Evening Star Newspaper, February 14, 1926, Page 63

AMUSEMENTS THE SUNDAY STAR, News and Comment , By W. H. Landvoigt. ford to hurl b AM Wi put into a Bronson ctress rec to say e ocess i been re e nee in the himself is large the world do mov ailed t ers, and also some, at least, of his directors, ve tard ds to ick d step, sometim of wh 1ereabout y rcad author into her own conception [Tiggs is making trouble for the producer and e picture as well are being made by dramatic editors and critics who to the movie studios in an advisory, or an editorial, LLMAN, Paramount’s 23-year-old director, is going to i ¢ the Ernest Vajda story, , Cortez, with Arlette M . who cannot speak a word of at Wellman's skill will convert French emotions into a pic- I can be easily But he won't monkey with the V. vie is the greatest inventor of the age in supplying ex- | of its hrazenest faults is in supplying expedients where needed picture ady and, sad »ublic out of the pictures Mr “Driver 5 “The E refers to the ff-cnlor support t mand . but it seems out of place in a delightful, Road to Yesterday.” a well to screen existence it brings in its new form th the memory of the original. i t fantasies don’t pay and why Famous Play- S story at the close of this year. and continuity writers that when the well or a popular author is “adapted” for screen pur- 1 does not carry the right to revise and to ab- whe at may er fl 3 Lasted schooners, several wind-jammers and e transformed into warships and gunboats aid ynal public oducers. ed ide to relate, the Movie man's complaints. noted Hollywood director, boldly asserts that the public will not get s until it puts into practice the wisdom of patronizing good Mr. Brown claims, w. ke the finest kind of pictures, but they are held back by the lack of 1 thought. s going to take a long time to educate the more or less financial failures in good ind—but why go on? Z 1es outside the theater when highly scented ed > lar star—and th expended also in making a picture misfit a star, « well established box office favorite. movies with words, words, words. ed have players who might have risen to t rid of some of its obstinate tricks be- at the public, which is making it in spite i course, docs not mean that the public also does not ripts for the directors oiten believe they * k% be done in providing that illusion which into a thrilling historical masterpiece is out- those fellows imagine they can improve | however, isn't going to get away without r the opporiuuit Movie, why m: York critic, in an interesting screed | attention to a wail from our much- tion boss of the Famous Players- for breezy ip in this ssip, | we not go , Who is wrong, the public or | ht be said for and against recent The Good Book tells u s come words of wisd But no- up or called down by an enfant eem. We grown-ups iike to fe y certain that our voung folks are Iittle we do know anyt could be induced but to listen to the of their young hopefuls, perhaps confronied us might be possible that out v “Bluebeard's Eighth Wiic, to re-enjoy the play, wa »y clectric letters that read “Blue- dom that can possibly ooze between ¢ can convince him that M n this instance is equal ood for something worth while barbaritics, or so mussed and ite 5 HeLEN PERGUS'ON * President istanding ‘C}nldren S program at TlvOll. at it should be e 5 . ard against Movie of today ve fixed i «d to vist original storics toward the old | May as ¢ howl in very anguish of soul | for M. responsible for this. He | ga%s, priany o0 o He has failed to make | ot this performance. Mre s director of the public educational department all Th is givi teenth an and ds of invit part p.m., ttendance Locher, of aunounced desire of his splendid cor- | wdor per 1ssist as a spec and students of the Mar serve as at studios smach 3 ce, making followed, until those who lon ot something better, cry to high XWebotor Sehoot sill noticcable that th me old ushers. forbidden is .warmly cuddling . is still too much of the tendency . . re are those who believe Prize Story Picture. NEQUI the imittee. P new Para- “M by Fannle Hurst, which comes to Washington this afternoon, is the pic ture version of the tale which nett Miss Hurst, author of “Humoresque, the sum of $30,000 as first prize win- ner in a magazine prize story con- test. Months ago the magazine and the Famous Players-Lasky Corpora- tion entered into an agreement to award a $50,000 prize for the Mest | story submitted in o nation-wide con- { test by American authors. zine was to conduct the campaign and to print the story : serial, which Famous Player have the screen right: In all, over 100,000 manuscripts were submitted to the magazine's editorial offices in Chicago, and a joint fund of more than $200,000 was appropriated by Liberty and the Famous Players organization to advertise the outcome of the contest. Fannte Hurst was eventually award ed the first prize for her story of “Mannequin,” and James Cruze, Para. mount's