Evening Star Newspaper, September 9, 1928, Page 54

AMU BOUT the biggest bit of news of Moviedom—at least from A the producing standpoint— concerns the - activities of thllnlt.ed Artists and the announce- ent that Max Reinhardt, famous zas a stage producer and manager, bwill direct a picture for that or- anization. Hugo von Hofmann Viennese author of “De:r nkavalier,” “Electra” and “Everyman,” has written the story nd Lillian Gish will be the star. fit the present time Miss Gish, PE T ——— 'on Hofmannsthal and Reinhardt re working on the story in Salz- Uurg. £ Reinhardt, who presented in merica “The Miracle,” “Every- an,” “The Living Corpse” and pther works, and who has offered fipon European stages the plays of Strindberg, Schiller, Wilde, Bhaw, Gorky, Maeterlinck, Ibsen, ghakespeare, Schnitzler and jornson, will arrive in Hollywood fn November. During the past season he has been successful with his considerably altered ver- sion of the play, “Burlesque,” of- fered to Berlin audiences. and z/nh his presentation of Schiller’s ‘The Robbers” at Salzburg. Among the Hollywood notables who began their theatrical careers under the banner of Reinhardt are Emil Jannings, Ernst Lubitsch, Conrad Veidt, Rudolph Schild- kraut and Joseph Schildkraut. United Artists has also em- ployed S. M. -Eisenstein, director of the Sovkino-made picture, “Potemkin,” and he will arrive in the motion picture colony before Reinhardt. The young Russian attracted the attention of Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, who saw “Potemkin” in a Paris projection room, and when they arrived in Moscow they tried to borrow the director for one pic- ture. That was more than a year ago, and recently Joseph M. Schenck, head of United Artists, succeeded in employing Eisenstein for a single film. Then United Artists has signed Irving Berlin, George White and Harry Richmond, all well known on the speaking stage, and the three of them will turn out a talk- ing or singing picture, which will be made in the Eastern studios. The picture, “Say It With Music,” has been scenarized by Berlin, and it is said to be a tale of Tin Pan, Alley, a song writer and his, love for the daughter of a veteran bal- lad writer. Richmond, well known for his work in George White's “Scandals,” will play the role of the song writer.. George White will aid Berlin in supervision of the picture and in arranging cer- tain dance numbers that are to be recorded in the film. Constance Talmadge, one of the United Artists stars, arrived in New York last week, en route to Paris and Nice, where she will be directed by Louis Mercanton, one of the French film makers. She has not had a picture since “Breakfast at Sunrise,” a First National product. and she joins the United Artists with her new Freunch picture. So United Artists is recruiting from Ruvssia, Germany. France. Austria. Times Square, Hollywood and the Bowerv. * % ¥ ¥ PAYING particular attention to “the shadows that cast them: selves before,” one is inclined to the opinion that the coming sea- son will be about the most active ever encountered by the photo- play business — both production and exhibition. Not since the first movies were made, over 30 years ago, has so much activity been noted” within_a short space of time. Talking pictures, all sorts of synchronization, have shoved the matter of expense into the sidelines, and exhibitors are in step with the move for bigger and better things. | Heretofore American producers | have easily controlled the photo- play market, but they will be up against pretty stiff competition in the future. British, French, Rus- sian and German producers are getting into the field; they are sending their products to this country, and many of their pic- tures have been popular with American audiences. Coalitions are forming here, there and every- where with only one idea in mind —the breaking down.of the Amer= ican supremacy. x4 % X (GLORIA SWANSON announces that she has arranged with the Radio Corporation of Amer- ica to record her voice in “Queen Kelly,” her new picture, by the Photophone device. A complete muzical score and sound effects eiso will be a part of the film. The arrangement was made by ‘Miss Swanson as an independent producer who distributes her own pictures through the United Ar- tists Corporation. Work on the new picture was started September 3, and among those supporting the star are Walter Byron, Tully Marshall, Maude George and Albert Conti. | Erich von Stroheim, director of | “Greed” and “The Wedding March,” will direct Miss S8wanson. 