Variety (Feb 1930)

Wednesday, February 19, 1930 PLAY REVIEWS VARIETY 69 ^ RIPPLES Charles DllUngham musical, stari'lng Fred Etone, featuring Dorothy Stone, Introducing Paula Stone and including Mrs. Fred Stone. "Written and staged, by William Anthony UcGulre. Music by Oscar Levant and Al- bert Slrmay, with lyrics by Irving Censar and Graham John. Dances by Wmiam Hol- brook and Mary Read. Settings by Joseph Urban. Costumes by Charles LeMalre. Presented Feb. 11 at New Amsterdam. Scaled to *0. Herman Dutcher Arthur Cunningham Bonus William Kcrschell Malcolm Falrman Edward Allen Bipples... Dorothy Stone Btobard Wllloughby Charles Collins ■ Mrs. Wllloughby Mrs. Fred Stone BIp.... Fred Stone Ma>-y Wllloughby Paula Stono John PUlsbury.. Andrew Tombea Jane Martin Kathryn Hereford Mrs. John PUlsbury— Althea Helnly Corporal Jack Sterling K<1dle Koy, Jr. Sergeant Banner Charles Mast Mrs, Sterling Pearl Hlght MlUlcent Peggy Bancroft Little BllUe Sheer Paul Paulus XioUlpop Colonel Casper Fred Stone musicals are a persist- ing phenomena. It's taken for granted always that they will stick at least tw« of the four weather chianges of any year. If they failed to click editorials would be written and the Times would probably de-' plore the decadence of tradition. All of which prefaces the observation that commercial prediction on a Stone show Is superfluous. "Ripples" Is pretty good enter- tainment for general consuriiption. It shares with the whole pack of so'ng and dance .diversions a plot evaporation following intermission. And It shares another weakness more recently typical of Broadway musicals, an absence of outstanding tunes. On the positive side there's a production of exceptional pretti^ ness and a fairly smooth and swift pace. Paula Stone, the second of the three daughters, joins the family on the boards with this season. She Is surprisingly easy for a beginner, suggesting she must have picked up a lot of miscellaneous footllght ex- perience as she grew up. She can stand contrast with many of the Broadway Ingenues below the estab- lished feature billing group. Her part Is much the better of the two girl roles In "Ripples," her better- known sister being subordinated, or at least not highlighted. Two. of the girls when dancing with their father are sure-fire. That faithful and far-flung congregation of Fred Stone adherents will bark In sentimental enthusiasm at the .spectacJfi,._.There_ISi In fact, some- thing peculiarly heartening about a theatrical family with tradition be- hind it. Mrs. Fred Stone drawing and deserving applause on her splendid appearance adds to the three cheers feeling. "And I want," said Stone In his curtain speech, "to thank William Anthony McGuIre for writing me a clean show." After a moment's perplexity the audience decided to Ignore this cpening to endorse the higher purity. As a matter of fact McGulre's com- edy employs certain wheezes of a slightly indigo hue. In the service of anyone else these detours into innuendo wouldn't be noticed at all. But In a Fred Stone musical the Broadway slant on many things seems strangely incongruous. ..Not, let It be recorded, that "Ripples" Is In any way similar to a French farce or a Shubert revue. It holds pretty close to the Fred Stone pattern. Eddie Foy, Jr., sewed his insignia on a personal success. This young man goes on the roster of those who are on their way. He handles him- self smartly, and being eligible both as light comedian and juvenile, makes It twice as auspicious. Kathryn Hereford, newcomer, ex- cited interest and shares with An- drew Tombes, 'Tm a Little Bit Fonder of Tou," the sho>((r's sole song possibility. Miss Hereford Is of tlie English type of beauty and still more of a looker than an ac- ■ tress, yet showing Indications that her ability may catch up to her comeliness. Charles Collins, English juvenile, neat on his feet and singing nicely, managed before the evening was out to arouse curiosity to the point of consulting the