Variety (Feb 1930)

VARIETY FOREIGN SHOW NEWS Wtdnesdayv February 6, 1930 Russia So Severe on Its Writers liiat Bull and Cow Form the in Oiie Picture By EUGENE LyONS Moscow. Jan. 23. . Lilfe is !iio. bed of roses for Soviet playwrights and filmwrfghts. They work always iinder the menacing shadow of the niiiltiple pfflcial cen- sorship. For every play or film that is produced tliere are at least half a dozen which have been sup- . -Pres§ed_a3_.j)pIXticaj2y un desira ble. And ^or every piece submitted to the mercies of the censorship a dozen are suppressed by tlieir own autliors at the birth of ^h idea, or somewhere.in the course of its elab- oration, because they know that the chances of production' !are exactly nil. The Soviet government makes no bones about hs policy; toward the theatre and other arts. It does not indulge in any hypocritical pre-, tenses of freedom of >tiie stage, any more than of the press or other means, of expressiion.' The films, the theatre and the radio are just part of the heavy , artillery .-of the Soviets in <& desperate, ilght .against the remnants ;of capitalism, and-for the establishment eventually of social- ism. No production can survive if by sin of commission, or .omission it clashes in s.ny^:respect with the' basic ideas of the Soviet system. More thajfi that, '^ts chahces for sur- vival are mighty slim unless It defl- nitely helps that 'Ostein; hiiless It serVes 'to promote the plans and. drives of . the government or helps to hammer the new ideas into the hea'd's of spectators. All Propaganda X»imits ,wlthih \vhlch writers must work, are iSij?refore-pretty narrow. It speaks volumes for' the vitality •of the Russian theatrical folk, that they ha.ye succeeded In doing flrst- rate things, despite- these handi- caps. The. age-bl'd themes of dra-. matic writers—love, romance. Jeal- ousy, adventure,, personal ambition, etc.—are'rule^ out as "putrid leav- ings. .Qf boxirgcois sentimentality.'' . Su'ch tilings may flgvu'e .occasionally as incidental material.,' siiice .^even Soviet citizens still love and hate and dream of power and thrillsi But they cannot figure as ends in them- selves; tlieiy must serve in some wa,y to underline a propagandist moral ^ of some sort. Think, for instance, of a clever Hollywood scenario writer put to woirk. hatching , plots on the basis of the folloying advice to. scenarists by .Sovklno, the largest film com pany here: "The authors must, of course, take as basis for their work such ^l&ments as socialist competition, the uninterrupted working-week, the new forms of industrial activ- ity, the collectivization of agri- culture, increase in the tempo of industriali^atian,' problem of pre- paring new squadrons of work-, ers, etc." Advice adds that these subjects must be 'Reflected in a lively and artistic manner." "Wtlat couldn't Anita lL>oos do with this guiding line from Sovklno! What about a lively and artistic piec^ abpAt the col lectlvization .of 'farmis for Doug or Hoot' or Clara in ^'Bigger and Bet- ter Tractors?" Extraordinary'part of it, how"- ever,. Is that first-rate films have been made here on jtist ' those themes. Berlin is just how -wit- nessing the foreign premiere of a film caiUed "Turk-Sib," based on the building '.of the still • tincoinplcted • raih-t>ad fconnecting Turkestan with Siberia. The director, M. Turin, has taken the inert materials—wild un- tamed nature, awed Asiatic folk, lo- comotives, airplanes anif tractors— ■ and has welded them Into a continu- ity that Is- really .exciting. . Only plot in it is the miie-by-mile prog- ress of the r^illroad tracks. Climax is the arrival of the first locomotive . to Alma-Ata, capital of Kazakstt^n; ^^o§tly newsreel stuff cleverly edit- ed. Yet We-whole"perf ormance-has a tempo of its own. Love Interest Serge I^lsensteln, too, known In America for his "Potemkln,'* "Ten Says That Shook the Wovld," etc., has used such materials to make a good film shown here Under the title "Old and New.'