Evening Star Newspaper, February 2, 1930, Page 57

Theater, Screen and Music AMUSEMENT SECTION Part 4—14 Pages GENEVIEVE™— NAEGELE s HE RBERT LYLE- /1 Blossom Time” Polig NAGEL ane-LitAkBE - /4 * The Sacred Flsme * Me+tro po litan Genuine Drama and Real Comic Opera BY PHILANDER JOHNSON, Many ‘a8 time a plea has been raised for the restoration in the theater ‘of “real comic opera.” ‘The comic opera which displayed the genfus of an Offenbach, an Audran or a Milloecker, not to mention the more classical Mo- zart, and even Donizetti, when they permitted themselves to broider with melody a mmm‘ designed in a pattern of light- some fancy. * % * ¥ In America real comic opera was worked out by such collabo- rators as Cheever Goodwin and Woolson Morse with a series of works of which several share the fortunes of DeWolf Hopper's “Wang” in being still whistled. The outstanding comic opera of | this continent as created by two| Chicago youngsters years ago, Harry B. Smith and Reginald De Koven, when they diffidently of- fered “Robin Hood” to the august| Bostonians, and who shared the | amazement of the singers and managers when it registered an unequivocal success. Smith is still heard from with deft rhym- ing, which became a habit of ex- pression with him. * ook * DeKoven has passed away from the many scenes of activity in which he battled under a banner of musical idealism without al- ways the support of the plain, plodding element required for practieal - success. DeKoven did his best to be a thoroughly practi- cal man, as well as a musical pioneer. His activities touched this city. It was one of his am- bitions to establish a symphony orchestra worthy of the National Capital. He did not fully realize it. The same impulse has reas- zerted itself from time to time with a steadfast and consistent earnestness and is now inspiring renewed endeavor with more pro- spect of tangible and enduring re- sults than heretofore accom- plished. * x % % No need has been more firmly linked to the idea of genuine comic opera than that of the Aborn organization. It survives in attention even after the passing of many illustrious titles, includ- ing McCaull, Henry W. Savage and the Bostonians themselves. At first the Aborn Qpera Co. was an -organization which modestly rted itself between seasons, Bnd took the glory that other rganizations more resplendant in fame were willing to leave to less conspicuous endeavor. It is now the Aborn Co. that gives us our “Robin Hood” along with other faintly in memory is' Franz Schubert, whose exquisite meas- ures have found in “Blossom Time” a means of constant re- newal in popular affection. The closing season of “Blossom Time” has been announced several times, but its irresistible appeal entitles it even to as many fare- well appearances as a favorite prima donna. * % ¥ x It is to Otis Skinner that the theater turns from season to sea- son in expectation of something of extraordinary worth. Mr. Skinner is a student not merely of the theater’s lights and scen- ery, but of its literature. At ures start forward in fancy’s re- erence to the highly honorable and volumionous record his bi- ographers supply; such figures off had, as Hadg, in “Kismet,” and perhaps most conspicuous, Col. Bridau in “The Honor of the Family.” * ¥ ¥ X Skinner’s “Papa Juan” is again a call to the faithful who worship at the shrine of the legitimate drama. Large audiences followed with tense interest a character delineation showing the fineness {of detail that a sculptor might delight in chiseling from marble, |and then as a reward of fervent |artistic wish, find animated with the breath of real humanity. * % % Measured by the standards of the play artisan who works for thrills, surprises, and emotional outbursts of love enthusiasms, for cynical innuendo or the high pol- ish of epigram, Skinner’s “Papa Juan,” you would be told, is en- | tirely destitute of the things ab- solutely essential to the making |of a play. Yet the drama stands forward in secure recollection as one of the works worth while in the records of the English-speak- ing theater. Skinner is one of the players who succeed in being intensely intellectual in method and at the same time remote from any suspicion of a desire to coerce an audience into an atti- tude of mental submission in- stead of that of cordial and inti- mate understanding. * % ok % The return of the O'Nelll play is awaited eagerly by those who hesitated about the effort to become