Evening Star Newspaper, June 8, 1930, Page 47

;A .’I:h'ézri;cer, Screen ’ and Music Part 4—14 Pages AMUSEMENT SECTION Zhe Sunday Star, WASHINGTON, B. €., BUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 8, 1930. Motor, Aviation and Radio 7News ) HAMILTON sno JEAN ARTHUR- " o/f Dr FuMsnchu > In™ Thhe leeturss Metropolitan FRANK RICHARDSON and MA Nesw Movietorre Follies” 17 NATIONAL PLAYERS—“The Bachelor | Fathe HE NATIONAL PLAYERS, this week, beginning tomorrow eve- ning, as the first production of | their extended 10-weeks' seggon, il offer an inimitably funny thesis, “The Bachelar Father,” whic! was originally produced by David Belasco and subequently found solid in- dorsement in New York, Chicago, Bos: ton and other citles. It gives to Wal- ter Gilbert an ad- mirable comedy opportunity. “The Bachelor Pather” is an un- attached sinner, verging on 35, who suddenly conceives the idea of gather- ing under one roof a8 his own house- hold his three chil- dren, born out of wedlock to mothers in Italy, England and New York. He is desperately sen- timental and lone- 1y, so_he commis- RJORI Fox out the story with a delightfully ro- | mantic denouement. GAYETY—"Jazz Time Revue.” THIS week’s attraction at the Gayety Theater on Ninth street is “Jazz Time Revue,” and Erin Jackson, known as the “personality queen of jazz,” is the star, “Jazz Time Revue,” which fun and frolic, tantalizing tunes, daz- zling dancing and attractive girls, cho- rus and principals in appropriate cos- tumes, set off to advantage by scenery and lighting effects quite up to the usual standards. Fox Hopes and Output. THAT television and motion pictures will be linked in the future is the prediction of Harley L. Clarke, presi- dent of the Fox Film Corporation. “The movies welcome television,” said Mr. Clark in a recent address before the annual sales convention of the or- ganization. “The experience, prestige and millions of the picture industry will be placed squarely behind it as soon a8 it reaches a practicable point. sions his lawyer to round up the off- 3 spring. _Geoffrey and Maria, English and Ifalian, respectively, prove to be of finer sensibilities than Tony Flagg, who has been reared by a New York vaude- villian, and it is Tony who upset his “bachelor father’s” ideals and makes a mess of things. A “Peg o' My Heart” Walter Glbert, “The future of the films lies more in | the laboratory than on the studio lot. | Many problems still confront the in-| dustry. These include production of all-color films, three-dimension films and others of equal importance.” Incidentally the Fox Film Corpora- tion has decided that it will spend around $25,000,000 making 48 pictures in the coming year. . twist develops at this point and rounds —_— s Benefits and the Drama. BENE?ITS and the drama have ever gone hand in hand. In days of old, when actors were bold but less abundantly paid, perhaps, it was not at all an unusual occurrence to dedicate the theater and its production to a testimonial for its star. Actors were always afflicted with commercial cupid- ity, even the most heaven-endowed, and it was nothing strange, therefore, to expect that if tLe producer did not pay them the public might. The Goose Goslin days and the Joe Judge days of the present found their rise in this cus- tom, only no money must be seen to pass between when base ball honors its heroes. ‘Turn about is fair play. All the world admits that. And so, even during the current month of balmy June, not- withstanding the fact that drama—the legitimate, s0 to speak—lies wan and| * wanting at our feet, benefits are again coming into fashion, even as the long and graceless skirt to bobbed-haired Juvenility. ‘These benefits, phoenixlike, are rising cgain in the public attention with a twofold purpose. This time they come gFed with the brand of expectancy '3 the part of the public, some needy portion of which has not been covered | by the Community Chest, and, on the| | other hand, to help the good cause |along, especially our current stock, | which may fairly be supposed to sym- | bolize the drama in its most legitimate | sense, ’ | Manager Cochran is authority for the statement that 35 fraternal and | social organizations this season have | materially benefited from testimonials tendered in their behalf by the Na- | tional Players, and because of this Mon- !day and Tuesday evenings have been reserved at the box office for benefit arrangements. They have been almost | as popular as the plays presented, and the demand goes on for testimonials | from societies, sororities and other seg- | ments of the body politic who have |found in these testimonials the means of boosting weak and decadent treas- urles, and, incidentally, it is said, of | glving delinquents a little more time | for paying their