Variety (December 1924)

WcdOtadAy. t>«<:efitber 3i« 1924 ^y KttK T Y 26A |9- f£jrtr«i attrocMMW in pi$harm thtOrmtf whtt nei 'pietanm, uM Urn mbttM mitd dtmrUtwl in ihi» d»partr AMftt #«Mr CA« gmmiHd inf^mmtion of (A« trad:) "SB ■ONRISTMAS" Pr«MnUition Singint, Dancing and Musical Onf Hour; Spaeial Cdieagb, Chicago Chicago, Dec. 2(. Bow to knbck 'em dead with local talent, whet<^er you believe it or not, la illustrated to perfection at the Chicago theatre here In the Christmas feature of the stage pre- sentation program. Whoever staged the show evidently conceived the IdM there Is a lot of embryo pro- ftealonal talent kicking around among children and a scotiting trip to Bever^l. dancing schools of this town proved it. Ten kids, ranging In I age from 6 to 12 (at a guess), were trained for the Christmas week feature. * >H;arry Stoddard j and baod , per- fornved in their staotdacd vaudeville tuiat, ''The Streets of New York," to-open. A news reel flUed ^tweea Stoddard and the regular fea^ur^d or^an number by Mr. aHd' Mrs. Je^se Crawford. The duo played "A Cloister Scene," classical Chriat- maa 'nuntber, . embellished by :a beautiful drop on the stage repre- senting a ebUrch stained gTbss'Wto- do^', ■with appropriate Ij.jghtiitg ef- fects. . At the right a. cut out re- vealed a harpist,' who played-with the Crawfords. ■! •' , Then came the Christmas'feature of' the present'aticn. A hit' Of dim explained the story, ae<;6m|>'anled by the symphony orchestra placing a Christmas carol. The curtain rose on the first scene, "A Street in Nuremburg." It had beeii ex- plained on the screen tb-'. the story to ,foe depicted was ^'A' Waif's Christmas iEve." Before the !'Nu- rettaherg" street drop marched a Oenhan band playing "Holy Night." Behind the band wAllced' a very small child. When the band bad crossed the stage, the child turned, crying, and bumped into a r«aund SMitleman, who had been following along behind. TUis Icindly person learned from the little girl she bad no home jand .(nylted .(^er',to come to his home and .share Christmas with hU little boy. He pidced her up and walked oft slowly/ The street^ drop went up, reveal- ing; bnother beheld It ot an attic bedroom,, in which were a little boy and hi» mother who was put- ting him to bed. The rotund gen- tleman entered with th» little waif, Introduced to the little boy. Then bo^ were put to bbd and cautioned tq/iVo to sleep or Santa Claus wouldn't <«ri8it them. After the papents have left and the children aM bsleep the lights dim and the a^o drop rises. In back of i^ is 9. bcdliant "I'oyiand'' drop, similar to H.Mussiah Balieff scene. The two cbUdren stand in awe of their surroundings. In come two porters carrying a big box, which, when opened, reveals a life sized but limp toy soldier. Aft^r panto- ^ «P6TCR FAN" Prol«« Solo and Baliet 9 MiA«tMi Rivon, New York New Tork, Dec. 2S. John Wenger did the set for this prolog and worked out a highly fantastical atmosphere for the solo and ensemble number that was offered. The soloist is shown clad as "Peter Fan" seated high on a rock with an amber spot shining down on her figure. A host of bright, ' twinkliiig stars are the background in a sky of ligrhter blue and a green moon. All this is behind a transparency in the center ef which a Qoml>ina- tion of rose and gold and blue lights are ■ shot. In the foreKroumf five members Of the ballet finally dis- port themselves after the solo 43 finished. At the conclusion of their number that is lighted entirely trpm the sides another transparency drops : down -as the lights ,are dimmed out and the picture fades In. It is atmbspherio in the extreme- ■ ■■. . "' -..