Variety (August 1925)

'■•il Wednetday. Aufutt 18, 1085 LEditiniiATfe ■ b. VARIETY n MEW PLAYS PRODUCED WITHIN WEEK ON BlAY ^ IT ALL DEPENDS **,fol>n Cromwell and Wliuara A. Brmij. ''^f., present » new eomedjr by l£at« lf»- . Xifturlo; atased by John Cromwell; aettlngs bjr Uvtnsstoa PtaU; (keatr*. fenaie. V'»::,' at th* Vanderbllt nrer Liitiw KathariiM Aieundof Halda Bpenoer... • Lee Patrick f aB07 Labc. Jane Qrey Keraon Roland Rushlon 3ruce ArmBtrong .Charle* Trowbridge Julian Lane .' Norman Trevor Med Rlohmond , Pellz Kremba tielUe RIclfmoad Orace Andrew* ,^,^ venr old-faBhioned aori^ Qf '•problem" comedy-drama, with very "' zreW - fashioned people Engaged fk^rein. this is. There are two : tappers," one lifelike and one 4ilce .noJthinsr that ever lived, and; .they carry" the burden of one of those •torles vrlth a moral. The moral might be summed up as "It's differ- • •tlt'^hen it comes home to y#u." • Miss McLaurin, who authored fWhIsperlngr Wires," ; an ; entirely tlUferent sort of screed, has a gitt tor specious sophistication which is moat ingenuously naive. This she dilutes with a stagey "wholesome- nessT such as ia regardt-J. essential In all scripts about the wayward- ^'ppaa, of the modern youth, and .'whlcb always ntakee a weak finish 1?^ a spirited ktart k In this yarn we have the daughter ih^ a novelist and bis saooharlne V.-^HrUle. with a little gold-digger for a N^.flTQ.est. In the prolog, when they oc- '*'cupy twin beds in the home of the r'%ost, they spill the sliper-bllss mod- f tefi il s m s about life, love, pacssiofti, > tbrlUs, cigarette*, booxe, Conven- tions and us old fogiea Then the ,. play begins and they work out their ^ Social Infldelisms. Th« daughter of the house Is In- props are first rate. Th« etttire pro- ductloq end is tip-top. Too bai there Isn't a better book to fit it. • Looks like a' stop-gap, good for perhaps four weeks or so. LoU, JUNE DAYS A mualcat version of the Alice Doer Miller and Robert Mlltnn plajr, 'n'be Charm School." Book by Cyrua Wood. Lyrica bjr Clifford Orey. Score by J. F^ed Coota. Staced by J. C Huffman. Dances and eoeemblM by Bejrniour Felix. Fra«siitad by L«e and . J. J. Shubert. Astor theatre, N. T.. Auft. e. IKitler i.....<........<.....B*lph Reader Suale RoUes..,.., ^....Oladys Walton MV». Rollftii................ Winifred Harrla Sally Uoyd........'.'•., Uerta Doaa Ceorge Boyd .......Maurice Holland Herman Vail'Zabdt.....;.....Lee KMttiM^ David Stewart ;......:. .Oeerr> Debbs Austin Berans..^,, Roy Roystoh Mlas Hayes.....". ....Oaira Qrenvll^ Miaa Curtis Millie Jamela Bliae B«Mdattl BUsabetb Hlnee Johnson. Helen..., Dorothy. Edna.... Muriel... Renee... . .%*«'. •.-*•—. .*•.•.*.•...... ....•4....<*.^.%. .Jay C. FUppen ..Alteen Meehaa .Bobbie PerHlifi Sylrla Carel (..Babe- Stanton ....Joan Lyons ShoWs in R^earsal (A.,, There is nothing very rare about "June Days," vWiich opened at the Astor last Thursday, S^ms as though a show that hafl been rtmnlng In Chicago as long Mm this one would have been whipped into pretty good shape before hit- ting Broadway. But that Isn't the case. The book of "June Days" is deadly dulk and the score doesn't seem to have a single number thai is going tp be an outstanding bit. Had it not been for the fact that Elisabeth Hlnes WaH In the cast the evening would have been hopeless. Her pleasing personality managed to save to some extent what would otherwise have been a total loaa. chorus. , To Miss Hlnes and the flktuated with a middle-aged marrl admirably trained by Seymour Feltx. '. Tiad party, and she is ready to fling . m. defy Into the teeth of the world ^ until she is confronted with the co- \ Incidence that her guest has been - 'Aolng the same thing 1 her own '44*'fatlier, the head of the hooae: Then '«• flfa« has hystertes, backs water, and; must go th« honors of the evening Featured with Miss Hines are Roy Boyston and Ji C. FUppen. The former tnanages to put over a couple of nnmbers fairly w»lt but Flippen is jiist in the show and that is all. He manages to get a couple of (AND WHERE) 'The Fivs o'clock Man" H. Woods), Kits. •TTis Fall of Evs^ (Bmsrc^a) A Weber), 49th St. "Big Boy" (ShuberU). 