Evening Star Newspaper, June 25, 1933, Page 39

Stage -- Screen Mus ic -- Radio Part 4—8 Pages Screen “Chil ren”’ Join Hollywood’s Lovely Ladies Ruby Keeler and Mary C arlisle, by Their Work in Musicales, Are Counted Among the Season's “Finds"—Theat ByE.de S. N the quest for lovely young ladies of the screen, person- alities who during the past few months have jumped from dark corners of nowhere to bright fields of fortune and fame, none ercraft's Pla ns. Melcher. around it was childish and awful. | Miss Keeler and Miss Carlisle, the future looks bright for those sen- timental moments which the cinema must have. Given the AMUSEMENT SECTION he Sundny Star. WASHINGTON, D. SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE GRETA NISSON PHIL HARRIS “MELODY CRUISE” 3 AN has been more volcanic in her | average sort of a musical and | and more pleasant to ponder :?:r than Ruby Keeler, sometimes known as Mrs. Al Jolson. | Miss Keeler is the lady whose smile has done more for the a e age than any one on| the screen. She it is, who, at the | moment, is being recorded as the campus’s favorite flower, the lady | who gets between the eyes andx‘ the copy book when the copy book | should be the be-all and the end- all. Cautious young gentlemen | who have never thought twice over the fair sex are said now to be in a state of jitters over this| ex-Texas Guinan dancer, whose feet stamped her to fame on the stage and who now, in the cur- rent “Gold Diggers,” puts to| shame more gaudy sisters of the i ¢€elluloid. y Mrs. Al is a gentle little person | who has not yet turned on the | faucets of temperament. Hus-| band Al told us (when he was here) that it was all he could do| 4 year ago to get his wife to ask for $200 a week when she started off in the films (that, you know, | is a mere sneeze). And even now | he says that when she goes to a preview of one of her pictures, she sits in a corner all hunched | up with fear and even at the &mle is not willing to concede at she has been more than 80-50. i This state of modesty is a nice state and new state. Hollywood 4s full of flashy sirens who please nobody so much as they please themselves. When they attend remieres they appear in clothes fhat knock people’s eyes out. When they view the film they care more about being viewed than they do about the cinema goings-on. Miss Keeler seems like a nice, healthy little person, with a smile which goes deep and one which is unique in cinema literature. While she may not be an actress who | can take Mr. Shakespeare over the jumps, or a Dressler who can make your sides burst with Jaughter, she fills the necessary niche of being gentle and sweet, and when she looks Powell she can make you believe that she is fond of him The public, of course, soon tires of gentle people. It ‘“grouses” more around temptresses who make it heave and quake and who shatter the noon-day siestas by the fierceness of their wiles. the old days Theda Bara did such tt!ungs, with her long and short, ads, and her dark-rimmed eyes | which melted a man when they | EBxed on him. Nowadays we have ur Mae Wests and our Garbos, wo different daughters of the| rama, who can toss themselves his way and that and be ex- tremely interesting in doing such things. Miss Keeler may only be a momentary fancy, but she is a pleasant one. So, also, is a young lady who erashed into public favor last week in “College Humor,” a film which suggested that half of it had been mislaid in the cutting room. Mary Carlisle is a comely !‘aung newcomer, whose face is er fortune. Even baby-faced Bing Crosby gave up the fight Mhen he first saw Miss Carlisle in this film. And the rest of the male members of the cast should have done likewise Miss Carlisle gives evidence of being young, not too tender, and more than averagely talented. She can stare a camera full in the face, and she doesn’t mind speak- g her thoughts before the ke.” When she was on hand When she wasn't ‘Colleze Humor” seemed childish, | who topg the stage bill at the Earle | Hel ut possible. plaster it with this sort of talent | and it should rise up and bow and be grateful for the youth of the land which is ha e and sometimes far from dub. * Kk % HEATERCRAFT, Washington’s | newest dramatic group, bears watching. In its first venture, the presentation of Hall Hopper’s “Shadow Woman,” it proved itself an earnest and talented organiza- tion, anxious to improve and willing to take something of a beating to get itself properly ad- justed. It does not cry for whole- sale audiences. It aims to present worthwhile plays written by ca- pable authors which for one rea- son and another might not other- wise find the light. It also aims, next season, to establish itself somewhere in a permanent audi- torium—where, before modest au- diences of some 200 or 300, it can build up a repertoire and become eventually a much needed “little theater,” playing, say, four nights out of the week. Further than that, since it seems to be affiliated with out-of-town groups of one sort and another, many of its plays will be played not only here, but in Baltimore and Philadel- phia. This, at