Evening Star Newspaper, March 3, 1929, Page 33

Sp - v | Theater, Scree and Music n AMUSEMENT SECTION he Sunday Star, ' WMotor,MAviation - and Radio News WASHINGTON, D. C, SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 3, 19 29 PaTTI HARROLD- Keiths - Musics/ Comeds - INAUGURAL BARTUE Inauguration At the Playhouse BY PHILAND Accepting the doctrine “all the world’s a stage,” the really big drama of the present hour, one which has been rehearsed not merely all Summer but for many years, is offered by the statesman star who will interest not only the throngs of visitors tomorrow, but a Nation-wide audience as well. Inauguration day is an epoch- making date in American history and the ordinary forms of public interest, whether seriously poetic or not, fade into comparative in- significance. i x ‘The theaters of the District of Columbia, however, are confidently making preparation for entertain- ment on the usual lines, with an effort to place the best obtainable for both .;ttage m:;ill scdrere‘n l}'; the disposal of the public during hours Wwhen sightseeing must necessarily leave room for a few hours of re- laxation. * i Ak A very important change in the theater situation here will be in- troduced coincidentally with the new governmental regime, when Keith's Theater, which has been dark for months, throws on the electric switch to blazon the an- nouncements of the Savoy Musical | Comedy Co. The transfer of this| merry singing and dancing organ- ization gives the Emerson Cook management the benefit of larger seating capacity, which will be ad- vantageous in case the organiza- tion can go on steadily toward the attainment of a regular stand- ing room rule. % ok ok “For an extra added attraction,” —as Keith's was fond of saying when at the height of its vaude- ville career—the Savoy manage- ment has secured as leading song- stress Patti Harrold. She is an- other of the distinguished ex- amples of heredity in the theater; the daughter of Orville Harrold, | who occupied the enviable position of leading tenor of the Metropoli- tan ra Co. The lure of salary took father and daughter for a time into vaudeville, but both re- turned to the interpretation of classical music. * xox % ‘The examples of distinguished offspring of stage favorites are so nhumerous as apparently to contra- dict a very general idea that true artistic genius is not, save in rare instances, a hereditary gift. Pos- sibly environment has a great deal to do with the ease experienced by children of theatrical parentage in adjusting to the requirements of the stage. They learn the tradi- |at the Belasco will be Margaret | |tive effect in the stage presen- H WAITING 13 days for nature to create Week ER JOHNSON. |should become at all about it. nervous * Kk k% The well known fondness of E. H. Sothern for this city has proved fortunate for the Junior Theater, where Mr. Sothern’s dramatic recitals have established agreeable interest. Mr. Sothern is another of the figures in the theater who have followed in parental foot- steps. ® ik Replacing the musical company Anglin, who has been playing “Lady Dedlock” and who, possibly in view of the fact that her per- formance in this play has already been seen here, has decided to substitute a drama which will have the interest of novelty. One of the important theatrical events was Miss Anglin’s appearance at the Belasco, then the Lafayette Square, with Henry Miller in “The Great Divide.” It was a play of great importance in theater an- nals, and her appearance in it was one of the highlights of her career. * X ¥ % The National Theater Players have a selection they think will have a positive appeal to an inau- guration week clientele. A great deal of the drama has been in the .conference room; not drama |that could have any competi- tations, not at all a drama of genial fancies. It is rather sta- | tistical, with simple arithmetic |taking the place of figures of speech. When the management intimates that three orchestra musicians are all that should be needed for a stock season, the mu- sicians refer with grim determina- tion to their official wage scale and inferentially quote the line from Wordsworth, “We are seven”—and the band plays on. | Waiting’ on Nature. the proper cloud effects so that an entire sunrise might be photographed with a motfon picture camera