44th St. "Riqustts' (Shuberts), Cen- tury; . 1- ''Ths Dagssr" (U lAwrsBce Weber), Longacre. •If I Were King* (Russell Janney), Casino. •Merry-Msrry" (Lyle An- drews), Cboos Studio. "Enchsntsd April" (RosaUe Stewart), Morosco. •Ths Butterfly Girl" <B. U. Hornborg). AJax HalL •Flevvsr of Hvavsn" (M. An- thony), Cooper S«. Playhousfc •Bswar* of Your Friswds^ (Sa^mtiel Low^feld). Ran4. Institute.' .IHow's the Kiim" (Bwrl QaKr rolU. Carroll. "Sonny" (C. B. DilUnsham), Knickerbocker. "LoV^S Cair (Totten A Sim- mons), Ifanhattan O. H. 'T'hafs That" (Joseph B. Shea), Bryant Hall.. "Brothsr Elks'! (Waiter Campbell), Bryant Hall. •Ths Mtid Turtle" (Rlskfaa 'Prt)ductiom»). Bijuu. ■ "Dianna of the Mevlss" (A. H. Woods), Wltinga •CaiMiry Dutch" (David Bs- lasco), Lyceum. "Margis" (Walter Jordwriy, National. •The Lovs Song" (ShaU^)> Jolson. "Blesaem Tims" (Skuberts)* Oaslna '«WsrM o# Plsssurs" (ATatoi»;'| Sibilia), Manhattan Casino. a stunning climax, as the stage lighting is well dona. The girl dies, but the ship returns, effectively in- dicated by an offstage searchlight streaming through the smoky red- flred stage, and self-sacrlflce has-lts reward'. The crowd llkeM it, and the thea- tre was fliled all week. A minor part was well played by Roger Pryor, son of the band leader, Ar- thur Pryor. Other minor parts were by Clyde Fllbnore a« the sweetheart of Molla and Johnny Hickey, who SMppUad what conjic relief ther^ was. SET FREE Grand Rapids, Mich., Aug. 8. Bdwin Milton Royls. author of the "Squaw Man." seems to have pro- dnoed something In "Set Free," which had Its premelre here this week. Though Mr. Royle's play has an unhappy ending, in tbnt the hero- ine takes her life, there seems to be other way oat of tKe sitnation: with ber parents, who promptly set off ia search of Peter. He has gone with Marguerite in a hired car which, they hear, has become dere- lict in Someraet. The Joke, not altogether new to farce. Is that both Peter and Mar- guerite are determined to be virtu- ous and faithful at all costs. When the landlady of the only Inn for miles around tells them she turns adrift all Couples who cannot satis- fy her they are married, they sign the register as "Mr. and Mrs, Hlckett." and a«ves to share the only available room, but Peter is desperately anxious to avoid the very appearance of evlL His ad- ventures in search of propriety art "i ludicrous. Here, alas, the author's seal flags. Before "A Cockoo in the Nest" Roes to America he should rewHte the last act. without altering the Idea —namely, Peter's effort to prove it was Mr. Hlckett who spent the night at the Ihn with Margosrite. The company, which includes Mary Brough as a "Prussian Baptist" landlady, ought to be brought to New York with the play. The story cquld . easily bs adapted to suit AoMrlckn life. /pj^ ..s Its reception here would lead one to brieve that It possibly may share the fate of "Declassee^ as tme of the exceptions asatnst the law of sad Qndings. ..' '- The heroine Is a lobbyist In Wash* ington. She is a lobbyist extraorr dinary, a feminine fixer, who Use^T ■> • •' JiOndon, July R. her wiles to shape the course ofl OMnwy W l»ree acts by fiiraei «aniwiii, others for her bosses. It IS while ~ working on a certain United Statra Senator that she falls In love ^Ith him. ' WE MODERNS ;i scion of a local society family. foB- presumably. Is going to