Evening Star Newspaper, March 30, 1930, Page 55

- Theater, Screen an d Music * Part 4—14 Pages AMUSEMENT SECTION he Sunday Star, WAS HIN GTON, D. C, SUNDA L_ENORE Y MORNING, MARCH 30, 1930. Motor, Aviation and Radio N?Xvs, ; TAGE an d _ SCRer ULRIC and CHARLES DICKFORD In " SouthSea Rose B . GEORGE ARLISS - /7 N The Green (Goddess Metropolitan S *Baby Spring Fashions in the Playhouse. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. ‘The quest of Ponce de Leon for the Fountain of Youth has kept innumerable pleasure- seekers turning toward Florida. This fountain was long since proved a geographical myth. Yet there is such a fountain. Donald Brian is evidently the fortunate possessor of its secret. It is pos- sibly located, not in a general topography of sea sands and blos- somings, but among the individual mysteries of the endocrines. If there is anything in the theory that the glandular equipment reg- ulates human type and tempera- ment, Mr. Brian must be credited with an especially efficacious set of tubes which enable him to tune in upon a smiling universe. * * * % ‘When “The Merry Widow” was new Brian was the one Prince Danilo, and he still is. The com- petition of the theater often grows relentless, and the favorite of to- day may find but little protection by the management, which re- gards him as probably accidental and evanescent, from the fate of being forgotten. This is the con- dition which calls for the force of private personality as well as of talent. Brian held the position which he had conquered, not by aggressive methods of attack and counter-attack, such as are obvi- ously employed by some of our favorite comedians as they let slip the shafts of off-stage repartee, but by the bland and simple method of accepting conditions as they arose and a readiness always “to oblige” so long as his public liked him. * X ¥ X Brian has played other things than ‘Danilo; nothing so well re- membered. In one play a stroke of unfriendly stage management was made very obvious to the eye familiar with the methods of maymg a performer up or down the scale of popularity. His quietly graceful dancing number was immediately preceded by a demonstration very similar and with the advantage of ensemble support. The Brian act was im- mediately followed by a very simi- lar bit of display. Ordinarily there would have been a shriek and a wail from the wise actor who knows his lemons. Brian merely did his bit in his characteristic likable way and waited patiently for the show to close; which it did | before very long. It is this serenity of mood, no doubt, which enables | Donald Brian to take his place as one of the ranking members of the Order of Ponce de Leon. * Rt Repose in the theater was also | demonstrated by the veteran | tragedian, who lent palmy-day distinction to a seriés of plays at | the Auditorium and, by his ma- | ture security, left his supporting cast sometimes so far out of the | picture that he was compelled, {whether he wished or . not, “to | bear the palm alone.” An earnest love of the classical drama isevi- {dent in the enterprise which as- | sembles a full acting company in the Downing support when he is well qualified to appear as an | evangelist, and also as a Shake- | spearean reader. Mr. Downing has triumphantly proved his ability to hold the stage alone. But to be | an actor it is necessary for a man | to yearn for drama in its full ex- | pression aside from the lecture | platform, and remain loyal in | the attitude of one who never re- covers from being stagestruck, in | the serious sense of the term. | * X X X | Yet this public of ours often turns to the individual demon- stration with a heartier approval | than it accords elaborate casting |and production. Happy, indeed, is | the artist who emancipates him- | self from scene shifters and mu- |sicians and appears, like . Harry Lauder or Burton Holmes, as a complete and independent indi- viduality. * Kk Kk “Jonica” proved to be a rever- sion to type in musical show, more like the original burlesque .than like the development on legitimate operetta lines that have marked more recent melodious fun. It | was a little slow in getting start- led, and apparently dependent more on the natural native Broad- | way chatter of some of its players than on resourceful novelty on | the part of the librettist. It served chiefly as a point of interest in the road season now drawing to a close by providing a sort of musical