Variety (Sep 1928)

Wednesday, September 5, 1928 FOREIGN VARIETY 59 London as It Looks By Hannen Swaffer I-onrton, Aufx. 28, The first blow struck at perversion, . for years, has vfsuited in an abrupt victory. A woman called Radclyffe iHall, who is frequencly seen In the stalls at first nights, dressed in semi-masculine attire, always with another woman similarly dressed, wrote, a few weeks ago, a book Called "The Well of Loneliness," in -which she pleaded for a more sympathetic at tltude toward abnormals and in which she dealt frankly with the same subject as that of. "The Captive." A Chance for the.Pepverts Even hefore the book wag published, I was .ask6d to att^ one who had read it telling me that/if the novel, were fiot suppressed, the peirverts of London would, at last, conie but into the open; . Heaven knows, they have been cocky enougjh for several years. They fiauht themselves, upb-h the stage"; they parade themselves in . public; they form (jlirjiies and coteries,. They and their friends ai-e responsible foV much of the filth that recently smeared the London stage. I did not even r'ead the book, I have enough to bore me. A Brave Editor Speaks Out However, last Sunday, the editor of the "Sunday Express" deniahded the book's suppression. The publisher, Jonathan- Cape, sent it: to the Home Secretary, and the Public Prosecutor, and noy, at official request, he has withdrawn it, . '. ' ., The authoress, in her defence, pleads for frankness about this sub- ject, and she talks about our hypocrisy. ; , Well, the truth is that if civilization vyere not hypocritical, the "queer people" of London, Now York, l?aris and Berlin wotild have been driven ©■ut vears ago. They have been saved by reticence. . Perversion, and the Theatre Tou. find male and female perverts in nearly . every London theatre today. The. male choruses have plenty of them. These creatures are flaittet^ed and made a fuss of. They crowd places of amusement whenever one of their kind is performing. When ballet Is staged, you And hundreds of them in the house, unable to keep away. "They like to see nudes," Eric W6llhelm, :Dlaghelleff's manager, told me. . One famous author boasted at a dinner table, a, few moiiths ago, that he would willingly stapd up in court and admit the truth about himself. Another author, not so well known, told me, once, that he was "Cured" 'how. "You Cannot bo Withoui Them" A few years ago I asked the Wyndham management why, they had a notorious pervert in one of his companies. "Oh, yo'u cannot do without them, now," said one of the officlalSi The manager of a world farnoHis actress told me, that there were once so many male, perverts in the company he used to go Into the dressing rooms and say^ "GoOd evening, ladies and gentlemenj" an^J there was never a murmur of protest. The truth is, of cburse, that nobody kno'ws where it stairts and where It ends. We are all equally guilty in the matter, because none of lis dares to say a word. Lonsdale Wants to Act Frederick Lonsdale told me, a few weeks ago, that he and Sir Patrick Hastings had been discussing the matter, because both recognized what a gi'ave peril it was. Edgar Wallace hat gone to the length of making certain, when engaging any. actot or actress, that. he or she Is not In ..the gang. •'Why don't they deport her?" I am always hearing of an American actress, now in London. The deportation of an American actor, who js now on your side, was daily expected, two years agtf. ^ The Problem of the Tours YOung David Gill, son of iSasil (Grill, the famous actor, sent me a long letter about three years ago/telling of the way in which the provincial theatre was poisoned. A member of "The Student Pi-irice" company on tour was recently sent to prison for four months. These cases are seldom printed In the public pressi Indeed, but for the matter' having been raised by' "The Well of Loneliness," my views on the matter might still remain In a drawer, waiting publication by someone with courage. They Are Often Cleve'r . The trouble with these people is they so often have! brains. So we ex- cuse them. Besides, many of them are very, nice people, so far as chance acquaintance goes. Soniie months ago', there was a public brawl in a hotel between two notorious queei* 'uns and a man who objected to obscene language being u.sed by them. The stories that rea,ch me from New York are' just as bad. Worse Than the Promenade when the Swedish Ballet was at the Palace theatre, some years ago, the manager himself told me how he had to' clean out the perverts from the back of the auditorium. The disappearance of the promenades In music halls, in which women paraded, has been followed by occasional disorder caused by the presence there of unmentionable men. .Frequently, when a play by one of