Evening Star Newspaper, February 24, 1930, Page 23

The Week’s Attractions in Local Theaters Reviews of New Photoplays and Stage Productions PALACE _ Following . a picture which would have been “Ship From better if the director had Shanghai.” curbed a pronounced ten- dency of some of the m‘-: to overact, the performance of Na , Who is seen at the Palace ‘Theater temporarily after a prolonged absence, was welcomed enthusiastically by_the Sunday afternoon audience. The picture, “Ship Prom Shanghal,” Pprovides little 'more than an opportun- ity for Louis Wolheim to display a brand of brutishness which seems ex- ted even with a physiognomy such as his to lend it credence. There are*several bright spots, however, no- tably the storm scene and a beautifully ed episode involving Conrad ay Johnson and a flood of moonlight, which must be native to the equatorial regions of the Pacific. After his work in “The Sacred Flame,” the performance of Conrad Nagel in this picture is somewhat of a disappointment. He has little oppor- tunity, however, to do more with a negligible part. avara proves himself a master of | entertainment as well as of ceremonies. | His clowning at the piano, an instru ment he plays with remarkable skill, | is the highlight of the stage features. All the acts, though, are well above standard. The Chester Hale Girls are attractive and beautifully costumed. A ‘company of skillful tumblers, Dancing Sammy Krevoff and Milo, an enter- comedian of the slapstick school, perform in commendable style. A newsreel, including a dissertation by & woman sentenced to life imprison- ment for repeated stealing, completes the bill, J. C. “The Lone Star Ranger,” the current attraction at the Fox Theater, is a fast-mov- ing movie of the type so Ranger.” ponular a decade or s 8go, The picture has shooting scrapes ga- lore, and the sound devices make the gun fights quite realistic. In fact, the show would have been mediocre with- out the mechanical aid. The “talkies” simiply made the picture. George O'Brien deserves to be classed with the best of the Western film stars. He acts more life-like than mos! f his contemporaries. Though a “bad man” during the first few reels, he s in no sense brazen and overbearing. In the story he establishes such a Teputation as a gunman while an out- law that he is sought by the Texas Rangers to aid in smashing a gang of desperadoes that has been terrorizing the countryside. His desire to make love to his “girl friend.” Sue Carol, caused him to accept the offer, and when he finished his campaign the Tustlers were either dead or in jail. Miss Carol, formerly a favorite in “flapper” roles, is very charming as a demure Southern girl. Her vivacious €ood nature adds a great deal to the .pg_ehnel of the picture, stage program is headed by an unusually snappy tap dancing perform- ance by the Three Slate Brothers. A Movietone News completes the bill, Remember “The Hotten- tot”—in which a young man with a mortal fear of horses is tricked by cir- EARLE “The ‘Well, it seems that the very same young man, Edward Everett Horton by hdme, is even more afraid of airplanes. ‘That tells the basis of the side-splitting plot which Warner Bros. have given the growing tide of Horton fans in the howling comedy at the Earle Theater 1l week. fore the talkies came into their own, Edward Everett Horton was just another comedian. Now that audiences have been permitted to hear this na- tural-born wise-cracker and look upon his excruciating countenance, Horton has jumped to the forefront of funny men with leaps and bounds as hectic as those he negotiated astride the Hot- tentot. After the Hottentot. Mr. Horton gained talkie renown in a series of short “business” comedies which gave him too limited an appearance to satis- 1y the laugh-demands of these who ap: iate facial drollery and vocal ity. Horton is a master of both, and the success of these short films induced the talkie magnates to feature screenland’s Hum}vynn in another full- product L It would spoil the Earle offering to detail to prospective visitors the be- wildering succession of weird situations in which Horton finds himself in this aerial farce. Suffice it to explain that Edward is a famous author whose fear of getting far off the ground is so in- tense he avoids elevators, high windows and other lofty things. When his pub DULIN & By Special Request COMMUNITY PLATE Club Plan CONTINUED FOR THIS WEEK BY POPULAR DEMAND Here is YOU SELECT all the beau- coMMUNITY including ville pattern. YOU PAY as little as $1.00 according amount of your purchase, tiful desired, new Dex now, and then weekly or monthly. YOU RECEIVE the silver- ware at