was the experience of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer company that filmed “Desert Nights,” the latest John Gilbert starring feature, 'wlth synchronized score and sound ef- ects. Desiring certain lighting effects which could be obtained only by the intermin- gling of misty black clouds with the light reflection off the horizon, Director | | certain point every night for 13 nights to catch old Sol in the proper setting. | A different shift was sent on “watch” | every morning and no time was lost by |the company, for if there were no | clouds in the sky at the very break of | dawn the vigil was useless and the watch | RICHARD William Nigh posted a cameraman at a | " LMESS ELEANOR PAINTER- -For Inauqural Ertertainment- RiaHo EACONLEY - S+rand Extra Shows This Week IDNIGHT shows are an- nounced at both the Metro- politan and the Earle Theaters, starting on the stroke of 12 o'clock this evening, and both theaters will be open to the pub- lic Monday morning at 9 o'clock, with complete performances. ‘The Central Theater, Ninth be- tween D and E streets northwest, also will open its doors at 9 o'clock Monday morning. The Metropolitan Theater will have its usual midnight premier on Friday evening, with change of bill. ‘The Loew Theaters, the Palace and the Columbia, both announce midnight performances tonight at 12 o’clock sharp, doors opening at 11:30 p.m. ‘The Strand (burlesque) The- ater announces midnight per- formances this evening and to- morrow evening, starting on the stroke of 12. None of these theaters an- nounce other than the regular prices for seats. Aumu Maude Adams’ Play. 'HE dramatic vehicle that swept Maude Adams to new heights of glory has now been transplanted to the screen as an all-talking motion picture, ‘The rights to Sir James M. Barrie's renowned play “Half an Hour” were tions of the theater as a part of | relieved. The sunrise effects, so clearly | SQuired by Paramount and made into the home conversation and often listen night after night to Shake- speare instead of a bedtime story. * * x * A conspicuous example of stage talent as a family tradition is pre- sented by Ethel Barrymore. Per- haps her Fubhc expected a little deferential stage fright at first and even resented vaguely the en- tire absence of self-consciousness. She delivered her speeches with fine intelligence. and with such self-forgetful naturalness that it was difficult for many auditors, specially those with a-little linger- ing taste for the old-time vocif- erous declamations, to realize that she was really “acting.” She was merely being her- self, and it was a lucky ac- cident, they thought, that personal identity so neatly fitted into the role. In fact, some of those not very discriminating in their analysis suspected that Ethel was chezting just a little bit. This impression was heightened by a certain roguish glint of the eye which made it appear that life seemed a rather pretty bit of mer- riment and that stage playing was 80 easy a matter that she could bof understand why any ope | seen in the production, are said to be | the most beautiful ever obtained for a| motion picture ’ | Has New Organ, | | "I'HE Liberty Theater, 1419 North | Capitol street northeast, has just installed a $10,000 console organ which i to be played by Howard Cooper. The theater recently installed new. lighting system and effects and will shortly undergo new painting throughout. This playhouse belongs to the Sidney B, Lust chain and is considered one of the most up-to-date neighborhood thea- ters in Washington RN !HANDKERCHIEFS are going over in a big way in Hollywood. When the fashionable screen star | takes her 'kerchief from a pocketbook her | nowadays, one pauses, amazed, at its | | size. | "Tis nothing at all for the things to | be 36 inches square, all lacey or picot- |edged: in fact. some of them are so {large they might easily be mistaken for a shoulder shawl, such as grandmother used to wear. Loretta Youn’. piquant screen player, surprised her friends on the lot when she took from her coat pocket a cherry- colored georgette handkerchief that measured 30 inches across By way of novelty, she doubled it and wore it her neck, soarf-fashion. a full-length all-talking Dl’oduclloll un- der the title of “The Doctor's Secret.” Ruth Chatterton, H. B. Warner, John Loder, Robert