Inside facts of stage and screen (Jan 11 1930)

SATURDAY, JAN. 11, 1930 INSIDE FACTS OF STAGE AND SCREEN PAGE THIRTEEN REDMOND and WELLS IN "OH, SUSANNA!" AT MAYAN THEATRE, LOS ANGELES WITH APPRECIATION TO GEORGE ROSENER, FRANKLIN WARNER and GERHOLD DAVIS 'JOE COLLEGE*' OR NOT? TED MOORE VS. JACK TENNEY Ocean Beach, Calif., December 31, 1929. Friend Jack: I see you choose to misuse my comparisons,—only doting on the horse and Ford, which, of course, was not giving me a "break." I did not think you would take it so hard, and I am sorry I hurt your vanity. But to say that the music of today is distorted and not to be tolerated;—the art of a decadent race, is to irrevocably class one's self with the group of ultra-conservatives who have opposed progress and original thought since the world began. It was this group which opposed Galiileo and his theories; Colum- bus and his dream of a new route to India; Darwin and his theory of evolution. In fact, most anything which is not of the established order invariably causes the "old timers" of all ages and classes to moan and mourn for the good old days. Most of us can still recall the days when the name of Wagner, as a composer, was anathema. His music was distortion, bombast, discord, decadence. In short, the conservatives were getting in their howl. Today, Wagner is regarded as a master and that is as it should be. This single citation should certainly prove my point to the unprejudiced. I would like to add that a truly talented musician can appreciate all styles and classes of music from the deepest symphony to the hottest renditions of "Joe College" and "Johnny Highschool." Now, if you want to write anything about this in "Facts," put it all in and give me Hell again. I enjoy it. I remain, with greetings of the season, your friend, (Signed) TED MOORE. Dear friend Ted: Your most welcome letter received and read with considerable pleasure. Let me congratulate you. This is by far the greatest argu- ment you have ever offered me. And it is set forth in a very logical manner. I have only one criticism to offer. Your points are very fine but they are immaterial, irrelevant and have little or no bearing on the case. In other words, my dear boy, you have digressed again. Before re-establishing our original basis of argument,* I must apologize for apparently taking advantage of you in my recent article in "Facts." It was uniiftentional, 1 assure you. I used what I con- sidered your best argument—the utility of art, and, naturally, I could not agree upon any such basis. You will coincide with me when I say that I was within my ethical rights to rebut it with the best means at my disposal. Your remarks concerning my vanity have very little to do with the question under discussion .and deserve no further comment. I heartily agree with your remarks concerning the ultra-conserva- tives and the hard-shelled crabs who continually fight each and every innovation with all the venom of their fossilized natures. The fundamentalists of all times have been the chief obstacles to progress. Your insinuation that I belong to this group is rather unkind and unwarranted,—to mention nothing of the lack of foundation in fact. You almost scored a point when^ you mentioned Wagner, though you went a little too far in point- ing out that his name was ana- thema. He, probably, more than the rest deserves to be called the romantic composer. I call your attention to the fact that Robert Schumann, another great romantic composer and music critic, praised Wagner and 'his work. You are not correct in saying that his mu- sic was "distortion, discord and ORGANISTS HERB KERN Organist-Master of Ceremonies FOX WEST COAST Long Beach, Calif. WM. (Billy) KNOX SOLO ORGANIST Fox Oakland Theatre decadence"—though I will admit the "bombast." His innovation was one of orchestral effects. His heresies were those of von Weber, who was nearly contemporary with him. They disregarded the singers and paid more attention to the story. Wagner wrote music to fit the drama and 'he wrote it so well that it may be played without the singers. Those who were deeply influenced by the classic moulds, howled loud and long. They pdunced upon him whenever they could. The success that his work enjoyed during his lifetime is a point in my favor that I will take up later. Before proceeding I must re- mark that "Joey College" and "Johnny Highschool" are capable of producing good music and will admit that they do. But I must also remark that they are equally capable of producing bad music and stress the point that this is the usual state of affairs. As for your point