Evening Star Newspaper, May 17, 1931, Page 51

“St'age A News and Screen and Gossip P and doing,” to borrow the lines of the poet, Harping on the New York Theater By W. H. “l ' Guild, itself rounding N 3 AMUSEMENT SECTION : he Sunday Star Motor, Aviation, Radio Programs WASHINGTON, W C, SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 17, 1931. “Ciry ] STREETS [RoBERTA | g BEATTY- the Theater Lnnavoigt . ]“The Party,” by Dawn Powell, de- |scribed as a shrewd American |comedy which amusingly sets| {forth the competition in certain out the sentence, is “bent. on carv- | lines of business, and “The Sailo; ing out its own fate.” Already it|of Cattar by Friedrich Wolf, a is informing its subscribers in the | play disclosing the forces which cities won with its methods that|impel opposing sides in revolu- its third annual subscription sea- son will be made from a group of 10 plays. Also that John Golden’s production of Rachel Crothers’ play, “As Husbands Go,” will be included in the group. It stated, too, that Washington, Wi “the Guild observes a steady increase in the number of its subsecribers,” will be among the favored cities to have a The- ater Guild season. Furthermore, the rumor is con- firmed that arrangements with a group of producers which in- cludes John Golden, Gilbert Mil- ler, Arthur Hopkins, Brock Pem- berton and Chester Erskin (in association with the Erlanger En- terprises, Incorporated) will en- able Guild subscribers to see fine productions of the group named upon the usual terms available for the Guild season. “Since the Guild firmly be- lieves, from the record of its own experences, that good plays, well presented, will find audiences the formal announcement ex. plains, “it is felt that with such a group of plays as the Guild and its affiliated producers can supply, much will be done toward restor- ing public confidence in the theater.” * oo % 'I‘HE 10 plays from which the Guild offerings will be se- lected include “He,’ by Alfred Savoir, a satiric comedy; “Mourn- ing Becomes Electra, Eugene O'Neill’s trilogy — three plays through which the same charac- ters pass, in a New England sea- port town, at the close of the Civil War; “Reunion in Vienna,” a comedy by Robert E. Sher- wood, in which Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne are like- ly to be seen: a new play (un- mnamed), by Sidney Howard, au- thor of “They Knew What They ‘Wanted” and “Ned Cobb’s Daugh- ter”; “The House of Connelly,” by Paul Green; a play in which the old South is seen in conflict with the present, by th Abraham’s Bosom”; Versailles by Dr. Emil Ludwig, which shows the advent of the idealist, Woodrow Wilson, before the Peace Confer- ence and at the close of the World War, in his struggles with practical politicians, such as Lloyd George and Clemenceau, and also intro- duces among its characters sev- eral living Jaeo?le, including Mrs. Wilson and Sir Basil Zaharoff, the munitions maker of Greek birth, distinguished by British knighthood, who resides in France; “The Coward,” a psycho- logical study, by H. R. Lenor- mand, who also wrote “The Fail- ures”; “Three Times Waterloo,” an amusing satirical comedy of the theater, by Eugene Gurster; | tionary movements to act | they do, | * %ok % |"THUS the Theater Guild lays i cards on the table sufficiently 15 far in advance to enable those| who may wish to become subscrib- |ers and to assure themselves of | worthwhile theatrical entertain- | ment during the coming Fall and | Winter months. It is by making its preparations months ahead and going out after prospective patrons that the -Guild insures itself against failure in its enter- | prises. And it is by this method that the Guild and the producers| Wwho may become affillated with| +it hope to re-establish the theater | in sections of the country that| now but seldom, if ever, énjoy its pleasures. There is a certainty, | a sureness in this movement that | has carried it to success in the| past and is relied upon to repeat| |that success in the future. 1t is | has been made in recent years to| | revive and purify theatrical taste | ‘that has become woefully negli- | gible as the result of modern| popular entertainment. [ *xx % | | THE saddest blow that has come| | to the theater in a generation | is the death of David Belasco, | whose contributions to dramatic |art in America will illumine the brightest pages of its story. Proper | tribute should and doubtless will be paid by masters of fact and| language. It is not the work of a tyro. The great artist of the the- | ater trod a rough and rugged road, | brightcmng it 2ll the way with the beauties of his art and joyously giving all that he had without ever counting the sacrifice. The world will miss him—and probably many without ever knowing why. Who Did 1t? N the new Columbia feature, “Sub- way Express,” instead of the usual two or three, there are exactly 30 people suspected of murder. This pic- | ture, which was transferred to the | screen from the famous New York stage . has all its action develop in the crowded coach of a