Picture-Play Magazine (Sep 1928 - Feb 1929)

Manhattan Medley 61 In Again, Out Again. Sue Carol is in the position of the young lad}' who came right in, turned around and went right out again. She arrived in New York at ten thirty one morning, and by noon she was a passenger on board the Leviathan, bound for a holiday abroad. Accompanied by her mother, she will roam over the capitals of Europe, with mayhap more than a glimpse of Nick Stuart, and will return after several months to resume what is technically known as her career. George Arliss Reappears. The same liner, on the return journey, brought George Arliss to these shores to appear in a Vitaphone dialogue picture. Arliss signed his contract in England, in the London office of the Warner Brothers. The picture, which will in all probability be made on the Coast, will undoubtedly be one of his famous character sketches. The Loneliest Man on Broadway ? Mammy ! Al Jolson is at home in his apartment in the Ritz Tower, fourteenth floor. He is denying his engagement to Ruby Keeler, answering the telephone, fiddling with the radio, bursting into song, munching sandwiches, and talking of Hollywood. "What a strange country that is. You've simply got to accept invitations, or right away you are in bad. It's hard on the beauty sleep, but you have a swell time. And how you work — like a steam engine, day and night. Honest I think I'm real good in 'The Singing Fool.' In 'The Jazz Singer' I had one of those ready-to-wear roles. A monkey could have played that part, and did!" But Jolson will tell you that with all his popularity, his financial success, and the contracts that are dangled before him, he's the loneliest man on Broadway — so lonely, oh, so lonely, no kiddin' — just a case of being all dressed up and no place to go — no place to go, that is, where anybody cares, and he changes the subject abruptly, "Well, anyhow I'm sailing for Europe next week." The Beloved Fannie. Fannie Brice once sang, "I'm an awful bad woman, but I'm awful good company." And now she has been transferring her amiable personality, her amusing caricatures, and her inimitable interpretations of melancholy songs to the Vitaphone. You'll hear, as only Miss Brice can sing them, "Second-hand Rose," "My Man," "Florodora Baby," "I'm an Indian," and the rest of them. With the completion of the film "My Man," voluble Fannie chose New York for her happy hunting ground, but not before she had already trans ferred "Mrs. Cohen at the Beach" to the talking drama. Irving Berlin Captured by the Talkies. Irving Berlin has been bitten by the talkies. "Say It With Music" is the title of a story he is writing for Harry Richman. He is preparing not only the story, but the lyrics, musical score and the songs, and although the theme deals with the romance of a Tin Pan Alley pianist, Berlin insists it is in no sense biographical. In addition to his multitudinous activities, Berlin avows he will also superintend the production at the Cosmopolitan studio in NewYork. Apropos of Broadway, George White himself is taking a flyer in the films. He has this to say: Bebe Daniels couldn't find anything in her contract to prevent her flying to New York, so she did! Joe E. Brown, the circus kid who became a Broadway star, is now in the movies for good. "The age of mechanics is upon us. I see in synchronized films a great future. It will eliminate temperamental actors, who, after their work in the films is concluded, can go their way without vexing me at each and every performance. I plan to make only a few talking films a year, and will in this way have considerable time for vacation without being tied nightly to the job of watching my plays. Also it will give me the opportunity of presenting my work to untold millions of playgoers in every hamlet in the country, instead of only the key cities, as now obtains with my 'Scandals.' " On the other hand, we have Herbert Brenon, a dyed-in-thewool picture veteran, who is adamant in his stand against them, but he suddenly cut short his equally sudden visit to New York, occasioned by the serious illness of his mother, and we have yet to elicit his exact views on the subject. The Kid Grows Up. As the boy grew older, he took to vaudeville, meaning Jackie Coogan, of course, who, in silk hat and striped trousers and a Continued on page 117