acquainted with 50 extraordinary an example of play structure. The “Interlude” remains unique and so loftily su- works that flourish in defiance with the pl.stln‘g years. Another of the oldtime melo- Austs which might remain but ?erlor to ordinary endeavor that he imitators, usually so alert to copy a sudden success, have not ventured to follow the intricacies of method even to the extent of seeking a plausible eoc“terult. mention of his name, various fig- | in incarnation without need of ref- | iy \"z«%\ Scere TR SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 2, STAGE and 4 NCREEN /4"Ofl7 *STRANGE INTERLUDE u, National RoBERT AMES and MAE CLARKE - Fox LoN CHANEY- Opers ” Rialto Excellence Maintained. TH!: ‘Theater Guild of New York may | boast in altruistic terms that it is | organized for the Iu{hpm of producing artistic plays, an at no other or- ganization ever had so many successes to its credit, nevertheless, from its ori- gin the Theater Guild has displayed uncanny judgment in its handling of the sordid commercial side to the stage. Ordinarily the average New York roducer would not even contemplate eeping up the standards of excellence th the cast and the production to play return engagements. But, an ex- imination of the names of the players in the company of “Strange Interlude” will disclose that it is composed of some of the very best of metropolitan play- ers. [Elizabeth Risdon heads the cast. Other players nationally known are George Gaul, Frank Conroy, Blaine Cordner, Maud Durand, Brandon Evans, gury ‘Holsman, James Todd and Lester ‘The advance sale that “Strange In- terlude” is having at the National for its return engagement is another proof of the business acumen that the Theater Guild displays in all its dealings with the &ubuc. No number two companies for Celel:ntcd .Spy in Film. HOSE Wwho witness “The Bishop Murder Case” at the Palace this week may get an added thrill if they remember that Basil Rathbone, who is cast, in the role of Philo Vance, a now famous detective of literature, and who made a,pronounced hit in the film ver- sion o\ffl;’;‘h&l uv‘vt % gfvrl- Cheyney,” was di e Worl ar a for the Britishs Intelligence Service, It must be & dull imagination indeed that cannot invent blood-curdling situ- ations into which & gentleman might be plunged in his attempts to spy on the German troops who were battling for the life of an empire as well as thelr own existence during the great cataclysm that involved the leading na- tions of the civilized world. Like the Gilbert and Sullivan policeman, his life could ot have been “a happy one.” Chicago to Be Uncovered. TDGAR WALLACE, creator of a thousand and one mystery stories, and the man who wrote a full-length ::vel ‘t:etw:enl lw'rh'uas'gly lng a Mon; i about & p abou ch!un. Although he was %xn days, - the Daily Telegra) Eugene | astonishing gunme; play about them, which he intends to grodueu himself at a London theater y the end of March. “It is absolutely founded on facts, with chlgter and verse for every hap- pening,” he promises. In fact, the au- thor describes it not as a melodrama, but as “s study, closely follo the actual gang life over there.” but two of the members of the LEILA HYAMS Land PASIL RATHBONE - The Bishop Murderg Case”Palece, r /n NTJhe Phantom of the he Sundwy St WASHINGTON, D. C, 1930. MARILYN _ MILLER~ p /1 Sally” Earle Motor, Aviation and Radio News BESSIE LOVE \¢ \ a2/ CHARLES KING { b Chosing Rambows Co Jack OAKIE and PoLLY WALKER - /” “ Pal 7595 Fritz Leiber’s Aim. FIR«ST of all a good showman, Fritz Leiber, who will bring to Washing- ton the repertory company of the Chi- cago Civic Shakespeare Soclety, which has just completed its first season in the new Civic Theater in that city, aims to present Bhl.ka!Pel\‘!ln plays as entertainment, as when they were writ- ten over 300 years ago, and not as edu- cation. In fact, it is Mr. Leiber's spe- cial accomplishment. He belleves that Shakespeare wrote for the average the- ater audience looking for amusenent, not for one which wished to be bewil- dered or confounded. ‘To the shrine of clarity, then, has Mr., Leiber bent his group of players, for the clarity that depends on lw“l1 mechanical production of scenes and forthright speaking of one character to another. The result is heralded from Chicago that his presentation of com- edies and tragedies are the best shows of this theatrical year, dramas whos: emotional sequence touch deeply the chords of