Evening Star Newspaper, January 4, 1931, Page 48

AMUSLE Flashesirom thq Screen News and Comment of the Photoplny By C. E. OW that the All-American team of the movies for the past year has been select- ed, it might be wise to get down to later affairs and leave the past to the recorders of pho- toplay history. Washington, during the past week, was given an opportunity to view several pictures that had created more or less comment in other cities, mainly New York. instance, there was that Mark Twain story, “Tom Sawyer. and then, “War Nurse,” “Kismet, “Hell's Angels” and “Hook, Line and Sinker.” It was my duty, whether I relished the job or not, to inspect this group of studio products, and I might start off with my disappointments and leave the good things for the last. Because the printed page has always been a lure to me, at a very early age I stumbled upon! the works of Samuel Clemens, bet- ter known as Mark Twain. I became a martyr to literature when my school teacher found a copy of “Huckleberry Finn” (or,| was it “Tom Sawyer”?), hidden in | my over-size geography. It was| no case of developing a love for these two books. To me, the two | boys were my heroes; I entered into their Summertime schemes; | the superstitious Huck and his| pal, Tom, were my friends; we| roamed the hills together, we roasted potatoes over the cave| fire, and we steered our pirate ship on the river—although my river was the Wabash and his was the Mississippl. So, in such‘ a manner, I grew up with Huckle- | berry Finn and Tom Sawyer; and | so, each Spring, even now, I read |Tey Ayres, again the adventures of my boy-| hood friends, and live, for a few | hours at least, in their company | —a joyous, noisy, plotting com- | pany. | Jackie Coogan only by a very| wide stretch of the imagination | resembles my friend, Tom Saw-| yer. But perhaps, I am wrong again. He seemed to answer the purpose of a modern Tom, but not | the Tom of the years gone by. To | my way of thinking, he was too girlish, and not as that master, Mark Twain, had really created him. The Tom of my boyhood was | a rough, swaggering chap; not a| little fat boy who thought more | of girls than he did of a pirate expedition. And I weep for this! impersonation of my hero! I may be wrong again, but the movie story seemed to be a sort of combination of the two books, “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn.” The continuity is not well developed; the story is a series of :& es in the lives of the two princfpal characters. Be- cause, in my own boyhood, I en- shrined Tom Sawyer and Huckle- berry Finn, I find the movie ver- sion of their boyhood to resemble one of the classics filled with as- terisks—a boarding school ver- m‘gr a bedtime story. I didn’t / * % % & The other pictures mentioned above were pretty good, although “Hi will never get 000 it is to build. “Hook, Line and Sinker” lered me the most enjoyable hours. Those two funny fellows, Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, are far up in the list of mov& entertain- (i 7y of cl ing r stuff to su their vehicles. Otis Skinner and Loretta Young, naturally, shine brightly rl “Kismet,” - which is a and faithful screen version of the big stage hit. “War Nurse” is another Cahe: Y Africa” was the best of this series of humorous sketches, with George Sidney and Charlie Murray in the leading roles. { * * % X “the greatest picture ever made”’—the life story of George Washington, which will have a Nation-wide distribution during the bicentennial year, 1932. Pro-| duction will soon get under way| in Hollywood. Foremost on the| committee having active charge | of the project are Clarence Mack- ay, Mrs. Edward Bok, Samuel In- sull and Senator Watson of In- diana. A number of industry agencies have pledged their as- sistance in the work, and the present plans call for the flnest} professional and technical super- MaN TS, ) S Lite WASLINGITON, D; C., JANUARY 4, 1931—PART FOUR. | VELYN LAYE in “One Heavenly Night,” with John Boles and Leon Errol featured, is one of ) { E the outstanding new pictures of | the new year which will follow Nelson‘ ithe current picture at Loew's Palace | Theater. Evelyn is a versatile English miss who has been cutting a wide swath in recent