once, and, best of all, pay only our regular cash prices! Choose from this List Siz $4.00 Dinner Knives, Hollow Handle ...Sir 14.00 For those desiring other makes of plated silverware, the plan will be extended to the others we carry for this one week. L Street Entrance, First Floor, DuLIN @ MARTIN. Connecticut Ave. anad l’ PARKING SERVICE—Connecticut Ave. Entrance of | Lillian Leighton, Epec O'Donnell, Sam ,lishers inveigle him into permitting the | use of his name on a book on aviation | written by someone else, is is plunged into complications so dizzy that many persons with weak hearts had to turn |their heads from the stunting scenes | in the clouds yesterday. You see, the author, being taken for a great aviator, attempts to fill the part—and how! Horton is ably supported by Patsy| Ruth Miller, Johnny Arthur, Lee Moran, Armand Kaliz and Kewpie Morgan. Robert L. Ripley, of “Believe It or | Not” fame, makes an entertaining stage | appearance, during which he draws one {of his quaint cartoons and explains a |movie reel of others. Supplementary | subjects are Jack Osterman in a song \skit “Talking It Over;” Bobby Watson id Wilbur Mack in a novel comedy, ‘The Stand-Up,” and the news reel. ‘The Earle Orchestra offers selections from Victor Herbert's composmua.u_c K- CFITHS HelenTwelve- R-K-O KEITH'S JeenTusive, “The Grand Parade.” Lilian Gish with an added dash of spirit and a lovely voice, and Fred Scott, concert tenor, score de- cisively in “The Grand Parade,” the first talking film to center its action about a_black face minstrel show, at R-K-O Keith's Theater this week. It's a good minstrel show, t00, of the | flk that was famous 20 years ago, the | period in which the play is set, and | With careful attention given to details | of dress and scenic background, but | with one flaw, perhaps, that creeps in | to jar in its’ references to “detours” | and “one-way” streets, not so appro- priate in a story of 20 years ago. Miss Twelvetrees, in the role of the boarding house “help,” who reclaims a once great minstrel star after his down- fall caused by a womar who holds a strange power over him, proves herself a tradedienne who might easily hold her own beside the famous Gish. Fred Scott is the fallen star. His mellow voice registers extremely well, and his dramatic penformance clicks. They are | supported by a_capable cast, including | the beautiful Marie Astaire, Richard | Carle. musical comedy star; Russell | Powell, Bud Jamleson, Jimmy Adams, | Blum. Tom Malone and Jim Aubrey. A comedy, “The Setting Son,” heads the sudsidiary attractions, which include the R-K-O and Pathe news features. Freddy Clark and his R-K-Olians are well received in their overture innova- tion including a solo number ““Wherever You Go, I'm Following You,” and “By the Old Mill Stream,” illustrated with gestures. C. F. T A ‘The golden silence COLU ‘\IBI‘\ that once was part “Anna Christie,” of the screen's most fascinating sphynx is no ‘more. Director Clarence Brown has at last corralled the voice of Greta Garbo and used it to supreme advantage in his film production of Eugene O'Neil's drama, “Anna Christie.” Miss Garbo's voice is just what one hoped it might be. Even better, 1t is the low, vibrantly tuned medium of speech of an artist who has studied the English language with care. Every word seems to be a crystallized whole, Which, polished and refined, is made all the more intriguing by its tint of the foreign. tinction to reer, Greta Garbo may now be said to have dissolved the clouds of misapprehension that were suspended over her while the doubtful world waited for her to speak. She is an actress whose words carry weight. She has now doubly earned ’t‘llle title of the “magic lady of the The powerful story of “Anna Christte,” which has been produced twice before, once by the meritorious Theater Guild Co. and once by the silent screen, is again as absorbing a study of the seamier side of life as can be found. With its coal-barge setting and its | liquor-encrusted characters whose wak- |ing and dreaming thoughts revolve around the docks of New York, this play reveals the grim symbolism of “that ol' devil sea” with - force and vitality. No embellishments of the more frivolous variety have been injected into it. It stands on the merits of the acting of four people who comprise the back- bone of one of the most perfectly rounded casts on record. Besides the subdued and thoroughly distinguished performance of Miss Garbo, who as Anna finds her paradise amidst the sordid surroundings of a barge, Marle Dressler gives another one of her now famous Dickensian char- acterizations. This time, as the old “sea cow” Martha, who