prelude for the annual stock season, which: opens early enough to get a breath ‘Pr regular Sarce foom #e LADIES” RK.O Kei+h s SoNes"Trio- Fox (Stage) Delightful Courtesy. NOTWITHSTANDING his scheduled ‘travel talk on France for last Thursday afternoon, Burton Holmes, whose lectures on foreign countries, beautifully illustrated on the screen, are one of the delightful features of | the amusement year in Washington, | yesterday afternoon also gave a special showing of his Mediterranean trav- elogue as a special courtesy to Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Rapley, who appear in sev- eral of the pictures. It appears that Mr, and Mrs. Rapley took the trip last year, and when the pictures are shown in Mr. Holmes' se- ries of lectures this year, probably about April 10, they expect to be on the high seas on their way to Italy. | The special showing of them was ar- ranged through the courtesy of Mr Holmes and obliging assistant, Jessie Green. . Jerry Norris in Luck. FOR the benefit of those who saw “Jonica” during the past week it may or may not be treason to point out that the lendlnF man in the cast, Jerry Norris, not only is a’screen player of distinction, a college graduate as well as a graduate from stock, but he also | has just landed one of the now coveted | contracts in the theatrical world from | Florenz Ziegfeld. ris will play orposlte the scintillating Marylin Miller in the first Ziegfeld pro- duction of the season, “Tom, Dick and Harry,” whose cast will also boast the services of Fred and Adele Astair. Mr. Norris has also a brand-new contract from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on his desk. All of which would indicate that considerable may be written about this young man in the future. Winter weather to encourage the extraordinarily liberal advance seat sale. Authority repeats the announcement made from time to time that Poli’s will disappear in the march of architectural im- provement, and that the Belasco also will make its exit before the | Summer closes. * X X X The National Players assert themselves in gladsome terms of permanency with flowers, after- 1t seems that late next Fall Mr. Nor- | ; dinner hes and the band playing “Bhov Be Forgot?” uld Old Acquaintance | thy MARION STERLY- National Players “ [N CSE ere /4?0/77 < JOURNEYS END” Polis JCefle rom SARAH ard SON” TIBBETTand CATHERINE DALE OWEN- ln > The ’7?oyue St or{y"Col umbia Stage and Screen Attractions This Week. NATIONAL—National Players evening. in “Holiday.” Opens tomorrow POLI'S—“Journey’s End,” drama. Opens this evening. GAYETY—“Best Show in Town,” burlesque. and evening. This afternoon METROPOLITAN—“The Green Goddess,” with George Arliss. This afternoon and evening. PALACE—“Sarah and Son,” with Ruth Chatterton. This after- noon and evening. FOX—“South Sea Rose,” with Lenore Ulric. This afternoon and evening. R-K-O Keith’s—“Lovin’ the Ladies,” witn Richard Dix. This afternoon and evening. EARLE—“Slightly Scarlet,” with Evelyn Brent. This afternoon and evening. COLUMBIA—"The Rogue Song,” with Lawrence Tibbett. afternoon and evening. This Welcome That Awed. AT a long, lean table which ran almost the entire length of the National Press Club Auditorium last Tuesday sat a dozen or more personages Who during the coming weeks are likely to play a considerable part in entertain- ing ut:hc hungry drama seekers of Wash- gton. Strangely enough these trailers of the thespian arts—the National Players— were observed to look, act and eat like real mortals, especially the eating. In fact, during the splendid luncheon, served to myriads of fortunate guests. the honored visitors were observed conduct themselves quite like human beings. The leading lady, behind a large bunch of unassorted flowers, smiled graciously, revealing all the charm that rumor has wafted ahead of her. The leading man towered handsomely above his salad. The ingenue was believed to be blushing over her coffee and the vil- lain more btehan“?:ce looked as though e migl get read, le or hit somebody. b ST However, if ‘there was a touch of character ‘illusion that rewarded the student of these physiognomies, if at times one caught a trace of the comic in the comedian, or a trace of the tragic in the tragedian, before the microphone, to the greedy eyes of the assembled mul- titude, these well tried actors did dis- close, as anybody might, the fact that ey were & wee bit nervous. Walter Gilbert, whose roles in the