any rate, is the case of “Shadow Woman,” which will be trotted around various towns next season, after Mr. Hopper has made a few little changes in it. * ok ox % OME one of these days a Holly- wood somebody-or-other will come along, and after taking a look at beauteous Gloria Stuart, will knock her out of her doldrums and place her where it seems evi- dent she should belong. Ever since we first saw Miss Stuart in a film down at the Rialto, we have considered her one of the real Venuses of the screen. This week’s glimpse of her in “The Woman in 419” convinces us that we were not wrong. Nevertheless, being what used to be called “really too beautiful to live” the producers have de- at Dick cided that she must not live, but | Producing unit, according to an an-| that she has only to be photo- gaphed in a dumb stupor to have people bristle with pleasure and go home blabbing about her vir- tues Miss Stuart's virtues seem to be legion. But at the moment, In she is only allowed to say “yes” | and “no.” Mr. O’Keefe 1 WALTER (“OKAY”) O’KEEFE. | this week. DAVIES \P§& O' MY HEART* NOAH BEERY TOM KEENE $SUNSET PASS” COLUMBI/A iArliss With New Company. GEOEGE ARLISS is to return (rom‘ | ™ England to Hollywood, where he 1s | to star exclusively for Twentieth Cen- tury Pictures, the new United Artlst.si | nouncement by Joseph M. Schenck and | | Darryl Prancis Zanuck. Many of the major film companies | | were seeking the services of Mr. Ar-| | liss, but the United Artists announce- | ment means that he will be seen only Automobile and Aviation News 25, 1933. JACK LA RUE YTHE GIRL IN 4197 FOX RUBY KEELER DICK POWELL Y GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 METROPOLITAY under the banner of that firm. |~ The famous star'’s contract with Warner Bros. expired with the com- pletion of “Voltaire,” ang he left Hol- : ere were ru- wond {or mgtent produce and sta| starring vehicle will be entitled in his own plays in London. | “Ever in My Heart,” it is announced by These reports are definitely set nl}wu.mer Bros. The picture will be based talking picture for United Artists Sep- |and Beulah Marie Dix, who are also tember 1 in Hollywood. The title of | co-authors of “The Life of Jimmy Do- | the photoplay will be announced later. |jan» the new Douglas Fairbanks, jr., = Se =S ' picture. It had previously been an- | nounced that Miss Stanwyck would ap- | pear next in “Female,” from the novel by Donald Henderson' Clarke, but “Fe- male” will serve instead as a vehicle for Cover the Water Front,” theme song | Ruth Chatterton, to be produced by of the United Artists screen production | First National. Barbara Stanwyck is of the same name is being featured |now appearing on the stage of the by radio and dance orchestras every- | Broadhurst Theater, New York, with her where, is following in the footsteps of husband, Frank Fay, in the musical re- George Gershwin, whose “Rhapsody in | vue ‘Tattle Tales. Blue” has placed him among the im- mortals of music. Green has left New York for Min- | neapolis, where he will act as guest | conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, also serving as musical direc- tor for the State Theater Orchestra. | About two months ago, Green acted as’ conductor for his own composition, “Njight Club Suite,” when it was played in New York's Carnegie Hall by Paul Whiteman's Band, the same aggrega- | tion that helped make Gershwin's | ‘Rhapsody in Blue” a classic. Now Green’s “Night Club Suite” will be played by the Minneapolis Symphony. As an indication of the immense pop- ularity of ‘I Cover the Water Front,” Morgan is featuring it regularly very smart Embassy Club, Barbara's Next. ARBARA STANWYCK'S next screen In Gershwin's Foots!eps. OHNNY GREEN, composer of pop- ular songs, whose latest melody, “I 9:42 p.m. 9:42 pm. evening. len evening, at the Announce Date of Play. | THE Plerce Hall Players have an- nounced that they will present “Little White Mice,” a new three-act comedy by E. de 8. Melcher, on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, July 12 and 13, in Plerce Hall, Fif- teenth and Harvard streets, at 8:15 o'clock. The play is now in rehearsal under the direction of Paul Alexander, well known as an actor and director. The cast includes Maude Howell Smith, Olga Helms, Fritz Firey, Rose Ellen Mattern, Carolyn Irish, Howard L. Knight, Willlam Rodon, Edmond Evans and Gordon Backus. Clifford Brooke is acting as super- visor of the production, Where and When in Local Theaters COLUMBIA—“When Ladies Meet,” at 2, 3:51, 5:48, 7:45 and R-K-O KEITH'S—“Melody Cruise,” at 2, 3:36, 5:38, 7:40 and LOEW’S FOX—“The Girl in 419,” at 2, 4:47, 7:34 and 10:12 p.m. Stage show at 3:49, 6:36 and 9:14 p.m. PALACE—"“Peg o’ My Heart,” at 2:55, 5:10, 7:20 and 9:30 p.m. EARLE—“Baby Face” and stage show, this afternoon and METROPOLITAN—“Gold Diggers of 1938,” this afternoon and Tintype of Warner Baxter. WARN'ER BAXTER'S hobby is “being out of doors” , . . used to sell farm implements . . . lost a lot of money in a garage in Tulsa, Okla. owns a cabin in the San Jacinto Moun- tains, where the quail tremble at the sound of his step . . . keeps hisstailor very busy . .. owns 14 bath robes . . . 