Evening Star Newspaper, September 27, 1931, Page 41

- Stage and Screen l News Part 4—10 Pages RALPH BELLAMY and R TTHE MAGNIFICENT LIE and Gossip UTH CHATTERTON » T = rox Weather Con Not Hamper Theatrical Affairs of Season Opens in Full Blast Tomorrow Evening With Rise of Shubgrt-Belasco Curtain—Worth- while Attractions Scheduled for the Autumn. By W. H. Lnndvoigt. T isn't good showmanship to talk about the weather, except in plays. But try to stop the proletariat during these balmy days of September and see where ou get. However, notwithstand- g and nevertheless, the weather, lulnse to say, has demonstrated even in its late approach to Fall temperature, that the theater has its flr,leends, and that they are cast- ing their votes in the box offices for its return. -Not only that, they are willing to take chances, and even to forgive and to forget, when the 'glny they patronize is not one of those great hits we read about more often than we see in Wash- ington. -imj nce of this fact is more ‘evident to the close observer than it may seem to the cateh-and- division of our population. e National The- ater broke—not the ice—but the record in an onrushing heat wave t?n u:h Glenn _Elunbzx; tlhn .c nedw Pl at wasn't u) e stand- nrd{ although it ht easily have been made so with some show of concession on the part of the receipts for the week the weather and kept the financial men some time at the duty of co;:intlng them—“a record,” they said. Again last. Monday, with “Cher- ries Are Ripe,” still short of what it eventu: will be, a house that tossed something close to $700 in the coffers for the night, in spite of a hysterical thermometer and a ect breeze control in the ‘eather Bureau, added an en- couraging sign. When people turn out to do that on one of the warm- est evenings of the year, it is a sign ‘of interest akin to sacrifice for a good thing. And so, what- ever may be the reports from out- lying hamlets, even from the great , metropolis, with an Arthur Hop- ‘kins failure after only four per- ! formances, courageous managers who think it worth while to send their wares this way—always pro- vided they manifest an honest and an intelligent effort to please —may be sure of a sympathetic response from the National Capl- tal. And that's that, as the cur- rent wisecrackers so love to re- mark. | * ox % x MORROW evening, with all| ‘" the impressiveness that can | be created for the occasion, the once famous theater of David Belasco’s_choice, now called the Shubert-Belasco, will open its reg- ular theatrical season in due form, albeit with “Once in a Lifetime,” which we are told so wearied its original company after 401 per- formances in New York that they had to take a two-week vacation for recuperation. And when the Shubert-Belasco reopens, Wash- ington will be hitting on all 8 or 12 cylinders, as may seem the big- ger, so far as the legitimate the- ater is concerned. But, lest -the reopening tomor-| row evening may not seem impos- ing enough—for the news of the Shubert undertakings which are to supply the attractions hasn’t required many columns of any man’s journal to record thus far —the Messrs. Lee and J. J. Shu- bert are announcing a sort of bigger reopening a week later, with “the American premiere” of *“The Improper Duchesse,” whose star, Irene Bordoni, has not yet begun to cultivate the habit cf playing to less than capacity at Wish. every performance. When a thing is to done, it should be well done. And the emphatic manner in which the Messrs. Shubert are now re-opening the Belasco with what amounts to a double-header, mm the notion that they, too, ve that the theater legitimate has its friends, and that are ready to go with a fair start and & worthwhile race to follow. * ook % IT seems only fair to explain, at this point, that “the Improper Duchesse” will be the first offer- ing in the new season of what Is known as “The Professional Play- ers,” an organization jointly allied to the exploitation of good drama A and the Shubert forces. The as- | season, will serve Arch Selwyn's | Bx;o:ucu\m of “Private Lives,” Noel | | the-promotion of W. ditions Do the Capital season were redeemed with several of the best and most interesting g_l:y.s of the year in Washington. 