Variety (Dec 1929)

Wednesday, December 11, 1920 W C M E N' S PAGE VARIETY 61 Uncommon Chatter By Ruth Morris tourists Invading' a bar in Mexico. N^'wsreel audiences like these sly contrasts. In the Shops In the shops...Southern wear In B-Bt'B -Summer ^hop. Turquoise favored tor bathinef suits. Cunning light dresses in eyelet- embroidered batiste. Cap sleeves to be popular, also trim shirt-waist dresses.,.Robert's new Du Barry Boom on the . fifth floor just for facial treatments.., Soft suede gloves at Sax-Bth Ave. in the new longer slip-ons. Blue fox a nice shade. Plg-skln sioves quite the thing for sports wear.. .winter out- door clothes at Stems, including 'wpoly toboggan suits.' The St. yLoviXz Shirt In washable chamois « with lacing up'the front,. .Gadgets fpr Idjlts. Vietrola at Abercrom- bie and Fitch that will wake you Up 'With a melody. Black enamel clgaret iat Macy's with encrusted watch. The self-winding watch at the larger Jewelry shops. Perfume atomizer in the grulse of a cigaret lighter. Calder'a Miniatures Now; that the circuses have crept into winter quarters, Alexander Calder,. son of the well known sculptor, _ has. brought his novel troupe to town. The Calder Circus appeared last Sunday night at the 66th Street* Oallerles and ^proved to be an equipment that can be car- ried about in paper bags and pre- sented on any small square of felt or carpet. . • . . Principals in this bijou one-ring: display are bits of wire sculpture,, painstakingly created and conceived With life-like accuracy. There are bare-back riders,- clowns, acrobats and aerial, artists, all performing daring stunts at the pull of a string or however Calder sets his mini- atures to work. Performance eyen boasts an Oriental dancer who out- cooches all other artistes in this line; Bits of - costume are suggested on the wire-outlines and the whole thing is done with a grand sense of humor. . Accompanying the circus ls° an exhibition of paintings, wood and wlire sculptures, toys^ jewelry and textiles. There are studies in wire of Miargalo GUlmore, Theresa Hel- buni, Charlie Chaplin, Eugene O'Neill and others of the theatre, with amazing resemblances Worked, into the simple outlines. Romantically Old Fashioned "Sons of Guns," despite its slight- ly hard-boiled title, 16 tlie romantic old-fashioned type of musical about the well-known War. Singing choruses outward bound on army transports and flash-backs of oyer- the-top scenes. Good entertain- ment,: thanks to Jack Donahue and a tuneful score. Lily. Damita makes a pleasing heroine when she doesn't try to sing. She has an annoying trick of letting her tumbled hair mask her face In hoydenlsh moments. Bather hard to remember Just what was being worn back in 1918, but the costumes seem to be a mixture of the styles from of '14 onward. Those billowing overdone peasant costumes were probably typical of Charles Le Malre In '18 as they will be. in '35. . Three groups of costumes for the Kasch Ballet are lovely, adding col- or to excellent routines. Damita's finale dress might have come right from Hollywood—a slithering, long trained frock In silver cloth with an enormous standup collar of white marabou. Sax's Entertainment Sepyibe It is now. possible to shop for tal- ent at Sax's 6th Ave. The frantic hostess, in despair over entertain- ment for her guests, may hire any- one froih Heifltz to trained . seals for her next big.party.: Unique service Is offered by Mrs, Anita Damrosch Llttell and Mrs. Chester Burden, who conduct an entertainment >bureau under the aysplces of the New York Junior League, Profits of the enterprise eo to the various charities of that organization. The team of Llttell and Burden ^Jll do^as much OE.,as little as is desired towai'd^putting-tjarties'over? They Will attend to the engraving and sending out of Invitations; ar- range for catering, and even straighten out problems of etiquette, ■iiiia last Is a valuable assistance in some cases. Or they will merely "iro. the entertainers for the eve- ning.. AlTx-^yg on the