Evening Star Newspaper, February 7, 1932, Page 45

- Stage, Screen and ' Music Reviews AMUSEMENT SECTION he Swnday St fl Motor, Aviation, Radio Programs Part 4—10 Pages WASHINGT ION; " D; SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY T, 1932 GARBO and RAMON NOVARRO *MATA HARI-COLUNBIA Ne\; York’s Symposium Diagnoses the Ailments | Threatening Our Theater Playwrights Blame Difficulties on Manhandling by lncnmpetent I\qanagers and Suggest Remedy. The Spiritual Element in Plays. By W. H. Landvoigt. UT of the riff-raff drifting, from the Great Me- , telling what has been. nd flopped, and is to be—and may flop— mes the report of a Symposium the State of the Theater.| posiums, like iu\'e‘stlgations,\ seldom leave substantial joy in the world. The New York con- gress, however, developed enough how “where we are at,” with a hasty apology for the collo- quialism | Owen Davis, playwright for ages, is credited with the opinion that| the present plight of the American | Theater is due to the way it has been “manhandled” by “incompe- tent producers” for the last 10 years. Elmer Rice, one of our worthwhile modern playwrights, | is said to believe the remedy de- | mands the organization of the better managers in co-operation with the “banded and disciplined | lors and dramatists.” Both are ‘itzer prize winners and, if they have been correctly reported, both appear to be eminently correct in their conclusions. The eminent critic who reported these gentle- men, however, was only “50-50.” He was minus in declaring that the Theater of today is su- perior to that of 25 years ago, and he is “all to the good"—again that colloquial habit—in saying that “it ought not to be difficult| to persuade our playwrights not to th K too much about anything, even box-offices.” tropol —— IIALF‘ a cenury ago, more or less, a gifted woman wrote a lled “Helen’s Babies,” that| t on like wild fire. One of 10st intriguing incidents con- cerned a youngster who tried to break into a watch, because he “wanted to see the wheels go round.” Well, the incident repeats itself in our modern movies, bless *em, for the movies are our modern “Helen's Babies.” For, very early | in their sweet, young lives, they began to take their admirers into their confidence and to show them not only their own insides, but the insides of everybody and everything connected with them Soon the curious miss of the junior high knew all about every- thing. Now she not only knows the movie stars, what they eat and what they do, but even the most | detailed indelicacies of their scan-| dals. In like manner, they en- lightened the young hopeful of| the other sex as to the ins and| outs of everything, especially the| eccentric variations of crime of all kinds and even how to get away with murder, to say nothing of pulling a fine burglary or doing a bank robbery. _— T irs ago, when “incompe- handlers” took pos- age, their crown- to duplicate inancial success of the astute gentlemen who declared them- selves bent upon annihilating, or| supplanting, that stage. What | was more natural than for them to adopt the methods of their| vindictive rivals. So that today | that mystery that endeared the theater to the public mind and imagination, which constituted its| outstanding and most effective| charm, has been dispelled and cast | into the discard along with many | rer good qualities of the theater} of 25 years ago. And that is why| our theater of today is very de-| cidedly not superior to its ancient ancestor, and precisely where Percy Hammond gets his minus 50 | mark. It might here be added,| incidentally, that “Mourning Be- comes Electra” has also run in ‘Washington—meaning “the great- est drama ‘of modern times'— while “The Band Wagon,” the| most perfect revue,” has just been let out. ‘ EEE | IMAGINATION delights in sur-| prise. It just loves to be grilled and thrilled and even startled out of its boots. The manipulators o: the ancient theater knew this and —save for the Johnny with the| E"“ for a sidedoor entrance—they | kept the mysteries behind the 'l'}f\' b piration | is undefiled, a host of glorious| |at first, those who hoped to be. It seemed wise then. And isn’t the failure of our present-day playwrights, even with our “superior acting,” in some degree attributable to their inability to still maintain the suspense, to furnish the thrill and to spring the surprise that drew the crowds in “the good old times”? * % % % 'HERE is another weakness in " _our theater of today, although | it did not appear to receive men- tion in the New York symposium. It is its utter lack of spirituality. Sex has been torn to tatters, but| it has apparently never occurred | to our better playwrights to try the injection of anything but the| base material in all their great| works, even though others than ministers in the churches, who,| perhaps, may also be among those | who think too much, perceive and | bemoan the fact. It is going to| be a pretty difficult thing to con- vince even a maddened world that man is not in some degree spirit- | ual as well as material, and also| that