Inside facts of stage and screen (February 22, 1930)

PAGE SIX INSIDE FACTS OF STAGE AND SCREEN SATURDAY, FEB. 22, 1930 Published Every Saturday One Year ... $ 4.00 Foreign ... $5.00 SUPERSTITIONS OF STAGE MAKE ENTRY INTO MOVIE FIELD TELAPHONEY bj) JAMES MADISON Hello, Frank Craven. Hello, James Madison. Advertising Rates on Application As a bi-monthly publication: Entered as Second Class Matter,' No- vember 17, 1924, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. As a weekly publication: Entered as Second Class Matter, April 29, 1927, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Published by Inside Facts Publishing Company, Inc. 800-801 Warner Bros. Downtown Bldg., Los Angeles, Calif. . Telephone TUcker 7832 JACK JOSEPHS ARTHUR WM. GREEN WILLIAM C. OWENS . - - President and Editor - - Vice Pres, and Counsel Secretary and General Manager Vol. XI Saturday, February 22, 1930 No. 8 Appointment of Charles Evans Hughes to the chief jus- ticeship of the Supreme Court of the United States can most readily be construed as a final and decisive okeh on the cen- tralization of the nation’s big business in the hands of a few billion-dollar concerns, and the picture industry is expected to feel the result as rapidly as any of them. Election of Herbert Hoover was the first step, or so it was generally construed, in this direction. And the appoint- ment of Hughes, coupled with the election of Hoover, is hard to interpret in any other light. This step is one with which it is hard to quarrel. Indus- trial evolution demands it, and it would have been far quicker had not there been fictitious restraints put on the process by the so-called middle class. But the day of this class is al- most done, and soon there will be but two big classes, the employers of thousands of men and the wage earners. The anti-trust laws, the anti-monopoly laws, the laws against the restraints of trade, and the like, were engineered through Congress merely as a sop to the middle class, which at the time they were enacted still held some degree of power. But the class is now a negligible factor, and there is no longer need to placate it by legislative acts pretended to be in its behalf. If there were such a need the appointment of Mr. Hughes would have raised a commotion not so easily stilled. Mark this prediction: The picture industry will now be- come such a centralized matter that competition will be im- possible. The middle class, to-wit, the minor producers, will be entirely wiped out and Hollywood will become a city com- posed entirely, insofar as pictures are concerned, of the mil- lion-dollar corporate employers and the wage-earning em- ployes. In this evolutionary step Hollywood will be but lead- ing the way for the rest of the country. The fine art of taking bows by the principals in legitimate shows seems to have been lost. There was a time when the stage director of a play was as particular in staging his curtain calls as he was of any detail of the production. Today, in most of the shows that have appeared here, it is apparent that the calls have merely been posted on the bulletin board and not rehearsed, and, of a consequence, a fine show is marred by the uneasiness of the company when they have to line up for their reward. It is even embarrassing to the audience to watch the lead- ing man come out and bow to the audience, then turn to the leading lady and bow at her rear end while she is bowing to the right upper box. When she turns to bow to the leading man, he is bowing to the character lady at his left. When they come out together, one is bowing to the audi- ence while the other is bowing to his associate. It is seldom, and then a coincidence, when glances and bows to each other properly meet at the end of an act. It is not only good stage craftsmanship to co-ordinate this important bit of stage etiquette, but it would seem good taste and certainly would convey to the audience the fact that every detail in connection with the show that is pre- sented to them, has been properly and carefully considered and directed. ON ERSKINE STORY Dorothy Yost is writing the con- tinuity on “Sincerity,” novel by John Erskine, for Universal. B.B.B. Says: "Wonderful days 1 and busy nights. New arrivals every day from the East. Waiting for my pal, PHIL TYRRELL, to hit out this way. • • •• P. S. — The CELLAR is at Cosmo Street and Hollywood Boulevard . . . between Vine and Cahuenga . . . the phone numbers are GRanite 3 8 8 2 and HOllywood 9 15 9 . . . parking is free at the lot across from the CELLAR . . . the CHRYSLER and SAM- SONS are there. Thank You. BOSWORTH AT PARAMOUNT Hobart Bosworth has been signed for a part in Paramount’s “The Devil’s Holiday,” Nancy Carroll’s next vehicle which Ed- mund Goulding is to direct from his own story. IN ‘STORM’ LEAD Laura La Plante will be the lead in Universal’s production of “The