Variety (Nov 1929)

62 VARIETY LEGIT IMA T E Wednesday, MoVemBer 87; I9Da IT NEVER HMNS (Continued "firom page 60) pus secrets comd out in the x'eports of many maiTiaere^ among the stu-. 4ents. Then there Is • the matter of sororities. Dorothy is nearly bid in, but a neiehborhood girl holds out. Sh«i la Norleen Sears,' addicted to gin parties and d, bit .vindictive be- cause pf Jimmy's'attention to Doro- thy. She enlists Jimmy's aid, ex- plaining she is in a predicament, a boy on the baseball team being re- sponsible. That lad is brought to account by ■ his fraternity brothers and secretly marries Norleen.' • As the sorority is agains.t that sort of thing Norleen gives up her pin and Dorothy becomes a member. .She had planned to elope with Jimmy, and is willing tO go throut?h with it, sorority or ho sorority. It is de- cided they wait until gi-aduatiori and then there ia a long cheer for California, whetheip for the lini versity or the climate isn't certeiin. The playing in "It Never. Rains" was faulty on the second night, sev- eral in the cast stumbling repeated- ly over the lines. The younger peo- ple easily had the l?fest of it. Sid- ney Fox,-who is Dofothy, attracted the. most attention: and deservedly. This little ,girl Js . going < to get a big hand and it won't be long. Carl J. Julius, likewise an unfamiliar name, does a very good Jimmy as the enthusiastic sophomore Who nearly gets married too young, but' who wins out as cheer leader. "It Never Rains" is of the same authorship as '^Sklddingi" a comfedy moved from the Bijou and made a year's run of it at the. Bayes (roof); If the new sho.w w.ere spotted in the latter house it would , have, .a much better chance'; than on 42rid street, because it Js a cut rater and doubtful of lasting at the Republic. Ibee. ■■• rhymes, :but rich and Ingenious phcasfngEt that «very now and then ,hot> up and; fiofck the listener \»ltb a realization of quality that goes beyond mere . merit and skirts genius.' •• iMusJe assembl^Ml from arfchives and embellished with new stuff by William Irwin. It was serviceable and Occasionally melo- dious, but there's no occasion for the publishers or the mechanicals to send scoutsi . With a canny perception, of What constitutes sex appeal the pro- ducers put and keep their : chorus in black silk hose throughout. Girls oh first .kppearan'ce are . in their street attire, arid when goingr Into kicks \<rif\\ pink showing above the stocking line the eCtect is rather startling. This impression is pur- posely cultivated throughout. It Injects a distinct element of nov- elty, not to employ more lurid de- scriptlves. Persons with a gift for reading tea leaves can perhaps guess how long "Shbeatring Revue" will run. "After Dark" ran a year, "Black CrOOk" several months; "Star of Bengalt* was carted to the junk pile pronto. Land. OUT-OF-TOWN REVIEWS WATERLOO BRIDGE Boston, Nov. 24. ..Glenn Hunter .V.June .Walker Florence EJdney Cora Wltherspoon ...H^inham Clark ......Eurtfce Hunt ...Qeoitre Wallen • ■..Alexander Frank DQuerlas Garden .\yin!am Evapq ...Alleh Fagan Herbert' Satfndera. David. Post ...George' Spelvln ..'Margiiret Searls SHOESTRING REVUE intimate show producfid by " Christopher Morley and Cleori Throckmorton ttt the Lyric; Hobolten, opening NoV. 22. Scaled up to $3. Most of the material by Chris- topher Morley with' some new tunes by Avilltam Irwin. Dances staged by I<e- candre. Citizens of Hoboken Free State. I enL Stengel, ICathryn Reece, Lezandre, Lois Shore, Norma Nelson, Annette Ather-* «. ton, Biddy Boyd, Grace Grqy, Helen Henry, Alyce Hogan, Dallas Knight, Betty Lan- caster, Margery Lahde, Rosa Lefe. Sally Miarshall, Vasso Pan, Pat Patterson, Betty Sassier, Amber Vaugn, Evl Zoe Waldhprn, Wllhia-. Winters. Deldre Ellllott. Sterling HoUoway, John McCtormlck, James Norrld, Charles Rellly. Philip Snyder,'' Keith StlUman, Hal Weston, Ed ward Young. Roy Cronln.,... Myra .i*. Mrs.' HobIeyr.'