Evening Star Newspaper, June 30, 1929, Page 49

”Theater, Screen and Music AMUSEMENT SECTION he Swndiy Star. GARY COOPER, and Luee VELEZ- 3 WASHINGTON, Earle Photoplays This Week SCREEN ATTRACTIONS OF THE WEEK. PALACE—"“The Bridge of San evening. XX—“The Black Watch.” Luis Rey.” This afternoon and This afternoon and evening. METROPOLITAN—“Thunderbolt.” This afternoon and evening. EARLE—“V7olf Song.” This afternoon and evening. COLUMBIA—“The Cocoanuts.” PALACE—"BriZzs of Szn Luis Rey.” “The_Bridge of 'San Luis Réy,” & ot -Mayer . telking -produc- tlon adapted from the Pulitzer prize wininer by Thornton Wilder, is the cur- rent screen ettraction at Loew's Palace. Lily Dainita, Ernest Torrence, Raquel Torres, Don Alvarado, Henry B. ‘Walthall, Mitchell Lewis and Tully Marshall comprise the cast of this . Peru, , was the Bridge built by the ancient -Incas and blessed by St. Francis him. It had stood for years, symbol One day shaken the faith of the in God's love and mercy, set. ‘figp‘&z inquire into the lives of the five victims, to see whether in these lives could not be found evidence that God was really good. He discov- ered that among them were an old woman, happy in the first unselfish act of her life; a young girl, happy for the first time in the arms of the man she loved; a nameless child and a disappointed old man, who were hap- ler dead, and a youth with a broken Eun. ‘Thus the priest showed to the people of Lima that God, after all, had not failed them in loving kindness. Jack Parkington's Loew-Pubix unit, a second edition of the popular Rah Fah Rah,” is the stage presentation. It features Art Frank, Helen Lewis and her collegiates, the Foursome Quartet, Barbara Vernon, Marie Pauli and Lew Beck. Art Frank is known as “the granddad of whoopee.” The Fox Movie- tone News, the M-G-M News, short subjects, Charles Gaige at the organ and the Palace Orchestra complete the entertainment. FOX—"“The Black Watch.” Victor McLaglen in his first talking picture, “The Black Watch,” is the cur- rent screen atiraction at the Fox Thea- ter. Mr. McLaglen has created a distinct following. Some look upon him as a “man’s star.” Records of the local thea~ ter, however, "eu!:“er! & 't’l:’sclm.ud’ to be equall r man sudi- rrmes.w lny"p'ggz Bl&c{k wm::; Pr!ll:: famed Capt. Flagg of “Whal Glory” 1s g\ven his best opportunities, it is_announced, “The Black Watch” is taken from the novel “King of Khyber Rifies,” by Tal- bot Mundy. It was directed by John Ford, his twenty-seventh production for William Fox. The supporting cast in- cludes the new feminine star, Miss Myma Loy, who as an East Indian god- | dess with almost supernatural control over her subjects, is credited with an excellent performance. =~ Others are Lumsden Hare, Roy D'Arcy, Mitchell Lewis, Cyril Chadwick, Walter Long, David Torrence, Pat Somerset an David Percy. the last remembered from. the Fox Movietone Follies for his fine baritone voice. In “The Black ‘Watch” he sings sevaral numbers. John Irving PFisher as master of ceremonies, will introduce the Trainor Brothers, dancing stars of the Roxy ‘Theater, New York: “Tanglefoot,” an acrobatic dancer; Frankie Morris, a dainty singer of popular melodies, and Ernie and Fisher, whose ambition is to create laughter. These will.be supple- | mented by the 14 Georgeous Foxettes, dancing misses, and the 40 Fox Jazz- , under Leon Brusiloff. The | Pox Movietone News, with world events in sound and motion, will round out the | program. METROPOLITAN—"Thunderbolt.” ‘The Metropolitan Theater this week offers as its featured screen attraction the Paramount talking drama ‘‘Thun- derbolt,” in which the principal roles are played by George Bancroft, Richard Arlen and Fay Wray. Josef von Sternberg, the director, and George Bancroft are said to have per- fected a new and even greater picture of life in the underworld than in “Un- deopen"mg':" 1n Harlem's biack metro | g _in Harlem's metropo- Jis, where Bancroft as a fearful death- dealer sways the lives and destinies of swings to Sing-Sing's . Where excl climaxes ““Thunderbolt” there are to hear as well as to see = Rel This afternoon-and evening. ‘and * the “whole ‘is wonderfully ‘well rounded to the scene of her first in a vitaphone presentation, singing two songs that have made her famous., 'D“BIeu You, Sister,” ‘and “Carolina loon.” EARL—“Wolf Song.” Lupe Velez, the pretty Mexican actress, who made her screen debut with las Fairbanks “The Gaucho,” sf from the screen for the first time in Paramount’s sound pres. entation, _“Wolf ,”_ the current