Variety (Jul 1928)

Wednesday, July 4, 1928 W O M E N' S P A G E VARIETY 27 Among the Women By The Skirt, Jr. The Best Dressed Woman of the Week FRANCES WILLIAMS . "S.caridals"^Apollo Gray Matter By MOLLIE GRAY Tommy Gray's Sister What It Takes—"Scandals" Has Got What it takes to make a great revue, Georpe. White has got in this year's "Scanda,ls." This holds true both as to artists and material, the score being the weakest department. •Such girls Zlegfeld might well be proud of, and the amazing thing is that they are clever as well. The oostumea and sets are as elaborate as usual and in . vastly better taste. Chorus opens the show with a dialog number called "Not As Good As Last Year" which disarms the audience and makes them almost afraid to draw comparisons. The girls are unusually dressed in .short snakeskin' dresses with split skirts, hats and elboW length gloves .all of ■snake. .. :. j' • Harty liichman, whose reception was a matter of minutes and the. Biggest of the evening, sang the; plug song, "On the Crest of a Wkve".. and the show girls'displayed a. great deal of themselves in outfits made to represent, the oceans. . Frpmces Williams entered, in her. least becom- ing gown, a yellow crepe with a bertha and an odd lacing, effect down the front. Slie Is more charming than ever and .has chosen her costumes with great care and a canny eye* Seems better looking, too. The ever youthful Pennington was cunning in a tiny skirt of blue fringe, diamond brassiete; and a huge blue ostrich plume laid flat across Ber hair. She is inclined to wear her panties too short this yea,r, as indeed are .all the girls in the show, which reveals the ugly part of the Ifeg and hip and la mote daring than becoming. . Rose Perfect gave a moment's sheer delight singing "Kiss Me Again", olad- in a gorgeous gown of pink satin embroidered in. rhihestortes, acalioped at the bottom, ahd carrying a cascade of pink chiffon down the side. Later, she showed a! painted yellow organdie bouffant with peach streamers and a leghorn hat. The song for which she wore this does not suit her voice as well as others she offers. A number called "Plckln' Cotton" was well done by Miss Williams .in Ded satin pants, knee length, a white and black polka dot blouse—the girls later showing a red and white tiny overall effect with bandana Bieaddresses. Miss Penningfon was adorable in a tiny white skirt, , a Bed bandana brassiere and a red bonnet carrying a huge sunflower.. Bernlce arid Emily, 'two yo'ung acrobatic dancers,. were a solid hit and looked pretty In short skirts of. pink chiffon petals and rhinestone ftrassierea edged with pink rufflies; . . * : Miss Williams was stunning in a White chiffon gown made to repre- sent a sailor suit embroidered in rhlnestones. Very individual. A Rhinestone collar is used, rhinestone lacing down >the front and stripes of the stones up and down the uneven skirt. Again; she was equally lovely In a chartreuee chiffon cut circular with a bertha .hanging from each shoulder embroidered iii rhinestone flowers. Mr. Richman harmoh- ized well with this costume In tan. Penny wore a salmoh pink mefalUc. romper thing, too short. With no back whatever, and a pink maline bow over ©"ne ear. Miss Williams waa also good to look at in a short green costume with a cross effect done in stones and many coque fcathers- .Aanging worn with green cuffs, and her white jodpers were nicely tailored tor a comedy scene. In the finale. Miss Perfect had a white taffeta with circular ruffles And black flowers; Miss Pennington, a tiny-frock of white with feathier skirt, and Miss. Willlariis a black taffeta with net ruffles and stones, embroidery diagonally, reaching the floor and worn with a rhinestone cap—all of which seemed a bit too mature for her. Ensemble do some gi^eat imitations of the principals in short costumes of black and white Stones embroidered in diamond ahape designs. Among the audience were Ethel Barrymore, charming in an otchld velvet wrap; Dorothy Dalton, in a gold gown; Gertrude Lawrence, in to evening ensemble of violet chiffon; Ethel Shutta, in a blue brocaded wrap; Irene Delroy, showing a pretty metallic cloak in red; Ona Mun- Son, wearing a black and white wrap; Madeline Cameron and Dorothy dto'ne. Here and There Wanda Lyon in a smart printed chiffon, Peggy AUenby In a black crepe with a white flower at the shoulder, and Virginia Smith wearing k black velvet frook and tiny Parisian hat, all cotalng out of the Fox Studios on 10th avenue. ^ * Also Miss Fritzl Scheff going In, dressed beautifully in a sport costume 4f canary yellow. '' ■ ■ , i. i, * Inez