Evening Star Newspaper, March 29, 1931, Page 51

. Stage News and Screen and Gossip Part 4—10 Pages MARY DUNCAN #g7 NORMAN FOSTER, “MEN CALL IREOVEZ Columbra. 7xd/ MARION DAVIES s " # ITS AWISECHILD, Good-by, Re By W 7 ly interest during the ing days of the pen#tential s¢/ sson known as “the regular the¢/,trical season,” when managery, 6 from to close their doors anz darken their theaters, it ougiiy to be the production of the dary g but not wicked, and, at the/ same time, comedy, “Strictly ¥ shonorable.” Washington alreadf; has had its entertainment, WY .ich our critics have found qui P]easam, and fall SIDNEY BLACKMER. Falace. II-‘ anything might renew woy (d- —and likewise of whf,t is time immemorial have eferred return of the Brock Py .mberton's really delightful Pl‘;’ ston Sturges first fleeting glimpy e of this naive popular, and es y was it at- tracted by the ¢ oy daring of little Elizabeth” Lovg , the demure, but desperate Souy nern maiden, whose accent would’ not behave, but got by just the 7 ame. something ¥ nusually attractive in “Strictly ¥ sishonorable,” because we are 17 formed that its vogue has been’ so satisfactory in Man- hattan f hat they have now par- celed 1% out to 10 road companies, and W hat is thought to be the best /of them all, the Philadel- phia’ company, will bring its Cafpital. If pleasure be at all per- 1y ssible during Holy week, “Stric 7 Dishonorable” ought to provide .t, althoug ot of the type that its name I suggest, nor in the way the unsophisticated may imagine, * ook % 'I‘HE past week has been rich in drama that is likley to linger in the memory of those who saw it far, far into the great beyond. Not all the good things of the modern theater arrive in Wash- ington, and local theatergoers who do not happen to have the price of an alr trip to the metropolis, or | its equivalent, very often have to simply lose out and languish in ignorance of real delights. The yegular season, even at its best, §s only moderately representative of the worthwhile that is produced fn drama. Many plays that fas- cinate New York seldom get this far down the coast, and when they go they have become little more than memories, almost forgotten, $n the big town. But we do get sgome of them, if only a few, before the moss begins to aprlng up on their scenery. The world of the theater is much like the world of §ndustry. The more money it gets the more it wants. It takes no chances, which may or may not be reasonable, according to the way one looks at it. * ok K ¥ NWASHINGTON did like both . “Elizabeth the Queen” and *Street Scene, There must be | / TED LEWIS, /' (Padace (Stage) zular Season f Landvoigt \i | at the National and the Shubert | | Belasco Theaters. “Street Scene,” ‘ | with its great, brown tenement| ‘secting, seemed like a prototype | of the world and its life, whence all drama springs, with smiles and | tears, joys and sorrows, loves and hates, the commonplaces and even the tragedies along with the ab- surdities of humanity, all cor- | ralled under one roof, and made more impressive in being mani- | ’tested by human nature as it is| |rather than in expert character-| ization by gifted artists. Here, indeed, it may be said “The play’s |the thing!” ~Although presented |by a road company probably not at all comparable to that which | stirred the depths in New York and which sent the play into the sticks with the general praise of | the critics, Washington enjoyed it laifld xwished there might be more e it. AMUSEMENT SECTION he Sunday Star, Motor, Aviation, Radio Programs WASHIN TAGIE BELA LUGOS!, W, DRACULAY %{rofio/h’aw. DOROTHY MACKAILL 72y JOEL MCCREA, iz KEPT HUSBANDS, Looks Like a Hit. l N companies are to appear in the Brock Pemberton comedy, “Strictly Dishonorable,” within the next few months, according to announcements. Negotiations are now under way for foreign rights to this Preston Sturges play. | Presentation of the play in London | it on| return trip to the National| “Elizabeth the Queen,” the mag- | already has started auspiciously. The nificent offering of the New York | rights to the play for Germany, Austria- Theater Guild, is notable for su-| Hungary and Czechoslovakia have been perb characterizations by its lead- | acquired by Gilbert Miller, who has ar- ing gifted players, particularly Tanged with Mex Remharch (of prodic: the repjlica of the titian-haired| “rpe gocieta Itallana del Te,,m," Virgin Queen of Proud Albion, 2| prammatico has bought the Italian| clrnssic worthy a niche in the Hall | rights and will