Publix Opinion (Mar 19, 1928)

“THE WEDDING MARC y VON STROHEIM’S BEST By Julian Erich von Stroheim’s genius has always been demonstrated in almost flawless delineation of human character, and in this respect “The Wedding March,” which is now nearing editorial completion, is unquestionably the finest work he has ever done. In the work of all great dramatists and novelists, plot has| been a secondary consideration, | for humanity transcends any set of circumstances which ingenuity ean contrive. In ‘Blind Husbands,” his first work to attract! general attention, Von Stroheim | startled the picture world by a| group of ;characters so real that | they might have been the obser| ver’s next-door neighbors. In “The Wedding March” he has re-} turned to the locale and the people he knows so well—aAustria, | the Vienna before the war; and | the decadent aristocracy in con-|| trast to the workaday citizenry of } Franz Joseph’s capital. Perhaps the finest criticism the | great new picture has received is the observation of one man, who} said, after seeing the film for the first time, “I feel as if I had} known these people ‘all my life!” | “The Wedding Mareh”’ is per-| haps the finest dramatic docu-} ment, in all that it is the truest, ever shown on Viennese life. Here we have, not the observations of an interesting literary outsider, but the observations of a talented and observing man who was. part of at life himself. As. Balzac} wrote of the France of his time, and as Conrad writes of the sea, so Von Stroheim has written and re-created the brilliant, sordid, tragic, comic, utterly human Vien ' } tn Mother Trained Janet Sisters Sing and Dance | | bs The Janet Sisters | Harmony and dance, grace and poise, are terms synonymous| with the Janet Sisters, who are} appearing in C. A. Niggemeyer’s) stage show, “Red Hot} Capers” at the........ Theatre. | Trained by their. mother from} early childhood, these two beau| tiful girls dance in perfect) rhythm and their voices blend in) a sweet harmony. The Jazz Devil in the production beams} with delight when he sees the! Janet Sisters dance and sing. | In the same show are Clifton | & DeRex, Hutchings & Hollo-| way, Helen Kennedy, and the} Gould Dancers. Publix famous Bill Powell a Star | Los Angeles, Mareh 18th. | William Powell is being promot el to stardom by Paramount. His first ‘picture will be ‘The Canary Murder Case,’ which Mal St. Clair will direct. Johnson na of 1914. One feels that his characters “‘belong,’’ as the characters of Dr. Arthur Schnitzler belong, in Wis great stories. And thanks to Von Stroheim’s power and perception in direction, his actors become not mere figures in a make-believe, but living people of the hour. Greatest of all is Fay Wray, in her delineation of Mitzi, daughter of a wistful, humble old musician and his coarse, shrewish wife. Mitzi, destined to tragedy by the hopelessly erossed strains in her parentage, and by the sordidness of her surroundings, is an absolute creation in Fay Wray’s hands—a tender, beautiful, pathetic child of the | people; in acting a triumph that would make famous any woman on the stage. However, Miss Wray’s is a performance which no actress on the English-speaking stage could surpass today, in all probability. Von Stroheim himself, emerging from sheer and mere villainy, | plays a complex character who is ‘half rouce and half Hamlet—he | too, is a victim of his ancestors and his surroundings, and when fate crosses the lives of Nicki and Mitzi it\is for the one great mo | ment of exaltation and beauty that is ever to come into the lives of either. And they are left— memories. Superb performances by Matthew Betts, Maude George, George Faweett. Zasu Pitts and the late George Nichols round out the picture. The settings, the atmosphere and the whole‘ general feeling of the picture are faultless. “RED HOT CAPERS” PROGRAM PUBLIX ‘THEATRES presents “RED HOT CAPERS” Devised and Staged by Cc. A. NIGGEMYER (1) BLACK-OUT (2) “SO TIRED” played by and the Stage Orchestra With Gould Girls (3) JANET SISTERS (4) HUTCHINGS & HOLLOWAY Harmony Harmonisist (5) played by ————and the-——————__—_———Stage Orchestra (6) COCKTAIL SHAKE Gould Girls (7) HELEN KENNEDY (8) CLIFTON & DEREX (9) “DREAM KISSES” Sung by Helen Kennedy Gould Girls in Butterfly Dance Settings by Leo Stahr Costumes by Lester Special Musie and Lyrics by CHARLES WILKINSON General Musie Director NATHANIEL FINSTON Spare Tires Helped Manager T. Y. Walker made fifteen discs! carrying copy about “Sadie Thompson” playing at the Publix Noble Theatre, Anniston, Ala spare tires of fifteen automobiles belonging. to business men. The fact. that fifteen business men in a small town should carry advertising materia] on their cars was sufficient to insure the picture of a better than ordinary rating. The box office figures bore out this statement. These dises were placed on the | PUBLIX OPINION, WEEK OF MARCH 19ru, 1928 Born Same Day But Not Twins Probably the chief reason for the perfect team work in the dancing of Joé Wallace and Joe Cappo, currently appearing at the mba acy Theatre in the Publix stage show “Pagoda Land,” is the fact that they were both born on the same} day and in the} despite the fact that they are not twins and had not even known each) other until sey-| en years ago. The two boys were born on May 4,.1901, in New York City. | Cappo got his first stage start | with Joseph E. Howard, composer of popular song hits and well known musical comedy star. Wallace made his first appearance | in vaudeville. } Seven years ago the boys joined forces as a team and since | that time have been achieving great success in %& vaudeville and ¥* in musical comedy. They appeared in vaudeville with |} Lina Basquette, {recently selected as a Baby |Wampus _ star, and who before jentering pictures had been a Zieg feld “Follies’’ favorite Among the Broadway musical productions | in. which Wallace and Cappo danced were ‘‘Le Maire’s Affairs’ and “Sweetheart Time.” | Students Wrote Essays| | As “Gaucho” Tie-up Manager Earle M. Holden in vited the English classes of the |High School to write essays on i**The Gaucho” which was playing lat the Publix Florida Theatre Daytona Beach, Fla This stunt proved quite effec Joe Wallace Joe Cappo tive as many students had never heard of The Gaucho and came down to the theatre obby to look over the paper. |} The parents were interested jand the students talked it up for | jall they were worth. The contest | started plenty of word-to-mouth jadvertising that resulted in enor ) mous business for the picture. Re At “FIND LINE” CONTEST | GOOD “CIRCUS” STUNT Manager James 0. Cherry tied jup with the Dallas Times-Herald | eo a “Find the Line” contest that | |proved to be a good advertising stunt for Charlie Chaplin in “The 'Cireus’”’ at the Publix Melba Theaitre, Dallas, Tex. The newspaper announced the jstunt for two days on the front jpage and then ran daily a 3 coljumn x 10” ad explaining the conitest in detail. . Each line in the \circle in the ad could be found in jthe Classified Ads on the Classi \fied Pages of the newspaper. Here is an example:—-This line, ‘Police | puppies, marked beauti—”’ is | from this ad, ‘Police puppies, Unit Show C PAGODA LAND: placing ‘‘Pekin Troupe.” TICK TOCK: in Indianapolis. In St. Louis they are being replaced by In Skouras Bros, locally. Kansas City and Chicago they are replaced by MOR TON & MAYO. FROHMAN & GARY are out of this unit: in Kansas City, same year, this | a y | Whiteman Back ) land |rounded by GUS MULCAY joins this show at Buffalo, March 24th, re AL and GUSSIE BLUM finish unit theatres. For. Paramount by | Announcement was made Sam Katz, President of Publix Theatres, this week of the book of Paul Whiteman and his| for the Paramount beginning Saturday, | ing orchestra Theatre Mareh 3lst The perennially popular his orehestra will be suran elaborate stage spectacle with special additions of costuming, scenery and talent. | The Whiteman engagement at the Paramount will be for three | weeks with a complete and elaborate new production each week. | Work is now going forward at the Paramount in constructing and planning the scenic investiture and in engaging the talent for the first Whiteman show which is to bear the title “‘Rain bow Rhapsody.” Columbus Gets Cowen Larry Cowen, formerly adver Paul | | tising man at the Alabama, Birm| ingham, has been engaged by | Loew's in the same capacity for their new Ohio Theatre in Colum-|! bus which opened March 16. The Ohio Theatre plays the Publix productions : ,marked beautifully, 6 weeks old; must sell at once; $15 and $20.’ Contestants were required to/ find the ads in which each of the lines in the circle appeared. | | Then copy the ads and the lines, or cut them out—indicating which | line goes in which ad and send |cured about 900 the solution to the Contest Edi| tor of the newspaper. An announcement at the top of the ad mentioned in bold type |that Charlie Chaplin in THE CIR 1CUs | ten tickets each day to the Melba started Saturday and that Theatre would be given to the first ten, persons solving the solution. han replaced by JOHN MAXWELL, BAYES & SPECK are out of this unit in Chieaga, replaced by JOHN MAXWELL. HAPPY GO LUCKY: In Kansas City, March 23rd, HINES & SMITH replace Lamberti, GEMS: VAN & SCHENCK replace BURNS & KISSEN for three weeks in Chicago, ’ Prena Beach, sensational acrobatic dancer warming up in her dressing room before two of show’s beauties. This special picture ges. Note ’Em And Fil TREASURE § “YOU'VE BEEN I'VE BEEN Seng and Manager W. use in conneet : tising of Clara Boy Man” at the tre, St. Pete These rings wi lopes which conta ing, “GIRLS!--it GET YOUR show you h Feb. §——6,” al ri AL & GUS! this unit for fou ing in Angeles, TOMMY on ft ie