Inside facts of stage and screen (May 10, 1930)

SATURDAY, MAY 10, 1930 INSIDE FACTS OF STAGE AND SCREEN PAGE NINE If This Goes Through, It Will Be Just Too Bad z —♦ According to Earl C. Anthony, radio should bend its efforts to- wards producing and encouraging new talent, rather than try to fea- ture the big names created in other fields of entertainment. He believes that the material broadcast, rather than the per- sonality of the artist before the microphone, should receive the greater share of importance. His reason for this is that he believes radio to be the greatest factor in present day education; that the rising generation can- not be educated on personalities but on standards, and that atten- tion should be first concentrated on the quality of the programs offered. The big-shot artist usually con- siders himself more important than his art, flavors it with his own interpretation, and is likely therefore to create a false stand- ard of appreciation inmpression- able listeners. The new radio artists should be trained to present their material authentically,, he believes. The performer trained in the theatrical school is hard to adapt to the new technic required for broadcasting. Also, many of the recognized leaders are actually on the down- grade and are exceeded in both ability and artistry by many of the younger comers. “The laborer is worthy of his hire,” he says, and all artists should be paid adequately with money and with the renown they deserve. But he must first be con- cerned with music and afterward with emoluments. The concert world is jammed with vainglor- ious, clever and unscrupulous per- formers who value their own popularities, much more than the art they cultivate,” Pickups & Viewpoint STROLLERS’ BALL ’ The formal ball of the Strollers, new Hollywood actors club, was held at the Biltmore Hotel Wed- nesday night, with Harry Carey master-of-ceremonies. Among those attending were: Ramon Novarro, Charles Chaplin, Myrna Loy, Josephine Dunn, Otto Matieson, Jean Hersholt, William Bakewell, Russell Gleason and many others. BENEFIT FETE HELD Brid.ge tea and lawn fete at the Car! Laemmle Beverly Hills es- tate was held this week to raise funds to defray expenses of El Nido camp for undernourished children. The camp provides up- building vacations for children supported by Council of Jewish Women. ROGERS GOING EAST Charles “Buddy” Rogers will leave May 7 for the Paramount New York studios, where he is to make “Heads Up” under the di- rection of Victor Schertzinger, who already is on his way East. SPECIFICATIONS “SHOT” Movies of Los Angeles’ facilities for staging the 1932 Olympic games will be sent to the Inter-Olympic committee in Europe. Advertise in INSIDE FACTS * * * The Real Coast Theatrical Newspaper (Continued from Page 8) suggested we omit mentioning that Bob is a married man, so we shall say nothing about it. It seems that fan mail drops off about SO per cent when the public learns definitely that a favorite is do- mesticated, and we would hate to cut in on post office earnings that way. Bob, of course, would not care himself, being a man who ap- preciates the praise of the do- mestic partner above all the adula- tion of the wide radio world. Bob is a Pasadena boy who, be- fore coming into radio, saw the world as a U. S. gob and saw life in the raw in a meat market. Now he wears long haircuts and a cute moustache, and is a pillar of strength to KHJ. * * * “Doctor” Foley, missed from re- cent “Chasing the Blues” pro- grams, and one of the best humorists on the air, turns up in Olive View hospital, a sick patient. He may be on his back, but he has not been forgotten by the fans—at least not yet. * * * Last Saturday’s “Chasing the Blues” was good enough in ma- terial but slowed up for the listen- ers by some horseplay in thj audi- ence that the m. c. forgot to de- scribe, to the mike. Wide gaps with an occasional phrase like “Y’oughta be here, folks, to see this,” had to do the “earitors,” as the. listeners are so quaintly de- scribed by Dick Creedon. * * * Carl Haverlin got a unique piece of fan mail this week, one that probably holds the world’s record for cryptic brevity. It reads: “Adhor hour v. g. Karl or Carl gd. too, g. d. g.” As Haverlin re- marked, he might have used up a lot more words, but what more could he have said? * * * It used to be that Sunday was a good day to rest the radio set, at least until evening, but the gen- eral juggle following daylight sav- ing in the East seems to have given us a better break out here. Among the delightful programs released here last Sunday was “Fortunes of the Globe Trotter,” one of a CBS series. It was lit- tle drama of an American in Chi- na, who got mixed up with an opium smuggler and a Chinese girl. It was interesting, well done, and best of all, the American did not turn out to be a secret service man, praise heaven! * * * Barks . from the Office Dbg: Terry Kilgore receives back pay from the Canadian