Evening Star Newspaper, March 13, 1932, Page 47

| _Stage, Music Rev Screen and iews | J JCHARLES FARR and MARIAN NIX AMUSEMENT SECTION he Sundwy Star, Motor, Aviation, Radio Programs WASHINGTON, ELL ON YAFTER TOMORROW” = o x JUNE CLYDE and FRANK ALBERTSON SYRACING VOuTH~” R /ALTO Week Brings By “Harshe World and All Its People” Bernard Shaw, ““the Dramatic Emperor of Europe,’ Sends Us a Collection of Sermons on Be- havior, Individual and Personal. By W. H. Landvoigt. WO dark weeks and the most terrific storm of the Winter paved the way to the re- opening of the National Theater, with a new George Bernard Shaw contribution to the Loys of a wicked world seemingly ent upon its own undoing. Mr. Bernard Shaw, as his intimates, the critics, are prone to dub him to save space for other things, is one of the world’s big topics of conversation. And he continues to be that whether you like him or not. Mussolini, when he set out to restore the ancient glories and prestige of Italy, pretty thor- oughly wedged his way into cur- rent conversation and more or less aroused the excitability of| his fellow humans everywhere. As| a new sort of Napoleon, he worked‘ his way to the center of the| world’s stage and a large share of its spotlight in the face of the| rivalry of a galaxy of industrious | and determined Russians bent| upon upsetting things in general | and in their turn. But they found | Mr. Shaw dividing time and thought with them at least among the highbrows. Mugsolini appears to have settled down for the time being and the Russians are busy with a five-year plan which| doesn’'t get much space in the Eubllc prints of the day. Both| ave simmered, leaving Mr. Shaw | still in the limelight, challenging the world and things with his audacious brilliance and always| finding a ready audience. He| comes to us now, not only as a Fellow of the Royal Society of | Literature, but with the louder| sounding title of the Dramatic Emperor of Europe. Surely a play by a playwright of that eminence ought to be interesting. And be-| sides, think of it, we are beating mighty New York to a first glimpse of it. *oxox % ALTHOUGH it is believed he has never said so, Mr. Shaw, in fact, is overthrowing a cherished belief of mankind that modesty is a virtue. And yet, because he is so typical of the famed Irish- man’s flea, ever absent when he s most present, it is a bit difficult to determine when the gifted Celt | is in earnest or only poking fun at his fellows. Should you dare question his ipse dixit, it would | be not at all unusual to have him| come back with a reflection upor | your power of understanding to accuse you of not comprehending | what he meant. His new play, we are informed, is “something of a|when something really good ap- comic ‘Heartbreak House,’ dealing | lightly and airily with various| post-war problems of morals and other forms of behavior, national | and personal.” And this, in view of the condition of the times and the public mind, is indeed a mys- terious challenge, who knows, per- haps even to Congress itself, which is having its troubles other than those va.h the dramatic critics. Indeed, withal Mr. Shaw is him- self one of those very critics who thrust ruthlessly at the creative efforts of the other dramatists. It seems almost a pity that he might « not make a personal appearance with his new play. He might con- sent to assemble with his Amer- jcan brethren at the Capitol and get an insight into our American way of getling at the bottom of things that perplex our Nation. * o ox x THE Shubert Belasco Theater, in | keeping with the custom of the times, will retire from the competition in the legitimate theaters the best part of the cur- rent week. But in the fag end it again blaze forth with | particularly grateful to Miss Cor- New Play st Critic of merriment and song in three per- formances of “Everybody's el- come,” one of the melodic joys of the Shuberts, which comes with a boast reinforced by a season in the metropolis which rendered acclaim to a fine cast and a bit of the unusual in its terpsichorean delights. David Belasco’s old home of premieres also seems des- tined to further credit for con- tributing something in the way of drama quality to the fitful sea- son’s offerings. In addition to a new comedy by Roland Bottomley, “Olivia Bows to Mrs. Grundy,” which will bring Janet Beecher and a fine cast the week beginning March 28, there is also the promise of “Grand Hotel,” the week of April 18, unless something occurs in the meanwhile