Evening Star Newspaper, July 31, 1927, Page 60

AVING uttered several peevish opinions on the subject of overelaborate presentations in movie theaters, it is a pleas- ure to learn that my views yro paralleled by those of Tom Mix— Kho is in a position to speak with jubstantial authority on this painful jubject. In the r~ourse of an extraordinarily fteresting article in Varfety, Mr. Mix this to say: Some of the picture theaters are tharging too high an admis- Jon. There isn't a picture made jhat's worth more than 50 cents )s an admission price. Pictures arted out as an entertainment for es, and they should have re- es have been ad- sanced until today the average work- | g man can't take his family to see a m until it's six months or a year old P-m is found in some near neighbor pood house. It isn’t the picture that has shot up the admission price—it's hat they offer with it. Elaborate rodr-mm salarfed man is concerned, “The $1.50 a seat exhibitor argues {nd essential to create a_proper atmos- cture that the public and boys can my ch over on the Hassayampia w a prologue to a| } corral fuill of yearlings and wound ve never known a singing black- frinking blacksmiths, but you have to pspecially edifyin’ or educational in Fmith pretend he's singing a song and Mr. Mix concludes his article with ler, in the witness chair, was asked How do you account, Mr. Rocke- money than any other known enter- hesitation Ro " Kellogg, we were oil men in pther business.” rologues and 50-piece orchestras have | ho first-run houses are on a par with the big prologues, jazz orchestras | re for the subsequent showing of pnderstand without a prologue, it's| River in Arizona and commence ix picture—an atmosphere prologue. th a blacksmith shoeing a horse 'mnh T've known quite a few sing fet a blacksmith stewed before he’ll havin' a small boy or the public in $hoeing a horse that's already shod. the following ringing remarks: {\: Frank B. Kellogg, now our Secre- Lfl]lor. for the fact your company has prise?” a_ second's fhe morning; we were oil men at noon; “As soon as we cut out a lot of our ¥ AMUSEMENTS.! : ; e e R e e ——= The Mo_ving‘ Picture Album BY ROBERT E. SHERWOOD. | admission foolish ideas of living and extra 1-; gance, eliminate a lot of unnecessary | ‘put-on’ and ‘show-off, get down to| common sense, be ourselves and be-| come picture men in the mornin, noon and night, with no other bu ness, not even golf, we will rightfull take our proper place in the commer- cial world.” * ok ok % Here is the volce of an honest man, | a voice that emerges like a shaft of | clean, white light from the dark, dank | fogs of buncombe which surround | Hollywood. There is no news value in the state- ment that Tom Mix is a popular star. He ranks somewhere up near Harold Lloyd, Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson as one of the most consist ently successful of all the stars that the silent drama has created When Mr. Mix says: “Any time I can’'t make a picture that the public and boys can't understand without a prologue it's time for ‘Tony’ and me to go back to my ranch,” he is uttering a truth which is charged with ines- timable significance. For prologues with all other pres- entation trimmings are admissions that the pictures they accompany are too frail to survive without artificial aid. And the flossier the prologue the feebler the film. The movie industry in the days of its celebrated infancy was an uncouth but sturdy youngster who stood on his own two feet and talked back to any one who sought to reprimand him. Now, miraculously, the healthy in- fant of vesterday has suddenly be- come a doddering old man, rich and powerful but suffering from senile dementia in its most virulent form. He is existing on false stimulation; he is taking a treatment which con. sists principally of shots in the arm, administered by high-priced special. ists brought in from the outside. It remains for a simple general| practitioner like Tom Mix—one who | really understands the movie and its| allments—to provide the truest diag- nosis of its condition, Echoing Mr. Mix's admirable senti- ments, 1 repeat the cry which was rajsed to this column last week: “Give us good pictures and the thea- ters will take care of themselves.” Bulletins. HOLLY, Calif.