Evening Star Newspaper, April 28, 1929, Page 49

| Thea an ter, Screen d Music AMUSEMENT SECTION he Sundiay Star. WASHINGTON, D. SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 28, 1929. Motor, Aviation e_;nd Radio News Attractions in Washington | Playhouse IN LOCAL THEATERS THIS WEEK. NATIONAL PLAYERS—“Square Crooks,” tomedy-melodrama. Opens tomorrow evening. BELASCO—Balieff’s “Chauve So POLI'S—“Blossom Time,” opere! STRAND—“Merry Whirl,” evening. NATIONAL PLAYERS—“Square Crooks.” ‘When: the curtain goes up on “Square Crooks,” the melodramatic comedy to be presented by the National Theater Play- ers for the week beginning tomorrow :fin. patrons of the E street playhouse one of the strangest dramatic concoctions of recent years. This is a new Kkind of crook play, yet the thrills ‘and heart-rénding emotions of old-time melodrama are there, although it is es- sentlally & comedy. Written by James . Judge, Crooks” ran for a period in tt Theaters, New York. fl!l;t visit to Washing ‘This is its A Main Street Revival No official declaration has thus far been heard from Manager Cochran that the National Players have imported Odile,” that exquisite idyll that David ‘Belasco ltuc;lgd to the never-to-be forgotten repertory of Frances Starr But the fact remains that Miss King will henceforth officiate in that ca- pacity for the National Players, due to one of those exigencies that constantly arise in stock work to sadden admirers and at the same time to open oppor- | nities for others to win admiration. mMmA King is not unknown to Wash- ington theatergoers, for she m a) here in “Boomerang.” in “Bab, with Miss Helen Hayes, and in quite l! number of other piays. She had the m‘;:ncuan of creating the leads in New York of “Thank-U” and “Blind Youth. She also had leading roles in such Broad productions as Dlddln o wmn." and “My Lady Priends. Pgnnek experience has been quite extensive also, and she is favorably, almost affectionately, remembered for her talents in Richmond, Atlanta, Paterson. N. J.; Providence, R. I.; Port- iand, Me; Columbus, Ohio: , Nebr., and in Detroit with the famous esste Bonstalle JB\llb!th‘tllI( may and be Miss Passion Play Music. MORRIE GEST has announced that AVL the world’s oldest singing ensem- bie, the Russian Royal Chor, at its own request and with the consent of the | director, Princess Margaret Agreneva- Slaviansky, would join, indefinitely, the world's oldest dramatic presentation, the Preiburg “Passion H.;;[ :hen the tter organization open Monday eve: 1:m‘ ¥ he New York Hippodrome under the sponsorship of Mr. Gest and the direction of David Belasco. The Russian singers, who are famous for thelr church singing. aiready have soined the rehearsals of the Play” chorus as its nucleus, and under the direction of Einar Nilson, musical director for Max Reinhardt for the past 20 years, devoting their spare time to jearning the ancient sacred music of the “Passion Play.” The choir was founded in 1840 by Prince Dimitry Agreneva-Slaviansky at | the command of the Czar. The organ jzation is credited with being the old- est choral ensemble in the world. Fyodor Challapin, in his early career, with them for eight years. The %mi group was drafted by Prince Dimitry from the Imperial Conserva- tory and the Imperial Grand Opera Co. At first the choir was intended ex- clugively for court purposes, but soon jts fame spread, and in 1845 a brief tour was made of the principal cities of Russia. In 1848, the choir was per- mitted to tour Europe and returned with mere than 35 medals presented to it by the leading musical organiza- tions of the rious foreign cities in- cluded in its recitals. The success of the group so pleased the Czar that he created an endowment for its per- burlesque. Daly’s and the Maxine | aare Orooks” was written with the | . | Jack Lamont, Loretta Béyes, Bonnie and 10 | Joe Mack and others, especially an at- Passion | s This Week uris,” revue. Opens this evening. tta. Opens this evening. This afternoon and dark for these two fellows. But eventu- ally they not only manage to return the pearls but to establish their inno- cence, and also they have the pleasure of turning the tables on the detective. Miss Edith King, well known Ameri- can actress, will make her debut with the National Theater Players in the leading feminine role in “Square Crooks.” STRAND—“Merry Whirl.” “Merry Whirl,” one of the most recent | burlesque recruits to the