Evening Star Newspaper, September 23, 1928, Page 51

and Music er, Scree AMUSEMENT SECTION he Sundwy HINGTON, D. C., SUNDAY MORNING, Nl‘]l"l‘l‘i)llililf WA St | A, 2 1928. D) s —_— //\Z\T?GAPET AANN - - Fox- . LEATRICE JOY- and The lryysible Master of Cererrronces LAWRENCE DOWNEY- < 2 Keiths SyeiCTHorNDYKE - Little Jheater /CAQQOLL: and - Jack Hour- 4§ Palace Attractions in Washington Playhouses This Week IN WASHINGTON THEATERS THIS WEEK. NATIONAL—“Wings,” photoplay. This afternoon and evening. KEITH'S—“Man-Made Women™ This afternoon and evening. s STRAND—"Big Revue,” burlesque. This afternoon and evening. and pictures. NATIONAL—"“Wings.” “Wings,” the remarkable Paramount epic of the air, will continue at the National Theater this week, with show- ings this afternoon and evening. The distinctive feature of this photo- play, in the production of which con- tribution was made by the National Government, is that it deals with the air rather than with the land battles of the World War and presents notable views of war planes hopping off singly. in pairs and in groups, in battle forma- tion, to thrilling battles in the clouds, in which planes are seen making won- dertul sweeps through the air with streaming tails of flame behind them, thrilling drops and occasionally crashes from thousands of feet high to the earth, becoming tangled masses envel- oped in smoke and fire. The musical score is replete with martial airs and there is an added sound accompaniment of roaring planes and the reports of their guns that are fired at and by the enemy. Through it all runs the romance of two American aviators and their love for the same girl, while bravely battling on the ground, with her Red Cross ambulance, another girl in love with one of them cheerfully fights her way. All in all it is a picture of remarkable accomplishment and interest, featuring Clara Bow and Jobyna Ralston as the girls of the love story and Charles Rogers and Richard Arlen as the dar- ing aviators, while in other roles are seen Henry B. Walthal, remembered always as “the little colonel” of “The Birth of a Nation”; Hedda Hopper, Julia Swayne Gordon, George Irving, El Brendel, Richard Tucker, Arlette Marchal, “Gunboat” Smith, Nigel de Brulier and thousands of doughboys and airmen. KEITH'S- “Man-Made Women"— Frankie Heath. Leatrice Joy in “Man-Made Women” will top the screen entertainment at B. F. Keith's Theater this week. begin- ning today at 2 p.m., with H. B. War- ner, John Boles and Seena Owens as its stars. On the stage the headline act will be Frankie Heath in a quartet of song stories. The piano melodies will be played by Wiliam W. Dougal. An added attraction is Mayris Chaney and Edward Fox in an act entitled “The Delightful Dance Delienators,” assisted by Earl Paull and Milton Murray. Dave Vine will act as master of ceremonies throughout the performance. A sketch is included in the bill en- titled “Any Family.” It is described as a symbolic play, since the incident and its people are typical of a certain type of American life. Charles Harrison and Sylvia Dakin will present “An Operetta for Two,” a satire by Mr. Harrison. The stage show will open with the Four Casting Stars. The Pathe news pictorial and Aesop’s Fables will be added screen attractions —Frankie Heath. Vaudeville STRAND—"Big Revue.” This tveek’s offering at the Strand Theater, billed as “Big Revue” with Thoughtful Patriotism. EVERAL representative British resi- dents of New York have organized the British Film Society of America to give a series of 10 bimonthly en- tertainments, afternoon and evening, at a prominent and convenient Times Square theater, commencing in Octo- ber. a special British film feature, excellent music, together with novelty reels and specialties. Each entertainment will comprise Th: object of the soclety is solely to provide an opportunity to see these British productions, and at the same time have them reviewed by the Amer- ican press, in order to widely dissem- inate their merits. Motoring - Aviation News | and : usements N Keithe Coming Attractions KEITH'S—“Hit of the Show.” The bill at B. F. Keith’s Theater next week will include on the stage two headliners, the De Marcos and Joe Laurie, jr. ‘The feature picture will be the Ralph Ince production “Hit of the Show,” starring Gertrude Olmstead, Joe E. g;fiwx:i Gertrude Astor and Daphne ard. STRAND—“Moulin Rouge Girls.” Next week’s attraction at the Strand Theater is billed as the “Moulin Rouge Girls,” and is sald to have a distinctly Parisian flavor. Among the stars are Benny “Wep” Moore, Belle Miller and Gus Fliag. There are other featured entertainers, including the