Evening Star Newspaper, December 30, 1928, Page 50

. AMUS OME sage has advanced the sug- | gestion that the whole problem | of sound pictures is to bring the | voice in its perfection to the | screen, if the movie colony can furnish voices that have been per- fected in speaking. ’ Kodak Park plant of the Eastman Kodak Co. is the first plant in any wi connected with movie production to t out the five-day working week asked | for by the American Federation of | Labor, according to Film Daily. If suc- | cessful, it is stated, the plan will affect 15,000 employes, 5.000 of whom are in the Kodak Park plant. | Corinne Grifith has signed a new vear contract with First National, | *h will include talking pictures. | Universal has engaged Willam M Marston, lecturer on psychology at | Columbia University, as director of its | public service bureau, a new department formed to “psyche” the business from stories to sales, according to announce- | ment. Showing that the industry is| willing to try anything to succeed. The formation of a company cap-| ftalized at $15,000,000 to produce third- | dimension pictures with sound and color is reported, and Pola Negri's hus- | band, Prince Serge Mdivani, has gone to Europe, with a complete recording and reproducing unit to form a com- pany to market the devices in all coun- | tries. | Mr. Nicholas Schenck. who heads the | Loew circuit, still insists that the in dustry has gone daffy on sound pic- | tures—and that there is a hereafter. | Loew's is said to have done a busmess‘ of $90,000,000 last year. The Nation's total tax on entertain- | ment_admissions for the ycar ended | June 30, 1929, is reported as $16.675.419, | and New York alone is said to have ! FILMOGRAMS Bits From the Studios and Theaters. EMENTS.' { paid $7,126,169 of it. The District of | Columbia paid $226,319.13. | = i A portable studio lamp that operates | off his aujomobile storage battery is the latest invention of Lon Chaney, to aid him photography. in his amateur motion picture He arranged the ney | light to enable him to take “night scenes” while camping. ‘The star of “West of Zanzibar” has no less than | four motion picture cameras and a | complete minature studio equipment. A chorus costume worn by Mar. Doran in the Metro-Goldwyn-Ma picture “Broadway Melody said to contain 25000 pearls, half of them being used as a “spider web” effect draped from the arms. Chorus chorines in Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer's all-talking picture, “Broadway Melody,” plaster their bare legs with make-up on cold mornings, getting the same warmth, they say, as that pro- Vided by an ordinary pair of silk | stockings. | | i | | After numerous tests with various liquid and paste make-up materials it was discovered that a specially pre- pared dry or powder make-up was the most easily photographed and gave the best color combinations in Metro- | Goldwyn-Mayer's new novelty colortone revues produced by Gus Edwards, fa- mous song composer and impresario. “The Trial of Mary Dugan” was| called to order at the Metro-Goldwyn- Maver studio last week with Bayard | Veiller, author of this successful Broad- | wa directing the all-talking screen version. “Wild Orchids” is the final title se- | lected for Greta Garbo's Metro- | Goldwyn-Mayer film story of adven- ture in Java. Nils Asther, who, like | Miss Garbo, comes from Smckholm,} has the masculine lead. Began V\ilgl Maude Adams! ROBERT CAPRON, who is to play the Catiett role in George Gersh- win's jazz hit, “Lady, Be Good.” with the Savoyards at the Belasco this week, is said to have schooled his gifts in the entire gamut of stage presentations— from Shakespeare to song-and-dance headliners. Born in Northboro, Mass., he rounded out his three R’s in Boston and for a short period, at the age of 10, in ‘Wash- ington, D. C. ) As a schoolboy in Boston, one of Bob's best chums was the son of John Craig and Mary Young, of the famous Castle Square Stock Co. It was through young Craig that Bob was introduced to the mysteries of backstage as spear- carriers in “Jeanne d'Arc,” which had Maude Adams for its star. The smell of grease paint and the glamour of the mazdas exerted their spell, and despite family protest, he hung around the local | theaters