plar‘i‘ it lmme;du}tely in | of Fame, and the Essex of Alfred |the repertoire of the principal com-| Lunt, a fitting companion piece, Panies in Italy. —Through Richard which with the tense story of the Madden, Carl Strakosch has purchased and i SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH £ Fere 1romy LONELY WIVES. PKO. Kerths. A GRACE RAYES Zare- Zarle(Stage ) " Company All Set to Go. HE National Theater Players. atborn Washingtonian. Professionally he least the 1931 edition, which is He was repertory artists the like of [born and reared out near Silver Spring which—at least Manager Coch- on the present site of the Indian ran thinks so—will not be surpflssed[Springs Golf Club, was graduated at was seen here last with Ethel Barry- to take its place in a list of | more in “Scarlet Sister Mary.” ‘Story of Southern Pioneers. | th in ages to come, is now complete and ready for a brilliant season which will be inaugurated Easter Monday evening, appropriately with “Let Us Be Gay,” and the closing of which no man dare predict. The final accessions to the noted company are Miss Roberta Beatty and Burke Clarke, two delightful thespians who have a fine record of success behind hem. Miss Beatty may be remem- | bered as Mrs. James Larrabee in Wil- Swarthmore and later organized and played leading roles in many amateur dramatic organizations in and around Washington. Then he became profes- sional and began to play important parts in the supporting companies of many famous stars. As the last curtain fall of the regular season will come next Saturday evening, when “Strictly Dishonorable” will make its second farewell, nothing will inter- vene to prevent the gala opening of two Aamous. Javers Of Biatory in| 5o Tents for the Scandinavian coun themselves make a masterpiece of the Maxwell Anderson play. | Perhaps the generous patronage and the unmistakable interest | manifested by its most representa- | | tive audiences may convince the { producing managers of New York | |that Washington, after all, is able |to discern and to properly ap-| | preciate a good thing when it comes their way. | * o ok * »’WITH the completion of his 1931 | | company, which some think |is likely to capture the laurels for | talents and achievements from its predecessors, Manager Cochran flings his banner to the breeze proclaiming that on Easter Mon- day, with “Let Us Be Gay,” the new grist of National Theater Players will be ready to entertain ‘Washington with the best contin- uous repertory of excellent dra- matic art that has been offered in the local houses during the en- tire year. He does not mean that now and then fine plays have not been sent us from the great metropolis, but that at no time in the years that have d since his little organization leaped into belnf has there been as fine a continuous allignment of worth- while dramatic entertainment for |as many weeks, one right after another, as that now offered by | Ernest Hilliard. Oland despite the fact the National Players of 1931. The road com; panies, he says, may beja civic mu:ow, maz‘u ac- tries. Fred Le Bret has bought the rights for Holland and the play will be produced in Amsterdam early next sea- son. AC[OYB'O“CC Racers. | WO players in the cast of the - | fany production of Harold Mac- Grath's “The Drums of Jeopardy.” were | racers at one time in their picturesque | respective careers. These two are Warner Oland and that he has transiated Stringberg's plays from their original Swedish tnto| English, was once & six-day bicycle| racer and won medals. Hilliard did his racing on the backs of thoroughbreds. He was & gentleman jockey for such race horse owners as Baldwin, Gerkin and Alfred Vanderbilt the Cochran players he guarantees are a “regular steady” that may be always depended upon. And he adds this assurance that he and his com{;any are ;])repared to carry on until snow balls are ripe, if but he meets with proper en- couragement from his customers. All of which goes to show that box offices have to be fattened to keep shows alive. Moreover, has not the Adver- tising Club of Washington adopted Steve Cochran’s National Theater Players as a civic institution, and even the president of the District Commissioners with all the eclat that goes with welcomed them| liam Gillette's recent revival of “Sher- | Washington's Spring season by the Na- lock Holmes. Her latest appearance |tional Theater Players, who under the IneWashington was with Alice Brady in | astute guidance and direction of Clif- “Hero Hour" She also