Variety (Sep 1928)

48 VARIETY TIMES SQUARES-WOMEN Wednesday, September 12, 1028 Gray Matter By MOLLIE GRAY . ■ At the Pala^ce A sliort show iiiid u nu-rry one at tlve iMliiiM'. Kiifka. ytunloy ciml Mae, opened. tiffnnitively wiih impede wovU,- ouito daiins. Co^- lunies nioro «'lub()Valr> tlum tisiial too. all of £?<)nie shade of violet and sold except one of stool beads even to the cap nnd that costume had n 5?iriKle purple- osirioh plume from rhe hip. Mon wore ju.st as dressy a volvdt blouse.'^, ono gold, one vio- .H. ■ ■ - ■ :■■ ■ Mau^le I'owers proved herself a •emarkable actress in three char- . icterizations. As just a wife she ■A^ore a red wig and white fur wrap, a minor was a blond in red net rtounces and gold bodice, a green I'hifTon scarf further Indication of a reckless spirit find a crook's about-to-be-ex-girl a simple black. Tennis fans probably expected to see Bill Tiiden reaching for high pries and he was but they weren't balls. He's-an actor now reaching for lights. His material .wasn't worthy, of his athletic reputation., Winnie Llghtner was a. pleaisure and her coat frock of pink figured •in white with its scarf collar com- irijg to the hei.u on one side was "very attriactivc. The scart was caugiit in the diamond buckle that brought the dress together at the ; le?t side. Lingerie that wasn't part />f the costume wiis plainly visible it times bccau^f tl\o skii-t doesn't •MP. / . (•owmnu's. ol' twi. i>ieces Inii never tlic twtiin shall iiH'ct. avi'u'l usualli: worn whon d.incihf,' wiili iwu inon. Dooley. and Siiles, of course, sat- isllcxl the cu.^toniers. Miss Sales' spangled and foathcied gown was familial;, her pink organd.v and lace very pretty. Georgette: and the Hrowh Derby Band worked hard and well together. C.eorgetto's silver costume had bine bow jind slippers for • color and a silk one was practically three black and three white ruffles, there wa.s^ a bodice half black h.'ili' white, dI vided in the middle. Wild Animal League A baseball league exists within the various departments of the M-G-M home ofllce. The press agents call them- selves the Lions. Sales depart- ment has been nicknamed, but repudiates the title, "The Hy- ■ onas." Random Remarks By Nellie Revell Booze in Her Hat BilGe's Bad Break It cost Horace Liverlght $13,000 not to open "The Dagger and tlie Kose" at the Krlanger. Philadelphia, this week. That's the amount paid to the theatre alone to reimburse it for money expended in billing and advertising the engagement arid for salaries for hpu.se employees, and does not Iriclude the company expense tor salaries, etc. The opc«'etta version-of "PMrebrand" is understood to represent a loss of $150,000- to the producer. The Livei ight office announced the musical. had been withdrawn, for revision. Biilic Marlon, 35, wi»6 stated that she was a singer at Jimmy Kelly's cfibarot In Sullivan street, got a Hollywood has certainly done I . i^.gak in the West 47th street great things ("Tentpest") for Camilla I ^^^6^^ ^j^^^ brought in on Horri. She wore one of the popular tulle to the floor gowns, but hers covered but one shouldei", her lace bordered slip being cut, the same. Her velvet .costumes were becoming, but her fur coat and cap weren't. How does the; daughter of a general ecome "Your Highness?" She wore it well until titles went out of style. Good Sadie's Dad Deleted sense prevented somebody station house when brought in on the charge of disorderly conduct. Miss Marion with her companion. Joe Linden. 30, a restaurateur of 2 West 51st street, were arrested on the charge of being disorderly in the Chesterlield Hotel. 130 West :9th street. i The singer and the restaurant owner went to 'the Chesterfield about 5:30 a. m. to engage an apart- ment, "fhe clerk told them he had none. Indignant, they went to a from showing Myrna Ley's "father" phone bo.ptlv in the lobby to seek In "State Street Sadie." The quarters elsewhere, average New York cop could never Linden did much gesticulating, claim her for a daughter, not by Billie did much protesting. John any stretch of the map, no matter UjcMahori, the hotel officer pleaded whose. Myrna's evening gown hung with them to leave. "You have the to the floor, beaded front and back Untire/hotel; awake,'' McMahon told with sides of soft ruffles, her flowered I therii. They continued to be bol- At The Paramount "rui isian ;Nigbts" as tlie Para - mount .'