until Otis Skinner engaged him | to carry another spear in “Kismet.” Then followed an appearance as an| angel in heaven in “Il Trovotore” and a monk in “Faust.” He became a regular actor when Mr. Craig engaged him for his stock com- pany at $10 a week. Here in the next four years Bob played everything from kids in short pants to bewhiskered old men. It was in this company that h received the best foundation for an actor’s success—a thorough training in | Shakespearean plays, making for an unusually clear enunciation. Deciding he was ready for Broadway young Capron joined the original com- pany of “Common Clay,” in which the two youngest members of the cast played the two oldest men. One was Bob, the other Alfred Lunt. Capron’s first musical | comedy appearance was with Anna Held in “Follow Me.” He also had parts in “The Masquerador” with Guy Bates Post, “The Man Who Came Back"| “Penrod” and “Good Gracious, Anna- belle,” following Roland Young. At intervals he had been approached with the query, “Can you sing and| dance?” to which he always answered | “No.” One day a manager told him that if he could sing and dance, there was a part for him in a Broadway show at $75 a week. The salary seemed so overwhelming, he was compelled to say “Yes,” and at rehearsals he discovered somewhat to his own amazement that | he really could do both. Tiring of the strolling minstrelsy of vaudeville, and meeting Charles Emerson | Cook, he joined the Savoy Mu:»h‘.’\li Comedy Co. at the beginning of ifs Canadian engagement, and now is *sol on musical comedy stock. Famous Dancer Coming. 'HE devotees of the terpsichorean ll’t‘ have sometimes their short day of | fame, and sometimes not even that, | but only once in a long while does a dancer arise who can impress on her | writers, painters and people of the high- est social standing in America and Eng- land, on the basis of the singular merit that sets her apart from other dancers of her generation. Four years 2go, almost overnight, M | | garments were replaced with others not | coming from,” he said as he ran his | | fingers’ through her shock of blond hair. ‘'THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, DECEMBER 30 Static and “Talkies.” ILM beauties may be emotionally magnetic, but they cannot wear cos- tumes that are electrically magnetic if they are to succeed in the new talking | pictures. That fact became apparent during the synchronizing of First Na- tional productions recently. { For instance, Dorothy Mackaill was | playing a cabaret dancer in scenes for “His Captive Woman,” the George Fitzme=:#ise production. In some scenes | there was a static crackling in the microphones. “What are you wearing under that ccstume?” one of the engineers asked ker. Miss Mackaill told him. That | ended the difficulty, for the offending | 50 static. In another picture, “Naughty Baby,” | in which Alice White and Jack Mulhall | are co-featured, a similar question was put to Miss White. Her answer, with a blush, was:| “Nothing that has silk in it.” The| fabrics in her dress materials were, found to be too soft to broadcast. Then the electrical cngineer had an inspira- | tior “Put some is he said. where this static And taboo on the National, silk wear and dry hair_are telking stages at First Shifted kiolHolmoad) ’I‘HE United Artists’ singing and talk- ing picture, “Song of Broadway,” in which Harry Richman is to star, | will be produced in Hollywood instead ! of New York. | Word to this effect has been received at the United Artists’ Studio. This| means that John W. Considine, jr., pro- duce Alan Crosland, director; C. Gardner Sullivan, scenarist; Joe E. Brown, one of the supporting players, and other members of the company, who went to New York to start prepa- ions a month ago are returning at once to the West Coast. According to dispatches from the East, the company wes practically ready | to begin shooting en the powers that be decided that “Song of Broadway" should be made in Hollywood. A post- ponement in start of production until late Spring or early Summer also is practically a certainty, for Richman will not be able to come to Hollywood until that time. Richman is the star of “George White's Scandal and he also conducts his own night club and is one of the