the younger writers is produced, grinning perverts of both sexes chuckle and -snigger all through. Call Your Perverts Home It is all very well for Miss Radclyffe Hall to feel sorry tor these people, but the truth is we have all been sorry too long. Her plea for frankness, I am afraid, will do. the very rev<*rse of what she hoped. Instead of increasing a feeling of pity. It w'ill raise the whole questio'n ~ahd"fc)Tce'.some-action against the offenders. ■ '. „ . Anyway, I do wish ybu Americans would get some of your people home. They are among the worst offenders. When they come here, they do things wliich I am sure would not be tolerated on your side. This in Paris (Continued from page 2) or New York unless one is paying for an awful crime in some anterior life. • Pugilists often.hunger for knowl- edge. Ask Wilson Mizner about Stanley Ketchell? Ask Mr, Sturei.r about Frank Moran in London. That Pittsburgh plug wag a leech for learning. It Sometimes goes the other way. Lord Byron and George Boi'row. were both votaries of box- ing. \ ■; ^ ■ . Turiney.l Eschew the vegetorlum of Saint Bernard Shaw. He will hav6; you nibbling carrots in hlo whiskers. And all In the inter est of philosophy, Gentlemen, a Deity! I was juggling a book at the Cafe de la Paix. Suddenly gas enveloped me. Not Trom Hamburg—from ham? i)f the U. S. A. The vapor broke into words: "I must rot urn to the S ta tos-^to write two plays, to create three leading role-s. When I left the show it dropped $10,000, Roland Young is phantasmagoric but he can't imi- tate me. George Jean Nathan calls me the splritus of whimsicality. Isn't that a wonderful phrase'?" in Berlin Berlin, Aug. 27. Fritz Holl, former director here of the "Volksbuehne," is to be called to New York by the Theatre Guild, rumor hath it. Holl is supposed to stag© the first part of Goethe's ."Faust," in English, for the Guild. The Reinhardt ad.aptation of "Burlesque," known here as "Artis- ten," will run at the Deut-schen Theatre until the middle of October. Starting Oct. 15 Goethe's "Egmonf will be offered with "Werner Kraus.s ^i>la3lng.=lke=.lcadiniij:oie^,,,^ The othf'i- Rfinhnrdt production of an Amorioan play, "Drr Proze.ss Aiary Duguns." elo-'^es Aug. 31 after a long but not e.'<i)e^.ially .successful run. Perry Marmont is due here the beginning of September to go be- fore the camera on "The Adven- ture of a Petticoat." He is to. play opposite. 0;jsi Oswalda. National- Warner are doing the picture, hero and in-England. A German "Begg'ars Opera," bear Ing the , same name but obviously not th<^. John Gay; play, opens here Aug. 31 at the Theater am Schiff bauerdamm. Kurt Weill wrote the music which will be under the mil sical direction of Theo Maredan. Reinhardt troupe, returned from .nW.hnrjr where thoy have been per- ' " - the cl start Sh Salzburg wm-re LUi-jf iifivi: 1JV1.-1I i)\-L- forming fur the benefit of the classic •spirits a.^semhlcd there, start hearsals soon for Bernard SI "Anthony and (.Meopatra." l\ both Bergner, at present tou flermany in "The La.st of Mrs. C nc^:'''^ilr"Co~iyiay^tl^c==pan-t--of--' patra.. As far a.'? the role of Cnoa concerned, tWrc. seems to bi' trouble. Alexander iMoi.ssi chDsen at first hut It Is rcj, all is not well betwi-f-n him an(' legislative departmfnt of the tr< The choice may fall upon Soc playing in "Burlesque" here. ro aw*.^ Iliza- ring hey- Cleo~ ar i.« SiiUH: was loi'teri th< ro\ip«' uloff. Still in the Stq^le France is. smiling at America's liberality to Soviet films. . The French . b a n n e.d "Potemkin," "Alother," "Bear's Wedding." "Ab- rek Zaur" ;and "According to La\y. ' The Russians are receiving a bet- ter break in the States. . Why?. The Yank Is only afrail of sex. "The dear and darling Puri- tan. Love is a monster of hideous, mien. Nature is a witch Jrom Af- rica. The Padlock La'w will saive the ribbon clerks. The red poison flovys while the green lust is stagnant. The deacons meet.. "Crime and bolshevism are not sex. Let them enter every school and home." Darwin roared, "Monkey!" Aris- tophanes, "Frog!" It renriained for Sturgis tp name the human race Jackass!" .Superman, and Everyman I have been travelling over' Eu- rope. I fled from Le "Tbuquet and Deauville as I swam from Leper's Island. The lady I wooed last sum- mer returned to Vepice. Vollmoel- ler has the lagoons all to himself. I sought the wine gardens near the Danube. There a superman was whiispered in the moonlight. "Go to Salzburg. See 'Everyman,' by Hug:b von Hofmannsthal. Watch Molssi's hands. And Reinhardt will invite you to the castle." All this Is as dead as death. The ghost pf the intellect in the ceme- tary of. an egotist. Reinhardt productions: "The Miracle," Vbllmoeller'S depradation, Bel Geddes' desecration. Mysticism on a German drunk. "Midsummer