Courtney in a beige velvet and a big hat at a cocktail party. Ellen Dalossey having tea at the Plaza In a printed, chiffon and small beige hat not looking the least worried by her responsibilities at tne Metro'politan 'Opera. ^ ,^ Rosalie Stewart, at a luncheon on 57th street, wearing a navy blue fensemble trimmed In lighter, blue and a very smart navy bancock. At the opening of "Say. When" Gertrude Lawrence looking as cool and well groomed as usual, Heleri Mencken wearing a gold lame wrap, Jane Taylor with a fluffy hair cut. Dot Hall in , trailing white chiffon, and Virginia Smith again—this time In an extreme white crystal gown and ilame red shawl. . ' "Flirts'" Settings First "The Magnificent Flirt" has eler pant, interiors and who could grace such settings so fittintrly us Florenoo yidor? Her negligees wore all straightline aff.airs but hor gowns dipped and trailed and. wore tiod in odd places. A light satin evohinf; ensemble , had the shoulder straps tied with a bow in the center of the back and white fur banding the cape collar of the wrap. ' The "exclusive" creation that proved to be twins was of gold sequins thip gown covering but one shoulder, a narrow band coming from that one around the neck to the low back, wrap of the same material.' ' When two go,t in one room they probably dimhried the Gallfornia sun.'-'' Miss ■ Vidor wore ' tionsiderable diamond rings and many bracelets. Her earrings would do ordinary folks for chandeliers.; ,' Loretta .Young is fulfilling some of those ''Laugh, Clown, Laugh" promises. Her "black velvet fi'.ock had a vestee of soft white pleats reachin|r to the heck. But the ultra modern, draperies and! lighting fix- tures and wall dieeorations- we're more interesting than anything said or done in the picture. - Rex Bell and Lihdy Rex Bell, must have feared a re- treating audience So he got the big punch of "Wild West Romance" in early. Caryl Llricdln studies him closely and says "Why you look like Lindbergh." After the flashing of Lindy's picture Rex acts as though he thought the reseniblance were more than skin deep. The West was real enough. Rocks that look like stacks of poker chips with plains between for the long shots. Rex must be Riming at the. junior trade, quitie ia number of youngsters irt this. Handsome Ice Man Detroit, July 3. Budd Ellis, -24, ia betfolt's h5vnd- somest ice man. ' Budd won the Graystone ballroom's contest, for pretty males. j Judges were women- There were 29 other entrants, besides Bucld, who has a mustache. NEW YORK CHAHER (Continued from page 13) clothes; She sailed on the "He de France." Joe Schenck,. of Van and Schenck, has a hew yacht christened "P'e- gusjo," a combination mOhicker in honor of Peggy Schenck, the femi- nine pride of the Schenck family, and Van and Schenck's flrat names. Patricia Gridier, Spanlah danoer at the Silver Slipper, has gone legit, debuting in Willard Mack's "Bad Debts" at Great Neck. At the Roxy It Is strange that even a much used idea, when presented'at ^he Roxy takes on an illusibh of novelty. . Perhaps it is the ">aenitude of, the •apace in which they work, or the number of artists used, or the Uehting facilities or the expert training. At any rate, it should be interesting to note the effect they get from the .old dance of the; wooden soldiers done by the Roxyettes against a black yelvot eye, in the usual white pants, red coat iand high hats. .■ ■ ' . , , „,i,„ Beatrice Belkin sang the"Bell Sohg".from "Lakme" superbly and was nicely clad in jeweled Oriental robe with long pieces hanging oi rcu chiffon. , . , A novelty is" in a scene of a ballot school with the girls in long mallnc dresses; exercising at the bar while the ballet ma-ster. m a whito^suit pounds his stick. The dunce of the class, played by Agnes dc Mrlle. .^o exasperate.s the toachci- ho has his star pupil dance for ^o^;. which gives Patricia Bowman a chance to do an exquisite toe <i^ric.Q Ihe cl.usa tncn drifts out, leaving Mi.ss de Mille to practice alone. A baby sP^t " th^ footlights rcfloct.s' he~r shadow on the wall as she does quite a Pa'-/^^''^-^"^ comic version of the struggles of a POor girl to become «'^, ^--J^^t ^^^j^/f."