prolific makers of phonograph records. After mapping the production schedule on the basis of utilizing Richman’s serv- ices in New York motion picture studio only part of the time, Considine, Rich- man and White finally decided to post- pone “Song of Broadway” and make the entire talking feature on the United Artists’ lot in Hollywood next Summer. | Irving Berlin has written the songs and lyries. Gary Cooper in Jannings ilm. ARY COOPER in “The Wolf Song,” Emil Jannings' new Paramount pi ture, will play the role of a Swiss arti in love with the wife of the star char-| n(‘}tr. Esther Ralston will play the| wife. The story is an_original by Victor Schertzinger and Nicholas Soussanin, ; the Russian actor who appeared as valet in“A’ Gentleman of Paris. A New Headgear 928—PART 'RMUSEMENTS.™ A Mexican girl who is claimed to be t! lesson from Huston Ray, noted pianist. MEXICAN “DISCOVERY” TAKES LESSO MONA RICO, he movie “find” of the season, takes a Senorita Rico has a supporting role in the new John Barrymore picture, “King of the Mountains.” WYITH the completion of the sound stages and recording rooms, the work of synchronizing pictures has been started in earnest at the Burbank lot First National stars are laughing off attacks of “Mike fever,” caused by facing the microphone for sound pictures for the first time. Streets at the studios are roped off, with large signs reading: “Street closed to traffic. Recording on Stage 4.” The fire signal is the only during working hours. The east gate has been closed tol Sound and Silence. traffic, and automobiles and trucks are now routed through the north gate. All the First National stars, including Colleen Moore, Richard Barthelmess, Corinne _Griffith, Milton Sills, _Billie Dove, Alice White, Jack Mulhall and Dorothy Mackaill, have either had their “baptism of fire” in front of the mike, or_are preparing to have it soon. The employes “tread softly” as they walk from stage to stage, for the “talkies” are having their inning. They whistle on the loi permitted to be blown | don't even whistle at their work any | nore on the movie lots, They chew m “silent” gum instead! “THE audience is not alone in feeling and yielding to the subtle spirit | of mystery and the creepy sensation, with its thrills and chills, created by | our play ‘The Wooden Kimono,'” said | May Ward, who enacts the role of the | frightened heroine. “The actors are as susceptible as the audience to the play's exciting moments, despite the fact that they are familiar with all the lines, situations and devices used to produce the thrills. “Strange as it may seem, no two audiences receive the play alike. One performance they scream and laugh in unison, while at another the audience is differently affected. Back of the cur- tain we are constantly getting thrills, when the audience waits for us. Some- times they really frighten us more than we frighten them, a fact that makes it impossible for any of us to feel com- pletely at ease. It is always like a first performance and almost impossible for Mystery Plays Grip. —in the play, of course, when T have to sit tight and try and keep my mind on the scene at hand—all the while some one or another in the audience ies out some sort of warning, And then the creeps get even me. “The strange psychology to me is the unmistakable evidence the human mind takes in reverting back to the childish state. The terrors and mystery in our play excite and amuse an audience, who experience vicariously the delights of my escaping from the mad man and other haunting dangers. In other words, people come to experience in the theater what they do everything to avoid in reality. And, perhaps, therein lies our success. “And they laugh heartily, too, for our play has so many amusing situations to relieve the tenseness of the drama. I don’t know who gets the most enjoy- ment out of our performance—the audi- ence or our company.” Hollywood Is Green. OLLYWOOD had a green Christ- mas, Green is the favorite color out there just now. Jewels, cars, dresses all are in shades of green. Dorothy Dwan, Russel Gleason, | Phyllis Haver, Mary Brian drive road- sters of green. James ‘Gleason has a huge Packard in two tones of this color. | | Tom Mix has a Rolls Royce in green, | and