program. He, too, may be enrolled on the special scru tiny list. ExceptionaHy good is the work of the dancing chorus throughout the play. William Holbrook and Mary Read are jointly responsible. Let the bouquet be apportioned equally for Imagination In conception and finesse in execution. Ensembles are one of the really strong points of the show. Late In the evening Fred Stone does a time dance with crutches which Is his own Individual high- light. Entirely mended from his aeroplane mishap. Stone gets around with his usual nimbleness His Initial entrance is a flying spill Into a bed of tulips. Charles LeMaire's costuming and Joseph Urban's settings collaborate In making the production register quality and optical glamour, vital Ingredients. If It matters, the plot Is about a lazy fellow named Rip claiming descent from the legendary Van Winkle of the Cat.sklUs. His disreputable mode of living and knack for prevarication Imperil his daughter's marriage Into the local gentry. A gang of dwarfs In the mountains turn out to be members of a bootleg gang and along about 11.15 everything Is definitely put In place. , Bp surprised If It doei»fi't run Into the summer. Jjond. TOPAZE tomedy from the'Froncli of Marcel Pug- no), -with adAptatlon by Benn W. Levy. Presented by Lee Shubert. Frank Morgan, rhoQhe FostPr and Mildred Mltchel feo- tured. DIrM'ted by Stanley Logan. Bet- tings by Rollo AVaync. At the Muslr Box. Top, $3.83. Topaze Frank Morgan Ernestine Muche Mildred Mitchell Muche .Hubert Druce Tamlse Harry Davenport Le Blbonohoi} Ueorge Spelvln Suzy Courtols ; Phoebe Foster Baroness Pltart-VlgnoUes..Catherine Doucet Castel-Benac Clarence Dcrwent Butlef Cornelius Vezin Roger De Bervllle Nicholas Joy First Stenographer .....Aldeah Wise Second Stenographer Bauna Allen Gendarme Cecil Clovelly An Old Man .....\\t Helton This adaptation from the French has many delightful aspects from the fine acting to the smartness of most of the dialog and consummate cleverness of execution, but it also bears features that place the minus marks against It. The keen edge that might have been is dulled prin- cipally by states of lethargy into which the play frequently falls, the unconvincing turns it takes toward the last and the tendency of the adaptor now and then to overwrite. Because it has been so well done, the play escapes being a bore, but, due to its shortcomings. It also misses being anything more than mildly amu.sing entertainment. Chances for a run look slender. This is partly due to appeal being direct- ed strictly to the most sophisticated of audiences. "Topaze" .Is typically French In plot, treatment and atmosphere. Even opportunities for risque touches of the upper-strata brand are not permitted to go by the board. The action never misses a suggest- ive spot, but the dialog, which Is this play's backbone, takes care of that. Complaint of police that Al- bert Topaze's stenographer has been on the make from the office window Would be burlesque of extreme crudity in different atmosphere, and even here goes a little too far, but another scene Is meat for the so- phisticates. Here the corrupt mem- ber of the city council, writing con- tracts to himself through a dummy agency, explains to the stupid Albert Topaze how 10,000 francs can be col- lected from several restaurants a year by removing a distasteful but very essential memorial to public service from Iij front of one cafe to anotliec.