.< Kitty.... PoUcemdn...^.. Gertrlide'. OHlcer, ,• •. . Sergeant Major...... Tol> S^^geaht.. Sailor..... v..... Tho' AustVdUah The Clvillah €pnstal)le..< V •r.••>•.^•• Laborer • «.••«... His Wlfcu..*!. room In advance for a month. He then flnds her, huddled disconso- lately on Waterloo Bridge. They reach an agreement that he Is to return to the front and that she will go straight, living on his salary al- lotment and that after the war he is to marry her If he. still wants to go through with It. He leaves for the front and on the final curtain she Is standing on the rail Of the bridge ^ShXin^ a clgaret that Is the only light in aU of London, and praying to the Hui? menace overhead to blOw her, to hell. The hum of the motors ap- proaches and the cUrtiin descends with no answer to her wish. If "Waterloo Bridge" turns out to be One Of the dramatic high spots of the present season^ as it prob-- ably will, It will be due to Winchell Smith and' the four dominating players rather than to-the play It- self. Sherwood shows himself to be a much poorer sentimentalist than he was keen satirist^ In "The Soad to Rome." Lihhey. said about this hopelessUr wedkplay. Otherwise this one 100% error,- Having decided to write a clean comedy, the Messrs. Barker centered the story around the most sexless thing they could find—a collar but- ton. Tlie husband has invented a collar button and collar l^V^ton- maklng machine. The wife squawks about he belnig continually In the basement and getting his hands dirty. Tells him to follOw the new cultured gentleman who has just come to town. • The cultured gentleman turns out to be a rascal; henpecked husband sells his Invention for money, and wife says "aren't.you wonderful?" lifot a chance. Loop. . FAMILY AFFAIRS Atlantic City, Nov;. 26. "Family Affairs," hew comedy by ijarle Crocker and Liowell Bran tan o, served to bring back BilUe Burke before an amiable audience at the Apollo last night.. L. Lawrence Weber sponsO'r'ed the production which Arthut, Hopkins directed., . Miss Biirke has a personal charm admirably suited to the plaiy, wliich DUCHESS OF CHICAGO ; Baltimore, Noy. 20. • Musical -comedy, hook by . JuUus Bi-nm- , -- *u-^ «* .,r...»i> ^ri^VAil mer aiid Alfred Gruenwaia; mwslc by Em- promised more than it, co^ld fUlfllL irieHsh Kalman; additional numbers by Hopkins iS the chap Who aske.d an Rubens and TImberg: lyrics by . Edward author. "HOw's youP second aCt?" rmbaseador Hotel String Ensemble. Dia- added, "and your third?" The .first logue directed by Stanley Iiogan. Staged a,ct contains a neat tight situation by iPusby . B?rkejey^ ._Pre3ented_ by^_^the | ^^^^ gives expectant hopes that tfyeire at least Is a clever burlesque .Jules Kpalliy I oh moral, standards. ^ ..jose de MoraesI Miss Burke Is the Estelle Shuberts at the MarylaAd Theatre, Baltl more, Nov. 18. Tlhaly.V••••••' Mahaly Kompety.... M3ss FlHt... Adss 'Chajt,. >. •. • Bojatzovltch ..... Mary Lloyd,«... Count Negr^ssco. A 12-hour interlude of Ijonest love in tbe life of a shabby little prostitute In London ' during the lean days of the 1917 air raids forms the sordid and rather unoriginal plot of Robert E. Sherwood's newest drama. Local critics are all steamed up over It;, and City Cenisor John Casey apparently does not krio'W just what to do. ..It shaped up like one of the, outstanding dramatic, bits of the year when It Opened Thursday at the Tremoht Charles Dillingham., producer, together with Winchell Smith, who emerged from retire- ment to stage It, are lined up to defend • it a.8 dramatic art in the tOwn that barred such things as "The Strange Interlude" and a re- cent issue of "Scribner'3 Magazine." "Waterloo Bridge" Is almost ama- teurish In story and shapes, up.as though Sherwood had originally started to write a vaudeville sketch for Glenn Hunter, then deciding to Stretch it into a play. It runs con- siderably less than two hours.