lookout for novel- wes, they hold dally auditions with tne hope of dlscovpvHg unusual entertainment. They report a cur- rent demand for the Aguilar Lute Quartette, Fred Keating and the Yacht Club Boys. Tango teants are also popular with party givers. No- body . seems 'to want tenors. Unbecoming Gobs Hippodrome has abbllshed.Its band policy, for regulai^ vaudeville. Last week's .bill had Marty May enliven- ing a band act with bright flip- pancies and Jntroduclhg various specialties, and numbers by the girl band. Girls appeared in unbecom- ing white gobs sultfe. Grace Smith hoofed and sang, with her Buddies, wearing the same costumes, Naomi Morton was dressed In a cute green taffeta with sequin trim. : Emphasize "In Person" The Palace billing is at great pains this week to assure prospec- tive audiences that Its three stars win be present "In person." Esther Ralston, one of the three, introduces a decided film flavor, even to theme-song^llke billing which captions her as "The Golden Girl of the Screen." She outlines a full-length scenario In her char, acterization of the girl from Bloom- ingdale'6 who' seeks extra employ ment as a dance cluib hostess In order to support a crippled brother. Brother's demise, is annnunced by.'a telegram which interrupts a dance,' and the plucky heroine, continued dancIng-T-hysterlcally—clnematical- ly. " The number concentrates all the tricks of a seyenrreeler into a few moments. of vaudeville. It's cheap, but audiences like It. The star dons red wig and com- edy costume to deliver soine npt- too-funny lyrics about the ice man, finishing with an eccentric dance done surprisingly well. . Her last costume is a stunning dance ab- breviation In silvery-gold sequins, with matchlnir cuifs and - awfully chic turban. Special - drops are stunning—in satln^ with sparkling encrustations that look swell. - Elsa Newell is a grand come- dienne, appearing first In one ol those , coy bathing- suits oif the *90'b that featured hlghvwater necklines and freedom from drafts. Her sec . ond costume is in capuclne chiffon, with fitted bodice and circulai length skirt. Elsa Maxwell's Party Elsa Maxwell's party in the Crys- tal room at the Rltz on Sunday night made costume-ball history for years to come. Two hundred guests attended, impersonating va- rious celebrities. Announced in pairs, strange combinations were effected—such, as Peggy Joyce en- tering on the arm of DiELvid Belasco, and Beatrice Ullle led down the stairs by the President of the Ger- man Republic, Slews of Helen Mor- gans. Charlie Chaplins and Greta Garbos, with a hearty welcome as-, sured by Edmund O'Brien's attendr ance as Gr.bver.. Whalen. ; Mrs. Jules: Glaenzer was. appro- priately be-diamonded as Peggy Joyce, while 'Walter Wanger as- sumed tlie paie face and clerical garhr of the Maestro himself. Since no good party could be a success Without the Marx Brothers, George Gershwin appeared as Groucho, Dick Rodgers as Zeppo, Jules Gliaen- zer as Chica and j;uStlna Johnstone- Wanger as Harpo, With bubble gum conipletihg "her costume. Judging from the duration of the party, .there was ho definite , time limit on the return of the hired cos- tumes. Hollywood Styles By Cecelia Ager South Seas. License "South Sea- Rose'* furnishes Lenbre Ulric with one of those high-spirited parts seen against contrasting backgrounds. The story starts on a South Sea Island, popu- lated with natives Who break into a Broadway number in perfect Eng^ llsh.: Later the heroine .is seen In a convent and then 0|n board a schooner where she has a swell time playing Joan Lowell. Nothing could top this but a sight of her in Lulu Belle costume in a tight-laced New England setting, with touches from the comic strips added for comedy. The Rpxy travels this week from the South Sea Islands (to .prelude the Ulric picture) to the Sidewalks of New York. The Roxeyettes stroll down the latter in ti'adltlonal "gas wolks" costumes accompaniec, by a waltz clog. Other numbers are the singing of a Rubenstein melody by figures picked