Evening Star Newspaper, September 14, 1930, Page 61

| Theatér, Screen an d Music AMUSEMENT SECTION he Sunday Star, Motor, Aviation ' and Radio News ?nrt 4—10 Pages WASHING TON, D. C., SUNDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 5 JAGIFE and SCREFE CLivE BROOK 2rnd RUTH CHATTERTON-/7 X Anybodys OX i o * The MARX BROTHERS - 77 Animal 70 follow “/Romance “at JOAN DENNETT, LLoYD HUGHES 270 UOHN BARRYMORE - > Moby LD /n ck” Earle TheateruBegins to Awaken By W. H. N a vain endeavor to shake off | the Summer lethargy, the| Shubert Belasco Theater has| made two almost desperate | attempts to open the new theat- rical season. Twice in close suc- cession have exultant announce- ments been prepared for public consumption, and twice, at the eleventh hour, have come can- cellations and promises for the future. From present appear- ances it seems most likely that the new season’s opening, with all the honors attendant thereupon, will be reserved to the National Theater, as in many years past, and that the bright lights will il- lumine the portals of that famous | old house Monday evening, Sep- tember 22, for the coming of the former Belasco star Lenore Ulric in “Pagan Lady.” Just what lies ahead for that type of entertain- ment that now is being called “the legitimate theater” cannot be predicted with any degree of certainty. With the demolition of Poli’s picturesque, if not historic, structure, made necessary by the onward march of the new govern- mental architecture, Washington finds itself apparently with but | two play houses of the old school | to entertain its more than half | million population, with the di- | rect presentation of the drama as | distinguished from the indirect method of the sometimes silent, | but more often sound-emitting, | silver sheet. Whether these two ultimately will prove to be one or two too many, time alone must disclose, for evil days have come upon the legitimate theater, and hovering clouds seem now to por- tend more or less of an approach- ing storm for the picture play hous: Beset from difficulties within, the latter seem to be hav- ing the first serious trouble since they began their mounting career within the present century. Their ncient and more rugged rival, rich in experience, if less prosper- ous in the customary backing that is sald “to make the mare go,” doubtless will lumber dlong as it nas ever done and conserve, in its n peculiar way, its curse or its | ssing of a sort of immortality that will not permit it to die. ‘THE rumor persists, which eludes verification, however, that an understanding has been reached between the Erlanger in- terests and the Shuberts whereby bookings for the National and the Shubert Belasco Theaters in this city, if not throughout the coun- try, may be more or less affected. Diligent inquiry thus far has failed to uncover precisely what is to hapren here. In some cities, it is said, where theaters repre- senting both interests survive, the competition may be diminished, it not removed, by the closing of one or more of the houses of the groups. There seems to be no Landvoigt. believe that booking arrange- ments may be effected that may give Washington continued, if not better, offerings than in the past, the massive productions that de- mand a greater seating capacity in the theater for profitable op- eration being sent to the National, while the smaller and perhaps more intimate productions, as they are sometimes called, may go to the Shubert Belasco. All this, however, is pure speculation as matters now stand. It is given | for what it is worth, with no at- tempt to sponsor either the rumor that has incited it or the deduc- tions therefrom. NEVERTHELESS, the lingering Summer is a temptation to the continuance of idle dreaming, and one’s thoughts instinctively turn to the rival purveyors of the drama, the Hollywood Dragon and shall we call it the New York Monster, which for lo! these many moons have been waging a war for extermination. Busy writers championing the cause of each| of the combatants, in the absence of more important material, have been chronicling the desertion of the stage by its finest actors, the later return of the prodigal sons and daughters and now, em- balmed in the mysteries of imagi- nation, are coming reports that mock heroes of the screen and even American sweethearts are going over to the enemy, until the wheels of life seem to be re- versed and the old world is wan- dering from its orbit of the past. T the present moment the great playwrights and the irresistible composers of the stage appear to be -enrolled under the banner of the Hollywood Dragon. It is cer- tain they have been thus aligned long enough to ‘produce results and such results as the Dragon | demands always — “bigger and better” than ever the world has known before, because the Drag- on spares neither gold nor effort to startle when it gets