Inside facts of stage and screen (April 12, 1930)

SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 1930 INSIDE FACTS OF STAGE AND SCREEN PAGE ELEVEN “JUNE MOON” GEARY THEATRE SAN FRANCISCO (Reviewed April 2) Most of “June Moon” has. a laugh a minute. It lias all of Ring Lardner’s and George S. Kauf- man’s scintillating wit to make it a brilliant light comedy produc- tion and in spots those two gen- tlemen have dished out a fast mov- ing. enjoyable piece of work. The first act is by far the best, being little less than a masterpiece of its kind. It fairly purrs along, keeping the full house in a con- stant state of good humor—not big belly-laughs, mind you, but just good, plain giggles that mount up until at the end there’s a land- slide of humor. To any one who is hep to show business the com- edy is even more enjoyable and plentiful—gags about the Friars’ Club, about stealing numbers, about music publishing, and the theatre in general. The story, fluffy thing that it is, is concerned mainly with a hick from the sticks. Cleve Moore cracking into the song writing racket. He comes to New York, gets tied in with James Spotts- wood, a writer who has done hit songs in his time, and together they start work on a tune. Moore has met Nancy Dover on the train en route to New York and she becomes his girl friend; that is, until Ruth Abbott annexes him and his possibilities for herself. Moore and Spottswood pound out a hit tune, “June Moon,” sell it and collect advance royalties which Miss Abbott prepares to spend and spend with a vengeance. But Spottswood gets wise to the dou ble crossing of his wife (Edith Van Cleve), calls her on it, breaks up Moore’s romance with Miss Ab bott and then Murray Smith re- unites the original pair of lovers, The story is intended merely as a skeleton upon which to hang the laughs and, as such, it answers the purpose. As Spottswood’si' wife, and a mighty tired one at that, Edith Van Cleve wins the honors of the show. She has a great sense of comedy value in her work; even when she is called upon to do. one of those dramatic . confessional scenes she proves entirely adequate there, too. Her one fault is that she occasionally drops her voice into a low register difficult to hear, James Spottswood as the lacksa- daisical song writer gives. a true characterization replete with an thentic mannerisms and. expres sions. A pleasant voice aided him greatly. Cleve Moore had a mighty sweet role, that of the hick songsmith, which he carried in great style He had some laugh lines that were ' pips and awkward mannerisms that he carried out to a T. As the song star who had been in the racket too long to be pleasant, Murray Smith had another great part. Some of the best laugh lines of the show were his and he put them over like a million, in addi-1 Nossen, who had been previously ton, becomes intoxicated and ere- . r • • 1 1 T? 1 !. n4-nn <1 otn K n ft* *1 c e 1 ti nr Cltl13Tint1 tion to playing plenty of piano acquired by Eleaine Baker, who when the occasion demanded. nicely enacted the role of society Ruth Abbott, in the gold dig- snob, fall in love with her. ger’s role, displayed a determinate The first and second acts are personality and a resonant voice exceptionally strong and peppy, that carried well to all parts of giving Miss Heming many oppor- the house. Nicely gowned, she tunities to display. her splendid made a nice impression. Nancy artistry as a comedienne,, and the Dover had little to do but look snubs of the jealous Eleaine Baker pleasant and demure, and this she and Virginia Valli are nicely ex- did adequately. Hers was a sym- ecuted. In the first scene of the pathy role and she handled it all second act Miss Valli, the mad- right. As the music publisher’s j cap granddaughter of Miss Hamp- secretary, Cyrena Smith walked on and off stage with a laugh for each entrance and exit. Fred Ir- ving Lewis lent for a vigorous characterization to the part of the publisher. Ross Hertz as a screwy songsmith was okey. Adeline Og- ilvie, John Daly Murphy and Jo- seph Holicky completed the cast. Opening act was the best of the three, the second one sagging con- siderably and the last act showing ates a most embarrassing situation by informing the crowd of her love for Welch. Later on, she makes matters worse by accusing Miss Heming and Welch of an illicit affair. In the last act eveerything is straightened out to the satisfac- tion of everyone, and the estranged couple decide to make another at- tempt at marriage, leaving the au- dience feel that this re-marriage would be most successful. T GET MENTION (Continued from Page 5) “Production: To the Metro- signs of life but falling down con- I Goldwyn-M a y e r Corporation for siderably at. the disappointing cli- distinctive achievements in max. Music and ,| yric ®, '^ re ^ producing the outstanding pioneer Ring Lardner; the show was V—. s ® . staged by George S. Kaufman; musical picture, The Broadway settings were by W. Oden Wal- Melody.’ ler. George G. Holland is coast “Characterized as the motion producer, by arrangement with picture industry’s own judgment Sam H. Harris. . of its best work, the Academy Entre act music was presented honors were conferred after a by Ray Valiga and his Orchestra, study of the feature pictures re- offering excerpts from “Desert leased during the year between Song”; melody “June Moon” and | August 1, 1928, and August 1, Mayer Corporation for “The Crowd.” Special first award to Warner Brothers for producing “The Jazz Singer,” the pioneer outstanding talking picture, which has revolu- tionized the industry. Special first award to Charles Chaplin for writing, acting, di- recting and producing “The Cir cus.” As to be expected, Miss Hem- ing was the star and completely won her way to the hearts of the audience by her splendid portrayal of her role, although at times Miss Hampton nearly stole the show. Niles Welch made a corking good leading man, and Virginia Valli a splendid ingenue, surprising many who expected the two movie stars had been cast merely for box-office reasons rather than histrionic abil- ity. Bram Nossen and Anderson Lawler gave smooth performances, and Raymond Lawrence is an as- set to any cast. Other members of the cast were Ralph Kline, Henry Caubisens, Helene Allan and Wardell Jennings. Direction by Ferdinand Munier. Harry James and Orchestra were in the pit. Barron. ’Serenade.” “LET US BE GAY” ALCAZAR THEATRE 1929, nomination by Academy Bock. | members and vote of a board of judges composed of leading mem- bers of the creative branches of motion picture production, “In formally conferring the awards William C. De Mille presi (Reviewed April 1) , . . . -™. Violet Heming, supported by an dent of the Academy stated: lhe able cast, brings a most delightful central board representing all five comedy, “Let Us Be Gay,” to the branches. of the Academy judged Alcazar Theatre each achievement with special ref- In the prologue, Miss Heming, erence to its value to the motion who has been one of those loyal, Picture, industry, and to the arts ra spva i“"r si ss. -■* ~ and settle their troubles in the di jr m ;i Jannings, first award for vorce court. , his performances in “The Way of Next we find both of these es- A Flerfl „ and « The L ast Com tranged lovers at the.home of one mand „ Honorable men tion to * h ° T s T e eccentric dowagers R; cbard Barthelmess for his per- (Grayce Hampton), who uses hells formances ; n “The Noose” and and damns, black cigars and bul- „ The Patent Leather Kid.” lies her guests, but who at. the j anet Gaynor, first award f or same time wins over her audience he ’ r performances in “Seventh by being a surprisingly lovable Heaven .» “Sunrise” and “The creature, in spite of her eccentrici- Street Angel." Honorable mention ties. Unknown to Miss Heming, Gloria Swanson for her per- her ex is already, a guest at the f orm ance in “Sadie Thompson,” home and is making quite ardent and to Louise Dresser for her per- love to Virginia Valli, who is en- f or mance in “A Ship Comes In.” gaged to Anderson Lawler. Welch 1 p rardc Borzage, first award for meets the former spouse, and is directing- dramatic picture, “Sev- required to keep the relationship en th Heaven.” Honorable men- secret. tion to Herbert Brenon for direct- Miss Heming has changed great- ; n g “Sorrell and Son,”, and to ly in three years, acquiring a most King Vidor for directing “The vivacious and alluring personality, Crowd.” and Welch as well as all the other Lewis Milestone, first award for male guests, including Raymond directing comedy picture, “The Lawrence, who gave an outstand- Two Arabian Knights.” Honorable ing performance of a “tall long- mention to Ted Wilde for direct legged Englishman,” and Bram ing “Speedy.” Ben Hecht, first award for writ- ing the original story. “Under- world.” Honorable mention to Le- Jos Biro for writing “The Last Command.” Benjamin Glazer, first award for adaptation of “Seventh Heaven.” Honorable mention to Alferd. Cohn for adapting “The Tazz Singer,” and to Anthony Coldewey for I adapting “Glorious Betsy.” Toseph Farnham, first award for title writing. Honorable mention to George Marion, Jr., and Gerald Duffy. Charles Rosher and Karl Struss first awards for cinematography of “Sunrise.” Honorable mention to George Barnes for cinematog- raphv of “Sadie Thompson.” “The I Devil Dancer” and “Magic Flame. 