up with dim lighting on a misty stage and a cunning bric-a-brac ballet, with the dancers posing as Bllhouettea on lamp shades. Masters' of Happiness An established theatrical phrase Is being menaced with Collins and Petei'son siervlhg^ as "Masters of Happiness" at the Academy this week. The m. o. was bad enough, but m. h., with Its impllcatibn of deliberate and determined hilarity, seems, just too much, even though the applause-plugging of the m, h. did get a reception, for an aero batic opening act at Monday's mati- nee. CLOTHE AND CLOTHES (Continued from page^O) hems, she appears in g6)d fringe. Gold fringe Is hot ba:d in its places even as. small a quantity as this, but aside from the fact that the bodice looked soiled, the whole thing really was ugly, and Miss Diamond didn't look the part for the costume. No girl wbo wears her hair parted in the middle 'so siicdeiSZiniy' and charmingly - should try to wear that type costume'< A previous silk blouse and velvet shorts suit looked well. Printed Silks Erte, the French designer, has created sonie printed silks ■whlc'h are on display at the Cox Galleries in conjunction with a showing of his works; The silks, highly decorative, will necessitate simple dress treatment. They feature tiny Clusters of In- tricate design aLgainst a wide-; spaced monotone background in strong, color contrast. One which will surely be successful in sum- mer frocks has an all-over design In a small wavy pattern done In shades of blue and pale rose. An- other striking one is in briliiant red featuring spattered sun hursts in yellow-golfl. "T^f^ewsreel-Gontrasts^^-^ For Clumsy feet No more Clumsy feet in winter, "Protective Pootw;ear' Is. now in the hands of artists, and each year what used to be rubbers becomes sonde thing just a bit neater and more ornamentaL . 1, Miller calls them "Shugluy" of thm rubber in various colors fitting well at the ankle. Macy's are "Oaytees" of rubber ized cloth but only in two colors, brown and grey. bppenheim Collins calls them simply "rubber galoshes" and has them lined for warmth. . ... Goodyear, for the milder weather, puts but. a purse size package in rubber case, pf thin sahdals, a handy thing now that slippery days are oomlng. NEW YORK CHATTEit Newsreel Theatre programs ;;row better every day, with tlip fertile minds of the camera sitnff s^^omlng to find no difficulty In dL^glng up Items thatmalte fifty minutes sim- ply fly. There seemed to be no ;;ood rea- son for Including a shot of a lady prohibitionist concocting a. klckless cocktail, until It was immediately followed by a gllmp.sp of thirsty (Continued from page 58) •'What's a chest protector?" All the kids seemed dumbifouiided, until one seriously spoke up saying, "A bras- siere, dopey, a brassiere." Johnny Dugan, office boy of the ■VVebei--Simon agencyj is doubling this Week • with - a., part In Jack Demp.sey's sketch at the Palace: It's his stage debut. Script, orig- inally gave him two ilnes but he squawked, so they made It three. Joe Scheneck and Lee Shubert tried to get Into the Paramount the Other night, but the uniformed giant outside couldn't see or say anything but, "Seats in the balcony, only." Finally Sam Katz came along, saw what was going, on and said, "Come, around to the side en- tranf'o. boya|, think I can fix it with that doorman." Pf>]i<jp Commissioner Whalen's no bug on consistency.. He theorized tllia.t .ihi - aviato r^ IdlledL djed^ a^cjro through considerlni: pedestrians" on Cf'ntral Park West while his plane wa.s out of control, while the com- mi.ssioner demotes a living detec- tive .with commendable' judgment who iiiidoubtedly;(Considered a ban- quf.'t i<;irty as one gun against .seven whf u bandits h^ld It up. But Whalen was consLstent in one way; each time he got his name and picture in ihr. papers. HoMywood Boulevard Hollywood's business dlstxiot cen- ters on Hollywood Boulevard. Here the town comes to. shop and stroll. In the fan magazines Hollywood Boulevard is the hallowed ground where Swanspns, alighting from