<aw. them were five rhinutes of Apache dancing anS the rest Old GGlory and tlio dough boys, perfect for the averatre audience. The title jto bring them in and the flag to send them put satisfied. A good, novelty dance "Midinette" combined with the Williams Sisters and two. fine fnaie voices nade this an in- teresting unit. Costumes unimpor- tant except the • opening. ones of black with gold edged ruffles for the girls and. the fluffy white ones of the Williams Sisters, the latter dipping on the right on one and the left on the other bringing the two short sides together when they sang. The highbrows, can turn aside from Zane Grey, but he's doing more to bring the country to the people , than Ford when his story "The Water Hole" Is pictured in such breath-taking scenery, as his stories always are. Nancy Carroll is dell|:htful every minute and ab- solutely radiant in the colored scenes; The shoulder bo\vr on , her white chiffon frock left one end hanging in back and brought the other across the bodice- for another bow at the hip. A white taffeta was scalloped at hem arid neck, the size of the scallops vai-ylng. Movie' Moral Precept ^ . "Beautiful But Duriib" missed a great chance to be of real service to the beautifully dumb and the dumbly beautiful. A word from the hero explaining his natural mistake in interpreting her style of dress might, enlighten many of those who get their morals from the movies. Patsy Ruth Miller is always inter- esting. She looked especially nice , .n the white taffeta and long uneven layers of tuUe that made her even- 'ihg gown and the short jacket of " metal cloth that \ras^bloiis^d by a .' tight band at the hips and worn over the gown added much to its ef- fectiveness. A dark velvet and hotted silk ensemble, with small collar o^ .flat fur and a traihng velvet with straight lace panels, icaught only at the elbow, for. sleeves were tvvo of the costumes that said things Patsy hadn't intended. Shliley Palmer could do' a: whole feature herself by simply giving her some body to tell the story to. She is one blonde who can't be listed after the "but." silk frock had a bolero bodice, but she looked nice.st In black. It is easy to "mute" a violin, couldn't something be done- with crooks' voice.s so they ; wouldn't sound as though they should be. playing on harps Instead of dodging theri.i? Talking for the American I''ed- eration of Labor on the Fox News- reel, a plea for two holidays a week was made, not a cheer was heard. Must have been all employers in the audience. Voyageurs "A Ship Comes In" has Louise Dresser and Joseph Schildkraut as sterous, said McMahon- McMahon called Patrolman Jo'- seph Morrissey : of the West 47th street station. Morrissey. pleaded [with the singer and restaurant man to be quiet. Both began to take Morrisey's number and hurled epithets at him, said: the bluecoat. He .arrested both. • Bottle Didn't Break As :they -were about to be "booked" on the disorderly conduct chargei Billie. complained of the heat and started to remove her pic- tyre hat. Something fell on the floor near her. feet. Lieutenant "Broadway" Johnny John Coolidge became a job hunter alnd every paper in the country gave his.application first page position. But he had a hard time landing. It leaked he plays the .saxophohe. Trixie Frlganza is sailing on the, "Leviathan" to appear in London after an absence abroad of 24 years. Her last appearance there, was in "The Prince of Pilsen." Miss Friganza has six months bboking in Eng- land, opening at the Palace, London. She will be accoinpanied by Jenie Jacobs, who goes over to attend to the booking of some acts, and to do some casting for Al Woods. Newspapers are crying aloud over the "whispering campaigns." What else could be expected of thi.s speakeasy age? What a lot of glorifying the theatre is getting these days. "Broadway" started the present cycle of show shop motifs three seasons ago. Along came "TJie Barker," "burlesque," "Excess Baggage" and "Rain oT Shine," to c6ver all branches of the amusement business. Time was when tales of the theatre, unless perchance they dealt with chorus girlsi weren't so popular, but today they are in the ascendency. Frederick Lonsdale is the/latest author to capitulate to the movement. In "The High Road" he glorifies a musical comedy actress, mingling with royalty, and pictures for a while as a designing, femalle out to marry a title! nriotiey, and all that goes with it. While the stage is busily engaged in uplifting the theatre by starting with the stage itself, it seems; equally determined to present its allied art the pres.s, in its worst light. Newspaper plays suddenly spring into vogue and its characters'are. for the riiost part, blasphemous vagabonds, contemi)tu6us of. all creeds and civilization and fearing .neither man nor God. ^ , \, . , Rfore newspaper plays, as was, to be expected after the succeijs of "The Front Page" and "Gentlemen of the Press," appear in the offing and soon will vie with gang dtamas and show plays for supremacy. A visitor -rom Mars a few weeks hence, after a tour of the Broadway the- atres, would return home convincied .tliat the only characters on earth worth writing plays about are actors, newspapermen, gunmen and other ; crooks. . . ^ But maybe George Ade was right when he said, "the only way to up- lift Is to get under.'' Apropos Of the Leo Dietrichsteiri story in; this column last week they are telling one on Broadway about ho,w the temperamental star was cured of sending wipe-cracking telegrams to the home office. Dietrich- stein had played a week in Detroit to' fine business in "The Purple Mask," and Jules Murry of the Shubert office had booked him on a week of one nighters through Michigan to profit by the prestige and adver- tising of the big trade in Detroit. The first town after the automobile - - """" Dietrichsteiri was Dresser and Joseph scnuciKraut as Lieutenant "IJroadway" jonnny -dI-* \r„^«« ^n/i th« reoeint^ were $32'7 have been a smooth voyage, so much j up what he first thought was a of the old oil around, the Stars and gun. To his surprise it was a pint disgusted and sent MUrry a wire protesting about playing one nighters. "Why should you expect the people of Port Huron to know Dietrich- of the old oil around, the Stars and gun To his surprise it ^ P.^"M gteln ;vhen tw ne of Napoleon?", aaked the actor sar Bars .playing hero and heroine and bottle of rye unbroken The l^eu- steln^when "Naturally, the people o J i^j^ A.W* V -.-w I y.. ■M.J^f - w.. . ^, — a "red" socialist getting an attack tenant lodged an additional com of conscience. But it kept the audi- plaint of Volstead violation against ence trying to swallow something Billie. it hadn't eaten. | When arraigned in West Side ..Court they pleaded not guilty. The Midnight Crime Era Court 'Suspended sentence. The "Midnight Life" Is certainly old gj^^g^. have a hearing in the| fashioned, giving the impression federal court on the violation of that is the time when robberies and Uj^g Volstead law. Linden put up | murders happen. Francis Bushman | ^jqq BUlle. got a hand from an old fan, but at the start not the finish of the pic- ture. The heroine. Betty Brown, Qiyen 10 DayS Oil was well played by Gertrude Olm- " stead, who chose black for a stage costume as well as a street dress. One was'?satin cut low in back with narrow ribbon from both shoul- ders making a bow at the back of the neck. With her frock she wore a separate white silk scarf partly covered with black dots. The cabaret scenes in most pictures couldn't do more to discourage any nclination. toward night life If they were produced by the Purity League Itself, there hasn't been a new movement since the one to re- duce by slapping became so suc- cessful, - f — —- . Ethics of Bead Dresses The State show has everything the Palace has with an interesting picture as well. Kae Elinor Ball and her brotlie •, artists both, de- lighted with violin and cello. Miss Ball wore a gown of cerise crepe, skirt long and scalloped, bodice .long^and^Jtight -Avith> _yoke and bertha of white lace. Sheldon, Heft and Lewis danced and sang, the girl's gowns good- looking but seemingly worn with the wrong dances. A white taffeta robe de style with shower corsage also white, was lovely and would have been more appropriate for th« waltz than the transparent purple one that should have brought on an oriental number. And those bead castically. 'The next day Murry wired hini: "Naturally, the people of Detroit never heard of Napoleon, He liever played Detroit to a week of capacity business!" "Bolony," recognized and quoted by GbVerrior Smith, gets into the dictioriary". Who but Hoover should so dignify "hooey?" Robert H. Ingersoll, maker of those dollar watches whose ticking has been heard around the world, la dead. Ingersoll watch owners honor him as the man who discovered actions speak lo"uder than words. "Face lifters and beautifiers go into action in Jersey asylum aa science's latest cure for insanity," relates a news item. Guess most of , the cosmetic experts will never know they left the. beauty parlor. Both Island to Rehearse 1 are madhouses. "But your Honor, I must r6hearse. I am to open at the Riverside the- atre on the 20th. I am a, vaude- ville .actor and have 36 weeks' en- gagement. How can I fill It if yoii send me to jail?" saih Teddy Hayes, 24, who said he lived at the Wash- ington apartments, 318 West 6,1st streetj . to Magistrate George W. Simpson in West Side Court after he had been sentenced to 10 days in the Workhouse on the charge of disorderly conduct. 