-■, ■■' ■•. FretL ■ MUSICAL ..•>vi -t-.a BcUine comedy business by the.two porters, the Soldier is "wotmd up aid proceeds to give tM clever a routine of contortion tricks and *Hin»oden .soldier" steps aA this writer has ever witnessed. This spmber was one ot the M|r Wowf and the only one which was as g(^ as the numbers whleh the local talent children gave. IVillowlng, four tiny girls came on aM would have stopped the show With their acrobatic dance steps If a^^little colored girl stepper had not ■deceeded thenr immedUtely. TMs dusky mite did a Cakewalk that was nothing lees than a riot. She was followed by a diminutive ballet ot five little girl toe dancers, one of them featured, who continued to wow them- A midget twin sister turn (not local talent) was next and scored with Jass tunes. .Xhen came three little girte, two dressed In bright red bellh<>p unl- fMtffis In an eccentric dance, which iJrtfceded the big hit of the after- liddn, a hula dance and song by a llttl^ Rlrl no bigger than a minute. She put that song Jind ^ance across asi'if she had been in the business for years. Then a full grown dhOriv< and the etitlre compuny of I'b'klds .'ippeared for the fln.tle be- tfitB, a daxijlag drop of silver. ■yPblle they were dancing, two rows FOWLER atMl TAMARA •? .;. '• ganciqa, and Musical , . „«; ,.*■ v' 1'Mlns.i Full (tpecial^^^ " Chicago, Chicago. ' Chleago. Deci |f. - One of th^ best la 'the nuuiy acts Of Spanish an4 Sojuth American atmosphere'4U-e Fowler and Tamara. Ttie mixed team Is acoompanied by foiir troubadours and the turn con- sists of four number^ two Spanish dances by the principals' and two musical numbers by thf trouba- dours- The dancing i^ ^t;eptioiialIy graceful, enhanced by the beautiful special. set ot ttte courtyard of a South American hacienda, with house and balcony in the back- ground. Soft blue lightiag cfTects are effective and complete the illu- sion. This Is .among the better Inter- ludes for presentations and the ^riter suspect*, it was deiigred as an accompaniment for "The Sainted DeviL'' at the Itoosevett here. If not it would make an ex- cellent Interlude In connection with that or pictureii of stmli'ir locale. "MEMORY LANE OF COMEDY" (10) Singing _^'..[ .." , 15 M(ns^; ,Two (Speciat).' Oapitoj, N^w York , '- New York, Deo.'ST. This looks, like a little nickel space-filler, for although the Idea Is grood, it is poorly worked out here. The opening has Pierre nar- rower and the Male 4. doing the "Beautiful Ship from Toyland" number from "F^efly." This In Iti- self is a badly selected quartet num^ ber an-'f&iled to register. Along the same Ifci* either the-"Heidel- berg" sonar from "Priace 6f' Pllsen" or "Pretty As a Flctur^" frdVn "Sweethearts". . would have been better. . , , ... "When Tou're Away" from Her- bert's "The Only Olri" was next With the singer, Florence Mulhol- land, perched high and her pedestal blacked Out. The effect was good and so was her singing, so ft's a passing mark for this' portion. "I'm Falling in Love With jBomt" one" from "N&ughty Marietta" was sung pe*t, by Ava Bomba^jrer and sUng well, 'a* was ^^«ed,.in C(rfonla.l costume and the set was a bench beneath a pretty stage iree. "The Italian Street Song" was played in a lively fashion. Xif the orchestra as an Introduction. Trank- Moulan hag hl« . chance next In the "Chin, Chin, Chinaman" number from "The 3elsha Girl" and he bad a chorus assisting. A. white silk curtain backed the scene and lights were played -upon It beauti- fully, but the song Itself wasn't re- deemed either by Moulan'a fault- less diction or the lights. It lacked melody and lyrics—two fairly 1«9- portant requisites of a song num- ber. Jttst hecause it was a bit once doesn't make it good today *and its lasting powers were proven to, be negligible In spite ot Moulah's hard work. . The whole, thing was given a let down by. the bare staging of the "Modiste" song, "Kiss Me Again," Bung by- lUadys Rice In maid cos- tume. "\T1ie song, howeVer, led nicely into' the picture, wliicb *fM probably the reason for placing it last. The whole presentatiop, however, .wasn't effective because ot the waits between numbers and also because the numbers themselves, with two exceptions, have been pretty well done to death There Is better presentation material in some of the older Frlml and Jacobl operettas than In the material used In this one. BUk. •red and then lighted wHb numerous small white bulbs entwined arouad4* MnAlle^ scale. them. The pleasure which this show gave the growoups in the au- dience Was' tripled for the children, who squealed with delight through- out and kept up a din of applause, ninus the obviously expensive sets for tbis ehoW'at thp Chltitgo, it could be successfully reproduced la smaller theatres, provided chilr- dren of an acceptable degree. of talent could be found. In any event, the appealing Christmas story and a large part of the atmosphere ob- •t fliver tkwel strands were low- talned" in the Chicago production could be reproduced with success bn FtLM REVIEWS ^^Contlnued ffom P»?e 26) woman's . protector than daubing with the brush. ' There are seme fine scenes photo- graphically and .no 4o.ul>( 9ost real money^ , ■ A few of the captions are bad boys, ope ih jj^rtlctillr out of align- ment. ' " ' '. , "Cheap Ki8«0'B"il»» a tjotable cast to help |t move awrtg, ^nil. tibove- air things^ the cnptlv^tlnK] wlnSonife Lillian Wch.- No yonder Pfir.-imobnt g^J^bb#d >l»r.;^ ; - ;.' ■ '■ • Iferlr. - ,^v;;^.;tJlATtElt^';^''' Van' LrfWrt. Dtir*ct«d Vy Tom- Pttrman »Wii iniprr«ls«^.4)r Normwi- .W«»H«>r, i Halt <M liU). at Lipew'n Circle, Jl»w Yor.lt, Nov., yt.. Runs about, Q^ mtas. ' ttorlnnKl Ma'lury.. ;...'..'..... Jotio Bowws Sloano ; •... .Vtrnim . M««rta<»> Arthur BarrlnstOD j. .Alan Hal» Betty BIddle Martuerlte I)«-1.« Motla AlteM' King..........'..'... .Grace Darmond 'i.ii' >l»j.-. mm REVIEWS ntsii ■ ti •♦» V>' II 1^ I !^liAN0 ;'.'f!» 41.' ; . ''H ^^>f ■"'•""■ '' New Vork, Oe*.'W:'••' . Tofd of fhe 'unusual for the New fear's week program, which opened with the how»e orchestra rendering the Slztit Ifungarlan I^hap^ody. Consuming eight minutes, the com- position listened as If Judicious cut- ting would have aided. A brief amount of footage with good wishes paved the way for a scene in "one" which depicted an old English tavern and coach with painted figures, leaving headroom inserts for the singers. The house quartet, two more men and a woman offered '-The Maiden in Grey" and "Brown October Ale" to apprecia- tion. A Pathe short, "The Pride of the Plantation." followed, and was an. interesting deHcrlption of the manner in whicli pineapples reach the consumer from Hawaii. The following presentation held a violon solo and the Strand Ballet Corps, seven, routining in apretUly set dance conception in abont four minutes. This,- in turn, was trailed by the new-s weekly. .