—D. W. Griffith's next picture will be a comedy, en- titled “A Romance of O1d Spain.” The lilis !nunfi; very “tentative.” arry ngdon isn’'t going to pla; in “The Butter and Egg Mgn," fha)t, story having been turned over to Jack Mulhall. John Gilbert has been causing some disturbance at the Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer studio. His complaint seems to be against the quality of the mate- rial offered him, he being particularly dissatisfied with his current release, “Twelve Miles Out.” Perhaps John has caught the temperament fever from Greta Garbo. [ivanced the price until, so far as the grand opera r ! Sirected by comedians, are necessary h Jio fiim. Any time I can't make Jime for “Tony’ and me to go back to | 4 ain. 1 t showed the inside of a livery stable, #hile he sang SONgK. he waiters in my time and a few dnz, and 1 contend there's nothing fencral seeing a half-crockql black- * ¥ % % 1 read once where John D. Rocke- Jary of State, this question: een more successful and made more “Without cefeller replied: te were oil men at night; we had no foolish business methods, still more (Cobsright. 1927.) Nine **Outstanders.” S LTAVING found its metier and its forte in the production of cutstanding ‘special’ films for rec- prd-breaking runs on Broadway, ennounced, “the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer tompany is determined to devote even greater energy in that direction.” According to the latest checkup in the studios in Culver City, Calif., nine film productions will be among the outftanding of the 1927-28 program, Bs against four of the preceding sea- Bon. A These nine will serve tn flustiate diversity of entertainment, for in the group are included stage dramas, mu- fical comedies, melodrama, mystery, romance, situation comedy and farce, not to mention a wide variety of locales. The first will be “In Old Kentucky,” which John M. Stahl will direct in the blue grass famous racing stable re- ions. Within fwo weeks Fr:4 gtart on Lillian Gish's new scr sion of Channing Pollock’s play “The Enemy,” with its central European Jocale, The next two films will be based on popular musical comedies, “Rose Ma- rie” and “The Fair Co-ed.” The for- er, directed by William Nigh, will fave Reneo Adoree in the title role Rachel's D E dying wish of Rachel, cele- 117 ratea French tragedienne. is soon to come true through the efforts of Pola Negri. Miss Negri, who is preparing to film he life of Rachel as dramatized by E‘:men Vajda, Hungarian playwright, has just received a letter from Albert (Carre, former general administrator of the Comadul; Frl&ca.ln in Parls, with an interesting notation: “T hope I shall not be forgotten,” the dying Rachel used to say to her pister, Sarah. ‘Some day a great artist will come and revive my memory as I myself have made live that of so many others. “Thers 18 11 the 0 better fitted than you wish of Rachel, you with The: . to fulfl Shadowgraph JREFORE the Shadowgraph was in- troduced by Ziegfeld’s Follies it had proved a sensation in London and Paris. Much has been said about seeing things through rose-hued glasses, but no glass has ever produced the fan- tasies seen through paper pince nez used for the Shadowgraph. for here is really a mystifying and startling novelty, uncanny illusions that pro- duce either thrills or laughter. The Shadowgraph was a fe the Follies for two seasons. exlasses are distributed among the audience. One lens is red, the other green. Then the shadows are shown By a patented process. The effect 18 that the shado wwalks right out of the sheet. A missile is hurled and the audience dodges it. In fact, the sheet is given a fourth dimension. It is not only interesting and entertain- ing, but attracts from a scientific standpoint. The Corda-Kordas. IT took their transatlantic fame about six months to catch up with ‘Maria Corda, the Hungarian actress, 2nd her director-husband, Alexander Korda, both of whom are now under contract to First National Pictures, but it has arrived with a rush. Two pictures starring Miss Corda were shown recently on Broadway, one “Moon of Israel” at New York's “Rox It is a lavish UFA produc- tion, made in Germany, and is being released in this country by FBO. The other picture, which Alexander Yorda directed, is a European satire, “Madame Wants No Children,” with Marie Corda starred as the madame in question. It was given enthusiastic reviews by many of the New York tion and his keen sense of satire in ding the modern jazz age were especially praised. The picture was made in Europe for Fox, and was the last thing done by the director and star before they were ying’ Wish. and is to be presented with the full musical score of Rudolph Friml and Herbert Stothart. Marion Davies is to be starred in “The Fair Co-ed,” George Ade’s well known musical com- edy of a decade ago. Laurence Stallings, playwright, nov- elist and scenarist, who wrote “The Big Parade” and, with Maxwell An- derson, “What Price Glory?” has com- pleted an epochal story based on the building of the Panama Canal, to be called “The Big Ditch,” which will go into production