- He worked on It itttertnlttently for over three 3rear« and is .BfdH to- have* &q«ani4- ered, barrels- of- money on footage Which ended la thd waste 'basket. But a,t least he. had something to show for it in the end. . Tract;ors, dairy machines, .a. prize bullj a simple farmhand and the like aire his heroes and heroines. The love interest is provided by the public mating pf the said prize bull with a modest cow. The tragic' complication is afforded by a dastardly band which poisons the bull. Unpromising stufCvthink you? Wait till it hits New York. 'The Sovlet-bull-mary-not-be-ajs..good3n; actor as Bull Montana, but In Elsenstein's. hands he does all right. In. Legit On the legitimate stage the same type of material must serve as the foundation for drama. The Moscow Art Theatre, the Mall Theatre and a few other of the^ pre-reyolution- ary. groups continue, to draiw upon their classic repertoires. The pro- grams which New York exclaimied over when Stanislavsky's -theatre was there are ■ still beliig- played. But with few exceptions the new plays, even those put .on by. the cliasslc theatres, deal with objects which to those unfamiliar, with life under the Soviets sound like, un- mitigated glbberlish. :. Of the new ^plays of the current season, one . recounts the /^lass struggle between the' richer and poorer stratas of the.' peasantry. in a Soviet ■village; the poor , triumph and - live iiappily ever >. after jn a sovkhoz (co-operative farm). An- other portrays the struggle" of an over ambitious but unworthy citizen who schemes to enter the ComUn- ist Party; he Is foiled and the Party , is never polluted by his base membership. 'A third, in verse, tells the sad tale of an ofl[icer in the Red Army whe exceeded the orders of his commander and is eventually shot for his sins, haying recited mil^s "of poetry enroute. The list could be extended. ^ . Most of these plays are excellent ly produfeed arid' riiany of them, with' some explanatory footnotes on the- program, could ..be put ■ on for Theatre Guild audiences. Difficulties But. the plight of writers obliged to create almost exclusively on such material is npit enviable. Before a production can ,be staged, it must be okayed by. Glavlit, the. censor- ship department attached to the Commissariat of Edncation. ~ That, how:ever, is npt the last of the troubles. The initial okay is no ^gn that the play wll' reach the public. AU through the rehearsals, commissions and delegations inspect the work and may blackball the procee.'.iings. In a good percentage of cases the dress- rehearsal is the funeral performance. Those that escape may be choked off after the premiere—or merely postponed for corrections and revisions, never to open again. Several promising plays were taken off the boards this season after runs of some weeks because the press, _ or some other Soviet orga:n, fouhd them "ideologically deficient." A few of them, in fact, were ■written- by members of, the Communist Party In good standing, but that, tnade no'dilference. Mo- tion pictures are subject to ap-r proximately the same hazards. • What Russian. wjriters have, to say on the. feiibject could not be printed, here or elsewhere. . Yet, notwithstanding these official diffi- culties, the Russian theatre and Russian iJlrtis are. not stagnant: Skill, frequently touching on genius, makes up the margin created by censorship. Behttidithe Baillet Paris, Jan. 25. That wealthy -patrons are willing to place money at the disposal ef: ballet- producers, or otherwise * finance their pro- grams, regardless 'of- possible losses, appears to be the -nialii' rebson Why sd many qiord bal^ Jet*- are produced aVer here- than In America. Many com-' panles; often Russian, could'ill aff6rd . to ' wait until they rea^heid footlights^'were it nbt