i. vrr the uugbs here and there and also has Wk ^ Sb Sk^ltf^ ■■ #^annllaH #m 1» m i^ ^ i^ n tarn n mt ^r\.m^ .. a. _ » ■ *- - W.a_A S fc ■ ■■ J ii ^ *S ^ .iMicbelor family friend, a daemon for /"olggihg relics out of the old Astec ^ - ruins. It Is all unreal, th* sweet syrup ,': and the wild vinegar. The portions i^, which are mostly calmly. reaUstle if. .are the least reaL ^' And when th^ p&ter fismllias. at ^^^the tag, says he engaged Ih the Utile s affair Just to "teach a lesson" to bis I daughter, that knocks any props it '-, '■ had bow-legged. It Is a tjrplca) ■«: "out" of a woman playwright. And ^*' ft is about as convincing as most ■A Women's alibis. *x. . The direction Is the outstanding ^ and redeeming qualltv asset of the 4 piece, being Intelligent, poised and V truly artistic and g)e4ning from a :* thin knd limping book what "It All ^. Depends" gets across at all. In the - hands of a crude stager, this would M-. have been woeful. As it was, it 4> played rather briskly and at times '^, with more sparkle than a reading 'v of the manuscript would suggest. V for it has long and wearisome '^' periods of dialog on academic, In- '. tangible and .often elnsive subjects. '^.■. The acting Is spotty. Catherine Alexander as the daughter «ives as ■*. line a flapper performance as has been seen since this sort of part In- .-' VtLded the current drama. She Is "' forceful, colorful and beautiful; v'V atvund her the play holds, because ^ she radiates and vibrates with the ) TQlp. Jane Orey a,» the sweet mamma Is a thing of ioy. And Roland Rushton is a butler such as seldom Is seen on the stage. The rest of the acting-is nothing * to alarm Belasco. FeTlx Krembs, 'i] . Who. if he were a fighter, would be ■^' called "out of condition." plays the ? married philanderer. One of the ° foremost "heavies" of oiir bmec be Is sa^lly mlscaat here as a lover— and an "honest" one. too. who tells his wife and asks for a divorce. He Is as romantic as a turtle. Strange, ' too. for he has registered hard in parts not nearly as plausible or as straightforward; when he is an out-and-out "dirty dog" he gets over; but a^ a paunchy gentleman, making what these days Is regarded as decent love to a young girl, Mr. Krembs is at best negative. Iiee Patrick,, as the lisping and eye-rolling wise virgin, wilih the fat Imes of the play that always fall to that part, overacts and underplays. " She looks the type, and that gets her the only bouquet that falls her way. Charles Trowbridge, as the middle-aged bach, wears a suit of clothes in the first act that couldn't fit him better If H were-Made ^>r htm,, and couldn't be.in more pre>- sosterous ta^te if he (wp-a a Prfnoe , Albert and knickers, llfi has,the stenciled .imlle of tno m.-ilcPollyanna and is most Unsatisfactory as ja reWife from the tinheriltHy HVtlim- stances whenco'the »ovely girl must fly. to him; she; might -have beeik 11 hetjker qff with the-,orotund and , pqv\ne Kceimhs, ev^n, it, he do^p ^ear whft*» pf\nt's> t^an, ,with .the, onff^track Trovirbriag^^, who' wfears checkered togs. ' She scenery !• A dallvht. The a couple ot numbers, but they don't click. George Dobba has a couple of opportunities to show his danc- ing stuff and makes the most of them, seorlDt everr time he starts stepping, ' • • ^_ ■ ■ ^ AD told there are about 30 qun- bers, counting the opening and clos- ing choruaea. 