Newspaper Page Text
WASHINGTON, D. C? THURSDAY, MAY 29, 1919 A/6er./fe&y n t*t \ Wards a/ft/ . ~v"tA Consignee 7*fmadae m Mven turc!' I SA\/oy hh/r/eynason \ The FinalCloze uf>" Loew'i , ? COLUMBIA . v' Berth# Com )nt zrxifi* ZJ6 ug/ers ror/rian ]rs/n^ 'Knit Her/toe for Buckaroc. p*/*ce \ AMUSEMENT SECTION. ? AMUSEMENT SECTION. The Neu) Stock Players By EARLE DORSEY 1 he close of the present week and the beginning oi the next marks the end of the 1918-19 theatrical season for Washington, if such a season can be said to have really closed at all. Beginning with the coming week, however, the National and the Shubert-Garrick theaters suspend their regular, seasonal bookings and begin the presentation of a special dramatic season in the case of the National and a season of high-class summer stock in the case of the Garrick. The Garrick will open its doors jiext Sunday evening to the first presentation of the Garrick Players. The production is that howling Manhattan success of the Hattons, "Upstairs and Down," which had its premiere at the Belasco in this city and which moved into New York as one of tBe hits of its current season. Elsewhere in this sec tion will be found a photographic display of the personnel of the Gar rick players, which is undoubtedly one of the highest class cast of players which has ever been brought to Washington for a stock enterprise. At the National, on next Monday evening, George C. Tyler will begin the presentation of a series of high class dramatic offerings from which Mr. Tyler, it is said, hopes to evolve several promising produc tions for the 1919 fall trade along Broadway. The Tyler season, in cidentally, will bring about the return to Washington of that delight ful youngster, Helen Hayes, whose work in "Dear Brutus" not only thoroughly charmed Washington playgoers when the piece was pre sented at the National here last winter, but whose capabilities as an actress of unusual intelligence and appeal were promptly and suitably hailed along the main Manhattan thoroughfare. Both these productions offer rare entertainment possibilities and reports from the box offices of both theaters indicate that Wash ington has already appreciated the entertainment value that is offered at each playhouse. At the Belasco and Poli's, the season will continue uninterrupted for the present and from present indications, the past season will merge into the future without a perceptible interval. Poli's offers, as its piece-de-resistance of the coming week. Lew Fields' new musical comedy, "A Lonely Romeo," which has a certain alluring quality to its name and which promises, on its face, a distinct novelty. At the Belasco plans for the current week have not yet been announced. ==a? Notables at Garrick Opening ?'j The opening of the Garrick Play er*' season at the Shubert-Garrick Theater ia rapioly Jeveioplns irto a gala affair. Washington, socially and offleiallj^ha* taken the popular com pany under its wing, and in addition to that, the leading theatrical lights of New York signified their intention of attending the opening. Broadway la particularly Interested aa this ia the flrat time in theatrical history that a company of stock play ers has been made up entirely of peo ple prominent in New Tork produc tions. Among the big theatrical people ? ha have been invited to attend the open ing on Sunday, a number of whom, have already accepted are: David Be lasco. George M. Cohan. Mafy PicK ford. Douglas Fairbanks. Oliver Mo rosco. Frederic and Fannie Hatton. authors of the opening play. "Up stairs and Down;" B. G. De Sylva. who writes A1 Jolson's songs; Louis Mann. Olga Petrova. Edgar Selwyi,. Alex Aarona, Fred Jackson, author of "The Velvet Lady:" Edmund Low*. Samuel Shipman. Henry 1. Marshall, Qua Edwards. Alice Brady, Ethel Barrymore. Will Rogers. Otis Sklnnei. Ruth Roland, Lou Cody, Walter Cat Gaumont Shows Trip Overseas by Airship I The Gaumont Company had expert i cameramen stationed at various points ! in Newfoundland, the Azores, Portu gal and England, to make a complete I cinematographic record of the first 1 attempt of American flyers to cross j the Atlantic. Pictures of the start of the daring ' aviators from Long Island and their ! arrival in Trepassey Bay have already been shown in the Gaumont News and Graphic, and this week's issues of these news-reels show the departure of the three NC's from Newfound land. Of prime interest are the views showing the NC-4 and her commander Just before starting on the successful flight which landed her at the Azores fifteen hours later; the warming up of the plane from the steampipes of U. S. S. "Prairie," and a view of Ponta Delgada. Azores, from which point the "hop" to the European continent on the last leg of the journey was made. Gaumont cameramen also pho tographed the arrival of the NC-4 in Llsbon'and will also show her arrival at Plymouth. Other flying pictures !n the News and Graphic show the flight of King Albert, of Belgium, who returned to Brussels from the Peace Conference by airplane, and the last flight of the famous French "ace," Jules Vedrines, who was killed in an attempted flight from Paris to Rome. Other subjects show many current pictorial news items from all parts of the world; a monster U-boat which stranded on the English coast dur ing a fog; the strike of the milkmen in Chicago; the return of the Forty eighth Highlanders to Canada, where a wonderful reception was given these "Ladies N-from Hell;" a boat race rowed by beautiful co-eds; getting ? ready for the big Willard - Dempsey bout; a gunboat ramming a