Edeson, Ethel Wales, Wil- fred Noy and Nanci Price comprise the cast. which Is stage trained. William C. De Mille, famous stage and screen di- rector, not only directed the production but adapted the story as well While there is a whimsical touch evi- dent in most of Barrle’s plays, such as “Peter Pan,” it is not so evident in “The Doctor’s Secret.” This is a play of dramatic intensity, filled with suspense and ruthless realism and pierced with flashes of almost sardonic humor. It is one of Barrie's finest plays, “Half an Hour,” and with its being transplanted to the screen as audible entertainment film fans and lovers of the drama may ! be assured of enjoyment . New Faces in Ho”ywood. INETEEN twenty-nine will witness |4 N'the introduction of more new screen personalities than any vear in the his- tory of motion pictures, according to | studto” executives: The chief reason is talking films, which have brought an influx of fresh talent from the speaking stage. Never before have there been so many new faces in Hollywood. many of them long- time favorites in the legitimate thea- ters of New York and other large cities, but comparative unknowns as far as <the millions of -Qlm fans are concerned. i B FREDDIES \ SHERMAN Nations! Players RUTH CHATTERTON- umbia WEEK ATIRACTIONS oy ? Q Fox & ATERINA,” the play from the Russian of Leonid Andreyev, which Miss Le Gallienne's Civic Repertory Co. put on in English last week, starts with a pistol shot. A husband suspects his wife of infidelity and tries to kill ker, His three shots do not reach her body, but are supposed to have “killed her soul” After that Katerina is “‘dead.” And in the mechanistic maca- bre soft of dance'into which her life thereupon whirls, she does not only that of which her husband wrongly sus- pected her, but all the things which his morbidly jealous imagination might have pictured. She becomes a kind of automatic bac- chante, even a half animate Salome, demanding the head of her adored. She writhes, wrings her hands, leers and entices, has semi-lucid intervals of horror and remorse, goes through the motions of a lost soul condemned to live on amidst the every-day surround- ings of its shattered earthly life. And at the last goes whirling off with one of her male parasites, while a sister sobs gently and the husband smokes in the manner of a nightmare-dreaming somnambulist. ‘Those who recall the Alla Nazimova of the old pre-Hollywood days,. will readily picture the Russian aciress in the snaky convolutions of this extreme- ly theatrical part. You are supposed to sympathize strongly with. Katerina and to see quite clearly that she has been “driven” to do as she does by her husband’s unfounded suspicions. Ail through, she is supposed to be revolting inwardly against the very things she outwardly does—the play is not merely a picture of depravity rigged up to make the spectators gasp, but a tremendous spiritual tragedy, & pure woman driven by her outraged sense of justice to sin, in deflance and, as it were, in spite of herself. All that may be taken with a certain grain of salt. Andreyev was a very popular Russian playwright before the Russian Revolution, but was not a thinker, philisopher or poet, in any se- rious sense. He was essentially a man of the theater, a showman, although, to be sure, a Slavic and not a Broadway showman. “Katerina” doesn't tell the spectator unfamiliar with Russian literature and the Russian theater, anything very im- portant about that strange land and people, but it does give an American audience a chance to see a forsign play over which quite a fuss was made when it was first produced by the Moscow Art Theater Co. in 1912-13, and if the Civic Repertory Co.'s performance is not perfect, it is probably about as good as. anything that would be likely to be seen further North on Broadway and seems to give the late Mr. Andreyev's effort about as much as it deserves. * kK % MUCH more pertinent to the “news” of the essentially American stage, is the new Negro play, “Harlem,” which had a Negro, Wallace Thurman, as one of its two authors—the other was Wil- lam Jourdan Rapp—is played by a On the ‘Broadway Stage of the humors and pains of Manhat- tan’s black belt. The Negro theme, which comes to its surface from time to time, was the best | expressed, perhaps, in the last