1t is planned to complete the pic- | ture by December 15, when thrce copies of the negatives will be de- Jivered to United Artists. One silent negative is for America, | another silent one for the foreign | countries and one sound negative , PR RS, LA ACHER STUDIO, TR0 0th oD e Claises Mon, Fri. 8 1o 1i | p.m., with orchestra. Private lessons by ap- poiniment. Fr. 8567 _Established 1900._1 MR, STAFFORD PEMBERTON. 1L STYLES STAGE. BALLROOM DANCING. Atbale: 1124 Conn, ave. Phone N. 3322, 30° DAVISON’S Teash you to dance cor- rectly in a few lessons, pror. Mrs luse Bt Eeins, inatroc rof. 3 55 Bt 5 3 1329 M 8t N.W. Dancing 9-12 Main_1732 [ 9 to 1L fight.” 11 of Dancing a Private Litsbos i1 Buck pnd Wine: and Private Lessons, in Buck an 3 ot | Iz.cln‘(. Acrobatic, Limbering et, Spanish, Gypsy, Rus- ‘Dances ruw!cna;z Ols nce_ North 131 t . at Thomas Circle in 1732 . HELEN JANE MARR SCHOOL OF THE ABSOLUTE DANCE FROM THE BY C. E. NELSON. SEMENTS. SCREEN for the American theaters. “Queen Kelly,” however, will not be an “gll-talkie,” though there will be considerable dialogue. Voice, or- chestra and sound effects are to be combined. * K ok * 'HOSE who follow the movies quite closely bring forth the statement that styles in ggayers change with the moon. r in- stance, this is the era of big man and small woman players. The last decade, and especially the last five years, has seen the departure from the screen of the once pop- ular Junoesque type of charmers and a more pronounced preference for Goliaths in size in male por- trayals. It has not been so long a%’o that tall and comparatively. buxom players like Theda Bara, Kitty Gordon, Betty Blythe and Nita Naldi were the only ty] that seemed satisfactory to fill the eye of the film spectators. There were a few exceptions — notably Mary Pickford and Marguerite Clark—but the Amazons were pre- dominant in numbers. The man players were of varying sizes, though usually not below medium height, and the same is true to- day. But the majority of the male players now are tall. Charles Farrell, for instance, is 2 inches over B feet tall; Victor McLaglen towers 6 feet and 3 inches; George Bancroft is 6 feet and 3 inches, and other big fellows are Ivan Linow, Don Terrv, Charles Morton. Barry Norton. Georee O'Brien, Edmund Lowe and Earle Foxe. Among the ~mall female stars of todav are Janet Gaynor, Madege Bellamy, T.ois Moran. Marv Pickford, Mary Duncan, Maria Alba, Nancy Car- roll, Sallv Phipps and many others. Where once 150 pounds was no bar to cinema fame, the woman players now must hold their weight down to a maximum of 120 ponnds. If a player goes over the 120 pounds she begins to look toward a future in the cus- tard-pie comedies. EE O TTHE exhibitors of “Uncle Tom's 1 Cabin” met with a laughable situation when a protest was made against the picture in Dal- las, Tex. A delegation of the United Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy complained _about the film, but when Simon Legree was turned into a Northerner, the “cruelty footage” reduced and a prologue inserted to explain that some of the occurrences “were not customary.” the picture was al- lowed on the screen. And there was one other change. The words “Civil War” were chaneed to read: “The War Between the States.” But even with these changes At- lanta barred the picture. * k ¥ % HE International Federation of Exhibitors, which is composed of representatives of 17 European countries, has been organized to combat American pictures. The advent of the federation reflects the decision of the exhibitors to follow the lead of European pro- ducers and distributors in pre- senting a united front against films from this country. The or- ganization was perfected at a re-| cent motion picture congress in Berlin, and one decision of the federation was to pledge the ex- hibitors of the continent against the showing of so-called “hate” films, such as “Dawn.” The rep- resentative of the British exhibi- tors spoke as follows: “European films must be safeguarded. Eu- rope has richer and more interest- ing stories and literature on which to base films, and Europe can use money as well as Hollywood, which takes 60 per cent of the money made by the movies in England.” ? * % * X Short Flashes. JOLAND has inaugurated a nov- elty film tax. The United: States Department of Commerce has received word that the pic- tures will be taxed according to THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, Audibly Tested Cast. I HAT producers are up against im| ‘meeting the vogue for talking mo- | tion pictures is_best demonstrated by the quest that Warner Bros. undertook in casting “Lights of New York,” 100 per cent “talkie,” which is