to prevent. Washington may rest reasonably assured that the future in its legitimate theaters promises to be better, if not more plentiful, in the matter of plays, than in the passing years. * o ox % T would be ungracious to close this column without reference to Katharine Cornell and her play, “The Barretts of Wimpole Street,” with its fine Guthrie Mc- | Clintic production. This, happily, | is one of the big dramatic events of the year which has passed the stage of criticism. Its merits have been established beyond the per- adventure of a doubt, and local comment on the offering but adds to the pride and the joy both of Miss Cornell and Mr. McClintic, as well as all others connected with, the drama. Washington is nell, however, for permitting it to enjoy the pleasure of witness- ing her fine achievement early in her tour and ahead of in-| numerable drama lovers else- where. We offer grateful expres- sions of appreciation mingled with the widest range of congratula-j tions and coupled with the hope that the National Capital may henceforth be an important stop- ping station in her itinerary. We shall always be glad to give her fitting welcome. It is not often that the theater is sold out a week in ~dvance of the coming of an attraction. But that was the wel- come we gave her on this impor- tant visit, * ok ¥ x FOLKS nowadays are not much perturbed at the darkness of or inactivity in playhouses in gen- eral. They are pleased, of course, pears to divert them, but they do not worry much if it doesn’t. Nor is the interest that envelops the drama in our great, white-domed Capitol centered solely on what may or may not happen to the naughty dramatic critics who, for the first time in history, have been held up for public execra- tion. There is other drama in the making, drama which will find a wide audience beyond the confines of the First City of America. Meanwhile the mail brings evi-| dence that the familiar figure of one Steve Cochran, who has been missing from our midst for days and days, is not idling away his time. Rather, is he very busy with that stock company which we are anticipating before the cherry trees in Potomac Park lose their blooms. And—it may be mentioned very confidentially—Steve says he has some ‘“real surprises” in store for his Summer audiences—and again, confidentially, his say-so is rein- forced by very substantial cor- roboration. D. C, HOPE WILLIAMS BEATRICE LILLIE ATOO TRUE TO BE GOOD” PHILLIPS HOLMES MBROKEN LULLABY* METROPOL ITAN NATIONAL CONSTANCE CUMMINGS WBEHIND THE MASKA EARLE Laurette Taylor Returns To the New York Theater Gives an Evening of Barrie Plays, “Two Twinkling Comedies"—Words on “Riddle Me This," a Mystery, and "Child of Manhattan" in 15 Acts. By Percy Hammond. LAURETTE TAYLOR|in his wife's dead hand to prove that| IS8 having lost patience with the present board of dramatists turns back, and under the guidance of William A. Brady finds solace in the hallowed reminis- cences of “A Night With Barrie.” It has been five years or thereabouts since Miss Taylor discouraged hersell and her onlookers in “The Furies,” a garish tantrum by Miss Zoe Akins, and some of us were beginning to fear that she had renounced the theater for a life less filled with fray. Her re- appearance Tuesday night, therefore, was a pleasure which, if not altogether unexpected, still possessed the attri- | butes of surprise. For, a little disci- | plined by disappointment, she was | more magical than ever, and in two | of Barrie's venerably twinkling come- | dies—"Alice Sit-by-the-Fire” and “The | Old Lady Shows Her Medals”—caused | us to regret that she had been so long away. ok ok o NE of the qualities in “Riddle Me | This" that attracts _experienced playgoers is the sure-footed manner in which it treads the path of its narra- tive. Daniel Rubin, its author, is evi- dently of the of fabulist allows himse cool and collected” type and it is seldom that he to grow dizzy amid the perils of i dibility. If it is the func- | tion of a mystery melodramatist to make improbable things seem probable, Mr. Rubin is entitled to be called an honest craftsman and his product a first-class job. Of course, he has help from two of the most persuasive dis- | semblers that ever collaborated in a tall story. Messrs. Frank Craven and Thomas Mitchell, his stars, excel in the wiles of mendacity, and even if “Riddle Me This" was an awkward fabrication their upulous perjuries wouid cause be regarded as some- rdered in the pro- logue by her husband, a