screen publicity, and “One Heavenly Night” i vouched for as sim- ply divine.” Warner's announces . surprise for the week beginning |industry, but they have simply | stirred up the movie waters. The public, always the judge of such matters, has turned an icy shoul- | der upon both innovations. Famous authors did not con- | tribute a great deal to the movies Earle a real PLANS are being perfected lor;DONALD CLARK has been as- ‘during the past 12 months. Some of their stories were used, and! | some of them were paid enormous| | salaries to sit around the Holly- !wood studios, but the average | audience might not have recog- | nized the screen product. Audi- | ences were fed up on song num- bers, and these have become a back number. During the year the star, Maurice Chevalier, ran | | down hill in popularity, but not! | as rapidly as some of the old-time silent picture stars. The Arliss! | pictures have been especially good ! as box-office attractions. o Rk Many of Hcllywood's fea- ! tured players were born and raised in the neighborhood of | the studios. Mary Brian, Fay | Wray, Stanley Smith and Alice | White all attended the Holly- wood High School. The Duncan sisters attended the Los An- geles High School. Francis | Dee, Maurice Chevalier’s choice | jor leading lady in his most | recent picture, was born in ! Hollywood. i * o % % | THERE will be many new facesi among the stars of 1931, ac- | cording to present plans. For | instance, Richard Cromwell, 20| years old, has made a place for| himself through his work in “Tol'able David,” and he will be starred in a number of pictures. who once studied medicine, went to the front in “All Quiet on the Western Front,” and he will be given important roles during the next year. Robert Allen, fresh from Dartmouth, is another youngster who has jumped far up the ladder. The Warner Bros. have three| girls under contract who will play an important part in the beauty brigade of the movies. They are Evelyn Knapp, Marian Marsh and Barbara Weeks. Blanca de Castejon is a Spanish beauty who has important roles in “Dracula” and other new pic- tures. Genevieve Tobin, who played so well on the stage in “Fifty Million Frenchmen” and “The Trial of Mary Dugan,” has been cast for some important parts. Dorothy Jordan, once a Broadway show girl, has been “discovered” as a clever actress, and she has played opposite Ramon Novarro in “Devil May Care” and “The Singer of Seville.” Her first movie part was that of a little sister of Mary Pickford in “The Taming of the Shrew.” Dorothy Lee, well known for her work in the Wheeler-Woolsey comedies, will be given more im- portant roles during the coming year, according to her director, William Le Baron. So, many of the old faces will be missing, and there will be many new ones to take their places. £xws There is much speculation around Hollywood as to the identity of the girl who will draw the role of leading lady in the mew Richard Barthel- mess picture—and there is a spe reason for the specu- lnz,tlton’i In utlhzdpaxt eutzryaqlrl who has played opposite Bar- thelmess since the advent of the talkies has gone on to stardom — Loretta Young in “Scarlet Seas,” Betty Compson in “Weary River,” Lila Lee and Alice Day in “Drag,” Marion Nizon in “Young Nowheres” Constance Bennett in “Son of the Gods,” and Mary Astor in the newest picture, “The Lash.” Therefore to play opposite Bar- thelmess is considered a real “break” in the movies. * ok ok Short Flashes. signed a prominent role in Dorothy Mackaill's next starring picture, “Party Husband,” which goes into production tomorrow. Others in the cast are Dorothy Peterson, James Rennie, Noah Beery and Helen Ware. Clarence | Badger is the director. | John Boles has been selected by | Carl Laemmle, jr., for the leading role of “Seed,” taken from the Norris novel. Genevieve Tobin, | lately_arrived from London, will| have the feminine lead. ! Warner Oland plays the name | part in “Charlie Chan Carries On,” © next Saturday in the personal pearance of vienne Segal, well known stage and screen ster, in con- junction with the showing of her starring screen pic- ture, “Viennese Nights,” the cinema - version of the Sig- Evelyn Lave. mund Romberg and Oscar Hammer- stein production. ‘This