Evening Star Newspaper, December 26, 1926, Page 59

F»lashegf_x:gm the Screen BY C. E. HIS little story should start off with the familiar “once upon a time,’ for it is so unusual that it might be ‘classed among the fairy_tales. And the strange part of it is that it is a true story; it is down in black and white before the writer; it is ane of the remarkable happenings of a remarkable age; it is a little incident which will probably never have a parallel; it is almost beyond understanding It has to do with the photoplay— its producers and onc of its stars and in a world filled with so much hokum, it stands out and ahove, far and beyond, anything which has ever traveled castward from Holly- wood. Richard Barthelmess severed hi connection with Inspiration P tures, and now he is going to work for First National. The Inspiration people, needing an actor to play parts of the Barthelmess order, signed Gardner James—and here is the strange part of it all, the letter from Inspiration : “Ever since the Inspiration people signed Gardner James on a long- term contract, reports have appeared in various quarters and at various intervals to the effect that Inspira- tion signed him ‘to fill the shoes of Richard Barthelmess. This was natural, of course, in view of the fact that Barthelmess was severing his affiliations with Inspiration Pic- tures and Gardner James had just been signed. “But such statements are, we be- lieve, apt to convey a wrong im- pression, and now we feel that we should take this means of explaining just how we stand on the subject. }hchard Barthelmess is a great ar- tist, with an individuality and an ar- tistic field that is all his own. We are proud that he was with Inspira- tion for more than five years, and we sincerely hope he will find new worlds to conquer under his new contract. “We do not believe there is any one capable of duplicating his work, and we certainly did not sign up Gardner James for that task. To so state would be unfair both to ;ardner James and to Richard Barthelmess. We do regard Gardner James as a young actor of great \ promise and we expect to offer him an opportunity to demonstrate his abilities in roles that will suit his particular gifts. His _personality and gift of characterization are, however, ‘different,’ and while we hope and believe he will ascend the ladder of fame as Barthelmess did, it will be to establish a niche of his own and not to duplicate Richard Barthelmess.” That is the letter, and the writer of this column places it in the lonely file under a heading “Stranger ‘Than Fic(ion.; * % OUTH is to have a fling in the movies—at feast, with a single picture. Paramount announces that the new picture, “Sheiks and She- bas,” will contain entirely new faces, an entire cast of young players who are unknown to filmdom. However, Charles Rogers, the leading man, a raduate of the Paramount School, s appearing in “Wings.” The pro- duction of the “vouth picture” will start in the West Coast studios Jan- uary 15, supervised by Hector Turn-| bu?. * K ok X TARTLING figures come from Hollywood. 'The movie fan in the East has always considered that all Hollywood worked in or around the studios, but such is not a fact. The Chamber of Commerce of the city says that only 22,700 persons of the 100000 population make their living directly or indirectly from the motion pictures. This small per- centage will be a jolt to the popular impression. Tt is interesting to note, however, that the Hollywood res dents who are interested in the movies have a weekly pay roll of $1.300,000. Excepting in rare instances, when quite a number of large productions are being made simuitaneously, the total demands of all the Hollywood studios do not average more than 500 to 600 “extras” daily. e HESE Beery brothers—Wallace and Noah—have become so NELSON. | might not go amiss. Long before the brothers were starred in the pic- | made them stand out from other tures from under the noses of the stars. Now they have climbed the ladder to stardom and are ing the salaries of motion picture favorites. Wallace and a farm in western went the stage and became a singer, while Wallace cast his lot with a circus and became an animal trainer. He was the valet of the clephants until he discovered