famous Paris Pleasure Chorus and La Belle Zaza. The costumes, scenery and lighting effects are said to be novel and colorful. new scenery and lighting effects, as well as a new cast, is said to offer some snappy new features. Clair Devine, the star of the piece, is late of “Greenwich Follies” and others are Jerry McCauley, shimmie dancer; Lillian Dixon, ingenue; Jane Vitali, sou- brette; Fred Reeb, a comic with orig- inal ideas; Al Shenk, specialty dancer, and a chorus selected on the basis of pep, personality and pulchritude. .;X Gifted Actor. I—I B. WARNER, the noted screen * actor, whose impressive impersona- tion of the Christus in “The King of Kings” stamped him as one of the really fine actors of the screen, will be seen in Washington this week in a characterization at once gripping, and whimsical in “Man Made Women,” his #irst screen role since his return from England, where he played the lead in “Sorrel and Son.” Mr. Warner comes from a family that has been associated with high theatrical traditions in England for three genera- tions, and although he was started for a career in a medical college, truc to his line, he quickly turned to the stage, joining his father in Charles Warner's company in “Drink.” In 1905 he came to America to play with Elenore Robson in_“Merely Mary Ann.” : - He made his screen debut with the late Thomas H. Ince and has done fine | work in a number of screen successes. The New Portia. i | YWINTHROP AMES has _engaged | Frieda Inescort to act Portia to | George Arliss' Shylock during the tour | of his production of Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice.” Miss Inescort. daughter of the well known English actress, Elaine Inescort. {made her stage debut in Winthrop { | Ames’ production of A. A. Milne’s “The ! Truth About Blayds.” At the time, she) was editing a trade shipping encyclope- dia, This completed, she became pub- | licity manager for G. P. Putnam, the publisher, continuing her stage career at_the same time. i She was leading woman with H. B.| Warner in Philip Barry's “You and I and with Godfrey Tearle in Frederick Lonsdale’s “The Fake.” She played the chief feminine role in the Theater Guild's production of John Galsworthy’s “Windows.” Then came the all-star re- vival of A. W. Pinero’s “Trelawney of | “The Wells,” in which, first, she acted Clara de Phoenix, and appeared as Imogene during the last fortnight of the tour. With “Trelawny of ‘The Wells' ™ Miss Inescort quit her pub- licity work, which had interfered with her accepting any engagements on tour. - Sights in “«“ INGS,” which enters its second week at the National Theater to- day, depicts the first air fighting, in the World War, and it is not without his- toric significance in view of the fact that fighting in the air came into vogue for the first time in the history of the world with the late war. The airplane has proved itself to be one of the deadliest war weapons the world has today. In “Wings” Director Wellman has graphically shown what fighting in the air really means. It provides an added fascination and a new sensation for warriors of the twentieth century. The stark terror that a bombing airplane thousands of feet in the air can put “Wings” into the breasts of soldiers looking like ants crawling on the earth is stirringly illustrated. Here we have a battle scere shown principally at St. Mihiel, reveal- ing the full length of the allied front, with our war aces bombing the trenches and lines of the enemy, swooping down like mighty birds of prey, scattering regiments and companies with deadly terror and effect One sees the bird machines rise from the ground to become mere specks in the fleecy clouds of the azure firma- ment. They soar through the air, shoot each other down and bomb the soldiers far below in the trenches. In the midst of all this horror of war there is also the romance of adventurc, daring and love. A STRIKING contrast to the sudden rise of Janet Gaynor is the case of Margaret Mann, the “60-year-old Cinderella.” After 12 years of trudging from studio to studio, this woman finally secured a feature role when she was chosen to play Grandma Bernle in “Four Sons.” By her outstanding per- formance she is now regarded as firmly established in the front ranks. Margaret is a little white-haired Scotch lady, who looks like anything but an actress. She made her first public ap- pearance as Martha Washington in a tableaux at the San Diego exposition in 1915. She secured the role through an- swering an advertisement, prompted by the illness of her husband. The fact that she resembled Martha Washington offset her lack of experience and she