Night's Dream," rubber goods by Ernest de Weerth, Shakespeare In a diver's suit. "Abie's Irish Rose." eternal debt to Reinhardt, Kom- mer arid Company. . I drowsed In beautiful Vienna. Beethoven called me "anywhere, anywhere, out of this mess." Yet I should love what Is light to Otto Kahn and Morris Gcst. Who plays the devil in "Everyman"? Another acrobat out of work. CHATTER IN LONDON The Plaza-Tiller girls, in the Francis A. Mangan presentation in Paris, return to the Plaza, London, to ai)pear in the prolog to "A Little Bit of Fluff," in which they were picturized with Syd Chaplin. Actresses That Steo Eton is a public school. The soils of kings, dukos, actors and other rich men.go there. Stay till they're 18, if tliey're good. Mustn't go out nights. Have to keep away from cabarets, saloons, and all that. Three of them didn't. Went to Bray. . With an American actress. Got sent home. -For good. Parents are very influential folk i^olitjCaUy, And the; American actress, who has a big public following, is not so popularwith the authorities.' Boys' folk pulling, stritigs.. So .octress i.-s likely to be told any day "the boat sails" Wednesday." .'Another! fern, also American and an actress in her spare time, lias been stiaying around several hotels with a fr.e."<h name each lime. L.abor oHlcials. .who play pretty nice a.bout permits and sucli, don't think this kind of thing so. gbod, So. Wednes- day's sailor may have a cpnipanlon. Oh, yes. Arid "a newsi aper baron, thrown, by. Actress Number One as mentioned above, is watching. hei- step .so he caji shoot the story if .she slips. KATE PULLMAN'S SON Cairo, Aug. 10. An enormous success was scored by international Lydia Johnson and her mu.sical, attractive and chore- graphic company at the Alhambra, Alexandria.- Thirty-flve artists, in- cluding eight continental girls and the eight Jjickson girls, have), an up-to-date .show with orchestra and jazz. ' Annual Gaia-'Gala The fourth annual Gala-Gala, held by the Y. M. C. A. at Gezlra, Cairo, presented the most success- ful show. The dance on the tennis court drew a large croWd. The Kit Kat Orchestra advertised but did not fulfill the . engagement. , The Revellers came to the rescue and carried the night with conspiclious success. 'Troupe at Giza An operetta, in three acts, en- titled "Les Parties," composed by M. A. Sldky, was given in the gar- den of Pyramid Beer at Giza. Prin- cipal rbles were performed by M. Bahgat and Dolly Antolne, Exhi- bition of dances by the celebrated Zulelka. ■ John Colton "The Shanghai Gesture" will be done in Paris. Not so momentous, yet'Colton is America's only drama- tist_.,wortby^qf Jhe name. He per- petrated ■'^*RaIn,''T)ui'he "W^^ secrate a play some day. P'Neill, Howard, Kblley, Pollock? Infections that precede the fever of genius. What about ?'Harai" by Colton? It is . his last and best play. Nature whirling in a vortex regarded with pity. What producer will challCTige the. hypocrite with this production this fall? Truth should not be feared and "Ilarai" conciliates the spirit. It mi.'jht wallop the Puri- tan and break the lock of Albany. It could do the trick—and Mr. Stur- gis is with the tricksters. Paris is all agog about th<; new theatre which Orson Kilborn has announced. According to the present schedule, ten or twc.'lvc of the most .sueci-s.sful plays running in New York will be produced here each year. On top of that visiting stars are expected to perform whil(i here. The cast; of'^'OjrxyaflXfriyi'^'w^ Wyn is mounting at the Theatre de la Madeleine, adopted by Cliarles Mere in OctobrT, will <'omprlse Pas- quali, Abel; Tarride, Paul Arniot, Germaine Reuver and Meg Lemon- nler. Jaoques Baiinicr will be pro- ducer. Aziz- Amir's Co. Aziz Amir , is recognized as the first Egyptiain film star. She is noW at the head of a film company in Cairo, A new film In production, under the title of "The Nile's Daughter," will be run in the Egyptian aristocratic centers. Till now 1,300 meters have been taken in Alex- andria and in Cairo. The extefhail views will be performed in the mo.st beautiful places and areas and the Internal views'to he produced In the .studio built at Ilellopolts, equipped with photographic appar.atuB, elec- tric Installations, mechanical works thus competing with the foreign studios, Considerable expenses are being incurred for the, production of this new Egyptl.in film. American Pictures At the American Cosmograph, In Alexandria, "Doll of Montmartre," excellent film In 10 parts, featuring Lily Damlta. "Obey the Law" ex- citing film. Bert Lytell. . In. Cairo, the American Cosmo- graph ~pre7s(mted~""Th"e~ Magic 'Car- den." "Paris in Five Days," ex- traordinary film in 6 parts by Pierre Colombler and Nicolas Rlrri.sky, In- terpreted by Dolly Davis, Nicolas Rlnisky, .Madeleine