late this Summer. ‘Tod Browning will try his hand with Lon Chaney in “The Hypnotist,” an original story by the director, a mys- tery drama with action revolving about a haunted house on the out- skirts of Berlin. “Lovelorn,” a Cosmopolitan produc- tion directed by John P. McCarthy, also to go into production soon, is a film version of a newspaper serial by Beatrice Fairfax. The sophisticated comedy “Be Your Age,” scenarized from Frederic and Fanny Hatton's “Single Beds,” soon to go into production, will have Lew Cody and Ailleen Pringle as co-stars and is to be directed by Robert Z. Leonard. George K. Arthur and Karl Dane, M-G-M’s other new comedy team, will be starred in a farce comedy as yet unnamed. your great art, and I am very proud to have been chosen by you to help in the great task. I have been gencral administrator of the Comedie Fran- caise from 1934 to 1916, and this title glves me access to our great theater and it permits me to consult freely its library and archives. “Will you allow me to send as a compliment a document which I en- Join with my letter—the last photo- graph of the poor Rachel at Canet. Nothing is more touching than this last glance out on a life which once started for her so beautiful and bright and which in the picture is slowly fading from her. Will you accept this souvenir of the dying woman you are going to bring b to us again?” Americans Quick Workers. OLLYWOOD takes hours to film motion picture sequences where Europe requires weeks and months, according to Emil Jannings, famous German character actor. The fact was brought home to Jan- nings, he says, on a location trip to Venice, a beach resort near Holly- wood, where the company filming “The Way of All Flesh” labored from sunset until dawn without stop. Twenty-eight unique and thrilling shots were made on six of the most spectacular riding devices during the night’s work. “A German or a French director | would have taken at least two weeks for those scenes,” Jannings declared. | “But,” he added, “the results would | have been no better and perhaps less satisfactory.” — Rothacker on the Job. WATTERSON R. ROTHACKER, new managing director of the First National studios at Burbank, re- cently elected vice president of First National Productions, has arrived In | Los Angeles, and taken up his duties at the film plant. Although a comparatively young man, Rothacker is one of the pioneers | of the film industry. Coming from newspaper family, he went into news | paper work as a youth, but in 1910 saw the possibilities of the picture business and formed the Rothacker Film Manufacturing Co. in associa. tion with Carl Laemmle and R. H. Cochrane. He rapidly became a specialist in the industrial end of pictures and la er founded the Rothacker-Aller Lab: ratories, in Hollywood, which develops and prints most of the fiim “shots” in the movie colony. The concern was sold a_short time ago to the Consoli- dated Film Industries. Since then Mr. Rothacker has been taking an extend- ed vacation in Europe, As a producer several years ago he made “The Lost World"” for First Na- tion: Rothacker also s credited THE SUNDAY STAR. WASHINGTON., D. C. JULY 31, Outdoor Attractions GLEN ECHO PARK. Glen Echo Park, Washington's free- resort, besides providing fun and thrills hoth week days and offers shady enic entire families may ¢, with both luncheon open air. Glen boasts of .50 or more att s, thrilling rides and other entertaining featu including the coaster dips, derby racer, whip, old mill, carrousel and big mid- way with dozens of devices to delight the Kkiddies. A popular nights is da v, groves whe spend the « and sup attraction on week ing in the beautiful ball- room, cooled by nature’s breezes and many electric_fans, to music fur- nished by the David McWilliams Or- chestra of 10, featuring the vibra- phone and comic song Glen Fcho Park is reached of the Washington Railw tric Co. direct to the park or motor via Conduit road, with ample and no- entrance, CHESAPEAKE BEACH. ncing _every night, v, from 9:30 until 10 s one of the new fe: peake Beach the city leaves at 10 p.m. heretofore has halted at 9:30. day dancing continu < to music by Bert man’s snappy nd. Bathing has a great vo mer and the free wat patronized by you a_screened y beach slored umbrel bathers may I life easy without fear of sunburn, The new beach playground for kiddies is equipped with swings, slide saws and other modern devices. 