Variety (Mar 1929)

48 VARIETY W O M E N-^ P 6 R t S Wednesday, Bfarcli 27, 1929 Gray Matter By Mbllie Gray (TOMMY GRAY'8 SISTER) American's Six Acts Amorlcdn's "Eleht Big Time Acta" failed to fulfill the promise. A si- lent "Luclty Boy" on the screen proved how much It needs George Jessel's singing. "Broken Toys" opened, Mary and Irwin Fl»Kl3 at plnno and violin, Mary In cry.stal fringe; Dixie Ham- ilton In white silk and tulle, red floral trimming, giving those rough riders the slult they like even their own whistle; Renard and West PQ,ssing out bananas and cahbage, tb« audience just passing out. Little lady cute and attractive as a golden avlatrlx and in jet frock, and finally Harry Le Vail, his sister and Dean. And In that last act the one thing worth seeing. Miss Le Vail, kneeling on a suspended nickel bar, with armfl outstretched, leans forward and picks up a handker- chief off the bar. "Foolish Hus- bands" used Carmellla Gerhety and Dot Farley In the usual Mack Sen- net way. ers yodeled In several languages, too many in fact. Noree and Co. sounded French, but clever. To make California sore there were "Palm Bench Nights" for the American minority, t^ostumes noth- ing extraordinary; Gussle with Al Bloom danced cleverly in a sweater and orange silk skirt, later as a rag doll. Pegsy O'NeH's fine tapwork In blue velvet shorts and white silk blouse, and Dorothy Lee's acro- batics In white beads, which added green bow for the bows, about covered the ladies. Good looking set In the Batchelor company a gold- spangled black-edged sleeveless costume trimmed with yellow plumes was the only flash. Blue velvet Russian costumes closed and white shawls opened, neither worth second look. A black tafCeta with circular flounce, sleeveless, worn with short black gloves was very much to the Lulu BelL • Virginia Valii'a Turmoil "Behind Closed Doors" Is a film tale of spy trip spy, with the XJ. S. Secret Service the winner. Vir- ginia Valll and Gaston Glass are the friendly enemies. Miss Valll looked best in a printed silk frock, the. bodice marked with bands of black that circled the arms as well as 'the waist, a silver fox being im- portant. Under a good-looking ermine cape her talTeta gown seemed~ too full a long skirt for the very slim bodice she takes. Her black vel- '^et gown with it's lace yoke, had 'a nov^ty in a loose ruffle of the lace just above the elbow on the tight sleeves. Both V. V. and G. G. left the audience cold as to which sldei won. Jacqueline All Alone "Ships of the Night" is a tale of "Derelict Island, the Land of Llv Ing Dead." Probably just to use .odda and ends of ^ sets and cos tumes. jTaoquellne Logan admirers won't brag about this.. She wore several simple frocks and a variety of scarves, one. of dots being long and netrrow, another square in Btrtk ' Ing pattern, used as a triangle. She was even forced into one of those beads and chintz affairs^ dear to Pacific Islanders, Miss Logan Is the only girl, nine men completing the cast. Good Substitutes A good show at the 81st Street the last half. Van and Schenck were the attraction. Guy Voyer Co and the Four Flashes among those unchartered, but good substitutes for Norman Phillips and his par' ents. GuB Voyer's girls were well dressed. Mrs. Five Years In tan satin with green corsage and slip pers and later In green velvet. This gown had an ovcrskirt whose fullness was gathered under a band of -rhlnestones In an arched line over the hips and opened back and front. Mrs. Ten Tears changed from a basque of solid rhlnestones .and skirt of black silk tringg-'to ' soft pin frock with self jacket. Tlie bride's gqwns were blue brocade and satin, very pretty, and another velvet of gold color with beads trimming one side of the full skirt and on the hem as well. In the Old Days The> Overland Telegraph" Is one of the Tim McCoy ancient history stories, interesting for the Glacier National Park scenes. Romance chopped In with a tomahawk.