double-barreled appearance of Vivienne was made pos- sible, it is stated, only by “special con- sent” of “powers higher up” in con- cession to the request of Managing Di- rector John J. Payette of the local Warner Theaters Ruth Chatterton in “The Right to Love,” her latest Paramount picture, will be the attraction at Loew's Colum- bia beginning next Saturday, unless there is an unexpected switch. Paul Lucas will be seen opposite Miss Chat- terton, and a dramatic treat promised Manager Hardie Meakin of the Fox is bringing (on the screen, of course) the sterling actor Edmund Lowe, with Leila Hyams and little Tommy Clifford, in “Part Time Wife,” to the Fox next Friday. Other houses have withheld their an- nouncement of coming attractions. An Eastern Metropolis. pARAMOUNT built and populated an Eastern metropolis, in a sun drenched valley on its 3,000-acre ranch, for the filming of its spectacular drama of the French Foreign Legion, now at Loew's Palace Theater. for the gigantic layout were made by Hans Dreiser, who has spent several years in Africa While walls and buildings were springing up, the casting office roun up a population for the wbudding city. In Morocco dwell all races and national- itles. Two thousand persons were inter- viewed in Hollywood in nine different languages to find the 600 required. Among them were Americans, English, Arabians, French, Germans, Italians, Russial Spaniards, Hebrews, Turks and Greeks. A crew of artisans labored for two weeks in day and night shifts building the city, wherein much of the picture, “Morocco” was filmed. Songs and dances that were centuries old when Columbus discovered America, it is claimed, were recorded by micro- phone and camera during the filming of ‘Morocco. e said to be melodies and rhythmic movements of Araby, which date back to the very dawn of civiliza- tion. | Lovely Irene I IRENE DELROY, One of the new stars of the photoplay. Her latest picture is “Men of the Sky,” from First National studios. Impovensl\ed Nobility. THls may be an age of democracy in America, with all lines of social caste eliminated, or else so dim that only those with lorgnettes can see them, but in some parts of the world a title is still a title and invaluable to the owner. Alice Duer Miller, the author, would is New Pictures Coming | AT THE BELASCO XT WEEK SEENA OWEN, ‘Who has the leading feminine role in “The Blue Ghost,” booked for the week of January 11 at the Shubert Capital Theaters | In BELASCO—*“Tomorrow and Tomorrow.” | ¢ OMORROW AND '!OMORU\ ¢ ROW,” a play about emotion | and the newest work by the | eminent young _American | dramatist, Philip Barry, will be shown for the first time in this | country by Gilbert Miller at the Shu- bert Belasco Theater tomorrow eve- ning. Barry, one of the most distinguished alumni of the cele- brated “47 Work- shop,” dramatic course of Prof. George Pierce Baker, is the author of “You and 1" which in 1922 won him the Harvard Prize and was later his first New York production. He is also the author of “In a ings,” “Cock Robin™ Zita Johann, Ty famous for his fine dialogue and for the civilized sophistication of his point of view. In his latest play he has dealt subtly with the problem of a childless woman of richly creative personality, and his portraitures is sure to attract the most serious attention. FPeatured in the cast are Zita Johann, who is remembered for her fine emo- ork in “Machinal” and “Uncle vt and Herbert Marshall, Mr. Miller’s London partner, who is known to American audiences for his acting in “These Charming People” and “The High Road.’ The cast also includes Pat O'Brien, John T. Doyle, Adele Schuyler, Drew Price, Mary Elizabeth Forbes, Efleen Byron and Marie Bruce. MlTllm play has been staged by Mr. er. NATIONAL—“Philip Goes Forth.” ‘*PHILIP GOES FORTH,” a new George Kelly play, will be pre- sented at the National Theater for an | engagement of four days only, begin- ning Wednesday night, with Saturday matinee, prior to its New York premiere. The sponsor is Laurence Rivers, pro- ducer of that wonder play, “The Green Pastures.” Mr. Kelly's plays have always been widely discussed. The theme of his| latest, judging from advance reports, | promises to be of unusual interest. It is