Robert Armstrong has a Lincol | | of green hues. | Lucile Webster wears a_velvet en-; semble of green. Norma Shearer and Marion Davies also appeared in green suits recently. Evelyn Brent woars bright green sport suits frequently, and | favors dazzling green felt hats. ! Mrs. Robert Armstrong has dull green kid shoes, with hose to match, which she wears with a checked sport suit. Green purses of felts and leath are carried by Mrs. Ken Maynard, L Wilson and Louise Fazenda. The Barker. i | THIS new First National picture i 4 “The Barker,” a George Fitz- | | maurice special production, stars Milt | Sills and Dorothy Mackaill, with Betty | Compson, Douglas Fairbanks, jr. and | many others in important roles. Sills is the barker for the Hawailan | concession with a traveling carnival ! His son wants to join and finally does | 50. He interrupts a love affair with the | hula dancer and the barker. The for- | | ner is indignant, and gets Lou, a girl | friend in the show, to vamp the boy. s in_love instead, and the two The barker is wild with Tragedy looms, but eventually it | s all straightened out. | "It is a whimsical tale of a queer vo- | cation, and is giving the audiences a | genuine treat. 1 { | Comebacks. | |INAOMI CHILDERS and Rosemary {4 N Theby, two most popular stars be- | | fore their Tetirement, are to return to the silver sheet in Columbia's “Trial | Marriage,” after an absence of several | years. | Both players were original members of the old Vitagraph Co., and achieved fame in widely different roles. Miss | Theby was one of the most famous vamps of her day, while Miss Childers, | who has not faced a camera in seven | years, played only straight leads. i “Trial Marriage” is a story of the | latest_innovation in_marital relations, presenting the two players in the roles of the first and fourth wife of a much | married man. More of Mystery. JIRGINIA VALLI and Gaston Glass have been engaged for the roman- | tic leads in Columbia's latest thriling | mystery drama, set against a back- ground of political intrigue in a fic- titious foreign country. The new pic- ture has not yet been definitely titled. Miss Valli, who is to be cast as an| agent of the secret service in the new | film, was starred in “The Street of Il- lusion.” Mr. Glass has just completed }F“isk first heavy delination in “The aker. Madge Bellamy's contract with Fox will soon expire, and it is said she is 1 going to quit. A SYNCHRONIZED METRO-GOLDWYN-MAVYER PICTURE AV\NQ wow °% R0 GOLOWy N n AYER' PICTIOUND THOUT, we‘quh\- et 3" NEW YEAR'S EVE %% SHOW STARTS 11:30 P.M. COMPANY THEATRES “The Houser of Talkier’ WASHINGTON'S FINEST ENTERTAINMENT EARLE THE BIGGEST THRILL TALKING-PICTURE \ q\)“x‘ EVER OFFERED At Our Regular Prices Ve 'Il! Present the §2 New Yorl Special BARKER MILYON ILLS DOROTHY MackAILe Supported by Betty Compson, Dong Fairbanks, jr., George Bunday, Doors Open 2 P. M. W Daily, 11_A. M. to 11 P. M. | Enters became one of the great Ameri- 'She is said us to throw off our own individualities, era the stamp of her own genuine v Cooper, and Other Bril- Colleen Moore is soon to make a pic- originality. Such a dancer is Angna |can dancers of her day. = 1v letely i Enters, who is to appear before a | to have broken with almost every school | O e ) Mhin foids . | tuve sentibiats TWhes Teidt. ¥vat A¥e liant Artists Washington audience for the first time | of the dance, from classic to ballet. | i it 4 | “There are times when I am in peril SEE and HEAR! JOHN | She presents nothing that is not en- | on Friday afternoon, January 11, under | | tirely her own conception. She does not | The Stars Speaking Their Parts— the joint auspices of the Bryn Mawr and ~Wellesley Alumnae Clubs, in a program of “Episodes,” her own origi- nal “compositions in dance form.” Her success in New York during four consecutive seasons is said to have been phenomenal. The London Ob- server .remarked of her that “already half of artistic London i talking about her; her technique is uncanny.” Miss | Enters has won tributes from musicians, ! imitate Pavlowa or Duncan. What; emerges in her “Episodes” is classed | as something of herself rather than of either music or setting, steps or rhythm. And this something is always unusual. Her dances are founded