Government and immediately receives delegation from the Borrower’s Club . . . Roland Foss interview- ing a new stenog . . . and reveal- ing his present weakness to be bright brown eyes . . . also ex- hibiting a new moustache . . . Carl Haverlin hiring a new sales- man . . . buying a sporty new suit .. . . but refusing to pay Jose Rodriguez the $2.55 he owes him . . . and trying to buy the silence of the press with a cup of coffee . . . Harry Hall and Mjargaret O’Donnell taking a trip together . . . and Harrv a married man • .. . Jose Rodriguez announcing his wedding for October . . . but no bride yet in sight . . . any takers??? . . . Ken Niles sport- ing some new red suspenders . . latest airplane design ... so they’ll hold up, no doubt . . . Bob Swan wearing his new honors with modest dignity ... an in- spiration to all butcher boys . . . Dick Creedon in a barrel . . . and in conference at the same time . . . Stuart Buchanan sorta look- ing around . . . Lindsav MacHar- rie wondering who’s telling his pri- vate affairs . . . little birdies tell tales . . . Hum and Strum doing the disappearing trick . . . Ted White listening to yodeller . .. and looking pensive . . . Tune Parker with the mail . . . Leigh Harline looking up a pas- toral . . . dear me, -this hill-billy vogue . . . Ho, hum, it’s a dog’s life. The committee on plans for the present year merit awards and the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have agreed that the annual awards for 1930 shall be bestowed on a popular election basis by mem- bers of the Academy rather than by judgment of board of judges as has been followed in the past two years. Principal reason for this change is that the old procedure required so much time in carrying it out that it was impossible to make the final decisions until months after the period for which the awards were to be bestowed had expired. Awards for 1928 were not bestowed until May of 1929. Awards for 1929 were not be- stowed until April, 1930. The rea- son for these long delays was the complicated machinery for arriv- ing at judgments. By the new plan the membership of each branch will make primary nominations by ballot for achieve- ments within its branch. These votes will be counted and a cer tain number of the candidates ranking highest in the count for each award will be submitted to the entire Academy for final vote, along with primary nominations from other branches. It is esti mated that the branch primaries can be concluded within six weeks after the close of the production year July 31, and that the final election can be held within an other six weeks. EXPLOITEER IN BOOKING FIELD Harry Wilson, exploitation man with United Artists studios for the last five years, leaves for Bucha- rest, Roumania, at the end of this week. He has secured territorial rights for United Artists pictures in that region and will establish his own distribution offices there. He is taking only silent and synchron- ized versions. Wilson has been to Roumania twice before, once with Edmund Carew, besides which he made a round-the-world trip with Lincoln Quarberg, now exploitation chief for Caddo Productions. Mrs. Wil- son and their young son will ac- company him. “TOYLAND” CAST FOX SIGNS ACTRESS Louise Huntington, who has nlaved in several Broadway pro- ductions, is among the latest re- cruits to the Fox banner. She will leave New York the latter part of May for Movietone City. „ Joseph Cawthorn has been as- signed one of the principal parts in Victor Herbert’s “Babes in Tov- land.” which Radio Pictures will produce as one of the largest pro- ductions on its 1930-31 program, in a cast which includes Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey and Dorothy Lee, with Everett Mar- shall. Metropolitan opera baritone, and Irene .Dunne, Broadway musi- cal comedy star, co-featured. BROWN DERBY BANDIT Lone bandit stepped into the Brown Derby and gave film actors and directors a few hints on gang- land atmosphere, stepping out with $250 in cash from the register, one night last week. FEMME INTRODUCERS Chuck Reisner has two femme conferencierres in the new M-G- M revue, “March of Time,” Polly Moran and Raquel Torres. Wil- liam Collier and Benny Rubin are the male “give - the - little - girl - a - hand” lads in the 1930 follow-up on “Hollywood Revue.” ON HONEYMOON David O. Selznick, film producer, and his bride, the former Irene Mayer. _ were on their honeymoon trip this week. They were mar- ried here will go to Europe. She is the daughter of Louis B. Mayer, M-G-M executives. ACTRESS DIVORCED Mrs. Leila Josephine Jerrard Farrow, ex-screen plaver, has a divorce decree from William Tur- ner Farrow, construction engineer, this week on grounds of non-sup- port and cruelty. San Francisco Radio Notes SAN FRANCISCO, May 8.