Evening Star Newspaper, January 31, 1932, Page 51

| Stage,- " Music Reviews Screen and AMUSEMENT SECTION he Sunday Star., WASHING TON, D. C., SUNDAY MORNING, JANU P;rt 4—8 Pages RT u Mo 7= H NTGOMERY PALace STHE SPECKLED “SHERLOCK HOLMES” BAND? METROPOLITAN Washington Takes Its Rank With Cities That Patronize Good Shows One of the Five Smpping for "The Band \Vagon‘ p]aces Outside NCVV YO]’]( ‘—Ziegfeld's New Show to Have Premier Here—Other Plays Coming. By W. H. the good plays, at drama and the that have hare with- ason, Wash- on to be prouder ol’ N'York, where ater germs abide 1e best is never good are so particular that New York simply > a lot of what it doesn’t anding the fact been tried before it Metropolis that passes good many - and offensive in aning as “fur the little fairies 3 n to have something r and far beyond has ever crossed District line. No less than most perfect revue ds who have seen and writ- t “The Band Wagon” say I the most elab- unusual, the whoopee hurly- has ever perhaps, ex- count w we are ed as ¢ g tha " that very gifted and a writer of the king's s moved to state of nation tk made ] it “the most perfect re- Things will happen that does it matter, if | a is stake 1ink of it! Only five cities ide New York in this wonder and of remote distances that > facilities to house and how—and Wash- m! Nine 70-foot d to haul its nd effects gineers to make such a of thi ds of sc ance corps of en the way and stage. A stage crew ive times the crew required, and, wonder of not single, but a evolving stage—a new in- that outdoes them all—in to unfurl its grandeur and loveliness! Is it any wonder t we should dust off our even- »ss, dig deep into our wal- ine up the old automobile ready to see it? double r ventio orde 5 seems like unusual extrav- | ance in introducing a mere for a change of bill at the onal, but there are so many that have been said and being said about this “Band n” by hard-boiled, caustic tics and jubilant “I-saw-its” that there must be some truth in some of it, and if only 10 per cent | of it i wonderful and lovely as | it is said to be, all Washington ought to know it ];l"l‘ that not all. Everybody may not care for revues. Some prefer the play, and to all could be more interest- amusing than a play he modern columnist, the writer who Knows every- 's business and tells about it public press? Well, to| 1at demand the Messrs. | Shu via the Professional| Players, have sent down to the Jocal Shubert - Belasco a play | called “Blessed Event,” written by | Manuel Seff and Forrest Wilson, | and — it has been whlsperedflt‘ concerns a voluminous “fact- finder” who, it is claimed, has set | them all talking. It is true, they | don’t give his name, but rather | hope the vague hint may suggest the very columnist you may be‘ thinking about. There should be | a wonderful audience at_every| performance of “Blessed Event As cosmic joy is beginning to de- velop once again in the human 3 of this sort are said to scatter the byways with the| roses of mirth, and therefore our | modern theater finds a place for | . because—you will remem- all things are, in their final alysis, grist for the gods of the | Even the burlesque of | Gayety has borrowed | from the famous Ziegfeld a title, n part, if not the substance, of’ one of his glorified productions to | The | Landvoigt. season the spirit of the hour, for ‘Girls From the Follies” will gal- lop at the Gayety for the nonce. PRt T is rare sport to be boastful when the methods and man- ners of men provide the theme. And is not this an occasion for the purpose? In the faint mists that barely obscure ing, even within a week, of the famous actor who first thrilled the world in Charles Rann Ken- nedy’s play, “The Servant in the Hor no less than the great Walter Hampden. This time Mr. Hampden will come with one of the theater's proudest accomp- lishments, “Cyrano de Bergerac,” which he has embellished with a masterful production to supple- ment his own fine acting. As if in the spirit of contrast, to the | Shubert-Belasco will come the no |less great, in his delightful con- tribution to the joy of nations, dear old Fred Stone with his own production of “Smiling Faces” and his own daughter, now the | renowned Paula. It should not be