doctor with a keenly vengeful and criminal mind. | He manufactures evidence against his rival with such diabolic cunning that Mr. Craven, as a wspaper reporter, and Mr. Mitchell, as a captain of de- tectives, start at once to send the in- nocent home-wrecker 1o the chair. For instance, the doctor plants a war medal she clutched it as she was being throttled by her lover, the owner of the souvenir. How Mr. Craven dis- covers that the gesture is not a phy- sical possibility for a person in the | | throes of strangulation is one of the | secrets of the playhouse forbidden by etiquette to be disclosed. But it is| ethical to report that Mr. Craven and | Mr. Mitchell are amusing cronies in | the play, quarreling now, affectionate then and always to be believed. | Shrewdly enough, Mr. Craven, falling in love with the heroine, Miss Erin | O'Brien-Moore, does not gain her at| the end, though he rescued her brother | from electrocution just as the button | is about to be pressed. The foxy Mr. | Craven seldom is trapped by tempta- | tions to be unduly romantic. Another | subject for admiration is the perform- | ance of Mr. Charles Richman as the | bland assassin who at the finish atones for his errors by eating poisoned chew- | ing gum. | *x RESTON STURGES' “Child of Manhattan” is a preposterous al- legory in 15 acts illustrating various phases of the sentimental career of Madeline McGonagle (Miss Dorothy Hall), a 10-cents-a-dance girl, and Otto Paul Vanderkill, a Manhattan magnifico. When the haughty Van- derkill meets her at Loveland she is remarkable for her stupidity and her desecration of the English tongue. She says “jernt” for joint and “appernt- ment” “for appointment. It seems to be the author's aim to make a guy out of her, and her every speech is laden with the ludicrous. Unlike the similar heroine in “Brief Moment,” she does not acquire elegance, but throughout the romance persists in flouting all the rules of seductiveness. It might be possible to trust this “portrait of a gal” as Mr. Sturges describes his play, were the hero less a grandee and the heroine less a gamin. Solvent mem- bers of the local squirearchy have been known to succumb to rag-tag and bob- tail charmers. But the gal of Mr. Sturges’ routine imagination has so little to recommend her as a sorceress that “Child of Manhattan” is to be dismissed as just another careless pre- varication. You& Old-timer. SCAR SHAW, juvenile lead in “Ev- erybody’s Welcome,” is an experi- enced hand at this business of acting. He has been at it for the past 22 years, playing young heroes since the New York opening of “The Man With Three Wives,” at the Casino Theater in 1908. And back of that premier is a story. Shaw had been pursuing the prosaic task of selling soap from door to door | when he saw “The Man With Three| Wives” in Atlantic City. He forgot all about his crusade to cleanse Pennsyl- ania, when the comedienne danced on the stage. Her name was Louise Gale, and he liked her well enough to follow the show to Philadelphia, where he asked a friend in the chorus if there was an opening and he was thrust into it. After three days of rehearsal he went on with the show to New York. In that show was a comedienne named Louise Gale. Shaw liked her more as he got to know her better. In all of the years since he hasn't changed hé‘ m:;ngdv ){'ouqcun meet her any da; a ome in Great Neck, Long Island. She is Mrs. Oscar Shaw. “Leading men aren't what they used | Eddi .5 e ot d L o " he sa “com- en::mm el that ’5,; work they wer Was puerfle, unworthy of their own great talents. Eddie Foy, with whom I played in ‘Up and Down Broadway,’ used to keep a set of Shake- speare in his dressing room and fairly | wallow in ‘Hamlet’ and other great tragic roles by the hour, hoping that some manager would recognize his genius and give him serious parts to play. “Sam Bernard was another comedian who was eager for more serious roles. “He was a born tragedian, anyhow. ‘There has never been another actor who | could have the audience laughing one moment and crying the next as Bernard could do.” Shaw played with him in “The Girl and the Wizard.” Strange as it may seem for a young leading man to be reminiscing about “the good old days,” Oscar has found in all his years on the musical comedy | stage that it isn't so much youth or| mere personality or even mere hand-| someness, but it's a combination of all| these, with acting ability and a good | singing voice, that makes for lasting papularity. A fairly complete