modern living, comedies whose lines astonishingly hold their own against 1930 repartee. a practical standpoint every aid has been given Mr. Leiber to pro- duce these effects. The Chicago Civic Shakespeare Soclety, whose members are men of high financial, socclal and academic significance, has spared o expense. . The costumes and . scenery are dazzlingly beautiful, and each pro- duction is a spectacle of semi-modern type in which celor balance dominates and vitalizes. Yet with all this three minutes. is actually the longest intermission need- ed in the entire repertoire for changing set or scene. The curtain falls only when there is a change of massive set, Each play is a continuous performance, quite as Bhakespeare intended, Mr. Leiber believes. “Just be natural and you wrong on_ what Shakespeare meant,” he answers students of Shakespeare who have spent years working out meanings for certaln passages of the plays. “In some fashion, probably by taking Shakespeare far more seriously than he ever took himself, we have put him on :o idam where he would never with cannot go “All this talk of ‘reviving’ Shake- speare is absurd. I do not wish to in- flict him, but to present him as he wrote. That poetry and deep philoso- phy are in the lines give added cffect, but they are secondary to the play fom ust s angle. T b9 %o pley troms m fus angle. Just t.{m angle.” 5 oy Stage and Screen Attractions This Week NATIONAL—“Strange Interlude,” drama. Opens 5:30 p.m. to- morrow. POLI'S— row evening. “Blossom Time,” Schubert operetta. Opens tomor- GAYETY—“Record Breakers,” burlesque. This afternoon and evening. EARLE—“Sally.” This afternoon and evening. FOX—“Nix on Dames.” This afternoon and evening. PALA?n!'.—“The Bishop Murder Case.” This afternoon and eve- n 8. METROPOLITAN—"The Sacred Flame.” This afternoon and evening. R!Alg:)—"l’hmmm of the Opera.” This afternoon and eve- g. om.mm—"ohma R-K-O KEITH'S-- Rainbows.” This afternoon and ey the Deck.” This aftern oon and evening. Wit #he Deck.” Qi K.O. Kerths Importnnt Local Boo]unds. BOOK1N08 for the Metropolitan and Earle Theaters have been announc- ed by John J. Payette, general manager of the Warner Brothers Theaters in Washington. A series of unusually pre- tentious and elaborate features from the ‘Warner Brothers and First National studios is promised. ‘The first will be the PFirst National ‘Vitaphone picturization of Ziegfeld's musical comedy success, “Sally” and starring dainty Marilyn Miller, at the Earle, and for the Metropolitan & most unusual picture, a Warner Brothers Vitaphone production, “The Sacred Flame,” a nrn:g‘e love . story with a highly delicate theme and a cast in- cluding Conrad Nagel, Lila Lee, Pauline Prederick and Willlam Courtenay. In the offing are the follo! H “Son of the Gods,” starring Richard Barthelmess, with Constance Bennett, from Rex Beach's story, and First Na- tional production. “Song of the West,” a sensational all-color, Warner Brothers operetta of the gold-rush days in California, with John _ Boles, Vivienne al, Joe E. Brown and a great cast and filmed en- tirely in Technicolor. “Song of the Flame,” First National's ‘mammoth version of the stage operetta, featuring Bernice Claire and Alexan- der gray, also is an all-color Pmducmm “Under a Texas Moon,” Warner Brothers big outdoor picture, fllmed completely in Technicolor, with Frank Fay, Armida, Noah Beery, Myrna Loy and Raquel Torres, “Ne o, Nanette,” starri Bernice Claire, . the new singing “find” in-the 1 comedy success. Mcv‘hahm:‘tgn picture fans may expect to see others during the coming months at the Warner Brot| ‘Theaters in this city. Ear phon‘el at Fox. WOR-D comes that the ear phone equipment at the Fox Theater, which has been hanging fire for some time, is about to be installed. The com- ing week should see 10 sets ready for. use. All of which should be great news for those affiicted with defective hear- he erstwhile silent talkies will thus automatically become for the deaf a new and stimulating experience. " ‘ Selma Lagerlof's Talkie. SEI.MA LAGERLOF, Sweden's queen of letters, has just signed her first talking picture famous author has dec! Swedish Film Industry Co. do a talking version of her recent novel, “Charlotte Loew- enskoeld. who is a Nobel prize only 'omng“ member contract. The ided to let the Pirst National picturization of the mu- [ Wil lumbia MARry CLARK: Htthe Gayety Late Plays On Bfoadway é¢ of interest apart merits as a Phy—lt is & dram- atization