whale: using baby "tanks" to' destroy old buildings; the wreck of a trolley car which ran wild down a steep hill, kill ing two and injuring twenty; etc., etc. lett. Bee Palmer, and a number of others of prominence. Among the boxholders Tor the open ing night are Geiv^eyton C. March, chief of staff of the army; Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. Secretary Tumulty. Surgeon General M. W. Ire land, Capt. Mayer and a party of Senators and Congressmen. Miss Laura Walker, the leading woman of the company, who is one of the famous beauties of the Ameri can stage, motored down from New York last Sunday and has taken an apartment at Ward man Park Inn for the summer. MiSs Walker sent ten trunks containing her wardrobe by express. It is very seldom that beauty and brains go together, but Miss Walker, who Is admittedly a beauty, thoroughly demonstrated bv her ex ceptional work in "The Man Who Came Back" that she also ranks among the leading dramatic artists of the American stag a. . He Nearly Ate the "Tramp'* Hugh Ford, the famous stage and screen director, who is responsible for the forthcoming cinema master piece. "The Woman Thou Gavest Me." based on Hall Caine's famous novel, which will be shown at I?ew's Palace Theater throughout next week, came near losing his life during, the filming of a recent picture he di tected. Ford came near laughing himself to death. The picture includes a scene in which a disreputable billy goat mak^s a light luncheon of a tramp's whis kers. The goat was an opinionated brute which absolutely refused to chew whiskers, although every rea sonable inducement, including double salary, was offered. Hours of time were frittered away, the director's Ingenuity was exhausted and the1 goat still stood out. An inspired woman press agent Anally suggested that a bunch of celery be concealed beneath the whis kers The goat was locked up in the dark, like the doomed bull at a Spanish bullfight, while the celery was procured and skilfully woven into the whiskers so that it would ?>t' show in the^, picture but would still tempt the goat. When all was ready the tramp disposed himself to slum ber and the goat was let out. By this time the animal was fam ished; and that celery certainly did smell good to him. He paused for a moment while he wriggled his nose to locate the delicacy. The instant he got his bearings he charged? charged i.s the correct word?and grabbing celery, whiskers and all trued to bolt his victuals without chewing 'em. contrary to the advice of the late Mr. Fletcher. Now those whiskers had been glued on firmly, so they would not pull awav too readily when the goat did the "chew ing as provided in the scenario: and the rudeness of the animal's attack brought awav most of the hide on the poor extra's face: or. anyway, he said it did. He yelled "Murder!" in four languages and raised such a hullaballoo that the goat choked and had to be pounded on the back. And tho director, where was he? Why. rolling on the studio floor in a paroxysm of mirth, which goes to show that even a director's life has its compensations. Savoy Gardens Are Open ===============================i The Savoy Gardens, conducted in I connection with Crandall's Savoy Theater. Fourteenth street and Co ! lumbia road northwest, will be open ed for the first time this season to morrow night, thus affording another outlet for the Decoration Day en thusiasm of residents of Mount Pleas ant and motorists from all parts of the District. ? The Savoy Gardens have a seat ing capacity of 1 J*); there is. ample parking space in the vicinity for mo tor cars, and the identical program offered in the Savoy Theater will be projected in the open air nightly, be ginning at 8:45 o'clock. For a half hour preceding the first showing of the photoplay portions of the pro gram thf Savoy Orchestra. Donald Bich, conductor, will give a concert, which will bfgin promptly at 8:15. Another full orchestra will, as usual, accompany the pictures presented In heater proper for the enjoyment of those who prefer not to view their photodramatic entertainment under nothing more tangible nor substan tial than the star-studded canopy of the hearens. The seating arrangements in the 8avoy Gardens have been designed with a view to affording the great est degree of personal comfort, and every seat will be found to command an absolutely unobstructed clear view of the screen. The perform ances in the theater will begin, as in the past? at 6:45 p. m.. with the t open-air projection* of the same pro gram ?to follow nightly two hours later. In connection with the announce ment of the opening for the season of the Savoy's attractive summer park, it will be of interest to all patrons of silent drama to learn that there will be special Decoration Day matinees in all of the Crandall the aters tomorrow, beginning at 2:30 p. M. This embraces additional after noon performances at the Savoy, Apollo. Knickerbocker and Meaders theaters, dailv matinees being cus tomary at the Metropolitan, Cran dall's and Avenue Grand. KISSING A TOUGH JOB. Tommy McFarfand once faced Ad Wolgast and came near winning th^ world's championship; now Tommy Is appearing in Paramount-Sennett come dies. He faced the title-holder with out a quiver, but he was scared stiff when the director ordered him to kiss a girl the other day in a scene. "?'Nothing doing,*' said Tommy, wfldly. It was finally compromised by permit ting him lo kiss the pretty maklen on the ciieek. After it was over he wippd the cpld perspiration from his brow and said. "Gee. I'm going ^to quit this