the story of a man who is cut out for the world of commerce, but who | attempts to make an artistic career. Mr. Kelly's first play, “The Torch- bearers,” became a vegue and still en- joys popularity. It was a comic thrust | at the little theater movement, and au- diences everywhere were delightted to | see either themselves or their friends satirized on the stage. “The SBhow-Off” was pronounced the best comedy as yet written by an Ameri- can. Although it narrowly missed the Pulitzer prize, Kelly was awarded first Pulitzer honors for 1925 for his next play, “Craig’s Wife.” One of his most | 0. Kelly's direction. The stage settings were designed by Henry Dreyfuss. GERMAN GRAND OPERA, Tomorrow. THE German Grand Opera Co. will open its 1931 season at the National Theater tomorrow evening at 8 p.m. with a presentation of Wagner's “Goet- terdaemmerung.” Johanna Gadski will | sing the soprano role of Bruennhilde |and Johannes Sembach will be the Siegfried. Others in the cast will in- clude Max Roth and Marie von Essen. | Eric Wildhagen singing the tenor lead. Others who will appear in one or the other of the operas include Margarethe Baumer, Emilie Frick, Carl Hartmann, All:n_Hinckley, Eleanor Starkey, Isolda van Bernhard and Carl Braun. The symphony orchestra and_chorus will be under the direction of Dr. Max von Schillings. JUNIOR THEATER—“Wizard of 0z.” ATURDAY the National Junior ‘Theater will present “The Wizard of Oz" for three performances at the ‘Wardman Park Theater. The morning performance will be at 10:30 o'clock, as scheduled, and the afternocon presenta: tion at 2:30. The special evening per- formance will start promptly at 8:30, in order to give the eld:crs an oppor- tunity to wiiness the staging of this delightful comedy fable. Theater the Junior Theater anticipates countered in staging their productions at the Belasco under conditions that seriously affect the scheduled attrac- tions at that downtown playhouse. It is now possible for them to give morn- ing, afternoon and evening perform- ances, and they will remain at Ward- an Park for the remainder of the season. Subscribers who desire to change their seats from the morning to the matinee performances may do so by arrangement at the Junior Theater office, 808 Seventeenth street, or by telephone, District 6865. ‘The production of “The Wizard of Oz” is said to be a unique and lively version of the favorite story. All the | familiar characters will parade behind the footlights, including Dorothy, The Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the quaint Wizard himself. Frivolities.” the new Mutual burlesque and vaudeville attrac- tion at the Gayety Theater this week, is heralded as a show of outstanding merit. It is & new show, with two stars, Billy Fields, tramp comedian, and Violet Buckley, a soubrette with considerable singing and dancing ability. Special numbers give a popular chorus a splen- did opportunity to further display its talents. In the big supporting company are to be found Charles Smith, eccentric comic; Murray Leonard, whose voice has won him many admirers: Bob Rog- ers, a character juvenile, who sings a pleasing tenor of lyric quality; Billy Holmes, singing and dancing ingenue, and Jolly Joy, ingenue, noted for her blues singing. Tuesday evening at 8 o'clock Mozart's | | “Don_Giovanni” will be pres:nted, with | In returning to the Wardman Park | a happy relief from the difficulties en- | | | | | Anthony Thorne; a tailor, Archie Kee- |tion of plays for the stage on Broad- Washington's Players. SHAKESPEARE SOCIETY—Tomorrow. SCENBS from “The Taming of the | Shrew’ will be presented tomorrow evening before the Shakespeare Society at its first meeting of the New Year at the Corcoran Art Gallery, at 8 p.m. Walter E. Thorne has arranged and directed the scenes and also plays the part of Petruchio. He opens with the scene immediately after the wedding, scene 2, act 3. The other scenes will be in Petruchio’s house, including act 4, scenes 1, 3 and 5, and a condensed ar- rangement of the last scene of the play. These scenes give the story of the “tam- ing” without any of the subsidiary plot. The cast also includes: Katherina, Helen Webb Zeller; Grumio, Clarence E. Ruebsam; Baptista, Leslie