that "a truly talented mu- sician can appreciate all styles and classes of music from the deepest symphony to the hottest rendi- tions," you have betrayed yourself into my hands. Appreciation comes only with comparison. Apprecia- tion is the result of a well-bal- WILL PRIOR CONDUCTOR NEW STATE THEATRE. SYDNEY. AUSTRALIA TED HENKEL MUSICAL CONDUCTOR PRESENTATION and DIRECTOR CIVIC THEATRE Auckland, New Zealand Pit Orchestra of 30 - : - Stage Band of 20 anccd and educated sense of dis- crimination. It is not an affable acceptance of a conglomerate whole. All of which reminds me of the king's new suit of clothes—an old tale of Anderson's. You re- member that the king wanted the finest suit of clothes in the world and t'hree crooks came to make it for him. They collected fabulous sums of money every day and worked feverishly upon empty looms. They cut the alleged gar- ment from the atmosphere and showed nothing to the lords of the court. Each was afraid to express, an honest opinion. No one could see the suit of clothes, but feeling that they might be ridiculed and thought without a fine sense of appreciation, they spoke up and declared it was, without doubt, of the finest texture, cut and style. This group psy- chology was infectious and the king allowed himself to be ar- rayed in nothing and paraded forth in his B. V. D.'s to astonish his subjects. A little girl who was not quite old enough to be dis- honest, laughed at the king's nak- edness and broke the spell. I believe this to be the case with most of our modern art. I find some beautifully strange pas- sages in some of Scriabine's work, but most of it is a lot of noise to me, and I am honest enough to say so. Stravinsky's music would have driven Mozart crazy—and it affects me in about the same way. If you have heard any of the idiotic discord of the German Shonberg, you will know what I mean. I find something in De- bussy, but I hold him largely re- sponsible for Scriabine and Shon- berg, Which brings us to the discus- sion at hand. Our bases of argu- ment are as follows: 1. Confusion of pleasant and attractive imitations with the in- spired and genuine is a human characteristic. 2. True art is beauty, inspira- tion and a striving for perfection. It is not necessary to understand it; only necessary to feel it. If it does not speak for us, it is a dumb thing that should never have been. 3. Art is a beautiful fairy tale; the elusive dreams, hopes and yearnings of the mind and heart of the race. It speaks to us, ful- filling in a strange ethereal man- ner the idealized perfection man has been striving for since he first stood upright and gazed on the colorful symphony of the sunrise. 4. There is a standard. When we look upon a picture; gaze with perplexity upon a distorted stone, or hear the incongruous dis- sonance and discord of an alleged musical composition, and find that we are not conscious of other things than color, line, shape and sound, we may be certain that it is not art and that it can lay no claim to greatness. It is a thing within itself and it will die. In conclusion, I wish to bring to your attention the fact that De- bussy's work in impressionism was suggested by a group of friends who were interested in impres- sionistic painting. This type of painting suggests objects by splotches of coloi^ and a hetero- geneous muddle of line and form that is grotesque and insane. De- bussy was too great a musician at heart to produce in music all that impressionistic and idiotic artists produced in their paintings. And I do not class Gershwin with Scriabine, Stravinsky or Shonberg. Foremost and last, my criticism is not persecution nor is it the final word. I may be all wrong and I may change my mind to- morrow, but at present, this is my Jay Brower Master-of-Ceremonies FOX EL CAPITAN San Francisco Fanchon and Marco Route List of "Ideas" Following is the Fanchon and Marco Ideas route schedule, with the opening dates, all of the current month, in pa- renthesis besides tbf> name of the town; PASADENA (9) Colorado Theatre ' 'Peasant'' Idea Diehl Sisters General Ed Lavine June Worth Bert Prival Belcher Dancers LOS ANGELES (9) Loew's State "Manila Bound" Idea Romero Family Stella Royal Harry and Frank Seamon SAN DIEGO (9) Fox Theatre ' 'Ivory'' Idea Alene & Evans Hy Meyer Four High Hatters Gtootz and Duffy Betty Low Webb Christel LeVine and Ted Reicard LONG BEACH (10) West Coast Theatre 'Overtures'' Idea Toots Novelle Harry Rapee Edison and Gregory Iluff'and Huff Helen Hille HOLLYWOOD (9) Egyptian Theatre "Desert" Idea Ed and Morton Beck Muriel Stryker Croploy and Violet Manuel Lopez