Storm.” William Boyd (New York stage actor, not the Holly- wood Boyd) is appearing opposite Miss La Plante. Also in the cast is Paul Cavanaugh. BIG AUDIENCE The newest census shows there are 400,000 privately owned radio sets in California, with an esti- mated daily audience of two mil- lion people. RELEASE TITLE “Children of Pleasure” is the release title of M-G-M’s “tin pan alley picture” filmed under the title of “The Song Writer.” By LOUIS B. JACOBS If there is one class of people, in this age of intellectual calcu- lation, who are more superstitious than any other among the so-called intelligentsia, it is the acting group. Knowing that their profession is but a set-up of false fronts, that their very characters are unreal and simulated, that taken by and long they are merely the person- ification of fictitious people from the pages of books, yet they can- not disassociate their beliefs from the mummeries and trumperies of the dark ages. Some of their superstitions are childish and almost without ex- planation yet they take them so seriously as to almost be willing to fight rather than court the im- probability of some jinx which might tie to them if they ignore an omen or transgress a tradi- tional rule. It can be readily understood how these beliefs originated ®ith stage folks in the old days of the wandering minstrels, among the peasantry who were extremely ig- norant and hampered by religious symbols of potentcy for good or evil. These ideas of superstitions are therefore largely legendary but why should they affect the screen actor who is but a mechanic in a factory, a unit of a young indus- try? Yet, they do. Whistling Taboo On the stage there are some superstitions that are never ig- nored even by the most enlight- ened. Among these is the belief that whistling in the dressing room is certain to bring dire dis- aster and many actors have been known to give their notices when someone has dared the demons of the whistling evil, rather than wait for the catastrophe to occur, so profound are they in its belief. On the motion picture set, this superstition has spread and rami- fied itself to the stage as well. It is believed that a picture will fail if anyone whistles on the day when the picture is started. Peacock feathers have always been a superstition with the stage folks and many refuse to work in a theatre if it is known that these beautiful ornaments are even in the prop room. This is a strict ob- servance of Pola Negri, who al- most goes into hysterics in the presence of peacock feathers, al- though she has no antipathy to the bird itself. Yellow Dress Jinx Among stage folks, there is a belief that a yellow dress is the surest sign of bad luck and never is that shade permitted to appear in a scene. It is always a varia- tion of yellow, either canary, golden or chrome—but never yel- low. The screen folks had to ig- rnore than one when it was found that yellow photographs W'hite minus hilation, although some f>f them take advantage of the fact that blue does the same thing and do not care to test the yellow peril. Among the itinerant stage ac- tors, there is a hidebound super- stition against a round top trunk. If one of these appear amid tne baggage of the company, there is almost a riot. It has been known by the writer for a company to destroy a round topper at the baggage room and take up a col- lection to buy a Taylor for the usually young actor who brought along his box from home, which had bene used perhaps by his par- ents on their trip over in the Mayflower. This one does not hit the flickers. Black Cat Fooey A black cat, running in front of the automobile of a star on the way to work, has been known to cause the star to turn and return home rather than court the danger that awaits should she cross the course of the feline. It is only the stars, however, who can in- dulge this one. One superstition to which the stage kowtows is the playing or singing of “Jerusalem,” especially with a pipe organ in the house. Whether this is done at a per- formance or otherwise, it is a cer- tain sign that the show will flop in the house. Many directors will never start a picture on Monday. That is considered the direst affront to the gods of good luck. Saturday is considered most propitious by many and the other days not so bad but Monday—ughr-r-r. There is one classic superstition (Continued on Page 15) Hello, James Madison. Can you lend me a thousand dollars? I’m broke. ■ If you think I’m going to lend you a thousand dollars, you’re not broke; you’re cracked. Hello, Maurice Chevalier. Hello, James Madison. How do you describe the Hill Street Subway crowd around six P. M.? The Shove Parade. Hello, Harry Cohn. Hello, James Madison. Fox is advertising grandeur. Is that really something new? Nix; some ‘movie’ directors have had it for years. Hello, Texas Guinan. Hello, James Madison. I