Inside facts of stage and screen (February 14, 1931)

Saturday, February 14, 1931 INSIDE FACTS OF STAGE AND SCREEN Page Seven VANCOUVER, B. C. A. 14. MacMartisi REPRESENTATIVE 901 Bekins Bldg. PORTLAND, ORE. Art Rogers REPRESENTATIVE 414 Third St. SEATTLE, Feb. 12.—Vic Meyers Orchestra is raising air current ex- citement with hot and sweet tunes that are easy on the ears and tempt- ing to the toes of KJR listeners. Meyers broadcast dominated the 11-12 midnight hour in Seattle. KOMO offered a delightful hour of orchestral selections which in- cluded Zita trillion and Frank Leon, piano duo; Arn-je Hartman, accord- ianist; Helms and Harkins, two tuneful vocalizers; Veona Secolof- sky, Fred Linch and Perdein Kors- mo, vocalists. A male quartet and ensemble rounded out this enter- taining half-hour. Ken Stuart's Thirty Minutes of Sunshine is one of the highlights of KJR. In addition to his humorous talks, his sportlights are creating considerable favorable talk among radio tans. Loren Davidson, singer of KJR is gaining favor with every broadcast. Loren has shown such a interest- ing variety of numbers that the dial- ists keep on the lookout for these broadcasts. The latest report is that Loren Davidson has received an offer to igo to Hollywood to do voice doubling for a famous star. Helms and Harkins are KOMO- ing down the hay while the sun shines, winning new followers with each appearance. Olive Reynolds was an outstand- FOLLIES OF 1931 _ SEATTLE, Feb. 12.—A1 W. Gil- lis’ Follies of 1931 opened at the Follies Theatre, Thursday. Feat- ured in the cast is Slade “Mike” Taylor, the Irish comic. In addition to the revue a first run feature pic- ture is also presented. The prices for the engagement are fifteen, twenty-five and thirty-five. The new organization drew good attendance on the opening day. The Will King Company recently con- cluded a run at this house. The Follies Theatre was redecor- ated for the opening of the Gillis show and the first attraction was “What A Night.” Farce comedies with a change of bill every week will be the policy. BACK TO PLAYHOUSE SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 12.— Players’ Guild will return to its old home, the Community Playhouse, opening about March IS with re- vivals of the classics. ing feature of the Tuesday broad- cast over KJR. KJR, Seattle, Robert Munson: Received your subscription to In- side Facts. You know where to find the latest and best. Betty Anderson, soprano of KJR is another ether artist whose ap- pearances are causing widespread comments on her ability. An interesting discussion between Norman Sonju and A1 Oulbrickson over KOL took place presided over by Joe Robertson of the Seattlight. The Orpheus’Ensemble compris- ing Betty Anderson, soprano; Mar- shall Sohl, tenor; Jan Naylor, cello; and Harold Strong, piano; have a pleasing arrangement and good se- lections that draw the discriminating air fans to KJR with enthusiasm. Vancouver _ By A. K. MacMARTIN _ VANCOUVER, Feb. 12.—Three days of heavy fog took its toll at the b. o’s. during the current stanza. It was so thick car-drivers did not venture out and the pedes- trians were few. The British Guild Players did so well with “Charlie’s Aunt” at the Empress they are running it a second week to good returns. M-G-M’s "New Moon” is build- ing at the Capitol with the return of fair weather. With a flash front for U’s, "The Cohens and Kellys in Africa” the .Strand is holding up following its four weeks of plugged big feat- ures. The R-K-O Orpheum with four vaude acts headlined by Joe Browning, and Clara Bow in "No Limit” as screen fare is up over the previous week. The smaller down-town houses with lower top jare pulling fair business, while the suburban contingent are doing bet- ter on the average than any other class. T. RAWLS PIANO ACCORDIAN ARTIST Open for Radio and Club Dates Call Inside Facts for Information Artistic Scenic Advertising Curtains By Far the Best in America CURTAIN PRIVILEGES ^ BOUGHT FOR CASH OR SCENERY Chas. F. Thompson j Scenic Co. 1215 Bates Avenue Phone OLympia 2914 Hollywood, Calif. A. A. Milne’s “The Perfect Alibi" is being staged , by the Lit- tle Theatre Association at their house the current stanza. Vancouver City Council is ap- pointing a censor for