scene, when, in the midst of the excitement following a murder in which an inno- cent young West Indian Negro fis suspected of the killing, and the police are frisking pockets and firing questions at the family dragged i~to the affair, the old mother of the girl involved, a serious, self-respecting black woman, fresh from South Carolina, cries out brokenly to the white plain clothes man: “Mister, we ain't done nothin’! We'se just up from the South and ain't got used to Harlem yet—dat's all!” As the final curtain falls and the daughter of the family, a quite “spoiled” young flapper, ready to take her men Where she can find them, and buy her way to the city's bright lights with her own audacity and good looks and dash the consequences—as this symbol of what New York can do to folks—curses her own parents and flounces out with her latest man, the old mother raises her arms and cries heart-brokenly. There are several similarly eloquent recurrences of this theme—that of the simple, old-fashioned, God-fearing Negro flung into the bewildering glibness and glitter of the big town, and trying some- how or other to hold his feet. * k% ok ¢¢K IBITZER,” by Edward Robinson and Jo Swerling, brings a new bit of slang into the local vernacular, and an amusing, if somewhat over- stressed, type to the Broadway stage. A “kibitzer” (some say that the word is properly used only as a verb) is, it seems, & man who insists on butting in with more or less useless advice—a know-it-all, who, when a real showdown comes, is revealed to know little. The scene is laid in a little tobacco store on Amsterdam avenue, and the “kibitcer” of the play is its proprietor, who insists on looking over people's shoulders while they are playing cards and telling them their mistakes, knows Jjust where and why big Wall Street operators sometimes lose money and so on. It was all written to give Mr. Rob- inson himself a fat character part, and is lopsided and exaggerated in conse- quence, but funny in its harmless way, nevertheless. (Copyright, 1929.) World War Picture. “OVER ‘There,” the official United States Government picturization of the World War, will be shown at the Leader Theater, Ninth street between E and F streets, beginning Saturday, March 2, for four days. Every branch of the service is repre- sented in the photoplay. The planes drop bombs, the artillery batters enemy towns, the infantry advances under withering fire. One sees the Kaiser reviewing his goose-stepping troops in 1914. The picture is indorsed by all World War_veteran organizations and bears the official stamp. It is not only a valuable record made lable for company of 75, of which only one is fir: waite, and -muub 0 dzazatise some very the first time, but also icture of certaln and wide wui MARY AsToR | First Lady's Compliments. No prouder or happler man walked the streets of Washington after the Saturday matinee of “This Thing Called Love” than Manager Steve Cochran of the National Theater Players, despite his many troubles with the Musicians’ Union. And why not? For was not the most distinguished member of his audience on that occasion no less than Mrs. Cal- vin Coolidge, the First Lady of the Land, and had she not only remained to witness the entire play but lingered afterward, an interested listener to the proceedings, while Director Addison Pitt of the Players introduced the sev- eral members of his company and read the cordial telegrams that had been re- celved from former members of Man- ager Cochran's noted repertoire com- pany, then entering the fifth season of its happy career? Steve reached the “seventh heaven" of existence, however, when Mrs. Cool- idge, as she was leaving the theater, stopped for a moment to pay the finest compliment he has received yet for his famous Players. “I thoroughly enjoyed the perform- ance,” Mrs. Coolidge told the blushing manager. “This is the finest repertoire company I have seen, and I am larly well pleased with the new members of the casf ;'d( P Mrs. Coolidge has & regular pa- tron of the Natlonal Theater Players for the past four seasons of their ex- istence, and her pretty . compliment, coming as w&rtmx expression of ap- preciation lore she leaves the city, Manager Cochran says, “is one of our real treasures.” Wisely Combined. THE human voice was used in Para- mount’s “The Canary Murder