- Dorothy Janis no help, as it takes experience to overcome a Civil War dress and riding' outfit. Did. nice girls tide astride those days? But Dorothy's face has possibilities. Tim must have been poured into that uniform. Miller-McLanim Boot Jnst a Fine Bust Sally's Cry ^Irl on the Barge" is as artificial and false as most of the water stuff In It. Sally O'Nell has something of Mary Plckford's genius for looking 12 years old, with the knowledge of a flrst voter when her champion ap pears. She cries for the microphone, a grave risk. Forgot His Advice Spy stories are always fascinat- ing and a good one would make an addict miss three meals. But "Spies" as the Germans would picture them seems about reparation for some of the other atrocities sent oVer. Start- ed off well, but got away from subtlety into a grand slam bang call In the army finish that had the au dlence laughing. Japs and every thing In it should have been good, but "Dr. Matsumoto" forgot to take his own advice "Beware of women" and had to take the knife route to the next world. Gerda Maurus was the lady spy whom love changed. Thought she would fall to pieces, but lived to help save the secret service man bead gown and black velvet wrap and a black frock that said "Sonia" In its embroidered peasant sleeves and narrow standing collar, were the most important items of her wardrobe. Said Little Binspnark "The Dummy" talks whenever can. Talkers wlU soon have to speak their age. Ruth Chatterton said little and looked omeirt In black moire with gauntlet cuffs and collar that tied In front apparenly of a light; colored flat fur. Her grey crepe en semble looked familiar, but why risk a n^w gown for kidnappers to. throw you about In and leave you with feet hanging over thie end of a sofa? Zasu Pitts supplied the laughs and shared a pair of bracelets with her boy friend at the end. Cold Picture "The Sin Sister" Is another bou- quet to the vaudeville profession. Nancy Carroll and her partner, stranded in Nome, are pictured as the only moral people in It, the rest representing every ugly trait common to mortals. Action all In . ^^e Arctic regions, so If .Josephine Dunn's face froze in that wild ex- pression she had to wear slie has a case. Fur coats, sweaters and canned beans most prominent. . / Cosmopolitan Academy Fox's Academy would be an Ideal' place to learn languages if tliey could seep In through the sklnr Which must account for the inter- national character of the show. i Overture, "Russian Fantasy,"^ vei-y good, followed by the Ben: Hamld troupe, tumblers In tongue and iact Billy Batchelor Co. located- themselves in a Russian cafe while Lillian Shaw's amusing ladies were ^Italian and Jewish. Wilson Broth- Satin, Beads and Grass Colony stage show means little except for Walter O'Keete. Of the girls, Sally Star looked cute in gray satin with bishop sleeves and touches of blue matching the tarn One song of hers was very old and the other had been done on the screen by Bob Nelson. Stuart Sisters appeared in gold grass and again in blue beads. Phyiils Haver's Outfits "Shady Lady" gives Phyllis Haver the type She does so well, bullet proof on the surface but an Easter Illy beneath. Whatever her screen racket was, it paid well, judging by her ^vavdrol)e. Black aiiii' wliite in all cases where it wa.sn't gold, as in a lace negligee. A. white straightllne gown got Us contrast in a narrow pointed scart from the shoulder to l^elow the hem and In a double fox scarf, one animal black, the other white. White organdy had black leaves (Continued on page 49) For the Girls Substitution of socks for long, hose, which fad spread along Broadway this winter, will be carried on during the' summer. Stores are prepar- ing for hot weather demands by loading, up .with silken shorts which reach only a few Inches above the ankle's, , And the very smart women of the town are disdaining the sun tan effects. Tan suits and gown to match the pigment produced by Miami and Palm Beach suns are taboo with them. Aristocratic gals know the sun tan was an obsolete tad in Europe, having gone out thivee years ago. . Wooden Jewelry is predomi- nating Just now. • At the class night club rlngsldcs are nu- merous smartly gowned wom- en with mahogany necklaces, oak bracelets, pine earrings, walnut rings and maple pen- dants. Everything but a hick- ory lorgnette. Wlien a lady puts on her jewelry nowadays she has to be careful she doesn't get splinters. By JACK PULASKI Madison Square Garden was packed 'Friday with fight fans who expected to see a slashing battle between Ray Miller of Ghlcago and Jimmy (Baby Face) McLarnIn from the coast. Instead, the bout was a disappointment, going the limit and McLai-nln winning by a shade. Many thought Miller should have gotten a draw but bla tendency to hold or tie