subway train. The | mystery arises not only as to who killed {2 man but how he was killed. | It looks like a shooting, but is it? ‘The police inspector who puts the pas- | sengers through the third degree says it is, but a doctor who examines the says “No.” Many of the char- acters doubtless would have delighted O. Henry. Under the threat of arrest niasks are dropped and fundamental traits of character come to the surface. The police allow none of the passengers to leave the car until the murder is solved. Not-until then do the passen- gers again resume their masks, but in e meantime a cross-section of New York life has b2en exposed, [ | 1 [RALPH GRAVES - GRATITUDE fauad National BLaNcHE SWEET- Earle Siyo Assumes a Post in Paris. ] OVIE stars and sich like may hie | themselves to Paree for relaxation | between pictures, but not, at least since the Wall Street crash, has a theater manager dared even to pipe about such luxury. Be that as it may, L. Stoddard Taylor, genial manager of the | Belasco Theater in Washington, while not piping ve loudly, nevertheless will take his de- | parture, with M Taylor, on June 3 for the French capital to assume a post_to which he | has been appointed in the American Branch of the Paris International Colonial and Over- seas Exposition. He will spend the months of June and July abrosd. | This honor has come to Mr. Taylor, | it is explained, because of his “special | fitness for duty at the George Washing- | ton Mount Vernon mansion, a replica of which is to be created on the exposi- tion grounds.” Tt is likewise & recogni- tion of the peculiar grace and charm of | Mr. Taylor's management, for more | than a quarter of a century, of the fa- | mous Belasco Theater, which he Tes- | cued from the hands of the crude and ungodly and transformed into a palace of theatric art. All Washington will wish Mr. and | Mrs. Taylor bon voyage, the time of thelr lives and a safe return in time to take up the duties of steering the Be- lasco through its twenty-seventh sea- son that opens this Fall L. Stoddard Taslor. “Panel Signals” and Radio. N inndvation in motion picture pho- tography and direction is said to have made possible the filming of Co- lumbla’s production “Dirigible,” now at the Metropolitan. Much of the action above the clouds, as well as the close-ups of Jack Holt and Ralph Graves, were recorded by | | “automatic, electrically controlled cam- | eras, fastened to the plane and placed in such . positions as to enable the actors to photograph themselves with- out the aid of a cameraman.” The cameras were sighted in much the same manner as rifles would be | sighted before the plane left the ground. The apparatus was driven by means of | batteries concealed in the fuselage of the plane Not content to rely entirely upon radio for communication with pilots, Director Frank Capra made use of the system of “panel signaling.” This con- sists of large code letters in jet black upon huge white panels spread upon the ground and constantly manipulated by experts, the planes above noting and taking new formations as directed. ‘While Clrl’l shouted directions with his eyes focused on the planes above, using high-powered field glasses to more clearly observe the pilots, his assistant at radio apparatus broadcast di- rections to the pilots s0 that there could be no Pcasible slip-up. i Stage and Screen Attractions This Week On the Stage. NATIONAL PLAYERS—“That's Gratitude.” comedy. Tomorrow night. GAYETY—"Jingle Jingle Girls” (burlesque). and evening. On the PALACE—“City Streets.” EARLE—“Party Husband” and and evening. Frank Craven This afternoon Screen. This afternoon and evening. Blanche Sweet. This afternoon R-K-O KEITH'S—“Subway Express.” This afternoon and eve- ning. RIALTO—"“Seed.” This afternoon and evening. METROPOLITAN—"Dirigible.” FOX—“Young Sinners.” COLUMBIA—"Dishonored.” This afternoon and evening. This afternoon and evening. ‘This afternoon and evening. Goodr Work Goes on. U Q the dramatic season at the Shu- bert-Belasco Theater comes the news in Washington, whose new plans are being Jaid for next year. Mrs. Fitzwilliam Sargent of Philadel- ICKLY following the closing of to appear next season in a play by | Roland Jeans, called “The Kitten's | Tall,” which is to be tried in London during the coming Summer and pre- | of activities of the Professional Players | sented here in the Fall. ‘There is a fecling that the list of | | productions for the Professional Players | may include Susan Glaspell's Pulitzer prize-winning play for 1931, “Alison’s Lois WiLson- SSupway ExprEss” R.K.O.Keiths Metropolitan LD | Whacils\Glainmdiiors Seedit | JF “Seed,” the John M. Stahl-Uni-| versal picture, based on the Charles G. Norris novel, does nothing else, it is | claimed, it will at least create a new interest among motion picture pro- | ducers in-the translation to the screen | of better stories, better made and better | produced. | No producer can hope to go through & business year without giving the in- dustry and the public one picture out- standing in beauty. “Seed” is sald