one Summer that his voice was just as ‘g(»oll as that of his brother. Then | the two of them joined a stock com- | pany, later appcaring in musical comedy under the direction of Henry Savage. The next step was the | movies, Wallace going to work in ‘the old Essenay studios in Chicago, and in his first picture playing the part of a Swedish housemaid. He later _joined the comedy troupe of Mack Sennett in Hollywood, and was then cast in “The Unpardgnable Sin,” directed by Marshall Then came work in “The Horsemen,” “The Sea Hawk,” “The Noah were born on Missouri. Noah Hearted.” Noah followed along the same line, first appearing in come- dies, and the brothers have traveled together to photoplay success. 'R the new pictures Broadway during the past days, “The Fire Brigade” and * Gorilla Hunt" seem- to be worth while. The latter is an ab- sorbing story of a big-game hunt in_Central Africa, the lunters ob- taining three huge specimens. “The Fire Brigade” is a melodrama, Charles Ray and May McAvoy play- ing leading parts. S MUEL GOLDWYN has com- pared the modern cost of pro- ducing photoplays with the cost of only a few years ago. As an il'us- tration. he es the employment of Geraldine i pictures, and “Maria_Rosa.” was given $20000 for her acting in the three pictures, and one of the considerations of her contract a private railroad car fr, York to Los Angeles, cost $20,000, “Temptation” $15, “Maria Rosa” $18,000. Goldwyn says that if “Carmen were produced today it would cost in the neighborhood of $450,00( And then goes on to state that his firm, in 1913, was paying Blanche Sweet a salary of $400 a weck, show- ing how salaries have jumped with- in the past few years. A few of the directors are now paid as high as [he received by Henry King, Lubitsch| and King Vidor. In his early days Wallace Reid received a salary of $75 per week; at the height of his popularity he was receiving $2.500 per week, and it is estimated that if he were alive and a star today he would be receiving in the neighbor- hood of $10,000 per week. Charlie Chap'in, when working with the old Essanay firm, received a salary of $1,000 a week. So have the prices gone skyward. Fak & Notes from the Photoplay World.— The stage is coming to the screen in the production of Viola Dana’s next vehicle, “Homestruck.” The cast will include four actors from the legitimate—George Irving, fa- mous for his father roles: Alan Brooks, former musical comedy star: Charlie Howard, the comedian- acrobat of “Tiptoes,” and Nigal Barrie. Ralph 1Ince, another old- timer, will direct the production. Alice Day, prominent in the Mack Sennett productions, is to star in her own two-reel comedies. She is claimed to be one of the latest “finds" around the Hollywood studios. “Gunboat” Smith, once an English prizefighter, plays a part in “Wings, a war picture, which has been in the course of production for many months, He is a rough-and-tumble | top sergeant. Work has been completed on a prominent in motion picture affairs that a word or two concerning them AT HOME WITH NORA BAYES Miss Bayes, said to be vaudeville's highest photoplay based upon “The Magic Garden,” the last story of the late Gene Stratton-Porter. P i | opening on | few | really | $100,000 for a single production. This | is considered the top_ figure and is | (in | | Lane" THE SUNDAY Jhe |tures they were playing parts that; | actors—they were “stealing” the pic- | draw- 1 Neilan. | Four | Lost World” and “Richard, the Lion | PAULINE STARKE.~ Pslace was | STAR., WASHINGTO! RAYMOND HATTON and WALLACE BEERY- Columbia HE calendar year 1926 on screen has been somewhat of a disappointment. Great progress was registered in 1925 with such flims as “The Big Pa- rade,” “The Merry Widow,” ‘“The Gold Rush,” “Don Q.” “The Unholy Three,” and many others. This year, however, the movie business seems to have been marking time. There have been several memorable pictures, “Variety.