— That clever writer—and inciden- tally, our favorite columnist—O. O. McIntyre writes of the radio situ- ation in last Sunday’s Examiner and writes of it scathingly. He says: “The radio, I believe, is our sickest industry. It has built up the most perfect equipment in the world and finds tiself with no tal- ent. Outside of Will Rogers, Amos ’n’ Andy and Floyd Fibbons and a few crack orchestras it is destitute of amusement features and its continuous drivel is wear- ing out public patience. I gave my radio away two months ago.” O. O. must have listened in on one of those programs that punc- tuated each two-minute vocal solo with a four-minute discourse on the qualities of Harriett’s Hardy Hair Nets. Maybe he isn’t far wrong at that. * * * A former Fanchon and Marco vocalist, Benay Venuta, went out and sold herself as a radio feature to a local auto dealer and now she’s on KPO five days a week with a fifteen-minute program on which she is The Auburn Girl. She does a program of blues numbers with original interpreta- tions. And she is that station’s only blues singer. * * * SOON BE JUST It was 1:30 the other morning when Bill Foy, Bob Spencer and this writer went up 'to help out Harry Wickersham, who is the voice conducting KJBS’s Night Owl program. A bunch of gags, a few songs and some dialogue and there were eighteen phone calls, twelve of which requested us to pay up old bills. * * ♦ With a number of technical changes in its studio KFWM is no longer KFWM but instead is now KROW “crowing for Oakland.” KROW has tied up with the Oak- land Post Enquirer. * * * National Broadcasting Co. is re- modeling the twenty-first floor of the Hunter Dulin Building and will install a hostess there. Business, publicity and arrangers’ offices are on that floor while the studios are on the twenty-second. * * * Julia Hayes is now broadcasting Helpful Hints for Housewives over KTAB. Aren’t you just too tickled for words? * * * The musicomedy “Hi There” has tied up with NBC for a se- ries of three programs with artists from the show due to step before the mike and do their stuff. * * * Down at KYA Helen Stone sets fast pace for the others to fol- A recent uproar from Washing- ton about an invention that was to bring the sense of smell to the screen pales into insignificance be- side the things that are promised for radio by local ether wizards. All radio gives us now is re- production of sound. Sight by radio. is practically ready.. But that is not all, claim the genii. . It will be possible, in shorter time than we now realize, to set up a microphone in vales of rural beauty and bring to city dwellers not only the songs of the birds and the poetic sighing of breezes, but also the fragrance of the flow- ers. The “smellies” will be avail- able to radio listeners as soon as to picturegoers. But radio is to go further than that and actually bring the sense of touch! That is done now, in an abstract way, by the broadcasting parsons when they appeal for funds, but the inventors assert their experiments lead them to be- lieve that tactile sense not only can be, but will be, broadcast suc- cessfully in the near future. The flower will be seen, smelled and touched by radio, while the buz- zing of the bees around it can be heard. In other words, radio will bring into the home all the actual quali- ties of distant objects. Anhiliation of distance, of all mundane limita- tions, will be ours tomorrow. The lover may see, hear and—er—kiss the distant sweethear; visiting can be done by radio. But even the wildest flights of the imaginative inventor do not yet compass any possibility of bringing in friends for a game of bridge by radio. That would be too much. MARRIED PAIR HERE With her new husband, Hugh C. Leighton, president of tfie Inter- state News Company, and head of a hotel chain, Pauline Frederick arrived here this week. The couple are at the Beverly Hills Hotel for a six . months’ stay, with Miss Frederick planning to do a stage play here. low. She sings on the Bridge Hour daily; is an accomplished cellist, being heard on a nflmber of program featuring that instru- ment, and makes all the arrange- ments for the Harmonettes, vocal trio of which she is a member. EARLE WALLACE Always Busy Developing Dancing Stars but Never Too Busy to Create and Produce Original DANCE ROUTINES and REVUES That Sell Belmont Theatre Bldg., First and Vermont Phone Exposition 1196 Los Angeles, Calif. BUb MURRAY (Associates) Gladys Murray Lafe Page 3636 BEVERIiY BLVD, — Los Angeles — Tel. DU. 6721 PRACTICAL STAGE TRAINING STAGE TAP DANCING (In All Its Branches) BALLET— iStaS!*?, b, SIGNOR G. V. ROS1 george- HICKMAN BROS. - paul COMEDIANS and WRITERS Yes, We ve Trouped With Medicine Shows, Burlesque, Minstrels, Circuses, Biggest and Best in Vaudeville. And not forgetting own big Musical Comedy Success, “WHO STOPPED THE FERRY BOAT?” Our telephone number is GRanite 1555. GEORGE and FLORENCE BALLET MASTER AND MISTRESS Formerly 68 Successful Weeks Producing Weekly Changes in Australia’s Largest Theatre THE STATE, SYDNEY Producers Desiring Originality WRITE or WIRE Permanent Address: INSIDE FACTS, Los Angelas