Variety (July 1925)

l*-'.wl,-m^' r-'tt■/».■>, ,J»r»"lrt„*J5l. -j'irrmsRVf,': 40 VARIETY Legitimate ^■; -^;-n^tn7«Bpf>R- is^-a^^Jtn ""HU r?«*wu»-:. ■^^r Virednetdity, JUI7 8, 1928 ^ INSIDE STUFF OS LBOIT (Continued from page tO) ~ country la somethins: for Mr. White and the other Indepen^lenls to con- sider, whatever theatrical branch they may be In. This barrine Variety for a »tory or a notice Is a allly procedure. Time only can tell whether Variety la correct on a notice, and time will alao inform Mr. White aa well as the others who may watch it. The laat production of "The Scandals" made by White received a fine notice In Variety, away over that of "TTie Paaatnff Show," produced the •ame week by the Shuberts. Mr. White didn't "blacklist" Variety for that good notice, but Jake Shubert would have bad his brother not beaten him to it by that time. Now J. J. has put on his "ArUsts and Models," and a^aln the same week as White produced his "Scandals." "Artists and Models'* is so far beyond "Scandals" there Is no comparison tn performance, production cost or salary list. So that makes it evens as well between J. J. and Oeorge. The only other around who should be in on this is Zieggy. in news, it sold many more papers than the average circulation shows. On one day, it was declared, the circulation went to 1,117.000, the highest It has ever attained and the first time it has shot so far over the million mark on a week day. The season of open air opera in Atlanta, probably one of the most expensive ever put on there aside from the St. Louis Munlc^al Opera, Is not meeting with ftnanclal success. The project is t>acked by Asa Candler of Coca-Cola fame and is said to have been estimated at 1100,000 for (our weeks. Robert Pitkin, comedian, and Louise Hunter, of the Metropolitan Opera Company, are the leads. Reports that Stark Young would devote his attention to other things on the New Torfc "Times" and his chair as dramatic critic be assigned to another are unfounded. Toung best likes esthetics, whatever that meana but he will continue as dramatic critic for the"Tlmes" at least another year. Rufus Le Malre's proposed revue, "Oreenwlch Village Scandals," which (oes into rehearsal this week, will contain the overflow material pruned from "Artists and Models" dropped after the opening in New Haven. Frank Sullivan, the "World" reporter who was put on F. P. A.'s "Conning Tower" column during the latter's vacation and honeymoon in Europe, made such a success of the Job that he will write Heywood Broun's "It Seems to Me" column during Broun's vacation. Sullivan has for some time been a special reporter and rewrite man on the "World" and recently began contributing stuff to the Broun column. Some of It was 80 funny that Broun occasionally let Sullivan fill his columns. In handUng the "Conning Tower" column. Sullivan cut away from F. P. A.'s seml-hlghbrow and personaJ plug methods and ran flocks of laugh stuff that gained him many personal readers. Several newsstand dealers in the Times square section said that the SulUvan stuff wac looked up by readers, and if not In the itaper they didn't buy it. Broun has not relinquished his Sunday theatrical column called "Seeing Things at Night," but since stopping as dramatic critic, he "apparently has not been reviewing plays at all, since his Sunday column deals with gen- eralities of the theatre Instead of the new productions^. The opening In London of Molnars "The Quardsman" was afreeted in spite of the friendly protest on the part of Hans Bartscb. The piece had been a failure in this country before, and also in America, owing to improper adapUtion. Bartsch demurred against the anglicising by Seymour Hicks of the present successful version in New York, the actor over-rldlng Bartsch by saying he knew London better than the play broker and that things would be all right. The opening night proved Hicks to be wrong, but the show has now been cut and quickened in the hope of saving It from failure. The trouble with the performance on the opening night was that all the sparkle had been deleted. Hicks going up in his lines and being unaccustomed to a coat of armor he wore, which interfered with his movemenU. "The Mirror" floated in 1923 aa a weekly tabloid in Toronto with the hone of expanding into a dally, has suspended. Theatre advertising was onTof its chief sources of revenue. A Montreal tabloid venture also flopped. Mary BIlis, star of "Rose-Marie," has a colored maid, Mary Henry, who, in addition to "maiding," Is a secretary and personal bodyguard^ during the show engagement. Incidentally, Miss Henry la one of the best-dressed maids in all New York. It is said that Miss Ellis takes pride In seeing that Miss Henry makes an attractive "front" v.. Her Pacific Coast appearance in "Romeo and Juliet" comrpleted, Jane Cowl and company wei^ seen in the premiere of her new vehicle, "One Trip of the Silver Star," at Portland June SO. The new play has been In rehearsal while closing pertormanoea in the Shakespeare comedy drama were given. "The Silver Star" is a romantic comedy by Lawrence Byre, dramatist, who