Evening Star Newspaper, November 4, 1928, Page 69

Theater, Screen and Music Part 4—14 Pages b o e R DRy MARTINIZ - Fox - NoRrMAN KERRY » 1alto Widely Contrasted Types of Drama BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Perhaps the theater-going world is so happy that it really needs a reminder of the inexor- able sadness of less fortunate lives. Without such reminder ex- istence might become only a thoughtless masquerade in carni- val spirit, dancing along to a final objective that subordinates all subtlety of thought and all warmth of human sympathy to the enjoyment of vague rhythms and the physical exhilaration of the dance. It remains for Ethel Barry- more’s “Kingdom of God” to bring, in terms of delicate beauty, a powerful reminder of the bitter sweetness of a life completely dedicated to the alleviation of hu- man SOrrow. * ok % X The play is a series of pictures delineating the career of Sister Gracia, who realizes her one great aspiration by the exclusion of all the romances and vanities, nor- mally incident to youth, in order to permit the service which brings affection and kindness into the lives of very many who otherwise could know but little of such things. In its inexorable gloom the play can be compared only to “John Ferguson,” whose experience so scant in worldly blessings left him, nevertheless, devout and trustful in the All-wisdom that had al- lowed the hand of fate to fall so heavily. Yet it is hard to believe that a girl, voluntarily apart from contacts congenial to her beauty and position, progressing through ideals linked with disappoini- ments toward an inevitable end of age and poverty, could be happy in the sense that ordinary human- ity finds meaning in the word. * %ok x Miss Barrymore meets the re- quirements of the role with a fine self-sacrifice which brings her be- fore her worshiping audience in the guise of a very old woman— one who even needs a heavy cane in order to support her in her feeble footsteps as they still move along the narrow path of chosen duty. This portion of the delinea- tion is rendered with conscien- tious art. And yet it Would seem sacrilege at the altar of loveliness to say that Miss Barrymore makes this illusion complete. In the imagination she is always the in- carnation of youth and vitality, and she could accomplish no simulation, however adroit, that imagination would not penetrate and still discern the picture it has cherished so long. * k¥ X In dispensing with the ordinary nically as one of the most inter- esting of recent creations. Yet for its scene of most intense appeal it turns for a few moments into the well trodden pathway and employs the world-old example of human love renounced at the bid- ding of duty. The scene between the nun, free to go back to the world, and the young physician whom she loves, but will not mar- ry, is only a passing incident in the play, a part of the panorama which discloses one glimpse after another into the valleys of sor- row. * ok ok % Nothing could have been more appropriate for Halloween week than “Dracula,” the story which Bram Stoker wrote while Sir Henry Irving's literary assistant, and which Irving very graciously encouraged him to promote along with his most accomplished ef- forts as the herald of one of the world's greatest theater artists. Stoker did almost everything that a theatrical press agent was sup- posed not to do, wearing a full, bushy beard, and finding after his endeavors for the great player had accomplished their purpose, abundant time for some publicity of his own. His fame was linked to that of Irving, even to the ex- tent of publication of a two-vol- ume biography which gave him, modestly enough, but nevertheless securely, a place in fame in com- panionship with the most famous player of the time. i The story on which this novel of the weird was founded is evi- dently one that the clever Sche- herazade told to the sultan in a series which diverted him from his intention of killing her as he killed other brides, and-giving him a chance finally to fall in love with her in all earnestness. One of these stories was that of Amine, who haunted a burial place and wrought consternation by her activities as a ghoul. The Orientals are supposed to be un- surpassed in