'But iny "dear; boy;- you" can 're- hearse oh the Island. Ten days Chatter in Loop Italian Actor's Alimony Gets Him Jail Term Alvino Poliiszi, 46, of 1557 68th street, Brooklyn, an actor who has played with several Itaillan compa- nies throughout the Country, was sentenced to three months in Spe- cial Sessions for failure to provide for his four minor children. Polizzi was arrested a week ago on the complaint of his wife who claimed the actor was $96 in ar- rears on his payments for the up- keep of his children. The defend- ant claimed that he had to pay so much alimony to his wife he was unable to provide scparat(*ly for the children. DECLARED TAX FREE =^_^-.^^-..^^^-VVaslvriigtonT-Sept.Hll7=^^^^' Two classes of tickets to prize fights have been doclarod tax free under the new revenue law assess- ing 26 per cent on the'passes as well as paid admissions. Exceptions are newspapermen reporting, the fight and state and municipal offiolals on hand in official capacities. Tax col1i'<aed on the Tunney- Heeney fight todih^l $lH,:t!i9. Inaccurate Biographies ASHTON STEVENS Born of poor but unusu£».l parents 1 in Chicago's Great Arabian reserva- tion, and thrown on his own before I even able to carry, a cane, Ashton tS^plke)""StW6fSH,:"di'aTna crit (icaioe u" mo- j-aicviiu, jlck u<ija i jiie Clilcago "Herald-Examlrier, from now wiU be the 20th, and you i^ughed at life until he was blue in ~ fill your engagement," replied | the face. He still laughs—at times. can the court. Hayes was in no mood for jest- ing. "I may just as well start my 'bit' ,arid get through with it," he said to reporters, "My orily worry is my d^ar.wife. She will think I'm killed," he said. Hayes was arrested by Patrolman Joe Salvia of the" West 47th street station in front of Roseland. He had a crowd around him watching him do his stuff. Salvia a.sked him to save it for the Riverside. The actor refused to move and Salvia arrested him. ers, and Lolita Amiet, prima donna., A chorus of 16 girls will be used. Ben Ehrlich, theatrical attorney, has returned from two rripnths' va- cation in Alaska where divorces are discouraged. _ _ 1 MOLLY O'DAY RECOUPING Los Angolos, Sept. 11. .^..MoMy^OiDay. Jlirst=NatLonal^play^^ er, who recently underwent an operation for removal of surplus tissue from hips and calves, has left the hospital for a sanitarium at Hot Springs. Operation has excited uiuuh at- tention on the part of worSen.who ff el certain that undue anatomical ijrominences have hindered their |sucro.i<s in a business way. Walking into a , theatre after pne of our recent wars. Spike ^ound only too late that he was about to T^vitriess a play. Hanging his cane upon his shoulder, he began to ap- laud by placing his tpngue between his lips and blowing gently. He was signed imn\ediately by the "Ex- aminer" and has been blowing ever since. Sport Herman, owner of the Cort, noticed that Stevens' applause sounded like the purring of his yacht, and generou.sly named It after him, calling it "Swastika." Aside from that. Spike has re- ceived no particular honors. He orice wrote a scathing editorial de nounclng the slickers and ice cream sodas named after Paul Ash. Friends attributed-- it=to-^calousyv---=Stevens called their bluff by reviewing "A Man's Man" while sloeping in a strangi' bathtub. At start of the walkout of music-' ians in class 6 picture houses a gent ruj5hed into the office of Jack Mil- ler, president of the Exhibitors' Assn saying: "Mr. Lyons isent me. I want foUr bottles,^' . ^ •■ ■ "Okay," replied Miller, "there's a case in the reception room." An inquisitive reporter investi- gated. The bottles contained stench bomb counteractant. Another incident springing from the musicians' controversy con- cerns a theatre owner who returned from his vacation and foiind his son had installed a non-synchron- ized music device to replace the missing prganlst. Looking over the instrument, the old man approached his son with downca.st face. ^fWe^iie gypped..'^lie waile^d.^^Five hiindred'llollafs foF that tKincj, Ixfor it cjan't even talk!" Curly Ross is booking the cnler- tainnicnt into the food exhibition being conducted here under the aus- pices of the "Herald-lCxaminor." I Talent includes Eddie Clifford,,m. c, Lisf'hevon and Aly<^e, Nfwby Broth- A trailer used by Otto -Meister I'V annourioe showing of election re- turns from Chicago' In his White- house theatre, Milwaukee, read; "Get the election returns fnMU Chicago, shot by shot."