^ and wvill not-be lengthened-for-.Broad- >*•••««»• Mlsa ■Asterroclc,: Mls$ Oarnerford. Miss Morganbllt.. IidUss Rolls....... -Miss Royce....... Miss Copperstoc'k M'lss Motors... King Pankrat«. Lou Xjoiib .Tou ; Jou ounnlng'in and out of the sculptofa studios and generally doing overy- thlnff eic^pt what he w?nt ther« tor. But ; Anally, after pajamas have been donned by the wife and lover, alongr with much frank dis- cussion of the "experiment" to come, the husband gets across th« Interested 'love via- a goodbye Ida* - to his wife; Wife^ Immediately losea- her yen for the other- mart, Meanwhile husband has gomia. home, for the third act, with the. other • femme waiting • there.. - She suggests that friend husband also make the grand experiment^ with ■ this all set when the wife comes: home. • This resulted In a funny four-way discourse further en- hanced with the getting , rid of the. second woman but the'kdvent of the. sculptor again on the scene. Hus- band finally gets rid of hint by send- ing him oijjt with the address of the departed second femme—but with the wrong address. . All of which Is told and. played excellehtly. Phoebe Eosteri delight- ful as the wife; Alan Mowbray, splendid iaa the husband; Frank Morgan, great, as the sculptor, iina . .Vera Neilson fine as the other worn-' ian of the 'foursome. ■ iTarrls has given It two magnificent sets. It Is built for the sxnart ones. It's - brutally frank on the sex business and it ought to click for at least a fairly good ioih—-if it Isn't Inter- fered With by the authorities'. : Meahiti.. Is it good or Is It bad? Tbat can only be answered by a progressive series of qualifications . probably leading to a no opinion. For some it Will be the epibodi ment of mirth and jollity, for others the reaction will be aches and pains. It all bolls down to whetljer or not a person is temperaihentally attuned to Hobbk'en «,nd the things | -way. the town stands for since Chris is really a play of four charac- Morley planted there the staff of his ters. Glenn Hunter, June Walker, shrewd wit and claimed, it for. Bo- Florence Edney and Coca Wither- hernia. , . spoon are superbly cast. They give To suspect the quality or content, such an outstanding performance o£.. the beer or tilt the. nose at the that the success of the piece is heavy German cooking is obviously practically assured.. It. is too sordid to approach the whole Hoboken for general stock purposes, b\it ritual in cold-blooded skepticism, looks like a set-up for filming, espe It's not the right attitude for cially with the way the plot is In picnicking. terlocked with the air raid tense Jane Cowl^as lately lamented ness ofi London In November; 1917, the decline of the American theatre the screen can stand another, and pointed to the conduct of the P On paper the plot reads thin and . Hoboken audiences as evldepc.e 01 cheap. Waterloo Bridjge to Leicester decadent tendencies.. There's no Square is set as the rendezvous for argument that sobriety, whether the hungry street walkers during chemical or psychological, will have the desperate times when the only little sympathy with the hoodlum able-bodied men were wounded sol- humor of audiences given to feet dievs, lumps of sugar were treas- stomping, hat-throwing, hissing and ured like pearls and the oldest pro- Tother. Interruptions. fession in the world •was pretty dull. These extraneous factors necos- Miss Walker as ' the shabby, saHly Influence the .whole equation 1 poorly dressed and drab sort of. as pertaining to "Shoestring Revue." prostie has just been released from As far as the show, can be divorced an institution and gravitates to from its setting and the'necessary "Waterloo