the craft of story- making about the supernatural. But the old author who con- ributed the fair ghoul to the pages of the “Arabian Nights” did no more than hint at the compli- cated fascinations with which Stoker invested it, and which Dramatists Deane and Balderson have disclosed with so much in- genuity in employing the re- sources, both mechanical and dra- matic, of the modern stage. The mechanics are not permitted to obliterate the love story in which fidelity survives the test of a fear- ful discovery. * ¥ kX dramatic proportions, the new Barrymore play asserts itself tech- There is importance in the play’s opportunity for acting suf- 2 AMUSEMENT SECTION he Sundiay Star. WASHINGTON, NDAY D, 10, St Amusement s RonALD COLmaN; Columbia i, and PAULINE STARKE (SERTRUDE BLyTHE - Fox (S7oge) ficient to make the title role inter- pretation by Raymond Huntley as terrifying as Mansfield’s “Mr. Hyde” in the Robert Louis Steven- son story. The visage which gave this “vampire” the appearance of one prolonging the life and still spending a portion of it in the tomb is a masterpiece of make- up not surpassed since Arthur Forrest preserved as a personal secret the means by which he gave a luminous green complexion to the “Button Molder” in “Peer Gynt.” The general opinion was that he accomplished this by means of a tiny electric bulb con- cealed in the folds of his attire at the neck. * ¥ k X All kinds of devices are utilized in “Dracula,” some of the tricks being so simple, yet so mystifying that Thurston himself might be suspected of a hand in the col- laboration. * % Kk K The play concludes with a prac- tical joke very neatly turned; per- haps the best practical joke since the “Spider” called ih the police to arrest the entire audience. The “Dracula” company lines up before the curtain for an epi- logue, which appears to start as a genial reminder that, after all, it was only a play, and the ladies and children need have no fear any more than the audience of the rustic players in “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” After a reference to a return to home and the glow of lamps in domestic serenity, the hope is expressed that the audi- ence will remember (soothing ex- pectation is here abruptly shat- tered)—that There Are Precisely Such Things as This in Real Life! —which was no way to treat a series of perfectly pleasant Hal- loween parties! R = The new vehicle for Walker White- side is really an old play, “The Royal Box.” It is by Charles Coghlan and concerns a Drury Lane actor when that theater was in the heyday of its glory. Mr. Whiteside opens in Buffalo this week and then goes into New York for ap expected run. MORNING, NOVEMBER 4, 1928. BETTY BRONSON and ALEC B FRANCIS /\/\e‘fropol itan_ National (fi.’exe/@fi“ HiT 7 DECK -, IN THE SPOTLIGHT Notes of the Stage and Its People. Motoring and Aviation News LILLIAN GISH - STREET of” ILLUSION " RICH- S+taand “The Miesing Man." ¢¢T'HE MISSING MAN,” a stage play by John Posner, an eminent Eu- ropean playwright, and Benjamin Gla- zer, will be put into production at once as Pathe's first 100 per cent talking pic- ture. “The Sacred Flame” is the name of gram of importation of foreign plays With the purchase of “The Missing the new Somerset Maugham play, which Gilbert Miller and Messmore Kendall have placed in rehearsal. “The Dark Hours,” a Biblical play by Don Marquis, was produced in Pittsburgh by the Carnegie Institute of Technology last week and will continue this week. The name of the play known first as “The Colonel’s Lady,” and later as “Heat,” is now *‘The House Unguarded.” It is the work of Lester Lonergan and Led D. Hollister and will open in New York on Christmas eve with Mr. Loner- gan in the leading role. Elsie Ferguson has been engaged by Edgar Selwyn as the star of “The Last Lover,” a play which he will put in rehearsal this week. Miss Ferguson was last seen in “The House of Women.” “The Last Lover” is the work of Gar- rett Fort, Charles Beahan and John Hunter Booth. The first two adapted “Jarnegan” from Jim Tully's novel. “The Suicide Club,” a play by Hugh A. Anderson and George Bamman, based on the new Arabian Nights stories of Robert Louis Stevenson, is an- nounced for production early in Janu- ary. Mr. Anderson will