-. This, scene Is so cleverly written and so ingeniously "played that it stands as one of the most delectable moments of the play. Topaze Is a school teacher In the first act and a pillar of honesty. His adherence to the truth Is only sur- passed by his stupidity, with the result he's fired by th.e schoolmaster for not playing politics In the mat- ter of examination marks for a baroness' son. The second act finds the meek school teacher. In- veigled Into-acting as the dummy for the scheming city council boss and his mistress. He Is still so hon- est and so dumb that he fails to grasp the significance of politics until the beginning of the third act, when his character Is startlingly changed. How lie not only places the council member In his power, but grabs the gal as well, this causing Frank Morgan to so step out of character that the effect of his per- formance is badly lessened. Is re- sponsible for blunting most of the play's edge.. First act Is a pip. In the second the lapses from perfection begin to show, with some scenes of clumsy dialog and direction. Without Levy's satiric lines, the frequent delicacy of the farce ele- ments and the able cast, "Topaze" couldn't stand up. Morgan Is un- questionably one of the finest actors In legit, and here as a humble school teacher he's at his best. Clarence Derwent as the gesticulating coun- cil member, Is also superb, and a fine bit Is offered by Alf Helton, a blackmailing "gentleman." • Miss Foster, Miss Mitchell and others are merely fair, excepting Catherine Doucet as the sensitive baroness. Play Is done In three acts and three sets. Char. the chair. He had killed his sweet- heart, a 16-year-old girl whom he wanted to marry^ As he tells the story to reporters just before he goes through the door—the last mile —his case was manslaughter, cer- tainly not premeditated murder. Another man in the. death house of this Oklahoma prison attracts at- tention, too, In a more or. less sym- pathetic way . and more because of his humor. The man is a big col- ored fellow, convicted of garroting his mistress. The single scene is the row of cells In the death house. Richard Walters Is to be electrocuted for killing his girl. The hour ap- proaches midnight. The boy Is vis- ited several times by the ijrKson priest, and as time wears on the chance ■ for' a reprieve grows less. Guards shave the temples, head and legs of the condemned man. Lights grow dim. as the generators hum In the distance, the executioner testing the voltage. The man Is led through the door of the death chamber, and the dimming lights Indicate he has paid the penalty. Two weeks later. Another man is due for the chair that night. John "Killer" Mears, former lieutenant of a Chicago gang, grips the throat of the guard through the bars, takes his keys and opens the cells. They take possession of the death house, raiding the near-by office to obtain guns. They lead in the principal keeper, the chaplain and the guards, who are locked up. The balance Is the story of an outbreak In a New. York state prison. State troopers line the prison walls. Machine guns are brought Into action (simulation of the machine gun rattle not well done), the siren blows and search- lights sweep the cell block. Word is sent the warden that if he does not free the condemned men and furnish a high-powered car for a getaway the guards and the other hostages W-IU be shot. The Chicago ganster first kills a guard. When no sign comes from the warden he shoots down the keeper. Both bodies are heaved through the win- dow. He Is for putting a bullet into the priest's head, but desists at the pleading of other felons. He, too, kills a wounded convict to put him out of his misery. There are but two shots left for three remaining convicts. It having been planned for each to commit suicide. The killer gives his gun to one of the others .when there Is no hope of winning, then walks out info the atreain of machine gun bullets spraying the prison yard. Realism in "The Last Mile" seemed to be u point of view. The shootings were visual. Perhaps they would look more sensational and Startling If similar murders had not been committed at Auburn. Killer Mears used an oath or two, but the language could 'not approach the vicious speech of thugs In such a stress of excitement. A cement floor was laid to further create Illusion, but without the effect desired. In- mates of the death house wear felt slippers and oflftclals tred lightly. Spencer Tracy Is Killer Mears, not so tdugh in speech as he should have been, but a