was hired for the part at a very nominal salary. Everything went well until the exposi- tion was over. Then Margaret Mann, close to 50, and with an ailing husband to care for, had to look around for something else to do. The situaticn would have seemed rather hopeless to most people, for not only did she lack business experience but she was also a stranger in a strange land, without con- r.;cuans and with very little money ahead. She went to Hollywood and only dis- !appointment met her efforts. Noi dis- couraged, she continued year after year to form a part of the throng which daily passes one casting office to an- other in search of work. Small parts and bits fell to her occasionally. She accepted them eagerly—all the while and G. Frederick Clark will conduct the Keith Orchestra. Miss Irene Juno will preside at the organ. Last_season Miss Inescort appeared {under Mr. Ames’ direction in John Ga | worthy ‘Escape,” with Leslie Howard, hoping for recognition. . When William Fox decided to make a screen version of the story of “‘Four Sons,” dissatisfaction of John Ford, the director, with tests of character women in the film colony led him to explore, as a final resort, the ranks of the extra unknowns. Margaret Mann was among them and as a sixtieth birthday present she was given the leading part in this production. “T;:e Water Hol—e. A MOTION “heavy”! that! Jack Holt has the featured lead in this villainless picture, “The Water Hole,” and Nancy Carroll is his leading lady. John Boles takes the part which, picture without a Zane Grey special at in the ordinary picture, would be that of the heavy. Instead of being a vil- lain, however, Boles portrays a clean- cut young fellow whose worst crime is to want to marry the same girl whom Holt admires. There is a very real menace in the picture, however, that of the merciless desert. ‘The lack of a two-gun villain is not the only different thing about this Zane Grey picture. The outstanding feature, } perhaps, is the sequences filmed in tech- nicolor. ‘The heroine of “The Water Hole" does not wear the trappings of a cow- girl or frontier belle. Instead, she takes the part of a soclety girl with all of her wardrobe that an unlimited pocket- book can supply. “The Water Hole” is a sophisticated story of modern life with much of the action centering around a fashionable home in a big Eastern city. The thrills of action in the far West are not lack- ing, however. CHARLES ROGERS - FrankiE HEATH - National Willard Mack has turned out another play, “The Common Sin,” and it will have an early presentation. Elsie Law- son and Frederick Worlock will head the cast. “The Royal Family” will end its New York run October 21, after a run of 43 weeks, and open a road tour in Phila- delphia a week later. Marjorie Wood and Penelope Hubbard have succeeded Catherine Calhoun Doucet and Sylvia Field, respectively. John Golden's next production prob- ably will be a rewritten version of “The Buford Armitage. Rosalle Stewart has changed the name of “The Old Man's Darling," comedy by James Forbes, to “The Final Fling,” the original titic of the script. The plece went into rehearsal last week. It will have its tryout in Atlantic City October 1 and is scheduled for Broad- way a fortnight later. Viola Brothers Shore and F. Hugh Herbert have, it is announced. com- pleted a play called, “Carry Me Up- stairs,” which may be produced in New York shortly. Philip Goodman announces that he has disposed of both the English and Australian rights ‘to “Rainbow,” the musical play scheduled for presentation in New York next month. Clayton and ‘Waller will do the show in England and J. C. Williamson in Australia. Dispos- ing of a play before production is un- usually unique in the annals of the stage. “The Road to Rome” will be a play of which she is co-author, according to her managers, Brady & Wiman. It is called “The Jealous Moon.” The other author is Theodore Charles. The play, a_ “romantic fantasy,” portrays scenes of the early part of the nineteenth cen- {tury. “The Jealous Moon” went into re- hearsal last week under the direction of Priestly Morrison. It opens in Baltimore next month and after engagements in this city and Pittsburgh will reach New ‘York about November 5. Sara Haden, daughter of Charlotte Walker, well known in Washington, will appear in “Girl Troubles,” in Allan Dinehart will star. James Rennie will be seen opposite Dorothy Gish ll} “Young Love,” which will be sponsored on Broadway by Kenneth Macgowan and Signey Ross. Miss Gish was a big favorite in the movies and her debut in the legitimate will be watched with interest. | comic opera, by Myra Bel