for subsidies from :lady- G'ul- nard"> Pola Negri, arid othei's. • "Ballet dancers seem willing to work for- salaries' so small that there must be some truth in a producer's statenient that they are. really dianclng for the I6ve ef itheir art. ' Lady Curiard, of the shipping company family. Is best known "teFhWriniJerest-ln-banets-as-a^ generous patroness. COSTLY CARTOON Actor'9 Famed Moscow Drawing Costs Decoration and Job 'Dreyfus Affair' on Stage Causes Stir m Frankfurt Frankfurt, Jan.; 25. The : "Dreyfus Affai.r," which caused so much excltenient years ago, has been dramatized by .Hans Rehfisch and WlUlam 'Herzog.. Au- thors do not try. to gl've a' picture of more than five., years of the life of this man„ . . They start with the liberation of. the real traitor, Esterhazy, in '1894, and end it witlf the big-trial which revealed the' corruption iii the French Ministry of Waf of '98. Play cau'sed' quite a_ sensation when produced in the Neiie Schaiis- pielhaus here^. as the figures of Clemericeau and Anatole France are wen depicted. The, situation of Dreyfus In France has always been compared to the murder of Rathenau In' Gier- many. Both men fell prey to po- litical- manipulations they could not control.;' ^ ■ . • "": ■'.'' ' v' •;' . Piece ' was acted adeq'uately, 'l>ut lacked unity of -characterization as locally presented. Another' opening wad "Comedy of Rejuvenation," .new- i)lay by Alexis TOlsf 61,'distant rWati-ve of the| well^ kno^wn .Russian 'writer, it shoy^s hlrii fb 'be a bourgeois 'follbwer of the' .feolshevl'sls.'"" . ' "■;"^ ; An' ojd ■woman ls{ turned Into a youns giri with the lielp of a great niahy'^miech'aniQal devices and goes through' a serlies of adventures, which ^nd in. an attempted suicide. Story is father a'poor imitatiori 6f the modern Russian theatre be- cause it has eleij|;ients of things which were out of- date in Russia 'round 1910. Performances of Liathar Rewalt and Constance Menz; were good, showing that the Schausplelhaus has people who are of Berlin quality. Moscow.. Jan. 2?. Theatrical gossip currently.. pon-r cerng the .fate of one of the best actors of the Mali theatre, Prov M.. Sadovsky, whpse cleverhess with , a dra^vving pencil has, placed him In bad with the authorities. Sadoysky is scion of a family of actors; con- nected for generations with thie Mali Theatre of. Moscow... His removal therefrom, has been, something :of a shock. It all began with a little sketch, made by .Sadovsky In. an Idle rno- ment arid. hong over his mirror in the dressing room. Unfortunately It is not possible under postal regiila- tionis to describe the sketch in print. Suffice that It was drawn as a comic takeoff on the Soviet campalgri for "socialist competition." Sadpvsky's friends saw, admired, amT spread" the- Tiews;— Its rfabie spread to other theatres, then out- side the theatre and -finally it ^ reached the ears -of the govern- ment. The oif ending caricature was confiscated. Sadovsky, award- ed the title pf "Artist of Honor," was proriiptly deprived of this desig- nation,'he. was expelled from , the theatre and^ in short, is looking for a'job.' . Press has attacked. Sadovsky. vigorously: for his blasphemo.us| drawing. Naturally It could not and did. not ..describe the drawing. Nevertheless, everybody In Moscow knows all the cf.etails., parents^ Objections CaU Off Greciien's Ballet ToUr Paris, Jan. 25. Greohen juvenile ballet of 15 girls, eight of whom are 12 years old, will not defeat tlie juvenile laws of Eu- rope after ail. i)espite having re- hearsed for several months, the girls' parents refused pernaission to Grechen to take the youngsters over Europe, as planned. : Grechen originally intended to ad- yertise as. an. educational exhibition of what training can do for future artists,' thus being- allowed to erii- ploy childcen :ii^hose ages would have made their'appearance Inlpds-' slble