0se assurances are being re- newed for the coming season, and the initial efforts makes one feel almost as if the legitimat® theater this year may reappear in fuller glory, even here, where the mov- ing, talking picture houses so| abundantly share honors with the multitudinous filling stations that are giving the National Capital new glories in modern architecture for the Bicentennial year. Mean- Natlenay Senoris ate being. re- nal are ng re- celved that the Messrs. Shubert are fairly scouring Europe for ‘drama that is drama, and they are even hinting that Gilbert er, son of the famous He: Miller, in his lifetime one of artists of the theatrical and pro- ducing contingent, is likely turn actor himself to help the good cause along. With the Er- langer hat well within the magic circle, accompanied by rifle vol- leys of taunts about this or that attraction to follow for the infor- mation of the offices of the Shu- bert rivals, the prospect of a lively fight seems likely in the competi- tion for public favor, especially as our local highbrows seem duPoud to turn from the talking celluloid for their theater and to sit in happy anticipation, with varying di t as the good plays continue to arrive for their delectation. But expectations should not be itted to clamber above the ormitory windows of our home dwellers too far out into ethereal space. Many of the plays which will make their apgzennnce will be old ones to New York, but oh, how new to Washington! The current season’s greatnesses may not be expected for some time. It is not yet the fashion for the Na- | tional ~Capital to wear all new theatrical clothes. It is still in the | age when it must sink into the cut-down garments of Father Knickerbocker, and perhaps that is just as well, because economy is certainly now the order of the day. * Kk K THE National Theater, for the third attraction of its new| ard’s “smart-set comedy,” as| they describe it, which set London | wild, with Mr. Coward amd Ger-| trude Lawrence in the stellar roles, but has made quite as bril-| liant a record with Madge Ken-| nedy and Otto Kruger in their | stead with admiring audiences in; the metropolis. This is said to be the first time one of the Noel Coward plays has been.taken on tour in the United States. Ahd as the company that will appear here will take the {Flay to Phila- | delphia, Boston and Chicago, v.he‘ keen eye catches “the glimmer of | a light” and the keener ear hears | “the rustle of a wing” foretelling ington from the roster of tank towns of the theater, at least during the Bicen- | tennial’ year. If anything more in the way of cheer be needed to | offset the weather, although more year'’s Earl Carroll “Vanities” is| poking its nose over the horlzon{‘ and ought to land somewhere in| the neighborhood of the National Theater the evening of October 11. The impatient, who may yearn | for this year’s output, if any, will | have to go to Gotham to get their Drama Born of a Wager. | LIONARD MERRICK'S absorbing | story, “The Magnificent Lie,” | brings Ruth Chatterton to the Fox The- ater this week in an intense drama. | “The ificent Lie” gives its fa- ety y | that, in everything but ap- | ce, she ul:ci&npeuomu & French | musical comedy ess, at the time the | | toast of New: Orleans, Lightly she en- | gages to win her wager by imposing on | a sincere young lumberman who has preserved & love for the musical com- | g{”:ctmn since his younger days in | The game, lightly entered into, de-i velops into scriousncgs for the jm. tor, for in spite of herself she . surances of this organization last Is in love with him, thes " | dare_gisillusion him. .? mhe or less akin to it, in 2z way, last T | erless, went to Hollywood, and now Fifi AMUSEMENT SECTION Che Sunday Star, Motor, Aviation, Radio Px;ograms WASHINGTON, D. C., SUNDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBLR 27, 1931. DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS,JR. *ILIKE YOUR NERVE” EARLE NOAH BEERY and RUSSELL GLEASON - 1ALTO HOMICIDE SQUAD# An Old-Timer. | WRO remembers the old Kalem pic- | tures? The days of the two- | reelers. The Carlyle Blackwell days? If you do remember those days, then ‘ you also recall George Melford, direc- | tor, who made “Homicide Squad,” now | at the Rialto Theater. It presents Leo Carrillo, Mary Brian, Noah Beery and Walter Percival in a powerful melo- drama by Henry La Cossitt. Melford has directed more than 500 | feature-length pictures. *did_“The Faith Healer,” “The Sheil ‘The Flame of the Yukon,” “Salomy Jane” and | “East of Borneo.” | After he had grabbed his early edu- | cation at McGill University for 7 lean | years he was an actor, and away back | in 1911, when pictures were mere babes | in arms, he started directing for the | any. Alice Joyce was a | screen fav in those days. | For 20 years Melford has directed pictures—has helped them advance, has made stars, then watched them fall the wayside. Still, he goes on and on, | making bigger and better screen pro- ductions. I stage, perhaps, has played a wider | \ JOHN M. QUALEN, Character actor, in “Street -Scene,” playing second week at Columbia. Hollywood Is Alright. 'HEY told Fifi Dorsay, vivacious little French comedienne, who appears in person at Warner Bros.’ Earle The- ater this week, when she was deserting the stage for Hollywood, “You can never be happy there! It is so difficult for & foreign actress to achieve success!” Not knowing their experience or their reasons for feeling that way, Fifi, moth- tells what she found in Hollywood. First, Fifl makes it clear that there is no reason why any girl with talent, ambition and determination should not be received in Hollywood, for she found that every ope was anxious to help her there. Fifi was educated -.t’ mlmm m in a convent. Her father, a govern- ment official, later took the family to Quebec, and Fifi went upon the Amer- ican vaudeville stage. Then came the opportunity to go into pictures. She took contract rather than the ad- vice of those who warned her she would not ~ JEAN' DIXON “ONCE _IN A LIFETIME® BELASCO V‘ BLEANOR BOARDMAN a ® THE SQUAW MAN# Stage and Screen Attractions This Week BELASCO—“Once in a Lifetime.” evening. Opens new season tomorrow NATIONAL—“Private Lives.” Opens tomorrow evening. GAYETY—(Burlesque) “Dixie Beautles.” evening. This afternoon and ON THE SCREEN. FOX—"“The Magnificen PALACE—“The Squaw t Lie.” Man.” This afternoon and evening. This afternoon and evening. EARLE-—“I Like Your Nerve.” This afterfioon and evening. RIALTO—“Homicide Squad.” KEITH'S—“Smart Woman.” This afternoon and evening. This afternoon and evening. COLUMBIA—“Street Scene.” This afternoon and evening. METROPOLITAN—*‘Alexander Hamilton.” evening. This afternoon and Light Comedy Her Forte 'O comedienne on the variety of roles than Madge co-star with Otto Kruger in wyn's production of the Noel Coward comedy, “Private Lives.” For five years Miss Kennedy reigned supreme in farce comedy. hardly more than a girl then, had a girlish naivete and demureness that helped to carry her triumphantly | through such rich diversions as “Over Miss Brown,” “Twin | Beds” and “Fair and Warmer”"—the |mere mention of which should be | enough to start many present-day dad- | dies and mamas laughing over again. | In recent years, howsver, Miss Ken- |nedy has been climbing the peaks of | smarter, sophisticated comedy. And it was her finer accomplishments in this | direction that prompted Mr. Selwyn to choose her to succeed Gertrude Law- rence, who created the Amanda Prynne role in “Private Lives” and who shared f in the:G Night,” “Little honors with Coward himsel! original London production. Harry Woodruff, a matines pre-war_days, “discovered” Miss Ken- That happened during her art student days in New York, when she did some dabbling in amateur theatricals. nedy. Woodruff tcok her touring wif “The Genius,” and she fairly the public with her winsomeness. In American Kennedy, Arch Sel- She was , and she e idol of th him in charmed the course of the next few years, how- ever, she shrewdly accepted stock en- gagements now and then to polish her teshnique. Stock was then still a good training school and she took full advan- tage of it. Meanwhile she was gradually establishing herself as a New York stage favorite and from the metropolis her fame soon spread South and West, and then, the screen captured her. In the past decade, this typical Amer- ican star, born in Chicago, educated in California and New York, at home everywhere and at ease in all forms of comedy drama—has shone in “Badges,” “Poppy,” “Paris Bound” and “Michael one of Milne’s plays, she stepped quite blithely a few months ago into Mr. Coward’s witty, rollicking drama of the divorced couple who meet again. Returns From Hollywwa. UTHRIE cCLINTIC, returned from Hollywood, is about to begin work on S. N. Behrman's new play, “Brief Moment,” in which Francine Larrimore is to be starred. This will wark the first production to be made in the Belasco Theater in New York since Miss Cornell leased the play- house. McClintic's second production will be Noel Coward's “Post-Mortem.” Fifi now says “Hollywood is a cosmo- politan_eity and it makes little differ- ence whence you came, if you can ‘de- Tysgine > he has made GEORGE Tn “Alexsnder{Hamilto ARLISS and JUNE COLLY] n,” at the ER Metropolitan for a second week. nd’ WARNER BAXTER. PALACE "A Glimpse at Noel Coward. { RAMATIST, composer, poet, come- | dian, at 31 an outstanding figure |{in the English-speaking theatrical | world—that sums up the meteoric | career of Noel Coward, who wrote the i‘lf}"“““‘"‘“ comedy success, “Private ves.” Seventeen of the 31 years comprising Coward’s biography show him dis- playing his versatility in the theater. He started his professional career at the age of 11, in a children’s fairy play produced in London. Except for two years devoted to study and Iif work and another year in the Army during the war, this gifted and now famous young Englishman has literally worshiped at e shrine of Thespis. He lives for the theater and |nothing else. Even in London his | private life is a sealed book. He is seen on the stage and also in boxes—a tall, vivacious, dark-complexioned young man who pays not the slightest attention to the audience—a modest celebrity. It was after the war that he began to write plays. His first, “I'll Leave It to You,” was produced in London; his second, “The Young