Bridge with her bajie*i^ connotations of an alliance of ale little suit case, where she >bumpSr and footlights It may be reported into a sister In sin who tells her quite simply that as short banki-oll how terrible business has grown. Intimate revues go this On© Is fairly An air raid clears the bridge o£ good. pedestrians and Mr. Hunter, just More pointedly, It has much that's but of a reconstruction hospital genuinely droll, but with It.there is after having been shot up at the dullness. Tedium develops, durlhg I front, encounters her. He is an xin the second act and gets in it's bore- sophisticated, overgrown kid, who dom, ' Too many singers without enlisted with the Canadians,. has voices and skits not sturdy enough never had a sweetheart and his to bear the weight put upon them. ] background Is that of a T. M. C. A There's more than a trace of dirt, athletic Instructor, but It's a whole-he&rted and [ She takes him to the attic room healthy sort of broadness, not the which Was her old stable before leering smut of a Shubert revue. the police got her and the landlady Sterling HoUOway may have been tells her to pay up nine weeks' back working with a cold, which would rent If she wants to re-Occupy the explain his thin and feeble de- room. The boy thinks the wench llyery. Lenl Stengel, a gorgeous is everything good and she hasn't creature as to face, form, style and the heart to dispell the Illusion. He personality, Is unfortunately not heaves her at midnight after having blessed with a singing voice and worked himself to the daring point her several sessions were show- of asking for , a . good night kiss. Blowe rs. - - Aft_er he_has gone sli£ pujs j)n her No one else stood but paHIcu-1 trimmings and sifSrTs oUt loTmslle larly, although, various bits from for the X'oom rent, time to time were well handled. hO retui-ns the next-morning and Cast seems to have been recruited hnslsta- that she rriarry him. She from that army of young men and agrees' after many misgivings. He women who form sort of a young leaves the room so that she can dilletante on the fringe of show change her'dress and she escapes buslnesis.. through the window, leaving him Tet while the general average of a note that she can.'t go through talent was competent and accept- with it. . The landlady then en- able, Chris Morley's, lyrics deserve lightens hint In a superbly handlea better reading. Here are none scene In which he jays the back of those one-syllable love-dove I rent and in addition pays for the .. Earl piummef Wheaton of the play, a woman who Elizabeth CrandeU j^^^ jej. fp^na her gra^ip her, ....V.V.^\Vsony W^ husband's Interiest. In an effort to' Lillian. Taiz regain his love she uses his plfeas .Harold Clyde .Wright economy in the present ^stock Raron .^^"'y-;v--v'v--'-^!''? scudder market depression to assertible ,hls K v^n WSmilwrn^ MoLeod mistress, her son's glrr friend and Baron Sacoozl...'.. .....Peter Petraltls the fiance of her daughter, propos- crown Prfh'ce Sahdor.Walter 'Wpoif iner they all live together until tlmOs Mr. Bondy....... hrtrtlr iin a bit «ri.r^»nrsl;;::.^:'^'"^^ricnire '^"^^^ "?:p^t. she introduces a nlcO Chamberlain.,...i........Jan Lindermann< blonde youngster as her own gigolo. Princess, :Rosemarla....... Margaret green l^^.g^pg j^gj-p^jjided, of course. There Bfenj^imin f^ioyd..... •.•.'.".Bohby^^tory Is a nice play, on morals and man .June Cavendish nef3 from the head of the house .Jean Frontal Jt^qI^ to the sCrVantS. • • • ?ifJ?J^™^?^i"t From the second act on "Family ::::::.\G\S?la GuntSen Affairs'' begins to fan apart. What ...Carolyn Duval follows and serves for a plot—the .Arthur Treacher showing Up of the iflance as not ........Qlorla^Gumher l ^^^ ^j^^p stilted for the daughter, stranger l.'I'.l'.'.'.'.'