of Lionnel Feucht- ‘wanger's ;monumental novel “Power,” and it brings back to New York, as an English-speaking actor, Maurice Moscovitch, who formerly rhytd in the Jewish Theater, and then learned English, in his middle 40s, be- fore making a success as an English- speaking. Shylock in England. . As usually hap in such drama- tizations .of novels, certain high ts have been abstracted from the o fabric, and these have been bri 3 well as might be, into a brief runni story. A character emerges, none too clearly, of a Jew, who loves power for its own sake and also because all that he wins for himself is by way of revenging the sorrows and sufferings of his race. In the end, the structure that he has so menuy and craftily built up wrecks , but not until he has %\;l:ed the Gentlle prince to whom he , 80 to n{;‘ sold himself, down in their common ruin, ‘The action passes in the Duchy of Wurttemberg, about the year 1737. Joset Suss Oppenheimer, known as “Jew Suss,” is one of those wealthy Jews who, throughout modern European his- | ‘ory, have been the power behind princes and principalities, without, as a rule, themselves holding office or high and visible places. In this case, the Jew, ingratiating himself witn the arrogant and dissolute Karl Alexander, Duke of ‘Wurttemberg, when the two meet at the gambling tables in the gump room at bad, becomes the brains Duke’s . entourage, his treasurer and clmble and hard-boiled handy-man. krl!fln‘ as was Mr. Moscovitch's English-speaking debut in the city where Re 50 long played in a foreign language, he is scarcely suited, in age or in acting style, to embody Feuchtwanger's hero, who was at once a cunning lomat, & devil with the ladies, and a t-class political and financial bandit. . Moscovitch played him, Suss becomes a mellow, very self-possessed and rather likable old gentleman. And the play itself, originally written for Matheson Lang in England while interesting enough, in a routine way, retains little of the richness and flavor of Feucht- ‘wanger’s novel. g * ok ok 'HERE is an other-worldliness about from its Italian of Alberts Casella, both in its miliey, the country estate of an Italian nobleman, and in its theme, a more or less poetical consideration of the bor- derland between life and death, very of pleces about crooks, of the | Mej As. Mr. | i News and Comment from New York OSEF SUSS" has two elements ; grown up if not, indeed, rather deca- dent. Death, lonely and deeply distressed at the universal abhorrence which he in- spires in man, decides to take a holi- day—for three days he will assume mor- tal shape, in this case, that of His Se- rene Highness, Prince Sirki, of Vitalba Alexandri, and ’Dmin“l the amiable y at the country house of Duke mbert, see if he cannot discover what it is that makes men cling so passion- ately to life. He finds that this my: terious thing is love; falls in love him. self, indeed, with Grazia, the duke's dreamy young daughter, and finds it all but impossible to go back to his norm realm and task without taking her away with him. The possibilities and difficulties of the theme are sufficiently obvious. There will be the opportunity for some very effective and not difficult theatrical alle- I"’H en . Prince Sirki and Ma, Whitread, the dare-devil member of Foreign Legion, meet in the duke's draw- ing room, as two ordinary men of the world, and the major says that the prince’s face seems somehow famil and the prince answers quietly they have, indeed, met, but on the ba tlefield, the spectator finds himself en- Joying & novel ironic humor, which may quite easily be put in ordinary thea- tric terms. The relationship between the prince and the young girl is a good deal less easy to handle. One can imagine Satan, for instance, getting lonely, and on tak- ing human sm&e. falling in love. A 'phistopheles, for instance, con- ceivably fall in love with a Marguerite. 1t is less easy to associate loneliness, in & human sense of the word, with such a comphrative abstraction as death. A ro\m( girl, on the other hand, it long for death as a release from bewilderments or sorrows of her life, tmt to fall in love with Death, in the com- Prince Sirki—that is a good deal harder to put, convincingly, in the stage’s visual terms. Nor can it be said that Philip Meri- vale, in spite of the excellenvs of his Prince “Death Takes.a Holiday,” from the | hiis un! refreshing to_encounter in the routine | tions likal other fauna and flora of