overlooked that Fred also has among his agile assets another army of young Albertina Rasch dancers for a side shock. Behind these two genuinely theatrical elements is the rare and brilliant Ethel Barrymore, she of “The Royal Family,” and, again to make the contrast, the perennial quaint, fragrant, romance-laden ‘Blossom Time’,” which is now be- ing announced, to revive the memories when there was noth- |ing that could be compared with the famous love story of Franz Schubert and his imperish- able melodies. If, indeed, “a land is never lost that has a son to right her,” how can it be possibie that an institution whose shapely columns are said to be crumbling and whose ancient spiritual architecture is smudged and be- smeared, should sink to ruin and decay with all these glories unfolded at their brightest in her lordly halls! Besides, are there not more where these came from?” | * * * | EA, verily! Just a moment be- fore this column was about | to be handed over to the printer came the final decision of the old | master of the musical revue, “the ‘glonfier of the American girl,” that, of all places, Washington has been selected for the first ap- pearances of the very newest of the Florenz Ziegfeld shows—the one that has not yet been given a title, but which will feature a gallant galaxy of funmakers and heart-delighters most imposing in this day and generation. why do you suppose Mr. Ziegfeld has thus honored Washington? | The answer is brief. Washington knows and pays to see a good thing always. It did that very thing for Mr. Ziegfeld’s original edition of the “Follies,” and oh, how it did it in the case of “The Show Boat” and “The Three Musketeers!” And at last —al- most the very last—Washington has been discovered on amusement map by a great, if not the greatest, of the New York impresarios. Adele Astaire to Retire. ¢THE BAND WAGON" offers the last opportunity for local thea- tergoers to see that famous brother- and-sister combination, Fred and Adele Astaire, on the stage together. For Adele Astaire has decided to quit the stage and retire to private life after “The Band Wagon"” season comes to an end. Ever since Fred was 4 and Adele was 5 years old they have appeared together on the stage. In vaudeville, in revues, in musical comedy and for| the past seven or eight years as stars, | they have appeared in America and England with marked success, but they have never been separated profes- | sionally. | Adele has never been stage-struck and since she amassed a considerable | fortune she has looked forward to the time when she could forsake the thea- | ter. But the “team” of Fred and Adele| had become so firmly established that Adele remained on for the sake of her brother. She gives all sorts of reasons for retiring. Some say she is to_marry a prominent member of the British nobility. But you never rean tell. « the days | ahead we may discern the com- | the | | | | "TWO KINDS OF The Motion pictEf Album By Robert E. Sherwood. are so capable the Elstree-Islir serving of wel critical parts First, to name and to dismiss the de- t all of the small parts are overacted Every bit-play- | er, every ‘extra, seems to be saying to himself,” “Here chance to score in a big way in such a d and camera-ho him to perman lywood. That vile, permitted phasis to go on own sense of values justment. Fortunately, most of the attempted | scene-stealing happens in the early Teels, before the main issue of the story |is joined. ~Thereafter, | attention is focused stars, Herbert Marshall and the principal s WOMEN ICHAEL AND MARY” has b imported from Eng- la from some of the mistakes t is far enough above ton average to be de- hment in Hol- ctor, Victor Sa- grievous overem: s evidence that his upon_ the _two and they are all worthy “Michael and Ma that is all too rare the movies a y tender. touching love story. sec picture after picture adver- tised as “the sweetest love story ever of it is something | is merely the record of another scarlet leech. The exceptional spirituality of | the romance in “Michael and Mary” is attrioutaable to the beautifully modu- | lated performances of Mr. Marshall and Miss Best, and to the expert adaptation of A. A. Milne’s play that has been | made by Mr. Savile and his literary | collaborators (whose names, regret- | tably, are unknown to me). * * | ANOTHER meritorious picture for present consideration is “Mata | Hari” which you have already seen un- | less your regard for the infallible Garbo jls much less fervent than mine. That fervor, let me add. is undiminished Indeed, I am pained beyond words to observe the appearance of a school of | thought which would have us believe | that the supreme Scandinavian is on the wane, that the glamour has gone | out of her, that her technique is faulty and that she has too many frogs in her throat. Perish the thought, and the school with it! A black plague upon those who dare to suggest that, in “Mata Hari” she is less seductive than was Miss Dietrich in “Dishonored”! I don't think Miss Garbo has ever looked more beautiful than she does in Hari” I don't think that her extraor- dinary talent has ever been more ap- parent than in the scene wherein Ra- the sacred flame. Furthermore, I don't thinx anybody has a right to argue with me on this divine subject. Under pressure, I shall grant that and while it suffers of which British producers ing cheers in these | hereupon he indulges | v of mugging, gagging | as would subject | s in need of Bd-‘ the audience’s | and Edna Best, | pporting players, | Frank Lawton and D. A. Clarke-Smith, | the first and the last reels of “Mata | RIAM HOPKINS and PHILLIPS HOLMES - EARLE NATIONAL— The Band W | | BELASCO—"Blessed Event.’ | | GAYETY—“Girls from the and even NATIONAL—. ON THE ‘“Prestige.” ainbcw Trail.” PALACE—“Lovers Courageous.” ning. | evening. evening. “Band W | SR And | toN,” and you discover that each one | the stars of “The Band Wagon,” the | famous revue coming to the National Theater, were formerly associated with | Florenz Ziegfeld. Fred and Estelle A | taire last appeared as stars in “Smil | Frank Morgan was seen here as King | Cyril in “Rosalie” and Helen Broderick | made her first stage appearance at the age of 17 in the chorus of the “Follies.” Howard Dietz, who collaborated with George S. Kaufman in writing the com- | edy material, aside from his activities ;ns a stage author, holds the position of | general publicity and advertising direc- | tor for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Film | Co. Dietz was the author of most of |the skits in “The First Little Show,” which started the vogue for sophisti- cated revues. Washington theatergoers who recall | | RIALTO—"The Unexpected Father.” METROPOLITAN—“The Speckled Band.” il EEORGE OBRIEN ana CECILIA PARKER. STHE RAINBOW TRAIL/ — FO X Stage and Screen Attractions This Week gon.” Opens tomorrow evening. Follies” (burlesque). Opens tomorrow evening. This afternoon ewman Traveltalk on “Spain.” This afternoon. SCR This afternoon and evening. This afternoon and evening. EARLE—“Two Kinds of Women.” This afternoon and evening. This afternoon and evening. This afternoon and eve- This afternoon and COLUMBIA—“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” This afternoon and agon’’ Notes T is quite a coincidence that four of the good old days of vaudeville, when | going to Keith's was a_weekly rite, will doubtless recognize in Helen Broderick, the star comedienne of “The Band Wagon,” a former favorite of the varie- ties. Together with her husband, Les- ter Crawford, she headlined in vaude- ville for a number of years and the | “team” of Crawford and Broderick was | known as the best comedy combination {to visit the famous variety house at | least once each season. Owing to the fact that there are very few stages of legitimate theaters in this country roomy enough and suffi- | clently well equipped to accommodate | the scenic and lighting production of | “The Band Wagon,” this sumptuous }revue is visiting only four other cities outside of New York and Washington. | Those cities are Boston, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Chicago. | 4] WAS once dropped out of & course in English composition, but in at least five plays I've been cast as a writer, an author, advertising man and a reporter.” So says Roger Pryor, once leading | man with the National Stock Players |but now featured in “Blessed Event,” the Manuel Seff-Forrest Wilson comedy According to the records, Roger was a reporter in “Paid,” a reporter in “Front Page” in which he replaced Lee Trac a writer in “Saturday’'s Roger' Flies High Roger carried along a saxophone or a | banjo, which he mastered during idle |but lonely evenings on tour. His father, feeling the Pryors had | been serving’ the public long enough |in an entertaining capacity, hoped his | son would be an architect. 