Mutual cireuit, | will be seen at the Strand Theater this | | week o entertain those who are in| search of healthy fun, jazzy songs and | fantastic dancing. To insure this, the sponsors have secured a competent cast | of principals, including Art Gardner, star | comic and dancer, and Marie Breen, the | “sunshine girl,” with Billy Kavanaugh, | tractive galaxy of chorus girls. In addition to. the burlesque show, there will be the usual wrestling match | on Thursday evening. G. W. U. TROUBADOURS—Monday. The Troubadours of George Washing- ton University will present their annual musical comedy, “Some Time Soon,” all e mething Monday Bignte ter, y 3 | The semnz‘%:.“!ome ‘Time Soon,” in the movie studios of Hollywood, affords ties for s mofe pretentious than usual. The entire production is under direc- tion of Denis Connell. Ki famous as she is, the National fpl‘:;v‘er? have never before had such an | experience as followed the coming of | the new leading lady to their midst. | And all because of what? Simply the fact that Edith King' and Helen Wal- lace, wnom all Washington knows and admirers, are both graduates of the Main street of the same town and that town, ‘Whitehaven, Pa. Edith’s first great gesture at her very first rehearsal here was a dive at and a long embrace of Helen, who had | met since the parting of the ways| back in—well, what does it matter? But | it was a long while ago. | And since the reunion the air that bathes the old National has been filled | with “Oh, my dears,” “Oh, but it's good 0 see yous” and such terms of warm endearment, for all the world knows that it takes its Main streets to en- gender friendships that last, affections | that never die. e And now between the “Oh, dearies” and “Yes, dearies” and the numberless inquiries as to old friends, old ties, old mansions and all the “old things” that | Whitehaven ever held, Director Pitt, in |a despairing voice, with heavy sighs, | moans and moans, “God bless you, when | will this all end? When can we get back to the cues of the play,” which, | after all, are really quite as important |in a way as the amenities of a Main street reunion? | petuation. The choir was not disrupted i by the revolutien, being fostered rather | than destroyed. as were many of the | | more famous fine art organizations of | the royalist government The addition of the Russian Royal Cholr to the singing ensemble of the | Passion Play” will create a chorus of | 230 voices to be accompanied by an or- chestra of 70 under the leadership of | Mr. Nilson. The organ will be played | by Dezzo von Antalffy, who appeared in the same capacity with “The Miracle.” | An EXPC‘PiC;‘ICCd Hand. JHEN Willard Mack, stage star and | playwright, began to film “The | ice of the City,” his all-talking pic- | e, it was not by any means his intro- | duction to a film studio. Willard Mack was a star in pictures when stars were few and far between in 1913, the days when Charles Ray, Bill Hart and others were just making a start. Mack made a long series of pictures, starting with “The Battle of Gettysburg,” directed by Thomas H. Ince. but he returned to the stage to fulfill the demands of New York pro- ducers for the type of plays which have made him famous, “The Voice of the City” permitted | Mr. Mack to give to the screen the same | type of play which has made him | TAGE and SCREEN . ¢ CHARLES BUDDY ROGERS: /\/\e+ropolfi’cm MOQAN and GEORGE OBRIEN- Fox £ Taj Mahal, the Beautiful, JNTERWOVEN with its plays of on- coming revolution, its masterpieces of new camera tricks, and problem pic- tures as Europe makes them, the Liftle ‘Theater, sponsored by the Film Arts Guild, occasionally presents a picture | the complete enjoyment of .which pre- | supposes an_acquaintance with history, | and especially of art in history. | Such a picture is announced for the | current week in “Shiraz’” a romance of India and its famous temple of beauty, the Taj Mahal, & marble mau- soleum’ erected at Agra by the Mogul | Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, the beauty of design and | richness in decorative detail of which make it one of the most notable of Saracenic architecture. i Sir Edwin Arnold has exquisitely suggested the beauty of the Taj Mahal in~ the following quotation from his poetic treasury | “As when some face so divinely fair unveils before our eyes some woman | beautiful, unspeakably, and the blood quickens and the spirit leaps, and