^Ahead, of. .p>e .^ture, "Class- mates,". ,w(ui ;plaoed a ;male trio in West,,Po.inf luiiform .singing. "The Laijid ",I Lo.ye^'' ^hich led into an, insert of. a ii.l^ .review of tull dress parade at the .Poliit, and was thence traUeil by the title' of the picture. .,.r.-. •• . fikkf. ^T" •r- ■ In "Flattery" a more digestible mtxtnre of -polities and rbtnJMUte: Is to' he found than usualiy the oase iii pictures et this description. ^ H. Vtis 'lioan' has' wrltteh A'stbrr that has *o startling twists, but h^B'received expeM tfeament tft thtf ^ai)d8 6f Tom Formjiri, th< dlreetUr; and a paYtlrtilariy ijood wist. ■' ' ■ The flhn's chief appeal t» fKiMlo Interest lies In the fact that lis hero is not the usual screen darling, Ddt a ■ -vain and oonceHted asi who doeWt get wise to himself titttll th> last few hyndfed feet A* the fi!udteilce atways Thiows' thlil ft cottOng, the wle ls"'n6vfe^ uhsj^-^ pAthetlo; and a* played by John BbWerx the character Is a relief from the usual .formula.. , ' "Reglnkld ' ttajlorj' ba« beeq .a victim of .flattery. ^MMa ilfe. A« A batiy he has been petted aiid.jj^an^ p^red even more thap the Avera^re Infant. an4 as. a jiin&ll boy he >" mtiA» tbe.r^v^red Ido} of a group of wQrfhIptng youn^ satellite^ Orowiqg to manhood and on thfl threshold of a brilliant career as engineer, he Is sllU too prone to lend a ready ear to those who .v'sh to .praise him. Because of this he is chKisen .to become C^y engineer by a crooked mayor and construc- tion company oflBtcUl who see In his weakness a chance to put over some dirty work on the city. By flattering young Mallory they manage to have their own way for a while. But finally he rtallees their evil designs; and although It means Incriminating hiMself be^ cause of bUr earlier negligence he supT>Hes eviaenee that puts them ibehlhd' the bars. ' ICeanWhAe his gM has etteCtoany ^uretf htm of hU flactfery ebmpiex, and when at the enii ithe <eU;a hhn wond«rtal he aln^bt iitai^ to lieten tq b^r.' There are several cibaret and iprl-vate dance scenes that are well put on. A .scufHe between Bowers 'and Alan HaW, th^ heavy, U of itory quality, but the- aceaes In ^hleh the huge city hall topples to the ground, because ot the rotten cement, are obviously faked. Tlhlter jr" measures up as a rather good pnogram picture be- cause the subject hinted at in the title plays aa Intrinsic part In the story and there has been capable handling. MY HUSBAND'S WIVES Wllllan Fos PraducOon atarrlns Stitrlar Mawm. Script hr Barbara, t* -Karr. Dtnctt-a br Maurtc* flvajr. At potar't litrw York. Nta# Twfc,, on doukla r«*t«r« Mil «rufa flporta Bebaa'a "Oraatnt Vor* ot All'^ Dec l», Runslea tlma^ BS miixuta*. iVrIk Harvet ..: Rhlrley Maaon WllHam Harvey Bryant -Waatitam Marta Wynn.i . go »lr> i Brradt Uadam (JarrasM...... t^aalalta Duval tn^rroundlng i«how. As a r^ult tW. bill contiU^.4 .but a. prolog.,f(i,r the lii(;tnrc (see Presen,tatfen|i>„th»-.ff(fr. ture and'ap "Out of the Inkwell" The eoBMdy entitled "T1»e Storm. tatter is a corking kiddle picture and a wonderful ^election to play^: with a feature of this .sort. : The prolog runs 11 minutes, the" feature an hour and 41 minutes and the comedy 12 minutes, which makes the show Just run over the two-hour limit. Fred. CAPITOL ■ •v,-H^; ' ■• RIVOLI ^,'>'^rr'v! ; -1^ ;''' -';.-'New York, .Deo; 5}C;.^ ,;Bi?th tiif, Rivou, amd the Bialto. thfa week are glvjng the tdentlc*^; bills aiid relying on the feature .;■ r-_,' /C ' ril"- ^C "Peter Pan,:: r4iher ^^^^-^. 