'And Roger | was shipped off to school, much against | his wishes, at an age when his ambi- mon Novarro is compelled to blow out billed for the Shubert-Belasco Theater. | tion was to be a drummer or a trom- | bonist like his father. | In New Brunswick at 18 he became emeshed in the toils of a theatrical producer mourning the loss of his “Mata Hari” does place something of | Children,” an author in “Up Pops the|juvenile lead, who had deserted the a strain .on the credulity, as do all |Devil” and a novelist in “A Modern |stage for the less precarious business these spy melodramas. But it is splen- didly acted by Miss Garbo, Mr. No- varro, Lionel Barrymore, Lewis Stone and C. Henry Gordon, and it is pro duced in a satisfyingly opulent style. Believable or not, it fills the eye and the imagination with enchantment, (Copyright, 1932.) | virgin.” | " Pryor, however, although skilled as a musician, has never been cast to play |even & Jew's harp on the stage. His ather, Arthur Pryor, and his brother, Arthur, jr., are famous bandmasters. Every time a play in which he was ppearing was sent to the hinterlands of being a plumber. And so, despite parental objections and dire prognosti- cation, Roger became an actor. ‘Then the parental eyebrows soon dropped and he was hafled as a true Pryor worthy of his Uncle Samuel, who, |at"the age of 80, was still a guiding | spirit at the Abbey Theater in Dublin. RY Aviation Notes Radio Programs 31, 1932. SLIM SUMMERVILLE and CORA SUE COLLINS YTHE UNEXPECTED FATHER” R/ALTO Washington‘s Players What Various Organizations Are Doing and Propose to Do. “SACRIFICE"—February 7. HE young piayers of the First Con- regational Church will present a biblical drama, entitled “Sacrifice.” at the First Congregational Church, Tenth and G streets. at 8 o'clock, next Sun- day evening, February 7. The drama is adapted from the story as found in the twenty-second chapter of the Book of Genesis, where God re- quests Abraham to take his only son Isaac into the land of Moriah and upon one of the mountains. The cast is headed by Hugh Smith as Abraham and also includes Mrs. Pa- tricia Palmer as Sarah and Jeanette Phillips as Isaac. These players will present a “sermon drama” once a month. No admission | will be charged, although an offering will be taken. “DULC “ebruary 8-9. HE Covenant Players of the Cov- | 1 enant Fellowship of the Covenant First_Presbyterian Church, on Monday and Tuesday evenings, February 8 and 9, will present their sixth annual play {at Pierce Hall, Sixteenth and Harvard streets. It is none other than “Dul the clever three-act comedy by Kaufma; and Connelly, in which Lynn Fontanne was starred some years ago in New York. The cast, under the efficient coaching of Peggy Helliwell, includes as Dulcy, whose successful mismanagement pro- vides the plot, Vernye Barrett: Gordon, her suffering husband. Alfred Barrett: Mr. Forbes, an irascible but much de- sired business partner, Athu Wise; Mrs. Forbes, his somewhat flighty wife, and Angela, his daughter, who elopes with a scenarist and comes back with a broker, Irene Bartlett and Mildred Gott respectively; Bill, Dulcy’s_brother—and the successful broker—Isaac _Avery: Leach, the scznarist, Robert Worrall; Van Dyck, a millionaire musician who is not a millionaire, Horace Patterson, is cousin, and Henry, the “escaped | convict” butler, Raymond Stanley, Vin- cent McDougal and Raymond Morton. Orders by telephone or mail will be filled by Helen Lyon, 1740 Poplar lane northwest, and William Norwood, 3039 Macomb street northwest. MOUNT PLEASANT PLAYERS. 