shown at the Earle Theater this week. i Every principal character in - this drama of New York night life had to | show a record of previous stage expe- tests before being cast. Helene Costello, lead, comes from an acting family and has had stage expe- rience with her father, Maurice, and sister Dolores. Cullen Landis drifted by accident from stage to screen. Gladys Brockwell has been on the stage since known actress of the late 80s. Mary been in films only five years, her career before that being identified with the speaking theater. ‘Wheeler Oakman, Tom Pallette, Tom McGuire and Walter Percival have all had stock experience. was last seen in the stage version of Tarkington's “Clarence.” Robert El- liott's last speaking appointment was in the crime play, “Broadway.” Is Kept Busy ! ILLIAM POWELL, who has a fea- tured role in ‘“Forgotten Faces,” is sald to be in such demand at the Paramount studio for character roles idleness recently. He had barely completed work in Zane Grey's “The Vanishing Pioneer” when he was called into service for a part in “Forgotten Faces.” The day he started work on the Zane Grey pic- ture he completed his role in the George Bancroft starring vehicle, “The Drag Net.” It was only a few hours after he had finished his part in the Wallace Beery-Raymond Hatton team comedy, “Partners in Crime,” that he started work in “The Drag Net.” For months he has been kept active, changing rapidly from one role to an- other. His part in “Forgotten Faces” introduces him in an altogether differ- ent role from any he has been seen in thus far in his career. DOLORES COSTELLO As she appears in the modern sequence of “Noah’s Ark,” one of the big special pictures of the Autumn. Do You Know— THAT Baclanova, Paramount’s new “find” was born in Moscow, Russia? That she® played in the Moscow Art Theater, drawing a salary of food and clothing and a place to sleep after the bolshevists took over the government in Russia? That she vowed that some day she would play opposite Emil Jannings in motion pictures and that her first im- portant screen role was with that star in “The Street of Sin"? That she is an accomplished concert singer, having a dramatic soprano voice? That she came to America in 1925 under contract to Morris Gest? ‘That she played the part of the nun in “The Miracle”? That she plays what she considers their artistic, moral and educe- tional value. There will be five categories into which the pictures may fall, and it will be for the censorship bureau to decide in which a picture is to be classified. If several films are exhibited in one show, the tax will be calcu- lated by means of the arithmetical medium of their length. Lewis Millstone has been loaned to Paramount by Howard Hughes to direct a feature production, which the press agent says will be a “million-dollar epic of the sea.” “Dawn,” the story of Edith Cavill, has not yet been exhibited in Ontario. It is making its fourth trip to the censors in an effort to ha\:ie a former decision reconsid- ered. Eva Le Gallienne, founder and director of the Civic Repertory Theater, in New York, has signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer to appear in talking motion pictures. This is in line with her recent statement that she is a firm believer in the future of the sound pictures, and it will mark her first appearance before the motion pic- ture camera. She has appeared in the stage successes “Not So Long Ago,” “Liliom,” “The Swan” and also revivals of Ibsen during the past two theatrical seasons. The next Vitaphone special to be started at the Warner Brothers studio will be “Stark Mad,” with H. B. Warner as the star. Warner i has had a great deal of stage ex- perience, this making him one of the players much desired for !wund production. Louise Fazeu- da and Jacqueline Logan will have important roles, and others in the cast will be Henry B. Walthall, |Claude Gillingwater, Warner Rich- mond, Andre Beranger, John Mil- jan and Lionel Belmore. The first “sound cartoon” of the movie world is one of the Aesop Fable series, “Dinner Time,” ex- hibited in New York last week. Herbert Hoover, while en route East by train recently, was enter- tained with several of the new movies. “Four Sons,” “Fazil” “Her Cardboard Lover,” “Tell It to the Marines,” “The Student Prince,” “The Enemy,” “Forgotten Faces” and other pictures were thrown upon a screen erected in one of the Pullman cars. Corinne Griffith and Edmund 1422 MASS. AVENUE N.W. Registration After September 10th DECATUR 962 Lowe are being co-starred in “Outcast,” andy the exteriors are being filmed in San Franciscq, .. her