^ After the news reel is a collegiate scone, the girl.s ^'^''"P '"^^^-^^^^f, graduation drossos and another gro'up in rod, while and blue s;vo. tivs worn with white skirts. Too . much campu.s. singing hut a- good n Is added by a trio of buck dancers. Good picture this week too. "The Michigan Kid.' J^;'"-^ :"rirHp^si^tr^ir^ traveling suit cross fox and tailored black hat. Remarks at Random By Nellie Revell Resuming a column. ;ifler .a vacation of four weeks it is a sad task, indeed, to make rorei-ence to. tlio untlnvely demise , of my good, buddy, / Clarence Wniots. Here is at least one occasion wliere word.s fail .to express my poignant sorr.ovv. Claronoo, for over 20 years on'the business staff of A. Jj. I'irlangcr and Florenz Ziogfeld, was recognized as one of. the hiost eflicient of c\)inp;iny managovs, ; His tact and diplomacy in liandling temperamental stage folks, ami his knowledge and grasp of the. theatrical business made him invaluable. Stricken in Philadelphia, last, spring while on lour With "Rio llita," at the, close of. the season , in. I)o'ston, he wciit to his . summer camp in Lucerne, .N. .Y. ■To Louise Willets,. whoin I. have long niaintained is the best Wife in the world, my heartft'lt : condolences arc extended. Slvo was a miirhty factor in Clarence's life, her devotion to hini being exceeded. only by her readiness "and ability to aid and comfort him, fo'r she was the ideal ■ helpmate.' Frank V. ChambeHln, formerly high in the councils of Paramount, and now Far Eastern ^alea head for M.-G.-M;, stated frankly that newspapermen are poison to him. He iefoF BhaSghal^^ ^ They're over there, too. John Barry, director of the Puh- lix Managers Training ^chool. re- turned to town after a hnonth jln the south and.resumed cla-sses. Eugene Castle, short subject pro- ducer, has gone to the coast. ■The Henry Miller theatre,, which will domicile Ward Moreh6usc'.=i maiden stage play, "Gentlemen of the Press," is being redecorated for the event. "Ward is in Denver as the guest of a local stock company. Don eiarkj who rejoined the M.- G.-M: publicity staff after a yoar'.s absence, is working half days only. Walt Itoesner took, his first after-: noon- off in seven months la.st wec'k, but worked, the two evening shows af the Capitol. Nattaciha Uambova, widow of Rudolph Valentino,' appeared re- cently in a .shoestring produetion at t h e^= () I d -l^a t h o-s Ludlb. During my month's vacation l! covered a lot of territory, winding-up wi'tii a \Veek at Coney Island. The Island now boasts of a hotel called the Half Moon which bids fair to rival some ot the more pretentioua hostelries of Atlantic City.-,. While Coney Ifliand is by no means Atlantic City—the atmosphere, crowds and boardwalk are distinctive in each resort—th<};* hotel will ijd niiich to popularize the Island lylth a desired element. Accessible, comfortable! and what a hideaway. . • While at COhey I was a dinner guest of JVIr. and Mrs. Samuel Gomt>ertz. Mr., Gompertz is mayor of the Lsland, husband of that erstwhile great stage comedienne, Evie . Stetson,; and brother of her former partner, jenhie Melyjlle., Every,body : remembers that radiant team of Melville , and Stetson; .-" ' ■ ' . . . ' Mr. and Mrs. Gompertz occupy'a sumptuous,home at Brighton Eeach; with Miss Melville in an apartment adjoining. Sam is sort , of a Santa. Glaus for old performers every summer and distributed about his various enterprises at the resort are 15. or 20 former stage faOfors. Belling tickets at the Edeh Mused I found Wiliiahi. Cameron, of Wilson and Cameron;. Patsy. Doyle.and Harry Bartlctt were working In front of a concession. Joseph J. Sullivan, one of the old comedians of Hallen and Hart days, and the author of "Where Did You Get That Hat.f is spieling in front of a sideshow. Fannie Bloo'dgood, who has sold; perhaps, more front rows in burlesque than May Howard herself, is wojrking at the Parkway baths; also there is Alec Selbert, years ago a Bamum and Bailey clown. Behind the t;ounter of the Half: IVJpon I espied Gus Solke, Jr., son of the well known producer. Young Solke has retired from the sho'w business and. how greets the public as a suave hotel clerk. AW, shut up! I did not say I didn't like "The Front Page" when I saw it in Atlantic 6ity. On the contrary I thought it a great story, well written, well staged and perfectly cast. I liked it Immensely and think it will run on ad Infinitum whether it choosea to or not. But I did say I thought—and still think—ft too raw for audience consumption as pro- duced at the shore. And if the dear public wants it, far be It from me to deprive it of any of the thrillB It can get out of the dialog, many parts of*which I still insist are seldom heard outside of a bl-othel. It'a O. K. with me boys. So keep your haberdashery on. Personally, I am rather interested in learning that a .mayor can dis- charge a sheriff, one a city and the other a county offlcer. I had always thought they were nominated and elected by the "peepul" but It just goes to show how eisy It Is to be mlstiiken,: for the