1e thi lid well nd old. There rea, while vith free under which Sum- “Steamboat Bill" Starts. BUSTER K EATON recently started his new United Artists comedy, teamboat Bill,” in the presence of one of the largest throngs ever as. sembled to watch a motion picture company in action, according to ad- vices from Sacramento, where the frozen-faced star and his organization | are on location. The Keaton company is located at a made-to-order town across the river from the Capifornia capital, and for the next few months will live in that picturesque community, according to the report, Hundreds of carpenters worked day and night to have the river town completed by the time Buster's troupe arrived. Steamboats | and other craft which figure in the story of “Steamboat Bill" are moored along the specially constructed levee, and several carloads of electricai equipment, properties and wardrobe lend assets to the new town. Ernest Torrence is announced to play his first straight comedy role in | ‘Steamboat Bill,” and Marion Byron, | practically unknown until Director Charles “Chick” Reisner gave her the chance, has the chief feminine part. ter actor, and Tom Lewis of Ziegfeld Follles fame. A score of young actresses took tests for ‘“‘Steamboat Bil but Miss Byron, who recently celebrated her eighteenth birthday, was the unani- mous choice of those who had the say. The frozen-faced star w: with her screen possibi gave her a five-year contract, the first instance of its kind in the Keaton or- ganization. Miss Byron s being called “the greatest find as a comedienne since Mabel Normand first burst into fame.” “Longest Set” in Films. 'OR “Hard-Boiled Haggerty,” which Charles Brabin is directing for First National Pictures, with Milton Sills as its star, a French street scene two blocks long, wth natural scenic backing extending from the studio to the peaks of the Sierra Madres, many miles distant, formed the houndaries of a record-breaking *shot.” No de- sire to break set-building records, but the necessity to provide a Parisian street two city blocks long for the camera car to travel in, resulted in its construction. The scene reproduces a cafe and shop lined street of the French capital. Cameras mounted on trucks traveled down the entire length of the street to follow a “traveling fight” waged by the star and his Army “buddy” of the story in endeavoring to escape from the American M. P.'s and con- tinue a colorful carousal—A. W. O. L.! All of 'Em .V:’.rite Plays. RED RATH of the Paramount- Famous-Lasky advertising staff has arranged for the sale of his play, “Beautiful But Dumb,” to A. Woods, and it is slated for carly pro- duction, according to announcement from the Woods office. This is Rath’s first legitimate play, his play-writing activities having. been confined to screen and vaudeville sketches. “Beautiful But Dumb” described as An American comedy, prepared in collaboration with Joseph J. Garren, the second production of the current season from the typewriters of mo- tion picture advertising men; the first, a musical play, “The Merry-Go- Round,” having been authored by Howard Dietz and Morrie Ryskind. with having conceived and executed the “Miles of Smiles” film during the | war, which sent to the doughboys at | the front a celluloid record of the sfned up by Richard A. Rowland, general manager of First National, @nd brought to this country, Zje=2 mothers, sisters gnd sweethearts back home, and their dctivities in behalf of géo boys “over there. s " A o a2 A pose from “The Rose qf Mont ading role. The production 1es gxfguo Fitzmaurice was the director, the | by cars A | time limit parking space at the park's except | hade and take | see- | Others include Tom McGuire, charac- | FROM HIGH SCHOOL TO STARDOM | | i | high school picture, “T d.” ee's a Crowd.” 'wo items are interesting the movie industry at this time, in addition to the bid for outside aid in connection with stories and their treatment. The one is the Vatican ban on “education- which it id is not understood v Yor! is to be done about “‘block bookin Film Dally reports, notwithstanding the denial by Poli, that the Stanley Co. of America, Wwith the Keith-Albee interests in_the back- ground, is to absorb the Poli Theater circuit in New England. And the deal is id to include Poli's Theater in Washington. in his new picture, I have the sup- v, Conrad Nagel, olly Moran and Lon_Chaney “The Hypnotist,” Wi port of Marceline Da Henry Walthall, Po Edna Tichenor. ., who handled the photography on “The King of Kings," is to perform the same job on “The West Pointer,” in which Pathe 1s to star William Boyd. Vincent Huldobro, a young Spaniard living in Paris, was awarded the in- ternational prize of $10,000 by the League for Better Pictures for his scenario of “Cagliostro.” The secre- tary of the league states that “‘one of our largest film companies’ contrib- uted to the fund from which the award was made. Outstanding pictures on current ex- hibition in