screen offering at the Earle Theater. In this picture, which is a stirring story of the frontier days in the South- west of the ’40's, Gary Cooper and Louis Wolheim share leading honors. Miss Velez sings “Ye Te Amo,” which means “I Love You”; “To Lola,” “Mi Amado” and other numbers. She has & clear, pleasing voice and is sald to be' at her best when she croons tender love songs, u:eomznyln; herself on the guitar. Senorita Velez also is re- puted to be a capable actress. rangy Kentuckian, who follows un-| broken trails where no white man had | ever penetrated. One day, in a small town on the Mexican border, he meets | and falls in love with Lola Salazar (Lupe Velez), the daughter of an| aristocratic don. From this point the | picture tells an amazing story of tem- | pestuous love, sacrifice and an almost unconquerable desire on the part of the Kentuckian for freedom to again | roam the mountainous country with only stars to talk to. There is, how- a powerful and satisfactory climax. The supporting cast includes Louis Wolheim, tantine Romanoff, Michael Vavitch, Ann Brody and Rus- sell Columbo. A two-reel P t-Christie com- edy, “Dear Vivian,” featuring Sam Hardy and Raymond Hatton; a Vita- phone short subject; a Disney Mickey Mouse cartoon novelty, “Barn Dance”; the Earle Topical Review, news events from the four corners of the world and the Earle Orchestra, in an-. overture and music for the short subjects, will be other attractions. COLUMBIA—"“The Coacoanuts.” Popular demand holds the Four Mark | Brothers in the screen version of their famous stages uccess, “The Cocoanuts,” over for a second week. It is a talking, singing, dancing, laughing musical com- edy featuring besides Marx brothers Harpo, Groucho, Seppo and Chico, Mary Eaton and Oscar Shaw of the musical comedy stage, who provide the love terest and romance of the story. plot concerns a wealthy girl who falls in love with a hotel clerk at a Florida seashore resort and the efforts of the Marx brothers to stop it. The picture presents what was shown in the stage production with improvements that screen treatment can give it. Irving Berlin is responsible for the music. The irrepressible comedians, the four Marx brothers, with their riotous clowning and briliiant performances on the harp and piano, are considered among the best entertaincrs of the stage today. The red-headed Harpo, oddly enough, never speaks, but Joves to clown; Groucho is called “the m,” with painted mustache and black cigar; Chieo performs at the piano, employing comedy technique, ‘and Ze) youngest of the brothers, is ented young man. They are all actually brothers. Miss Eaton and Oscar Shaw sing Irving Berlin’s hits. ‘The M-G-M News, the Fox Movietone News and the Columbia Orchestra, under Claude Burrows, complete the program. No pnrent.T}\il Time. JFOR the first time in nearly two years Charles Sellon is not playing a pa- | rental role on the screen. ‘This benign-faced gentleman, who has acted as father to almost every well known star on the screen at some time portrays the querulous but managing editor in “Big .” In lieu of children he has the whole staff of a big daily to fight with and for. Robert Armstrong, who plays the I the Tole as talented but thirsty star rej T of Addison’s paper, s his prin care, Gary Cooper is cast as Sam Lash, a | po, the{ a tal- 10 g B ° AGIE an SCREE DIMITA=nd Don ALVARDO- Col “"The Cocanuts” umbia Burle_sque VW/ITH never so much as & peep from “the legitimate” in the theatric | Walhalla of the great metropolis, bur- | lesque, which alone is what is now | termed “the legitimate” in theatrical | circles, still continues with the sauci- ness of the sparrow in snow time, but | with weather conditions reversed, to peep and peep and peep. ‘Whether the song of the burlesque swallow holds within its sonorous tim- bre aught to.suspect highly developed abdominal breathing or is merely a throaty affection that compels its con- tinuity is not yet definitely determined, but the fact remains that burlesque pip- ing is crowding out the buzz of the bees, even though the Summer is full upon us. ‘There are not so many of the body { politic that care a rush candle about | burlesque per se. True, the sport has its | followers, and many of them at that. But the .tired business man and the sober-sided citizen and, least of all, | pleasure-seeking femininity, not yet has | fallen to any considerable extent to the | | luring song of burlesque, now more | i widely and clearly heard, perhaps, than ever before. ‘The reason for all this is