up Jimmy in the clinch- es may have counted against him Both men are knockout artists, but there wore no knockdowns or was either man In danger. Ray did most of the leading, Jimmy be- ing a counter fighter. Rarely did Ray. sock McLamln's face for Jimmy carefully held his right mit up as a protection. If Miller was cautious,, so was McLamln. Fans burned up because of the gyp on the tickets. The b. o. was' 110 top but the nick was 940 and $60, almost unheard ot rates for a non-championship scrap . between little men. The rep tor socking created the demand. Miller made a chopping block of McLamin In Detroit several months ago. Baby Face's mug was so dam aged and dripping that his seconds tossed in the towel. That was the eighth round. Jimmy was walking around bewildered. It was Ray's left hook that did It. The differ ence In weights was about the same, McLamln being at least seven pounds heavier. Friday he was offldally supposed to have weighed 138 pounds at 2 in the aft- ernoon. It was likely he was 140 by the time he cllmed through the ropes. Miller weighed 133 H and Is really of the junior lightweight division. McLamln Is clearly close to the weUerwelght class. Millar's Reasons Mlfler 'was undeterred' at thei weight handicap.' He 'wanted to show New York he could whip the tougl\ boy from Vancouver and he; also knew the match would be sell-out, meaning a nice chunk of coin. Ray -was worried by the death of his father- a week before the fight and had to break training. There is ■ another reason why Miller was under wraps. There is a match brewing between him and Sammy Mandell for the lightweight championship this summer and he would Wave been a sucker to havi taken too many chances at being battered. Miller can easily moke 130 pounds and beating Tod Mor gan fdr the junior lightweight title should be a pushover. Odds were 13 to 6 on McLamln despite his trimming at Miller', hands previously. Boys figured If it went the limit Miller 'would cop. Turned out the other 'way. Scipl-final' vraa sort of a bust Freddy Polo was supposed to hav a pushover against h im in the' p er son of Jole La Greyr They stoppect" the match in the eighth when Polo wns-reg^rded as outclassed. Freddy was touted as a knocker-out. La Grey, beat .him to the punch re pcatedly- :and sent him down for nine count in the second vound. Best flght of the night was the flret 10-rounder between Sammy Dortman and Dominlcit Petronne. Random RenMuls By Nellie Revell tack Glimpses of Broadway Beatrice Llllle stopping.In the middle of 4$tb street to take a out of her allpiMr, . . O. O. Mclntyre holding his dog in his arms so that It could see pups a 47th street wlndo'n'. George Arliss climbing In a- low neck (horse) victoria In front ot the Plaza hotel. Jack Dempsey holding court at 48th street and Seventh avenue. The Claude Notts, former ownei-s of the Somerset hotel, receiving the sympathy of friends because of ^ their -daughter's automobile accident which , she lost a limb. Tom Gorman hiding behind a stack of wheats in Shraft's. Jim Thornton leaning up against the billboard at the Palace and look« ing like the young man in a collar ad. A. P. Waxman iErantlcally Inquiring -from which pier the Leviathan satis, as his boss, Harry Warner, was on It and the boat was. leavins in 80 minutes. Agnes Gildea leaving for the coast to visit tlie Charlie Kings. The Charles Ji. Brays returning from another trip abroad, Madame Beeson entering business via tbe:ready-made dress route. Louella Parsons grinding out her dally copy- for Universal Service at th'e Hotel Wai-wlck. Clarence Jacobsoh Inquiring from a Times Square copper the best route to the People's theatre, which he Is to manage for Larry Fay and Alex Yokel. • .