fairly un der way. Have these results be- gun to show even in a mild way? | Those who have been watching and waiting for them know best. Judged by what the Dragon has | done for the drama that once was | familiar to the stage, one hates to | think of what it might do to the | playwrights and composers. And, | as one thing will suggest another, | one is tempted timidly to inquire as to how the music of the screen | compares with that of the old | masters, or even the younger ones, for that matter. Endowed with the magic power of making its rich rich quickly and with a dar- |ing in reforming things of any | sort within the scope of ‘its ex- | perimental reach, what the Hol- lywood Dragon has not done to |2} | bar the modern St. George in the rescue of the legitimate theater Scerne om b EATHERI'I NECKING - R KO.kerths Tim McCoy's Niece. | ALMA MONTAGUE, a sparkling sou- brette, supporting Max Fields in Kuddling Kutic ” the current attrac-| |tion at the Gayety Theater, is a niece of Col. Tim McCoy, the cowboy Who turned actor some years ago., Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer starred her in a series| of Western pictures, Alma is an Oklahoma gir], who was born and reared on a ranch, and until she was 17 had never been East. On a visit to Chicago her famous uncle took her to a musical comedy, and from that moment little Alma was bent on a stage | career. The colonel sent her to the best vocal | | and dancing schools in the Windy City, |and for the past two years Alma has been “trouping.” He uncle offered to| | assist her in securing a motion picture engagement, but the little dancer thinks the burlesque stage is her forte, and is sticking to it. Manon on Broadwny. ONE of those not unexpected new: | notes that one can always count on | coming from the office of the erstwhile chief of the National Players—Steve is now at hand. It seems that Uncle Steve’s leading lady during | the distinguished career of these players ells- is at this moment | heroines. | Miss Wells | perhaps was in ost notable role in a new drama which opened last | Tuesday, entitled “The Long Road.” | This play, by Hugh Stange, is now lossoming at the Longacre Theater. | where devotees of this art will find Miss | Wells. as much—if not more of a town with the National Players. Ian Keith's Role. JAN KEITH, featured player of stage and screen, will play the principal “heavy” role in Louis Wolheim's first directorial effort for Radio. Keith will ppear in a featured cast which in- cludes Wolheim, Mary Astor and Hugh Herbert. The latter also is writing the adaptation and dialogue of likelihood, however, that either of | from claws that would destroy | Thompson's original story, an untitled the Washington theaters will be land a maw that seeks to devour drama of the sea. affected, unless, perhaps, it be in the matter of bookings. Specu- lative minds that busy themselves with such matters are inclined to had best be left to a greater chronicler of mighty things than has yet appeared upon the hori- zon. ? | For years a stock and Shakespearean | actor, Kefth has won an ever greater success on the screen, having played leading roles opposite Gloria Swanson, Corinne Griffith and many others. numbered among Broadway's | In it Mi “Jerry” during the past | | season—is playing opposite Qito Kruger | heroine than before she tripped into | Keene | lumbia M Crackers” ( e e ANITAPAGE- and DOUGLAS FAID/BANKS‘Jr: | n N Little v ¢ | Accident Stage and Screen Attractions This Week EARLE—John Barrymore in and evening. FOX—Ruth Chatterton in “Anybody’s Woman.” This afternoon and evening. PALACE—Moran and Mack in “Anybody’s War.” This afternoon and evening. R-K-O KEITH'S—“Leathernecking.” This afternoon and evening. METROPOLITAN—Elsie Ferguson in “Scarlet Pages.” This afternoon and evening. COLUMBIA—Greta Garbo in “Romance.” evening. RIALTO—“Little Accident.” Starts Friday of this week. GAYETY—“Kuddling Kuties” (Burlesque). This afternoon and evening. “Moby Dick.” This afternoon This afternoon and N Eva Le Gallenne's production of nounced by a drummer beating o re- o > sc| treat. In the state schools boys are Romeo and Juliet” at the Clvic| ioyoncq by a drummer beating the Repertory Theater, a production 8c-| reveille. Revently in France the auto- claimed by the eritics as one of the|mobile association has agitated for the most dramatic made within recent annulment of the drum | memory, she has restored rather than|SUEet siEns. | omitted many passages Le Gallienne made her|is responsible for the sets, has provided | debut as Juliet. To achieve her aim of | 4rops that in many instances are used to define backgrounds. A great flight | producing it for story rather than for| of steps intensifies the action of the star, she fashioned her own acting ver- | street scenes, and for the last act she sion, restoring many of those lesser and | has rejected the