greatest dramatic role in “Forgotten Faces,” a picture now showing at a local theater? Merging the Seasons BECAUSE Tristram Tupper,. noted novelist, wove three of the four seasons into the theme of “The River,” which Frank Borzage is picturizing for Fox Films, he put a healthy obstacle in the path of a short production sched- ule; that is, he would have done so had Borzage attempted to get realistic effects with only nature as his helper. However, Borzage, Harry Oliver, Fox Films' technical wizard, and other Fox executives solved what might appear to the layman as an unsurmountable dif- ficulty—realistically merging Fall and Winter of a North woods construction camp with a balmy California Summer. Oliver bullt “The River” set at Fox Hills—the set comprising a turbulent stream dashing :.lon, pine-tree-lined banks and mirroring lofty crags, bunk houses and snow-capped peaks. the stream is anchored the houseboat that 18 “home” to Charles Farrell, while on the shore is the cabin of Mary Duncan. The picture has its opening scenes in the Fall, and the boy and girl, played rience or undergo visual and audible | | when, as an infant, she appeared with | her mother, Lillian Brockwell, a_ well | Carr, well known “screen mother,” has | Guy D’Ennery | that he has had little time to indulge in H 1 | D. C., SEPTEMBER VIRGINIA GRAY, As Little Eva, in Universal's “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” The picture is booked for early presentation at a Washington HAT does John Barrymore think about women? | He has, (it seems, some typically | Barrymoreish views on the subject of ! the fair sex and love. The star ex- | pressed his views during the filming of | “Tempest,” which is his new United | Artists picture. His screen sweetheart |in this spectacular feature is little i Camilla Horn, blonde European actress | who came to America especially to play opposite him. ‘Women are too clever for men, thinks Barrymore, and he insists that they are the dominant sex and are becoming more so each year. In fact, he believes that women will some day take matters into their own hands and run the world as they see fit. For women, first of all, know what they want—and they never swerve from their course until they get As for it. That’s Barrymore's opinion. the men—well, he avers they sometimes wonder what they want, then wonder whether they want it after they get it. ‘Women, according to Barrymore, haven't changed a great deal through {the ages. He especially draws atten- tion to Shakespeare's women, whom he | declares are like modern women be- cause they are real people. On the other hand, Barrymore calls Charles Dickens’ women “‘impossible,” in that he says there never were any | such_ women. | . “The women of Dickens' stories were | the kind of women the writer wished | he knew—weak, meek, spiritless, cling- { ing vines,” says Barrymore. ‘“Nobody— I doubt whether even Dickens himself | —would have stood for them outside | the pages of a book.” | Barrymore points .to Rosalind and ! Beatricr as two examples to compare | with the modern girl—independent, | witty, delightful, the kind the star ad- ! mires. Poor Orlando! Barrymore is | sorry for him, when Rosalind places a chain—the first slave bracelet—around { his neck, and all the chap can do is | stammer and blush. But Rosalind— she knew what she wanted! Juliet? Barrymore gives his frank opinion of the famous lovers and explains why he never played Romeo. “Juliet was 14—the age when girls know more than they ever do afterward. Curious and eager about life. Every- thing new. Older people may doubt t)‘mlir‘ own wisdom, but never a girl of 14. “Juliet, shut away from men, falls in love with the first youth she has an opportunity to meef. It would have CLARA WEAR | | | | by Farrell and Mary Duncan, live on | there through the bitter Winter, the| rest of the camp being deserted. In mid-June Borzage began the Fall sequences, and now he is busy with midwinter scenes. The turbulent stream is “frozen” over, “snow” is piled high on roofs and in and about the camp, the action in an atmosphere so realistic that lookers-on actually imagine over- coats and galoshes necessary to keep themselves warm. Robert Elliott, who created the omi- the stage hit “Broadway,” portrays a plain clothes man i nthe Wagner Bros. ;ll-tnlktnz picture,. “Lights” of New or] DAY 2 DAY LEREE ADMISSTON ] {ENECH | LAMUSEMENT PARK | b ALL AMUSEMENTS_ - IN OPERATION | UNTIL THE SEASON i ENDS AT 11 P. M. | TONITE % nously calm, slow-voiced detective in| while the players and Borzage continue ' Barrymore Talks of Women | been the same if it had been