New York include “The Bib Parade,” which has been running since November, 1925; “The King of Kings,” “Seventh Heaven,” “Old San Francisco,” “The Way of All Flesh, the Emil Jannings picture, and “Ca- mille,” Norma Talmadge's latest pic- ture. “Passion,” Pola Negri's best, also has been revived. Richard Barthelmess will go to New York for the premier showing of his latest picture, “The Patent Leather Kid,” on August 15. Film Daily has sent ofit a cheerful message to the world, and to passe screen stars especially, on_ the possi- bility of “coming back.” out of Jack Dempsey's in the prizefight ring. Bevereil Marle: It seems safe to say that the slow- motion picture camera will be an m- portant adjunct to the equipment of the future prizefight ring. “Publicity Madness” is the title of Lois Moran's first “starring picture,” as they call it, for Fox Films. Ed- mund Lowe will play the male lead. Publicity ought to be a good theme, in which Mary Astor plays the the First National studio and p s - owae - erey frol Gladys McConnell, who only a few months lfo is to have the leading feminine role was in the classroom of a in Harry Langdon’s new FILMOGRAMS Bits From the Studios and Theaters. it developed by some one familiar with the idea. Some comfort may be derived by American entertalnment purveyors in the fact that for 10 performances of “Napoleon,” the French film which Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has secured for exhibition in this country, the receipts were 562,000 francs (about $22,000) and the French government collected from the exhibitors 165,240 francs in the form of “‘poor tax,” while in Germany on a production budget estimated at 18,000,000 marks last year, the govern- ment levied a tax of 14,000,000 marks. Young Hopefuls who want to suc- ceed Jackie Coogan and Baby Peggy, both B¢ whom are fading out of the “cute” stage, include Mary Ann Jack- son, in Sennett comedies; Frankie Darro and Buzz Barton, with F. B. O.; Freddie Frederick, a King Vidor pro- tege: Junior Coughlan, with Cecil B. De Mille; “Snookums,” with Universal, and “Blg Boy” with Educational. All are believed to have the juvenile “it” to carry them to the heights. A cynical fan observes that the at- tention paid by the big film producing companies to “beauty tests” indicates what is wrong with the current output of pictures. “Not,” he says, “that any one objects to beauty, but there is a sort of liking among the intelligent for talents in acting as well.” Marle Walcamp, after several years, is returning to film work for F. B. O. in a Laura Jean Libbey story, “In a Moment of Temptation.” Film Daily reports that George Ar- liss is to play his original role of the minister in “Darling of the Gods,” the Belasco play that starred Blanche Bates, when fllmed, with Norma Tal- madge in the Bates role. Rowland V. Lee is to direct the picture. Colored Players’ Films of Philadel- phia is going to make a series of 12 two-reel juvenile comedies, with a group of youngsters known as ‘‘the Allfes,” the first being ‘‘Base Ball as She Is Played.” The stories will be written by Roy Calnek, the screen di- rector, who is known as the author of “A Prince of His Race,” Hate” and “Children of Fate, which have been produced with negro casts. ‘Who thought that Ben Lyon was now in Europe, in Berlin, to be exact, playing opposite Lya Mara in “Danc- ing Vienna,” which is being produced by Deutsches Film Union? He is. Samuel Goldwyn has engaged Al- fred Raboch to direct Gilda Gray's next picture, “The Devil Dancer.” The experience with the Vitaphone in Atlanta, Ga., according to Film Daily, seems to verify the prediction made in these columns long, long ago, that many people prefer “the silent drama” and will object to noise In their pictures. Vocafllm seems to have also had an unpleasant experience at the Longacre Theater, in New York, recently. Rupert Hughes is quoted as saying: “The moving picture business has been gravely hurt by certain autocratic per- sons who will listen to nobody and who make radical decisions that de. stroy promising plctures. Some of these persons are executives, some are directors, others are writers and ac- tors."” The Ohio Exhibitor’ Assoclation, fol- lowing the demand for the reduction proposed for actors’ salaries in the fllm industry, is now asking for a reduction in the cost of fiim rentals. The ex- hibitor, you know, rents a picture, for showing at his theater. H. C. Witwer's latest series of short stories to be produced for F. B. O. will be titled *Alex, the Great.” Plerre Collings will direct. Cserepy Film Productions, Inc., s announcing the first Cserepy produc- tion in America, “Creation,” pictur- ing the birth of our earth