.'TeVry Hdrae. the happy marriage of the son and nancera... Cortez and Helcne|.the girl he,was supporting, and the ultimate triumph of the wife—Is not only ob.vlous but becomes sen- The plot Idea in this musical Is I tlmental theatrical flummery, several cuts above the average and I One settlngr serves for the three It Is easy to understand its sue- acts which a .late start and rather cess on the Continent, for it pic- lengthy Intermissions failed to help tures Americans in the vein of the fill out the accepted regulation eve- mOre vicious cartoons, in the Cen- |. TiIng In the theatre. Weintrauh, tral European politico-comic week- lies..' No credit Is given for the adaptation oh the program and It AMOROUS . ANTIC la just as well. The Job is ah In- efliclent One. ; There has been a ' Washington, Nov. 26 half-hearted attempt to soften the |_sam H. Harris presents a new play by (Continued from Page 61) are widely quoted. XJerald, who Is ah artist, is. of a Wealthy New York family. His sister is Mrs. John St. Loe Strachey, of Londonl John's father, was' .editor of the 'London Spectator, and he ia a cousin of Lytton Strachey, the Writer. Mrs. Gerald C. Murphy is an heiress daughter of Friank C. Wlborg, of New York, and sister Of Mrs. Sidney W. Fish and Mary Hoyt Wlborg, who hits written plays. Marie Dressier nas just signed a 'five-year renewal with M-G-M. She Is the oldest comedienne in the movies, and is evidently expected to "become "the Mrs. WhlCEen of . the screen." Born in* Cobourg, Canada, in 1869. she Is now 60, ^nd Is ex- pected to be funny at 65 Or longer. Trlxle Frlganza was born ■ In 18.70,. and Fannie. Ward, "the Eternal Flapper," in 1876. Mrs.. James/K. Hackett (Beatrice .Beckley) has leased- an apartment at. 3 East 7:2d street.. Samuel Spe- wack has leased at S5 Park avenue, Brammer and Gruenwald original lErnest Pascal. Settings by Joe Mlelainer, caricatures of the Americans. The f^g^^^^^^by Mr. Pascal. Reviewed Be- result is neither good satire nor sena 'Balsam Phoebe Poster good romance, while the. "KumOT," Pe>clval Bedlngdl6....;...Ala.h Mowbray ^Which In Vienna was probably all Hariow^B^^^^^ at the expense ,of the Americans, 1^. Model. has apparently been but out com- | Another Model plete, and so some fe'feble material substituted^ Solly Ward with Eric Hoboken Brodies on Coast Oakland, ;Cal.,' Nov. 26. . "After. Dark'* at the Twelfth Blore as a foil, struggles with it in effectually, Hatry Clarke Street ptoved onO 6f the outstand- .........Mortimer Lepey I ^j^pg Of the season. W. A. , Rusco bought the show, but was This one would never get by Ih taken sick when It started. He Boston. It's 10 to One that Mrs. Van ' Winkle, Yocal po?Icr"*nsir * ^ill Po^tf a bond with the labor com- The story concerns the invasion I cause It to be revised for local con- mission to insure salaries for Sun- of a mythical Balken principality sumption before this gets Into print. I day, Monday and Tuesday, by the Jazz-mad daughter of a But It Is evident that Sam H. Harris Chicago billionaire packer, and the is figm-Ing alone on Manhattan, struggle of her syncopated ideas to Okay then. The piece is exactly overcome the more conventionally what advance reports said It was, romantic ones of the personable "a frankly risque comedy of the young Crown Prince. She first | ultra smart artist set of New""York." From that time on the piece was played on- a sort of Informsa com- monwealth plan, with Oscar Geh- ring representing Rusco for the theatre and Frank Wilcox of the ira smart arusc set oi xsew xorK. i.^ * ii ^ i.^^„^^^a huoI rheets him in a Budapest cafe, and I Ernest Pascal, who wrote "The show attending to the troupe s busi tt'e conflict staSrS h^^^ a last season pro- ness. "°J'^J^^^,"!