the ice- | man or the grocer's boy. Romeo was half-sick with what he thought was love for Rosalind—and then came Juliet. Romeo was an ass. He didn't know what he wanted and he hadn't was the better man. She kept him where she wanted him. A man never knows shows it to him. “They met—gasped! The old ‘love at first sight’ Really, love at first sight is appetite. Then comes real love or satiety. Remorse, too, as a rule.” Barrymore doesn’t think much of Katharine and Petruchio. He says that “The Taming of the Shrew” is an unfinished story — that Shakespeare didn’t have the heart to go on after the last curtain. What happened next, ac- cording to Barrymore, was that Petru- chio was very sorry he ever heard of Katharine. Both had exaggerated egos and were bound to battle until dooms- day, declares John. Barrymore opines that there probably are some modern women like Katharine, but he won't admit that he knows.them. Referring to a historical example of | the way of a_man with » maid, Barry- more cites Napoleon c.:d Josephine, whom he says he sympathizes with be- cause she was married to a man who probably spent most of his time with her talking about himself. “Napoleon’s mind was filled with one woman all the time he was conquering one country after another and execut- ing strategic moves. He wrote flery Jove letters to Josephine on the eve of his biggest battles. That should prove the fallacy of the idea that we can oniy win when we give our whole hearts and minds to a thing. “And all the time Josephine was cast- ing eyes at other gentlemen. “Josephine ~wasn’t vain, because women don't have to be vain. Women know the real things. They're not all mixed up in a cloud like men. “A little affection and personal at- tention count. The Arc de Triomphe is a handsome affair and Josephine may have experienced a thrill the first time she saw it, but it isn't the sort of thing u;d rave about around the family fire- side. “Josephine probably had a new hat that she put on when Napoleon came home. He no doubt paid no attention to the hat and remarked that he thm:ghb he would conquer Gibraltar Dext.” S A UNIFORM CLARA BOW, NEW SHOW and_ NEW FACES EVERY WEEK, MUTUAL - Sweet, Chorus Sweel Sweelies i Star of “Wings,” which is scheduled for exhibition in Washington. STRAND NINTH AT DST Presenten GOOD ORCHESTOA SEATS @ NIGHT and- MATINEE PERFORMANCE. BURLESQUE strength of mind to resist the girl, She | what he wants until somebody 9, 1928—PART 4. Picture Pirates 'HE word “pirate” is usually associat- ed in this country with the bucca- neers who sailed the Spanish Main in the eighteenth century. That the world has long been full of pirates is not | generally known. But these scourges of the seas have flourished for centuries {in such diversified places as Malaysia, { Tripoli, the Scandinavian countries, etc. | One of the most famous bands of ! corsairs that ever lived found their | livelihood off the coast of Italy during the sixteenth century. This band, a | community living in feudal splendor in |an old castle by the sea, kept them- | selves in the necessities of existence by | their depredations among the merchant I ships of the Mediterranean. | their piracy. they were muc! other village community. !”"Such a situation would seem to be | good material for a motion picture, and |the UFA organization, always eager to bring something to the screen, realized | this two years ago. Research experts | were promptly engaged to build up an | authentic background for a film about | these pirates, and an actual story con- | cerning them was woven into a scenario. | The result of this work, “Peter the | Corsair,” begins a week’s engagement at |a local theater today. Starring Paul | Richter, creator of the role of “Sieg- fried,” the film numbers in its cast such players as Aud Egede Nissen and Ru- dolph Klein-Rogge. Arthur Robison, who made “Manon Lescaut” and “The Waltz Dream,” is also mesponsible for the direction of “Peter the Corsair.” New "Fifty-Fifty" Bob. HE “fifty-fifty bob” is Hollywood's own contribution to feminine hair- dress styles. It was necessity that began this hair cut, which accommodatingly permits its wearer to become a bobbed flapper one hour and a long-haired ingenue the next. It is this convenience which | has made it popular in the film colony. , Mary Brian, who appears in “For- gotten Faces,” was one of the first to inaugurate this mode. She has her hair cut to a long bob in front and almost to the waist. When a bob is desired Miss Brian pins up the hair in back and brushes :he short hair from the front over the ong. ’ Fannie Dives FANNIE BRICE, Well