\ “What Price Glory,” “Moana,” *The Strong Man,” “Beau Geste,” "Old Ironsides,” “The Grand Duchess and the Waiter,” and “The Scarlet Letter. There have been others of merit, including “The Black Pirate,” “Memory Lane,” “For Heav- en's Sake,” “Silence,” “Battling But- ler,” “The Volga Boatman,” ‘“The Sorrows of Satan,” “Kid Boots,” “The Show-off,” “Mare Nostrum” and “The Better 'Ole.”” Aside from these exceptional pro- ductions, the general average has been extraordinarily low. Speaking as one who sits in regularly at the soirees in the leading film parlors, 1 may say that I have been bored more frequently and more effectually in 1926 than in any previous 12 months that I can remember. * %k k X A glance at the individual records reveals the fact that three stars have definitely eome forward in 1926. The first and foremost of these Is Harry Langdon, the ex-Sennettor, who in “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp' and “The Strong Man” has received the public recognition that he so rightly deserves. Langdon's arrival is un- doubtedly the most important event of the year. Greta Garbo is another recent sen- sation. Her performances in “The Torrent” and “The Temptress,” two obvious, ham' vampire dramas, were dignified, graceful, restrained and, above all things, amazingly original The third arrival is Clara Bow, a supremely alluring young lady, who first attracted attention in “Down to the Sea in Ships” four years ago. This year she has attained to a star's estate as a result of “Mantrap” and “Kid Boots.” . Other advances have been recorded by Olive Borden (in “Fig Leaves"), Gardner James (in “Hell Bent for Heaven), Wallace Beery (who has suddenly become a stellar comedian). H. B. Warner (in “Silenct , Vietor McLaglen (in_ “Beau Geste” and “What Price Glory Lya de Putti “Variety” and e Sorrows of tan"), Florence Vidor (in “The Grand Duchess and the Waiter”), W C. Fields (in “So's Your Old Man"), Lars Hanson (in “The Scarlet Let- ter”), Willam Haines (in “Memory and “Brown of Harvard"), Ricardo Cortez (In ¥The Sorrows of Satan™), Ford Sterling (in “The Show-Off"), Red Grange (in “One Minute to Play”), Gilda Gray (in “Aloma of the South Seas”), Eddie Cantor (in “Kid Boots™), and Willlam l i { | | id artist, and her three pai adopted children, Norman, Lea-Nora and Peter. Nora will be a featured stage attraction at the Palace during the weels of January 2. k) Boyd (in “The Volga Boatman"). * ok K K Among the directors, Edward Suth- erland has made the most marked progress. Two of his pictures, “Be- hind the Front” and “We're in the Navy Now,” have been enormously successful, and he ngw rates as one of the prime Paramount favorites. Al Santell and Gregory La Cava also have come forward as competent directors_of polite gag-comedies, and George Hill has established himself largely because of his fine sense of plctorial values. Another figure appears on the hori- zon in the person of Maurice Stiller. If reports from Hollywood may be credited, Stiller will be classed among the elite when “Hotel Imperial” is released. * % ¥ % Nothing has been heard from Erich von Stroheim or Charles Chaplin dur- ing the past year, but “The Wedding the | March” COLLEEN MOORE and TULLY MARSHALL- Metropolitan The Moving pictlilie Album BY ROBERT E. SHERWOOD. and he Circus” will be along eventually Ernst Lubitsch has offered one sec- ond-rate picture, “So This Is Paris.” Malcolm Clair has added to his reputation with “The Grand Duchess and the Waiter” and “The Show-off.” Herbert Brenon, James Cruze and Raoul Walsh have done likewise with “Beau Geste,” *“Old Ironsides” and “What Price Glory."” Marshall Ncilan has made two pic- tures, “Diplomacy” and “Everybody’s Acting,”” neither of which was worth a hoot. Tod Browning has failed in “The Blackbird” and “The Rvad to Mandalay” to equal the success of “The Unholy Three.” Rex Ingram has made one good picture, “Mare Nostrum,” and one exceedingly bad one, “The Magician."” Norma Shearer, John Gilbert, Mary Pickford, Cloria Swanson, Raymond Griffith, Mae Murray, Marion Davies, Betty Bronson, Douglas MacLean, Richard Barthelmess, Ben Lyon, Alice Terry, Ramon Novarro, Rod La Rocque and Leatrice Joy have retro- ressed. Thomas Meighan, Buster Keaton, Pola Negri, Harold Lloyd, Marie P) vost, Reginald Denny, Richard Di Bebe Daniels, Tom Mix, Adolphe Menjou, Douglas Fairbanks, Corinne Griffith, Ronald Colman, Milton Sills, Colleen Moore and Lon Chaney have remained about as they were. * ok % % Valentino has died. Charlle Chap- lin, Richard Barthelmess and Con- stance Talmadge have had domestic difficulties. King