the | will to worship bends the half-ylelded | knees, while breath forgets o breathe— | 80 is the Taj.” | “Shiraz,” the picture produced in In- | dia, under the direction of Pranz Osten, | with an all-Hindu cast (the same play- ers that appeared in “The Light of Asia,” which was shown here not so| very long ago and at the Little Theater) | weaves around the Taj Mahal a love | story that is said to have its thrills, its moments of exquisite loveliness and, | { | | -, N perhaps, a cloud of the tragedy of life. | Broadway's art lovers, Mr. Harris has o S/(@ 7077t~ SHIRAZ™- L ittle Jheater— ON THE NEW DauGtLas FAIBANKS - JOMUN IRVING FISHER - g /Warfer of’ Cerernonses - Fox- # f (i - DoroTHy HALL and Ricuarp Dix-Earle ‘IDRENA“ Palace YORK STAGE A Review of Theatrical Affairs Along the White Way By Percy Hammond. OT enough ado has been made | about the sudden passing of Mr. Jed Harris as one of the | theater’s principal miracle men. With no word of warning l()I ters up, was an active benefactor to Broadway's middle classes. He began, they say, as a barefoot errand boy, car- rying messages. Starting thus humbly, his fiery ambition carried him over the numerous obstacles between failure and The construction of the Taj Mahal is| discharged his troupe of assistant ex- |success. Young, rich and renowned, he closely involved with its climax, the | perts, shut the doors of his atelier and |now creeps from his palaces to a her- picture promoters say. . . { Doug's Talkie Style. JDOUGLAS FAIRBANKS will talk in | “The Iron Mask,” but it will be & new kind of “talkie” that you will | hear. | Instead of using the conventional | dialogue between characters, now fa- miliar to theater patrons, Doug has created his own technigue for com- bining sound and speech with the pageantry and rapid fire action he demands in the telling of his stories of adventure. This he has accomplished by an original use of music and sound effects. with the voice speaking the motivation for the acts of the characters, while the story is pictured in the swift tempo characteristic of Fairbanks' pictures. The first words spoken by Doug in “The Iron Mask” (and his first theat- rically spoken words since he left Broadway as a stage star in 1914) are in the form of a poetic prelude to the | picture in which he invites the audience to join D'Artagnan and the three musketeers in their adventures of a| romantic bygone day. . A< Filmed. the 50. Mr. |all | he |10 cal tor eral Stheheress “A | 1ap |ing a farewell kiss. celebrated his exit. |taken an abrupt departure—from the | mitage. | scene of his succe: showmen retire they issue valedictories |is almost as forgotten as David War- excusing their abdication. As they wash | field or Charles Frohman. up after their labors they explain through | Usually when newspapers their reasons for doing | These, as a rule, are sufficient. But Harris has tiptoed -away from | Times Square, not giving it the cus- tomary two weeks' notice. Just when of us were depending upon him for {much of our next season’s happiness walks out on us without even blow- No editorials have Columns that used sing hallelujahs for “Broadway” and |“The Front Page’ are mum as their weary producer packs his tool chestand Is it a day. Mr. Harris should not be permitted thus to slink in privacy from the hip- | podromes he has glorified so satisfac- {ly. I,for one, propose to toot upon | my bugle some mournfu! taps for thi disappearance. show or L(;va. and v.l’h%nel\_l‘er r? nlaydwu announced as “a Jes arris produc- | tion” we were assured that it would be | ¢3Sts it with a competent company. SBrosdway e % even “Serena Blandish” added consid. | but the way in which they are done by He gave us a bully bly to the sum of human pleasure. Now and then he has dismayed the |ton is surprising. nicer drama insolent | He al- lovers by his ses from polite behavior. FESTIVAL of BAGDAD" is the lowed Mr. Hecht, for instance, to in- by latest Tiffany color symphony, | dulge a passion for dirt in the dialogue |Of the sllent faun in Debussy's after- America’s most consistently successful | now being produced in Hollywood un-'of “The Pront Page” and to turn what playwright cesses include “Gang_War. “The Common 8in," Tiger Rose,” “The Man Who Came Back.” “The Scariet Pox,” “Lily Sue,” “Weatner Clear,” “The | Noose Kick In” and “The Big » musical composition, Mack's greatest stage suc- | der the direction of Curtis F. Nagel.