list of the shows in which he has played includes, besides the three named: “The Passing Show of 1912" and “The World of Society” at the Winter Garden; “Come Over Here,” in London, followed by three and a half SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 13, 1932. JOHN BARRYMORE LIONEL BARRYMORE SARSENE LUPIN# ANN PENNINGTON * EVERYBODYS WELCOME ¥ BELASCO MAR. /8% 17 Stage and Screen Attractions This Week | NATIONAL—“Too True to Be Good.” BELASCO—"Everybody’s Welcome.” GAYETY—“Kiki-Poo Kuties” and evening. Opens tomorrow evening. Opens Friday evening. (burlesque). This afternoon NATIONAL—Yascha Yushny Russian Revue. Tuesday afternoon. ON THE FOX—“After Tomorrow.” EARLE—"“Behind the Mask.” KEITH'S—"“The Office Girl.” PALACE—“Arsene Lupin.” SCREEN. This afternoon and evening, This afternoon and evening. This afternoon and evening. This afternoon and evening. RIALTO—"“Racing Youth.” This afternoon and evening. METROPOLITAN—"“Broken Lullaby.” evening. COLUMBIA—"Arrowsmith.” This afternoon and This afternoon and evening. Washington’s Players What Various Dramatic Organizations Are Doing and Propose to Do. ONE-ACT PLAY TOURNAMENT. THE One-Act Play Tournament, an annual feature conducted by the Community Center Department with the object of enlisting the efforts of widely separated groups and individuals in Washington in a untfied adventure in the arts of the theater, will be brought to a close Tuesday evening in | the McKinley auditorium with the pre- sentation of the plays setected by the preliminary judges for the final con- test, in which the final judgment will be made and the winner declared. The judges in the final competi- tion will be Gideon A. Lyon, associate editor of The Evening Star; Nelson Bell of the Washington Post, Mabelle Jen- nings of the Washington Herald, Elean- ore Wilson of the Washington Daily News and Andrew R. Kelley of the Washington Times. For & number of years this annual tournament has been conducted by the Community Center Department and each season it becomes more and more | an_interesting element m the Winter program of amateur drama in the city, with the standards each season seem- ing to rise higher and higher. It al- ways calls forth varieqa and interest- ing responses and seems 8 be becoming rapidly a distinct and a distinctive ele- ment in cultural development in the | National Capital. ARTS CLUB PLAYERS—Wednesday. THE Arts Club Players will be pre- sented in a group of one-act plays at the club Wednesday and Thursday evenings under the auspices of the Dra- | matic Committee. The plays are: “Bumblepuppy.” a comedy, by J. W. Rogers, directed by Ruth Harsha McKenzie, with a cast of | three men—Robert E. Miller, E. R. Mc- Kenzie and William S. Hepner; “The Sweetmeat Game,” a tense drama of Sau Francisco'’s “Chinatown,” by Ruth Comfort Mitchell, directed by Emma L. Ostrander and played by Edna Ellis Hilton, Miner Ellis, Andrew Dent and Harry Angelico, and “Queens of France,” by Thornton Wilder, a clever bit of characterization, directed by Mrs. Wil- ham J. Peters and acted by Murray Sheehan, Anne Ives, Grace Peters John- son. Anne Pecbles, Emily Read Jones and Clara Hepner. | DRAMA GUILD OF WASHINGTON. MEMBERH of the Drama Guild of Washington are busily rehearsing for “Berkeley Square,” the third pro- duction of the current season, which will be presented at Wardman Park | Theater Friday and Saturday evenings, | April 1 and 2 The role of Peter Standish will be filled by Bernard Barton, a newcomer to Washington, and formerly one of the very active members of the Har- vard Dramatic Club. The cast also in- cludes Eleanor Wells as Helen Petti- grew, Dorothy Crosby as her sister Kate, Eldred Wilson as the brother Tom, Grace Peters Johnson as their mother, Lady Anne Pettigrew: Murray Sheehan as Mr. Throstle, Miriam B. Hilton as Mrs. Barwick, James Otis Porter as the Ambassador, Hester Wal- ker Beall as Magjorie Frant, Lenore Romney as the maid, Maurice Jarvis as Maj. Clinton, Helen Burton as Miss Barrymore, Caroline McKinley as the Duchess of Devonshire, C. Mont- gomery as Lord Stanley and Thomas M. Cahill as the Duke of Cumberland. J. Milnor Dorey is directing. Under the direction of Col. John M. dramatic activity enjoys branch of little of the glory which attaches to acting, but is none the less of equal | importance. In preparing the set for “Berkeley Square,” the technical stafl will show the interior of an English home of the Georgian period, with most careful attention to detatl. An inter- esting