'the nearest approack tohlts are '"Remembering Tou" and "Why Is Love?" But "June Days" will need a lot of doctoring U it,ls to be kept going. Originally "The Charm School" was a very delightful little romantic comedy, btrt this adaptation elim- inates all of the comedy. Besides whkdi It Is an entirely different script from the first musical veralon tried out last fall. There are three acts, four sets being utilized for the frame of the action of the story. Originally there was to have been but three sets but a change brought an exterior for the final scene of the piece instead t>f the same set as the second act, the Interior of'the school, which was programed. It was the exterior that was the prettiest In the diow lowed Walter Lawsence in an and-out low comedy ■mnaleal sbqw role and clteked hard. He ia a tcf- rifle, dancer, has good looks, knows bow to wear good, clothes well, and —which is remarkable for his yeaks —plays the broad Uvt^ scenes lUCe a veteran of seasons. He Is a ^drftW at the box iOfBoe^ too, though the pubUoity regarding hhn In.his hoa^e town has been rather piano. Wynne Qibaon. following Dorothy Apyleby and Working Opposite Whiting, Is no experiment. 3ttt she Is sUll a'surprkMb As a aalppy. saucy, pretty little girl reporter she wades through the book, scatteripg .sunshine and pleasure. Sererai ns^ 'numbers have been added to fit the ampUfled stnglaff-danctng-comadT importance with which she taivestOd what formerly was a minor rqle. but now is the conspicuous feminine element In the show. , This Is an- other instance In "When You SniUf nursing a treat for Times Squaije, where Wynne will do a 1926 Queenie Smith. He wishes to marry her. He In- .qlstSi even after she tells him that liAie has a past. At one time she ran \a. house in New Orleans and haQ killed a man. She tells Kim her story, a cut-hack being used to bring this fn. He ilM professes hi4 love and tens her that he wiir resign his po- sition and th*m they will be married. Her love for him makes It necessai'y that she take herself out Of the way. She feels that his ^ateer means much much to tH9 oouBtry*. Hton^e the unhappy ending. ' ;- ' The^ seems to be plenty of coni- edy and plenty of suspense. In ra<it, the suspense has a lot to do With keeping the play active. The piece is a bit talky and the east Is too large, although there are numerous chances for doubling. It looks to have a trance. re—rted^br Reb«rt ASclaa at the New Theatre, Londoa. July 7. Robert Snndate. K. C. ..\..Hubert Harben KaUMTloe Sundal*..'.., t..... .Mary Jerrvid B^«>l*h > StoakweU HaMclns John Ashlar Wnpa Sylvalns Kichard .SunOal*. Waller Hsdd MiMy Sun^aU........: oica Jeoelyn Dolly Whtwple. /ane Welsh Something to Brag About Asbury Farlt. N. J!. Aug. 8.' dwre* by S«ta Tbte mildly amtadagr oe m edy <|1- vsBted large- andlencaa tfurlac the week. The story is of a dull aad StupUd husband who loves his pretty w^e and philanders with- a woman- chaser. Husband, by mistake, holds up a man. is arrested and about to he lei. off when he learns hhi. wife is to leave hhn but will atav aa long as he needs her. He then declares him- self guilty and goes to jail, to be bead lined by the papers, editorial- ized as a martyr. Ilonlxed by his community and reunited to his wife, who, at last, has "something to brag about" The show is miseaat in its present form and needs speeding; up. Israel Zangwill has been tempted to have yet another try at writing a successful play. The new method is so easy. All be has to do is to forget his 60 odd years and see life from the angle of 26-year-old Noel Coward. So ZangwIU takes a pk>t of the kind popular Just before the war and gives the dlatoc a psycho- analytical twist This is aa excellent toplo for a play but Israel ZangwIU is not the man to write It. I'Moderns;" how- ever yotmg, are not as unsophisti- cated as he would have them. They know.all there is to know and that is where the trouble lays. Nothing oould make this play convincing. On the other hand no pW could be made oonvinetas Iqr the cast Robert Atkins haa eagaged. Apart from HubsBt HartMaand Mary-Jer- rold. as the parsnta. and WaMer Hudd im "Rldiard." the