Gallaher, will go into rehearsal late next month in New York. It will be presented by the M. B. Gallaher Productions, Inc. Among the new theatrical producing StTuArT HOLMES - Brass Ring,” by Philip Dunning and | Jane Cowl's mew vehicle to follow | which | “Bambina,” described as a Venetian | Earle IN THE SPOTLIGHT | Notes of the Stage and Its People. corporations is one whose president is Harry Lang and whose vice president is Henry B. Forbes. Their first pro- duction is called “Tin Pan Alley,” by Hugh Stanislaus Stange. Lester Loner- gan will direct it for them. “The K Guy,” a comedy by Walter De Leon, tried out in Denver stock last Summer, will open in New York about the middle of next month. Irving Yates is the producer and Con- Shlmcc McKay will have the principal role. The New York Theater Guild, with seven new plays ready for presentation, last week leased the Martin Beck Thea- ter for a period of yvears. Mr. Beck and his assistants will retain the man- agement of the house. This gives the guild three theaters in New York City. Howard Lindsay and Bertrand Rob- inson are reported hard at work re- writing their play, “Your Uncle Dud- ley,” which Arthur Byron tried out the past Summer with the Lakewood Play- ers up in Maine. There will be extensive alterations in the Belasco Theater, New York, to make room for the production of “Mima.” This play has been adapted by Belasco from “The Red Mill,” by Ferenc Molnar, and will have Lenore Ulric in the central role when it opens in December. Myron C. Fagan, who recently launched “The Great Power” in New York, has commenced casting for a new production. This is to be another of his own plays, called “The Fasci- nating Devil.” It goes into rehearsal within a fortnight. EBoston Gave Doug a Shock .WILLXAM A. WELLMAN, the director of “Wings,” entered the motion {picture industry through a chance i meeting with Douglas Fairbanks. Later “Doug” no little amusement. The two met while they were help- ing sell Liberty bonds in Boston—Well- man in the blue uniform of a pilot of the French Lafayette Escadrille from which he had been invalided home, with several decorations for valor. Later, Wellman joined the American flying service as an instructor and was as- signed to San Diego. told him that he had always liked to act. former war bird for an extremely minor role in “The Bucking Buckaroo.” When the picture was presented in Boston, where Wellman, owing to his wonderful war adventures was very much in the public eye. the newspapers billed it as William Wellman and Doug- las Fairbanks in “The Bucking Buck- 1 aroo. /AAR\/ CARR . and CULLEN LANDIS - /V\e*l-ropoli'l'aw jthis led to an incident which cnumd’ At the close of the war Wellman | went to see his friend “Doug.” and | So the athletic star cast the| Photoplays FOX—“Four Sons.” evening. COLUMBIA—“The Patriot.” Emil Jannings in “The Patriot,” now being shown at ‘Loew’s Columbia, is said to give a remarkable periormance as mad Czar Paul I of Russia. | Mad Paul had the heart of a child | and the brain of a tiger, and Jannings | portrays both. Others in the cast are Florence Vidor as the Countess Oster- mann; Lewis Stone as Pahlen, who is “the patriot” of the story and a great friend of the Czar; Neil Hamilton as the Crown Prince Alexander. Ernst Lubitsch directed the production The picture, adapted from the play of the European playwright, Alfred Neumann, concerns the life of the mad Czar, Paul I, who is hated by the peopi as much as his son Alexander is loved. Count Pahlen is the Czar’s only friend and he sees that for the good of the nation the Czar should be dethroned. Pahlen plots against the Czar but is not successful in getting the crown prince’s upport. With the aid of Countess Ostermann, Pahlen keeps the Czar in the castle where he is finally killed by one seeking revenge, and Pahlen, to prove that he had committed a patriotic act, has himself killed. The scene in the throne room, where the Czar is killed, and his flight through the castle are outstanc- ing in drama and realism. In addition the program includes th~ M-G-M News. short subjects and the Columbia Orchestra, under Claude Burrows. EARLE—“The Man Who Laughs.” Following a midnight Washington premiere at the Earle Theater Friday night, “The Man Who Laughs,” Victor Hugo's enduring tale of love between a blind girl and a man whose face was ghastlier than Cyrano’s, will be shown daily at the Earle at the usual prices. The $2 admission was charged in New York during its Broadway showing. The picture employs, aside from its stars and immediate support, an en- semble of 5,000. The direction is by Paul Leni and the picture is further enhanced by synchronized sound and ! music. Leni will be remembered as the | director of “The Cat and the Canary.” 