|might have been a decent melcdrama The story 1s the theme of the famous |into a filthy wallow. Some of the de- “Scheherezade.” | tails in “Broadway,” as I recall them, and the entire production will be syn- | were tinted with obscenity, but not chronized with the famous music of the | enough to make them obgoxious to the composition. graphed in technicolor, It also will be photo- advanced theatergoer | Mr. Harris, before he put his shut- Well, since he has been gone from Broadway for 10 days or less, he * ok ok % Now that Jed Harris has gone into the silences with Winthrop Ames and Augustin Daly, the best we can do is to listen to the call of the Theater Guild. That organization, the most efficient of the drama’s alds, is offering at Martin Beck's theater a European entertain- ment entitled “The Camel Through the Needle’s Eye.” As composed by Fran- tiseh Langer and adapted by Phillip Moeller the comedy is a competent mediocrity from foreign parts. It is an- |other story of a Cindereila removed from her ash cans by the magic of a fairy godmother of ihe drama. I sus- pect. that in its original performance “The Camel Through the Needle's Eye” was a good gumdrop, approaching in palatability “Abie’s Irish Rose” or “Twelfth Night.” Mr. Moeller, however, improves it in his merry adaptation and the actors under Mr. Moeller's direc- Mr. Elliott Cabot, I thought, was a bit too nymph-like in his amorous addresses to the heroine (Miss Miriam Hopkins), reminding one oon with an imp. But the Hopkins girl and most of the others caught spirit of the play and made it anoth of the guild's intelligent counterfeits. * % ox % I shall not waste paper and print- ers’ ink’ foreste, typesetting; printing presses, stereotyping and proofreading Outdoor Attractions. GLEN ECHO PARK. Saturday, May 11, will mark the opening for the season of Glen Echo Park—the nineteenth season, by the way—with Director Leonard B. Schloss in command and with many surprises promised for patrons, together with wholesome entertainment with whole- some surroundings. { As usual, admission to the park will |be free, and cars of the Washington Railway & Electric Co. will continue to run to and from the park frequently. A carefully selected staff of nearly 200 employes has undergone extensive training in duties at the various rides and attractions to insure proper opera- tion, and each employe has been given a manual of ethics to serve the public in a courteous manner. New landscape gardening and a dif- ferent arrangement of the flower beds will add to the natural beauty of the resort, and. the walks have been laid out differently. Indeed, the entire park has been renovated, all the amusements improved, and illumination has been called forth everywhere to make the resort a great white way of fun and frolle. upon such amusements as “Jonesy” or “Marry the Man.” They are beneath the contempt of one who has ridden the mechanical rides at Coney Island and who has seen plays by Samuel Shipman and Pinero. If I had to de- pend upon the drama to amuse me in my recent hours I should hang my arms around the Theater Guild and know that it would help me. be fond of Brady and Wiman, Charles Dillingham, Sam H. Harris, Al Woods and George C. Tyler, but the guild knows more about show business than all the other circus people, from Ber- nard Shaw to John Ringling. . . Nothing of importance .is occurring at present in the drama excepting that Jed Harris has put aside his aspirations and is content to loll in Los Angeles and Palm’ Beach. What a lesson he is to amateurs ambitious to show themselves ‘0" Broadway. You may | Photoplays ‘| SCREEN ATTRACTI COLUMBIA—“The Iron Mask.” [ROBERTAMES and SYLVIAFIELD Palace BREEN- SHrand This Week ONS OF THE WEEK. This afternoon and evening. FOX—“True Heaven.” This afterncon and evening. METROPOLITAN—“Close = Har: evening. PALACE—“The Voice of the City.” This afternoon and evening. 