aotios Is far helow the West Aid average. *We Modenur has •vtrf ap- Asaraaoa of belngr a osrtaht failnre dwpHe the good will all'sta^e folk feel towards Robert Atkias. for sight yaars producer at the Old Vic, on his first venture into t STAGE StMKX TOUIBS (Continued fnim pafe 1> WHEN YOU SMILE (Second Review) • •'•' Philadelphia, Aug. 11. James P. Beary presents a musical oon- edr by Toaa Jehnstons aad Jack AllaaMe: adapted tnm "Bxtra" by Allceato and "Buster" Collier; music by Johnstone; lyrtes by PMI .Cnoa. BMk sfased by Oscar BbsM: dances by Larry Ceballoa. Walast SUeat Tbeatia. Ann..... ■ Headerson .............. Jndse MStoaa..'■•>•'*••• John W- Kins, ■lafne La Mar Ijanr Patum.. Wally Kins June Willard jtaHsy nyaa..!..'.... Osceod Andrews.... At the ... .Wynne Olbboo HaroM VIxkrd PMUlp Lord .Dodson Mitchell mta MaH!aa ..Jack WMtlnS ..Ray Baymfad ...Gladys Raaldna ...Albert PMlHps Tom McKnlabt ......John B. OallaiMat •e»•••••• « ae* ••• • • Sylvia "*"*• . ^ ..*_,, ^oW. loaned by the DramatlsU' Nlta Martan, prottyw tuneful, n,eatre. and Mark Smith stand out vamplsh and pleasant of ^ person i^iqi g^,Q^ perforraancea. Others are from an angles of view, tohed op the \ poor. «•-««» prima donna part Immeasurably. Iler danclnc Is a toUUy unexpectM contribution and hiU for a delight aiadys Ranklne, . playing the love story lead. acU beautifully, but Is undertoned in singing and unde- veloped in dancing. She is a i>reUy and talented youngster, reeenUy elwva^ed from the chorus, with a po- tential future, probably In light comedy-dcama rather than la ma- slcal work. YTlth the changes atOl proaroee- g, the book reinforced and the Ing, - _ . ^ numbers , strengthened, this Benry venture promises Itself a big op- portunUy in New York. u cer- tainly wlU be played. Cor It now has aa sparkling and able a cast of youthful principals as t^j viu slcal In Amerfca. FOREIGN REVIEW vt THE SEA WOMAN Ix>ng Branch. N. J., Aag. S. Week e« A«s » »» KeMe-a tbastr^A^ - Presented by Sr WIIIMrt bury Parle and l^mt Br anch. L». T^^irfittc# TMs show has been almost en- tirely recast since first seen, about eight weeks ago, and the changes have been most helpful. It is now proposed to bring it into New York next month, and, wilh another sub- .stittitlon or two in the personnel, it should be Broadway calibre. Ray Itaymond, who carries the principal comedy-Juvenile role, still ■Unda iorth, cagt for the first time in sea'aons in a part that fits him. Hay is a natural comedian of the light type, but managers persist in making him just a pretty boy. fie •shines In t>)ls showing, gels most of the' lauKhs, and still exploits the rr.tfnl-al advant-tKCS of his romantic rlers'OnftUty and healthy boyi.shneas. It, Itaymond hiU Now York in this l>art, he is. made. , .,.11 J3ut the .newcomers in the cajst .iihare with him'di>clslvely In the up- ward t»**^k which this piece has taken. Jack Whiting, a yoimgsler, Metodrama at Its JuMest. with sednced girls, aelt-sacriftoe, guns. en>)oslons. villains and the other dements of the "10-20-$0." But.a large atidlence ate it up and cheered Blanche Yurka at the curtain, refus- ing to leave the theatre. Action is continuous in a light- house, where a descendant of Vik- ings. Molla Hanser (Blanche Yurka). is acting as mother of a worthless little flapper (well played by Rhea Martin) to keep her promise to the girl's dying father, who saved her In a wreck. To keep that peomlse Molla sends away her lover, since the girl is an expectant mother om6 a husband must be found for her. The lighthouse is being used by a pair of bootleggers, one of whom (Paul Kelly) has ruined, the gtrl. When dialog brlsgs out that he is married, the .girl shields h|m no more, and in her remorso-, (fgrlng a last attempt to recall Molja's sweet- heart as his ship sails away, she blows up the gas tanii. which makes CUCKOO IN THE NEST t London, July IJ. Phrea la three' a«to br J9tB Tfrmm; pae- aeataa hgr Tots Walla $ati ImH* nsasan. US., at the AMsrych thastt*. - Jato tt. ^a diTMUm ir awa WsHa Mrs. BMia..,,-. -,'....'