dues. It seems to be a mutual, as it cer- tainly is & beneficial, tonic to drooping drama to be buoyed up by testimonials, and Manager Steve says he has a lot moves fast, is described as a show of | fil 9 "SAFETY IN NUMBERS?, /H“UZG & National Players EWHITE- DRESSLER- In*Caught Skort 4 Co|umbla Crime in (}le Orient. ARNER OLAND, who has special- ized in Oriental roles in the movies for several years, is of the opin- fon that there is a more effective ele- ment of mystery in Oriental thriller- pictures than in any other kind of thrill ‘The Oriental,” he declares, “is essen- tially a peace-loving race, honest, law abiding and subdued, but when the few who have criminal instincts, as do some of every race, begin operations they have the innate urge to be subtle and different, just as the Orientals as & whole have the blessed art of under- statement,” says Oland. “An anclent civilization has taught the Oriental a repression unknown to younger races. “So many storles have been told of the unique methods of murder of Ori- ental criminals that the public’ refuses to believe a mere stabbing or shooting as true to life. “If 'an American criminal were to de- liver death by a poisoned dart through a blow tube, or by means of & deadly vapor in a container, or by causing a hypnotized person to poison another, or by deadly insects, the public would | think it overdrawn. | " “But an Oriental is expected to do | such things and because of this we can introduce many unexpected and unbe- lievable methods of murder in ‘The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu,' which inci- dentally 18 now on view at Warnei Metropolitap Theater. Mflkm( a New Kick. ‘OSEPH 8. HART, general superin- tendent of Glen Echo Park, is work- ing on a new ride of his own inven- tion, which he contemplates installing in some of the larger amusement parks of the country next season, after mak- ing the first installation at Glen Echo. In the parlance of the trade, the de- vice is classed as “a flat ride,” such as the caterpillar, skooter and whip—“flat rides” which are popular at Glen Echo this season. A working model of the ride probably will be exhibited at Glen Echo during the present Summer, Star Becomes an Extra. GARY COOPER today is the star who became an extra as well as the extra who became a star. He reversed his own screen experience by playing as & cow boy extra in a scene of Para- mount’s Zane Grey film, “The Border Legion.” An incident of his own new picture, “The Texan,” was filmed in the Sierra- Nevada Mountains where “The Border Legion” troupe was on location. In & spare hour he rode over to visit Richard Arlen, Jack Holt and other friends of the Grey film cast. Directors Otto Brower and Edwin Knopf suggested that he ride in the next scene and he complied. of dates for such & purpose as yet | unappropriated. 3 Cooper started his screen career as a cow boy extrs i Westerns, Ear‘le ALicE JOYCE and LOWELL Bachelor Father | Jhe *KI kUTOS "~ Palace (57'5’9) Stage and Screen Attractions This Week NATIONAL PLAYERS—“The Bachelor Father,” comedy. morrow evening. GAYETY—"Jazz Time Revue,” burlesque, evening. METROPOLITAN—“Return of Dr. Fu Manchu.” and evening. To- This afternoon and This afternoon PALACE—“The Texan.” This afternoon and evening. R-K-O KEITH'S—“He Knew Women.” ning. This afternoon and eve- FOX—“Movietone Follies of 1930.” This afternoon and evening. EARLE—“Safety in Numbers.” This afternoon and evening. COLUMBIA—"“Caught Short.” ‘This afternoon and evening. Cohan SaysRoad Not Dead. EORGE M. COHAN, in an article written especially for The Quill, the press agents’ particular paper, which is to appear next Tuesday, has a good deal to say about the theater on the road. “Sitting here in my Fulton Theater dressing Toom,” says Mr. Cohan, who is at present reviving “The Tavern” with success, “thinking of the curtain calls after the play while on the road, it is hard to belleve the storles about the road being ‘shot.’ I have just returned from my first tour in years and I'll tell my press agent friends, or the whole world, that the managers are as ‘wet’ as & Jersey Congressman if they think the show business is washed up. “It may have & black eye in places— in some places two shiners—but noth- ing that can't be cured, if managers will send the road good companies and showmen to sell the goods. “In that hinterland they talk about we ‘stood 'em up.’ I found the public It was almost like old etting back, show hungry. times—mostly. 