Idea,” in New York, and it was in this rather sopho- moric comedy that Coward made his American stage debut. Two years later, in 1923, he burst to the front in the dual role of librettist and composer with “London Calling.” a revue, in which he had the talented Ronald Jeans as col- laborator. The next year came “Charlot's Revue,” another Coward-Jeans work, which incidentally started American revue producers bidding for Coward’s songs and sketches. Two Coward plays, > | “The Vortex” and “This Was a Man,” later on came to the New York stage; also “Bitter Sweet,” a romantic oper- ette described as a “Milestones” sort of play, with incidental music. ‘The first of the Coward plays to score an unqualified hit both in Lon- don and in New York is “Private Lives.” N;W-Arli;s Roles? GEORGE ARLISS, now to be seen at Warner Bros. Metropolitan The- ater in “Alexander Hamilton,” has long had an interest in two figures of his- tory as subjects for stage or screen treatment. These are Cagliostro, the s scientific charlatan of the eighteenth century, and the old Marquis of Queens- bury, known about London at the start of the nineteenth century as “Old Q.” The latter was a noted sportsman and patron of the arts. If certain remarks concerning these two personalities contained in a recent letter from the English actor are to be taken at face value, it would appear that Mr. Arliss is working up play out- lines during his vacation in England. Whether or not he hopes to enact one or both of these characters in future pictures under Warner Bros.’ contract is not yet clear. He hasn't committed himself, but the rest of the world may be allowed its suspicions. mee i Movie Has It Now. NA MERKEL, who has been much in demand in Hollywood since her apj nce with Walter Huston in “Al Lincoln,” has just completed a new role for - hic] Norma Shearer and Robert Mon! lery . Jean Hersholt also again dons wi ers for his role in “Private Lives,” as an Alpine guide. Norma Shearer and Robert Montgom- their French for their roles. the scenes demand length: dialogue in the PFrench tongue. Franklin is directing for Metro-Ggldwyn-Mayer from the famous play by Woel Coward. h | for the screen. ery, the stars, have been brushing up | ROBERT AM AR SRk te _MaRy AsTor of Actor to Play Part NE of the deep-dyed mys- teries of Hollywood is the extraordinary lack of in- terest which has been | | shown in the world’s most suc- | cessful drama of blood, thunder and inferiority complex, Mr. Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” Where in the name of Jezebel and all| her dancing sisters is this classic? | And why has it lain for years | cuddled 'in dust, mothballs’ and velum, miserably neglected on the shelf of the giant movie studios? Years ago Max Beerbohm, Lon- don’s pre-war (early 1900) theater critic, in discussing the whys and wherefors of .this recurrent drama, sald: “‘Hamlet’ has long ceased to be treated as a play. It has become simply a hoop threugh which every very eminent actor must, sooner or later, jump.” Witness those scores of actors wi at the beginning of every the- atrical semester, even now, crawl plaintively into their manager’s office, spread themselves gener- ously on each knee and whisper, “How about Hamlet this year? I could do it. Of course, I could do it. I'm thin. My legs are good. |’'m not yet 40.” To which the i manager replies in one of the | vulgar inuendos of this day: | “Baloney!” Now that hundreds, thousands even, of Broadway’s most flam- boyant thespians have trotted out to the coast, heavily signed on the pictorial dotted line, it seems strange that one of them hasn't demanded “Hamlet” and gotten it. If it has been the habit since the year 1 to present Mr. Shake- speare’s most typical drama of a hypochondriac to hushed audi- ences, why haven’t the chief moguls of the screen unleashed it —with a background of soft music —but without, we hope, a happy ending? * % % x 'THE answers to this are, of course, fairly obvious. Who could play the melancholy Dane? But if, as Mr. Beerbohm said, “it| has become simply a hoop through which every eminent actor must, sooner or later jump,” why hasn’t there been more jumping out on the coast? Actors are notoriously inclined to want to play parts they are| particularly unfitted for. Miss| Pickford . insisted on Kiki, Doug-| las Fairfanks would be Petruchio and rumor has it that no less a lady than Clara Bow would have liked to play Cinderella. There are, therefore, probably hordes of gentlemen on the coast, apostles of baby-faceism, or youths with jaws as generous as the Ellipse, who have screamed for “Hamlet” to no ayail. Yet not one of the great chieftains of Hollywood has S0 much as thought of this sor- row-smitten youth in tights, whose kingdom ran rivers of blood, whose mother ran from one hus- band into the poisonous arms of another, whose Ophelia twisted garlands around her