near future call for much taming of the female heart, confessed that he was “scared blue.” Marion Sterly, the neo- ingenue, although she wouldn’t admit it, seemed a trifie uncertain about everything but the picture postcards that she had bought that morning. Marion Wells, the queen of the troups, looked utterly lovely and could have gotten away with anything that she said, and Adelaide Hibbard and Romaine Collender, veteran performers, sat with- out batting an eye and pretended that they were immune to the admiring en- to | thusiasm of the throng. But who can blame anybody? These same, and yet not exactly the same, National Theater Players have come and gone since the memorable year of their first premier, 1924 to be exact. But never, no never before, even with all the praises and applause, not to say the adulation, that had been theirs without stint time and again, had ever so royal a welcome been handed them in their starting days as that provided by the Advertising Club of Washington, a llve wire among live wires in the know and never boast without a reason. Steve Cochran, the astute manager of the playing bunch, knew, however, and Steve, fairly chortling with joy, smiled and smiled and then smiled some more through the joyous hours of the feast. It meant prosh:cy to Steve. And Steve never over] a bet. That's why they call him “the astute boy manager.” National Capital, folks that are in the | Next Week's Pictures. NOW that the motion picture thea- ters have rejected the conventional opening of the new week on Sunday and start their new week on Friday in some and on Saturday in others, it may be of interest to know the attractions that may be expected a bit in advance of the usual time. The Fox Theater announces for its new week, beginning Saturday, an un- usual story of the air, “The Sky Hawk,” with one of the most thrilling of cli- maxes—a night raid on London during the World War. This picture will in- troduce a new leading man in John Garrick, supported by a cast including Helen Chandler, Gilbert Emery, Lennox Pawle, Lumsden Hare, Daphne Pollard and Joyce Compton. It is not at all improbable that “The Green Goddess,” starring George Arliss, may continue for a second week at ‘Warner Bros.’ Metropolitan, although definite announcement of the fact is not permissible just now. But Warner Bros.’ Earle Theater the coming Friday will present “Blaze of Glory,” with the popular Eddie Dowling appearing both in the picture and in person on the stage. “Blaze of Glory” is a Sono-Art picture, and thoroughly up to date in its elements. Loew's Palace Theater, starting Sat- urday, will present William Powell in “The. Benson Murder Case,” one of the outstanding mystery thrillers of the day and a Paramount production, while Loew's Columbia, starting at the same time, will have Gary Cooper and Mary Brian, ever-popular favorites, in a new one, entitled “Only the Brave.” R-K-O Keith's Theater, which also starts its new week on Saturday, has| not yet announced what its attraction for the new week will be. o Cast Display Problem. HOW to give due credit to more than 80 prominent speaking characters in the talking picture “Abraham Lin- coln” now in process of filming is the problem facing D. W. Griffith, veteran producer-director. If the names of all the actors and actresses engaged were flashed on the screen studio, statisticians estimate that 500 feet of film of audience time would be needed. The matter is a problem of more than average impor- tance because Griffith is a firm believer in giving players adequate credit for their work. Faced with the necessity of concen- trating all the more vital episodes of Lincoln’s life in 9,000 feet of film, Mr. Griffith contemplates issuing a separate cast sheet for display in the theaters that show the picture. The screen, in this way, will only give credit to six or seven of the principal players whose roles run through the length of the pro- duction, 3 “VELYN BRENT s CLIVE. § BROOK - /i Slhghtly Searket & arl RITZ BROTHERS - Palace (%) | €¢ tization by G. B. Stern and Frank Vernon of Miss Sterns’ novel, “Tents of Israel” in which Mrs. Patrick Campbell | played a long and highly successful en- | gagement in England last year, has ar- rived on Broadway with Constance Col- lier in the role of the rambunctious and indomitable old Jewish lady which Mrs. Campbell played in London The Matriarch is the head, or at any rate the dominant figure, of one of those