hustles away from the friendly home of Chris when MAR TIN the Plan to ~the a small sum De Luze Stainless Dinner Knives, Modeled Handle. . . Butter Spreaders. Sugar Spoon. Butter Knife. _Ea. Salad Dressing Ladle £a, THE ‘EV.ENI;NG STAR, WASfiINGTON .Gy MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 19 she learns that his daughter is about to arrive, she is even better—if that is possible—than_ever. George F. Marion, in the role of the captain of the barge, brings that same drop of pathos to Chris as he did when the curtain first rose in the Theater Guild in New York. This veteraa actor m) even a new vigour t7 a role with which he is now thoroughly familiar. And Charles Bickford. who completes the splendid triumvirate, as | the arrogantly boyish Irishman is letter perfect from first to last. If there is anything more to be sald, it is that the scenes have been handled with restraint and simplicity, and that apart from the fact that there is too little of Marle Dressler the whole film is genuinely satisfying. The rémainder of the program is de- voted to the Hearst News Reel, and an amusing Harry Langdon comedy, with the prodigious noise of a tumultuous multitude fighting to get to their seais before the great Garbo begins to ‘(‘nlk. METROPOLITAN _Byer since “Sons of the Gods” fith’s “Bro- | ken Blos- soms,” one of the most appealing of the silent screen's offerings in the-old days, Richard Barthelmess has had, so to speak, the Chinese complex. Although he has suffered considerably since then at the hands of mediocre directors and stories, his latest vehicle “Son of the | Gods,” the week’s picture at the Metro- politan, partly atones for previous lapses. | Furthermore, it gives him a chance to play the role of a supposed Chinaman, thus returning him to the field which first put him in a considerable lime- light. l"rhu story of racial barrier seems to | run fairly close to Rex Beach's novel. | The trials and tribulations of Sam Lee, who tries his hand at Americanism and then flees to Europe only to receive an | even worse “beating” by his flancee | when she discovers that he is the son of a Chinaman, is all handled skilfully and logically. Perhaps the scene in the palatial tea garden, where the lovely Constance Bennett gives Mr. Barthel- mess that licking with her riding whip, is & bit overmelodramatic, but since | Rex Beach would have it so it must be | a genuine fictional device. At any rate, | it is at that point that Sam Lee decides | that he had better stick to the cult of | his Eastern fatherland. So he departs, | and the rest of the film is given over to Miss Bennett's atonement, for her sadis- tic act, and to other things which it might not be proper to divuige. Throughout the picture Richard Bar- thelmess plays Sam Lee with sympathy and understanding. In the more lachri- mose moments he conducts himself with LANSBURGH &BRO 7th. 8th and E Sts.—National 9800 Patou’s New Panamalaque Hat Is Brimful Copied Here at as the new silhouette — manipulated to appear brimless! newest French Room hats in Panamalaque, Porte Bonheur, Baku Soie, and Tuscan lace at $15—sur- prising when you price them around town! Millinery Shop—Ses LANSBURGH &BRO 7th, 8th and E Sts.—National 9800 An Important Fashion Pastel To Match Pastel Formal Frocks $1,95 Pair So little of the hose now shows under the ankle- length evening frocks, that silken inches visible, a continuation of the gown Phoenix evening hose—the merest wisps of color! chiffon—now come in the your formal frocks! Bluciel Chamauve $15 Patou brings back brims! Mint Green Flesh Hosiery—Street Floor skilful restraint, adding to the polgnancy of the situation. Always capable of pro- ducing tears in his audience by his wistful smile, he proves again in “Son of the Gods” that this emotional art is as potent as ever. Anders Randolf as the millionaire father, a role done to a crisp, serves with distinction, and Constance Bennett looks as beautiful as-ever. The sets, in- cidentally, are splendid. Short subjects and the Paramount Sound News com- plete a worth-while program. E. M. SAY rls From the Fol- (}&}_}::TY lies,” one of the highly Tom appreciated revues on | the Follies.” the Mutual burlesque circuit, is giving this week’s audiences at_the Gayety a treat. Headed by a talented performer, Gladys Clark, who makes the most of her very generous part, there are be- sides the Duvall Sisters, who came ln' for large salvos of applause; Marion | Ramon, who contributes considerable | talent ‘to her numbers, and & very | comely group of dancing girls, with | Bernie Green, one of the most pliably | humorous of 'comedians; Bessie Davis | and Millle Convey, to_complete