■ i , Sam Harrison designing souvenirsfor the 1.000th i>erformanc;e . ot Whoopee" at the New Amsterdam. Elsie McCormick of the. World leaving-for Florida .to recuperate from the flu. ^ The Earl Bronsons checking Into the Somerset after a tour of the Orpheum,. circuit. ' Dan Siattery getting ready to desert Broadway for a summer's so- ourn on his. Jersey farm. Arch S^lwyn okaying a 93 top scale for the engagenient ot "This Year of Grace" at the Majestic, Chicago. Sam iBlcdr ta.klng the subway to Brooklyn In advance ot "The House* boat on the Styx." Ben Holzman, In 6hIcago ahead of George White's "Scandals," con- ferring with Nat Dorfman over, the long distance phone, John Stout, sniffing the balmy spring air In front of the Hotel Flanders and wionderlng how green the grass Js on his Long Island estate Bern^rr Macfadden getting ready to launch a new tabloid In Detrol^ It will be called "Tht Graphic." Arthur Houghton, mc^nager ot the Will Rogers-Dorothy Stone .show, packing his trunk preparatory to leaving the Globe April 13 for a spring tour with "Three Cheers." Clifton Webb reporting for rehearsal with the Brady and Wiman opus, The Intimate Revue," after dissolving vaudeville partnership with Mary Hay. Whit Ray and Dick Maney, In conference In the Jed Harris office, trying to figure out who put their . names on the sucker list of market players. • , -■ Joseph Mulvaney, of the New York American, trying to looate Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. Mrs. Marx, mother of tjle Pour Marx Brothers,. In a fourth row seat, watching the performance of "Animal Grackers" at the *4th. Street. Tls said she has missed only three performanpes during the engagement. Channing Pollock and l^rs. Pollock and daughter Heleh Sailing oh the Aqultanla for a cpmhlned. buqUness trip ..and ho'llday abroad. Sam Rork, here 'from his Callfonlla retreat, on business, ^sdrblng a mixed grill at the Tavern. Martha Sleeper, one of the Wampas baby stars of 1927, arriving from the coast with Mr. and Mrs. John Murdock. ^ • ' . o Herbert Bayard Swope, ex-executlve e(^Itor of the World, mounting the gangplank of the Aqultanla In nil his sartorial splendor. Mary Cecil returning from England, whence she had gone at her own expense In the expectation of doing a London bolumn for th« New York Morning Telegraph, the project having fallen through. . Alfred Zlmballst and Sidney H. Rechetnlk, the world's youngest editors of the 'Warners' Club News) handling the. publicity for the Warners- First National-Stanley banquet and ball at the Hotel Commodore April 6. Mrs. John Cort hurrying to catch a train for Palm Springs. CaL, where Mr. Gort was reported dangerously 111. ^ Howard Dletz contributing lyrics "to Brady & Wlman's "Little Show. For a Laugh Miami, March 26. • A practical joker went through a northbound train leaving here at midnight shout- ing: "All baggage out for U. S, customs Inspection." It threw the boys and girls carrying home a case or more. Into a panic. E.veryl;hing went Into ,one of the Everglades drainage canals that parallel the- ralVroad tracks north of Palm Beach, and quick. Fore After 20 Years After playing golf for more than 20 years, L. H. Buell, purchasing agent at Paramount studios, Los Angeles, made his first hole in one at the San Gabriel Country Club. Buell's reward was a life mem- bership in the club and prizes from merchants of Pasadena, Distance of the hole was 110. Evans-Payne Golf Book • Chick Evans and Barrle . Payne have written "Ida Broke," described as containing "the humor and pltllrooxihy^of-'polt:"^-*":'^^-"'™' ' Grantland Rice wrote the intro- Dorfman .won on a continuous at tack that liad Dominlck dizzy at times.' "wAen hurt; however, Pe-i tronne fought back hardest, He battled in spurts, which is why "he was outpointed. ductlon; book Is illustrated by Mc- Duffer ciortoons. E. P. Dutton & Co., publishes. Courses Opening Up Opening:-ot courses around -New York accessible to the public Is about on time. Salisbury Plains group, near Garden City, go into play.March 30. Queens, Boro, Bayside,: has been playable all winter,, except for: a few weeks for conditioning. . RegU:- lar greAns .opened last Sunday. . Practice Fairways Metropolitan district of New York will have one less public course this year. Excavating ma- chinery Is cutting up the remain- ing 18 at Laurelton, Long Island, for home development. Club originally had two 18's. One was cut up two years ago. All western Long Island has been using the undamaged fairways (about six hdven't been touched yet) for prac- tice the last two weeks. New Public Links A new public Westchester cour.?e bows in this year. It is near Bronxvllle, directly north of tlie old Grassy Sprin.TS layout and a littje west of Central avenue. It Is the third . 1 8. bum and o perated b .v the county parti commission. " " btiier two are Mohansic and Maplemoor, respectively, at 'Vork- tp\yn Heights and White Plains. ■ Ranelio's Tourney Rancho Golf Club will Slaso annual 'Xioc'ker Room toUriiamenf,,. &Iarch 30.