Vidor and Eleanor Boardman have been masried, so have Lew Cody, Mabel Normand, Laura La Plante and Willlam Seiter and Mae Murray and somebody or other from Georgia. The vitaphone has heen introduced, ‘Terry Ramsaye has written “A Mil- llon and One Nights—the History of the Motlon Picture.” John and Lionel Barrymore have given up the stage and consecrated themselves to cine- matographic art, Will H. Hdys has kept the censorship wolf from the door, Patsy Ruth Miller's engagement has been announced only twice, Sam- ue! Goldwyn has become a father, Morris Gest has gone to Hollywood and Jackle Coogan has had his hair cut. This being the case, 13 spondent begs leave to wi 3 indescribably Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. (Copyright. From Coal, the Fire Dlvme 1926.) WHEN Emil Jannings was a_youth of 12 years he ran away from home to hecome a sailor. “I wanted to wear a beautiful uniform with brass buttons, to stand at the wheel of a ship and sing chanteys at the top of my voice,” he explains. Instead they gave him a pair of dirty dun- garees and told him to shovel coal. He lasted as a saflor but two months and then joined a band of traveling players, making ‘“one-night stands” in the provincial fowns of Germany. He followed this life for 12 vears, and there received the training that has made him one of tha fore most actors of his time, Rialto's Big Tree E Christmas tree in the rotunda of the Rialto is attracting much favorable comment and interest from picture patrons. It has been the custom ever since it was first opened to have a tree at Christmas. The tree this year is the largest ever, and it has been more elaborately decorated. It was installed and decorated by Ray Waller, the house electrician, and measures 27 feet in height. » _D. ¢, DECEMBER 26, 1926—PART [PHOTOPL Next Week's Photo;)lays PALACE—Renee Antonio Moreno aming Forest TROPOLITAN — Harrison ord and Phyllis Haver in “The Nervous Wreck. RIALTO—Ralph * Ince “Breed of the Sea.” WARDMAN PARE leon and Josephine.” Adoree and in “The in Napo- A Four-Hour Wc;rking Day 'OUR hours is the maximum work- ing day for babies in California. Organized infants all over the coun- try will rejoice in the news that their tolling brothers in the Southwest been partially freed from commercial slavery through the enactment of hu- mane State laws. One bread-winning toddler who has been benefited by the statute Snoo- kums, wee tornado who nlays the leading role in ‘'Snookums' Me Christmas,” and who earns a princel salary as a star of the laughable two- reelers, “Newlyweds and Their Baby." The short working hours permitted by the “Babies’ Union” will give him more time to spend the money and more time to spend with his family. “Snookums” does everything he is told and enjoye his work immense This discipline is probably due to his father, a professional physical direc- tor, who has had the baby in training since he was a few weeks old and has never used a cross word to him. Children are allowed to work only four hours a day, but Sonny McKeen (this is the real name of Snookums) spends only two of his four hours he- fore the camera. The rest of the time he is allowed to sleep. ing room and a nurser mother has her own room at studio. Such is the life of the child who imitates the baby made famous by George McManus in his “Newlyweds™ cartoons. the Another Director Trick 'OGNIZANT of the fact that motion Ppleture audiences respond with enthusiasm to anything that is novel in a film, Roy Del Ruth, who is direct- ing “Wolf's Clothing” for Warner Bros., starring Monte Blue with Patay Ruth Miller, had a bedroom set con- structed which is unique, the most un- usual ever built for a motion picture, With this set, it is said, Director Del Ruth succeeded in achieving what is probably the most interesting photo- graphic effect to come out of Holly- wood this year. The set was supposed to represent a bare little room in a cheap water- front hotel. Del Ruth wanted to con- vey to the audience Monte Blue's mental impressions as he is coming out from under knock-out drops ad- ministered to him at a gay New Year party. For the purpose Del Ruth had the room and everything in it built on Brobdignagian proportions. The room and the objects In it