Variety (Mar 1927)

Wednesday, March. 18, 1927 FILM REVIEWS VARIETY 19 THE BELOVED ROGUE (Continued from page 17) of the hero to his long-worshipped Charlotte. Plctorially the picture is strong. The romantic backgrounds have been skillfully designed, and the massing and grouping of large num- bers of people have been managed with boldness that Is particularly striking. Hush. The Gallant Fool Rayart production, presented by W. Ray Johnston. Story by George W. Pyper. directed by Duke Worn*, starring Billy Sullivan with cast Including- Haxel Deane, Re* Boye, Prank Naker, Jimmy Au- brey and Frederick Shumann-Helnk. At CiVllMa one day, March 15, a. half Story weak and ancient. Direc- tion below standard, evidently due to lack of material. Picture too obviously constructed with a view to low figures on the expense sheets. Billy Sullivan makes the perfect young American. He'd probably be pointed out with pride, even on Broadway. The princess In distress, Hazel Deane, Is not so good, and Frederick Shumann-Helnk might be a crown prince and might not. The mob scenes are sure to raise laughs if this film is ever shown In higher grade houses. The alleged "mobs" are composed of about two dozen extras. Prank Baker is overdrawn as the villainous prime minister, while the royal army is not shown to contain more than a couple of dozen sol- diers at any one time. Jimmle Aubrey, as valet-chauf- feur to the American, gets faint legitimate laughs, while a group of queerly dressed brigands also reg- ister for same. The double love motif sags throughout and the change in places transforming the American into & crown prince Is not effected in a manner to create suspense. THE SNARL OF HATE 8am Blahoff presentation, directed by Noel Mason Smith, featuring "SUrer- ■treak." Story by Edward Curtlss and Koel Smith. Cast Including Johnnie Walk- er. Mildred June, Jack Richardeon and •Wheeler Oakman. At LoeWs Circle, March IS. one day. half doable bill. Fenny-thrillers tame In compari- son to this one. Under careful di- rection usually boring desert scenes have been cut to right length and presented In fashion that holds. Johnnie Walker Is two people In this picture. The odd man Is his bearded brother, killed early by a human vulture who preys on luck- less prospectors. The whole of the first half of this picture Is quite mixed, except for the animal star fight scenes. Scene switches to the city, where the smooth-shaven twin tracks down the murderers through the LKS7 p^Tif£4Ti^iCAL FOLKS *fa)ho at* engaged in Vaudeville, Spolfn&Silent Drama, Cabaret. Orchestra 8t General Publicity - CdrttfSize-AnyQuantity- Fastest Service-Isttoest Prices/ PA^ALTA tZAmericiis'X SauFkahcisco JtW m Geary St. LosAmzus 551 discovery of a mating glove by Silverstreak in the home of "the gal's" guardian. Walker stages a night club scrap with Wheeler Oakman. assistant villain, realistically. lie has the knack of seeming to hit hard down pat, getting tense silence Instead of laughs. Mildred June displayed to good effect. "Snarl of Hate" is more than a title. The dog registers a snarl In comparison to which hate is a mild passion. The Fighting Failure Nat Levlne present* "The Fighting Fail- ure," with Peggy Montgomery featured, story by Mary Eunice McCarthy. Directed by E. a. Boyle. Cast also Includes Lucy Beaumont. Sidney Franklin, Ernest Hill- lard and Richard Travers. At the Stan- ley. New York, one day. March 11. _ nlng time, 64 xnlns. Only thing missing from this one is the kitchen sink; the meller dish as served heaped to overflowing with all the old Jack Dalton stun*, plus some of that that has surfeited the screen from all angles. The "failure" is a pugilist who Is set for a big bout, but his ma slips him K. O. drops handed her by a supposed pal of the pug and she to keep him from the ring puts the "silencers" In his soup. He then ducks west to the open spaces, where any passing stranger of the J. B. ranch can drop in and get a cowboy's Job. Of course, the bad boys that plotted against him In the ring move out there and one can guess the rest By way of trying for comedy, an over-fed Jewish man steps off of a Bronx express, so to speak, and becomes a romantic cowboy. There's so much villainy that one couldn't dent It with machine gun fire. It Is funny about some of those parlor-made westerns; the eastern audiences are given the impression that everything goes on the western ranches these days. This one will be lucky to get bookings where double features are a necessity. Mark. THE WRECK Cotumb'a Pictures Production. Featuring Shirley Mason and Malcolm McGregor Written by Dorothy Howell. Directed by William Craft. Distributed by Columbia. At I-oew'a New York on " bill March 1L an double Just an ordinary program picture unravelling a combination under- world and mistaken Identity story with a train wreck Incorporated. The underworld theme Is very Chautauqua and the other element or counter story too saccharlny for any but the yokels of the hinter- lands, if there still Is such a crop In captivity. Shirley Mason does what she can as the unfortunate young wife of a yegg being railroaded to the pen for something her husband has done. While en route the train is wrecked, and through a toss In the lap of a strange handbag she Is Identified as the wife of Robert Brooks and rushed to his mother's home. The real wife, killed In the wreck, had gold-digging tendencies, ac- cording to Robert. When confront- ed with Ann he carries on the ruse so as not to disillusion his mother. Ann's husband, believed dead, turns up to plague the couple with his presence, but later meets death In an auto accident. Not overburdened by action, save In two spots, both