will be shot dellvered producer nd in t head- black Tom Moore, Pauline Starke lace Beery, Raymond Hatton Walter McGrail are featured satled with Fleming. W and “Cobra.” Rudolph Valentino's next picture, not a snake story. The title means the lure of a fascinating woman—the charms which the cobra exercises over its vietims Naldi, who L weird of the serpent. only 12 Nita, plays this part costume sugges- he now, by pounds will wea tive welghs figure is Hollywood Joseph Henabery, well known di- rector, does not wear riding trousers uttecs or shirts open at the front He's nmormal and very popular with his staff Edward M. Bowes, vice president of Metro-Goldwyn Distributing Corpo- ration, has been appointed major and staff specialist in the Officers’ Reserve Corps of the United He will be ched staff. Maj. Bowes' appointment second toward the forming of tion picture division of the A Jasper Ewing Brady, also of Metro-Goldwyn staff, was recently commissioned lleutenat colonel States to the Army eneral the the is King, who produced Inspira- tion's “Romola,” and “The White ster,” starring Lillian Gish, played the colored porter in Rupert Hughes comedy, “Excuse Me,” in his eca thespian day Hughes recently completed his own screen versfon of “Excuse Me,” with Walter Hiers in the role that King did on the stage. Hen The problem of disrupted American families, shattered by divorce, Is the theme of “Playing With Soul ing filmed from the novel by the Countess de Chambrun, sister of Representa tive Nicholas Longworth. The lobby of the Ritz Carlton Hotel in New York was constructed in mi- nute detail for Corinne Griffiith's pic- ture, “The Soclal Exile,” from the play “Declasse,” directed by Robert Vignola. Photographs were obtained and a fafthful reproduction made, not only in size but in details, of dec orations, and uniforms worn by th bell bo; clerks and doormen are identical. Rudolph Friml, composer of “Rose Marie” and other popular light operas and songs, is writing a new tango, which he will dedicate to Rudolph Valentino. Friml says he got the in- spiration while he and Mischa Elman, famous violinist, were visiting the star at his studios. Russ Powell and Mathilde Comont, two of the largest screen comedfans, are seen in “Enticement,” a new First National photoplay. Neither will re- veal their exact welght, but both claim to be “perfect 725" Extra large sets were required when the two heavyweights were in the scene Florence Vidor has returned to the scenes of her first triumphs on the screen. Jesse L. Lasky has signed her te a long-term contract to play featured leads in® Paramount tures, the first picture to be Parents People?” by Allce Duer Mil- | opposite cduled f 0-Goldw “Cheaper by Sarouel sed February to G ~ Rag Ma rd ollows, Februar, r ot vain Shall Meet P 1 by Peter B. Kyne, rt Ly the Night from Adola Rogers St. Yoiling Norma Shearer op- posite Gregor, and Hugo Rallin rairic W from Ar- thur Stringer vith Do Devore ar tawlinson, the st three cd Febru 3 ra. T the famous comedi- who starred with the late £ “Men and We o ave the Yo the Ben der, vear-old fi star, is making his first visit to New York, and, with his mother, is stop- ping at the Hotel Alonquin. Ben will remain in New York six weeks, during which ti he plans to take in all sights from the Statue of Liberty the Aquarium to Woolwort Bronx nt who th sonality, and will cast him for the leading male role in “Man and Maid One of Stephen McKenna's novels is to be filmed by Warner Brothers under the working title, “Thou Shait Not.” McKenna is one of tho mos popular writers of the modern scho his “Sonia” and “Vindication” being perhaps best known William Rici stage and screen comedian, in “Hai and Farewe bara La Marr and Conw rle, directed by Phil Rosen rdi is also & play wright and author of “Papa Joe which ran at the Princess Theater last season and in which he himself played for several months at the Cort Theater, London Tmmediately upon completing * Social Exile,” adapted from “De- classe,” Corl Grifith will star work on “The National Anthem, based on the play by J. Hartle Manners. Warner Brothers have bought “Why Girls Go Back Home zine story, which will bs a sequel to “Why Girls Leave Home,” an earlier Warner film. Milton Sills is having a three-weel rest in Bermuda. When he returns he will don the uniform of a New York policeman, in which role he ap- pears_in screen version of Ger- ald Beaumont's “The Making O'Malley the Doris Kenyon is in the Adirondacks enjoying Winter sports. She is due in Florida shortly to play & fea- tured role in “The Half Way GIrl,” a story of the tropics. Mrs. Harriet Hawley Locher, rector of the public service and edu- cational department of the Crandall (Continued on Fourth Page.) Teaches American History. HE American of 1925, with all the vast information sources of the printing press, the stage, the screen and the radio at his command, only occasionally realizes that much of the real “inside” drama of America’s de- velopment into a great republic is unfamiliar to folks in general. For example, it remained for such a latter-day chronicler as Emerson Hough, author of that famous novel and screen play, “The Covered Wag- to reveal the tempestuous tale of the days when Texas, the great cattle country, “was broke in the 60s.” If one peruses the average American history he will find little if any men- tion of the fact that Texas, as & re- gion, literally faced ruin and starva- tion in 1867, with its plains swarming with cattle, but the screen, a develop- ment entirely of the twentieth cen- tury, is now covering the ground that American writers and historians of the 60s completely ignored in their insatiate determination to print only such matter as would not offend the most fastidiou: As & matter of fact, the real story of the winning of the West was never adequately revealed to the descend- ants of the men who won it until the coming of the movie. The stage made weak and ineffectual attempts in that direction; but the canvas was much too big for the stage, to begin with. There has appeared much about the West in our screen drama that is ex- aggerated and untrue, of course,*but there has been a great deal more that rings with truth, and Fmerson Hough, novellst and aceidc ‘.lly a ecreen playwright, did a wigity shar | trust of credit In revealing to us the fierce, whirling drama of the plains from the 40s on This is partitularly true of Hough's new cinema production, “North of 36 which he wrote for a popular maga zine before it reached the screen Quite aside from Its romance and its love theme, It reveals a condition of affairs that seems almost incompre hensible to Americans of today. It shows how the almost unbellevable luxury of America in 1925 is based solely on the ability of America distribute its products from zone to zone and put the seasons at naught It shows how the demoralization of markets and trade conditions In t United States and the mutual dis after the Civil War made the great area of Texas a finan- cial graveyard, with thousands cattle roaming the plains in an almost wild condition from lack of attend- ance and herding. It shows how the news of a beef market far to the north in Kan was sufficlent to impel Texas cattle owners to drive enormous herds thousands of miles to the Kansas rail heads, and it shows also the crude market conditions which left the East on short meat rations while the West went without buyers for its cattle. This is just one of the countless acts in the great American drama of those days that, thanks to improved methods and Instruments of commu- nication, 1s being imparted to a gen- eration of Americans whose ancestors, living at the time, never dreamed that such conditions existed. This Is the real miracle of the movies, In the minds of present-day historians.