feature will be the molding around the ceiling, which came from the recently dismantled British em- bassy on Connecficut avenue and has been loaned for the occasion by Miss Genevieve Hendricks, “RIP VAN WINKLE"—March 19. DANCE pantomime arrangement of America’s favorite legend, “Rip Van | Winkle,” adapted from the story by | Washington Irving, with incidental | music, will be presented by the chil- dren of the communiy centers in | Washington as their annual Children’s | Spring Festival, Saturday afternoon, Imrch 19, at 3 o'clock at Central Com- | munity Center, Thirteenth and Clifton | streets northwest. | _ Five hundred boys and girls will take | part in the presentation, representing community centers in widely different | sections of the city, under the direction | of the dance and drama directors of {the Community Center Department, with Bess Davis Schreiner as Produc- tion chairman, Harold Snyder as Scenic and Lighting chairman, Edith H. Hunt- er and Gertrude McRae Nash as Music chairmen and Adelaide Irving as Cos- | tume chairman. CURLEY CLUB PLAY. RTHUR BRADLEY-WHITE, who played opposite Miss Margaret Anglin in the “The Masque of Wake- field,” has been selected by the Curley Club of Washington 1o direct “It Pays to Advertise,” the club’s after-Easter presentation. A reading of the play will take place at the Continental Hotel Friday evening at 8:30 o'clock, and a special invitation nas been ex- tended all young men ana women who are of taking part in the production. The exact date of the presentation has not been set, but will be announced shortly. Mr. White is being assisted by the following members of the Curley Club: Francis Anthony MecCann, James F. O'Connell, Silvio Poli, Joseph J. Diegel- mann, Paul Murphy and Misses Dor- othy Barrett, Monica E. A. Gordan, Nonie Daly, Ruth Rice and Ann Am- brose. According to present plans, the Cur- ley Club Players will present, in addi- tion to this farce, a dramatic piece in the early Fall. Roland Joseph Hyland is president of the club, which win celebrate its tenth anniversary May 9, with a tes- timonial banquet in honor of Arch- bishop Michael J. Curley, D. D., after whom the club is named. EASTERN HIGH SPRING PLAY. EABXERN HIGH SCHOOL will pre- “ sent “The Youngest” by Phillip Barry, as its annual Spring play, at 8 o'clock Thursday and Friday evenings, in the school auditorium. “The Youngest,” a modern play in three acts, is the story of Richard, the “youngest” of the Winslow family. This role will be played by Harry Hurley and Oscar Lentz on alternate nights. Rich- ard is the black sheep of the family until he is reformed by Nancy Blake (Dorothy O'Donmell), lovely young heiress, ‘The scene of the play is laid in the Winslow home, near & small town. The time is Summer—uJune. Miss Monk and Miss Olivia Fay- this lor, teachers of dramatics, are in oharge TR PALACE RENATE MULLER. #SUNSHINE SUSIE® KEITH'S RONALD COLMAN SARROWSMITR® cocumsia Washi ngton Prepares to Entertain the Nation’s Picture Theater Owners “Gentlemen of the Cinema™ Gather by the Thou- sand for Capital Talkfest and Banquet—Motion Picture Stars Find Broadway to Their Liking. ’ By E. de S. Melcher. ESSRS. A. J. Brylawski, Harry M. Crandall, Sid- ney B. Lust, William B. ‘M Herbst, Hardie Meakin, Rodney Collier, A. Lichtman, Maurice Davis, Nat Glasser, Guy Wonders, Harry Crull and many other gentlemen of note connected with the local 3s well as with the greater cinema world have been working hard. On their shoulders hangs the success of the twelfth | annual convention of Motion Pic- ture Owners of America. Assem- bled within this now spectacular George Washington metropolis will be prominent persons of the theater world, who have not con- vened here since the year 1921— not just a mere few hundred, but thousands of them. They will start coming tomorrow, and on Tuesday there will be such a ban- quet at the Mayflower Hotel as should send them home afterward in joyous mood. Washington, which is getting |more and more used to seeing | movie stars “in the flesh,” will have a chance this week to see a collosal smattering of the great. | To this giant convention of mo- | tien picture owners, and to this dinner of some odd 1,300 persons, will come not merely bulwarks of the real estate world, but “stars” Present will be such celebrities as Billie Dove, Stuart Erwin, June Collyer, Conrad Nagel, Bert Lytell, George Jessel (perhaps) and per- haps also the one and only Mary Pickford. Added to these will be Jacqueline Logan (not