Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-03-20
Flashes From the Screen
BY c. E. NELSON.

VIZ. c. FIELDS. the former Follies
w comedian, is working in new
picture at the Long Island studio OF
Paramount. Thomas Meighan has
the star role in We Are All Gam
blers," being produced in the same
studio, and Richard Dix is working
as real roughneck in The Rough
neck Gentleman" Raymond Grit
fifth picture.
1T ES MISERABLES," the Victor
~ Hugo classic, made by the
Films de France and purchased for
this country by Carl Laemmlc, has
been turned into a compact story
OF i reels after considerable worry
over the problem of presenting the
picture. The screen story came to the
United States in l8 reels, which was
too long for average exhibition. Two
showings Of the entire picture were
made, one in Washington and the
other in New York, before distin-
guished gatherings. Then came the
question of whether to divide the
picture into two showlngS of nine
reels each or to cut it down for a
single showing. The two-part prop
osition had many followers when the
question was put to the public. but
the greater number OF votes went
for the one-show idea.
TING VIDOR'S new picture will
N be known as The Crowd. a
story of a great city. The principal
roles are to be played by Eleanor
Boardman and James Murray, the
latter a recent discovery" OF Mr..
Vidor's. Others in the production
will be Dorothy Sebastian, Bert
Roach, Lucy Beaumont and Daniel
Tomlinson. The plot concerns the
difficulties of young married couple
in New York. and the entire COM
pany will work in the metropolis
for several months.
tCTARK LOVE" is being hailed by
- the New York critics as a
masterpiece of realism and "a
screen story of genuine high trag-
edy." The picture was made under
peculiar circumstances, the camera
man, Karl Brown, having written
the story and directed the entire
proceedings He went to the noun
tains of South Carolina. selected his
cast from the mountaineers, and
then went through the production
without telling his actors and &C
tresses just what he was about. The
primitive people of the mountains
go through their parts as though
they were going about their every
day tasks-and the completed pic
ture is an unadorned, crude and
realistic story. One critic announces
that only one such picture appears
in a decade and that the producing
craft should be proud of Browns
effort.
CAILORS in Uncle Sans Navy are
~ movie fans, and they do not
have to go ashore for their enter
tainment. The Navy has 1900 COM
plete eight-reel programs in dupi-
cate and $50 in triplicate, with $500
reels of short subjects. Simulta-
neously with the release of pictures
to the large motion picture theaters,
the Navy starts two prints OF the
same features on circuits over which
the films travel for three years be-
fore being returned for storage. The
reels go from ship to ship, after
which the various naval stations get
the pictures.
MARY PHILBIN and Jean Hers
W holt will share star honors in
"Viennese Lovers on which produc-
ton will start soon.
Douglas Fairbanks has engaged F.
Richard Jones to direct his forth
coming picture. Jones has produced
a number of Hal Roach films.
The Clarence Buddington Kelland
story, Dance Music" has been pur-
chased by Robert T. Kane for $4,000.
Kane will star Adrienne Truck in
the picture.
Sovkino. the Russian motion pic
ture distributing company which had
charge of "Potemkin," will release
another Russian picture. THE Mar
riage of the Bear within few
weeks.
Marshall Neilan and his wife,
Blanche Sweet, are now in New
York. Neilan is making quiet
search for suitable screen stories.
Negotiations are pending to COM
plete Charlie Chaplin's picture, "The
Circus" in New York.
Lya de Putt remained in California
long enough to sign contract with
Universal. She will co-star with
Ivan Moskine in ''He Knew Women"
which was once produced on the
stage as Polish Blood"
Ernest Terrence is recovering from
recent illness. and when he re-
turns to the Hollywood studios will
take a prominent part in Captain