appeared here | ford Brooke have been making ready with Laura Hope Crews in “Possession.” | and, it is reported, are fully prepared Miss Beatty played with Cyril Maude in | for the momentous occasion. the original New York production of | “Aren't We'All?” ~She had the dis- | tinction, too, of being the original | princess in “The Student Prince,” and | as may be imagined she is as famillar | and as efficient when it comes to musi- cal comedy as she is in straight drama. Washington has occasion to remember her also for her fine contribution to that excellent dramatization of Samuel Pepys' famous diary, “And So to Bed.” Burke Clarke, they tell us, is a native- Has Itia}; in Her Blood. N “Rebound,” which Edward H. Grif- fith is directing for Pathe, Ina Claire wears. a green cloth coat, lined with green and white figured material. The dress is of the same, with dainty lace- trimmed collar. Two red fox furs are utilized with the costume. Green purse, soot brown gloves, hose and shoes com- plete her ensemble. Stage and Screen Attractions This Week On the Stage. NAT!lONAL—“Strlctly Dishonorable,” comedy. ning. GAYETY—“California Beauties” and evening. Opens this eve- (burlesque). This afternoon On the Screen. R!AL“TO—"The Drums of Jeopardy.” This afternoon and eve- ning. PALACE—Marion Davies in “It’s a Wise Child.” and evening. FOX—"“The Conquering Horde.” This afternoon and evening. R-K-O KEITH'S-—“Lonely Wives.” . This afternoon and evening. EARLE—“Kept Husbands.” This afternoon and evening. COLUMBIA—“Men Call It Lov This afternoon and evening. ‘This afternoon ‘unou for the world’s weary soul. .| Now 29, 1931. j RICHARD ARLEN dng FAY WRAY, -« . BADALON| % ELIZABETH LOVE 7/ STRICTLY DISHONORABLE ” Aational- i NANNETTE | DAILEY, Gayety: TI'IZ pioneers of the South in 1867 at- tempted to establish a trail from Texas to the raflroad terminus in| Kansas. { The first caravan traveling from the | southern part of Texas to the Middle Western United States faced fearful odds. The terrors of Indians, carpet- baggers, floods and wild animals are de- scribed in Emerson Hough's “The Con- quering Horde,” a Paramount picture starring Richard Arlen, and now at the Fox Theater. Like Columbus, the first caravan had no guide save the compass and the stars, None had ever been over the trail. Those first few who had at- tempted it had never returned to tell the story. In “The Conquering Horde” the first| journey from the South to the North | is told upon the screen as it actually | occurred 61 years ago. The true story| of the hardships and suffering of the| brave band was so thrilling that it re- quired no change to achieve the sup- reme in drama. ‘The adaptation from the original Emerson Hough story was written by Grover Jones and Willlam Slavens McNutt. Edward Sloman was the d“l rector. Denominator. 'O matter what happens to our foreign trade, American jazz, the only native product which has no in- ternational competition, will always be demanded. in large quantities all over the world. It is the world’s common denominator in music.” This is the opinion of Ted Lewis, “the high-hatted tragedian of song” who is gyfiu a week’s engagement at Loew's Palace Theater. “Europe already ers our jazz to their own lar dance music,” Lewis states. e enormous prices paid for American _orchestras, the sale of American sheet music and talking ma- “ Europe Seldom was it that any music wri in America found favor with foreign crities. But, with the end of the war, when the world looked for happiness and liberty, American jazz supplied this Wogld wents more jazz and | who lets himself be arrested and even | ence is cleverly led to believe the boy | | exercise from the first curtain to the ) e CONQUERING HORDE” LOYD HUGHES 4 WAL FANCHON #7MARCO LACE’MACDONALD, i@“DRUMs OF JEOPARDY," =&ralto« On the New York Stage By Percy Hammond. in the way of new plays last | week, is an English mystery | play that really mystifies— crisply written, well acted piece, with| enough detective work, melodrama and | pleasantly devious twisting and doub. ling of tralls, for the most avid ama. teurs of this particular school of en- tertainment. Lionel Atwill, better cast than he has sometimes been in previous appearances | in this country, is an English gentleman | I{s HE SILENT WITNESS,” all| that Broadway had to offer | goes to trial to save his son from pun- ishment for a murder which the audi-| committed. Before the story, with its| many flash-backs, is finally unrolled, at least four men have turned up who