Variety (Sep 1928)

VARIETY W O M E N' S PAGE Wednesday, September 26, 1928 Remarks at Random By Nellie Revell Boston, Sopt. 24. •The openinj? of the new season in Boston finds wiJcspread lamentation on the part of those show-wise, for, despite the fact thq,'t, for the first tinie is as many as eight suninier the downtown theatres have been dark since early June, Bostonlans are not flockin;; in to the various offerings housed at legitimate thoatrcs. it may be the pre-election slump. Shows that havp come In expecting to stay eight weeks cliose in five. Those .in for three ciej)art in two and then ."Scarcely out of red. I am hot attempting to say that the restrictions placed by the local een$orship has been conducive to this state of affairs but It certainly hOLS not stimulated business. The following regulations wWch have, beeii adopted by the Licensing Division of the dity of Boiston for the main- tenance of a proper standard of public amusement.s, .are being rigidly enforced. 1. pialogues, gestui-es, songs (especially pairodles), langhage or conversation of any kind, which are directly or by dohblo meaning obscene or lascivious, and intended to suggest sexual relation, 2. Performances must be confined entirely to the stage. This pro- . \hlblts fenvale performers, whether a,rtlsts or member of chorus, from . using the aisle or passogeway of the theatre, and performers of , /either six from using or occupyinjg seats in auditorium, boxes or balconies of the theatre during their act. 3. Femaleis from appearing upon the stage in bare legs; , Excep- tion to this only permitted upon authority of the Mayor or licensing officer, 4. Wearing of . one-piece union suit.s by. females,. whei*e simply used to wantonly display the. figure, as in living pictures. 5. The portraj'al by performers of either sex of a dope fiend, wherein the act of taking ahypodermio injection, the Inhaling of oir eating of dope, or the use of dope in any manner, intended to ishow'. . its effect upon a human "being. 6. All forms of muscle dancing by performers of either sex. This Includes every dance which contains suggestive or repulsiyo con- '. tortions of the human body. 7. The use of profanity. 8. The'portrayal of a moral pervert or sex degenerate. "TjuIu. Belle" was barred from Boston and the Theatre Guild's "Poi'gy" barely got under the! ropes,, but to prove that Boston liked ". \ It, it will come back for a return engagement In the near future. Met. on Boston Common ' Howard Gale, ahead of "Dracula." CampbeirCasad, exploiting "Just a Minute." Karl-Bernstein, here for opening of "Hold Everything." Mike Yack, managing"^Parls BoUnd.". Thomas Hilliard, back with .Thurston. . . Thomas Bodkin, hianaging "Take the Air." Caroline B. Nichols, leader of Boston Fadettes, (retired). Melville Hammett, back with "The 19th.Hole." Press agents are telling,a story about one of their craft who solicited a Job frcm a new producer. New to the business, he had idea.'J. "How do you want to be paid?" he inquired of the applicant for the press job, ■ . "Why every Saturday," answered the p, a., a trifle confused at the Inquiry,, "No, I rhcan," explained the manager, "on what basis do yoU want to be paid. Do I pay you space rates—by the clipping?" "Not me," said the agent, "I can't eat clippings." . Harold Shumate/ West Coast producer of Gotham productions, is; In Hew; York for the first time in six years. He came East primarily to shoot some sound sequences for "Times Square." He has brought with him Alice Day and Arthur Lubin, stars of the film, both of whom are doing their first talker. Theatrical folk are perhaps unaware of the repository of reviews of all shows kept oh file in two departments of the New Y'ork Public Li- brary. All newspaper and magazine i*eyiews of plays presented in New York in the last five years are in the Drama Collection in the periodical room in the central branch at jth avenue and 42nd street. A-duplicate set of books is kept in the Drama Library at 121 East 58th street, where 35,000 voliimes form the finest drama collection in the city. This .collection includes foreign and American plays, biographies, criticism^ . and autobiographies,, as well as bound volumes of the most popular theatrical magazines. The postolfice continues to lose money, Deficit.rriight bo wiped out if Flo Zlegfeld could be Induced to sub.'5titute letters for telegrams. Gray Natter By MOLLIE GRAY Babies' Mortality Rate . Decided Decreases Daddy Rich, staglnff ba.by shows and mothers' jubilees for 34 years, has compiled statistics on Infantile mor* tality. When Rich started his first baby show he found that about 270 out of every. 