'So I'm wondering since ‘What's all the shootin’ for?’ as the fellow says in “The Tavern.” Broad- way or Main street—it is all the same if you don’t cheat and if you have a clean bill of health from the censor board. “As' T figure it, not claiming to be & manager, the road needs three things— good theate: (Washington, pick up your ears!), “good shows and, as my pal Sam H. Harris told you, plenty showmanship to sell the goods. Possi- bly more salesmanship is what is need- ed. As Will Rogers says, the. folks are out there on the road, but they insist on_being shown. “That old saying, ‘Give us the shows and they'll come,’ was an alibi invented by cheaters whose theaters are now closed or taken over for movies. Sure ‘theyll come'—if they know you have the goods.” Cast Shrunken, but Good. 'CREEN casts seem to be shrinking. Out of several hundred applicants for a single film, the director is likely to choose a paltry half dozen. For instance, Hugh Herbert, grand mogul of Radio Picture’s “He Knew Women,” after angling around for suit- able players, finally emerged with barely a handful from the Hollywood melting pot. In other words, he chose four— and these four are the soul, blood and body of this new attraction at R-K-O Keith's. This shrinkage in the cast seems to be following the Broadway vogue, which in two cases now has limited a play to a single character. Hardly probable is it, though, that the screen will come to_this; variety being its greatest asset. Incidentally, the director has this to say of “He Knew Woman:" “Different in every respect—one of the most diffi- cult stories I have ever had to cast—a story that eaught and held my interest the moment 1 began rqading it.” 1 Hell's An(e]l" at Last, BOUT 10 days-ago Hollywood had one of its celebrated “openings.” This one had considerable distinction because the shrewd merchants of the orange-scented State had been waiting something like three years for it. The film, “Hell's Angels” was the prize package of the evening, and according to the critics (who were the only for- tunates not obliged to pay out $11 per resting place) the whole thing was a really auspicious affair. Manager Sid Grauman of the theater provided a large assortment of air- planes, smoke screens, fireworks and a one-hour stage prologue as_ballyhoo. Even that didn’t prevent the first- nighters from ° chanting volumes of praise in honor of the flm. “Hell's Angels” is, as everyone knows by now, a picture of the air. They say, seriously, that it is good. SHERMAN -4 ‘\//e /(fle\X/ WO/flefl H A R KO Kerths See Wl’ut Sc}moling Did. NCE upon & time there was a school | for motion picture aspirants, as| those with an elastic memory will re- member. And out of this school at & certain May-day graduation stepped a boy and a gir], both with the traditional sheepskin under their arms. The achool was the Paramount Picture School, the boy and the girl were, respectively, Charles (Buddy) Rogers and Josephine Dunne. On the threshold of a career stood for an instant these two thesplan youngsters, and then, almost immedi- ately, ‘they - were plunged - into - their first picture, “Fascinating Youth.” Rogers played a bewhiskered father and Josephine & fast-stepping daughter. Father and daughter, however, seemed to have done nicely, because they were hustled out to the coast, &nd there “Buddy” threw away his whiskers and Miss Dunne dashed hither and yon' un- der the spotlight. Those two gradu- ates of the Paramount school have sep- arated ever since. But they climbed their own ladders of considerable fame. Now, however, fate has tossed them onto the same 1ot again. And this time Buddy is no father, nor is Josie daughter. They are, both of them, their own age and expected to act accord- ingly. Watch for them in “Safety in Numbers” and see what their “school- ing” did to them. Anita Felt a Failinj. MINTAL strain is beginning to tell on the screen stars. Wear and tear are producing vast cavities in the brain cells. Daily tonic to fill these has become & necessity. Whereas, in the days before the talkies, only & slight mental breakdown was to be antici- pated, now. the stars expect bi-weekly bust-ups. Anita Page is the latest to admit that after Marie Dressler and Polly Moran, the strain of “Caught Short” was too much for her. Gillette Gets the L;fl D. FURTHER tribute to one of this country’s great actors, Willlam Gil- | lette, whose “Sherlock Holmes” was the hit of the current theatrical season, has been the bestowal of the honorary de- gree of doctor of letters upon him by Columbia University. President Nicholas Murray Butler, in conferring the degree and laying the hood on the candidate’s shoulders, said “william Gillette, actor and playwright. With mind and spirit bullt of the best material that New England can provide: sincere, high-minded, with finest per- ception of the art of acting and its symbolism: all that he that he says is "SUNKISTGIRLS = ##e Fox Fu Manchu.” R. FU MANCHU, mysterious and sinister dealer in forbidden lore and diabolical plots, is seen on the screen at Warner Brothers’ Metropolitan Theater, this