Job and go back to fighting." V . . A later dispatch says that Tommy is now acclimated, and is willing to kiss even when the camera isn't turn in*. ~ Admirer Sends Mary - A Turtle by Mail Mary Pickford recently received a live turtle by mail from John Phelan. of Roseburg. Oreg.. and when the mysterious box contain ing this queer passenger arrived it was feared thai possibly the thing was a bomb or something. Volun teers were called for to open it and F. E. Benson. studio manager, stepped bravely forward. He deftly and valiantly separated the turtle from his lair and deposited him* in the goldfish pond on the studio campus or garden or whatever it is. Upon completing this function. Benson then thought possibly it would be & good idea to read the letter which accompanied this zoo logical specimen. Imagine, if you can. his words when h^ learned that this strange bug or animal or fish or whatever you might call it is a deadly poisonous variety of turtle which should be handled only with a pair of tongs! But the real thrill was furnished by the postscript of the letter which stated that this was not a| sea-going variety of turtle, but a dry-land species which approaches water about as often as a camel. This made it necessary for Qeaaon to dash forth and delve into the depth of the pond to rescue this hard-boiled, sun-dried son of the desert so the goldfish would not worry him to death. To Build Film City In Heart of Gotham Marking a new epoch in the pro-| duction of motion pictures, and providing the Fox Film Corpora tion a home that will more ade quately care for its rapid expan sion of business. William Fox isi erecting in the heart of New York | City the biggest motion pictur? plant in the world, under one roof. I It will be a motion picture city, two | minutes from Broadway. The building will occupy practi cally the whole city block, at Tenth avenue and Fifty-fifth and Fifty sixth streets, and will cost more than $2,500,000. It will be the most I completely equipped and the most | efficient motion picture plant in the world. Designed from plans out lined by Mr. Fox. the building not only will include every practical modern device for the expeditious and economical production of films, but will be so laid out as to obtain a maximum of efficiency in admin istration, a minimum of lost ener gy and waste, and the greatest safety and comfort for the em poyes. Winfield R. Sheehan. ceneral man ager. made the announcement of details thili week. The building will have three stories and a base ment and will house all of the William Fox film activities in the Kaat?laboratory, atudioa and ad ministration offices. Film Chat and Gossip Another popular song, dedicated in honor of Norma Talmadge, Select Pictures star, has been published by the Leo Feist Company, of New York. The name of the song is "Norma." The words are by Sidney D. Mitchell and the music is by Archie Gottler. i Prominent in the cast supporting Florence Reed in her forthcom ing screen feature are Florence Billings, Mathilde Brundage, Conway Tearle and Jed Prouty. Frank H. Crane is directing. The first of Select Pictures May releases will be "Break the News to Mother," a special attraction inspired by the famous song of the same name by Charles K. Harris. Two others which will be released later in the month are Norma Talmadge in "The New Moon," and Mitchell Lewis in "Jacques of the Silver NVrth." A tornado which fullfils an important part in the plot develop ment of "Allan's Fight," the latest super-feature with Dustio Faruum, just completed by Director T. N. Heffron at the Brunton Studios, pro vides one of the realistic and spectacular effects in this forthcoming United Picture Theaters offering. Will Rogers, of Ziegfeld Follies fame, will leave New York in a few weeks to work for Goldwyn in a series of pictures that will |m the Broadway lariat thrower a chance to register his adaptness at western stunts as well as at coining quip and gag to put the audience iti a good humor. Kitty Gordon is recovering from a severe attack of eye strain, provoked by a long session of night work in the studio. "Close-ups," requiring steady gaze into the flare of the Cooper-Hewitt lights, make strenuous demand upon the optic nerves of movie stars. Lloyd C. Havnes having set "The Turn in the Road" on its very successful travels throughout the country, returned to Los Angeles from New York in time for the preview of the Brentwood's second production and left for New York to attend to the details of distribu tion of "Better Times." Joseph M. Schenck, president of the Norma Talmadge Film Cor poration, has signed a contract with Constance Talmadge, whereby he becomes her producer for the next two years, the contract taking effect May 15, and Mr. Schenck to have a further option on her serv ices at the expiration of two years. Natalie Talmadge, who recently arrived from the Coast with her sister, -Constance, is now a member of the cast for "By Right of Con quest," the next Norma Talmadge production. Natalie will play "Janie," quite an important part in this story by Arthur Hornblow. Norma Talmadge has just been voted Princeton University's favorite motion picture star. In accordance with annual custom, the graduating class of Princeton has placed itself in the retort for care ful analysis with a view to determining the exact value of its four years' college training. Kipling was voted their favorite poet Shakes peare and Bernard Shaw, their favorite dramatists; "Macbeth" and "Hamlet," their favorite plays, and Norma Talmadge their iavori' ^ actrcss. ^