..4.(hrsae mUnhn Malw O ew s a Bmm Tsai WalU "^^■•^^ **rw^^^. ••*.... .auM^^ anaoars ^thdr* , naae iflviaa Amv" ._ Mesie Ueesey MargMrM* Htafcett TVmm AmSsd Patar W|rkahasi...v<i^ — . Balpa l4raB W*"sr O 01 Una i ai ses ■•»• a»«asr........ •...-. Hary Bressa Bay. CathesK a Bili s -Je—a. a «l i H sis Hare Ctaado^Hlekatt, M.P. f—"-«■ wCa Zee Oraada . While theatreer tradtthMia are dy- ing like flies in winter; while His Majesty's houses a revue; while Wyndham's can be rented for any kind of lihow'; while Covent Oardiea is available even for half-crown tnvm, Tdm Walls aad Leslie HensOn are creating a tradition of their own. They have made the Aldwych famous as the home of farce. Though not so boisterous as "Tons of Money" or "It Pays to Ad- verUse." this new sample is a ship- shape piece of work. Audiences may not become helpless with laughter, but they laugh quietly af»d persistently. Quite a lot of the mirth is due to Tom Walls* study of senility In an unnecessarir part. But the naain Idea ls>a repetllion of many farces. Peter Wykeham is off to a hou'st- party with his wife. In the saiae train, bound fdr the same t>p6\! is his old friend Marguerite Hiz-k^tt, wife of an M.P. Peter meets'hfcr in the stalipn, they stop for a rh.it, and th» trail) ro^s off withptit thesi This ,h4ppens. before the curtji|n rises,'but it is amusiilgly told wU^n Mrs. Wyki^ham, back In t'o^h by the next train, discussea the problem I5M ta tuition, while the tfMtoa- Anderson aokool Is txpecked to hava an entraaoe fee of .$1,000.' The Mllton-Murray temhtoatloa has ac- quired ths property on nth street - east of Fifth avenue, on w&ich an > intimate playhouse for Ollda Qray ^ Is being built Upon Its completion, their school wilt opea In this baild- Ing, and their productions for the school wiU be nuule In the UCUe tbe- atia. These will be directed by both Milton and Anderson. The Quihl alona. has received over 7S0 apploations for Its school.' and the opening is about two months off. Mr. Milton stated that appllcatiotui are pouring in on him In great nnmbers for his sohooL KMmination Preceee Neither of these schools wilt take an applksanta. The Oulld will Itantt Itssif to about 49. and some of that number aplll be dropped at the end of various terms it they do not shew the aptitude required. Miltoa and Anderson wilt aJse establish a sauiU limtt of pu- pMs and win aslect as to the Quild case, by elimination. Miss Lenihan'a brochure anndunc- Ing the school informs that there wm be a limited asuber of schoUr- rtilps tor the tuition of the Seaior Term, aad it was also stated to a Variety represeatatlve that the. school wUl be glad to help say stu- dent who shows aUlity, even if hUi own finartcos are low. Totally, free tuition will not be given, it being the sense of the school that this would make it too easy, but in the case of a student who actually shows the "sparks." aU help wlU be given. That these two new schools; both backed by prohnlnent peox>le and organizations, should have attract- ed so many applications at the tui- tion price mky seem astounding, copsldorln^ the ratos are pot within roaph of ev^rypaow JBut with the f?ftrK«at>*^ '^'»d the Alvlene schools already operating heto and the new Dnos starting. It shows conclusively that ' the sta^e-strUok youth ' an* ml«» are *trH in the eoiihtry-i-and wflling to i>Ay''hWtvny for the op- portunity of appearing on the stage, ^;./-mJ/'-.'J. ..!.l..a.»,:-!..fHi»'-v >'■■....-.. .t,. .v><^>l%,£.,-