1 William C. Menzies. first award I for art direction of “The Tempest' and “The jDove.” Honorable men tion to Rochus Gliese for “Sun- rise” and to Harry Oliver for I “Seventh Heaven.” Roy Pomerov. first award for I engineering effects in “Wings. Honorable mention to Nugent | Slaughter and Ralph Hammeras, Paramount-Famous-Laskv Cor- I poration, first award -for the pro- duction of the most outstanding picture, “Wings.” Honorable men- tion to the Fox Company for “Seventh Heaven,” and to the Caddo Company for “The Racket, j The Fox Company, first award for production of . the most unique and artistic picture. “Sunrise.” Honorable mention to Paramount- Famos-Lasky Corporation for “Chang,” and to Metro-Goldwyn (Continued from Page 4) whoopee than out mooning on the prairies. John Mack Brown plays the cowboy in the approved Dustin Farnum manner. Southern accent, slow speech, and intent gaze. And he’s the best of the talkie artists who thus far have essayed western parts. And it is just about the best work he’s ever contributed to the screen, talkie or silent. Cliff Edwards is a riot with his comedy and singing, the one rat- ing as high as the other. He doesn’t leave a dull moment when he’s on the screen, making even average lines crackle with his man- ner of delivery, and developing his 'ukuleled songs for a payoff. Uke Ike, Jack Oakie, Stuart Erwin, Marie Dressier and Winnie Light- ner are thus far the full house -of talking picture comedy. Ricardo Cortez plays the New York supercilious one, and deliv- ers a performance that leaves noth- ing to be desired. Others in the cast include Lloyd Ingraham, Dorothy Sebastian, Benny Rubin and Karl Dane. “Bac1{ to S an Francisco ** EDDIE PEADODY With a New Bag of Banjoys Opening at the Fox Theatre This Week ‘CUSTER’ ARRESTED SAN FRANCISCO, April 10.— The long arm of the law reached out this week and took in Bobbie de Selen, alias Sellan, who, claim- ing to be a representative of War- ner Bros., was “casting parts for several pictures.” DAVE GOOD’S SCHOOL ‘DESERT SONG’ MAJESTIC THEATRE LOS ANGELES (Reviewed April 4) Liiiian Albertson’s revival of this popular operetta is equal to her original in all points of set- ting, costuming, casting and di- recting, with the added charm of the presence of Josephine Houston in the prima donna role. Her beauty of both face and figure are frankly revealed -in the harem scene. Outstanding is the excellence of the vocal ensembles, 66 male and female voices responding with gratifying precision to the direc- tion of Cecil Stewart. The female voices were especially good. Perry Askam, as the Red Shadow, proved himself as popu- lar as ever with the fans and re- ceived his usual curtain call for an encore on “One Alone.” His voice shows a little wear and his acting has not improved, h.is awk- ward poses, meaningless gestures and unctuously spoken lines de- tracting from his fine appearance and acceptable voice. He is un- deniably a draw but not as big as he could be. Charles Boyle and Myrtis Cri-n- ley have the comedy, as they did in “New Moon”; Gary Breckner is the French captain; Nenette Vallon is the native bee in the captain’s bonnet and seemed to strike the audience’s fancy; Harry Deloni, conspicuously lacking a singing voice, is Ali; John Merkyl is the French general; Violet-te Derbeck was Clementina, a Span- ish lady of the harem, and Steve Labbe, Wally Phelps and Pat Wall completed the name cast. Business was about two-thirds capacity. The production closes the end of this week when the cast goes to San Francisco to put on the “New Moon.” Y eat es. SAN JOSE, April 10. — Dave Good has left the Fox California as master-of-ceremonies and is opening a dance school in the Montgomery Hotel here. START FOX HOUSE WENATCHEE, Wash., April 10. —Work has been started on the new Fox Theatre here, which will be erected at a cost of $200,000. The Fox-Liberty people already have two houses here. Leonard Stevens More Than Ju*t a Piano Player at B. B. B. CELLAR CAFE HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. NIGHTLY P. S.—Ask Anybody in the Music Business Direction of B. B. B. HICKMAN BROTHERS COMEDIANS and WRITERS Yes, We’ve Trouped With Medicine Shows, Burlesque, Minstrels, Circuses, Biggest and Best in Vaudeville. And not forgetting our own big Musical Comedy Success, “WHO' STOPPED THE FERRY BOAT?” Our telephone number is GRanite 1555. BLUES BLUES Dixie’s Own Exponent of the Blues IVY ANDERSON Scoring a Hit at the Fox El Capitan San Francisco BLUES BLUES