famous director, was assigned to project the story cinematograph- fcally. Reflects the Theater. N pleturing George M. Cohan’ “Song and Dance Man,” Loew's an Theater, on Eighth avenue, ork City, one of the oldest and {most picturesque theaters of the old stlll remaining in Manhattan, was_used to represent a St. Louls vaudeville theater for an important {episode of the action. The Apollo Theater, in New York, with the cast and chorus of George White’s “Scandals,” was employed as the setting and background for an- other scene, in which Bessie Love, as a dancer from the variety circuits, crashes into overnight fame, while the exterior of the Palace Theater in New York at 11 o'clock at night was em- | ployed by Brenon for a fourth impor- tant sequence. Smith Comedies. MACK SENNETT is producing a new serles of two-reel comedies known as “The Smith Family” serles. The story of each comedy is woven around an incident in the life of the well known family of Smith. There are Mr. Smith, Mrs. Smith, Baby Smith and the Smith dog. Their problems are so real and full of human interest that any young couple might be watching themselves, their baby and their dog, on the Reputa- And by the their flight. There are tricks in all reams are dreams, but the ladies and uthors of the stories. A smashing rail- And yet it was there— remembered story that has gi Maybe tha 1f Mr. Lasky may be remedied. t that 12 old schooners of the et have been purchasd by Paramount, United States Navy with the Tripo Here is real and permissible magic, . undertakes to transform ideas and It may be—who kunows?—that The Cat’s Pajamas,” for al, the Parisian nglish. But it is tood by the most barbarous of da story in unde Clarence Brown, to jump right out and Hokum, zip and Jazz are the de- igh.” Von Stroheim’s “Greed.” " Chaplin’s “Woman oi Par oen. T | The role of Mr. Smith is played by And Mr. Brown also | paymond McKee: Ruth Hiatt is Mrs. Smith; little Mary Ann Jackson is the baby. and Cap, the famous Harlequin Dane, is thelr dog. And Mr. Brown is right in much that mount_production of the story| The maga. | after | Lasky was to| NEIL HAMILTON Lancoln A ChaliaPin aricl Negri. ous ba: FEOoDoR CHALIAPIN. 1 1 opera, will appear in Pola Ne are sceking his film 2 with They make ventu! rtest malk 1 will h th on i ion by wevks, the ‘ola_and Chaliapin t function of t s of Russia. On th | occasion Chaliapin sar | national hymn ang, p lowed met first Czar memorable the Russian an_encore, “Interna song of the Red revo- For this brecch he was few days was re fo with en fre " | guest Nich- | 3 VIRGINIA LER CORBIN 7, DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS Tivol Chaliapin Studio in Hol recently | for her new ich is b retzki, comp: | followin, would lik | with her if ama could toward this end that b |are now directing their | The famous basso never befc considered | for his mount executiv hined drar ind meet from to appear in 1 suitable be found, avenue Para sponse the publ Filmog_rims. Five hundred and twelve fnstitu- tions—children’s homes, hospitals, prisons, orphanages and schools-—are showing motion pictures regularly to thelr wards, according to Paramount reports. They lighten the dark and weary hours—something in the way of humanity. Grahams and Lloyds of England have passed control of R-C_Pictures Corporation, America, Inc., { Canada, Ltd. Film Booking Offices and F. B. O. Studios, to Joseph P. Kennedy, Boston neier. Maj. H. C. S. Thomson will continue as president and man- aging director, representing Grahams, and W. W. Lancaster will represent Lloyds as a director. Peggy Hopkins Joyce is said to be still knocking box offices silly with her new picture, “The Skyrocket.” The critics also are saying kinder things of the star now. Irma Kornelia, the “Miss Adorable” of Budapest and a Hungarian beauty —incidentally a discovery of Ernest Vajda, the playwright—has been signed by Paramount. She is 21, § feet 4 inches high and weighs 115 pounds, always important data for a screen actress. Paramount will release the British film “Nell Gwyn,” starring Dorothy h. Will H. Hays, commenting on the fact, is quoted as saying: Ve want in America the very best pic n industry wants only falr treat- ment_for American picture: They say Dorothy is great as Nell. Lya de Putti, a reigning film celeb- rity of Europe, has been gathered into the Paramount fold, and her first |appearance here will be in “Varlety,” {a big Berlin made special. | Hermann Hagedorn, official biog- { rapher of Theodore Roosevelt and secretary of the Roosevelt Memorial Association, has just completed a | 5,000-mile trip in search of survivors of the famous Rough Rider regiment. | He and John Russell will collaborate on the screen story of “Rough Riders,” which Paramount is to make as a superspecial “The Crown of Lies” has been se- lected as the final title of Pola Negri's new pigture, which Dimitri Bucho- wetzki directed, and which is an adaptation of an original story by