were four times as high, four times as wide, and four times as thick as the normal room. ‘When Monte is left unconsclous in the room, it is of normal size. "When Monte comes to, it is gigantic. He appears like a tiny doll on a life- sized bed. He leaps off the bed, pulls a huge chalr over to the door and hangs on to the doorknob. He can- not turn it nor the huge key. After scaling the telephone stand, he is forced to stand on tiptoe to shout into it, and it is all he can do to carry the recelver on_ his shoulder. " . AY -Taxi= Rialto Movie Sidelights By the Associated Press. TUDIO-STYLED hats show a radi- cal change this yvear over last. Norma Shearer, Gertrude Olmsted and Claire Windsor, Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer players,-are wearing brimless, tight-fitting shapes; sports chapeaux of various shades; double brims, and narrow brims with high crowns. Chanel red predominates the color schemes. Photoplays SILENT DRAMA METROPOLITAN-—Twinkletoes.” PALACE—"Love’s Blindness.” This RIALTO—“Taxi! Taxi!” CCLUMBIA re in the Navy N TIVOLI AMBASSADOR—"Twinkletoes." CENTRAL—“King of the Pack.” T T METROPOLITAN—"Twinkletoes. Crandall's Metropolitan Theater feature this week. beginning this afternoon, will be First National's pic- | turization of Thomas Burke's story of the dancing waif of London’s Lime- house, “Twinkletoes.” with Colleen Moore, supported by Kenneth Harlan, Warner Oland. The stage offering will be A Fowler, “Wizard of the Ukulele," radio favorite and recording artist The supplementary attractions will 2mbrace the Metropolitan orld Survey, a cartoon comedy in Paul Terry's Aesop Fable series, and offer- | ings by the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, under Daniel Breeskin. There will be a midnight show Fri day, starting at 11:45 o' complete in every detail. “Twinkletoes” has a &tory of varied mood, with comedy predominant, and permits the introduction of scenes of beauty in contrast with the sordidness of the tenement life of London's Lime- | house district and Chinatown. It | concerns a high-spirited and optimis- | tic little walf of the tenements who idolizes her renegade father. who manages, until the last few scenes, to shield his daughter from knowledge of his character. The love scene centers in the attachment between Twinkletoes and Chuck, a tough boy of Limehouse, married to a woman sot who does all she can to wreck the life of Twinkletoes, the little dancer who has inherited from a professional mother a talent which promises to carry her far into the favor of Lon-| don’s elite. | The climax of the story is intensely dramatic. Kenneth Harlan, Tully | Marshall, Gladys Brockwell and Lucien Littlefield are in important roles. The Metropolitan Symphony will play “The Dance of the Hours,” from “La Gloconda” by Ponchielll, an in- terpretative score featuring ‘“The Afterglow,” by Charles Huerter, and “Do-do-do,” from “Oh Kay," by George sershwin. PALACE—"Love's Blindness." The gayety and glamour of the holi- day season will be reflected in the stage and screen presentations at Loew's Palace this week, starting this afternoon. Heading the bill will be Gus Ed- wards and his class of 1926 of youth- ful stars in Edwards’ Atlantic C revue, “Ritz-Carlton ghts,” by Nat and Max Lief, composed and staged by Edwards and announced as the finest entertainment unit he has ever assembled. No less than 20 juvenile stars of song, dance and comedy appear, head- ed by the 18-year-old dance star, Nitza Vernille, from Ziegfeld's “Fol- lies” and “The Greenwich Village Fol- lies,” with Dorothea James in Charles- ton and Black Bottom dances; Lola and Leota Lane of the “Greenwich Village Follies" Virginia Martin, acrobatic dancer; Ray Bolger, dancer, #inger and comedian, and the Rey- nolds Singers. The photoplay will be Elinor Glyn' Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer production, “Love’s Blindnes: a romantic drama of English social life, directed by John Francis Dillon, which features Pauline Starke, Antonio Moreno, Lilyun Tashman, Sam De Grasse and Kate Price. Added to these will be an overture. “Recollections of Bayes,” by the Pal- ace Orchestra: Loew's Palace Maga- zine and Topics of the Da; A midnight performance will be given on New Year