customary full-stage | rarely acted scenes which are essential| tomb and instead has erected on the |to the logical development of the plot, | extreme right of the stage a skeleton |but which star tradition has banished | vault with front and side removed, from the text. | while the rest of the stage stretches off The tempo is that of a fighting,|into the gloom of the churchyard at surging play, in which swords clash, | night. daggers gleam and blood is shed. It| This is not conducive to concentrated has, in fact, all the wildness and|attention upon the actress who plays bravado of the Italian Renaissance. It|Juliet, but it is in keeping with Eva Le opens immediately with a salvo of | Gallienne's intention of producing the drums. As the play goes on, the drums, | play for the sake of the play. sometimes swift, sometimes muffied, carry the mood of the story. At the time Juliet wandered through the streets of Verona, “erying by drum,” as it was termed legally, was considered sufficlent publication for the communi- | cation of important news; also for the | H;g}\-Snlaricd Baby. NE of the highest-priced actors in films, despite complete lack of ex- perience, worked in “Little Accident, as well as calling attention to municipal | Theater. The actor was a three-week- ordinances. | old beby who received $75 a day for The tap of a drum has played, and | each working day of 20 minutes, which continues to play, in the life of the|was as long as State regulations allowed Italian and the French a great part. In (him to appear on the set. At this ratc many provincial towns the closing of | of pay the salary for an eight-hour day, the public parks at night still is an-'six-day week would be $18,000, in favor of In staging this play at the Civic| | Repertory Theater Aline Bernstein, who | anpouncement of weddings and balls, | which opens tomorrow at the Rialto | HALLY \}Xo0oD:-Gsyety | | | | | Tiller Girls Galore! ILLER'S SUNSHINE GIRLS—sixty dancing beauties from England— make their debut in “Leathernecking” at R-K-O Keith's. . Forty-two thousand highly trained dancers are said to have been given to almost every country under the sun through the Tiller organization by Mary Read, director and manager in the United States. In the Tiller group under contract to Radio Plctures are Mabel Hall, Doris Carter, Alice Wright, Cora Neary, No- reen Cellow, Clara Gillett, Florence Stack, Freda Neary, Eileen Grady, Doris’ Yates, Dolly Mosely, Louise Gil- lett, Murial Marlow, Bella . Pilling, Queenie Jones and Marjorie Griffiths. “It is the ambition of almost every English gir] to be selected for the Tiller dancing schools,” Miss Read says. “It| means_ traveling all over the world, | healthful work and excellent pay.” | ‘The average height of the dancers is 5 feet, 2 inches, their weight 108 pounds, | and their age 22. All are fair and re- | quire little make-up away from the| cameras. “Precision and discipline” are the Til- ler watchwords. — Hines in Talkies. OHNNY HINES, under the colors of Educational Pictures, for which he | first made his famous “Torchy” come- | dies, now makes his debut in talking | pictures in “Johnny’s Week End,” the first in the new Educational-Gayety | series of two-reel comedies. | Johnny had spent five years on- the speaking stage before he faced a mo- | tion picture camera, so the microphone held no terrors for the energetic come- dian. He has been signed by Educa- tional for a number of these two-reel | comedies. In “Johnny's Week End,” Johnny is supported by Adrienne Dore, Estelle Bradley and Helen Bolton. In the cast also are Vernon Dent and Frank Rice. Willlam Watson, who will be remem- bered for “Dangerous Females,” direct- ed “Johnny’s Week End.” Charlotte G’reenwooa. 'HARLOTTE GREENWOOD has com- pleted her first talking comedy for Educational Pictures. “Love Your Neigh- bor” is the title, and in it the elongated comedienne essays the role of a member of a ladies’ club whose purpose is to promote one good deed daily. The story was written by Hamilton Hale and di- rected by Willlam Watson. 4 ARION NIXON ard ELSIE FERGUSON- /n*Starlet Pages * Metropolitan Photoplay Attractions EARLE—John Barrymore, “Moby Dick.” OHN BARRYMORE, distinguished actor that he is, appears in “Moby Dick,” his third talking picture, this week at Warner's Earle The- ater. It is a picturization of Herman_Melvilles immortal epic of love and adventure. “Moby Dick,” a romance of whales 5 and love, shows Barrymore Ahab, * & young, devil - may - care sailor, notorious for his love affairs and his ability to | throw_the harpoon. In Bedford, the whaling port, he meets a woman (Joan Bennett) with whom he falls in love. He abandons drinking and _love-making in order to be near her. But he sud- denly learns that John Barrymore. Hughes) is in love with the girl. He decides to return to his ship and forget her.when the reveals her love for