Ernest Vajda. Douglas MacLean has chosen Mar- garet Morris for his leading woman in “That's My Baby. Miss “Morri was chosen as a wampus star in 192 and was last seen In “The Best People.” Ralph Torbes, English actor, has Film Booking Offices of | res wherever made, and the Amer- | | been engaged to play one of the of “Beau Geste,” Percival Christopher Wren's mystery novel of the French Foreign Legion. Motion pictures are an aid in the fight on tuberculosis, according to Dr. Thomas H. A. Stites of the Depart- ment of Health in Creston, Pa., who states that they supply pleasant di- version to vary the monotony of the | pathological treatment of the disease. “The time will come, and shortly, w0, I belleve, when there will be an unbroken chain of pictures to tell the story of the birth and development of our country,” says Mrs. L. Baldwin, chairmna of the committee on better films, Daughters of American Revolution. “Through th, films will the past live as never befor and by use of them will the memory of the past be kept alive.” Phyllis Haver, screcn actress, dec! ing that 85 per cent of picture sta lose their vogue in five vears afte into the real estate business in los Angeles as a side line to her picture activitles. James Rennie, whose last screen ap- pearance was in “Share and Share Alike,” is now playing .n a Broadway ow entitled “The Great Gatshy.” June Marlowe Universal to play “The Old_Soak Marquis. The Heresholt, George Astor, Zasu Pitts, George Siegmann, and Ada Gleason. will direct. has been signed by the ingenue role in the play by Don s, also, Jean Gertrude Beaumont, Martin Flavin has written comedy entitled ‘‘Shucks.” for Two,” another comedy from his pen, is to be produced in New York next Fall by A. L. Erlanger. Mr. Flavin is the author of “Children of the Moon” and “The Lady of the Rose."” | Winthrop Ames is to make his fi |entrance into the music producing |field soon with Gilbert and Sullivan's { charming operetta “‘Tolanthe.” {opera will go into rehearsal as soon {as a cast can be assembled in New | York. Miami Beach is to have a two-story steel pier, extending 600 feet into the ocean, with a large theater, dance hall and radio station among its at- tractions. Following conferences between D. W. Griffith and Famous Players pro- duction officials, it is said, the deci- sion has been reached not to “road show” Griffith’s production, “The Sor- rows of Satan,” as was first contem- plated, brothers in the Paramount versions!| Grant | the | attaining a stellar position, has gone | The | Strand The NI()ving Picture By Robert E. Sherwood worth-while nd | newspaper 1 they are de- signed ney for the who | In the by F: 15 panies, there are pictu brows—and for no one else. Thc { people, and there many of them, who sincerely worthy e em. busines: vers and mov 1s regulated | ther big com- s for low- | wish tc of finan mong ans are alw D of the list For example, evmakers o “The F 1 successes est mon will fi torsemen of the Apo (which is at the top), ‘The ition,” the Chaplin and vered Wag The Ten | 'he Miracle | Man"—all of which deserve high rat Ing as works of art. Just at present “The Big Parade,” “The Merry Wid- ow,” “Stella Dallas” and “Ben Hur" are attracting huge audiences wher- ever they are shown. All four of thess will record enormous profits. They are all fine pictures. This would seem to answer the state- ment that the public is unappreciative of genuine merit. The public is noth-| ing of the kind. The average citizen, as typified by yourself an elf, 18 apt to be lured into a theat by a gaudy title, such “Her Sacrifice” or Bride's Con- fession.” We are liable to fall for agent’s bunk or for the gilded of stars flashing from electric signs, or we may be led into a theater by nothing more than the human de- sire for frivolous diversion. Once in-| side we may be disillusioned or bored, | but we have pald our admission at the box office and our obligations to the movle Industry have ended there, _1If, however, we have gone into & | theater and have seen & great picture like “The Miracle Man,” “Shoulder Arms” or “Don Q"—wo rush to tell our iriends about it, and when such word-of-mouth advertising has spread, substantial success is assured. ‘The movie producer can catch a few dollars with a asily exploitable picture (“The Ameri- an Venus” is a perfect instance of this). But he dvesn't ecreate an au | dience that will come back for more. Thus the magnate who can't seo be yond the end of his nose is ultimately | dcomed. He may cash in while the| cashing is good, but he won't last. If he ioes on offering third-rate articles | |adorned with flashy, eye-catching la- bels, the public fs bound to find out, | soon or late, that it is paying its! money for damaged goods. The movie producers are wondering why their business is falling off (and it i). They blame the slump on the | radio, on crossword puzzles, on the | coal strike and on the Charleston | craze. They don't stop to fizure that | perhaps the fault lies within them- | selves—that they have lost their for- | | mer customers “because of the low | | quality of their own goods. ! You will notice that the radio, the| | erossword puzzles and the other men. | aces have not affected the prosperity | of “The Big Parade” or * las.” The public will support good pic- tures—when it gets them. (Copyright, 1926.) always| bad but Stella. Dal. | The “Wampas Baby Stars,” selected by the famous club in California for 1926, include Mary Brian, Joyce Comp- | ton, Dolores Costello, Joan Crawford, Marceline Day, Dolores Del Rio, Fay Wi Janet Gaynor, Sally Long, Fidna ‘Martin, Sally O'Neill, Vera Rey I nolds and Mary Astor, | ascended to the rank of premi AMUSEMENTS. ALICE JOYCE~ Columbre Pl’lotoplays This \Veek At the p[’mtoplay Hous TROPOLITAN—"B eard Sever (m.t'.\mfvu RIALTO—T ning. es This Week. ternoon and TIVOI “De AMBASSADOR and ever NTRAL COLUMBIA mes Cruze lannequin The « Dolores C PALACE—"The Song and Dance Man."” ing man), rlot Bird. he story re reporter wrticles on woma nity to pun h comed: the maske > news res shment add t Lige ckety-Split”; s reel and id to METROPOLITAN—“Blucheard’s Seven Wives.” Conley th Mr. Bru Q time in W ropolitan T; & gets in some work, importing his lover from as far away as quarantine and crashing the front page th papers with an amusing lot of hokum about what 8 marrying sheik this “Don | in Juan Hartez" really is. Christie’s new | “Stage Struck two-reeler for Billy Dooley, “A Salty | rence Gray, Gertrude Sap,” the Metropolitan World Survey | Sterling, together with Alice Da and the Metropolitan Symphony will | “Love and Kisses”; Satu contribute added fe amou Up,” star 10n supported the adventures of a youns < cle an rginia Lee C who was diffident, and anything but “movie mat Then he lost his job and ws compelled to stave off stary seeking employment one of the New York to the surprise of every to be a4 natural pe ‘and a pe fect screen lover. s director turned | him forthwith over to the | it and he did the rest throuzh a series of purely imaginative narratives that soon had John Hart starred as the ir-| resistible Castilian devil among the| women. In the meantime Mary Kelly | 5 continued to throw hot cake: Childs’ front window, walting for ber lover to return, which he did in due | beginning course, and all was well. | will include a i The orchestral overture for the week | 0ther short subjec will be comprised of three popular hits | PUsic 5 woven into a lv urri of mel-| Wednesday and ody and syncopation, the numbers be- | rl ing “Song of the 1 somest Girl in Hands, Here C terpretative score will s & Grand Old Name, Oh, How I I from * the Cowards,” € “Topics of The Friday, Glor release, supported by Astor and a Grantland “The Scarlet AMBASSADOR—"Bluebeard’s Seven Wives.” n, Bla sthy Sweet, Lois n, Sam Har ill be seen in “Bluebeard’s National re. assador Thea- of this week, Added offeri "y Aesop Fable nd plpe organ day, Douglas role of “Do n, with reel as Marie mdded « Prevost, Cli Claud harles Conklin production, * rhe White Wing Norma Shearcr and retary,” nley in “On F 1se of “Screen Snapshots ixth chapter of “The Gree RIALTO—"The Pala “The Palace of Pleasure,” the photo- [ mer play at the Rialto this week, ures | a new Betty Compson and Edmund Lowe in | and the the leading roles. The story concerns the love affairs | of Lola Montez, whose beauty and fas- | cination made her the toast of Por- | tugal in that picturesque era of the | early nineteenth century when ro-|the Mex mance and political intrigzues held { Crandall sway In Lisbon. As the dancer, pur- | two ¢ sued by the leaders of rival factions. ' day, w Lola Monte: the siren for whose Ruth Miller i favor soldicrs and statesmen clamored. | Warner F Chief among her lovers are Espor- and Henry tero, leader of the reactionists, lately | Roach’s “Oui and| Back Yard,” Ricardo Madons, leader of the Royal- | pipe organ ists. How the latter wins the actress | b)) 3 against her will and how she in turn | Tyesday saves his life, which is threatened by ! pix in I his rival, form the climax story. The picture is said to b titully mounted, and Miss Co said to display a gorgeous of Spanish shawls and manti The present feature last act of the ranged by Mi Guterson, with Dor othy Pilzer and Nicholas V T, merly mezzo soprano and tenor. r spectively, of the San Carla Opera, | Cody ed 1 Lew 2 * & romance » will be shown at Theater the firs s week, beginning to- rlan and Patss ding roles. The the producer shrman _directe Ga in “Your O 1d added short reels 2 music will complete the Tu and Wednesday, Richard ramount’s production, “The to the|Vanishing American,” with Lois Wil e beau- son, Noah Beery and Malcolm Mac DSon is | Gregor in the supporting 0 an llection | Aesop, Fable hursday “riday Bebe Daniels and Neil Hamilton in The Splendid Crime William De juction, together with A eatyring Billy Dooley Swanson in Para- and il h rmen (Continued on Fourth Pag