eve, December 31, starting at 11:30 p.m. | RIALTO—"Taxi! Taxi!" ‘The holiday week feature at the Rialto ‘Theater is “Taxi! Ta: filmed The wasp walst will never find any supporters in the movie colony. There was a general defiant stamping of dainty feet when the report was cir- culated that Paris had decreed the tight corset. The vetoes came from Norma Shearer, Claire Windsor, Pau- line Stark, Joan Crawford, ' Sally O'Neill, Gertrude Olmsted, FEleanor Boardman and others. Genius should form only a small part of the perfect actor's mind in the opinion of Director Iobart Henley. He suggests this division: 50 per cent talent, 40 per cent intelligence and 10 per cent genius. “The mind of a genius is too unbalanced to get down to the work of acting,” Henley says. Pola Negri divides her time be. tween three homes in Southern Cali- fornia. She has a_bungalow on the grounds of a large Los Angeles hotel, a home in Beverly Hills and a cot- tage at Santa Monica Beach. W. C. Fields has “low comedy” feet, &0 he has the heels cut off his shoes. For many vears his standard costume as a stage comedian included shoes with flat soles and several sizes too large. Now he is playing a higher type of comedy and his shoes must fit, but the habit of flat soles is so strong, he says, that he can't feel “in character” if wearing heels. Here are specifications set by Jack White, supervising director of Educa- tional comedies, for the ideal comedi- enne: She should be small, active, bright, snappy, vivaclous, chic, some- ;‘\‘hal of a rogue, and heautiful but rainy. The makeup box was discarded In the production of “Wings.” The pic- ture is made on panchromatic film where grease-paint is unnecessary. Clouds were photographed in the se- quences. They were located by 10 fiyers who scoured the southern por- tion of Texas, where the plcture was produced. When Henry Hathaway, assistant director, shouted exceptionally stern orders at a tall middle-aged man por- traying an officer, Director Victor Fleming cautioned him against being so severe. But when the scene was over the tall man, playing a small role, walked over to Hathaway and patted him affectionately on the head. He was Rhodey Hathaway, father of the young assistant director. Bobby Vernon, who appears in com- edies, started his movie career at the age of 16. In one picture he played opposite Louise Fazenda as an old man, wearing a wig and long beard. A new coiffure for each sequence in “Paradise for Two,” wherein Betty Bronson appears hatless, is the goal set for her by the hairdresser. Miss Bronson is playing a decidedly adult role as the wife of Richard Dix. Brunettes, take encouragement from Director Reginald Barker.” He says brunettes have a greater chance for success in motion pictures than hlondes, because they photograph bet- ter, brown eyes being more effective on the screen than gray or blue. He also thinks brunettes are more tem- peramentally suited to theatrical Director Del Ruth, it is claimed, re- sorted to no trick photography for these effects. He photographed the sets as they were built. work, w due exceptions to Lilllan Murray, Greta Garbo, 3 ‘Windsor of the blonde tribe. fro mthe magazine story by George ‘Weston, co-starring Edward Everett Horton and Marian Nixon. ‘The plot, which bristles with un- usual, farcical situations, concerns a young architect who works for the conservative firm of Schemerhorn, Schuyler and Braith. Old Schuyler is a snob and a despot. He has never given any of his men a real chance. Circumstance throws the hero into the company of Rose, the niece of old Schermerhorn. Love, secret meet- ! ings and comical situations arise when the lovers become innocently volved in the disappearance of stolen diamond bracelet. Under sus- picion, the hero is followed by a de- tective, who contributes much to the merriment. The stage presentation again fea- tures “The Atlantic Four,” harmony singers and entertainers, in tirely new change of program. The Rialto Orchestra, Rox Rom- an en- “Bardelys, the Magnificent the International News and complete the program. ment Tully Marshall, Gladys Brockwell and | riance New Year eve, commencing a | one Sailor Scruggs into 8 This Week ATTRACTIONS. This afternoon and evening. afternoon and evening. This