In a b6riaflde act. Paris Bookings Paris, Jan. 25. Contrai'y to' the ordinary policy of playing acts for 14 days, the Empire is showing Chilton and ThoriiM for'orily'^seven der'.to- permit them to open in Ber- lin for Jules Marx at the Scala. Following ..a.ots aref booked for the Casino, Cannes: Jan. 21-27, 3 Whirlwinds; 25-31, MItty and TiUio; Jan. 26-Feb. 3, d<» Carlos and Louise; 1-7, Sielle aild Mills: 4-10, Relle and Lee; 8-14, Wilton Craw- ley (then going to Monte Carlo); 11-17. Long T.ack Sam. . All booked., by Henri :Lartigue (•\VHilam Morris), Plays for Broadway Paris, Jan. 25. Gilbert Miller, who produced "The Captive" Jn New York, has an op- tion on the same author's "Weaker Sex," now playing at the Micho- diere. Same producer will addition- ally introduce there another French hit, . "Marius," by Marcel Pagnpl, ■who' also wrote "Topaze." Lee $hu- bert takes fhls latter play- te New York, j "Afarl,us" is in Its second year at thie Theatre de Paris. Ostend Youiigstei^ Lose Their Pet Petting Spot •' ' ' Qstend, Jan- 25: .Kur^kal, Ostend's biggest ariiuse- men.t casinp.'i^ being extensively re- modeled for it3 opening April 17. A stage is being added in the grand concert hall for ballets, be- coming- more and more popular on continent. Lowering of the orches- tra stage remo'v'es Ostend's fayorlte trysting place—"underneath the orr cheistra"—causing -the younger ele- ment to gruriible In disappointed an- ticipation of its loss. WYN DUE IN MAECH ■ CamlUe F. Wyn, '\Vho expects to sail "for"' New^^ork In March, ami- cably settling his' differences with Jane Marnac.. and her husband, Major I'revor. Wy.n took "Journey's End" to the Galerles Saint Hubert, Brussels, last week* premiere prices being trebled as .'the: king attended .the opening. French producer expects to take to America ,the n€xt play by Marcel PagnoL, BOUBLE TAX ..The Hague, Jan. 25, . Mengelberg pays income, tax; in the ' States, on. his earnings there during iiis American tour and-here on -v^hat he makes in Holland and elsewhere . abroad.' Belrig taxed twice, he objected and threatened tp resign froin the conductorship of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw or- chestra. .- Teriiporary -way out -was arranged by the Dutch Finance - Minister Jonkheer de Geer and until he re- turns from America this matter has been shelved. A Dutch citizen living abroad has to pay income tax in Holland if he spends 100 days a year in the coun- try. OSTEND'S £0N£ HOUSE Ostend, Jan; 25. Scala's burning down last spring leaves the Theatre Royal's ' future for this season in an indeterminate state. Royal formerly housed oper- atics with 'the Scala playing the lighter legit road shows. since Ostend is a resort town the Royal may . become the roadhouse, eli'minatihs tlie opera. PARIS CHATTER Paris, Jan:-25. - In the English version of Moliere's "Bpurgepis Gentlhomme," at the Theatre . Caumartin, is J. Jackson, 20-year-old son of J. W. Jackson, the owner tyt several troupes of girls In- London and on the continent. Ws young Jackson's debut. In legit. Curt Smith and Roy Barton, with Harry RIeser, in the basement cafe of Harry's New York Bar, have a repertoire of 200 current pops, n^t to mention a flock of' old reliable harrnony numbers. Boys admit It's tougher now to keep abreast, what with the many thematics from new pictures not due here yet for months but requested by patrons fresh off the boats. Kjkl, a Left Bank character "arii6^rii^g riile"61ub"K"<5Stessesrand^eaid- to be the Inspiration for the titular role of the play of itiat name, -has deserted the more swank Boeuf sm* le Toit nlte club and. returned to Montparnasse at the jungle Club. Ruth Gourlay, of Chicago, gave a plana recital at the American Students' Atelier. She is the daugh- ter ofi William Gourlay^ general manager of the American. Express Col in the British Isles. 