there are not elusive quali- ties, some call them things, apart from the mere clod, which lift him out of the muck and into the sun- shine of real living, which en- nobles the dirt, if you will, and makes it something fit to be called the handiwork of the Creator of the beautiful star-studded heavens, the exquisite sweep of mountains, hills and valleys, the restless, mighty ocean. There is a love that is holy, a purity that virtues that are quite comprehen- sible to the dullest intellect—even apart from what the flippant modern is so often pleased to term | “church bunk.” It might not pay if reintroduced in our modern and superior theater. But it would make some respectable hearts learn to love the theater again, and, perhaps, win them to| come there and pay for doing so.| * % % OSTANDS are rare in the art of playwrighting in an age| mechanical, and, therefore, mor-| bidly material, and plays like “Cyrano de Bergerac” have never | been plentiful, even in ages domi- nated by the geniuses of creational | mimicry. Yet what an ideal such | a play provides for the imagina- |world tion! On the other hand and very | far away, yet not descending into the dismal depths in which our current dramatists have been struggling, is the type of joyous, flippant merriment in which Fred Stone, one of the most popular favorites for years, won his fame and endeared himself to thou- sands. Washington is fortunate, indeed, in being able to enjoy, during the week, the sort of the- ater provided by both Rostand and Fred Stone, as far apart as ‘hey may be, for in neither will be found what a weary world is| always glad to get away from. The sparkle of wit, the comfort of unctuous humor, the laughter bred of merry folly, as well as| the beauties of pure romance, still have their followers, and purveyors of amusement must, indeed, be dull who fail to recog- nize the fact. Maurice's Artist Helpers. JACQUES FRAY and Mario Brag- giotti, who assist Maurice Chevalier in his informal concert at the National Theater this evening, were the first piano team to play both classical and | jazz music on the same program. Their switching from the severity of a Bach fugue and the impressionistic poetry of a Debussy nocturne to a sophisticated rhythm of a latest Gersh- win song hit created somewhat of a sensation in the musical circles of Paris and other European capitals. The flexibility of their style suited both an austere chamber music concert and the up-to-date lightness of a ‘“debutante supper party entertainment,” and was praised by some of the outstanding | musical critics of Europe. | Fray and Braggiotti in Paris are | held as the most prolific and inveterate | exponents of modern American music. f| They can give a whole evening’s en- | he tertainment on “the origin, value and | destiny of America’s new ryhthms,” and did so at the immense amphitheater of | the Sorbonne University, this speclal‘l seance being preceded by an explana- |ble fund of wholesome humor WALTER HAMPDEN $CYRANO DE BERGERAC” MAURICE CHEVALIER JAMES CAGNEY: LORETTA YOUNG STAXIY = EARLE | Kate Comes Home WITH a smile on her face and al whole library of songs in her heart, or perhaps it might be better to say suited to her voice of wonderful ap- peal, that has placed her among the highest paid stars of the stage and radio today, “Our Own Kate Smith” is going_to outshine everything at the | R-K-O Keith Theater for the cur-| rent week at least. And, say, Kate is tickled to death | 1t is something in this day and gen- eration for & quiet, home-loving, mod- est girl, but one who nonetheless is | brimming over with the spirit of fun | and the sunshine of joy in her heart, to make an impress upon a worried of want and care. But Kate has done that very thing, and now she is at the top of the heap. It wasn't just luck, or chance, either. It was, if you must know, an irrepressi- and e that nobody can resist, and & fixed and firm purpose to go “smiling through” with a heart over- flowing with sympathy for everybody. Ask the World War vets in the hos- pitals. They know and will be glad to tell you. pathos, a volct Chaney's Secret Keyt. ONE of Lon Chaney's well guarded secrets has survived the grave. When George Fitzmaurice was film- ing the French hospital scenes for “Mata Hari” he sent out a call for an actor who could make up as a sightless | man, The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cast- | ing offige reported that only one actor ever achieved that make-up illusion. That was Lan Chaney in “The Road to Mandalay,” who completely obliterated the pupil in one eye by some secret chemical formula, Cecil Holland, make-up expert, how- ever, finally offered to play the part himself, but refused to put the make-up | on any actor who might discover the | secret that Chaney entrusted to him | before his death two years ago. | «1 promised Chaney never to reveal it,” Holland explained. | So in the picture Holland appears as | 1897, 34 years ago, spotted No. 10 on IN PERSON NATIONAL LIONEL ATWILL STHE SILENT WITNESS® FOX_ VIVIENNE OSBORNE “HUSBANDS HOL!DAY *- METROPOLITAN FRED STONE PAULA STONE YSMILING FACES”? BELASCO 1 i RUTH CHATTERTON *TOMORROW and TOMORROW"-PALACK EDNA BEST *MICRAEL and MARY*-RIATD Reminiscence ‘T Proctor's Theater, New Twenty-third Street| York, in August, the bill and following closely after Sam and Kitty Morton, a youthful team, Montgomery and Stone, made its first metropolitan appearance as “America’s greatest up-to-date blackface singing and dancing comedians.” ‘The Stone of that occasion was none other than Fred Stone, now billed with | his own show, “Smiling Faces,” at the Shubert-Belasco Theater, The Mont- gomery of the pair, now deceased, was the lamented David Montgomery. Fred Stone first met Dave Montgom- ery in 1894, and they just naturally | Keith's Theater in Boston. Even then, it appeared Inevitable that they would some day land on the legitimate stage. Their first metropolitan appearance in a musical show was made December 10, 1900, in the first Shubert-controlled | extravaganza was (now Mrs, Stone) was featured with her husband and Dave Montgomery. Came next “The Old Town;” which | made its debut in Chicago in Septem- ber, 1909, and on January 11, 1910, Montgomery a national institution—brought* the piece to New York to open the new Globe Theater, which, incidentally, Charles Dillingham had built mainly from the profits of “The Red Mill” The next Montgomery and Stone “The Lady of the Sli) .7 1t served to bring one Elsie Jaggel;.o the fore. And then followed “Chin Chin,” with Charles T, Aldrich featured, and in the chorus was a beau- tiful young blonde, Who has since be- come somewhat prominent in her own pecullar way, Her name was Marion vies. aBufit: “Chin Chin” was to have a | teamed up, appearing together first at | somber ending, for during the Chicago engagement David Montgomery died. His death broke up the most wonderful association in the history of the | American stage, and Fred Stone has always said that he would never team up with any one else. Fred Stone, going it alone, launched a sightless soldier, a startling make-up |{yeater in New York, the now-demol- | “Jack O'Lantern” for his first solo secrets, . Allurements at Fox. 'HE SILENT WITNESS,” current | at the Fox, although modestly | “ heralded, has yet many strong points | uary 20, 1903, at the New Majestic | self “teamed” of commanding interest. First it is| the screen version of a play of the stage. This affords a chance for com- parison of the screen with the stage in the presentation of sheer drama. Secondly, it presents the distinguished Belasco star, Lionel Atwill, in a role created in the theater. And thirdly, the unfolding of its mysterious | story vividly discloses how very easy it is to comvict one of crime by cir- cumstantial _evidence. Certainly no amount of lurid press agency could footlights safely aloof from the|tory lecture on the subject by a promi- | arouse the same degree of curiosity cunning wits of both adults and' nent critic of the “Revue Musicale.” in an audience as these simple facts, | effect that was one of Chaney’s greatest | jsheq Herald Square, and the produc- | flight, followed by “Tip Top.” tion was “The Girl From Up There.” | Fred Stone was the pirate chi¢f and David Montgomery his chief assistant, and they were a valiant and amusing | pair. Their greatest success, however, was just around the corner. It came Jan- Theater—now the Cosmopolitan — in New York, where Montgomery and Stone launched the long remembered | “Wizard of Oz’ and Stone's “Scare- | crow” literally convulsed the town. A | young actress named Allene Crater | joined “The Wizard of Oz’ company to play the lady lunatic, and not very long after that she became Mrs. Stone, a Tole she still maintains today. After three long seasons in “The Wizard of Oz” came “The Red Mill,” | another big hit, with Victor Herbert's | hauntingly, lovely and even today pop- | | all envious father. Next came “Stepping Stones,” in which Fred's daughter Dorothy flashed like a meteor across the footlights and pretty nearly stole the stage from her not at Her name went up in the electric lights, and Fred Stone, despite his word, suddenly found him- again, not only in “Tip Top” but in his next, “Criss Cross.” Then Stone had become an aviation enthusiast and a proficient pilot, too. But one day there came a sudden crash, 13 serious wounds, including three broken ribs, a cracked foot and a leg broken twice below the knee, all promising a life-long cripple, certainly the end of Fred Stone's stage days. “Three Cheers” was nearly ready for presentation. Will Rogers stepped into the breech to pinch-hit for his friend, and Dorothy was also along. And while they carried on Fred Stone pro- ular melodies and then Allene Crater | ceeded to fool all hands, IS and Stone—now practically | Battle of the Types ED-HEADS, blondes and brunettes have long been vieing for motion picture supremacy. It would take a keen judge to pick the winner. Each side has its champions, the blondes being led by Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Ann Harding, Tallulah Bankhead and Carole Lombard; the