might well be suspected of the crime, and there has been a trial in the Old | Bailey, an examination in a private of- | fice in Scotland Yard, and all sorts of excitement. The plece had a successful run in| England before being brought here and there seems every reason to believe that New Yorkers will find it first-class of its kind. Good direction and revolving stage assist in m g the many changes of scene move swiftly. It is one of those plays at which you check your subtler sensibilities in the coat room or leave them at home, and bring along your physical nerves and your Old | Sleuth curiosity. These have plenty of | last. “The Silent Witness” is aimed at a particular bull's eye—that of melo- dramatic showmanship—and it hits it. * ok ok ok “GRE'I'N PASTURES” is already in its second year and last Sunday| the Spingarn Medal for 1930 “for the | most distinguished achievement by a United States citizen of African descent” was presented to Richard Berry Harris- son, who plays “The Lord” in that ex- traordinarily successful drama. Lieut. Gov. Herbert H. Lehman of the State of New York, in presenting the medal, said that Mr. Harrison's art had brought pleasure, understanding nd sympathy to thousands, and that character as well as attainment had had a part in bringing him the award. The citation which accompanied the medal sald that Mr. Harrison's “fine and reverent characterization of the Lord in Marc Connelly’s play, “The Green Pactures,” has made the play the outstanding dramatic accomplishment of America in the year 1930. But the medal is given to Mr. Harrison not sim- ply for this crowning accomplishment, | hims but for the long years of his work as dramatic reader and entertainer, inter- preting to the mass of colored people in church and school the finest specime: of English drama from ~ Shakespeare down. It is fitting that in the sixty- seventh year of his life he should re- acclaim for & role th pletes his life work.’ A you how much I owe to aM, those people :%‘ma churches and in Louis- b7 ns a and Texas. Through these rs they have helped T must nk Mr. Roark Bradford d Mr. S back stage and my family here of “The Green Pasture.” 1t seems to me that this medal should be broken into bits and a plece given to each of them.” * x % * A!.. JOLSON comes back to Broadway after several years' absence, in his own, instead of black face, as the pro~ prietor and host of “The Wonder Bar,” as his new plece is named; the little Bayes Theater, up on & roof in West Forty-fourth street, being turned inte an imitation night club, with Mr. Jol- son as master of ceremonies, There is no curtain; the actors drift up and down between stage and audi- ence and there's no telling who's spec- tator and who's player. The show is sald to have come from the Germsan, but its present locale is French, man: of the supernumeraries speak in Frenc! and Mr. Jolson sings in French, ln{- lish, German, Russian and Yiddish. It there are no startling high spots in the show, there is novelty, and the cheer- ful grin and indefatigable energy of our recent Mammy singer contrive to keep things going. The Audrey Four —the three young men who toss a little lady dressed like a ballet dancer, about as if she were nothing at all—Carol Chilton and Marco Thomas, droll Patsy Kelly, and a quartet of Albertina Rasch girls are among those who assist in the entertainment. * ok ¥ X% N “Napi” Ernest Truex gets his actor's wish to give an imitation of Napo- leon; a trick which he carries off with rather surprising success. He takes the part of a little shopkeeper who 30 Te= | sembled the Emperor that he was im- pressed into service by some of the lat- ter's entourage to act as the “gost” in breaking off relations with one of Na- poleon’s mistresses. He im tes the great man so persuasively, that in- stead of quarreling with “La 2 he spends the night with her. It is an amusing enough conceit, with- rather dirty edges, but pretty slim for a whole evening’s entertainment. Pantomime and Puppets. RUDOLPH BADALONI, whose five minutes of pantomime in the third act of “Strictly Dishonorable” is one of the choicest acting morsels in the com- edy hit at the National Theater, can be eloquently silent in all - cluding_the Scandinavian, ‘a8 the volatile Tomaso, keeper of the in Brock Pemberton’s production of effervescent 4 Badaloni ha gularly enough, it was that Badaloni first learned pantomime I watched Buffano’s puj York and studied which that puppeteer could eSpress his mechanical figurines, cperated by LS S0 e &