48 suits . . . two dozen palrs of shoes! .. . hundreds of neckties . . . frequently talks to himself and enjoys it . . . makes his coffee by forcing steam through coffee grounds. Would like a filing cabinet big enough to stock away all his, possessions, ! cluding books, clothes, papers, even| furniture . . . his obsession is filing cab- | inets . . . has a closet full of guns . . . another full of fencing equipment . . . prefers romantic roles, particularly his part in “I Loved You Wednesday,” op- posite Elissa Landi . . . once called a cottage of his “Wit's End” . . . later changed the title to “Mortgage Manor” . .. was once in charge of an insurance branch in Philadelphia . . . born in Columbus, Ohio, on March 29 ., , . never went to college. Has a home at Malibu . . . won first big screen role because Raoul Walsh was blinded by a jackrabbit jumping through his car's windshield . . . Baxter given role of Cisco Kid in “In Old| Arizona,” which catapulted him to| fame. First teamed on the stage with a girl named Miss Shoemaker . . . re- mained in the act four months and returned to Columbus . . . when first canvassed Hollywood studios was oaly rebuffed . . . ran out of money . . . wired mother to get ready to pack and come to coast because he had job, but before she did to send him enough to eat for three weeks . . . lived in a gar- | ret, rent free, for weeks before got a break. Delights in “Alice in Wonderland” . . . married Winifred Bryson after they met in 1915 . . , have been “hap- pily ever after” since then . . . would like to trade places with George O'Brien and make Western so as to be out- | doors more. Because of his part in “In Old Arizona,” has taken active in- terest in early California . . . has visited every mission in the State , . . padres call him by first name . . . plans some day to buy an old mission and convert it into home. .| direction got him into trouble with his | real love, & nice girl of rather exalted In “A Man's Castle.” | | LOREI'I‘A YOUNG was this week se- lected for the much coveted role of the feminine lead in Columbia’s “A Man’s Castle,” after screen tests had | been taken of most of Hollywood's young leading women and ingenues. Even the ranks of the extras were carefully combed with the possibility of perhaps discovering a “find.” This will be brought to the screen by Frank Borzage as his first directorial effort under his| recently signed contract with Columbia. | “Man’s Castle,” a simple and romantic | love story, delicate in touch and vivid in human interest, is the latest play written by Lawrence Hazard, noted playwright and author of Waters,” “Manhattan Medley,’ el Everybody” and “From Hell to Heaven.” Miss Young gained her first big screen success -as leading woman for Lon Chaney in “Laugh, Clown, Laugh.” In 1929, with her sister, Sally Blane, she was selected a Wampas Baby. Recently she has been seen in a number of out- standing productions, including “The Squall,” “Loose Ankles,” “They Call It Sin“and Grand Slam.” She also had a| BARBARA STANWYCK VBABY FACE? EARLE Critical Attention for Two Broadway Productions “The Ghost Writer" Revives Painful Impressions of the Writing Game. and "The Climax" Is Anothe By Percy HE mood and intention of the author of “The Ghost Writer” were not easy to fathom from his play, but apparently he had received some pretty painful im- pressicns of the business of writing things for other people to sign. His hero, one Bill Harkins, struggling for gold and the girl, certainly had all sorts of troubles. He could write good stories, but couldn’t get anybody to print them. All he needed, so the author, Martin Mocney, would have us believe, was & “contact.” Once Hawkins had that and, one story published, all would be easy sailing. So his faithful pal, Joe Gordon, described as the “king of chis- elers,” an optimistic and hard-boiled young man, out to promote whatever would bring arranged that he should “ghost-write” for the successful elderly novelist who lived just overhead. The novelist had a sweetheart, one Claire Castell, and part of the arrangement was that Har- kins should be at least passably amiable to Claire. His innocent gestures in this social connections whom he always ad- dressed as “Sweet Stufl.” Harkins wriggled .out of that mis- understanding only to tumble into an- other, again with the extraordinary Clafre, and this time it wasn't until the final curtain was just about to come down that Harkins was again rescued, this time by “Sweet Stuff” herself, by a bit of literary subterfuge hard to under- stand at the moment, let alone to ex- plain here. Meanwhile all sorts of strange things happened. The world-weary old novelist overhead took one drink too much and passed suddenly away. A broken-down actor entered for no reason whatsoever, except to mouth the familiar lines of this ancient stage stencil and toss glass after glass of whisky down his throat with trembling hand. Harkins, broken by life's deceits and bitterness, almost succumbed to Claire, after all. A harm- less young man