wrote "Miss Nelly of N'Orleana" Mr. E<yre went west to confer with Miss Cowl, and was present at the premiere ia Portland. "The Sliver Star" is a famous old Mississippi river steamboat and the scene is laid in the old south of crinollas days. Contracts for one of the "Rose-Marie" companies In the eastern one- nigbters have been Issued tn some instances, with the terms stated as 10-10. One masager owning several theatres InJPsnnsylvania received them about thres weeks ago and said that they would collect a lot of dust before he'd sign. The Hammersteln argument is that the show will gross $8,000 nightly and over, and that the prestige of such a show wUl more than compensate for the smallness of the hoese share. One of the piiuclpal producers is at work on a big revue scene, prob- ably a first-act finale, picturing the Stone Mountain monnment In Oeorgia, which is bolng cut out of the side of the granite rock to Aow the Confederate arm> passing to make its stand against Sherman. The U. 8. Mint recently coined a halt dollar with a tableau of It. Work la practically suspended on the world's greatest monument at present, owing to the "run-out" of the sculptor, Gutaen Borglum. but another has token up the task, which Is bmng financed by Qeorgians through subscriptions promoted by AtlantJ^ newspapers. Ethelbert Hale's drama, "Mission Mary," l>eing produced by M. J. Nicholas, has been in the hands of half a dozen managers. The author received $7,600 In advance royalties, including |1,S00 each from A. H. Woods and OeorKS Cohan, who, like others, for some reason permitted the rights to lapdfl; Nicholas, son of a well-known 4Sd street fruiterer, has been in show business for about 10 yeai*s In the guise of a silent partner. He Is said to have an interest in "Roee-Marie." Nicholas plkns the erection of a new theatre on West S6th street. •* The closing of "The Dove" came as a si^rprise. reported in advance only by "Varlel:'3'-~Thls Belasco hit had one of Its biggest grosses in its blow-ofC week, anl will reopen August 10 at the same house, the Smplre, bookod mdeftnitely. Judith Anderson, pUyer of the name part, sailed for Eurwpe with Vivian Osborne, wivo succeeded Lenore Ulrlo in "The Harem.' While extravagantly produced and heavily cast, with Holbrook Bllnn drawing 10 per cent of the gross as his salary, "The Dove" Las never seen a losing week. The cuts toward the end of the first itart of the run were slight, totaling less than tSOO a week, when seme supemumarie. were dropped. ■T^' Two Broadway comedy mellers are using the "thrilling, chilling" bill- ing In their heralds and other advertising. "The OorllU" has It "thrill- ing, chilling, killing," and "Spooks" lets it go at "thrilling, chilling comedy." ......>, Marty Herman arrived tn town Monday after two weeks In Canada.- bis first lay-ofC from the direction of the A. H. Woods office for 11 yehrs. Marty has been a clflse student of steamship schedules and trips abroad, but, abandoning hope of hopping a boat this summer, dashed over the border. The hideaway was Old Orchard Lodge, about 240 miles north of Toronto. The recreations were swimming, shooting, flshlog and a close study of Indian guides. ' -, IV, ~ The New York "Mirror" sent 300 girls to Asbury Park on a week's vacation trip as the result of an exploitation stunt arranged for circu- lation purposes. The girls were gathered in front of the Sam Harris theatre Monday morning, taken down to meet Mayor Hylan and then put on the boat for Asbury. The hotel men of Asbury, in return for the publicity their establishments received, split on the girls and houses all connected with the venture. More than 97.000 applications were received from New York girls, and the selections were made from submitted photographs. They were sent to Asbury Park In charge of Paul Lubin, John B. Mlley and Leslie Catton of the "Mirror" staff. Catton Is the "Mirror" reporter known up and down Broadway as "Cato." Art Auerbach. photographer, was also sent along, his aim being to snap enough bathing girl X)lctur08 to carry the sheet through the winter. It was reported in last week's Variety that the New York "Dally News" V»A done a sllglit slip-off In circulation. This was true, but with last week It came back with a vengeance, and because of a great break ALL WET F«rce by WIIIU Maawell Ooodbue pro- dttoM at Wallack's July 6 by The Player.. • new co-operatlT* (Tous of actora. Tboma. Finch Invram £*"'»«; ^"''^ Hinina Bdward Emery MiVlncram ;. Mary Duncan Violet Flab Btlaabeth Dunne WlUUm Archibald J«>««-a^-^ >-;«,„ Fr^arlok YaiU.