week, in_a new melodrama, “The Re turn ‘of Dr. Fu Manchu,” with Warner Oland as the crafty Oriental. The play opens with Dr. Fu's ap- parent demise. Once more he has fooled his _ene- mies. Soon he is in action again, striving with _ all the wicked means at his command to thwart the mar- riage of his ward to the handsome and adventurous Dr. Jack Petrie. & Pu kidnaps the girl on the eve of the wedding, and Pe- trie's friends fight an_exciting battle of brains and bul- lets to rescue the girl and capture Fu. Based on a story by Sax Roh- mer, the screen play is a rapid-fire suc- cession of thrills. The cast includes O. P. Heggie, Neil Hamilton, Jean Arthur, Willlam Austin, Margaret Fealy, Evelyn Selbie, Tetsu Komai, Toyo Fujita, Evelyn Hall and Warner Oland. | Ambrose” Barker. In addition also will be shown new Vitaphone Varieties, together with The Evening Star-Universal Newsreel, for which Graham McNamee newscasts current events; also short subjects. PALACE—"“The Texan.” ARY COOPER is the star of “The ‘Texan,” the current picture attrac- tion at Loew's Palace. Fay Wray ap- Photoplay Attractions METROPOLITAN—“Return eof Dr. pears opposite in the O. Henry adven= ture romance. The story concerns “the Llano Kid” | wanted by ‘the State of Texas for sev= eral crimes, among them, killing a man in a card game. As he is escaping on the train he meets a man named Tacker, who was looking for the run- | away son of a wealthy South American woman. “The Kid"” is persuaded to pose as the missing son. He is met by a beautiful cousin, escorted to his sup- posed mother and succeeds in fooling her, but after two months he decides not to go through with the swindle. Tacker, infuriated, attacks the home in an-effort to steal, but is killed by “the Llano Kid,” whom he wounds. In the midst of the fight the sheriff from Texas arrives, sizes up the situation and takes back Tacker's body to palm it off as the “kid,” and all ends happily with Consuelo and “the Llano Kid. On the stage, Ted Claire, master of | ceremonies, appears in “Japanités” an | Oriental revue from the Capitol Theater |in New York. Nell Kelly, the mad girl of Broadway; the Japanese Kikutas, & | tumbling-juggling acrobatic troupe; the Three Rhythm Dancers, and a ballet of Chester Hale's Dancers appear in_the revue. The Hearst Metrotone News and short subjects with organ and or- chestral features complete the program. R-K-O KEITH'S—"He Knew Women.” ‘*HE KNEW WOMEN,” Radio Pic- tures’ talking comedy drama, is | the feature at R-K-O Keith's. Lowell Sherman, suave and sophisticated, plays opposite Alice Joyce, long known as the | screen’s best-dressed woman and one of its most competent actresses. Two play- ers who are practically new to the screen vie for honors with Sherman and Miss Joyce. They are David Manners, whose first picture was ‘“Journey's End,” and Frances Dade, talented in- genue from the Broadway stage. “He Knew Women,” an adaptation the piay, “The Second Man,” by S (Continued on Second Page.) of N. OHN J. PAYETTE, general manager of the Washington ecircuit of Warner Brothers’ theaters, has sounded a tocsin forwarded from headquarters and intended, he says, especially for Any Man’s Family in the National Capital. “The month of June has been set apart in the Warner Brothers' thea- ters throughout the country, and espe- cially in Washington, as ‘Family month,’” heralds Mr. Payette. “Its purpose is to emphasize the special fam- ily appeal of Warner Brothers pictures, both in the feature and in the smaller subjects which enter into the supple- mental entertainment provided in mo- tion picture theaters. ‘‘We hope to make Family month an era long to be remembered in Wash- ington entertainment annals, and every on the stage does 1s probable and all humap.” i i effort is being made both through the | ti Warners’ Family Month. |the family. Not a single factor in family Iife has been overlooked in plan- ning for this occasion, even the fact that June is also “graduation month” has not been forgotten. “We shall always cordially welcome | the lone wanderer, the romantic couple, | the tired business'man and the equally | tired housewife, alone and unattended,” | continues Mr. Payette’s announcement, “but our present purpose is to furnish that in the way of entertainment which will attract the entire family group, mother, dad, junior and ‘sis’ for we wish every family in Washington to believe that the Warner theaters, each of them, is a favoritc family amuse- ment home, whose offerings are censor- ed by good taste, rare entertainment quality, fun and laughter without alloy and coupled with environment that may not offend the most fastidiously sensi- ve features and the shorter subjects to ap- Ppeal to the taste of every member of “We want the f; in its Pl e, amily en'.u'ew‘