heard from lof late in the talkie world) and Eddie Dowling, who will continue in his famous role as master of ceremonies. While Mr. Brylawski says that there will be speeches galore earlier in the convention rather than at the final banquet, there will be plenty of opportupity at this function for the ordinary lay- man to find out why Mr. Erwin is so funny, why Miss Collyer (Mrs. Erwin to you) is so good looking, and why Mr. Nagel is one of the real personalities of Hollywood. Also it is no secret that Meyer Davis will lead a large and merry orchestra through an evening of soft and loud music. Added to this, the theaters in town have planned a larger than usual varie- ty of entertainment. Loew’s Pal- ace, the Fox, the Earle and Mr. Meakin's R-K-O Keith’s will lend the “talent” which thev have an- nexed on their own stages for the week and will present “talent” during and at and in between the dinner. And since it is said that practically the entire floor of the hotel has been reserved for eager motion picture owners and their undepressed guests, and that a large group of Congressmen and their families have signified their intentions of being present, the occasion should be one of great glory and good fun, as well as an indication that (on some days) nll’sl é’xght with the motion picture world. who have flamed high and wide. | sisters and daughters out in Holly- wood's reaches, is beginning !to welcome them home with a cer- | tain sign of jubilation. Stepping |around the city of Manhattan, | one is apt to run headon into an erstwhile flicker king or queen, |who began to yawn out on the Coast and decided at last to see what there was in the rumor that Broadway isn't quite as bad as it sounds. Tuesday night Hollywood poured into Broadway. Standing at the |door of the Ziegfeld Theater, | radiantly costumed, smiling, bow- ing, laughing, were more iovely daughters of Mallbu Beach and their strapping swains than have been seen in the East in many a moon. Overheard on the theater’s threshold at the opening of “Hot-Cha" was Billy Dove saying, “I'm going to Washington Mon- day, and after that the Coast,” and an army of admirers coming up to her and wishing her well. “Waltzing” into the theater itself on the arm of a tall, strong son of foot ball was the dark-haired, | dark-eyed, white-skinned Mona | Maris, lovelier by far off stage than on (which is going some), |and Marilyn Miller betaking her- | self hurriedly down to the second row front looking better even than | she did in “Her Majesty Love.” Present also was Grace Moore, who hasn’t done much of late with the movie world, and a corps of such dazzling platinum blondes as | Would indicate that Hollywood has little use for darker damoiselles, | although it is no secret that Billy Dove's hair has been a kind of un- | decided gray since she grew to the age of 16. Hollywood was there to see what their ex-“Buddy” (Rogers) would do in his debut on the stage—and perhaps even more so to see what would happen to Lupe Velez in her initial stage venture. And, frank- ly speaking, Lupe knocked ’'em dead. This lady, who at times on the screen has seemed woefully slender, and as though her next meal might be in doubt, on the stage was .a vision not only of Mexique temperament, but of tre- mendous verve and beauty. Spec- tators gasped as she cavorted hnhe; and yon on the stage, sang her little songs and danced her little dance (which was not so little at that). They wondered, “Is this the same Lupe who only recently came out of the West and who has been—well—not too suc- cessful before the camera?” It was. And while woman patrons applauded Buddy Rogers and gave him a big hand, man patrons sat back and sighed over the ef- fectiveness of Miss Velez and wished that she would do more and more and more. Marjorie White and June Mec- Cloy and Miriam Battista (remem- ber her as the little crippled child in “Humoresque”?), June Knight and June McCloy (of “Reaching for the Moon” fame) reminded them, too, of the warm sun of Hollywood, and that Mr. Ziegfeld * % x 'HE lure of the stage has begun the heroine, a| L to dig deep into the ranks of motion picture heroines and heroes. At present, Broadway, which onee upon a time was prone to raise its eyebrows at s step- had recruited his show from the West—and while he was doing that Ethel Barrymore was plan- ning her first cinema venture and Katherine Cornell the same. pressed !3&"”7??3 e poun pr ) m the ds of mhltL and those long white 3-:’ ]whleh they say were made e. ” ! 1