1 This Hugo tale of love has been the Ifountain head for more than one short {story which various authors have used {as "their own, due to the absence of ’CDDyflght. Students and critics agree, however, that the immortal Hugo touch has never'been approached by his most |sanguine imitator. “The Man Who Laughs” contains iseveral stories blended into one com- ipelling whole. The comprachios, for Instance, are subjects for a full-length |novel alone. These were the vicious |bands of child dealers of the early | eighteenth century who bought or kid- inaped young children, mutilated them |and then sold them to circuses for ex- hibits or as clowns. There is, further, the tragic yearning of Gwynnplaine, mutilated in boyhood so that he wears a perpetual and horrible grin, for Dea, the blind girl. There is also plot and | counter plot between royal minds and a | mingling of scenes of the lower classes, | as at the Southwark fair, and the no- | bilitv, as in Parliament and in kingly | | palaces. | Conrad Viedt, German star, and Mary Philbin are co-starred, with support I JANNINGS and LEWIS STONE - Columbia Cuoaire DEVINE- Stiand 1 his Week IN PHCTOPLAY THEATERS THIS WEEK. COLUMBIA—"“The Patriot.” This afternoon and evening. EARLE—“The Man Who Laughs.” This afternoon and evening. This afternoon and evening. PALACE—"“The Water Hole.” This afternoon and evening: METROPOLITAN—“Lights of New York.” This afternoon and LITTLE THEATER—“Dawn.” This afternoon and evening. FOX—“Four Sons.” “Four Sons,” the screen feature at the Fox this week, has been credited by critics as one of the outstanding | sereen productions of the season. It ‘rollo\\'ed “Street Angel” into the Roxy | Theater in New York and there broke the attendance records, which had been but one week earlier set at a new high count by the Charles Farrell-Janet Gay- nor feature. Margaret Mann, the featured player of “Four Sons,” is a 60-year-old mother and was a Hollywood extra before she was selected for the role of Mother Berlne by John Ford, who directed the picture. The story is from an original by I. A. R. Wylie, and was adapted for the screen by Philip Klein. A Fox Movietone synchronization will accompany the picture, which will be presented with an atmospheric pro- logue, in which will be featured the Roxy Male Quartet. This combination of voices is well known to Washington theatergoers and radio audiences. Leon Brusiloff, conducting the Fox Orchestra, will be heard in a colorful overture number, which, together with short reels and novelties, will round out the program. PALACE—“The Water Hole.” Loew's Palace offers as the screen attraction this week Jack Holt in Zane Grey's latest story, “The Water Hole," with Nancy Carroll. There is something for every one to enjoy in this picture—from exciting scenes in the desert to scenes of East- ern society in their palatial homes. Jack Holt plays the part of a young engineer in love with a saucy, pampered flapper, Nancy Carroll. He kidnaps the heroine, with the consent of her father, and takes her to an Arizona desert to tame her. The harmless prank be- comes serious, however, when they lose their horses and water. They are finally rescued by cowboys, who want to lynch Holt, but he is ;saved just in time to provide a happy ending. On the stage Wesley Eddy and his Palace Syncopators are presented in Charles Niggemeyer's new Low-Publix production. “Blossom,” with Sammy Lewis, Patti Moore, Arthur Ball, Helen Kennedy and the Foster girls, a “Bevy of Buds. Added attractions include the Fox Movietone News, the M-G-M News, short reels, the Palace Orchestra, under Harry Borjes, and Charles Gaige at the organ. METROPOLIT. York.’ Having established the house receipt record for pictures at the Earle Theater, “Lights of New York,” Warner Bros' all-talking and sound picture, moves to the Metropolitan Theater this week in response to actual public demand. Shorter Vitaphone subjects on this “all-sound” program will introduce Beniamino Gigli, Metropolitan Opera tenor, in scenes from “La Giocond: Dick Rich and his orchestra and a shor silent comedy, “Skating Home,” In “Lights of New York” the veriest whisper that happens during the acticn, every sound, words, music, dancing fect, pistol shots, the roar of Broadway trafic and the quieter nuances of the love Lights of New from Olga Baclanova, George Siegman, Brandon Hurst, Stuart Holmes, Sam De Grasse and Cesare Gravina. scenes, are timed to the split seco: with the action. and in this picture o " (Continued on Third Page.)