Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-06

! 10 MS personality anu ne j. udtu~
rally funny he remains a respondent
member of the regal family in
Laughter Land. No amount of eff
fort will of itself render a man hui
morous, either TO listen to or look
at. Active volition plays limited
part. In the phrase, To be funny,
! the Ito be- is even more emphati-
cally than usual an intransitivc verb.
! No man is funny all the time, but
some men are unfunny forever.
! 1t was with a shade OF disappoint-
ment that many people who had
learned to regard Potash and Perl
mutter" as fountains OF unlimited
flow OF quaint hiarity to find that
conditions might be such as to check
| from time to time their torrcntial
| turbulence OF mirth. 1t must be
admitted that some of their scenes
in their burlesque detective play
glide into pools OF placidity SO broad
| that no amount of splashing about
can disturb the general impression
OF quietude.
!; :: :, :.
1t is possibleSthat time has come
| for separation from some old friends,
among them the dialect character
comedian whose distortions OF speech
once so irresistible i'll drollery have
been blanketed in effect by new
jargon OF profanity and rhetorical
| license diSdainful of grammar; a
jargon created almost in the delirium
of battle and perhaps more copiously
released to flow on into still wider
channels when What Price Glory
headed the stream which flows
through such plays as Desire Under
the Elms," white Cargo" Ladies
OF the Evening and all the rest
of the muddy water.
What Price Glory" in films
strives to modify the terror and to
develop the comedy suggestions.
These are numerous, although sub
| ject to annihilation by the tragical
moments in a story which, how
ever bad many have considered it,
| has proved itself undeniably big.
What Price" is of the new drama,
utilizing not only a literary tech
nique almost juvenile in its freedom
from the library restraints, but en-
pioying the type actor" who ap-
pears with none of the versatile
aspirations of the good old legit."
The type actor is selected, not be-
cause he can play a role with the
arts of makeup as subordinate con-
sideratlons and the concealment of
| individuality as a part of his duty,
| but because he fits the role physi-
cally, in manner, voice and appear
ance. His range is limited to a
particular line. In short, the type
actor" seriously risks becoming
stereotyped. He makes road COM
panies easy to organize because
there are SO many of him.
II y
George c. Tyler, indefatigable coll
lector of 'legits" from libraries as
we'll as from the green rooms, is a re-
suit of the new display of names
which speak eloquently of enduring
triumphs. Pinero as a playwright
holds place in affection for his
studies in gracefully embellished
sentiment. The names on the Tyler
list of players reads like a footlight
roll of honor. Walton Lackaye,
Henrietta Crosman (spelling that
name with two SIS" used to be what
made Henrietta CROSSE, John E.
Keller, and more than a dozen others
are well calculated to set the scrap
books fiuttering in release of fragrant
memories. There are players, too,
OF equal honors more newly won.
play material has grown so scarce
as to leave so many notable people
at liberty for such an engagement
which necessarily implies subordina-
| tion in many instances despite in
dividual brilliancy. An all-star cast
cannot by any possibility provide
all star parts. Pinero's "Trelawney
of the Wells" with players of so
much distinction will justify the old
phrase, IAN event of the season"
in its literal sense should the COM
pany come this way. Even if some
of the players find it impossible to
give the minor roles the same thrills
with which they vitalized stellar
characterizations, their mere en-
frances and exits will form an in
teresting procession. 1t will be more
interesting even than the respondent
street parade when the Lions
Club" toured the country in those
pre-war days when lambs really
gamboled and were not compelled
to be forever returning to their
| muttons in the discussion OF equity
matters.
x < i =
According to reports from the
laboratories the motion picture in
dustry is preparing again to revolu-
lures in the world of entertainment.
The pictures proved formidable
| foe of the legitimate actor, dis
pensing as it.. did with the voice.
Now the motion picture promises to
be his friend forever. The camera
has need of only half the actor, his
physical appearance. The labora-
tories announce a perfect synchro-
nization of sound and photography.
The effect is described as destroy
ing all sense of illusion. Prediction
is made that the screen will become
medium for the spoken drama
drama which can use the wide world
for a stage setting and appear stimuli
taneously in a hundred thousand
theaters. The legitimate player may
see in this extraordinary news the
sunshine which his rather cold, cold
world has been awaiting. If it proves
true it will be the best news the
managers Offices have brought in in
many season, for it is pointed out
that only actors skilled in the arts
of dtction &c well &c those ~ poee