Hispano-Suizas, nod to Plckfords; Ziikors filck the ashes off their Corona-Corohas which, falling, are found to be diamond dust. "The Boulevard," they call It. But. looking at it in the glai'e of. the California sun, Hbllywobd Bou- levard is just one more Main street, with . Its Babbits, and' that would have been its name, ^.in any town but. this. Hollywood, gilding everything, has no streets. Its thoroughfares are • avenues, roads, ways, boule- vards and places. A street by any other name sounds flossier. Once a lemon grove, Hollywood Bbuleyard has developed and boom-, ed right along with the picture in- dustry, until now it Is a good spot for big stores. Miles long, the busi- ness, "district has concentrated into the eleven blocks between Orange and Vine. Its buildings are mostly one story "taxpayers," so that hulld- ings which express tlielr confidence in the future of Hollywood real es- tate by rising to greater heights, tower like! Woolwox'ths by contrast. Every type of architecture Is here. A bit of Old England leans against an Aztec temple. An Egyptian mausoleum is a picture theatre, and looks across the street at modern German neighborly with the grill work of Spain.. Buildings now be Ing erected are violently modernls tie in spots; their windows have metal trimmings twisted in mad designs. Inside, merchandise is dis played on tortured metal racks. 5 and Id's Thrive The homey, provincial feel of the boulevard comes from all its chain stores, which thrive in this locale. Here, are Woolwbrth, Grand, Kress, Newberry, for it's a great street for the five and tens. Llggetts .com maiid strategic corners. Cut-price drug stores abound. Radio stores blare. Dress shops sparkle with beaded dresses for |16'. Ladies' hats are on isale for a dollar. Three book stp.res take care of the reading public. .Bargain hunters don't have' to sleuth for sales. The shop windows carry banners. Not done in fine lettering, nor restrained In size, they aire specific about the variety of sales they blazon. Fire sales, re moval sales, opening sales, clearancei sales,, pre-holiday sales, last-day sales; they entice those who like to believe they arb getting more than their money's worth. Tiie exclusive, that is, the higher priced shops have localized at each end of the boulevard. Midway is Hutton & Co., brokers, occupying the most pleasing building on the street,: architecturally. There is no place, to iauy jewels. Only jewelry is sold on Hollywood Boulevard. Diversion seekers have a choice of five picture theafres and one legit. The boulevard's many restaurants, for this Is a town of emancipated women, are modenite priced table d'hotes or lunch counters with comfortable swivel chairs. A lone class restaurant, the Montmartre, is the only place where one can dance and dine to the tune of a colored orchestra, except for the'lone class hostel, the Roosevelt. A-Foot, A-Wheel Scurrying down the roadway, looking for: precious parking space, go modest little sedans. Sometimes a Rolls, sometimes a Minerva, but more. Often a Chevrolet or Ford, Traffic nioves by fits and stairts, for the traffic signals change almost before you can shift from second to high. . In the middle of the blocks are pedestrian safety zones occupied chiefly by women with toddlers, Motorists wait, for In Hollywood the pedestrian has right of way. To make it still more exciting for automobiles, the street par pas.sen- gers* saftely zones are outlined by rows of corrugated metal buttons. Evading the.se, the driver meets a fresh batch at*the corner where the Tjutlons^^iWafTr^th^^ hand turn, Th*.se buttons are vic- ious and bite. If traver.sed by a tire It's gi'eat sport to drive up to one menacingly, as if to run It over, and then fool It by a deft flick of the \vheel. Olve.s a sort of bull- fight atnio.'sphere to the Boulevard, which goes well with Its carnival air. One quality is common to the people who stroll, bustle, linger, dart along Hollywood Boulevard. They cai*ry bundles. Eatjess men promenade with the aura