to |be such a picture, and yet Carl | Laemmle, president of Universal Pic. | tures, readily admitted that ‘“Seed would not be a great money maker. “The picture 15 too fine to be & box- office record breaker,” he thinks, and | says: “It is one of the good pictures, | made for the satisfaction of those who | are sensible enough to ‘shop’ for their entertainment and for the ultimate ben- efit the picture will have on the mass | mind of the theatergoing public. That 3( itself will bring prestige to the pro- ucer.” | “Seed” has been called a “gem of | | story writing, acting and direction. The | Baltimore -Sun said that “ ‘Seed’ is an- other feather in the cap of Carl Laemmle.” Tacyhitinial Galey Sell: OHN ‘BOLES was once a teacher in a school for girls. | | Tiring of the brokerage business, in phia, who is in charge of the players’ ] House,” and possibly the recent revival | which he was engaged with his father in organization in the Eact, was in Wash- ington last week to consult with Mrs. Sidney Thomas and' Miss Katherine | Dunlop, under whose capable guidance the Professional Players have found a wide appeal here. Not only have a great number of this season’s subscrib- | ers ennounced their desire to continue their membership next year, it appears, but each mail brings new subscriptions from other patrons of the theater in- dorsing the productions offered under the banner of Professional Players. An interesting group of plays sched- | | uled for next year includes two Broad- way successes, “The Silent Witness,” with Lionel Atwill, and “Melo,” featur- ing Basil Rathbone, In addition there are to be several new plays for foreign dramatists, among them “The New Col ony,” by Luigi Pirandello; “Give Me Yesterday,” by A. A. Milne, and “Inter- rupted,” by Molnar. It will be remembered that during the season just closed the Professional Players presented Pirandello’s “As You Desire Me,” one of the season's suc- and Milne's delightful “Michael and Mary,” which will not soon be for- gotten. new play llSdO‘, and Philip Merivale, it is said, will appear in “Danton,” a play of European origin directed by Max Rheinhardt. cesses, of “Peter Ibbetson,” with Glenn Hunter | in_the title Tole. | _Well, all in all, it looks as though | 1931-32 might find the much_ abused | theater reasserting itself, at least in | Washigton. | She, Is an Englishman. JOROTHY MACKAILL, star of “The Party Husband,” now at the Earle, 1]hlldd her home in Hull, Yorkshire, Eng- nd. At 14 she ran away from Thorne Academy, on Wigmore street, London, | and started work in the chorus at the Hippodrome. Later, with characteristic verve, she set sail for America and | crashed .into the Shubert revival of | “Floradora,” following it with an en- | gagement at the Ziegfeld roof, where | she sang, Edwin Carewe, the screen director, gave her a role in “Mighty Lak’ a Rose,” Blade” and “Twenty-One,” in support of Richard Barthelmess. She then re- turned to New York, bobbed her long blond hair, and was signed by Pirst National as Chickie in the picture of the same name. It made a great hit. She was very successful also in “Office Wife,” and h_x;nnce been seen in Leslie Banks, who it was expected, | W would reach Washington this past Win- ter in *The Man in Pocession,” also is f and afterward parts in' “The Fighting | | Texas, Boles negotiated a loan and went to New York, where he soon secured a position in a young ladies’ academy on | Long Island, instructing the pupils in | singing and in Prench. Later he went to France and Italy, where he pursued his study of voice un- | der such teachers as Jean de Reske and Oscar Seagle. | Returning to New York, he spent sev- eral years in musical comedy and even- | tually reached the screen. His latest | picture is “Seed.” iy i Artists Must Eat. TATISTICIANS claim that the aver- age person eats his own weight in | food every month. Thomas Meighan | and Hardie Albright, therefore, are not | “average.” During the shooting and retaking of one episode for “Young Sinners,” the | picture comedy-drama now at the Fox, these two hardy gents consunied a total of six chicken ples and four bowls of beans, and on the very day han had invited Albright and Dorothy J dan over to his house for dinner. ‘Thomas Meighan is back in pictures again after an absence of two 3 Meighan reached the height of his fame during the old days of the “silences,” but “ly llhclllmedhllfi hu‘ :wud Lh:: strongl this ng picture Hollywood freely predicts he will rise again in greater glory. NATIONAL PLAYERS—“That's 1 Gratitude.” i RANK CRAVEN struck a high | note of comedy in “That's| Gratitude,” the play which the | National ~ Theater Players will | present this week beginning to- | morrow night. | _“That's Gratitude” had s successful | run on Broadway. It was rated as the | | purest sample of American comedy—a | | slice of real life. After the Broadway | ~—— showing, Frank| | 2 Craven, the actor- | ’ é author, took his| play out on the | | road, but “a queer | bocking arrange- | ment” is said to | have denfed it to ‘Washington the- atergoers, So S.E.