Waudby, Bianca, Irma Vaughan: Hortenslo, W. gin: the cook, Willlam Hall; servants, Arthur Pittaway, Rupert Li'le and Mal- vern Schoch: wedaing guests, Barbara Smith, Berthe Cllne, Archie Keegin and Rupert Lille. Costumes for this production were designed and executed hy Mabel Owens Wilcox. To Produce for Stage. HE Universal Picture Corporation shortly will enter into the produc- way, according to the announcement today by Carl Laemmle, president, who adds that well known playwrights will become partners in the venture. “This is not an attempt to get cheap material for talking pictures,” Mr. Laemmle said. “Every play we produce must stand on its own merits as a Broadway production, regardless of its screen possibilities. We naturally hope to develope valuable screen material. “Authors whose plays are chosen for production. will be accepted as 50-50 partners with Universal in the sale of motion picture rights, which will be open to bidding from all the companies. The regular Authors' League contract will be used.” Popular Organiat Returns. BOB ‘WEST is coming back to the Fox! This famous organist, who was such a sensation here during his four-week engagement last Summer, will be heard at the console of Fox's Wurlitzer, start- ing_ Priday. Bob West's organlogues are still the talk of Washington. He is one of the few organists who has been able to get Capital City audiences to sing and enjoy it. | Has Leading Role I ROBERT DE LANG, Who plays the part of the Wizard in “The Wizard of 0z,” to be presented by the Junior Theater, with morning and | afternoon performances, Saturday, Jan- | uary 10, at Wardman P; French Mud. FOR the benefit of interested ex- doughboys, it may be said that it rains just as much and the mud is still as gooey in France today as in the stirring—but wet—days of 1918. The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer research depart- ment verified this in planning country Toad scenes for “Those Three French Girls,” now showing at the Rialto Theater. A typically “sunny Prance” downpour and bog supplies a hilarious motivation for the opening scenes in which two former A.E. F. soldiers return to France to see what it is like now. Fs GRACE omsti Hall, Tues. Aft G T. Arthur Smith Announces PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA Stokowski—Conductors—Gabrilowitsch CONSTITUTION Wats o Ossip Glh’ilowilu” Condactis Kets . $2.35, §2, Tush €3 SN Bl wires 1 1330 o NOTE—DOORS_CLOSE_AT 8:45 AMUSEM HE drama affords fow plights) make a frolic out of & funeral. It may sorrier than that in which the | o sumetent to tell you that *“Ballyhoo™ pjumble hiero of “Midnight” Ands |\ 'y 1yusical comedy treatment of C. ©. Two New York Openings By Percy Hammond tee of justice and his country's | Pyle’s transcontinental foot race, the laws he is instrumental, as foreman of | most lugubrious cortege known to pro= a jury, in dooming a lady homicide to smper- death. The duty Is disagreeable, but | fessional athletes. Mr. Flelds he performs it with the fervor of a |Sonates Q. Q. Quayle, the impresario of crusader pledged to the discharge of | the contest, and he does so with all the onerous obligations, and he is made 10 | cool humor and skill that have made suffer from the annoyances that ever | pester the activities of righteous men. | Since the crime was a gaudy one it | moves the dally newspapers to frenzied | feats of journalism. The tranquillity of his home life is wrecked by hordes of | violent minions of the press, who, wear- | ing various disguises, interview him dis- | honestly and steal his photographs. He | dares not to unfold his napkin at dm-i‘ ner time for fear that a reporter will | crawl out of it. I pilfer that exaggera- tion from Irvin Cobb as I do the classic suggestion that the hero of “Midnight” has no more privacy than a goldfish, All of this is sacrifice enough for even one of the better good citizens. He cannot eat, he cannot sleep without in- terruption from wild-eyed vandals of the public prints. His lawn is trampled by sobsisters, cameramen and a squad of police, and he is distracted from his occupation as a neighborhood florist. Yet so consecrated is he to the worship | of the statutes that he glories reluctant- ly in the fact that he