quiet, vicious fel- low, and nobody to shake hands with. James Bell, very good as the youth sent to the chair In the first act. Hale Norcross excellent as Red KIrby, who had been reprieved; Ernest Whitman ditto as the col- ored convict; Ralph Theadore, the principal keeper; Henry O'Neill, the priest; Joseph Spurln-Callela, an Italian murderer, and several others play well. But most people of 'The Last Mile" are, after all, the dregs of the toughest class of society, sordid men who are an aversion rather than diversion. May get stag au- dience, and without feminine pat- ronage does not figure to land. Ibee. THE LAST MILE Melodrama In three acts. Presented, at the HarrU Feb. 13 by Herman Shumlln. Written by John Wexley. Staged by Ches- ter Erekln. Fred Mayor Howard Phillips Richard Walters ..James Bell "Red" Klrby Hale Norcross Vincent Jackson Ernest Whitman Eddie Werner George l.€ach Drake Don Costello John Mears Spencer Tracy O'Flaherty Herbert Hcywood Peddle ^ Orvllle Harris Callahan ....Ralph Theadore Harris Richard Abbott Tom D'Amoro Joseph Spurln-Callela Father O'Connors ....Henry O'Neill Evangelist Clarence Chase Frost Bruce Macfarlane Brooks .Albert West An all-male cast, convicted mur- derers doomed to the electric chair, make this new melodrama doubtful of box-offlce appeal. "The Last Mile" Is an American Grand Gulgnol thriller, but Instead of 15 minutes Its enactment takes two and a half hours. The matter of audience sympathy Is conjectural and may be likened to public feeling for the convicts In the outbreaks at Auburn, Sing Sing and other jails within recent months. Audience sympathy Is won in a measure by a youth about to go to with the final act iiuiet and ending in tragedy. "The Infinite Shoeblack" action takes place In E<linburRh, Cairo, and back in Edinburgh. Andrew Ber- wick, a hard-hoaded, asplrljig Scotchman, Is studying for an ex- amination that will make him an Insurance actuary and tlie hope of a job with better pay. He is living in lodgings that cost him but four shillings a week, on the attic floor of a house of pro.stltutlon. Into Andrew's life comes Mary, a, girl found fainted on the .door steps. He carried her to his rooms, sends her to bed and fetches the doctor the next day. Mary tells part of her story. She had had many lovers, but Andrew would not believe her, thinking the girl 111. The girl had been steeped In the lore of ancient Greece, the result of which being a passion for loving and liv- ing as she chose. Now in a neuro- tic condition the case Is considered grave by the doctor, who advises a long rest in Spain. Andrew raises the necessary money by putting the name of an- other youth on his own examination papers, Mai-y never knows of the sacrifice until the end. The war breaks out. They meet again in Cairo. Her maiden aunt had died leaving her $20,000 a year. She had a fine home and loved to live in the sun. Andrew (with one arm lost), learns she Is the mistress of the geheral, and It burns. But he had loved Mary from the first. He pro- poses marriage, demands she give up her .money as well as her lovers, and become the hard working wife of a poor man. She protests, but consents to his conditions. Andrew always amused her, and she was stiing with the thought that after all. his Idea of life was right. Anyway she loved him. A few years later, Mary and An- drew are in their meagre Edinburgh rooms. A son had been-born four weeks. Mary has been abed, but seems better. Andrew Is again studying for the examination which he could have easily passed before the war. The transition from a life of luxury and love, appears to have made Mary a'different woman. ]Sut she Is slipping Into the shadows from some unexplained cause. The author creates, a premise that did not seem to be carried out logi- cally. It did not seem the right end- ing to a story that at times had lofty aspects, ending as It does in drabness Carlyle's J'Sajtor Resar-; tus"- was the Indicated Inspiration. In the program Is