red-heads by Nancy Carroll and Peggy Shannon, and the brunettes by Joan | Crawford, Barbara Stanwyck, Claudette | Colbert, Ruth Chatterton, Gloria Swan- son and Sylvia Sidney. Using Paramount’s list of contract players as a basis, the race is closely contested with the blonde type leading the Titian-haired film sirens bringing up the rear. Of 22 actresses on the Paramount lof, nine are dark-haired—Ruth Chat- terton, Kay Francis, Anna May Wong, Adrienne Ames, Frances Dee, Frances Moffett, Vivienne Osborne and Dorothy Tree, | _Ten of the others are blonde—Marlene Dietrich, Tallulah Bankhead, Eleanor Boardman, Miriam Hopkins, Carole Lombard, ~Lilyan Tashman, Juliette Compton, Clairie Dodd, Marjorie Gate- son and Judith Wood. Last, but_far from least in the eyes of their public, are Paramount’s fiery- haired trio—Nancy Carroll, Peggy Shannon and Wynne Gibson. Three of the brunettes in _question | are appearing in “Husband's Holiday,” |now at Warner’s Metropolitan, Superstition? RU'X'H CHATTERTON has no super- stitlons. This is stated upon press agent authority. To her 13 has no terrors. Three cigarettes lighted from a match just means to her you're lucky to have a match. As for black cats, she prefers to call them lucky for no other reason than that she thinks the shiny black fur constitutes a striking mark of sleek animal beauty. | _“Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” latest of | the Chatterton starring picture, has a | black cat in the cast. The screen play |of Phillp Barry’s stage hit_called for a pet dog in one scene, but Miss Chat- terton persuaded Director Richard Wallace to substitute & black cat. | “It might bring good luck,” she is quoted as saying. - *Dream House" ¢ A LICE IN WONDERLAND,” per- | to the theater to fllustrate the delight |of dreaming. Perhaps it was this thought that entered into the minds and yesulted in the creation by Fanchon and Marco of their latest “idea,” which they call “Dream House.” Advance reports declare they have been most successful in their attempt to flx'ewlve thi old art ot" %y-drem;fixg‘ and some folks agy surprising results, the brunettes by a slight margin, and | Sylvia Sidney, | | sharp contrast of yellow-green eyes and | haps, is the most appealing bit | of literature that has found its way Heights Wi est Ve})icle*COIumbia RETA GARBO has been ac- cused of having big feet She is said to be the cold- est creature in capitivity Her eyelashes are reputed to be | products of the corner drug store, and her face a dolorous mask which is lit up o by a weak and vascillating smile Her silence is said to be indica- tive of callous cold contempt for brother and sister actors, her art derivative only of a second- rate Swedish stock company off in the land of fisheries and ice and her moods as gloomy as the backbone of many of the films she plays in. Miss Garbo, in other words, been hauled pretty thoroughly over the coals. Her features are considered by some to be unpleas- antly triangular, her nose a long loose thing which neither haunts nor attracts, her shoulders flat and unprepossessing, and her eyes so lacking in the essentials of beauty that their nearest ally might very well be optics which commandeer the existence of a cat. In simple language, Miss Garbo is said to be ugly, long and lean, and so robed in unconventional- ities that if you were to meet her on the street you might stop and look once—but never twice. People who have fathomed the above creeds should see this lady las the unfortunate spy in “Mata Hari.” Miss Garbo may have big feet, her eyes may be small, her face triangular, her shoulders flat, her nose an unprepossessing | quantity, but as Mata Hari she | does nothing but create an illu- sion of haunting greatness. Place any cinema actress in the same role, dress her in the same dress, make her live and love and die the way La Garbo does, and see if she doesn’t appear a sorry skim- | milk replica compared to the most triumphant actress in the films! “Mata Hari” is by no means a picture of unusual merit. The story is a standard version of any lady spy's career, in which love skips away with the career. Miss Garbo loves, and, therefore, she {has to die. That is the thesis at hand, and in its midst there are to be viewed the customary as- sortment of villains and cross- | villains and the lover who has to love almost in vain. But as bol- stered up by the unquenchable art of this tremendous personal- ity, by Miss Garbo’s vital concep- | tion of any character which she chooses to undertake, the film rises to the crest of better enter- tainment and is a long and lustrous affair which brightly until the end. Miss Garbo's work is so far above reproach that it is, per- haps, unfair to dwell on a point which (having little to do with her) seems, nevertheless, out of joint. That point is the dance which occupies a few minutes at the beginning of the picture. Miss Garbo is obviously no Mary Wigman. Neither is she a Ruth ciple of the hatch-hatcha Alber- tina Rasch girls—therefore, to try and make her be a combination of these