has enforced the somewhat vague commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.” Mr. and Mrs. Paul Sifton, the au- thors of “Midnight,” are not content with the catalogue of woes that cluster around the average man of probity. In the play at the Guild Theater they add to his troubles and emphasize them with all the extravagant facilities of the stage. Thus as the honest jury- man, Frederick Perry, hears the death knell of his victim sounded over the radio_from Sing Sing, his own daugh- ter, Miss Linda Watkins, enters the scene, smoking pistol in hand, and hysterically confesses that she has just bumped off her faithless sweetheart, a rich, unctuous and hypnotic Italian bootlegger. This situation, evolved by Mr. and Mrs. Sifton, is as harrowing a collection of predicaments and dilem- mas as ever attracted the attention of the Theater Guild. ‘The drama reviewer who attends the Guild’s first nights is usually intimi- dated by the splendor and superiority of his surroundings, The usheress who escorts him to his chair looks at him with the tolerant disdain of one who knows Theresa Helburn, Mr. Wertheim, Helen Westley and Lawrence Langner, He is surrounded by the vavasors of play going, drama lovers of the most exclusive type, high krowed, low necked, swallow talled, self-satisfled and in- telligent. Therefore, he hesitates to make remarks about the Guild's per- formances, fearing that he will irritate the most adult audience and the most adult institution of the world’s stage. So I tremble when I say that “Mid- night” is a strong story, weakly re- cited, and that it makes me lose a little of my large faith in the Guild and in Philip Moeller, one of the drama’s most expert and subtle dovetailers. ‘The piay is all hints at the beginning, leaving one in doubt as to which, what and why. When Glen Anders appears as a big reporter, counterfeiting a radio mechanic, he is lost in the tech- nical lingo of the wireless and you are mystified as to whether he is demon or saint. As the story goes, the dis- trict attorney makes himself a candi- date for governor by his successful prosecution of a murderess. But when another and similar opportunity offers, he reverses himself, and upon one of the most desperate, ludicrous and in- credible incidents known to happy end- ings the curtain falls. The Siftons have brilliant melodramatic ideas, but they lack skill in expressing them. In this agitating and unkempt melodrama Mr. Perry excels as an ideal juryman and citizen, and Miss Watkins is slimly vivid as his impetuous child who kills her lover because she believes him to be a flirt. The “others” in the cast are of Theater Guild standard, and in case you patronize “Midnight” you will see good acting if not good drama. SR T}{E store of librettos having run low, Mr. Hammerstein was forced to select a second-rater for W. C. Flelds’ return to Broadway's drab pastures Monday evening. Not that it mattered much, for Mr. Fields is the sort of clown whose occasional presence in a play is enough to overcome the dismal yarns and gloomy jokes of his authors. The book of “Ballyhoo” is rather dreadful in an amateurish way, but, encouraged by two or three tactful songs and a chorus of talented debutantes, he manages to Phones Natl. Jlehts: 6250, 82,9, . Matinee *% ATIONAL 0301 and Natl 1.50, $1. him a hero among the laughing classes. As Mr. Flelds, aboard a steam cal- liope, entered the public square in Shamokin, Ohio, last Monday and pre- sented himself with the keys to the city, | the signs were propitious for a playful evening. Surrounded by dancing girls and bill collectors, he made a funny speech in his showy velvet fashion, and then left the scene to other less jolly occurrences. Among these were three of the dampest flirtations that ever de- pressed a comic opera. These were fruitful, however, in producing a series of melodious ululations entitled “No ‘Wonder I'm Blue,” voiced by Miss Grace Hayes, as an amorous prima donna, beating hLer breast for love of a comic caricature named Q. Q. Quayle. Also a song caled “Throw It Out the Window,” a jauntily sentimental poem whose cadences will soon be infesting the air in opposition to the serious prose of Alexander Woollcott and Lowell Thomas. Late