known to theater-goers, takes a day off at the beach, while working in the Warner Brothers Movietone picture, “My Man.” But her dive was not com- pleted. British Film News. “THE HILL,” by Sir Dennison Ross, is the title of the third picture to be produced in India by British Screen Productions, Ltd, of London. The other two are “The Red Shadow” and “Mhateen.” British acoustic sound devices will be used by Gainsborough Pictures, Ltd., of London, in “The Wreckers,” now in production. Mr. Metcalfe of the Gau- mont Co. is in charge of the sound | effects. | Anthony Asquith's picture for British | Instructional Films, Ltd., of London, of | which he is both author and director, will have Phototone orchestral and sound effect accompaniments. “Balaclava,” a story of the Crimea, will be put into production by Gains- borough Pictures, Ltd., early in the Fall. They promise a lavish and spec- tacular production. Sir Harry Lauder is actively at work at Cricklewood studios, London, on his new Emductlon, “Auld Lang Syne,” un- der the direction of George Pearson. Now that the Earle and Metropolitan, the two_ downtown Stanley-Crandall theaters, have been equipped with Vita- phone for sound pictures, the next step toward complete synchronization will be to install Movietone. The Stanley- Crandall schedule for these two houses calls for products from First National, ‘Warner Bros, Paramount and Universal, and as all do not use the same system of recording, the exhibitor must equip himself with alternating devices. Mrs. Wilton-Greene’s Concerts Season 1V28-29 POLI'S THEATEHN. 4:30 Philharmonic Course Nov. 19. VLADIMIR HOROWITZ Planist—Sensation of This Generation Jan. 15. JASCHA HEIFETZ Violinist Jan. 25. M.ARTINEI.I.I fet. Upera Worl Mar. 6. Greatest Dram: Metropolitan O Soprane 0STON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Serge Koussevitzky. Conduetor Nor. 27. ROLAND HAYES Celebrated Uolored Tenor Dec.5. FRITZ KREISLER Jan. 30. BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA rae Iou-uvlulfih Con Feb. 5 SIGRID ONEGIN World's Greatest Contraite Mar. 20. RACHMANINOFF Wilson-Greene Series 0Oct. 30. Mme. GALLI-CURCI Nov. 7. Mme. LOUISE HOMER and daughter LOUISE HOMER STIRES Nev. 28. JOHN McCORMACK Dec. 7. DORIS NILES and BALLET Assisted by vornelia Niles in Solo Dances and RONDALLA USANDIZAGAS Sextet of Spanish Guitarists an: select e ¥ | won unstinted praise for her v has kept the back at its original length, | AMUSEME Leona Powers as Diane | | MISS LEONA POWERS, leading lady of the National Theater Players, in her final performance in Washing- ton, this week, will enact a role she has done on several occasions. She will play the distraught Diane, the girl who falls in love with Chico, that “very re- markable fellow.” It is doubtful if, in all the roles of Miss Powers in Washington, the lead- ing lady of the National Theater Play- ers has ever essayed a part that won | more sympathy than this, the character sions n ersatile acting. She has added to her laurels isuch outstanding trilumphs as that which she scored in “Smiling Through,” jand again as the lovable Peg in “Peg {O’" My Heart,” as well as in numerous | other roles and plays: but in Austin | Strong's play. “Seventh Heaven,” she has a role peculiarly fitted to her style of acting. As a consequence, she por- trays Diane with a naturalness that is more than the artificial scaling of his- trionics ~She brings to this part a great deal of her own character, and even her observations on life. It is the belief of Miss Powers that a woman, to enact the role of another woman. a part in a play, must first of all believe inherently and sincerely in the part she is to play. In stock pro- ductions, it 1s not always possible, or probable, to get right down to brass tacks, so to speak. After a play has been done several times, however, the person who plays a role in its charac- ter line-up has a chance for more sys- tematic study. Miss Powers has played Disne not only in Washington, but in \San Francisco and Seattle, as well as n Boston and Baltimore. Therefore, | she feels she has come to know the | delicate shadings of this girl's character, |the wishes she dreams, the thoughts she thinks. So, when Miss Powers | plays Diane, she brings to the part con- | siderable reserve force that would be lost by the ordinary stock actress essay- ng_the role for only one time. “I have come to really love the part | of Diane.,” said Miss Powers onc day | during rehearsal. “There is something that appeals to the average theater- {goer in a person who'overcomes the | difficulties that lay in the way of | Diane's