Case” wherever it added to matic intensity. ‘Wherever silence tightened the drama, dialogue was omitted. This was the decision reached by offi- cials at the studios in Hollywood fol- lowing a careful study of the unusual problems presented by the filming of S. S. Van Dine’s famous detective story. “There were places where the human voice was a tremendous help in carry- ing the story along at a high dramatic speed,” sald B. P. Schulberg, general manager of West Coast production for Paramount, “and there were places where silent action was a more com- pelling force.” ‘William Powell as Philo Vance, the detective, heads the featured players. Louise Brooks as the Broadway playgirl, the Canary; James Hasll and Jean Ar- thur sqmplete the featwred sl the story's dra- > Ben JOHN GILBERT and MARY NOLAN- Palace NDTUE GERMAN LINES” - Little Jheater ' Attractions in afternoon. tomorrow evening. KEITH'S—*“Little Nellie Kelly.” “Little Nellie Kelly,” George Cohan's great song-and-dance hit, celebrate the opening of Keith's Thea- ter by the Savoy Musical Comedy Co. with a matinee performance today. Mr. Cook has engaged Patti Harrold, who played the title role for Mr. Cohan for a whole year, to sing and dance it, with the support of the entire Savoy Musical Comedy Co., including Robert Capron, Frank Gallagher, Thelma Parker, Beatrice Lee and Rosa Snowden, strengthened by George Shields, who as Capt. Kelly and Harold Kennedy as De Vere, will portray the roles they origi- pated in the Cohan production. Mr. Cook has been negotiating a long time for Keith's Theater, and now that he has succeeded, he is in the position to offer the many admirers of his musi- cal comedy company not only a play- house more centrally located, but more and better seats for less money. ‘The midweek matinee at Keith's will be on Thursday, so as not to conflict with the National Players. In selecting “Little Nellie Kelly” for his first offering at Keith's Mr. Cook believes he is giving the public the sort of entertainment that it wants, for Cohan has a unique genius for pleasing the theatergoer. “Little Nellie Kelly” has ‘a real plot, seasoned with the piquant sauce of comedy and the salt and pepper of wit. Add an abundant dash of the famous Cohan pep and the exhilarating swing of the Cohan song hits and you have a musical show irre- sistible. ‘The plot concerns the con- spiracy of the cook and butler in a mil- lionaire household, and the proprietor of a modiste shop, to prevent Nellie, his assistant, from marrying the young master of the house, the first two be- cause they think the girl is beneath him and the latter because he does not want to lose a valued assistant. Numerous song_hits include “All in the Wearing.” “Dancing My Worries Away,” “Nellie Kelly, Love You"; “You Remind Me of My Mother” and ‘Till My Luck Comes Rolling Along.” As Cohan always believes in giving the chorus plenty to do, the gorgeous garden girls will be seen in some tem- pestuous dance numbers. NATIONAL PLAYERS— Other Husband.’ The inaugural week attraction of the National Theater Players will be the hilarious farce comedy “Mary’s Other Husbands,” beginning tonight with mat- inees on Wednesday and Saturday. ‘Mary’s Other Husband” is from the pen of Larry E. Johnson, who is re- puted to have a flair for clever comedy. He wrote one outstanding success of last season, “What Anne Brought Home,” which was also presented here by the National Theater Players. In “Mary's Other Husband” Mr. Johnson has revolved his comedy about an unusual situation and the common trait of humanity, the tendency to boast. Mary Marshall, whose folk live out West, is married to an ordinary oung fellow without much money. In {ler letters to friends and relatives in the West, however, Mary paints a to- tally different picture. She has her husband one of the most successful of business men, with motor cars and a home of exquisite beauty and design. In other words, her imagination runs away with her. So, when her uncle un- expectedly announces his intention to visit her, Mary has to make special ar- rangements. She borrows silverware, curtains, lovely furniture and other ac- cessories from a cheerful neighbor and as she needs a butler she presses her husband into this role and leads the uncle to understand that her husband has gone away on business. The