in the play Miss Janet Reade, flogged by an industrious clacque of song pluggers, shouted a wail described on the program as 'm One of God's Children,” a carbon copy of the stunts done on other platforms by Miss Ethel Norman, Miss Libby Holman and Miss Morgan, whose first name escapes me at_the moment. Meantime Mr. Flelds engaged himself in poker with the Ingenious cowboys of El Toro, N. Mex, depriving them of their earnings, and juggled cigar boxes and tennis balls with ease and alacrity. He played kelly pool with anything from his silk hat to his left ear as the pockets. At no moment of the per- formance was he aught but amusing, and one of the secrets of whatever suc- cess “Ballyhoo” may have is the sus- pense enjoyed by the audience in wait- ing for him to enter and its pleasure in seeing him perform. Mr. Hammerstein's expenditure is generous and tasteful in dresses and scenery. For the purposes of “Ballyhoo” he has employed the best of almost everything within the resources of a be- wildered New York showman with the prominent exception of an amusing librettist. One of his actors, an artist unidentified in the play bill of “Bally- 00,” eats lighted matches, cigars and affording the playgoers considerable laxation. A number of other phenom- last analysis, as the saying goes, the show consists of Mr. Flelds, two songs looking and ambitious girls. i . e T The WORLD'S GREATEST DANCEfi and ! CONSTITUTION HALL, Thurs., Jan. 15—4:30 Beats Bureau. Droop’ 00 G 8t. Dis GAYETY-BURLESK e Hinda Wassau Matinee Today The Grest Y Germany’s Greates NA’ glnm. FRIL, JAN. cigarettes with hungry gusto, th ena happen in “Ballyhoo.” But in the and an agile seminary of graceful, good- GREAT PIANIST Drocn's, 134h and G Dis, 6408, Mrs. - fy Starting MAR ¢ Womsn Wl;“. Concert 4 DAYS L 0502, Lot LAURENCE RIVERS Producer of “The Green Pastures® PHILIP GOES FORTH A NEW 8 COMEDY v Gladys Clark, accomplished enter- CotnG GEORGE KELLY vision from within the photoplay | taken from the recently , O €% OV Cu o Hlile know that|Tecent successes was “Behold, the | tainer, is the special added feature. Asthor of “THE TORCE-BEARERS", “THE SHOW-OFF", “CRAIG'S WIFE", “SENOLD, the BRIDEGAOON" ste.. industry. Such a picture will be one of the features of the 1932 bicenten- nial celebration, and it means a great deal to the City of Wash- ington. Many of the scenes will be photographed in the vicinity of the National Capital, for the life of the First President was closely identified with the city| which bears his name. A pic-| turesque Colonial background | should make “The Life of Wash- ington” really the greatest photo- play ever produced. No effort should be spared to exhibit it be- fore every man, woman and child in America. | * K ¥ % | The Rialto announces quite a | worthwhile list of pictures for the coming month, starting with Conrad Nagel's new star- ring vehicle, “Free Love™ After these come “Dracula,” which is reported to follow very closely the original statge production and to include the stage cast of players; “Resurrection,” Jrom the Tolstoy novel, starring John Boles, and “Aloha,” fea- turing the little Mezxican star, uel Torres. Other important ures are booked for ‘ebruary. o | OOKING back over the year’s rogress in the photoplay studios, one may be a bit disap- pointed. The talking pictures did not make as much improvement during the second year as they did during the first. f course, the first ents of the first year brought out some awful enmrle& of talkies; there was certainly more room to improve. The two really outstanding inventions of the past year—color and the wide film—have not panned out satis- published Earl Derr Biggers novel. there are European noblemen who can Bebe Danlels’ first starring pic- |suffer loss of fortune and almost any- ture under her new contract with | thing save honor without such loss in Warner Bros. will be a screen| version of “The Maltese Falcon,” | from a novel by Dashiell Ham- mett. The picture bears the ten-| tative title “Bad Woman,” but it may be changed. An appeal has been issued by Mme. Ernestine Schumann-Heink ' to the mothers of Germany to work for the lifting of the ban against the picture “All Quiet on the Western Front.” She say: “The action of