a quotation, "Will the whole Finance Ministers and tJpholsterers and Confectioners of modern Europe undertake in joint- stock company, to make 6ne Shoe- black happy? They cannot accom- plish It above an hour or two; for the Shoeblack also has a soul quite other than his stomach." At one time Mary tells Andrew he loved sadness. He reclaims a woman, so he thinks, and yet it is all some- what puzzling to the average ob- server. Helen Menken, the tltlan of "Sev- enth Heaven" Is the blonde and neurotic Mary, surely an appealing figure, the more so through her ex- perience prior to meeting Andrew. Leslie Banks makes his Andrew a doughty Scot, a man with a way about him and never uncertain Nearly all other characters are bits "The Infinite Shoeblack" is not exactly satisfying. In production and acting It Is high class. Limited engagement Indicated. lice. The Infinite Shoeblack Drama In three acts presented at the Maxino, Elliott Feto. 17 fcy Lee fihubert; written by Norman MaoCwan; Helen Men- ken and Leslie Banks featured; staged by latter and the author. Andrew Berwick L,eslle Banks Lizzie Molly Mclntyrc Ralph Mayne............Dcnald Blackwel: Mrs. Willis... Essex Dane Mary Helen Menken Dr. Ralfton Norman MacOwan Brig. General Driver .Walter Plingp Egyj-,tlan Walter Taob-Boucarl A. V. A. D Mary Roth A Nurse Elisabeth TJptheqrov*; 1st P.. F. A. OJBcer Oswald Marshall 2nd R. F. A. Offlcer Victor DarrlngCon Australian Officer Michael Stark French Infantry Ofllcer. .Joseph Romanllnl •French Artillery Officer.. .Roman Amoldoff French Girl Anno Llnwood lat Infantry O/Hcer Arth-jr Gllmorc 2nd Infantry Officer... .Clement O'Loghlen R. F. C. Onicer Philip Cary Jonfts Capt. Chcsney..! ..Robert liarrlgan A. P. M Robert Donaldson Mrs. Smart Francos Hobs Campbell A bit lengthy, somewhat windy l.s "The Infinite Shoeblack," latest of the Shubert importations, very well done. But It rates as a highbrow attraction. That It will draw more than class trade on the low^er floor Is doubtful. The play was flrst shown In Chi- cago, and then In Philadelphia as presentations by subscription drama leagues fostered by the Shuberts. It attracted attention and Is re- ported doing rather well. The cast Is well peopled In one scene only, the dialog being mostly between the two leads. The first act was prom- ising. Plenty of color In the .second. JOSEPH 'Comedy In three acts presented at the Liberty Feb. 12 by John Golden; written by Bertram Bloch; George Jesscl starred; staged by George S. Kaufman. Potlphar Ferdinand Gottschalk Nerls Ara Gerald Pharaoh Douglass DumbrlUe Pharaoh's Guard Michael Markham Thetis Catherine Cooper jezra Sidney Murray First Guard George Ertell Second Guard Tom H. A. Lewis A Slave Dealer H, H. McCulIum Deborah Anno Teeman Joseph Mr. Jessel An Old Slave Pickering Brown High Priest Harold Hartzell Slave Girl Lois Hazzard Ashtahoolum Curtis Jenkins First Jailer Julian Noa Second Jailer Robert Burton Prison Superintendent .S'-Iden Bennett A Prisoner. Sam Bennett King's Uakor Tom Post King's Butler Ted Athey A PrLson Slave Lockayc Grant Palace Guard Rod Khorcr Second Guard Al Johns On the opening night "Jo.seph" (Continued on page 60) Pittsburgh Figures Pittsburgh, Fob. 18. "Journey's End," a. smash here la.st week at Alvln, claiming flrst money for non-musicals this sea- Hon. Well over $26,000 and Shu- borts decided to hold It over <or another week after haying pre- viously turned thumbs down on proposition. First time In recent memory that a dram.atic offr-ring has stuck .longer than eight per- formances. Nixon surprised with WIntz'.s "Vagabond King," approaching $16,- 500 at $2 top. ".Show Boat" In now at $4.40, with anoihfr Wlntz show, Mltzl's ".Sari," due here next wf-ek. Sharp stock at Plit had "The Ghost Train," .a rr-pf-fit for tVil.s company, and farf-O only ino()<-ral<-l.