'HE Mount Pleasant Players, an or- ganization to encourage and develop the dramatic talents of its members, | has been formed at the Mount Pleasant Congregational Church. It is the plan of the group to present plays in Fishburn Hall of the Mount Pleasant Church and to prcmote the | interest of the community in dramatic | entertainment. The following officers and chairmen of committees have been elected: | President, Miss Carolyn Sebastian; vice president, Elroy La Cross; Miss Beatrice Marzolf; treasurer, Wil- liam Kilgore; production adviser, Dr Frederick V. Rand; Casting Committee, mittee, F. D. Vechery; Committee on Stage Management, Casson Crittenden; Committee on Costumes, Miss Dorothy Golladay, and Committee on Properties, Mrs. Paul Richmond. | _ At the meeting of the players next Friday Miss Virginia Rand will give dramatic readings. . | Swaps Society for Stade, ‘THELMA TIPSON, who plays an im- portant part in “Blessed Event,” at the Shubert Belasco Theater, was bet- ter known on the society pages and in the sports columns of newspapers than she was in the dramatic sections, until recently. She was preparing to make her formal debut into New York society, and was at the same time active in competitive tennis and swimming, when a chance bit of mimicry of Hope Wil- liams led tp her engagement in the last “Garrick (faleties.” MELVIN DOUGLAS and ANN HARDING KEITH'S *PRESTIGE * Jimmie Dunn First Hitc {EN James Dunn hitched his wagon star, his wagon was a lunchwagon and his star only a vague ambition to become a movie celebrity. Since then Mr. Dunn’s now famous lunchwagon is somewhere in a ditch and his star is hanging ov im so se- curely that filmdom’s archangels may be seen smiling at him from every angle. Jimmy, in other first to a rived. universally known. You and I and every one else are aware of the fact that little more than offer him there for a burnt offering | secretary, | Mrs. James E. Smith; Publicity Com- | Plays, Mrs. F. V. Rand; Committee on | 12 months ago this ex-driver of digestional trucks was dancing |and sitting unknown at the feet of La Helen Morgan’s piano as a| juvenile “hoofer” in the popular | stage success, “Sweet Adeline. |Now this dimpled, bright-eyed, blue-eyed, fair-haired lad, rounds up a weekly pittance of consider- ably more solid gold value than| warbler, | | whose lachrymose songs brought | this famed Broadway her Ziegfeldian glorification Dunn, a week ago in Philadelphia, followed Miss Morgan as weekly “personal” attraction. his case, the police had to be called to handle the crowds, his art evoked cheers and thousanas of huzzas, a detective was lodged firmly at his side, and in La Mo gan’s case—well, she didn’t have to have a detective, to put it mildly. “How did I get that way —nothing but lucky bre Mr | Dunn will tell you backstage at the Fox, if you have enough fight- ing power to try and get in there. And this creator of the great “Bad Girl O. K..,” which suddenly transplantd him from a $100-a- week juvenile to a $1,000-a-week screen idol, means everything | that he says. You've got to hand it to Jimmy Dunn for being the same on the screen, on the stage and as himself. Take him any place at any time and you’ll find he’s a hundred per cent natural Breaks You won't find any Malibu Beach | “lugs” around him. Hol just a nice place to wor in for him. ywood i and live JTEMS about James Dunn: He says he's 6 feet with his shoes on; | His hair is lighter camera indicates; He is 27, and his eyes (ladies) are really blue; Has played in stock in Engle- wood, and Winnipeg, Canada; He prefers the screen to the stage. Don’t ask the reason wh | He was in the cast of “Nigh: stick”; He just about finished high | school, which is to say—almost; | . He is not married. Is still look- ing around; There is, however, a large frame | standing on his dressing room table; than the words, as the scribes say, has ar- | The legend about Dunn is now | Movies’ “Cindereflé ‘Man” Says “Lucky Breaks” Made Him a Star of the Cinema ]’lEd HLS Star to a Lunch Room Wagnn. but Circumstances Changed Route Toward Hollywood— Reacl’)es Ttp l.n Year. By E. de S. Melches, dy &n it he danced with Dance Glrl”; The lady n't Sally Eilers—she doubled for Sally; name, by the way, is June ; He wears blue suits and a black hat; The Fox company ed him with a five The peak of be $7,500 weekl He lives wi | Hollywood His favorite wxpression when he is pleased is “YouTre a ¢ kid He's worried that his “act” what it should be He doesn't realfze that it's one of the few really natural “s on the market; He's modest, easy