old man, however, decides to remain and see the husband, so Mary is forced to get a substitute in the way of a young friend of one of the neighbors. This works out all right until the uncle brings into the house the young lady ‘Mary’s who is engaged to the young man playing the part of the husband. And then the fun begins. Miss Mary Newton, I lady, will faturally have the m namke NATIONAL—“Mary’s Other Husband,” i | the Washington Playhouses This Week IN LOCAL THEATERS THIS WEEK KEITH'S—“Little Nellie Kelly,” musical comedy. Opens this farce comedy. Opens BELASCO—Margaret Anglin, in “Security.” Opens this evening. POLI'S—Joe Cook, in “Rain or Shine.” Opens this evening. STRAND—“Peaches,” burlesque. This afternoon and evening. WARDMAN PARK—"A Kiss for noon. Cinderella.” Opens Friday after- sake, who gets into all the trouble; Wil- fred Lytell, the leading man, will play of the young husband, and Charles Hampden will be the uncle who throws the monkey wrench in the ma- chinery. Other roles will be played by Mrs. Hibbard, Miss Helen Wi , Miss Nancy Baker, Freddy Sherman and Robert Brister. STRAND—*"Peaches.” “Peaches” and her big show are holding forth at the Strand Theater this week in a burlesque “with a real comedy punch, fast and furious.” “Peaches” is the instigator of the boisterous laughter and entertains her audience with a program of catchy songs and speedy dances. “Peaches” is introduced as a marvel- ously clever shimmy dancer and Joe Van as past master in the art of fun- making. Others are Art Harris, Hebrew comedian; Katherine Stevens, soubrette; Althea Conley, with an operatic voice: Edna Harris, soubrette; Benny Kannes and Billy de Gray, with a “hand-picked chorus of beauties, smartly attired.”. In addition, there will be the usual wrestling match Thursday evening. Midnight performances will be given tonight and tomorrow. WARDMAN PARK—"“A Kiss for Cin- derella.” Barrie's delightful play “A Kiss for Cinderella” is the next play for the Junior Theater, at Wardman Park, with four performances Friday and Saturday of this week. In returning to Barrie, with his wealth of imagination and his rare and lovely fancy, the Junior The- ater again makes a special appeal to youth, for this Cinderella is a tiny waif in London du the World War and the cockney Policeman becomes her dramatic protagonist. The story is a human, inimitable Barrie. Little Shirley Horton will play Cin= derella, who is “cleaner-up” of a Lon~ don studio house. There is an elusive mystery about the little maid, who has won the paternal devotion of the el derly Mr. Bodie. But this misguided gentleman feels it his duty to report that she uses strange German words and acts in other ways that cause him to report her as a “suspect.” Symbol of greatness to childhood, the Police- man is called in, and in him Barrie makes a dramatic type that quickens the hearts of young and old. Living in a world of fancy, Cinderella leads an imaginary life, always awaiting her Prince Charming who will take her to the ball, a strange, fantastic ball, with the King and Queen and the lord mayor, even “Lord Times,” wherein she per- sonifles the irreproachable journal of London. Henry Fonda plays the Policeman and Kent Smith the elderly Mr. Bodie. Les~ lie Kent, Kay Conway, Miidred Nat- wick, Robert Cass, Mason Hardy and Peyton Thorne are in the cast. There will be matinee and evening lorme ances both Priday #nd Satw JANET RICHARDS—Tuesday. Miss Janet Richards announces that because of the inaugural ceremonies on Monday her weekly talk on public ques- tions, home and foreign, will be de- ferred until Tuesday, March 5, when she will touch upon the high lights of the inauguration, with special mention of the sallent features of President Hoover's inaugural address. The final achievements of the Seventieth Congress will also be reviewed, with brief mention of the principal omissions. - mitting, a short summary of leading foreign affairs will also be made. ‘The talks are given in the Masonic Temple, Thirteenth street and New York avenue, at 10:45 a.m. DR. HARLOW SHAPLEY, Wednesday, The Community Institute of Washe ington will present Dr. Harlow Shape ley, director of the Harvard College Obe servatory. in an illustrated lecture en- titled “Star Stuff” at Central High Community Center, Thirteenth (Coufinued o Second PgeY,