the censors in prohibiting this picture is abso-| lutely unjustified. It should be exhibited everywhere as a tre-| mendous argument against war.' I lost a son in the war. The people should have the truth.” The Paramount Eastern studio | is making the sound features of | the new Lawrence Tibbett picture, | which was filmed on the West| Coast. i Erich von Stroheim is preparing | the script for a picture to be| called “Blind Husbands.” Pro-| gucuon starts within the next few ays. Frank Fay is starred in a pic- ture called “The Devil Was Sick.” Ben Lyon and Barbara Stan- wyck are to have the leading roles in a picture called “Night Nurse.” | Lew Ayres is in special training for his part as a prize fighter ln’ “Iron Man.” The story is taken | from a best-selling novel. The R-K-O theaters from coast to coast are observing their sec- ond anniversary during the month of January. Several of the big luctions of the organization, luding “Charley’s Aunt,” “The Royal Bed” and “Cimarron,” will factorily. It was ted that t,bq vguld nvoluum.rthe film be features of the month’s cele- bration, the least affecting their sense of the superiority given them by their titles, Having met persons of that type, Miss Miller found them pathetic but romantic; hopeless and helpless but interesting, and therefore put them into a story. ‘The heroine she made a little princess, with all the inhibitions of so- clal status common to aristocracy; the hero she took from American soil and gave the status of a plumbing engineer, To _the princess she gave a fanciful Balkan principality, poverty-stricken, and a father who just couldn’t realize that he no longer had wealth. To the hero Miss Miller assigned a shocking amount of wealth and true American nerve. ‘That's the basis of the story of “The Princess and the Plumber,” now in screen form at the Fox. GIGLI World's Greatest Tenor, Constitution Hall. Tue Wilso Droop’s, 1300 i ACAST of WORLD FAMOLL /TARS ACOMPANY of ONE HUNDRED'FIFTY COMPLETE CHORUS snd SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA RETURN ENGAGEMENT NATIONAL THEATER ‘Goetterdsemmerung’ .+ ... "“Don Jusn” $5.50; 1st balco: $6.60; 2d b sale, Mrs., Wi "o o DL 6493 Bridegroo: “Philip Goes Forth” will be presented here with a cast personally selected by Mr. Kelly which includes Thais Law- ton, Marion Barney, Thurston Hall, Dorothy Stickney, Cora Witherspoon, Harry Ellerbe, Madge Evans, Harry | Gresham, Harold Webster, Ralph Urmy, Mary Gilda and Donna Pasdeloup. The play was staged under Mr. THE BIGGEST SHOW. N wAsuquoy A pretentious jungle scene, using the popular chorus girls and the women principals as well, and a grand Irish ROBESON THE GREAT NEGRO SINGER with the following casts THAIS LAWTON MARION BARNEY DOROTHY STICKNEY CORA' WITHERSPOON HARRY GRESHAM THURSTON HALL HARRY ELLERBE Brale ot 'the Kind your dad remembera| | JAN- 21,8:30 are featured. TOMORROW SHUBERT o B0e to $1.5 2:30 Sat.,’ S0e te MGMT. LEE AND J, 3. SHUBERT 52.00. GILBERT MILLER Presents TOMORROW AND MADGE EVANS HAROLD WEBSTER RALPH URMY MARY GILDEA DONNA PASDELOUP Settings designed by Henry Dreyfuss. Play staged by the Author, viek BEG. MONDAY fitw WEEK THURS. ROBERT V. NEWMAN FRANCINE LARRIMORE “STORM SONG” A New Drama by SIDNEY R. BUCHMAN Staged by MARION GERING CAST WITH A DISTINGUISHED Nights—S50e, $2.50. POPULAR A WEEK BEG. MON.,, JAN. 19TH. MAIL ORDERS NOW 7 4 TOMORROW A New Play By PHILIP BARRY With HERBERT N ad MARSHALL STAGED BY MR, MILLER ZITA JOHAN L —— e ] NEXT MONDAY—MAIL ORDERS NOW—SEATS WED. JIMMIE COOPER’S NEWEST MYSTERY SENSATION THE RIP-ROARING HAIR RAISER Y = —_— —_— With SEENA' OWEN, NATE BUSBY and Important Cast 6 MONTHS AT FORREST THEATRE, NEW YORK CITY 12 Weeks In Los Angeles 4 Weeks In Philadelphin 12 Weeks in San Francisco 5 Weeks in Boston All Eves. 50c-$2—Best Seats. Thurs. & Sat. Mats. $1.00 THE THEATRE GUILD, INC., Presents (The Third Play of the Second Washington Sub« scription Season). GREEN GROW THE LILACS A New Play of the West by Lynn Rigss With This Distingulshed Cast JUNE WALKER HELEN WESTLEY RICHARD HALE FRANCHOT TONE LEE STRASBERG TEX COOPER RUTH CHORPENNING WOODWARD RITTER AND MANY COWBOYS $2.00 & $1.30; 2nd X sLob m'n;.',. 55‘5;53"1153" ; “Ena Ba., riease for return of tickets.