wreck*. Just an ordinary potboiler. BISHOP RULAND SOLO FEATURE ORGANIST At the Rivoli, Denver, for the past year, will be AT LIBERTY AFTER SUNDAY, MARCH 20 Plenty of tricks, hokum and a solid musical foundation. Have all the Chicago tricks. Including a scrim drop. Haw* excellent offer from present manager for Northwest, bat would rather go Bast. Will sign sliding scale contract for < 1 ing at ,90 and closing at *140 a wee* with right 1 Wire Bishop Roland, Rivoli Theatre, Denver, CoL 'S Apparently Hyma N N ma Imager -S BrooklYn, L •V •A trand, real uses we II re receiving popularity— ajjyway, wantj BACK AGAIN SOON BURLESK DANCER FREED (Continued from page 1) ever administered In a local court. The trial of Hinds Wausau, dancer of the Empress, also taken by the police women. Is scheduled for trial next Friday before the same judge. W. R. Rubin, nationally famous labor lawyer and known here as "Milwaukee's narrow," handled the Gayety case. His cross-examination of the police woman virtually clinched it. He tied the woman In a knot. Before a packed court room he subjected her to ridicule that brought protest after protest from the city attorney, who was repeat- edly ruled against on his objections. "Immoral Acting" The dancers were arrested on a charge of "Immoral acting" Feb. 24. When the police woman took the stand, the attorney for Mitzl asked her to define Immoral acting. He Id he would prove his case by showing that Interpretation of that law was in the human mind. The police woman could not define the meaning. Rubin next asked the police woman whether she thouRht short skirts, ci^arct smoking, rolled socks, combinations instead of petticoats and low-cut evening gowns, show- ing the back down to the "wish- bone" and the front to the stomach, were immoral. She answered that they were. He then asked her whether she knew that style decreed these fash- Ions. She admitted not knowing It was stylish but said that all wom- en didn't wear such clothes. Next asked If she thought bobbed hair was Immoral she refused to an- Recording for Victor All Next Week p. S. — Wonder if George OUen bought hu item radio costume* yet. Permanent Addre—i TYRONE, PA. "Isn't it true," the attorney said, "that medical authorities advocate the use of less clothing by women for health's sake?" "Yes, but they don't mean for women to go around without any clothing on at all.*' The police woman then went on to tell what she had seen the night she arrested the dancer, saying the girl wore only a loin cloth and breast plates, strutting and gliding across the stage In a vulgar slouch. The attorney asked her to demon- strate the slouch and the police- woman gamely left the stand to be halted by the prosecuting attorney, who objected. When the woman admitted she could not reproduce the slough, the court ordered her not to try. Judge's Kids Cute Rubin asked the policewoman whether she thought that the Charleston was Immoral and whether she had ever' seen the Black Bottom. She said she thought the Charleston was immoral but had never seen the Black Bottom, but from reports of It thought it, too, was Immoral. This drew fire from Judge Hed- ding, who said: "You think the Charleston and Black Bottom immoral? Well, my children do it at home and I think it's cute and not Immoral." The "copper" next admitted that she had not partaken in a dance for 16 years although she had watched many. She said she thought that dancing was Immoral and told the attorney that society women who wore low-out dresses and danced modern dances were immoral, too. "Society doesn't think so," the at- torney replied. "How long (lava you been a police- woman?" Kuldn asked. "Tw o years." ''Whore did you come from?" "Waupun, Wis." (Waupun Is the prison town of the state.) "It's Waupun. eh? Well, you're in a bin town now, lady," the attor- ney said. "Also, you had better wake up. This is the 20th century." Rubin in his closing statement took a hefty rap at the church wom- en who filled the room. "I see many church women and so-called reformers up here," he said. "They made the complaints about this dancer. The ministers and their flocks. If they went Into that theatre they went in because they wanted to find lilth. Their minds were lllthy when they walked in, they were looking for trouble." Got Kick While the policewoman was the only witness for the prosecution, the defense sent 22 witnesses to the stand, many married women. They all admitted being In the burlesque house on the night of the arrest, and all said they saw nothing Immoral. Among the witnesses were news- paper men, detectives and the ordi- nary run of burlesque customers In- cluding one old man, who gave his age as 66 and said he "got a kick out of the dance." • It is expected that the case against the Empress dancer, lllnda Wausau, will also be dismissed. Both bur- lesque houses have suffered heavily from the pinch, this town avoiding houses where pinches are made. Fri- day night, following the acquittal of the Gayety dancer, both houses were again packed, the dancers getting big applause as they walked on. FOX SIGNS P. KLEIN Los Angeles, March IS. Philip Klein, son of the late Charles Klein, author of "The Music Master," "The Third Degree" and "The Auctioneer," has been signed by W. R. Sheehan to write scenarios for Fox. Young Klein has made the adapta- tions on several of his father's plays. 3 WEEKS AT 5 WEEKS AT 5 WEEKS AT W. Will Rent lout or Play Yo« STATE BIGHT Public Welfare Pictures Corp. 723 Seventh Ave, New York NOW PLAYING "OPPOSITION" 7fey!ZHeyf hear them 0 J ARCHIE NICHOLSON Comedian, WKKK APRIL, • State, Hinneapolit week Aran, * Capitol, St. Paul RETl'RN KATES MAKING GOOD EVERYWHERE