powerful Jewish merchant families strategic points all over Europe, from London to Constantinople. cosmopolitan, with uncles and aunts in | Paris and Amsterdam and Vienna, and | as much at home in one capital as an- other. She croons German lullabies to her grandchildren, makes an occasional exclamation in French, and every now and then plumps out some thick old word that has survived from the Ghetto. Around this ornate, florid and re- doubtable old lady are grouped all the uncles, aunts and other members of the clan, and throughout the story of her personal enthusiasms and maneuverings there runs the stanch loyalty and rela- tionship of the Rakonita tribe, sticking by each other and their business honor —with one or two duly discredited ex- ceptions—through thick and thin. It is a rich part, evidently, for an ac tress who can act and is willing to fore- g0 the usual romantic pose. Mrs. Camp- bell did both in the London version. And for those who recalled her as one of the great beauties of the English st,a%e, her performance was astonishing in its broad humor, unction and almost re- lentless authenticity. Miss Collier doesn't bring the same richness and color to the part, especial- ly in her voice—for Mrs. Campbell, as she has been proving in her recent re- citals in this country, is a specialist in such matters—but it is unfair, of course, to insist on comparisons in such cases, and the role remains a rich and sym- pathetic one, in any case, and Miss Collier gives it understanding, affection and her own individual authority. In the New York version Miss Jessica Tendy, as the young girl who takes up the matriarch’s family scepter when the time comes for the redoubtable old lady to yleld to the new generation, gives a brisk and moving performance which seems to have interested the American audience almost more than the theoretically leading part. The play is lon‘g mda:s almost ner,e; ly_happens in such arrangement from novels, discursive rather than taut Jp— whose representatives are planted at| She is a| | New Shows on Broadway Reviews and Comment HE MATRIARCH," the drama- and in the ordinary sense dramatic, but it is interesting, nevertheless, and in its subject matter decidedly off the or- dinary beaten track. * (] WANT my wife.” A rather child- ish and not very funny farce about a very girl-shy young man who got married without knowing it while | suffering an attack of amnesia. All very | well for country club theatricals or an amtteur Saturday night, but not quite “grown-up” enough for Broadway. The company, which includes Gerald Oliver Smith, Spring Byington, Herbert Yost and Patricia Barclay, struggled desper- ately with material which isn’t as good as it deserves. e e THE practical success of young Mr. Mei Lan-fang's visit to New York is as surprising, perhaps, as it is grati- fying. That an artist of his rare gifts would attract a certain limited audience goes without saying, but it didn’t seem at all certain, after his highly success- ful first night, that an entertainment so_exotic would draw_enough of the general public to keep his theater filled for several weeks. ‘There is scarcely anything for us to “learn” from these Chinese. plays and their players, as there was, for instance, | from the visit of the Moscow Art Play- ers several years ago. The whole scheme of their fine and conventionalized art is too foreign to our temperament and time. But it is a chance to see_some- thing quite finished, in both a tive and literal sense of the word, and | quite perfect of his kind. Your correspondent knows rather less than nothing about China at first hand, but he must confess that when that en- gaging young Chinese lady who acts as mistress of ceremonies at Mr. Mei's performances comes before the curtains and says sweetly, in her “Our next play comes . C.,” his own complacent also suffers a slight shock. It'is all very well to look down, as we are wont.to do, on China’s “starving milions” and contrast our radios and express trains with a civilization, which, as one of its Emperors long ago remarked, “has noth- ing to learn from the West,” but who are we, a handful of rough pioneers, rattling around in what is still, com- paratively, an empty continent, to pass Judgment, until we, too, have a few thousand years of “finished” . civiliza- tion behind us? Just how free and easy, spacious and urbane will life 'in New York or Chicago or Washington be let us sy, the year 30002 o 2