4FL0PS1NONENieHT IS A BUDAPEST EVENT Budapest, Jan; 25< Budapest managers, in their race for success, overtake one another and won't leave eac^h other any ad- vantage. Bo it has become cus- tomary to ' have: premieres in four or five theatres the same week, then nothing whatever for another fort- night or so, according to how .far the new play will' Jiold out,. theii another first-night wave, Ifecently they crowded four new plays, with no chance, of success among the lot; Into one Friday night—not to men- tion a boiiple of new cabaret pro- grammed, . a thing considered of equal value to theatres in JBuda- pest.-. "Sisters,"! new musical comedy with book byBekefy and music'by Lajtai, was preceded by much dia- -Cusslpn,..beinsJ5.0.1d from jpnejtK^tr^ to iariother, with rib leading -woihW in sight. Flrially llona Tftkos, pop- ular dramatic actress, wkis engaged for one of the sisters, who are mUsio hall stars. Part of the other sister much better cAst -with Rosie Bar- sony, but the play is dull and the music, save for a number or'two, Is below par. The BelyarosI, wliich declared It -would smooth the paths of young talent, produced a revival of "Naphtalinei" Farce written by one of the theatre'6 riianagiars, Heltal, 22 years ago. A bit prehistoric. - "Jean de la -Lune," French cofn- edy by Marcel Achard, was pro- nouriced. bbring and Its' chafacterd absurd by the isparse audience's tit- tending the Magyar Szlnhaz, "The Silent Hbuse," English mysJ ' tery, produced under the title of "Dr. Chan-PO," at the Fovarbsl; provoked a violent remonstration. Except for "The Spider," which wa« moderately successful, this is the first taste of the mystery play In Budapest. It proved a.total failure. At the present moment the pub- lic crowds to' two places: Tp see Be-Good for Evermore," the Moricz play, at the National theatre, 'and "Fox Follies" (film), at the Ro^l- Apollo. 'i;C. PORTABLE STAGE '.rn Result of Effort fo vRe^^cb Ru«sia'« Villaoei-^Seenes by Panels'. Mo/scow, Jan.- 23. ^ A portable folding stage has been worked out by students of the Su-i preme Technical Art Institute. A model has been constructed under;-' direction of the well known Russian scenic artist, 1. Rablnowitch, some of whose work Is familiar to NeW York theatre-goers through the visit of the Moscow Art Studio. Stage is described as an extreme- ly sinaplifled affair, suitable for both Indoor and outdoor use. The stage, walls and ceiling are so made that a maxinium number of effects can be obtained merely by rearranging colored blocks and panels. Indeed, M. Rablnowitch claims that with Only a few minor accessories ob- tainable .anywhere, this stage can be set up to represent almost any of the scenes which might be needed for an ordinary play. It's an effort to bring the theatre to the provincial towns and far Rung villages of Russia, thousands of which do riot possess anything resembling a Ibeatre. Scenic ef- fects are obtained by a series, of wooden prisms, panels, ladders, etc. —of the^kind used in the so-called constructivlst eetting.s—^which can readily be shifted and regrouped* very much in the way .that chil- dren's toy blocks can be arranged.. . Zie^eld at New, Cold; *Rita'There Next Month ' London, Feb, 4. Report that Ziegfeld would pro- duce "Whoopee" at the New theatre^ iSreek street, is without foundation. Lee Ephraim has this house on sharing terms for two production^ "RIp Rita" and "Nina Rosa." "Rita'' Is due in Marchr George Gee will have the Robert Wbolsey part and Patti Moore and Sammy Lewis .axe likely for the 'Ada .M^Y- and Bert Wheeler characters. TOSGANINITIT BAYKEUTIf—- Zurich, Feb. 4, General direction of the "Wagher festivals held annually- at Bay- reuth, this year will be under the gerieraJ dh'ectorshlp of Maestro TOB- canlnl, who will direct most per- formances. ' * Toscanini is remembered in the States .for. his association with the Philharmonic Symphony.