that bur- lesque has been leading the general pub- lic very confidently to believe that, like ! Alexander, it is out for other worlds to uer. It long-has envied the fat | and costly audiences that have lavished wealth and praise upon Ziegfeld, Carroll and White shows, which generally have been Classified as “glorified” something, and sometimes more definitely as “glori- fled burlesque.” If the purveyors of burlesque, which has risen from very deep depths to its | resent eminence, are envious of Zieg- eld, Carroll and White, they also have not overlooked the fact that “The Lit- tle Show,” which has had glittering ) success in New York, is a tip from the j metropolitan public that it is tired of j the colossal and splendiferous revue of the past and would like to have its eyes, its ears and its general risibilities fed {upon the good things in the big show, condensed into smaller but better entertainment, with less of the feathers, but more of the substance an of the trimmings. And burlesque, according to a recent proclamation of I. H. Herk, its head director at the moment, is setting about to provide preeisely this sort of enter- talnment in the season ahead. Still Pipes Mr. Herk's statement indicates that it is not his intention to inject plety 0 his performances by any means, but he believes that “the world is dif- ferent today to what it was 25 years ago,” and any way if the guardians of the properties so regard it in their esplonage of Ziegfeld, Carroll and ‘White shows, why should they overlook the fact when they give the once over to his burlesque performances? In other words, if this or that isn't wicked in Mr. Ziegfeld's “glorified burlesque,” it isn't possible for it to be wicked in Mr. Herk's show. He further states that six years ago when it fell to his lot to organize and stabilize burlesque, he received it with its “black eye,” a sort of heritage that had been handed down over 50 years, He sees its possibilities as entertain- ment for all classes of theater-goers, including self-respecting men and women, and he and his associates pro- pose, while fundamentally retaining it as it is, to augment and strengthen the casts of the shows and to embellish and extend their sartorial equipment besides introducing new and strictly up-to-date comedy scenes and dialogue. “Our exhibitions will not depart,” he asserts, “from those employed in all other present-day, accepted ‘high class’ musical shows. “Times have changed. And burlesque will be up to the times.” *Show Cl’mtt.er" Amazes. IF‘ Fannie Brice had not known Norma Talmadge these many years she would have sworn on a stack of Laura Jean Libby's novels that the star had once been a chorus girl. Miss Brice, who is in Hollywood to make a picture, visited Miss Talmadge on her set where “Tin Pan Alley” is being filmed and heard a playback after a lively scene had been micro- phoned. “Say,” she exclaimed, “where did you pick up that show chatter?” Miss Talmadge explained that she read her lines as they were written in herxscnym " th M * 's the way you say % thm.'qu::’ld Miss Brice, “but I could swear you were in a pon{‘ troupe once if T didn’'t knoyy your history as well as my own.” . | SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 30, 1929. ’ r Motor, Aviation News 7 and Radio HELENE KEARNEY- Fox ($#sge) /ART FrA RICHARD ARLENand FAY WRAY Me-}ropolfi'an NK and PARBARA VERNON: Palasce. (Stsge) Adventurous Life 'AKE a map of the world. Stick a pin in any spot which designates an. important city and Victor McLaglen | can tell you something about it. Canada, Hawall, Fiji Islands, Tahiti, Australia, Ceylon, Bombay, India; Por- tuguese East' Africa, German East Africa, South Africa, England, Ireland, Scotland, America, Bagdad, all were ports of call for the Fox Films star during his adventurous life, and he never was idle, for it is the record that he participated in seven wars. ‘When the World War began Me- Laglen and his brother left Cape Town for London to enlist. ‘When he reached London he found that, from the four corners of the globe, his seven brothers had gathered at the call of their country. One brother camé from China, an- other from Canada, two from the United States. Now he is a soldier again, but this time in “The Black Watch,” in which McLaglen is starred in the role of Capt. King of the famous Scotch regiment. “The Black Watch” is based on Talbot Mundy's story “King of the Khyber Rifies.” Myrna Loy plays the role .of the exotic Yasmani, the she-devil of India who aspired to a throne. ¢ —— Barrymore