afternoon and evening. This afternoon and evening. This afternoon and evening. his afternoon and evening. his afternoon and evening. ow.” bird,” with digressions on two planos « played by Rommell and Carlson Har- grave. Otto F. Beck, “Snook a comedy, - The manage midnight perfor-’ An_organlogue by um’'s Merry Christmas, announces i1:30 pm. COLUMBIA—"“We're in the Navy Now." The program at Loew's Columbia Theater this week, beginning this af ternoon, will include the first local presentation of Paramount’s new comedy of Navy life afloat and ashore® in the hectic days of '17, “We're in - the Navy Now,” featuring Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton. e Directed by Edward Sutherland from a story by Monty Brice, it picks up these two comic adventurers on’ the eve of a big prize fight in which Beery as Knockout Hansen and Hat ton as “Stinky” Smith, his manager, have Ineffectually comspired to knock dreamland, only to have the redoubtable “Knock out” knocked clear out of the ring Highly disgusted with each other, they manage to get mixed with a truc load of Navy rookies and find them- selves inducted into the naval service without the formality of an enlistment .- 1t would waste time to outline in detail their ludicrous conflicts with stern Navy discipline and the penalties they incur. For good measure, there is a thrill ing adventure with a beautiful spy. a disastrous encounter with a French battleship, an “act of supreme hero~ ism,” which is nothing but sheer bone-: * headedness and an award of medals to the pair that is heavily ironic. A short-length comedy, the Pathé Newsreel and a New Year's overture by the Columbia Orchestra, under - Leon Brusilof, are also included in the Lill. A midnight performance will be given New Year eve, starting at 11:30 p.m. How ZaSu Got It ASU Pitts, born at Parsons, Kans., on January 3, 1900, was chris- tened with a name unique. The new baby had two doting aunts, Liza and Susan, and her mother, con- fronted with the desire to name the . child after both, at length compro- mised by combining parts of both their names. ZaSu received all her schooling, the- atricals included, at Santa. Cruz, Calif.., Eventually she went to Los Angeles Her first motion picture experience y Pickford in “The Lit. Then followed several years of mis- cellaneous motion picture work, 12 months of it spent with Metro-Gold-. wyn-Mayer. < She was seen to particular advan; tage in “Lazy Bones,” “The Fast Set “Mannequin,” and “Greed." In the last-named picture, von Stroheim characterized her as one - of the greatest tragediennes of the screen, and later cast her for an im- portant part in his first great Para mount picture, “The Wedding March.’ ZaSu Pitts is married to Tom Gal- lery, well known screen actor and box. | ing ‘impresario. At the time of the death of Barbara La Marr they adopt- ed her 3-year-old son as a companion for their own little daughter, l"Qriginal" Screen Stories RIGINAL stories, written directly for the motion-picture screen, are replacing adaptations of novels, short stories and plays, Richard Dix, Para- mount star, believes. . ““When motion pictures were strug- gling for a place in the entertainment, world,” Mr. Dix said recently, “the. producer was glad to be able to fil a famous play or novel. It gave his product a certain prestige it could not ' get otherwise. And in those days the movies needed prestige badly. Now. however, the industry has advanced to a point where it need not borrow prestige, or anything else, from a: other form of art. With this change has come. too, the" realization that writing for pictures is entlirely different from any other kind’ of writing. The writer, first of all must have essentially a pictorial mind. must be able to visualize his story. and then tell it, not with words, but’ solely with and in plctures. Many successful novelists and playwrights do not have t peculiar ability. Moreover, ‘fine writing,’ a necessity. in mell conducting, will offer a novelty overture entitled “Bye, Bye, Black- literary success, is absolutely worth™ leas in scenario writing.” Tolstoy's famous story will soon become having recently been eo:la&ell‘.. Here we have 1trie and DoloresyDel Rio tusha Maslova. screen_attraction, .lfilqkoonmu