«l«.ha« Ca^-„y-i,„^ I.acy Morton Beaaton O'Qutna Captain iUnoa Ru««tea........Jamea Baber Caroline Brewster Carolyne McL«aa It has been a rotten season at Wallack's. There have been perhaps 10 assorted kinds of plays or shows, none successful and none very en- tertaining. Monday came "All Wet." None of Its predecessors at this house could have been worse and that goes for playing and acting. Of the bad plays of the year this one qualifies for first honors if that means anything. The Players who are responsible for its presentation are a co-opera- tive group of actors who tried "All Wet" out recently and were advised it had the proverbial chance of a snow ball at Long Beach in the summer time. With nothing to lose, however, the actors sought a theatre and Wallack's agreed to take It on with first money covering the house expenses. It was reported the actors wrote or rewrote "All Wet." That Is Willis Maxwell Qoodhue's out as to au- thorship. Mr. Ooodhue Is a member of the press acehts' association In good standing, which membership at least is worth something. There is no picture value to the ptay, and the production has the same value, being a borrowed set which even Isn't suited to the piece. "All Wet" purports to tell the story of the crude Bolshevist idea of the nationalization of women as ap plied to a home in Yonkers. One youthful couple have a spat and she vralks out, he planning to go oft and hide, feeling she'll come back. She does and finds a strange young cou- ple in the house, they having come from the South, where ' the boy thinks he got in bad with the bank In which he was employed. It turns out the kids are not yet married and that gives the butler an Idea that the chicken be nationalised. The theme permits the Introduc- tion of a few raw lines at the cur- tains, but the play Itself Is such a moraSs of dialogue there could be no punch to the designedly risque stuff. At the ei>d of the first act the senile butler asks another player to draw lots for the fiapper* At an- other point a young wife vamps up- stars with a bewhlskered man with the parting line: "Come and do what you promised to do." Hubby hea-s that and raves, but the audience knows the man is the wife's fnther. Wifle's dad, by the way, sports a crepe hair beard that came near falling off when she hugged him. One chap who lo.tcs his pints and another who takes his oft are also In the show. The nationalization of women theory was ascribed to one wing of the Russian Communist party some years ago, but was probably oppo- sition propaganda, for the whole idea was discredited. The only chance such a topic could have on the stage is In fnrce. That's the cla.<isiflcation of "All Wet." but it Is so slow and cluttered up with talk that the thing is merely a bad Idea. The flnnle di.icloHes the old butler to be a nut, escaped from tlte psy- chopathic ward at Bellevue. Mr. Ooodhue has another of his plays tried early this season at last. It was called "Murtle," and passed away In the 62d Street, where Oli- ver Morosco opened it. The cast contains several play- ers who are known on Broadway, the rest being unfamiliar. Bdward Emery plays the butler, a tiresome old codger with a slovenly butler's outfit. There is little' to choose among the others, with the play as much to fault as theirs. The play Is an example of what actors win do on the commonwealth plan, the mirage of success blinding them to the merit of stage worth. "AU Wet" la Just that. ' Ihee. OUT OF TOWN LAFF THAT OFF Bartwell Produetloni, Inc., offera a new Uiree-aot comedy by Don Mullaly, atasad by Roy WalUnc, at Harris theatre, Chicago. "Reooorse" Thoa. W. Roaa Arthur Lindau Norral Keedwell Mra. Connelly ....Hattle Foley ti** Mitchell ..Alan Bunco EIieBiy Mopapos Margarat Sbaokletord Vtm Bryant Shirley Booth Mike Conaally Wyrley Blreb HMaencer John Smiley only one In the ward who didn't knew at once that she loved him. The girl gels angry. She steals the 1600 bankroll which the three saved up, and beats it. They are flabbergasted, heart-toro, it is a double triple tragedy to them all. Next, Christmas eve. One boy is back, invalided; the other comes back on leave; It Is It montha now. In bobs the girl. She has become a movie actress. She returns the $600. Meantime the wounded one has be- come engaged to the slavey. The grouch, it soon turns out, has mar« ried a French girl and has a baby. That leaves only the beloved dumb- bell, who has to be knocked dcwa and dragged in before he gets the angle and goes into the clinch for the all-around happy wlndup. Not such a good story, and not new by several centuries. But what merit the show has Is in the lines and in the ac'ing. The gag-iaugha are terrific, giving even "Is Zat Sor* a tussla The situations yield little, either in drama or fun. But every so often a ripsnorter line comes through that rocks the house, and these nifties serve to weld the thing together into a flvolous, yet pleasant and never mendacious entertain- ment. And as such it has a chance for success. The first act Is wobbly and vlts- Jointed, the second is great an4 tense and Impressive, the third starts on a high pitch of helpful sus- pense but it too easily unraveled and too obvious In Its movements. While the writing method Is older than the hills, still It is the method which seems to be the fashion right now, wltta several conspicuous hits exemplifying the fad. A little tight- ening In Act 1. and another element of dramatic doubt In Act 3 would establish "Laff That Oft" ain.:et beyond conjecture.' Tommy Ross Is a revelation. He Is young, unctuous, hearty and sym- pathetic in a rough-neck hick