and the origin of life. Lioyd Hamilton completed his first in a new series of eight two-reel educational comedies for the coming season. It is “‘At Ease” and presents Hamllton in the role of a rookie in an Army training camp. Estelle Bradley is cast as a pretty camp nurse. A heavyweight cast appears in “Brave Cowards,” the new Educa tional-Cameo comedy featuring Phil Dunham and Estelle Bradley, the two principal players tipping the beam at more than 600 pounds. n.w. Classes Mon., ¥l 8 to 11 el SELTED Tt s p.m.. witl Balniment. Frankiin 8 To dance cor o Isteon 0u! Y DAVISON’S ~ Teack you gl e St i o, S o 636" ix, 85, CI dance Righi 10th st now. " For. 318, 1927—PART 3. Coming Attractions NATIONAL—“The Sign on the Door.” Befors he locked himself in, the murder victim in the case tacked on his door a sign requesting that he be not disturbed. This card Is the unim- portant detall, seemingly, about which revolves the thrills and suspense, with a romantic twist, in Channing Pollock's play, “The Sign_on the Door,” in which Marjorie Rambeau appeared on Broadway some seasons back, and which will be next week's oftering by the Natonal Theater Players. The piece is rated as com- bining the suspense of “The Th teenth Chair” and “Within the Law. The action deals with a mother, who, when she was a small girl, was forced to stop at a country inn. The finci- dent was harmless in all respects, but the world interpreted it differently. Later the mother involves herself in a predicament to save her young daughter from marriage to a man she deems unscrupylous. What that pre- dicament is best told in the play. KEITH'S—Lenore Ulric. Lenore Ulrle, by special arrange- ment with David Belasco, will top the B. F. Keith_bill the week of August 7'in “The Wolf's Cub,” by Willard Mack. EARLE—"“The Passing Parade.” The headline attraction for the Earle Theater next week will be “The Passing Parade,’ with Walter Mc- Manus, Richard Knowles and Helen Moretti heading the company, which also includes “The Broadway Four” d the “Twelve Sunbeam Girls.” “The Passing Parade” is described as a sumptuous production in 10 scenes. The added attraction will be Pietro, the plano accordionist, equally well known on the stage, over the radio and for his phonograph records. The screen attraction will be First National's production of *Broadway Nights,” a comedy-drama, featuring Lois Wilson and Sam Hardy. - Paramount’'s New Output. WITH 11 pictures in various stages of production, Paramount this week reached the peak of its Sum- mer producing activity. A number of the companies are out on location, other units are working on the studio stages; prints of several features are in the cutting and tilting rooms. In addition to those now in work, nine more are slated for start of filming in August, to be followed by seven in_September. Productions well under way, with their leading players and directors, are as follows Hula,” starring Clara Bow, directed by Victor Fleming; “Swim, Girl, Swim,” starring Bebe Daniels with Gertrude Ederle, con- queror of the English Channel, in an important role, and Emil Jannings’ third Paramount production, “Hitting for Heaven.” Eddie Sutherland is directing Esther Ralston in “Heaven Help the Working Girl,” and Chester Conklin and George Bancroft are co- featured in “Tell It to Sweeny,” di- rected by Gregory La Cava. Florence Vidor is working on “One Woman to Another,” under direction of Frank Tuttle; “Beau Sabreur,” sequel to “Beau Geste,” hoasts a large Noah Beery, Roscoe Karns, Willlam Powell, Gary Cooper and Evelyn Western subject is “Shootin’ Irons,” and Richard Dix is back from loca- tion with his “Shanghai Bound” com- pany. the direction of H. D'Abbadie D'Ar- rast in “A Gentleman of Paris.” o Fox Has Intentions. RIOR to his departure for Europe zation said: “Great truths are quickly stated. Some time ago we announced that Fox would soon release the finest program of pictures ever made in America. this prophecy has come true.” ‘With “What Price Glory,” “Seventh biased critics in all sections of the Carmen,” “Paid to Love,” “East Side, productions will more than justify the claims made in thelr favor by Fox executives. product for 1927-28 will include 52 dra- matic productions and 14 Westerns. INCE the world waits with 'bated breath to know what the ideal the Duncan Sisters, elucidates: ‘gag’ is cffered him. “A forgiving smile when simple business seems too abstruse. “A pointed smile when some one appropriates his ‘gags.’ “A wondering smile that dumbness is &0 dumb. “A grateful smile for the man who knows his business. one end. “A questioning smile when he has to be introduced to his own picture.” Lord adds: life for the director and a positive guarantee that he won't go to a psy- chopathic ward.” TO THOSE WHO ENJOY R ATION AMID SCEVES OF RUSTI SPLENDOR, THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE OUR OWN EXCEEDINGLY N FINE FREE ADMISSION AMUSEMENT PARK PRESENTING ITS WFALTH OF MORE THAN FIFTY FINE FUN FEATURES, ONE SHOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ONE'S OPFOR- TUNITY AND GO TODAY TAKING CARS OF WASHINGTON RAILWAY AND ELECTRIC CO. MARKED CABIN JOHN OR GLE:! ECHO DIRECT TO ENTRANCE. ‘Ticket Sale Hecht Co., Cor. F Circus Parking 25¢ Drive Direct Into Camp Meigs Use Sixth Sirest Northeast ;. cast of featured players including Brent: Jack Luden's initial starring Adolphe Menjou is working under recently, Vice President Winfleld R. Sheehan of the William Fox organi- A glance at the results will show that Heaven” and other magnificent pro- ductions receiving the acclaim of un- world, Mr. Sheehan added, “Loves of ‘West Side’” and many other high-class According to Mr. Sheehan, the Fox An Ideal Director ~.\"Vcares— director should wear, Del Lord. who directed “Topsy and Eva,” starring “A patient smile when a hopeless “A happy smile when ail work to| “Wearing a smile means a longer AMUSEMENTS.] | N these days of bootlegging and | law dodging, to say that a man | makes his living—and a good living at that—out of a mere barrel, to the average mind is merely to suggest how profitable boot- legging Is and has been. But the man of this story, who makes his living with a barrel, fsn't a hootlegger, he isn't a wet and his barrel is always empty. And that makes quite a problem for the aver- age intellect to solve, but comedy has solved so many of the tragedies of life that it will not seem unusual to point the way to a solution by say- ing this man is a comedian.” Not one of those who come out on the stage garbed in a barrel. Not by | any means. But he makes that bar. rel as funny a thing as the world of comedy has ever seen, and though year after year he plies the same old trade with the same old utensil, he still_keeps them laughing, and you can't do that with trite, wornout jokes. Furthermore, the man in question is a Washingtonian and one of those Washingtonians who have lifted them- selves out of obscurity into at least the theatrical limelight of fame—and always with that barrel. Chester Spencer and his charming little wife, known to the stage as Lola Willlams, are vacationing in Pet- worth, in_the region of Upshur street. The boys of Petworth know him aside from his barrel and its comedy. Ches- ter is not only an athlete, but he loves to see all boys athletes as well. And so Petworth has given him fame, not as a comedian, but because of his public-spirited interest in athletics. For a boy or a man in Petworth not to know Chester Spencer is to admit that he has never taken any interest either in athletics or in community Expert in OT the least interesting of the many-sided community that is Hollywood s the activity of those peo- ple who “free lance” their specialized knowledge or ability in various side lines of the motion picture industry. Here is the parachute jumper wait- ing to double for stars in aviation pictures. Here the owner of a trick Collie. Here the interpreter for a new Czech actress. Here the boomerang thrower. Here a hundred more spe- cialists, experts, technical advisers and what not in as many diverse lines endeavor. of’l‘om Gubbins is listed for “Chinese stuft.”” When Chinese pictures are produced in Hollywood studios, Gub- bins is usually called in. His most recent work was on Richard Dix's pic- ture, “Shanghai Bound.” Gubbins sat in on story conferences to lend the scenario writers his first- hand knowledge of the Yangtze River, the locale of the picture. He con- ferred with Dix and Director Luther Reed on phases of Chinese life. He personally hired and costumed 200 Chinese used in the picture. He pro- vided almost a carload of Chinese “props.” used in the studio and taken with the company on the location trip to Sacramento, where the Sacramento River “doubled” for the Yangtze- IKiang. Gubbins was able to provide over- night an assortment of materials which included 200 coolie costumes with slippers, 100 ‘straw hats, 50 felt hats, 50 red-knobbed caps, 2 wheel- barrows, 150 boxes covered with rice matting and 300 rice sacks (for cargo of the river steamer of which Dix is supposed to be captain), 100 bamboo poles, 5 fish nets, 12 lanterns, 10 Chinese knives, 50 coal baskets, enough furniture for a restaurant set and enough bunting and hangings for a street set. He painted about 250 signs in Chi- nese, which are seen in the picture, and interpreted Reed's directions throughout the picture. Gubbins supplied