Evening star., 1926-04-25
The Moving Picture
By Robert E. Sherwood

| ATTENDED with the usual splursy
display. Cecil p. DeMille's new pro-
duction, THE Voga BOatmen," was
ushered In at the Times Square Thea
ter in New York last week.
The Volga Boatmen," Of course
was originally inspired by the melody
OF that name which has been hum
med harmoniously from one coast to
another since America succumbed to
! the Russian craze some years ago. 1t
was introduced, with considerab BILE
effect, in Balieff's "Chauve Souris,"
and is now to he heard in every one
| of those intimate little Russian cafes
which lurk in the sidestreets of New
| York.
! Mr. DeMille has developed The
Volga Boatmen" in his usual opu-
lent. expansive style-working 1t out
as sort of epic of the Russian revo-
luton. The hero Is a stalwart red,
coveted by dissolute nobleman and
so forth. There are scenes of CORY
strife, stressing the violence of mans
| inhumanity to man: these scenes are
represented az impartial views of the
| struggle between the old regime and
the new in Russia--but one gathers
/ from them that MIR. DeMille hasn't
much sympathy for either side. Gar
lists and BOlsheviks alike are pictured
| as "A bad lot.
As is the case with all the DeMille
| productions, The Volga Boatmen"
provides many brimming eyefuls of
pictorial beauty. The pictures of the
! bOatmen in action: straining at the
| ropes, are marvels OF composition and
subdued photography.
The production as whole, how
! ever is marred by excessive eNag-
geration, and it's story fails to stand
up under the load of elaborate COM
plications. At intervals, the plot
Iimps wearily-and once or twice 1t
falls in heap with the result that
THE Volga Boatmen" Is sometimes
confusing, and sometimes dull.
There is a fine performance by the
reliable Theodore kosloff as village
blacksmith. and Victor Varconi makes
real. definite and interesting char
acter of the villain, William Boyd. the
hero and Elinor Fair. the heroine,
are no more than pretty good.
The orchestral score of The VolEa
Boatmen,' which was arranged by
Hugo Riesenfeld. is far better and
smoother than the picture itself.
Needless to say, 1t makes frequent
use of the celebrated melody from
WHICH Tic story lS ucflNcu.
Raquel Meller has at last made her
appearance In America and has man
aged to live up to the incredibly glow
ing advance notices which preceded
her. These notices appeared not only
in the press. but In the conversation OF
all those travellers who. returning
from Paris have rayed about the
genius of this beautiful Spanish chan
teuse diseuse, or whatever the correct
ella SSitica ton Ia.
Senorita Meller had to be good. She
was booked 10 play limited engage
ment in the Empire Theater, with an
orchestra to accompany her, but with
no other artists to exc out the eve
ning's entertainment. She. in herself,
had to be the whole show. Further
more the box office price for seats for
her opening performance was $25 4
ticket. For subsequent performances,
paltrv $40 is being charged.
But the eloquent Raquel made good.
in startlingly emphatic manner. and
she is soon to pass on to Hollywood
where she will face the kliegs and
the camera batteries.
One of the most spectacular audi
ences in New York's theatrical history
paid homage to her amazing art when
first she made her bow. Among those
who remained to pray were Mayor
Walker, Norma Talmadge, Anita Loos,
Alice Joyce, Joseph NJ. Schenck. Otto
II. Kahn. William Randolph Hearst,
al Jolson and Grace George
The contract between Ernst Lu-
bitsch and Warner Brothers expires
next year, and several compa nies have
been bidding for his services. | under
stand that United Artists offered to
pay Mr.. Lubitsch 500, 900 a picture
II he would come TO play in their yard.
| lie has signed a new contract with the
Warmers. however, which guara ntees
him the enormous sum of $3.50, 900
for each picture that he directs, with
a percentage OF the profits added on.
This. to the best of my knowledge, Is
I he largest sum ever paid to direc.
tor for his services over a period of
years.
Mr.. Lubitsch has earned this sub
stantial recognition. He stands today,
head and shoulders above all the di-
rectors in the movies. Warner Broth
ers deserve to be congratulated on
| their intelligence and astuteness in
holding him.
Samuel Goldwyn. we'll known trans
continental commuter. arrived here
to supervise production of THE Win.
ming Of Barbara Worth" with Ronald
Colman and Wilma Banky
Corliss Palmer is to adopt Violet
Buckingham" as a professional name.
as though that would make any dif.
ference The report that four
men and 40 horses were killed during
the filming of Beau Geste" near
Yuma, Ariz., was vigorously denied
here
Norma Talmadge. in "Kiki," has
established a new record in box Office
| revenue, having crossed over $74, 1000
at the Capitol Theater in one week
The great Emil Jannings is
expected to arrive in New York soon,
from Germany His first pic
ture will be THE Thief Of Dreams"
directed by Dimitri Buchowetzki.