^^^^ for a waltz and she demands a fox- ductlon, hasn't overlooked a thing In tr^de although the contractea. trot. She progresses to Gradltza, liere In creating that "frankly number of performances were his capitol city and purchases his risque" business. Belasco audience given, royal palace from the efficiency ex- didn't know how to take it. Staid | pert appointed by an interallied Washingtonians have missed its Commission to straighten out the Predecessors along the same lines kingdom's shaky finances. In the and never go.t them after their end he, the waltz, and. romance Manhattan runs. Hence the down- win out stairs laughter was of the sup- mi,.^ ir^i^^^ ^„^r.^ i„ «p o pressed sort that one gets reading .ro^^.%^<f>^^v^ra^« R^Ln,^^^ ^isky novcl. Tho upstaIrs laugh- erally high average and Rubens has ter was of the euffaw Hort numb£."^n^"ln^ Ch!ca2o "'''?he^W Pascarhi'^'slf SaSs to tell , „ dSSl?i lTl^^^^^^^ doing .nothing but I establishment and the finding of Pani" type. They vamp th^lr stufE | "curtls Mosby, manager khd ownei: J the cafe band, has been arrested ter. c ' Ion several occasions a,nd cOmes to t. A. BLACK AND TAN PINCH LOS Angeles,. Nov. 26. Apex, "black and tan," getting a heavy play from the picture crowd Is In danger of having its license revoked by the police commission following numerous raids on the. '^.'ir^'^o^tS' S fe^/^^'^^y^^^ ^ir^ \he possession of patrons^ stepping Tiller .girls. As a whole, hripf^nm^Wt^ w^^^^^ Curtis Mosby, manager krtd ownec however.: the production is heavy, {j^ foiTsculptoTSe Safh ch^^^^ of the cafe band, has been arrested and lacking In charm. This goes 1^^"^ ^ scuiptor, tn^ main onarac- general occasions a,nd OOmes to Remaining three are a man and trial before Municipal judge Lahey for the: direction. Walter Woolf was very good ;as the Prince. Lil- lian from the town rpoi., Wi^ii «acf fv,o I a wlfc and another Woman. The Dec. 11 on charge of maintaining a ^fll *LJ«"thS made-Kfni T^^^ 1^ * modernistic paint- Uquor nuisance. tAw« tnat made. Kmg I the^^yip^Qj. ^.^j.^^ w Tnvi^'T.Tpt^^v*^ li^'^nJwn^^^ a statuc of her. They if JrSJ ^ newcomer f^el the urge of attraction and. of promise. This one needs lots of attention Tall. "Queen Bee" in Chi coolly discussing It, decide their I ^/'Q^l«"-Bee"^^^^^ *^L^Smday work will Improve If they obey New York, Friday, opening Sunaay that impulse. The husband, a play-I at the Cort, Chicago. DIRTY HANDS Chicago, Nov. 19. I Wright, is told of this by the wife, who adds that tonight's, the night. . He tries to stop the affair, when the other femrtie artist puts in an I appearance back from Vienna. Her A change In leads has Allan Dine- hart replacing Ian Keith. Mae West on Coast ComPdy by Edwin L. and Kdwln B.irker I opening sneech had to do With now I Angeles, NoV. 26.. hambort^,--^staged—"by-^Warren::^mwrence;=|-.-i;^v^i^7^ ''^jt *''^^''^'\=^i^^i^^'^=SiTi^^ Three acts, one set. the foreign medicos were develop- I at the Biltmore, Dec 23. The wito;.. ..,.PoB(ry AUenbyM"S^ that which ^should be developed , , The Husband....!.... Richarcv Tnhor and reducmg that whIch should be Gertrude Astor, "Paradise Ahoy nis Friend... ...Charles \yiiiiams reduced. - She advises the husband U. Thr.'™^\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\^'.Alma'^» at he should follow his ylfe to Ray Physloc to U for special cam- rho Guest ..4....Grimn Crafts sculptor's apartment and either era effects. The stranBPr Jo.seph Daiiey I win the wife back through a display | Jack Richardson, stratiBcr's r>auBhter........Charlotte Kent of much love or punch .the other Three," T-S. "Troopers fellow In the nose. Before he leaves to carry out this plan of action the Billed as a clean comedy. If visitor pulls a little sex on him her- cleanliness on the stage Is a virtue .self, but he Isn't interested, perhaps something clean can be I Second stanza finds the husband Raymond Hatton, "Murder on t-'® Roof," Col. Low Ayers, "All Quiet," U. Llewelyn Totman to T-S scenario department.