these properties from his store and warehouse in the Los Angeles Chinatown, where his re- tail establishment catering to motio! picture people provides him a steady living between picture engagements. He supplied the 200 Chinese from his personal acquaintance with every Chinese in the city who is available for motion-picture work. He is known to almost every one of Los Angeles’ 1,500 Chinese as “Tom Sook,” which means “Uncle Tom,” d is sometimes called the unofficial King of Chinatown,” but he says he prefers to be known simply as “friend of the Chinese.” Gubbins was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., of English parents, who took him to Shanghai when he was 8 years old. He lived there and in Hongkong for 12 years. He went to school, an Eng- lish school, in Shanghal and picked up the Cantonese dialect, which speaks fluently and perfectly. In 1893 ATIONA NEXT WEEK SEATS NOW | “THE The Beautiful and Fagoinating And Company ““THE SNOB" 4 Comedy ADDED ATTRAGTION The Favorife Singing Comio BILLY HOUSE & C0. In “Resolutions” LEW'BRICE (Olever Brother of Fannle, Recent Star “Americana® »: e d PAUL KIRKLAND & (0. In “The Righ Stepper” BLUM TRIO Gymnasts ‘De u."o »- e Ty ¥ he | Hl ] Barrel. development; and Petworth hasn't any of that class in its lively precincts. But to get back to the barrel. It furnishes the theme for one of the ever new and most laughable stage colloquies thaat one can imagine. It is not the purpose here to tell how, but simply to point out the fact, with a few interesting details that make it stand out. Spencer says that his barrel 1s 12 years old; that is to say, it is full 12 years since it came into his possession It has hoops and brass nails in it, and ever and anon a new coat of varnish serves to shine up its sides. He bought it for 25 cents in Grand Rap- ids, but, according to his estimate, he has expended fully $1,200 on it up to the present time, and it isn't worn out yet by a barreiful. It has to be shipped from place to place, where Spencer and his wife ap- pear, in a special crate, and Spencer estimated that its cost for excess bag- gage alone easily approximates $100 a year. It has been seen on every prominent vaudeville stage in the United States and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, back and forth, for eight, times. It has made one trip to England and another much longer one to Australia. It is even now being prepared for another trip to the Brit- ish Isles, when the new season hegins. There isn’'t a thing about this old barrel that indicates that Lady Luck ever has bestowed upon it her mysti- cal favors, and although to the most observing eye it will be found as empty as a hole in the air, yet Chester Spencer and his youhg wife sav it in like the scriptural widow's cruse of meal, the more you take out of it the more It seems to hold. It is a comedy barrel, filled to the brim with laughter, and its supply is never exhausted. That's what Chester Spencer’s barrel 1s. All Lines. he went to Manila and joined the Quartermaster Department of the U. S. Army. For eight years he was a Chinese court interpreter and an English teacher in San Francisco's Chinatown. He came to Hollywood in 1916 and has been connected with motion pictures ever since. Next Week's pl’lowpllyl RIALTO—Leon Errol in “The Lunatic at Large.” COLUMBIA—Lon Chaney in “Quincy Adams Sawyer.” METROPOLITAN — Richard Dix in “Man Power.” LITTLE THEATER—Lya de Putti in “Manon Lescaut.” WARDMAN PARK—“A Wom- an of Paris.” MOONLIGHT TRIPS On the Potomae River every ev Monday excepted STEAMER INDIAN HEAD Leaves wharf, 6 Water st. at M, 7: FREE DANCING %5y 3 By speci: Lazge cool ballroom. Lunch, rereshments ‘are, 5¢ Phoue Fr. 10416 THEATER LITTLE %0L5 BETWEEN ¥ AND G ON NINTH 8T. _— UNITED ARTISTS Prosents “A WOMAN OF PARIS” A DRAMA OF FATE Written and Directed by CHARLES CHAPLIN ‘With ADOLPHE MENJOU and EDNA PURVIANCE. Rachmaninoft’s “Prelude in O Sharp Minor" in Motion Pictures (First Show. ing Outside of New York) Sunda: WARDMANPARK sz 3t MARY PICKFORD WEEK suN.To weD. “ROSITA” THURS. To SAT.“pOLLYANNA" THEATE!E $1.10,75¢c&S0c PHONES MAIN 501 AND MAIN 9208 BEG. MON. WED. MAT. ALL SEATS 50¢ | Sat. Mat. 756, 50 NATIONAL THEATER PLAYERS, DIRECTION CLIFFORD BROOKE, OFFER THE ROMANTIC COMEDY-DRAMA, JANE COWL'S GREATEST SUCCESS THE MYSTERY MELOURAMA SIGN ON THE DOOR” Keith-Aldes Vaude- vills, the World's Greatest Artiste Ezclusively Beginning Sunday Matinee at 3:15 . 2—STAR HEADLINERS—2 Broadway’s Beau- Brummels Bongsters De Luxe In A MERRY MUSICAL MELANGE BARGAIN M. NI OB o Beaiuni My"“ g HELEN HIGGINS In “Roin Beaus™ n “Roin B ly Whirlwind lmm. I Next Wook—LENORE ULRIC Belasco's Great Star of “LULU BELLE"