whom he mistook for “Sweet Stufl’s” flance entered and spoke one sentence, only to get a knockout blow on the chin from Harkins, who was then told that the young man was a reporter come to interview him on the literary success of which he himself was still unaware, It was all very mixed-up and queer, with bits of comedy here and there and amusing lines, mostly from William Frawley’'s Joe Gordon. Mr. Frawley, recently released from his impersona- tion of the unabashed and eloquent press agent in “Twentieth Century,” lays a slightly similar role here, In- geed. the author seems to Lave thought June a good time to rake up a job lot of odds and ends from this and other seasons and lug them out in “The Ghost Writer.” Mr. Frawley is about the only member of the cast who ap- pears at ease in his surroundings and Dancers him a suitable rake-off, | script T RCViVflL Hammond. about the only one to whom the author has given & fairly plausible part. Hal Skelly, so sure and at ease in ,” and so excellent in at least the latter half of his performance in the more recent “Melody,” seems un= comfortable as the ghost writer. no wonder. The author has done little or nothing to explain his acquaintarce with the young lady whom he calls “Sweet Stuff,” and less io make him ac- ceptable as a serious young writer. After all, something more is needed in the way of characterization than the mere lack of funds and the possession of a typewriter. ,Brisk Miss Peggy Conklin is quite thrown away in the part of “Sweet Stuff,” while Ara Gerald makes the upstairs siren more unreal, if possible, than she is in the author’s * k k% 'DWARD LOCKE'S “The Climax” was first seen in these parts back in 1909, and it has since been revived several times. The fact that the piece requires but one set and four characters may have had something to do with it. At any rate, here it is again, and here, too, is Guy Bates Post, who played its kindly old Italian music master part an astonishing number of times in the play’s earlier days. It is a friendly, rather slow-moving little dramatic lollypop, about 2 girl who lost her voice through mental sugges- tion. Her doctor-lover, who didn’t want her to become another Adelina Patti, did the suggesting, and thought thereby to keep the ambitious young lady from her career. Just as the wedding bells were about to ring out, however, the voice came back again and Adelina and the dear old music master and the lat- ter's son, Pietro, resumed their three- cornered housekeeping, leaving the selfish young medico out in the cold, to repent and possibly to grant, at a later day, that being husband of a beautiful singer isn't so bad a life, after all. For he and Adelina really seemed pretty fond of each other. ‘The mental suggestion stuff isn't as compelling as it might be, especially in the moment when Adelina’s voice comes back. The spectator expects some sort of counter-attack on the old musician’s part, instead of which the doctor’s spell | just seems to fade away. In fact, the whoie entertainment is a bit slow-mov- ing and overly “sweet.” But Mr. Post gives an expert performance as the old singing teacher and Miss Norma Terris (who will be remembered for her per- formance in “Show Boat”) sings very prettily. The new generation of dramatic re- porters speak learnedly, as is the cus- tom in the case of such revivals, of changing tastes and periods. As a mat- ter of fact, “The Climax” wasn't re- ceived with any wild enthusiasm by the critics when it was produced 24 years ago, and its subsequent moderate success came from the same sort of spectators who may well like it now— from those, that is to say, who find its sentimental flavor and the heroine’s melodious caroling a refreshing con- trast to what one more commonly gets on Broadway. _— New Barthelmess Film. “SHANGHAI ORCHID,” a story by Gene Towne and Graham Baker, is being prepared for productton at the .First National studios in Burbank, Calif,, as the next Richard Barthelmess starring vehicle. It will be one of the first pictures to go' into production when the studio reopens this month. Barthelmess, before leaving New York, expressed his enthusiasm for “Shanghai Orchid” by wire to Jack L. Warner, vice president in charge of production at the studio. His enthusiasm stems from the fact that “Shanghai Orchid” 1s similar in type to “Broken Blossoms,” one of his greatest successes. He ex- pects it to be one of the most power- ful vehicles he has played in for some time. The actual locale of “Shanghai Orchid” is China, whereas ‘“Broken Blossoms” was set in the Limehouse district of London. The story deals with the trade in Chinese Sing girls. Barthelmess will portray a handsome young ex-prizefighter champion who, although a misogynist, manages to get involved with two Chinese slave girls when they become infatuated with him. Cherry and June, two young prominent role in Columbia’s “Platinum | batic dancers who are featured Blonde.” < et mtmsema StAgE Program at the Fox this The situation will lead, according to less, to some flery drama and itense action. He left for and "ShA'n‘hM Orchid” last w‘w