mayor In the play not only fires the sheriff but. scratches his name right off the ticket on which he is up for re-election two days hence- Dropping into a room of a Times S.Quare hotel yesterday I found three women .guests, generally regarded ks sophisticated, shelling peaa, which: one was preparing to cook on a sterno in the apartnient. In a recent list of people seen on the Atlantic City boardwalk I car- ried the name of Ann Pennington, My «rror. At that time Ann waa. in California. Herman Fucha, who had touted me, alibied hla mistake by explaliAng. "Well, I didn't see. her face but they certainly looked like Penny's knees." • Kipling once remarked that a "woman, is only a woman but a good cigar la a smoke" and now a cigar manufacturer in. Phllly claims a cigar that has "It." He advertises thualy: "Webster didn't say It but the modern definition of 'IT' Is 'that indescribable something that makes a person or thing a winner'." . It sure is a great age that, we live In-when a neuter pronoun can take on such significance, but what does Elmor Glyn, discoverer of ."IT," think about It? "Jokes Too Rough F6r Ladles" says a headline on a stoTy relating how a Texas Democrat lost out at the state convention. Wonder what they thought about the rough joke pulled on the Republicans at the Ho'ustoh. convention f "What are you'doing?" a.sked an actor of Jimmy Hussey, "Working on the K. K. K. circuit," he replied. , "How come—K. K. K. circuit?" queried the other. "The Keith, Kennedy and Kasi^y circuit," Hussey explained. Roland Drew, who plays Vi'Mv"- .Moreno in the U. A. picture, "Ka- mona," is Walter Go.ss, former re- porter on the "Heraia-Tribune." Ler)la I^ani^, a young singer nn.- knovvn on Broadway, has h'-en signed by llorano .Liveright for tho SIZING 'EM UP At The Palace Something approaching the old Monday night air of festivity at the "Paiace, first time in ' many a week. Maybe It Was the prepon- derance of dancing, maybe the re- freshing coolness after the stifling day. Anyway, a note of gayety was there, begipnlng with little Ewing lOaton. Does she take her costume from her name or her name from her costume? In her cute little English schoolboy's suit .she does s(;v(u;il sprightly hard .shoe rour tines and some excellent acrobatic dancing; She should avoid singing, however, and there seems' no good reason why she should play the violin. Ju.Murfi^^Pi;ipny^:^a.Dcmg'^ln,.^'JMjj.d, That Coy Stuff u • This weather is the delight of those little r.roadway s'irls vj'hj) w'^tHt .^^^^^ being coy country maids. They appear, everywhere '"/■'^'^^.^''^ j'' . huge organdie bows and milk-maid bonnet.s.^ With the cn^U^u^o .n. M" orally black patent- leather ^-^^^ ;-:'l^^';^;;!^'Z^nV^^^ PMce. ! r-rima' donna role in "The Daggc It IS almost a pity when anyone ^-^^^^^ a J m little sport en..l.,.ne ; ,nd the Rose" (stag,..), tho forl.h- Oingham is not for town w.-ar at any time ^ m l l 13 equally as youthful, while a pr.nt frock wo.n with a nii, iju.siu.s Mayer's "The Fird>rand." «ood Laslc at any time of tho day. * " rlrjck'.s Tricks." elaborate miniature revue, with an exceedingly attrac- fiv; girl, Josephine Fontaine, who il'ies graceful- things with long and grotesfjue legs. She wears clollie.s well, too, giving (|uito ap air to a couple of simple chiffon frocks, one In jade ',gr"en and th" otluT in t)Ul ifr'Mip yellow with black velvet .-.arli. Tlw ( hoi u;; W'.'-ii-i <ni - >i'.li.'."t: ve .set of silver and scarlet Pierrot coa-; tumes,. and another, for a Dutch number, in Delft blue satin. Some- body ought to tell the two Slrla who do the dance in maids' dressea that bright pink stockings are not the most slenderizing things... for. legs already a shij.de over plump. The gayety takes something of a tumble when Eva LaGallienne ap- pears on a time-worn arid some- what moth eaten balcony for her "Romeo and Juliet" scene. Miss Le Gallienne may be an excellent pro- ducer and a great force for civic good, but she's no Juliet. Iler clipped brusque accents and her fiat, colorless voice simply re- fuse to lend themselves to the p;uir sionato warmth of Juliet's six-eches. Tho amltencc applauded violently, as th(!y do invariably when.any- thing labeilod classic is handed ^thetH^ iri ^.l l gy tw o^a-jjay.,^. U JXl.kL gt^ staled also that Miss 'LcOafllenne looked very cliarmliig in an ivory brocade gown and an equally ivory pallor. n.aiety ta,k'>s a sharp rise again with the advent of i'l-ggy Uhamber- Un and lioss lliines, with their I frankly rowdy and infinitely funny burl".-;i]iie of an apache dance, I'eggy i.M a '-uie youngster with a i< al seii.ie of lomedy.