him. He then sails on a three-year voyage, as | his brother (Lloyd | girl | ‘ on the program with a rousing selection of banjo number: ‘The Fanchon and | Marco = “Skirts dea, featuring the [“Um in the Air” Sunkist Beanties, is | another stage attraction. Besides Neil Castagnoli, wizard of the clarinet; Julia Curtis, ventriloquist; Ruth Silver, prima |donna, and Daisy, the wonder horse, { with charming Suzanne, will appear, Bob West in a pleasing organlogue {and the Fox Movietone News will come plete the progr: PALACE—Moran and Mack, “Anybody's War.” | THE Two Black Crows, Moran and | 4" "Mack, are the current picture starg | at Loew’s Palace Theater in the Paras mount farce, “Anybody’s War, | The story concerns two Tennessed | darkies who deside to enlist when theix | lady love inspires them with patriotism, | Willie 1s accepted, but Amos has troue ble below the ankies. He embarks withi other troops, however, in a stolen uni= |form and smuggles along his dog | “Deepstuff.” ~ On_ the same transport are Ted Reinhardt and Mary Jane Robinson (Neil Hamilton and Joam Peers), who are in love, but because iT(‘d has been slow in enlisting Mary | pretends to love another. They finally arrive in France and when the other man proves to be a coward Mary wants Ted to know she loves him and sends the girl meanwhile waiting for him. | Willie and Amos to the front lines to On this voyage Moby Dick, the white whale, maims the sailor, and when he returns to port he thinks the girl only pities him, so he leaves her, swearing to avenge himself on Moby Dick. Half crazed with this obsession he sails for years searching for the monster whale. The finding of the whale, the storm at sea, the fight with his own brother and the eventu® capture of the whale xs‘{ said to bring to the screen one of its most thrilling and intense dramas. In the cast are May Boley, Walter Long. Tom O'Brien, Nigel de Brulier, Nobel Johnson, Virginia Sale and Jack Curtiss. Lloyd Bacon directed. ‘The supplementary program will of- fer the two-reel comedy, “The Fresh- | man's ‘Goat"; the Vitaphone Variety, “Dining Out,” and the talking Earle News Reel. FOX—Ruth Chatterton in “Anybody’s Woman.” RU‘I‘H CHATTERTON 1is the star in “Anybody’s Woman,” a Paramount picture now at the Fox Theater, Sup- porting Miss Chatterton as her lead- ing man is Clive Brook, with Paul Lukas, Patricola. “Anybody’s Woman” 1s taken from an original theme by Gouverneur Morris. It is described as the story of “the vagrancies of a mis- fit_marriage.” Clive Brook is seen as a prosperous young lawyer, who indulges in a pro- longed orgy after his wife divorces him to marry a wealthier man. One morn- ing, after a night of debauchery, he wakes to find that he has been mar- ried to an unrefined, tawdry, down-at- the-heel actress, a character played by Ruth Chatterton. “Anybody’s Woman” {s the first Paramount picture to be shown at the loeal Fox Theater and Manager Hardie | Meakin announces that it will be fol- lowed by more from this well known producing company. Eddie Peabody, popular guest star, is } | | tell him so. “Deepstuff” goes over the | top to pay court to a German dog and | Amos follows him. He is captured and | discovers Ted. They send “Deepstuff” | back over the lin with a message | and Company B is saved from destruc= | tion. ~Willie and Amos arrive home to |find Ted and Mary Jane happy and the whole town out to meet them. On tlie stage is a Loew presentation om the Capitol Theater, New Yo avajo.” Chief Capaulican, wel known Indian singer, heads the cast. Caperton and Biddle, “bow and arrow dancers”; Frank Shields, champlon rope spinner, and the Chester Hale Girls cemprise the remainder of the cast. The Hearst Metrotone News and | selected short subjects round out the bill. FOR once the Marines do not win & | war! They do, however, storm the | citadel of Honolulu society and captuge | the hearts of debutantes therein, fm | Radio Pictures’ “Leatherneckng,” the |current feature at R-K-O Keith's, Adapted from the stage play, “Present | Arms,” the film tells a zippy yam of R-K-O Keith's—“Leathernecking.” | Huntley Gordon and Tom | United States Leathernecks on ‘a spree in a south sea port, and doing their stuff in the big Marine show are five rs, Eddie Foy, jr., Irene Dunne, Ken s | Murray, Benny Rubin and Ned Sparks. | The supporting cast Fazenda, Lilyan Tashmar includes Louise and 200 “Leathernecking” contains spectacus lar, scenes in technicolor of great gatherings of devil dogs and ensemble numbers introducing seven song nume 1l My Life,” “Shake It Off, and “Careless Kisses,” Eve “Nice and So Particular,” “Kiss nderella,” ‘You Took Advantage | others. Star, Me_Cii of Me.' The story concerns the U. S. Marines stationed in Hawail, who discovered that the sqcial diversions of the enw listed men are limited. One of the most_resourceful of the buck priva (Continued on Second Page.) A