9^^ m ^,?SL! ^'^"IJ^^.ZT^''^''^ ^^ New York. Dec. St. • With the Capitol having a race track story of the south, with the title and Its general continuity run- ning to Dixie, the Capitol program fell heir this week to the fanr.illar st-alns of "Dixie." "t id Kentucky Home." 80 on and so forth, and the result woj » genuinely ple:^ied audi- ence. The progr.ani opened with Frank Moulan as rataer Time jtancMng atop a cutout of the world. ,rlshing «■'• rybody a Happy I. v Ye-.r. "P^e Cap'tol orchestra then playetl the • overture from 'Pailst'' and lt<r uiuBlc was finely ->■ orpr ted. Caroline Andrews, in flne voic«« ro ..dered "Caro Nome" from "Rlgo- letto,'v and '.ler rprtster was. fau't- less. The' Capitol balljt Lorps again presented "M,-'r9h oi -ihe T^oys.',. wbich had Us prpml<-*«» ir-it wee'.-, The "'solo' work was excellently danpt . by MVe. Gambarelll. One of the hits et th^ ".luaK^al propri'aai ■w-!.'- the' "Cycle of the South," used ar'.w ifrelude to the feature -film' 'C^he Dixie Handi- cap"), rendered ~iinder picturesque- ' aM colorful btage ' attiioapheree' Singers pleased wHh "Old Black: Joe"' .-uid "Kentucky Home," while .Colored iKyysAanoed and eight wliite • gists, added light terpsfaehovean eft piM was capably wta&ed. ....^ ; This cycL^, wi|ul4 have, .bfea-^ wortby feature e^e,A if r.oi tied iif^ with, the' piatns^rieiV; Ceatur*. > ., khow that a name very similar to that was very much In her life at one time. Possibly Miss La Marr intended "My Husband's Wives" to be played seriously, but it she in- temied It as comedy, then the director flopped iw trying to get effect over on the screen, and It was the only treatment that tlte Story should hayft;had'. ' lAa » 'picture "My ' Husband's 'i^^lyes". does not .mean very much. It-Is a little, plotiu'e and utilized aa it was in the NeW York's'dopWe feature bili^.it isuQlced. It isn't strong ^().ugh.,tB.f taDd'l^ejf hv ai^y. thing except,, tl),^'smallest houseq. The story is that of a girl whoi marries a divorced man but insists that he should hot tell him ahy- thlng-'about his first wife, mention her name or who she was at tyiy- ttme. After her honeymoon sh( in-, rftea a^ (o^er Adiopl chum to visit her. 'I'he cJgMilb the former wife and she jWff ' 'Ith malice afore- thoUght,.(Jeterm(ned to win back i^(;t former hU8l>and if possible. In the end however the little wife proves too much for her.' iTie idea coiild have been worked out as corking comedy material but as it now stands It Isn't anything. The thref girls all do wellenot^h, but Bryant 'Washburn as the hus- band Bhould make It a point never to wear.a,:moustache on the ecreen. The one he wore in this picture was terrible. f%t picture, looks as though It had been ground put Jurt as one of the Pox program fillers and let Vo it that. FfeS: I ■■■'"'af .''""*' I fTtriiaa'-^-'""^''- ^ Barlhira La Marr wrote this story, possible from personal experience fur it seems to be more than a CO' incidence that she should bave ap- plied the name of Mario 'wynn.to one of ber characters and made that chnroctav a particularly .catty i^ne. Tbose who are more or lesx, fumiUar wUb Miss La llarr's life history Comin' Thro' the Rye Hepirorth TroHaitltin ni*J» Is lBng1a««. ptMwa t* lavNad aaUlaMairt WuUtsex Moll DM. 10. .J4o.4Ualr«eatle% sfrSBS^. .|l«ft-, minf nma 9» ntUiatea ._. , < ■■ ., -. , *-.,.. HePYOrth'of iBihfi;u!