sponsor the play in association with a Broadway producer. A new comedy by A. E. Thomas called “The Barn” goes into rehearsal this week. Bert Lytell is to take the speaking stage again in a comedy called “Broth- ers,” from the pen of Herbert Aston, Jjr. The show has been in rehearsal for a week or more under the guiding hand of John Henry Mears. Eddie Dowling will be seen- in New York some time next month as the star of a musical comedy, as yet un- named. Mr. Dowling will provide the book and James Hanley will supply the score. “So This Is Lov is the name of the play in which Peggy Hopkins Joyce will appear this month under the management of E. Ray Goets. Lew Cantor plans an extensive pro- 'y to this country. He starts off with three plays, Sudermann’s “Honor”; Max Halbe’s “Youth,” and Hauptmann's “Lonely Wives.” Each play is to have an independent production. ‘The Arthur Somers Roche play, “The Crooks Convention,t recently tried out in this city by Lyle D. Andrews, has closed. Following the Eddie Cantor show, Mr. Ziegfeld’s next production, which he expects to launch about the first of the year, will be a musical version of “East Is West.” William A. Brady's forthcoming play, by Olga Printzlau, will be called “The Come-Back” instead of “The Show- down.” It opens in New Rochelle a week hence and is due in New York soon after, Jean Dixon has a leading role. “Tomorrow,” a play by Elizabeth Gould and Saxon Kling, is scheduled to open on Broadway the latter part of this month.” The play, which is said to be a scenic novelty, will have a cast headed by Hedda Hopper, Madge Evans and Hope Sutherland. Carl Reed is the producer, and the play will be directed by Philip Bartholomae. - Richard Skinner, who played with John Barrymore in “Hamlet” several seasons past, is to have an important role in Mark Linder's melodrama, “The Squealer.” It is due in New York the latter part of this month. — Grabbed as an Actor, IT took 15 years of motion picture work to bring Art Miller his chance as an actor, but that opportunity came rather suddenly at that. Miller, a member of the “grips” gang at the Paramount studios, was selected to play a small part in “Someone to Love,” a new picture starring Charles “Buddy” Rogers. He was picked out on the set by Director F. Richard Jones, told to change his clothes, and report back for work as an actor. He expects to go back to his overalls when his present bit as a player is ended. Man” at a high price ends a several months’ search for material for Pathe’s initial all-dialogue production. A stage play was sought because of its story with dialogue already written, and ‘“lines” tested by performance before critical audiences. In a play, too, “the dia- logue's the thing,” for the story con- struction necessarily hangs upon it. The advantages of such material over the ingertion of specially written dialogue into a motion picture scenario originally intended for silent production, are apparent. “The Missing Man” is declared re- markable not only for its crisp, force- ful dialogue which is so tied in with the action as to make spoken word and physical action interdependent, but for a plot so strong in mystery and sus- pense as to be excellent motion picture material even without talk. On Byrd Expedition. SSIGNED to turn the biggest news story of recent years into a feature length production for Paramount-Fa- moud-Lasky Corporation, Willard Van- der Veer is accompanying Comdr. Rich- ard E. Byrd to the South Pole to film the many-sided activities of the great expedition. He has been sent off on his two-year trip by Emanuel Cohen, editor of Paramount News, to represent the newsreel staff, on which Vander Veer has worked since its inception. The morning that preceded Vander Veer’s departure was a hectic one. Last- minute additions had to be made to the small mountain of equipment and outfit that he was taking for his long trip, and final touches had to be ’iven to the plais for the picture that it is hoped will result from the expedition, To Film Dra.ma of India. “DRUMS OF OUDE,” the dramatic stage hit of a dozen years ago, written by Austin Strong, author of “Seventh Heaven,” has been purchased by Paramount and will be produced as an_all-talking film. The play centers about the