lithesome ladies does not seem necessary. The dance is distinctly “out of joint.” It is, | furthermore, executed with little grace. The only saving feature of it is that it was not danced by Miss Garbo at all. If you look closely you will find that, but for two or three close-ups, the dancer is another lady with a remark- able Garbo resemblance, who Is —the great Garbo. * Kk X X ISS GARBO takes her love scenes very seriously. The proof of this, and a proof not generally noised about, is that all the love scenes in “Mata Hari” were taken before the rest of the | picture was started on. This fact Ramon Novarro admitted in per- son, as also the fact that it was most stimulating acting with a lady who is so far from being cold and callous. Mr. Novarro said he enjoyed himself no end, and that this great lady is supreme. He L] burns | St. Denis—neither is she a dis-| waving her arms and twisting her | body, but is not—thank heavens! | Garbo Reaclfie; Cinema th Story of Executed Spy, Mata Hari | Her Critics Receive Setback by Her Work in New- Theater to Be “"Made OVCX‘“—NC“'E ancl Comment O{ Fxlm \Vorld. By E. de S. Melcher. said, too “Ah, she is so lovely!” Which would indicate that her dark glasses, and her feet, etc., mean 1 than nothing. But she demands perfection in her love scenes. That is why they were rehearsed and worked on so industriously before the actual filming of the rest of the picture. She works from 9 to 5 —those are her hours. No one sees her before or after that. But 9 to 5, regularly, and no tempests and emotionals in between times That was how she did “Mata Hari.” % o® "THE most exciting news of the local cinema week was sup- plied at a sunrise preview of “Mata Hari,” when the press oracle of the Loew forces here in town, one J. Lundy, announced that the Columbia Theater will be ‘“done over” sometime during the Summer. Those who have suffered in silence now for the past few seasons and have nursed bruised knees and broken backs high up in the various roosts of the Columbia's numberless pent houses may now rejoice openly in the streets. Although nothing further was said on the matter, it seems as if there ought to be much truth in the matter, as also that this should do much to mak- ing all “Mata Hari's” and such like all the more enjoyable. Other rejoicings of the past week occurred at a Loew celebra- tion at the Willard Hotel, at which Carter Barron, the new and energetic and exceedingly genial managing host of the Palace Theater, bestowed much cheer around and about. Earlier in the week, too, the Fox Theater hon- ored Jimmy Dunn at a banquet of unusual proportions, which was followed by a post-midnight pre- viewing of “The Silent Witness,” which the guests so enjoyed that one eminent spirit of the press suggested that it be shown over again later in the week. Bicentennial Masque. (Y\JAKEFIELD,” written by Percy | MacKaye for the celebration of the Washington Bicente dream of the birth of V The masque is a tribute t will power of Was rooted goodness, stability and ¥ as “the cedar, rock and polar star” | his country. It is a modern parable | play, dedicated to “the children of America,” both young and grown, in the naive spirit of the mystery play of o | One of its aims is to suggest fresh meanings in the old, familiar song, “The Star Spangled Banner.” Tts dramatic conflict is between will and vacillation. It sets forth the vic- torious power of Washington's self- mastery to overcome the chaotic powers of drift. Part 1 pictures the early folk circle of America, menaced by these powers. Part 2 Teveals to the same circle (widened to include all world races) how Washington met and avert- ed that menace The story tells how the spirit of Washington, being free and brave itself, set us free. ashingto o the Romance in the Theater. | ROMANCE will never die tn the | | theater any more than it will in life, no matter how materialistic the | age, 80 declares Walter Hampden. Sordid realism exists in life, says Mr. Hampden, and it exists on the stage. but it will never monopolize either to | the exclusion of romance. Romance s always most popular on the stage when | things look darkest in life. People like | to forget their troubles—to get out of | their own humdrum selves—and there is no more certain way to accomplish this than to lose themselves in the glamour of a romantic play. “That i3 why I am taking ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ on tour all over the country at the present time,” says Mr. Hampden | —a time that some folg would say is inauspicious to travel with so large and | expenstve & productton. “This gallant, heroic comedy fllls a crying need at this moment. It should | be a tonic to the troubled and depressed. Cyrano's gallant spirit, which recog- nized no obstacles, laughed at all odds, should inspire them and give them re- | newed hope and courage. “The theater always hes had plays dealing more or less frankly with con- temporary conditions, and it always will have, but these never yet have crowded romantic drama from the stage and probably never will” : -