Caria Torney Girls FRESNO (9-11) Wilson Theatre "International" Idea Frederico Flores Osaka Boys Billy Carr & Mignnn Markel and Faun SAN JOSE (12-15) California Theatre "International" Idea Frederico Flores Osaka Boys Billy Carr & Mignan Markel and Faun SAN riLANOISCO (10) Fox Tueatre "Hot Dominoes" Idea Les Kicks Pall Mall Dexter, Webb and Diaz OAKLAND (10) I'ox Oakland "Uniforms" Idea Armand Ss Perez Joy Brothers Sylvia Shore & Helen Ruth Hamilton SACRAMENTO (10) Senator Theatre "Carnival Russe" Idea Countess Sonia and Sam Linfield & Co. Alex-SherBekefi Doris Nierley SALEM, ORE. (11) Elsinore Theatre "Let's Pretend" Idea rilyou & Rogers Ed Ohaney Lyda Roberti Rita Lane PORTLAND (9) Broadway Theatre "Black and Gold Idea" FourKemmys Maxine Hamilton Arnold Grazer Lee Wilmot SEATTLE (9) Fifth Avenue Theatre "Jazz Temple" Idea Wally Jackson (jus Elmore Nora Schiller Sylvia Doree Temple Beauties VANCOUVER (13) Strand Theatre "Idea In Green" Eddie Lambert Franklyn Record Moran and Weston Way Watts & Armind GREAT FALLS, MONT. (14) Grand Theatre "Baby Songs" Idea Perfny Pennington Rose Valyda Miller & Marx honest opinion. There are over eleven thousand separate tones known to scientists and I am not foolish enough to say that we must cling to only these with which we are familiar. Because I am used to Bach's tempered scale is no reason for me to condemn Pal- estrina's modal harmony. Nor maj-- I rightfully condemn the work of Scriabine or Shonberg, But I may, with all propriety, say that I do not like it and that, in my opinion, it does not come up to the stand- ard of art as established. If you will answer the points set forth above, I will admit de- feat—but I will probably not be convinced. Conviction comes with complete and thorough demonstra- tion. I would first be aroused to some emotion—to some feeling DENVER, COLO. (9) TaLor Grand "For East" Idea Frank Steevr 8 Jacks & 2 Queens Helen Pauchaud Ruth Kadamatsu M. Sanami & Co. Joan Hardcastle Myrtle Gordon Rodney & Gould Al and Hal Brown ST. LOUIS (10) Fox Theatre Art in Taps" Idea Jeanne McDonald Johnny Plank Eddie Lewis and Willa MILWAUKEE (10) Wisconsin Theatre "Types" Idea Trado Twins Cnrlcna Diamond Harold Stanton DETROIT, MICH. (10) Fox Theatre "Drapes'' Idea Frank Melino & Co. Jerome Mann Dorothy Kelly NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y. (10-12) Strand Theatre ' 'Columns'' Idea Rome & Gaunt Billy Rolls Niles Marsh Maxine Evelyn Dorothy Henley UTICA, N. Y. (12-14) "Columns'' Idea Rome & Gaunt Billy Rolls Nilcs Marsh Maxine Evelyn Dorothy Henley WORCESTER, MASS. (10) Palace Theatre "Hollywood Studio Girls" Idea Three Gobs Miles fi Perlee Chas. Rozelle John Vale Lorris & Fermine SPRINGFIELD, MASS. (10) Palace Theatre "Screenland Melodies" Idea David Recce Lucille Iverson Sherry Louise Everts & Lowry Franklin & Warner Jack & Betty Welling HARTFORD, CONN. (10) Capltoi Theatre "Jazz Cinderella" Idea Mae Usher Albert Hugo Roy Rogers Billy Rundall James Gaylord Pauline Alpert Adair & Stewnrt NEW HAVEN. CONN. (10) Palace Theatre "Gardens" Idea Slate Bros. Vina Zolle Moffa and Mae Cliff Nazzaro WATERBURY, CONN. (10) Palace Theatre "Up in the Air" Idea Walter Nilsson Joan Knox Neil Castugneli Laddie La Monte BROOKLYN, N. Y. (10) Fox Theatre "Sweet Cookies" Idea Eva Mandel Roy M. Luomis Jones & Hull Bnhhp Ti>m8on NEW YORK CITY (10) Audubon theatre "Watermelon Blues" Idea Mammy and Her Ted Ledford Picks Louise & Mitchell Southern Steppers PHILADELPHIA, PA. (10) Fox Theatre "Speed" Idea Black Cat Four Cal Norris Parker & Mack Greyhounds Helen Burke ATLANTA, GA. (10) Fox Theatre "Jazz Buccaneers" Idea Eaiilie & Romaine Eddie Rey Chas. Bruggs Helen Warner La Petite Marie I of exaltation by your modern mu- ■ sic before I would admit that my stand is wrong. And my chief argument against that, is that it would be first necessary to re- make human emotions. The world still thrills to the same stimuli that it thrilled to when Schubert was writing melodies. And we will probably sink into the oblivion of a dying world with much the same feelings our ancestors discovered in themselves when they were first aroused by love, hate and grief. I enjoyed your letter very much. If you can write another that will arouse my argumentive spirit as much, I will concede you a big point—this modern music is good for something, after all. Yours sincere friend, (Signed) Jack B. Tenney. WALTER KRAUSGRILL AND HIS MUSIC EL PATIO BALLROOM MARKET AT VAN NESS SAN FRANCISCO Featured at R-K-O THEATRE, Los Angeles, Indefinitely Maddie Madson AND HIS R-K-OLIANS With Thank* to Danny Cairna and Sanford Smallfield