\ well. WAR DRAMA IS AN LA. SMASH AT $17,600 Los Angeles, Feb. IS. "Journey's End/' at the Belasco, is possibly the best dramatic smash this town has had In five years. Running at consistent pace with re- peats plentiful making it the town leader for Its fourth week with a take of around $17,600. "New Moon," flgured tp be ter- rific, Is not cutting the capers e.x- pected. Word passed about a so • so cast outside of Perry Askam and a production balancing the cast with the Macloons figuring solely on pi'oflt and not judicious presen- tation of a nierchandlsable piece of property; That the Macloons must be getting as with an estimated overhead of $7,000 they managed to get around $11,000 on the fourth week. "Bamblna," the other so-called musical downtown with a much better production than its competi- tor but an amateurish cast, strug- gled along for a second Week In the Mayan pushing out plenty of courtesy tickets exchangeable for 50 cents at the b. o., but got no- where and was due to close with a $5,000 take, Japanese company, heralded In circus fashion, got oft to a smart start for a week's stay a;t the Flgueroa Playhouse, doing "Samurai and Geisha" In the native tongue. After the first night curiosity of the questionable intellegensla It had to depend on the Jap population for Its rice cakes and bowed out with $6,000. Kolb and Dill draw strength seems to have waned locally. In second week with "Give and Take" at the President only $3,700, with no one concerned any too happy. In HollywQod ' Leading the Hollywood' group of houses, El Capltan with "Ladles of the Jury," In second week, did $6,- 600. The Holly Playhouse, for fifth and last w.eek of "It Pays to Ad- vertlse," had no squawk at $4,300. Frank . Cra.ven.-0Sened here Feb. 16 In "Salt Water" with indications Tor six weeks. Lucille La Verne ended her stay at the Vine Street with three weeka of "Sun-Up" and got a far better break than she ever figured on the last stanza at around $3,600. "Nut Farm," current, opened Feb. 16. "And So to Bed," the.ClvIc Reper- tory gamble, folded ait the Music Box to $2,500, to make way for "A Bill of Divorcement" Feb. 17. Estimates for La«t y/etW Belasco — "Journey's End" (4th wee.Jc). Sensation of town. Sale still well In ■ advance with end of first month showing $17,600. That should give its English author a thrill on the royalty end. El Capitan—"Ladles of the Jury" (2nd week). Mary Boland plenty of help here for Mr. Duffy as $5,500 shows. Figueroa Playhouse — "Samurai and Geisha" (1st week) in native tongue. Novelty excellently sold for opening but of no great Interest to Caucasians. Okay at $6,000. Hollywood Playhouse — 'It Pays to Advertise" (Gth and final week). It paid Mr. DufCy to sell this one as It bowed with $4,300. Majestic — "New Moon" (4th week). Had this been sold In style they sold It In the east It would have been a smash. Producers here have their own ideas, so $11,000, which is what they want. Mayan—"Bamblna" (2nd week). Just too bad. Piece not too forte. Actors no better. • Letting custom- ers In on rain. checks mostly and measured off around $5,000; below, the nut. Music Box (Civic Rep)—"And So to Bed" (3rd and flnal week). Never had chance. Just gave ac- tors chance to utilize their voices and $2,500 the flnl.sh. President—"Give and Take" (2nd week). They did not give any too strong here to California's favorite sons so $3,700. No profit for Mr. Duffy. ■< . Wilkes-Vine St.—"Sun-Ui!»" (3rd, flnal week). Thqugh Miss LaVerne not besieged with picture offers for her revival she felt happy when fold up week showed $3,600. Frisco Grosses San Francisco, Feb. 18. Bu.slneas was less than fair, only- one show getting any real money. " "Oh, Su.sanna," at the Curran In second wc<'k, built nicely and gath- ered close to $16,000, beating Its first week. Henry Duffy's Alcazar, with Tay- lor Holmes In "Your Uncle Dudley," .slipped, gro.s.slng $.'i,5<IO, and Dufty'a President, with "Her Friend the King," second week, considerably off at $4,000. Geary, Columbia, Capitol still dark. j. fJoliltrt'f'.v (jrcen .Street Theatre Dilnl wc<-k of "The Peephole," hit I jr.hove t^.OOO.