want to start a night club. What’s the first thing neces- sary? A padlock. Hello, Walter Hiers. Hello, James Madison. Chicago has appointed some ‘dollar a year’ doctors. What that town needs is ‘50 cent a year’ undertakers. Hello, Ritz Carlton. FILM REVIEWS (Continued from Page 4) undesirable, and that Jack is the boy to grab. So Jack comes to the house, and as a sort of mutual consolation for their respective recent throw- downs, they decide to get married to each other at once. Meantime Chester is being handed a second conge, this time by the wealthy Miss Merriam. So he jumps into his car, rushes to Dolores’ house and discovers her leaving for her wedding with Jack. So Chester seeks forgetful- ness in hard liquor. But Jack and Dolores find that consolation is not love, and their marriage is “in name only.” Then there arrives a wire calling Jack to New York. Edna Murphy boards the same train, and Dolores sees this. The Jack-Edna friend- ship is renewed. Dolores, at home, is tendered a surprise visit by Chester, who en- ters hostile, drunk and gun-toting. By dint of threats he makes her consent to go with him, and in enters Jack at this crucial moment. Gunfire! No, it isn’t serious, despite the fact that the audience at about this point sat up for what it ex- pected to be its first thrill. Only a vase is smashed. But the dan- ger makes Dolores discover to herself and to those present which man of the two she loves. It is Jack. Fadeout on Chester, jay- walking for a cup of black coffee— and some of the audience doing likewise. EXHIBITORS’ VIEWPOINT: There is nothing here to make an exhib sing Hallelujah. Metropoli- tan audiences certainly won’t take this one seriously, and in the sticks it will still be “Second Choice.” PRODUCERS’ VIEWPOINT: There is not much credit to be divided for the product of this picture. Beginning with Elizabetlj Alex- ander, who did the story, one gets the impression of a mechanical construction with inspiration en- tirely lacking. Any writer could move his people about in such trite situations—but most of them wouldn’t. It is one of those things that some day will be turned out by electrically operated mechanical typewriters. .Howard Bretherton directed, In your new Hollywood hotel, what will be the difference be- tween your six and seven dol- lar rooms? In the seven dollar rooms, we shall place mousetraps. Hello, President Hoover. Hello, James Madison. Why do you object to being called a servant of the people? Who ever heard of a servant staying on one job four years. Hello, Helen Morgan. Hello, James Madison. What is the name of that new college being organized in Chicago? The Arts and Grafts. Hello, Walter Liggett. Hello, James Madison. You stated to Congress that in ten years, if prohibition continues, the nation will be ruled by underworld rats and crooked politicians. Yes, and the national song will probably be, “Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here.” Hello, Calvin Coolidge. Hello, James Madison. When the Biltmore offered you the hotel’s best accom- modations at single room rates, what did you do? and brought no great luster to himself thereby. The main con- sistency was in the repetition of uncalled-for over melodramatics of speech and action. Joseph Jackson did the dia- logue, and it was far from being up to his standard. Apparently in trying to save the story from its intrinsic banality Jackson trimmed ship too heavily, and out come the lines stilted and uneasy in conception and in delivery. CASTING DIRECTORS’ VIEWPOINT: Dolores Costello was up to her average considering the quality of the vehicle given her. Her looks and personality are okeh, but she is not of that decisive type which can carry off scenes convincingly alone. Jack Mulhall was pleasing but rather negative in this picture. Chester Morris, with an uncon- genial part, failed to live up to his past work. The adaptor’s stilted conception of his role han- dicapped him to a point where his performance was ditto. Anna Chance played the.design- ing mother, and her rating upon a basis of opportunity and ac- ceptance of it exceeds that of any other member of the cast. In fact a casting director needing a schem- ing, ambitious mother might look her work over to advantage. Jimmy Clemmons was given a role as a drunk, apparently meant to be comedy relief. He was quite unfunny. Edna Murphy showed her usual lack of ability at miking. Cast was completed by Charlotte Mer- riam,_ E t h e 1 y n Claire, Edward Martindel, who is always up to re- quirements, and Henry Stock- bridge. LETTERS There are letters at the Los Angeles office of INSIDE FACTS for the following: ATES, Roscoe BIDMEAD Bro*. COLLINS, Harry EDWARDS, Chas. H. FOY, BUI GILLETTE, Bobby JOHNSON, C. W. MacDONALD, E. Jeanne MAHRA The Great PARSONS, Ruth TAYLOR, Slade (Mike) TIFFANY, Owen I reached for a suite instead of a “Lucky.”