to Sing. IN all probability, it is announced, John Barrymore will not only talk but sing in his initial Vitaphone talk- ing picture, “General Crack,” which is now well under way at Warner Bros.' Studio under the direction of Alan Crosland. Ray Perkins, head of War- ner’s theme song department, is com- posing a special selection for Mr. Bar- rymore d, if present plans go through, the public will hear the cele- &l;ted actor’s singing voice for the first e. Walter Anthony has written the adaptation from George Preedy’s novel that depicts the romance and adven- ture of eighteenth century Europe. Spectacular battle scenes will contrast with elaborate sequences of Austrian court life during that period. Marion Nixon, Armida, Hobart Bosworth, Low- ell Sherman, Jacqueline Logan and Otto Matiesen are among the principals of the supporting cast. Dick Now an ‘élevntor Boy. “YOUNG NOWHERES,” Richard Barthelmess’ next picture, is the story of a romantically inclined elevator boy, by I. A. R. Wylle, which was pub- lished in a magazine about two years ago. Although the atmosphere and background of “Young Nowheres” is as modern as the apartment house in which the boy has his “ups and downs,” the story is said to be of the sensational sort which endeared Barthelmess to motion picture fans in such pictures as “Tol'able David,” “The Enchanted Cot- tage,” ete, Hope for the Theater ITH its death-knell ringing it its ears, that knell having been sounded by one of its most vigorous patriarchs; with the threat presented by the and with the recent crash f Washing- ton’s popular and only stock company, there yet appears faintly the glimmer of the star of hoPe that all is not yet lost for the American theater. Stuart Walker, the directing head of a famous repertory company bearing his name in Cincinnati, has recently issued a neat brochure whose name is “The Repertory Theater.” As Mr. Walker has devoted his professional lifetime to the development of the idea, it may be interesting to many to learn what he thinks upon the subject. After admitting his belief as far back as 1915 that the English-speaking the- ater was headed toward danger, if not actual disaster, Mr. Walker states that this was simply- because nowhere were actors and playwrights being developed in sufficient numbers to supply the de- mand. He .states that it was rather the long-run play and the system ‘of casting actors in t; roles that caused both the weaken! of the theatric fabric and the lack of development of proper material for its perpetuation, and not the progress in the mechanics of motion pictures, which has generally been accepted as threatening the life of the legitimate stage. Continuing, Mr. Walker states: “There should be a theater that will do for the drama what the museums, symphony orchestras and opera com- panies do for the other arts. The greatest need in the English-speaking theater, it seems to me, is repertory organizations with some sort of tradi- tion, or definite pelicy which might in time become tradition, for I think it is universally agreed that repertory de- velops good actors and playwrights.” “No theater in America or England is devoted to the development of these two essentials of the drama. In every city there is a great public which is eager to know and to see the best. There s no reason why these people should not be organized to make a the- ater which will show the best drama of the world. “The majority of this public is prob- ably not able to pay the large prices demanded for seats in the legitimate theater. I feel that for these same people a repertory can be,easily built in & few years that will cover the whole | history of the drama from Egyptian Memphis to any future Moscow.” If ‘this means anything, it means, first of all, that earnest and energetic work is to be done in ol th for sympathy and for ma 3 the people themselves who are - terested, the faintly interested as well as the most enthusiastic, in the idea of en ideal repertory company for their own vlrhgur city, Washington, the “all-talking motion picture,” | Ste! , Capital of these United States, has an | established reputation as one of the best stock citles in America. ‘There are many obstacles to combat in the enterprise, it is true. Manager ve Cocl Tecently encountered some of them. But nevertheless, with & sound supporting clientele first securely assured, these obstacles, can be taken up one by one and safely and effectively dis of. In every circle of social life in Wash- Ington there is abundant evidence of keen, zealous