part. far from anything with which his earlier triumphs were identified, far even from "Checkera" An inspired bit by Wyrley Birch as a typical harp husband of a boarding house keeper was nothing less than art Shirley Booth, as the girl, grew as she went along, in a sure-fire part. Miss Shacklefurd as the Cinderella was up to it. The others fell into line as oapabiy. With some speeding up, "Laff That Ofr- will hum, and may click. Two hours' work on the part of aa experienced dramatist could clncli it. Lait. S Pressed intoeservice by the Chi- cago office, this professional New Yorker felt like a fish out of water in the alien atmosphere of a Chi cago t}ieatre; the more so since It was a Sunday night, a night when enlightened Easterners do not see the legitimate drama, but must con- fine themselves to vaudeville, movies, road houses or else. However, duty is duty, so a Sun- day evening which might otherwise liave been spent in the Episcopal Church or Coloslmo's saw the faith- ful undersigned slave seated second row on the aisle at Mr. Harris' the- atre, watching the curtain go up on what promised during its first five minutes to be one of the worst com edles of all times and all towns. ESven the arrival of Tommy Ross, long a favorite with the transplanted scribe, failed to bring forth an Im- mediate ray of promise. Things looked pretty blue. There was a lot of back-slapping and grouching and clumsy comedy between three bach elors keeping house together, with the usual tangle-haired slavey and the broguish Irish landlady popping in to make It worse. B«M, suddenly, there come a plot A plot, of course, was a girl. She came In oft the streets, introduced surreptitiously by one of the three musketeers, whom she had "solicit- ed." It turned out very soon that she was Indeed a nice, virtuous, even vlrglnlal maiden, starving because she couldn't get a Job in a show, who had taken the easier way of only two ways left—the other lead- ing to the river. The boy is gallant (anyway, the girl welches at the ap- proach to a showdown) and pro- poses to plant her as the house- keeper for the three, as a sister tot them all. They take her In, make It a foursome, take an oath to stick through thin and thick, and the three mutually promise not to make love to her. Then comes the war. Two of them are accepted, the third has a minor disability. On the eve of go ing to God-knows-what, two of the drelbund break their promises and propose to the girl, who has now lived there eight months. Siie kind- ly rejects both. It is obvious Rhc loves the third, the one who first brought her. He is blind as well as physically unfit to fight, at leabt it would so appear, for he was the FILM REVIEWS (Continued team pa«e 19) many pictures that play big ijroad- way houses. lit is adapted from a story by Stephen Benet, the rising young Yale novelist, whose books have delved deeply enough into the wrongdoings of ^e far-famed younger generation without over- doing the sex stuff. The plot begins some score of years ago, but does not dwell for very long on the events at that time. The modem episodes concern a wild young college boy (Ben Lyon) who ha? htherlted most of the bad traits of his worthless father and few of the angellc-Iike qualities of his mother. Upon the death of his parents David Devanant, who had loved the boy's mother, takes charge of him and consecrates his life to bringing the kid up, away from the evil infiuences prompted by paternal heredity. With Viola Dana's win- some assistance this Is finally ac- complished. Miss Dana has very little to do, leaving the work to Lyon, who 1* ."f'h less insipid than usual In a difficult role. The Milance of the oast is Impressive In Its "names" and more than satisfactory. In- cluded Is Gladys Brockwell, one of the original vampires but now play- ing a spotless part. The direction has allowed too many phantom fig- ures of the dead parents to parade around, but has inserted plenty of color in some South Sea Island shots and accomplished its task well enough otherwise. The picture ranks as a good one for the daily change houses and out in the sticks where they don't know such a theatre as the Strand exists they may accept It as In the same class with the heavily plugged first- run affairs. «., SHATTERED LIVES Weak stuff. The plot of this concerns mis- taken Identity and also Involves the long arnu of coincidence. John Trent, a rich man, years ago left his wife and boy. Crooks, later learning that hj was seeking the wife and son, faked proofs of the boys' identification and palmed him oft on the mother, who was living In farmhouse v>bscurity. Trent, however, f|Jls Into the crooks' hands and they try to polish him oCt. The hero, however, inter- venes, and then takes the old man- to his wife. The crook son. thus fronted, Is taken In charge by a de- tective, while the real eon 1;. r«" united to his father and mother. And finding the heroine, who doesn't figure greatly In the story, he sits down on the woodpile with her and shows her how hugging should be done. Cheaply made and filler for dally changes at best. Biak. />'