^4 t« i-eHpoA-^ sible for tbte >l0tur»- ,Th«'X<9il4»a notices (i. the «aU#'prWw or WiM' city we^e c<>Pra4J>'<^ ^ ^f^ *^ handed to the Americaq fe«le#^f as tbey ent^ed the btJU. XtM Qpf- Ush notices were lauOatorr I9 t^ extreme. After viewing the piictHre It must be sfat<^ that' fr^ias the American viewpoint and the com- mercial end of. the picture huslness the London reviewers must know even less thAf our own New Tork dally paper reviewers pn the value of a picture, at least for the Amer- ican market. To auote the London , '<I>ally News": "This picture . . . wUi apr peal to Americana . ..^ Just as their ow;n "nie Cpyered >^*g(m'. abd ''War Pow'ii ETasT^p^at (o uH" Possibly tb? person who arrang^ the folder Fuay-have t(tke^ ,aome liberties .wf(th..the exact review la the lA/udon papet; if ih»y 4td not {t\pt\ it m*ii*t. 1m> >»ald tiiat thu jLon- doa -reviewer *A t^ "liayy , Mail'' must be off hi.<) nut In bis ..Ideas.a* to what' will app^ti to America^./ "C^taip' Thi^',,Uio fty^'; as A ptt- ture is Juftt, as, jjnpnh a p|icture tu the aver^ic^ ^/jglUih ft6<fy<fl\«n wai, back in .1812 wh^ the^ wa^e t>»ln'^ distrlluited li^ this country through Mutu.U. TYipy hiv^n'f ad^Tiricbd a bit. The baadilog of the stocr >^- wretched, the story Itself belne. worse than that; the photography is ^'' bad and^ the cameraman certainly showed that It Is easy to take a darn. goad-lookli\g Juvenile, as in tbe ease of Ralph Foitbea and make him look hie' worst At0|p of that the picture Is a cos- >, tume. piece laid in -the period of the etirJy fifties, which is enough to con- demn It la American eyes. ,., With the .Kn^ish cl^imorlng (o get into the American market U seoma' lurprl^iing; that they woqld not'edu- ^it|;e thems^lvles in (tiq p)ttim pro? - ducing field and ^ceHain Vhat li wanted', certainly' (hif example, ot-. i)i'«ductIon Is not what will seii'dn. (his illde Of thf Attantld. ' The picture I9 draggy. It is shot principally in exterior scenetf un'Ul it gives the impression English muiV lite in thei^ gardens. The photog^T raphy W what might be teroled foggy almost through th« pietui'e'- hnd the actord vmik rl|[ht up td the camera as In the old days and make faces at U, showliig plainly they have too much m&ke-iip on. Rspeolally true or the men. "The story concerns an ugly duck- ling of a family becoming betrothed to a man who waa once- tricked by Of girl. Tfte latter, however, has not given up hope, of winning him and tlirough her scheming the existant engagement is broken off and the hero and heroine parted. The schemer wins the hero and they livf unhappily ever afterward, Finally the closing scene of the picture shows the berolne reading, a lettsr that her beloved has died as a brave sokller on the field of action. The storx could Just as well have been mOMrnlaed. Ther« w.is no reason te plant it back tn'the Vlc- torlan,«ayf, bu^' ft»r fotiM reasdn er ot^ac the, SntWsh »roduoer pre« ferred to keep it there:' Is jW«»*<«raed It hasn't a chane« .There 4a hardly a possib<Uty it will ^^^erirtt W lA the^te rigftu field. mijol W}mh the Hstpwofrtha wotH« have a hard time to get their money. ■ ■ U S " A^'^^ 't^ Inyder in bKarge en Caast Los Angeles, D«c. 27, -B( 8aj(d(;r arrived here from N York thU week to take over Mf past eC western director of puMietty aad adwerUsIng for First National eWkjrder wiU make his headquiHr« ten at the United Sttn^ioa He la .talitag the poirfUon Yormeriy held *y Malcolm 8 iloyiaa. ^.,- '■ .Walter .Riyers reauUns (r^ cijai'ge of the liubliclty for we' Colteen iMoore unit.' '• -■■;-".-" =teaa GOi^ru F^ O it-^1^9% t%\>vff&rx6mt • kTbOtTATTOMi '