on no phys- ieal technique. Neither are they based on thz music. They use the music merely 25 a background. A Million OVER a million dollars in molors!l It takes more than 217 motor vehicles of more than 25 different types to furnish transportation facilities for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios in Culver City, to say nothing of the hun- dreds of privately owned cars of the stars, featured players, directors, execu- tives and_employes, says Leslie Small, head of the automotive department of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios. “The studio owns and operates 175 trucks and passenger cars,” declares Small, “and has 42 passenger cars on | ‘wonstant call for transportation service. | Of the different types owned by the ‘Qmpany there are Renaults, Black & | White Taxis, American-La France, Bull Dog Macks, Packards, Wintons, Fords, Cunninghams, Reos, Graham, Dodge, ‘Whites, etc. “For example: We have 3 Renault in Motors. town cars and 1 sedan, 3 Black & White taxicabs, 60 trucks of varied tonnage, American-La France, White, Mack, Ford and Graham. “Seven generators are mounted on White, American-La France and Bull | Dog Mack motor trucks. We have 9 | wind machines mounted on 8 Ford | chassis and 1 Winton. “There are 2 hearses; 1 is a Cun- ningham, the other a Reo. ‘Three camera cars are motored with Packards. There are several Cadillac sedans and 2 touring cars, and 1 seven-passenger | Cunningham. “And that isn't all by any means. We have 2 pump engines mounted on Pierce-Arrow chassis, a fire engine, 8 tractors, 16 trailers, 3 portable Delco lighting systems and+a huge commissary wagon. “Yes, sirl motors!” i | Over a million dollars in A New Napoleon. /AT heart a pacifist—though in reality one of the greatest military gen- fuses the world has ever known. Such was Napoleon Bonaparte, according to the conception of Abel Gance, famous French motion picture_director, whose film spectacle of the Little Corporal's life is on view at the Little Theater today. “I have always thought of Napoleon as a man who loved peace,” M. Gance ix quoted as saying, “vet who was forced to make war because he believed that would be the only way to prevent bloodshed in the future. After the battle of Marengo, Napoleon found the smell of battle too strong for him, how- ever, and so the remainder of his career was devoted to war, even though he hated it, “In the film version of the great general's life,” continues the quotation, “I have attempted to present this side Menjou's Talkie. ADOLPHE MENJOU will break his silence on the screen in his next icture, a one hundred per cent dia- | logue production of ihe internationaily famous play “The Concert,” in which Leo Dietrichstein starred in New York. This is regarded as one of the most important film announcements of the season. Not only will Menjou's voice be heard in the picturization of Hermann Bahrs' stage’ hit, but Florence Vidor will make her debut in talking pictures as the featured femirine principal. Placing the unlimited resources of Paramount West Coast studios behind the production, Jesse L. Lasky has assigned its direction to Lothar Mendes, who has done exceptional work since coming to Hollywood. Included in his career abread was a period of five spent with the master stage artist, Reinhardt. Mendes recently completad the direction of “Interference’ which the all dialogue picture dire J, Pomeroy., Production on * fogin until Pehrustp, on d based. ‘Concert” will notl Patterned after the gridiron helmet is this new hat of Leila Hyams, Hollywood player. of Napoleon's character, with many | personal and temperamental traits that | usually escape the historian. ‘Napo- | leon’ is not exactly a historical or bio- ! graphical film, but a presentation of the spirit and glory of the man that | | lead him on to undying fame and for- | tune, While many of the important | events of his stormy career are pic- tured, they are merely incidental to the building up of the fundamental char-! acter of the man himself. “No pains were spared to make the | film historically accurate. The filming, for the most part, was done on the actual locations and an immense staff) of technical advisers and_researchers worked for months on the