throat and lellped lightly into the brook. Splendid chance for actors whose | voices are golden, whose tights worn smooiply give evidence neither of bowlegs or knockknees, whose manner of speech is slightly breathless and nobly guttural, who, in other words, could be something of a Barrymore. * k¥ X COUNTING the head of the house of Barrymore, who could assume the dusky robes of the Dane if a “Hamlet” competi- tion was to take place before the screen? Herewith is a list of some of the stellar male “leads” in cinemadom, and suggestions why they could glay Hamlet—or why they couldn’t: Leslie Howard—He has been promised the role on the stage, could do it Probnbly better than any actor of the “youngers” and is recommended as an A-1 Hamlet Charlie Chaplin—Has threat- ened to assume the melancholy robes many a time—and yet, would Chaplin be the same with- out a m he—or would Hamlet be_the same with one? Rudy Vallee—Yes, two ladies seriously sald he would look and act the to Eer tion. Charlie Farrell—VWell, if Hamlet “Hamlet” Offers Sc Opportunities for Host Of LeEding Moyie Stars | But the Real Task Would Come in the Selection — reen 0“ Melancl’mly DII'IG. Some Suggestions Offered for'Prcducers. By E. de S. Melcher. came from Boston, maybe, but since he didn’t nevaire! Ramon Novarro— He's dark, small, shaped like a needle—a | good actor who has let some poor pictures get the better of him—he might not be so bad. Might he? Gary Cooper—They'd never be able to find tights that long. Laurel (of Laurel and Hardy)— A small, sad-looking gentleman, who, having been occupied with comedy for so many years, tht be excellent at tragedy. His bulld is a 100 per cent Hamlet, too. Frederic March—After Leslie Howard, Mr. March—certainly, wlthl Claudette Colbert as Jullet. ow! o Phillips Holmes—Young eno handsome ‘enough, but could he say “To be or not to be” as though he]melnt it? ' ames D\un-—g [ Hamlet had used that “ ldnglr " lan- guage, he could get by—and how! Robert Montgomery, ' - Clarky Gable, Alexander Kirkland (th\ gentleman * ately” - admitted that he'd be swell in the ), Buddy Rogers, Richard len, Maurice Chevalier, William Hzlneq all would be terrible, but wouldn’ the most rabid of their “fans” rush to see them? All of which is suggested be- cause, since we are now passing through a vale of depression, why not pick on one of Shakespeare’s most mournful sagas and make it all a little more depressing? The screen is usually in fashion, and this. would make it a little more fashionable. With the best direc- tor, the best “star” (it really would be a toss-up between Mr. Howard and Mr. March, wouldn’t it?) and Pthe proper Edmund Jones settings, and music supplied in the off- stage mythical manner of Deems Taylor, wouldn’t “Hamlet” be a fairly noble experiment? And, if morbid, more morbid than “Anna Christie,” which Garbo and Dress- ler took over the jumps so suc- cessfully? Then, of course, who would play Juliet? But that's another story. * x ok % ROMINENT among the local news bombs of the week is the announcement from the Fox Theater that ladies may now drink coffee and smoke cigarettes in the various lounge rooms free of charge. This is not to suggest that ladies will find coffee neces- sary to keep them awake. It's just in case milady gets a chill during these raw Autumn days! And, by the way, Washington is celebrat- ing “in the flesh week,” what with all these rovln% “stars,” Mesdames Dorsay and Kane, ap- pearing “in the etc.” at the Earle and the Palace. The surprising thing about the past week was the fact that “Street Scene” caused such little excitement. A sad shame. One of the really big films. Recommended to all those who look forward to bigger an better laughs is the tragic face of Charles Butterworth, who contin+ ues to grow in comical lmportlnc: And, by the way, did you knot that if you go to a certain nearby amusement {m.rk armed, with @ nickel you will see (if you walk ug to the proper machine) an ex« tremely };ersonal photo of the wifq of one of Hollywood's major famis lies—this, of course, taken beford she became a wife—and a mother, Rumor_has it that friend fathej has offered thousands of gnld coins for the destruction of thii picture. But will it be destroyed? Never! One of the encouragi factors in current movie news that Universal has raised the sale aries of all its force to what they were before the big May slash In view of this grand boost (al though it has nothing to do wi it) why doesn’t the Columbia up and “bust” and the al come down and build som that you sit in without break: to the knees? Melvyn Do seen here last season on the ':gn with Helen Gahagan—and cur; rently Mr. Helen Gal —hll done so well by his first picturg “Tonight or ~Never,” opposit4 Glofl":l Swphlnlon. fiutuhe has be sign DPM Ann Hard. ing in "Pres{lge‘ Raquel “is said” to be c here in wee: Or so. At presen i"l only § ‘sl