path. She has all the fighting | instincts we love to see in a person, | without the brutality that usually ac- | companies these forces. She is sweet | and gentle and yet forceful. Shes is ex- | ceedingly In love with Chico, though | she manages to hold always a fine re- lslrnlnt on her love—and best of all, she i1s brave when the play calls for | bravery " i ‘HE microphone electrically connect- ed with a battery of loud speakers | was put to the severest tests by Cecil B. De Mille during the production of “The | King of Kings,” with the result that 1 in future pictures the big horn mouthed | by the actual physical speaker will be entirely abolished or relegated to assist- | ant directors commanding little isolated groups of players. One of the most interesting uses of the microphone was in the scenes of the reconstruction of the Jewish Temple, a series of terraced structures climbing the slopes of Mount Moriah from the | court of Gentiles at the bottom to the | Holy of Holies at the top. Standing on the topmost steps, De Mille directed the | encounter of Jesus and the high pricst | near the Holy Place, and simultaneously | the shouting crowds of followers of the | Messiah entering the Coponius Gate, at | the foot of the hill, several hundred feet | away. | _ In the Via Dolorosa or Way of Sorrow | he actually directed crowds quite be- i yond the line of sight. It should be explained that the celebrated Way is a | sort of network or gridiron of several | streets and not a continuous straight { street from the Praetorium of Pilate to | Calvary. Knowing what he had done | before and having placed the approach- | ing procession in the lower streets, he | was enabled to give his orders to them | before they turned the corner into the | narrow alleyway where some of the | most effective shots were made. That | is, the microphone orders synchronized the movements of the crowd not yet to be seen with those of the crowd already | in the alley. On the great Golgotha or Calvary set | the voice from the microphone came | into direct rivalry with the tones of | the $50,000 pipe organ which the di- rector had installed on that set to pro- vide the inspiring music to accompany | the action. Nevertheless, the 12 loud | speakers distributed on various portions | of the set enabled players in each por- ATIONAL Nights, $1.00, 75¢ FAREWELL WEEK OF % AUSTIN STRONG'S PEI 7 2 Head! Phones VAUDEVI PEATURE S Directing Unseen Players | tion to hear his orders unconfused b; the pealing tones of the great organ. i Before the director and players came on the set the “speakers” were installed and the wiring connected. An attend- ant carried the microphone mouthpiece and the attached cable to whatever spot on the set the director was. working. He was always at De Mille's right and a little behind. At the same time a mov- ing platform carrying the camera, cameramen and directors enabled the chief to go forward to the scene or backward away from it. Three sets of spectacles in the capa- clous pockets of the secretary’s linen duster were also at hand. so that at any instant he could look at the scene in the black and white hues of the screen, the vivid colors of Technicolor or the effect of tinting and toning. This triple command of instant resources—to speak, to look,.to move about-—was commented upon by several of the old world nobili- ty who saw him work as surpassing the facilities or power of any European sovereign. Old ‘Vltagraph Reopens. 'OR the first time in four years the Vitagraph Studio in Brooklyn will soon resume production activities, ac- cording to an announcement by H. M. Warner, president of Warner Brothers, which organization bought the old Vitagraph Company in 1925. The Brooklyn plant which is one of the largest in the East will be opened this Fall for the production of vita- phone talking pictures and extensive al- terations are now under way to pro- vide it with the complete equipment necessary to the making of sound films. ‘Warner Brothers will spend half a million dollars in renovating the build- ing, it is said. The improvements will include two enormous vitaphone stages with the newest type apparatus, soung proof walls and incandescent lights. TOMORROW NIGHT MAT. WED: All Seats, 50¢ SAT. MAT. 7S¢, 500 8. E. COCHRAN OFFERS THE NATIONAL THEATER PLAYERS THE SUMMER SEASON JOHN GOLDEN'S INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS 7Heaven RFECT COMEDY DRAMA LIMITED ENGAGEMENT—BEG. NEXT SUNDAY NIGHT ARION HARRIS Queen of Song ining a Super-Stage Bill pe—— SUPPLEMEN SCREEN ATTRACTION \ 2—-SHOWS DAILY-2 ‘ RESERVED SEATS ; Main 682368124484 /] S g