1,000 babies died. ; . .. Last week Riph . was the main card at Dreamland Park, Newark, N. j. His final ob- servation was tftiat It Is now a u n iver.sal fact thait about 68 out of every 1,000 infants die at birth or shortly after. Asked what had caused the decrease in infantile mortality, Daddy said it was unquestlon- ably due to the better baby care given by parents. Rich maintained . there is a pride of motherhood now ex- istent not present In three or four previous decades. Rich advanced many reasons for this Which he claims were not picked up over night but were gleaned from 34 years' actual contact in handling babies all over the country. .V. Ritzy At the Palace Sally Rand is supported by eight pretty boys probably from the ranks of the uniform fillers/~Sally~ l.s dancing till the talkie fever sub- teidea, maybe. Opening in white hot and satin with tiny mirrors trim- ming the bodice and .shoulder caps she next danced .a ballet that was not quite, as graceful as her cos- . tume that looked like a powder puff. One piece solidly beaded cut below the waistline in back, had. yellow plumes hanging froni It and a cute hat.. Her hair is lovely to look at and so Is she, A short flight of white steps under a spot became Important scenery as Sally used it. Eddie Borden, another cinemactor, got many laugrhs, Dot Brown dres.s- ing the act first in unruffled black net, long with one side covered with velyot pansy petals and again in navy blue" sJiTiiTline'd^witli^^^^ a loU('h of . red satin on the side, slippers and stockings jnatching the blue. A jeweled pin was worn at the neck, • No question that Margaret Anglin had evt-ry woman In the house with her. dry tliroats, tears and hand- kerchiefs. Her gown was of grey with light blue satin showing where the bodice and skirt wore open at the side. A wide scarf of the blue was -"crossed in - fronts the ends hanging in back. Betty Barlow wore flowered; chiffon ensernble ind pink felt hat. The Triana SiSitovs with Pedi-o Rubin do the usual Mexican dances In not quit)} the usual costumes, first one white, two-piece, others of silk fringe had only a band of the fringe around the neck and crossed in front for a bodice. A singer's only real contribution was as scenery in the m.any ruffled costumes. "Docks of New. Yorki" had nothing in the clothes line to show the wo- men, a' short colored film gave them a few stars, In earthly raiment but heavenly too. Ann Christy's gown was described as "national blue" though to all the rest of the world it seonied a lovely dark gi-eeni Jii- lianne Johnson in black velvet with heavy lace collar hanging longer in back from belcw the velvet yoke. Claire Winstor's "cocktail" gown was black with silver "sequence" which may be Hollywood's plural for sequin. Shirley Mason also chose dark green for a smart street cos- tum€i all of them a pleasure to see. George Bancroft, Baclanova and Betty Compsori make "The Docks of New York" notable. Whatever silk Betty's . dress was made of shrank, after she wpre it into the river So Betty must have had a time of it watching her diet, an ex- tra potato would have burst the stitches. Interesting from any angle. Barbara Bedford's Frocks - In "Bitter Sweet" Barbara Bed- ford proved herself a real actress. Several of her frocks were two. piece, one a light color had the blouse bead embroidered the skirt with a floating drapery at the side. With a black satin; white lace in a. nice pattern was used for the bolero and the figured blouse under her dark suit had a high tight collar with a >small turnover. Joy McKnlght looked good in black satin, the col lar a white lined ruffle and a gar denia at the point of the V, Fans' Underground The Paruinount was. standing thenv up before noon on a Monday, hardly timo for the newspaper re- views to send them in; must be a picture fan wireless to pass the good word. "Beggars of Life" is long but only =by^th o=c lo.(ik.^_-.j^tale.~^=JiLe,^jEr£a.t^ Sports Motif in "Whip" Who said "Times have changed?" No 10-20-30 audience ever had a better time at "The Whip" than the present Broadway Ones. They've given the old show a fine production Cor its hunting and racing scenes. Dorothy Mackall wore a Smith chapeau with one riding habit and a silk topper for the hunt with a side saddle habit and lovely laces and parasols at other times. Anna Q .Nllsson'3,gown_at the race vraa love- ly, of white chiffon wltH'TiertTm and over.skirt bordered with bands of grey and black, same, for the girdle and parasol and a stiff flaring col- lar, her hat a sniall flowered turban The ^'villain music" for Lowell Sher- man got a laugh always. unbarborod, human fi-oij;ht, with not a smooth lace or an crmino wrap or