| Cochran, manager, purchased the Tepertoire rights. | Hence the oppor tunity is now of-| fered to see one of | the outstanding successes of last sea- son and at greatly reduced prices. | . Washington has seen Frank Craven |in “almcst every play he ever wrote. | from “Too Many Cooks,” one of his | first, down to “The Nineteenth Hole," his sterling satire on golf and golfers. While the author is busy with his | play “That's Gratitude” out in the | provinces, Stanley Ridges will take | over the central character, Robert Grant, a traveling salesman who is taken sick in a hotel room and saved by a total stranger, the gentleman | who orders the doctor. After that act cf kindness, Mr. Grant Invites the stranger, Thomas Maxwell, to the | Grant homestead—and something hap- pens, for after Mr. Maxwell takes up | residence in the Grant home, he re- | fuses to be ousted, and then follows | fun that is fun. . Mrs. Hibbard, naturally, will be Mrs. Grant, with a beautiful chance for the | Hibbard humor. Nancy Sheridan will be seen as a stage-struck girl, and! Stanley Ri 7 Roberta Beatty, Daphne Wilson. Joha Warburten, Burke Clarke. Edward Poland. Raymond Bramley and PForrest Orr, all of them, will have something to do, for this is & John Golden pro- duction. Matiness will be staged on Wednes- day and Saturday. GAYETY—"Jingle Jingle Girls.” ¢ JINGLE JINGLE GIRLS,” the show at the Gayety Theater this week, is announced as a laugh show that should not be overlooked. It has a kick in everything and serves quality and quantity in a program of fun. A new show on the M. B. A. circuit, it has won favor with novel features as advertised, Litting hard with songs and dances that go over with a bang, and several big scenes are described as sensations, based on the latest fads and follles. ‘The company of comedians and spe- clalty artists includes Harry Seymour, Dutch comic, and Kitty Warren, inglb nue, featured, with Virginia Jones, John Grant, Tommy Miller, Helen Forest, Edba Noble and a sptightly chorus. Manager Jimmy Lake has announced 150 that the guest star this week will be Ann Corio. O'CONNOR-MITCHELL RECITAL. TH! annual revue of the O'Connor- Mitchell School of Dancing will be presented at the Belasco Theater en Wednesday evening. ‘The theme this year is “All in a Day:™ Opening with “The Dawn,” the blue- birds, the roses, the butterflies, all the characters of an awakening day are por- trayed with interpretative dances. Then come the activities of “The Day.” Thes: include “Before School,” school snd playtime featurcs. “The Evening,” with its dream!and, follows, and the conclud- ing chapter is “The «Night,” in which u: l;;!reunr.ed snappy numbers of caba- ret. life. Among the outstanding specialties are dances by Miss Anna T. Mitchell. Keeping 'HAT incomparable character wom an of the National Theater Players, | Mistress Adelaide Hibbard, likes to look | back on the past sometimes, even though | she is a sts believer of living, men- tally at least, in the present; for she is convinced the wise people of earth keep young and do not bother their heads about keeping in step with Time. Mrs. Hibbard, who can play an old [lady of 90 as well as she can a matron of 45, is strong in the conviction that the way to preserve a young heart is to be around young people, or, failing that, then to chum with people who have young ideas. That is one reason, she says, why she likes the’ theater. “Its real people never grow old.” In her Mrs. Hibbard has played on many stages. She has met many actors and actresses, some of the great and some not so great. She finds that these Thespians all are endowed with the heart—the heart that never | grows ol Once in a while, however, she likes to take stock, and the only way a man or ‘woman can take stock is to look back- ward, recall what has gone before and compare it with the present. “Mercey o " says Mrs. Hibbard. “Our old even when they re more like who died in harness; years or more tzoupm( Young. Van Winkle”: Denman Thompson, n The Old Homestead”; Frank Whlnhtwm lll‘z;é be “Lightain’ "; te Maggie “Throw Him Down, McCloskey” Ada Rehan—all that host of glorious players were, after all, just g:: boys and play girls, now gone wi their only applause is the fluttering eof angels’ wings, “Eternal youth abides with some of the old-timérs who are still with us. Maude Adams will always be reme: bered as Peter Pan; Rose Stahl as the Mary Anderson, retired and living in England, and Julia Mar- lowe, wife of E. H. Sothern, among the great beauties of the stage, are still thought the ideal Juliets, while Mrs. Leslie Carter, star of “The Heart of Maryland,” is now about to stage a comeback. “They remain young because - they think young thoughts,” says Mrs. , “and in that at least I want te be like them.” Cruising the Pacific’ BILL BOYD is reported to be eruising around the Pacific in his' yacht, ga g in as much “salty” . atmos- phere as possible in “Suicide Flest,” & It is dapted being at from reparation for chaser R-K-O Pathe. the original Lew Lipton story by Jackson.