Sunday Con- certs. Rowland’s Band runs a se- ries during the winter months at the Strand including instrumental soloists and vocal numbers. When representatives of the. students Frat at the University of B. C. ap- plied for a license to hold a Sun- day concert in aid of the fund they are raising to build a Stadium some members of the Council objected to some “pop” vocals featured on the bill with the. result that it was de- cided that all programs for future Sunday events be censored. A seat sale has been in progress at the Vancouver theatre, (which is dark with the exception of a few sundry local events), for Se- attle engagement of the Chicago Civic Opera Co., which opens in that city for three days on March 9. Cl!!” IIS TOP MOREY FOR SEATTLE, Feb. 12.—The high- light of the week came to the Or- pheum with “Cimarron” drawing in a maner that kept out serious com- petition from other houses. This show came in with flying colors and will undoubtedly pull business up into the big money. The Vaudeville section had Joe Browning in the top position, the Kikutas and Gallo and Tisen following. Fox Fifth Avenue was next in boxoffice returns with “The Royal Family of Broadway” with Ina Claire, Frederic March. Mary Brian and Henrietta Crossman featured in the cast. Owen Sweeten and his Band were “In China” this week, with clever oriental atmo- spheric arrangements throughout. Sweeten’s popularity was proved again by that old reliable gauge, the box office. At the . Paramount Theatre Jack Oakie in the ‘‘Gang Buster” had a fairly decent week, Hermie King and his concert orchestra were played up heavily in the billing, and gave a fine brand of entertainment with their “Operatic Bouquet.” Fox Theatre with a twenty-five cent ad- mission scale till seven p. m. had a fair week with Edmund Lowe in “Men On Call.” “Fighting Caravans” premiered Thursday at Fox Fifth Avenue. The Coliseum manages to hang on with its fifteen-cents-at-any-time policy. Barbara Stanwyck in “Illicit” was the attraction at Warner Brothers Music Box. The Blue Mouse had “Aloha,” a weak attraction. “For the Love o' Lil" held the screen at the Liberty Theatre. - Spokane By CHET COOK SPOKANE, Feb. 12—The Ava- lon has discontinued its stage show and line of girls and is now run- ning oil a straight picture policy. This leaves the Majestic with the only in-the-fiesh entertainment in town. The Orpheum previewed “Cimar- ron” at a midnight show to a good house. Pre-view was pre- ceded by a dinner-dance at the Davenport. Big time exploitation for this town. Ganci Brothers Exhibit of a work- ing model of the Holy Land has been pulling good business into the Georgia St. Auditorium for the past two weeks at a SO cents top. The R-K-O Orpheum bill goes on the air each Monday from 7:30 to 8:00 over CKWX a Vancouver station. H. E. BILLHEIMER SCENIC CONSTRUCTION CO. SPECIALIZING IN BUILDING SCENIC PRODUCTIONS FOR LEGITIMATE THEATRES 6122 Salem PI. HOlly 0738 Hollywood, Calif. Will Maylo.il. sometime thea- trical ' manager,■ actor and director, is managing a marathon dance due to start soon. Due to stringent no Sunday dancing laws,: contest will be called “Walkathon.” Location has not yet been chosen but man- agement may decide on the Audi- torium Theater. “THE SHANGHAI GESTURE” MOORE THEATRE SEATTLE Florence Reed has been playing to packed houses at the Moore Theatre in Seattle this week. Not only does she play the part of Mother Goddam—she is practical- ly the whole show, for Mother Goddam is the Shanghai Gesture. Mother Goddam is a Chinese harlot whose establishment traffics every kind of vice. She speaks English with a strong French ac- cent and Chinese intonations. Her voice is metallic and often shrill. She is cruel, evil and at times vul- gar. Yet she is consistently a lady. She is a she-devil in a beau- tiful shell, yet one’s sympathy is entirely with her. Only once does she betray the woman—entirely feminine, entirely helpless, and then only for an instant as she confesses in a small voice, "When I was very young, I died.” Mother Goddam is Chinese to the marrow of her bones. She loves and hates with an intensity that Anglo-Saxons cannot under- stand. When she was very young and a Manchurian Princess, an Englishman, Sir Guy Charteris, be- trayed her and