a cabari't scfne, but it could bo enjoyed a seoojul time. Louise Brooks i.s fine. A real picture. Clothes Film Makes Up A thoughtful management at tho P.Tramount. Knowing the feature. In "Freedom of the Press," it nieeded no prophet or television to see the end from the beginning, Marceline Day wore lace often, lOng with short underskirts. Her black satin coat had black caracul lavish-^ ly trimming It, her grey cloth had astrakhan Colliir and deep cuffs, an- other black coat was grey fox trim- med. What with all the columns of publicity about Peggy Joyce and the Earl of Northesk, one might have thought every detail had been told of their alleged engagement and expected marriage. But some of the most sensational sidelights remain to be recorded. Northesk has long had "a champagne taste and a beer income." In London, Paris and St. Moritz, hie has. moved in a fast set; He married Jessica Brown, dancer. The countess had previously divorced Cyril Relnhard, who has since married two other women, . / The Northiesks separated sonle time ago, and he tried to get a job in the movies in Hollywood. He was considered to be desperately in love with an English girl, Doris de la VIgne, and was expected in wejl-lnformed circles to marry her. However, I>Orls, who is a younger, and some consider a prettier, edi- tion of . Peggy Joyde, got tired of Waiting for Jessica to divorce the earl, so she left Northesk one even- ing and married . Lord . CastlerOsS; son and heir of the Earl of Kenmoi-e, the next morning. It was at that crucial moment, when he was all broken up, that Nbrthesk'met Peggy. London and t>aris sophisticates seem to think it was to make Doris Jealous that the earl begah paying attention to Peggy. At any rate, while waiting for Jessica to get her decree, Nbrth- esk is now in New York, and Peggy- Is also here. Peggy* in her spectacular memoirs, is not telling.half of the story! This story, by the way, was written by Basil Woon,. who lives in Paris. Peggy Is said to have . received $12,000 for dictating the details and she is expected to act in a movie version. Meanwhile, her appearance In vaudeville. Peggy Upton is a self-made woman! Reared in humble circum- stances, as the daughter of Sam Upton, barber in Farmville,. Va., near Norfolk, she settled enough money two years ago on the old man to enable, him to lay aside his scissors, and razor, At 16 she eloped with Everett Archer. The marriage was annulled six months later. Then she divorced Shelburne Hopkins, Jn, a lawyer representing Mexican oil and mining interests, and married Philbrick Hopkins. When she married James Stanley Joyce, he gave her a $250,000 home in Miami as a wedding present Next she divorced Count Gosta Morner of Sweden, recently working for a vacuum-cleaning concern with offices In Hartford, Conn. Then she was reported engaged to Stanford E. Comstock, wealthy Chicago man engaged in real estate operations in Miami. Comstock had been di- vorced by Evelyn Cady» his second wife, and after the reported en gagement to Peggy .Joyce, Mrs. Com- stock sought to reopen the case Still later Comstock Was sued by Constance Almy, cabaret entertainer, for $500,0.00 for breach of promise When Peggy was in Paris recently she and Mabel Boll were said to be on the outs. At one time the two women, who look enough alike to be sisters, were good friends. That was before Mabel, formerly known as Mibsie Bock, had met Charles Levine, tho flying junkman from Rockaway. Mabel has a 14-year-old son, Robert Scott, Jr., by the mar rlage with Robert Scott. The girl from Rochster has not had as many h.usbands as the_glrl_ from Virginia, but she lias more" diarfldnds "aTid bigger ones! Set In rings, one is 62 carats and another is 48. Miss Boll is laden with them. Her other adornments include a coat with hundreds of ermine tails and a gold mesh sweater with diamond buttons, When Mabel, was known , as Mrs Bock she lived in . East 66th .street Later she Was Introduced by Galen Bogue, personal manager for Raquel Melier, as his fiancee. Still later she was often encountered with Nicky Blair, owner of the Helen Morgan Club. Roxy's Pirate Girls? "The River Pirate" la another story of two men who'd face jail or d c^n th^or-.bQth=.toc=.eaeh=other.