'mony.” This afternoon and EARLE—“Nothing but the Truth.” This afternoon and evening. RIALTO—"“Show Boat.” LITTLE THEATER—“Shiraz.” COLUMBIA—"“The Iron Mask.” D'Artagnan_and the three muske- teers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis, with Douglas . Pairbanks as D’Artagnan, will be seen in “The Iron Mask,” the se- quel to “The Three Musketeers," adapted from the story by Dumas, at Loew's Columbia this week. There is an epilogue and a prologue to the pic- ture, in which Douglas Fairbanks's voice will be heard for the first time on the screen. Others in the cast include Belle Bennett, Marguerite de la Motte and Dorothy Revier. ‘The story opens with the birth of an heir to the throne of the weakling monarch, Louis XIII, and Richelieu’s abduction of the tiny Dauphin’s un- wanted twin brother. The young prince grows to manhood and becomes Louis XIV. The gallant musketeers defend him as loyally as they did his father. They solve the mystery of the iron- | masked captive in the lonely fortress of | St. Marguerite, a mystery which has baffled the centuries, and ultimately restore the rightful Lauis to his throne. A Metro Movieton revue, and Marion Harris, singing the latest song hits, |are in Metro Movietone presentation: The Fox Movietone News, the M+G-] News and the Columbia Orchestra un- |der Claude Burrows complete the pro- | gram. FOX—"True Heaven.” George O'Brien and Lois Moran are | featured in the Fox Theater picture | this new week—“True Heaven." ‘“True Heaven” is a story of the war, but without war scenes. It has thrills without a gunfire. It unfolds a love story: with- the girl placed in the posi- tion of choosing between love and duty. The cast includes Phillips Smalley, Oscar Apfel, Hedwig Reicher and Andre Cheron. The picture is a Fox Movie- tone, with the orchestral accompani- men arranged by S. L. Rothafel (“Roxy”). The stage program will have John Irving Fisher as master of ceremonies, with another of his-piano oddities as his individual contribution, and the many _other entertainers, including Leon Brusiloff and his 40 Fox Jazz- manians in a.medley of the popular tunes of 10 years ago, played on the stage, and Melba Vierdag's new dance routines for the Foxettes, with the Fox Movietone News. METROPOLITAN—"Close Harmony.” If you like tuneful melodies well sung, clever, scintillating dialogue, pep, and. delightful romance, ‘“Close el y.,” & Paramount talking, | This afternoon and evening. This afternoon and evening. said to ‘provide it. It is this week's screen offering at the Metropolitan Theater, with Miss Carroll cast as Mar- jorle Merwin, a vaudeville headliner, | who sings a tuneful melody called “I | Wanna Go Places and Do Things,” and | Rogers, as Al West, a hopeful jazz band leader in love with Marjorie. He sings also, a.new song entitled, “I'm All-a- ‘Twitter,” hesides performing on five in- struments. Supporting Miss Carroll and Rogers are Jack Oakie, Skeets Gal- lagher and Harry Green. ‘Oakie and Gallagher, as the “Harmony: Boys,” vaudeville songsters, sing <ad ‘in gen- eral rajse a riot. Green is cast as the manager of the theater where Nancy Carroll is supposed to be the headliner and where Rogers, Oakie and Gallagher vie for first honors. ‘The dialogue was written by Percy Heath, and Edward Sutherland and {John Cromwell directed “Close Har- mony.” PALACE—“The Voice of the City.” The feature attraction at Loew’s Pal- ace this week is Willard Mack'’s produc- tion for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. “The Voice of the City.” The cast includes, in addition to Willard Mack, who also directed the picture, Robert Ames, Syl- | via Fields and others. It is a story of gangland, with all the nderworld running rampant | through its reels. It also has a love story of tender appeal. All the action of the picture takes place in the space | of 24 hours. It shows the sentence of an innocent boy to 20 years in prison, his escape, his hiding place, how he is double crossed by a supposed friend, how he pretends to have hanged him- self, and when he finally comes face to face with the man who is responsible for double crossing him. Then comes the thrilling climax and the boy is al- lowed to go back to his sweetheart. On the stage will be a spectacular Oriental fantasy of melody, color and artistry, “Pearls of Bagdad,” a Loew- Publix unit staged by Frank Cambria, with a cast of 40, headed by Jacques Cartier, a dancer of unusual ability; with Murray and Alan, singers; Idrena, acrobatic dancer; Arch Cannon, vocal- ist; Gladys St. John, Aor‘nnn: a singing ehsemble and the Persian ballet. The M-G-M News, the Fox Movietone News, short subjects, Charles Gaige- at the organ and the Palace Orehestra, under gnrrym Borjes, will complete the pro- EARLE—“Nothing but the Truth.” mony, .nngn and dancing picture, with Nancy lr! Toll and Charles (Buddy) Rogers, - is e Richard Dix makes his debut.on the - (Continued on Second Fage.) N