Gultty, . Pierre Lahry, Lout.s Monflls, Silvio de Pedrell, etc. Film .scored warm ap- plause. ." . -. • At Kzbekieh ■ Garden Theatre Cinema. j"La bonne du Colonel," with Svdney Chaplin; "Don Juan," with John Barrymore.; Zleoto, In "Chapeau Volant" and "T,ie Chameau de rArwcalypse,". with Sydney Chaplin. (Continued from page* 1) yenirs up to Its abrupt termination with the New York eugenic baby episode, was unabashed and candid about tlie new baby and the cir- cumstunoos attending its remarkable arrival. It's her baby and she's j^roud of It tor it. was born bn c'arefully. planned scientific lines and weighed more than seven pounds at birth. Father's name is William Diner, if anybody thinks that's Important, though Miss Pulhnan foi- herself doesn't regard it so. Arid he's a singer working .somewhere or othe.r in llie show business.. Where Or at- teiuled by wjiat success or failure is a matter of indifference to the ri\other. Eugenic Specifications The Important detail is that he's a perfect spociriien,- six feet in his s^tocklng-. feet, weighs. 190 pounds and a marvel of glowing, vigorous health ,and oversowing vitality. Clr-_ cumst.incesf of their association' could't possibly inte;rest anybody, but the .eugenic mother was frank' to outline her idea. She wanted a b.aby and didn't want to be encuni- boi'ed with a husb.ind. It was juSt the baby she wanted, for companion- ship and she intends to settle down to permanent miotherhood. . She said she will be up and about in a few weeks arid then will; re- turn tb the sta.ge with a new act. to which she will devote what at- tention she can spare from the baby. Roacoe Ails hag-no part in her future, ccrtaiiily Involving a return to her old. stage partnership. She hadn't seen him or heard from him lately, not since last M.arch at any rate. He has a new stage partner, and although Miss Pullman hasn't seen her; she figures the gal's all right in Ail.s' act. As for her.self, .she's been in Chi- cago all this time, quietly and care- fully preparing for maternity and nbw it's accompli.shed, will every- body please forget it? But it was nice the baby turned out to be a boy, wasn't it? Miss Pullman was formerly the Wife of Ed Smith with whom she worked- in burlesque as Pullman and Smith. They had a son, now 12 years bid, who lives with Misa Pullman's mother in Chicago. The Burhham Baby History of the New York eugenic baby started with the birth of a daughter tb Mrs. Grace Mallhbuse- Burnham Jan. 10, The mother was then 45, and the widow of three yeJU'B' standing of a son of Louis Bernheim, millionaire brewer. She was reputed worth ?5p0,000 herself, and when the facts of her baby's arrival became public,, she said frankly she • wanted a baby with- out a lingering father and planned its birth deliberately. This child's birth certificate de- scribed the father as Karl . Graham, young attorney of New York, who turned out to be an entirely myth- ical person. The notoriety died away, only to be revived when re- porters, working on inside informa- tion, approached Roscoe Ails while he was playing in Reading early the following March, Ails was reported replying to queries, "Mrs, Mallhouse-Burnham? Never heard of her." And sticking to that story. Confronted with elab- orate evidence he replied criptlcally, "Believe It or not, I was waiting for a street car." Only the reporters hanging .around Reading to ' pad expense blHS,~f<5wrrd out that .a certain "Rosr coo." wired to a MVs. Burnham iri New "York the same evening, "Be- ware of reportbrs" and received a i-eply- In effect, "Huh, . leave the bloodhounds to me." It was when these details blazoned the newspapers that dissension arose in . the Ails act, ending when Miss Pullman walked a.nd Roscbe got a new girl partner. . Hauptman's One-Acter Berlin. Aug. 24, Fin;!! plans have been made, and a final title has been picked for flerhart Ilauptmann'.i newest play lt_ls to be called "Spuck" which in Tvii>;TIslTr"l3"''ST)Onk"'=orrlfH\Tri=-]bs*-n= hadn't tliou;,'ht of it first, "Gbosts." Afax' Reinhardt is to produce and direct ami It will be offered by the maestro as the first pruduclion of his winter sea.son. The pl.'iy is a ratli'-r novel type J for the poet: it is a one-acfr, play- An unsigned wire tipped Variety to Miss Pullman's son. ing about 35 minutes. The UTider- lylhg theme Is the inevitability, of fate. "The Bceno Is laid in a rather low milieu, tlio home of a small town mayor nt the time of the Thirty Years' War. Wife of the mayor had bren guilty of a major Indiscretion wl t h-a=nt;gro==aQfla.e_i'±aiLiyi?iiLJ'l'lll5l^^^ led to thennirder of her first hus- hiind, u Dutch merchant. Now, at this late period in' her life, the shades of the.p;ist come eroppin'g up with the fin.'il result (Imi she goe.s insane and kills her-