tribal life of India, and the dramatic beating of drums which proved so effective in its stage rendition, will enhance its Palace EVERETT HORTON Earle Attractions in Washington Playhouses This Week IN WASHINGTON THEATERS THIS WEEK. NATIONAL—“Hit the Deck,” musical comedy. Tomorrow eve- ning. BELASCO—Pauline Frederick in “The Scarlet Woman,” comedy. This evening. POLI'S—“Abie’s Irish Rose,” comedy. This evening. STRAND—“Girls of the U. 8. A.,” burlesque. This afternoon and evening. NATIONAL—"Hit the Deck.” “Hit the Deck,” the well known musi- cal comedy, with Queenie Smith and Charles Purcell heading an excellent cast, comes to the National Theater for the week beginning tomorrow night. ‘This musical comedy followed half a dozen very popular scores presented to the public by Vincent Youmans, among them “No, No, Nanette,” and it is re- puted to have exceeded all in point of widespread popularity as well as in the volume of box office receipts. New York saw it and acclaimed it for a whole year, and Chicago gave it favor at the Woods Theater for over six months that no other attraction of its kind ever achieved. London also packed its big Hippodrome for over eight months to applaud this American product. It is said by globe-trotters that in no place where the phonograph or the radio has found its way are the people unfamiliar with the strains of “Hallelujah” and “Sometimes I'm Happy. In no small degree the success of “Hit the Deck” is credited to the perform- ance of the unique singing and dancing artiste, Queenie Smith, as Looloo, the intriguing keeper of the coffee stand on the naval dock at Newport, R. I, where the story has its beginning, and to Charles Purcell as Bilge, a handsome young sailor. Their long association with the production has had much to do in enhancing the wonderful popu- larity of Mr. Youmans’ music and Her- bert Fields' book, adapted from Hubert Osborne’s comedy entitled *‘Shore Leave.” They will be accompanied by nearly all those who have been identified with the other parts in the show almost from its first production, including Juanita Chefalo, Polly Mara, “Jackie” Paige, Mary Jenkins, Charles Mitchell, Jack Willis, Charles Fowler, Hal Gib- son, Eddie Russel, jr.; Lee Fong Foo and 75 others. STRAND—"Girls of the U. S. A.” “Girls of the U. 8. A" is the title of the show for election week at the mppgvnppul as & film, Strand Theater. Its big-typed per- F 4 formers include “Red Hot” Noel, the blues singing prima fignr:l:, W] dancing has won for her the peppery title; George Carroll, chief fun creator; Billy Mifflin, second string comic and clever in boob delineation, Others include Bryan Wolf, singing juvenile; Ed Calame, straight man, and Flo Rich, ingenue, whose number leading and individual - dancing spe- clalties are featured. Sixteen nimble, good-looking lassies, with pretty cos- tumes, make up the background. Patrons of the Strand Theater will be enabled to enjoy an excellent show and at the same time keep up witk the election returns Tuesday night ‘The management will provide a “Mid. nite Show,” and returns will be rea- from the stage as rapidly as received BURTON HOLMES, Thursday. Burton Holmes will come to the Nr tional Theater Thursday afternoon t picture “something of the Lure ¢ Spain.” In the first of his new Travel Revue: on the dreamy land of Don Quixot and Sancho Panza, will be introduce some of the attractions of the Spanisk capital—the Villa y Corte—Town of thr Court—as it is known to all Spaniards It has taken nearly 1,000 years to write the history of Madrid. In 939 it was a fortified town, guarding the then Moor- ish capital of Toledo. It was ther called “Magorit,” and so remained vnti 1086, when Alfonsori of Castile wrested it from the Moors, and thus, with the passing years, Madrid changed and de- veloped, losing much by constant fires and the riots and uprisings of lawless times, until today it is a city second only to Paris in ti'e magnificence of her boulevards, art galleries, and public ouilding:. Here, it is announced, Mr, Holmes will start his make-believe journey in Spain, which is not to end until he has covered the grandeur of her mountains, palace: the = semi-tropical loveliness of her Mediterranean _coasts, the (Continued on Second Page.)