details, That ! the film is true and beautiful is shown | in the fact that it was first presented at the National Opera in Paris, being the first motion picture to be honored by being shown there. The occasion | was sponsored by the governmen NEW STANTON ‘8.5 55-%F L%PI‘.ES}"‘;”EY in “WHILE THE CI 4th and Bufternut S| No Parking Troubles GREAT | JUNIOR CIRCUS """ Also TAKOMA ARTHUR LAKE and CAST _ in _“AIR COMEDY _and NEW CAMEQ THEATER ™ gainer TOMORROW—CHARLES FARRELL in __“PAZIL. AGEL. “CA] COMEDY—MIKE ING_THE_BULL. isconsin. CHAPLIN cot - | | TER. Washington's Unmique Plavhouse THE LITTLE THEATER Between F and G on Ninth Street Films From All Over the World e SIDN LUST'S _ HIPPODROME ..ot ) JDRON Todey-Tomorrow Eric Von Stroheim “The Wedding March” Fach child attending show today will receive a box of Christmas candy free. 1ith and 1. Ave. Today and' Tomorrow Joan Crawford “OUR_DANCING DAUGHTERS. " 1119 N. Capitol St. Today-Tomorrow Colleen Moore “Lilac Time” “NAPOLEON” fmaner " %y 1 to 11 Continyous Daily. rank, 8356 Today, 8 to 11 Now Playing! The Most Magnificent Historical Spectacle Ever Conceived | GOTTEN of CHINA > Fach child atiending __show_will receive a box of candy free CAROLINA "0 DOROTHY Near F FOI A New and Different Story of the q i Greatest Conaueror of All Time | Actually Filmed in France on the Exact Historical Av “WATERFRONT, MULHALL. Locations MACKAILL, OLYMPIC S.E. with JACK St Bet. Tigh & 15(h “Today & Tomorrow MACHREE" W. romance -— thrilling Beautiful A Fappy New Year as a very muchly domestic RED s dainty groun Theo P Movietone News It Speaks For Itself! Lawrenc “MOTHER With VICTOR MCLAGLEN, MUSIC. FOX NEWS. events — magnificent the most e of all Alms. histortcal settings—in $ nd datimctiy 150 atd age one glorious night of m: NANCY DECKER Ziegteld's Follies GOMEZ & WINONA Follies Bergers “Golden Dawn" Mast Ceremonies P AT FOURTEENTH ST. Willlam Fox Presents ated hushand who goes out for just ing whoopee WINE and who learns his lesson from alluringly beautifal June Collyer Fox Movietone Symphonic Score MAGNIFICENT SETTING Featuring A New Importation 12-FOX XYLOPHONETTES—I12 of daneing girls that are particularly talented. and SAMMY KRELOFF Moscow Theater LEO PRINCE “Vanities” NEIL SISTERS “Scandals” Fox Grand Orchestra Leon Brusiloft Conducting CHOPIN Melodies ennington e Downe; o GALA MIDNITE s Eve Performance GILBERT f A WOMAN 9 AFFAIRY A story by the master of the sophisticated novel, Michael Arlen. - - - Mayfair and fair maid - - - with Gilbert her impetuous suitor! W"k ewis Stone Hobart Bosworth Dorothy Sebastian John Mack. Brown Douélas Fairbanks Ji ADDED HITS Metro Movietone Acts VINCENT LOPEZ Internatiodally famous orches~ tra leader Metro Movietone Revue Comprising acts by well known talent including VAN & SCHENCK HARRY ROSE THE CAPITOLIANS Fox Movietone News M-G-M News Thematic Prelude Columbia Concert Orchestra CLAUDE BURROWS, Conductor COLUMBIA Hear the Calliope. The Sereen Shows It All With Talking, Sound and Music “Hear the Barker Shouting the Glories of the Side Show— SUNDAY, 3 to 11 P. M. Doors Open 2:30 P. M. METROPOLITA DAILY, 11 A. M. to 11 P. M. Doors Open 10:30 4. M. NOwW PLAYING At Our Regular Prices We, Present a Picture Now Playing In New York at $2 3 WARNER.BROS. 1407 ALL-TALKING PICTURE ON TRIAL with PAULINE [14.84 . LOIS WILSON 4 HOLMES HERBERT - JASON ROBARDS - RICHARD TUCKER JOHNNY ARTHUR ARCHIE M7 ’ NEW YEAR’S EVE SHOWS Complete performances beginning 11:30 p.m. Extended schedule, ending at 12 midnight, in all other Stanley-Crandall Theaters " EMBIRE = °** ™% TN oo BoROTHYC MAce __RAILL_in_-BONVOY” ToDAY sna ToMorrow-ricmaro | HOME s BENNETT and DORIS KENYON in TODAY and TOMORROW--VILMA “THE HOME TOWNERS.” BOBBY BANKY and RONALD COLMAN _ VERNON_COMEDY. in_“TWO LOVERS'™ AVENUE GRAND %2 %3 | oG S TODAY and TOMORROW--D. W. ‘TODAY and TO! GRIFFITH'S “THE BATTLE OF MACKAILL L RN MAN in_"CONVOY. CENTRAL 9th St. Bet. D and E SAVOY 1ith & Col T e Tosomaow gonua | OB ToRonRRY —CpER __CHRI ,gfqflpgvs_qu:_cqumv __UMS_COMEDY. ? ” CHEVY CHASE g5 5. | TIVOL[ *uw & Fark R N TODAY--COLLEEN MOORE in ‘OH TODAY and TOMORROW--JOI A KAY. BOBBY VERNON COM- 8{;‘\7‘}1‘,“1 A"Y"C”fi IKQISZ'%’ Tfi! ™ 2 3 COLONY 6= Ave- & —YORK Ga. Ave. & Quebec 8L N.W. 'S “THE