at the same time married an English girl. In his terror Sir Guy sold the Chinese girl to the slave market. Through superhuman effort she lived, while all the wretched sing-song girls about her died. She lived and planned and schemed a perfect re- venge upon the man who was . re- sponsible for her hideous exist- ence. For twenty years she fought and struggled. The scenes of “The Shanghai Gesture” take place on the night when her plans have been perfected. For Mother God- dam now has all of Shanghai in the hollow of her tiny, oyster- white hands—police, government officials, attaches—and she has planned a dinner party to which the cream of Shanghai society Tas been bidden, and Sir Guy Char- teris, who has forgotten his youth- ful philanderings—-and the Man- churian Princess whom he ruined is to be honor guest. Bizarre as the plot and settings are, the store' is convincing. There are no theatrical dotted lines and dashes to hide unpleasant* words. A spade is called a spade and a strumpet is called a strumpet. And Miss Reed as a lady of pleasure, a Manchurian Princess, a she-devil and a woman with a broken heart, is superb. John W. Moore, who has been given so many feeble parts this season, was an excellent Prince Oshima. I am glad they have given him an opportunity to show what he could do. Ruth Lee did several good emo- tional bits and Jack Paige, as Sir Guy, dropped into another difficult part with ease and versatility. The rest of the cast was disappointing as a background, but there isn’t a dull moment in the whole play. “The Shanghai Gesture” is mor- bid, shocking and tragic. Ruth. RKO THEATRE SEATTLE (Reviewed Feb. 9) The packed house came pre- pared to go for the picture and re- mained to include the three act vaude line-up in its loudly demon- srtated approval. The bill pushed off with the Kikutas, Japanese hand->to-hand balancing troupe in a series of sure fire tricks. Joe Browning got by neatly with his well known brand of clown- ing. There are plenty of old time chair warmers who would appreci- ate a few new angles on Browning's spiels. His gag parson is still cash- ing in on the chortles, but a little new material would build up the act to better proportions. Paul Tisen and Norma Gallo of- fered sob-tunes and hot stuff that clicked. The Gallo dancing was heavy in poundage and featured competent execution, of standard line of splits and cartwheels. The string quartet put across their tunes to good results. The warb- ling boy with the guitar stood out with a melodious voice. The picture was RKO’s “Cimar- ron.” Dorothy. SLIPPER CLOSES SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 12.— Silver Slipper Cafe went down for the final count Sunday nignx when the Board of Trade closed the night spot following several months of bad busiriess. Place still owes Bun- ny Burson’s band about a grand in salary. FREASE’S THEATRE VALLEJO, Feb. 12. — Phil Frease, former San Francisco book- er, has taken over a vacant store building and is converting it into a theatre. House', called the Com- munity, will open about March 20 with RKO, U. A. and other pic- tures. Will operate on a 25-cent top, running competition to the two Fox theatres. Seats about 400. FILM row cuttings... Following are recent theatre changes: Unique Theatre t by Popkins, Robbins and Lasher; Rimpau Theatre taken by R. D. Whitson; Lyric Theatre, i-ong Beach, by Shack and Goldberg; Colonial Theatre at Orange re opened under the management of Thompson and Mills; Ambassador Theatre taken by Hines; Mission Theatre at Solvang taken by Al- partner of Robbins. LIDO OPENING The Lido, formerly the Breakers, at Santa Monica, is opening n week with an Abe Lymian band. SAVE HALF! SPECIALISTS IN PERMANENT WAVING—FINGER WAVING FASHION PERMANENT WAVE CO., Inc. SEATTLE—Phone Elliot 3414 TACOMA — Phone Main 5335 JESSE WALLY New Telephone TU. 6693 THEATRICAL FABRICS AND TRIMMINGS OF EVERY DESCRIPTION 730 So. Los Angeles St. LOS ANGELES, CAL. VILLAGE INN HOTEL One Block from Fanchon and Marco’s Office Making Special Low Theatrical Rates Wire, Write, Phone for Reservations 5724 Sunset Blvd. Hollywood, Calif. Telephone HO. 4735 SEE THE NEW CHEVROLET CONVERTIBLE CABRIOLET ON DISPLAY AT GORDON WARREN FRIENDLY SERVICE Phone GR. 2181 5950 Hollywood Blvd.