interest in the perpetua- tion of what for want of a better name may be called the stage of living, spesk- ing actors. The experience of the local dramatic clubs in all quarters of the District, as well as the evidence af- forded by the patronage of our now defunct professional stock company, is | the soundest proof that the public has | of entertainment pure and simple. ‘Who is there among us who will har- ness this interest and turn it to the realization of the hope for the Ameri- can theater so clearly set forth by Mr. Stuart Walker? |'a like interest, but from the angle |til I His Navy Nickname SAmons of the seven seas and many natives of the ports in Aslatic waters once knew George Bancroft, one | of Hollywood's leading stars, as “Open Wide George.” Bancroft, whose latest picture is. “Thunderbolt,” an all-talking picture of life in the underworld of New York's Harlem, started his the- atrical career producing minstrel shows aboard American battleships. He was an enlisted man in the Navy. “Today,” says Bancroft, “the Navy arranges motion . picture shows and many other kinds of divgrsion for the men at sea. In those days the only en- tertainment was self-devised. We gave a minstrel show. I routined the acts and was an end man in blackface. Then, as now, I had a rather lusty laugh, and my make-up made my mouth seem even larger than it is. Some one began to call me “Wide Opé: George” and the nickname stuck un- left the Navy.” This taste of theatrical life led Ban- croft to the stage and the en to 2 pictures. His first outstanding success was made in Josef von smmz “Underworld” and he has climbed the ladder to stardom. IN its thirty-sixth year: the motion picture close-up faces a radical change as a result of what is expected to be one of the important technical de- velopments of the near future. The first close-up was made on April 23, 1893, in the world’s initial motion picture studio at the Edison plant in Orange, N. J. It showed Fred Ott, a workman in Edison's laboratories, in the act of sneezing. From that day to this the close-up has been important in motion pictures. The change in the close-up, which has been predicted by outstanding persons in the picture world, will be caused by & wide- angle lens, it is believed. This will enable hz:o groups to be lincluded in the close ts. In the past one face has monopolized most close-ups. That started with Ott’s sneeze, 36 years ago. Two heads have often shared honors in the close shots, particularly in the embracing fade-outs, but the groups have had to content themselves wil lon"er-rlnle views. The old system of filling the screen with the star's face in close-ups has already largely passed, it is said. ‘The new tendency is also evident in the bringing of inanimate objects into close-ups. A sliding panel with two eyes peering through, a Chinese mask hanging on a wall, a revolver, & hand reaching out from behind a curtain, a wall clock, and an empty chair are among the objects filmed at close range in one recent production. “The close-up is important as a means Close-ups Face Change emotions,” Rowland V. Lee, director of the ti:‘lntun. explained. “In' & mystery drama such as ‘The Mysterious Dr. Pu Manchu,’ its use for this purpose in invaluable. Two eyes gleaming through an aperture in a wall might not be noticed by the audience in a long shot. The menace is increased a hundred-fold by the c.hwe-ug." ‘The musical shows, with large casts and choruses, will benefit most {from .the wide-lngle lens, according to Lasky. This technical development will make it possible to bring' & whole stageful of players into a close-up. Thus seat in a theater will become a first-row vantage point. Ott, who indirectly started this trend toward audience comfort, has more dis- tinction than being the owner of the first face to a] r a close-up. He was also the initial motion picture actor. ‘When Edison was experimenting with the recording of motion pictures on cyl- inders similar to his early phonograph records, Ott col his acting staff. He danced and twirled, and, in his own words, “make a monkey of myself.” The studio property man came into being as an ‘institution when Ott did his sneeze close-up five years later. The actor had been prlced before the cam- era and ol to_sneeze. Nothing hapj d. Ott’s srieezer refused to ite. An assistant was sent for a box of snuff. The records do not contain mmutblmst‘;xmphay.“ ‘They t's sneeze state, however, that failed to generate until snuff had been mixed of focusing attention as well as showing | wit