a ca- | pable company which flashes through a series of alluring and ever pleasing | whirlwind numbers, E. M. -“Undertow,” & tense BIAT‘TQ drama depicting_the in- Undertow.” per struggles of a girl | used to the luxuries and excitement of | life, who is married to an impoverished | lighthouse keeper, with the stellar role | by Mary Nolan, i featured this week at the Rialto, Mary's heralded loveliness does not exist in her second venture in the talkies, perhaps due to the lack of make-up. Her voice, while distinct, s not altogether pleasing. John Mack Brown, former Alabama University foot ball star, the leading man, portrays the poor husband in the picture with a de- cided marcel wave in his hair. A sur- prise is given in a terrific battle, not staged under the Marquis of Queens- bury rules, between the husband and a rival. _Affer a knock-down and drag- out affair, both emerge none the worse for wear, however, and the rival even bobs up with his hair still nicely slicked. In the play, Mary has chosen a poor mate, whose business destinies are in the hands of & rich suitor, who has been turned down by Mary. Revenge- ful, the deposed lover gets the husband | a position in a lonely lighthouse, miles off the shore, and for three years Mary slaves in this lonely spot, tearfully la- menting the pleasures of the rest of the world. Her husband goes blind, and with this added unhappiness her for- mer sweetheart arrives and takes her away—right. before the sightless ‘eyes of of Charm But brims as subtle adroitly lifted — ofttimes We present our Hose it's smart to have the few lovely, misted pastels of Doree Iris her husband, and & child which has been born to them. Arriving on the mainland, she real- izes her mistake, breaks away and re- turns. The former suitor also returns, then the fight ensues between him and the husband who has recovered his sight. A storm rages outside with much realism as the battle goes on in the | lighthouse. - The storm subsides and peace follows to all concerned. Sunny Jim in “Sister's Pes lo- rious Vamps,” a cartoon comedy, The Evening Star-Universal Newsreel and an_orchestral selection complete the program. G. A H. “The Rosary,” by St. Mary's Players. The St. Mary's Players, under the di- rection of Edward J. Meehan, presented the religious drama, “The Rosary,” yes- terday afternoon at the Natlonal Theater, effectively and to the complete ' butler. Through this story of the faith- | satisfaction of their audience. Con- sidered one of the most expert com- panies in amateur productions in the Monumental City, the Baltimore thes- plans demonstrated again that they have lost none of the potency of their skill. Before an audience that crowded the theater to capacity, they unraveled | Edward E. Rose's dramatic play with all the airs and graces of the most seasoned professional company, barring minor lapses, such as the delinquency of occasional lighting effects, and, per- haps, the inaudibility of some of the lines. ‘There were the old familiar stage properties — the villain’s husky laugh (which Mr. Marling did to perfection) — the pleasant Irish brogue of the less man it to see the light of sal- vation by the of ministers, the company moved with distinction. Joseph ADpeaiing personaliy o a et yeie ap) per y to a ult rol 'h';:; he handled superbly. Francis X. McCormick, although physically far from convincing, was expert enough with his lines to make one forget that he was not as old as he should have been. And Bernadine Kraus, looking for all the world like Lilllan Gish, was very good. E M. Quake Rocks Grecian Towns. VOLO, Greece, February 24 (#).— A violent earthquake at 8:30 o'clock last night did much damage and frightened the people. Three houses good Father Kelly, the imbecilities of the | maid, and the antics of the youthful collapsed. The shocks lasted ten sec- nds. Reports sald that Thebes and Atlant! were shaken. DEPEND ON ZEMO TO STOP ITCHING Use soothing, hea invisible Zemo for the torture of Itching Skin. This clean, reliable family antiseptic helps bring relief in thousands of homes, stops itching and draws the heat and sting out of the skin. ZEMO has been used for twenty vears with remarkable success for all_forms of annoying, itching skin irritations, elief with first appli- cation,” thousands say. 60c and $1.00. All dealers. | FOR SKIN JRRITATIONS " LANSBURGH & BRO 7th, 8th and E Sts.—FAMOUS FOR QUALITY SINCE 1860—National 9800 Just Look What One Dollar Will Buy Tomorrow In the March Sale ot HOUSEWARES Spring’s in sight! And at the first signs wise housewives set out to put their homes in readiness! 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