to tal S games and is still as happy s a little kid at having gotten where he has. * x “IT'S true that I have a clause In my contract which says that if I go over the 157-pound mark——"" Well, the idea is that Jimmy has to keep his weight around 150, which he does. But | he doesn’t have to eat only greens and a daily prune or so. He fig- d if he ea natural, e he talks and works, and “natural,” he'll be O. K “What kind of pictures would you prefer to do?” “Like I've beer doing.” (“Bad Girl” and “Dance Team” are his favorites. He didn't “go” for “Sob Sister” and “Over the Hill.") “As a matter of fact, I'd like to do some aviation pictures.” And this reminds us that it is rumored that the Fox company recently bought a play called Zoom,” which the Professional Players are offering at present in Philadelphia, and that the hero of this is said to be closely mod- eled along the Lindbergh line (the role at present is being played by Russell Hardie, ex-member o Mae West's ill-fated “Constant Sinner” cast) and that the play is being saved for Mr. Dunn. All of which also reminds us of that day when Jimmy Dunn, then un- known to Washington cinemaites, was advertised as a combination of “the Prince of Wales, Mayor Walker and Lindbergh.” Let it be said, once and for all, that Dunn is neither Mr. Wales, Mr. Walker or Father Lindbergh. He's ctly and thankfully and happily himself. The fun of gilt- edged comfort still tickles him pink.” He’s more than willing to talk to any one and every one and to strike off as many autographs | as his fist is capable of. He re- cently, for instance, signed the last of a group of 5,000 pictures. |In his dressing room he was | caught after that autographing a | scarf. When he goes anywhere he is mobbed. His fan mail is within an inch of Janet Gaynor’s. But he likes it—why shouldn’t he? After all, a year ago he wouldn’t {have recognized himself as the | future “Cinderella Man.” have reward- ear contiract S Cor act w %fl his mother in isn t | A FTER struggling for years for recog- nition along with the tank towns of the country, something has hap- pened recently—and it isn't mere “good luck,” which seems to have put Wash- | ington, the National Capital, in the | theater spotlight. Those who pretend to know what | goes on _inside the managerial con- science of the land are giving the credit for the change partly to the well known fact that Washington has always been able to tell a fine pro- duction when given the opportunity end partly to the unique astuteness of the management of the National Thea- ter, where the knowledge is a fixed certainty that the National Capital is one of the best-paying theater stands of the terrain that lies beyond the con- fines of New York. Whatever be the reason, Florenz Ziegfeld, who is said to read the future in the stars, has selected Washington for the first performances—be they premieres or not—of his newest the- atrical venture, as yet untitled. Enough is vouchsafed, however, to safely identify the production, for Mark Hel- linger wrote the book and Lew Brown and Ray Henderson—not the press rep- resentative for Ethel Barrymore—the lyrics and music. Furthermore, the stars of the new Good for Washington! Ziegfeld show will include Bert Lahr, Buddy Rogers, Marjorie White, Jack Holland, Conchita Montenegro, June Knight, Robert Gleckler, the famous Sisters G. and Tony and Rose D'Marco. The show is due here Sunday, Febru- ary 14 Mr. Ziegfeld really should have & kindly feeling of confidence in Wash- ington as “a paying theater town,” for it was the first city to give a rousing indorsement to his original production of the Follies, and think what it did for his “Show Boat” when, relyctantl he permitted it to céme here in spite of | “the great cost of transportation.” That Cyrano Nose. | JT takes Walter Hampden 27 mmutes | to adjust the huge nose he must | wear when playing the swaggering hero of Edmond Rostand’s gallant comedy, “Cyrano de Bergerac.” ~Not only must this nose be of proper Geargantuan proportions and becom- ingly grotesque, but it must be firmly affixed to the Hampden countenance so that it will not become dislodged in the exciting doings or the romantic play. If Cyrano should lose his nose— we]l,‘/he would hardly be Cyr?