of the studios about them. Women emerge from beauty parlors, the water- . waveir's veils still upon their tight- ly curled hair. Informality is ex- pressed the length of the street. Heavily-rouged high school giiis promenade arm-in-arm, pausing at a malted-mllk shop, Peter the Hermit, in white duck and sandled feet, talks to a traffic cop at the corner.. Children lag behind theiji mothers, playing.with the balloons they got at a shoe sale. Picture extras trip along to a manicure ap- pointment on unbelievably "ilgh heels, afterward they must stop in at their agent's. Electricians are busy connecting wires to seaoh- lights for a new shop's opening* Middle aged women aie standing In front of the Montmartre, Waiting, fpr Gary Cooper to come but. A dame saunters past, trying to act bored with her two white foxes. In art shoi>s youths wltlx collars cut very low at the neck and loose- ly knitted ties are selling Mexican glassware to matrons for bridge prizes. A busy street, but not an elegant one. Early to Bed The Bouhavttrdiers disperse early They remain bn their home grounds, only until the picture shows: are '' over. At 11 the throngs have dwindled to newsboys selling the morning papers to motorists wait- ing at street'corners for the lights to change. All that is offered on the Boulevard then is tit-tisit-tbe at the telegraph offices or a liverwurst sandwich at Henry's. ' The street of the Stars contents itself with the stars in heaven. . At the Studios "Hit the Deck," all ready now for R. K, O's Ti.tanlsh publicity dei>art- ment, has among its surprises, a fish number, which heroically is not called an "Undersea Ballet.'' The number gets its name from the fact that the girls are. dressed as much like fishes as 'girls who have to dance can ^ress like fished. They are tightly encased In fish net m^de of green sequins, which Js used for the sleeves and stockings and .head- dresses. Their hands are covered ^Ith the miaterlal,. and it Is pulled over their shoes. Fins made Of glazed green taralton with xlbs of sequins are pIa<;eot In, the head- dresses in a becomingly severe man- ner. Fins on their ankles and on their hips leave no doubt. This is a fish number^ Technicolor won't miss any of the lovely sea green that Walter Plunkett has used for these costumes. Majorie White Is a pretty blonde- bride in Fox's miislcal extravaganza . She wears a conventionally correct wedding dress of ivory - satin with long tight sleeves of Alecon lace and, the V neck is outlined With lace that is picked out with em- broidery in pearls. Her headdress, worn far back on her head, so that her hair will show, is a tiara of stiffened lace from which falls a long tulle wedding veil. Orange blossoms,arc bunched over eacli ear, and she carries a simply stagger- ing Corsage of artificial orchids, roses,^ and Ulles-pf-the-valley. Fifi; Dorsay helps to make "Hot for Paris" a picture to send "The Cbck-eyed World" back to the con- vent. As a'night-club danseuse, she wears a costume Inspired by a knit bathing suit. The upper is net heavily sequlned where It should be. The trunks are made of red satin, with some more sequins for luck, and are . belted with I'blne- stones, which also decorate the.bot- tom. Frou-frou anklets: of mallne, a red and White ostrich f9,n, and a hunk of bracelets are thrown ■ in lavishly, for Flfl plays one of the manizelles the sailors sing about, Billie Pove's next is called "Faithful,'' An actress is sensitive to nuances In characterization, sO Miss-Dove permits a slight Wouse at the waistline in a lame printed chiffon evening dress. ' The very low, back is cut Ingenously off cen^ ter so that' one . bare shoulder Is given=^a^ycwcled st^ap--for-^5upport-.-=- The off center Idea Is followed by the long tight hip yoke, and the skirt'is long and flaring. There is a gold cloth accompanying the dress which has a couple of good Doye touches, however, such as a white fox collar with a ribbon -bow and streamers tied at one .side, just a whim.sy. , But nobody has such eye- lashes.