^wi^ is there neyer such a picture about; two girls? And if the directors are un.'ible to find a true instance of girl "p-als," couldn't they get one from a "Confession" magazine? Lois Moran dresses the heroine'In .striped blazer over a Chinese silk diimaiik frock and in black satin with lace collar and cuffs. The siiolcen epilogue spoiled the finish. tacular. figures in Bohemia. Shei and her sister were daughtei's of the immensely rich Judge and Mrs, E. B. Crocker,-.of California. The sister is the Widow of J. Sloat Fassett, once prominent in New York politics. Thus, Almee is an aunt of Jay Fassett, an actor, and of Mrs. Ethelbert Nevin, daughter- in-law; of the musician, composer of "My Rosary," . In the meanwhile, Aimee Gouraud adopted three chil- dren, . Yvonhe, Dolores and Reg- gie Gouraud. Later Almee sold, her New York and Larchmont homes, and bought a house in Paris, one of the most ,exotic in Europe, , fitted up in Oriental style. There she entertains: Anna Fitziu, Har- ry Pllcer and others. She married a young Russian, Alexandre Mis- klnoff, not a prince, as is often stated. He.and her adopted daugh-: ter, Yvonne, became Infatuated, and, when Almee. divorced Mis-, klnoff, he rharried Yvonne. At the time of the . marriage Aimee adopted a baby, Yolanda, who died. Y'vonne . Gouraud and MiskinofC . remained in New York vvhen Almee returned to Paris, and YvOnne went on the stage, appearing as'a showr girl at the Winter Garden, draped in an American flag. Later Yvonne divorced Mi.skinoff, and retui-ncd to Paris. Almee th3ii married -and . divorced her fifth husband, another young Russian, Prince Galatzine, who went to Hollywood, seeking, employment in pictures. Dolores, the other adopted daugh- ter/ has an apartment in Paris. Reggie, the adopted son, was once reported iengaged to Mrs. Stanley Joyce, first wife of Peggy Hop- kins' fourth husband. And Yvonhe, who divorced her foster mother's fourth huisband. Is now expected to become the second Wife of Frank A. Keeney. Aimee Crocker-Ashe-Gillig-Gour- aud-MiskinofC-Galatzine is said to' have the Income of $10,000,000. B. J. Baldwin, Suicide Burton J. Baldwin committed sui- cide Jay taking poison at the Dreyfus Hotel, Providence, Sept. 18, ending a picturesque career. He went from New Haven to Newport to become tutor to Cornelius Vanderbilt,. Jr. and Hermann Oelrlchs. (Oelrlchs is a nephew of Mrs. Graham Fair Vanderbilt, a. cousin of Mrs. Johi^ Barrymore.) Baldwin later becam^ assistant to Mrs. Amanda .Muen- chlnger, who for over a generation managed the fashionable Newport boarding house, the . Muenchlhger- Klng. . . A year later she died, and left him the property and several adjoining ''parcels. Without delay he married Marthe Ekberg, a Swedish servant girl. employed in the house. They lived in fine style. Various Vander- bilts still patronized the establish- ment, but,, although Mrs. Muen- chlnger. had never permltt(?d show people in the house, the bars were now. let down. When the Embassy Club first, opened, Dorothy Green, hostess, and Jack King, dancer and piano-player, stopped with the Baldwins, Miss Green had been in musical comedy as Dorothy Sylvia, arid King was later accompanist for Elsie Janis. When the Casino Theatre reopened, Basil Sydney and Mary Ellis stayed at the Muenchlnger, and last sum- mer Ina Claire, Grace George and . other players stopped there, Baldwin became involved in finan- cial troubles, lost control of the l5T^eTty,~and his wife wcnt to New, York and became a movie extra. She divorced him, after the birth of two children. She is. now employed as a saleswoman on 5th Avenue/ Keeney-Gouraud Marriage Yvonne Gouraud Is expected to main-y Frank A. Keeney, American theatre and race-track owner, who recently returned from Paris, where Yvonne- has an apartment. Her adopted mother, Princess (Sal.atzine, is due in New York, and will dis- cuss the marriage with Keeney, who "lialU^iTrWri'TSr&6kl:j'rr~ From his father, the late Seth R. Keeney, he inherited $3,000,000. Next year he plans to establLsh a i-acing stable in Paris. He has been divorced. Aimee Crocker Gouraud, Princess C?alatzlne, has entertained hundreds of show people in New Y'ork and Paris, and is one of the most spec- Wilder's Fortune Not only did Thornton Wilder make a fortune through his hovel, "The Bridge of San Luis Rey," he sold the film rights to Metro-Gold- wyh-Mayer for a big sum. Wilder is now traveling abroad with Gene Tunney, though they have aban- doned their scheduled walking tour. Edith Wharton's Position Edith Wharton was merely a New York society woman. That was a generation ago, but now she Is internationally famous as a novelist and short-story writer. In London and Paris she is seriously consid- ered the leading figure In American literature. Her latest novel, "The =Ghildr<vn7^-ls^Just=j3_ut.=^atherIne Cornell Is to star in Margar-^t Ayres' dramatization of Mrs. Wharton's "The Age of Innocence," and Charles L. Wagner will produce Zoo Akins' dramatization of Mrs. Wharton's "Tho Old Maid." Years ago the late Clyde Fitch dramatized Mrs, Wliurloii'3 "Tho House of Mirth."