Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-29
FLASHES
SANNN~NsNNsNNaNNNN~Ns
FROM THE
BY c. e. NELSON.

IA tiers have SuffereQ some
wv what from the Summer
heat and business has
not been normal for month or
two. the prospects for Autumn are
bright. and there is talk or the
biggest season ahead for the
photoplay houses. In all prob
ability, the Rialto, closed a couple
of weeks ago, will be open again
when the first froStS appear, and
the theater will continue in its
policy to show only the best OF
The firSt-run pictures from GER
tain producers.
The Metropolitan, which was
the first Washington theater to
install sound devices, will prob
ably go in exclusively for this type
of photoplay--and the sound pic
lures will have big following
during the coming Winter. The
Fox viii present stage pictures
more elaborate than ever, and the
Fox Production Co. will show some
of its best appropriations
pictures like -Four Sons, Street
Angel" The Red Dance" and
Mother Machree." The Palace
goes on with its policy Of first
run pictures and elaborate stage
productions, and the Columbia
holds to straight pictures. Al
though not definitely settled, it is
expected that the Earle viii dis
continue and that the theater will
be taken over by the Keith inter-
eSts. showing high-claSS vaude-
vile. No announcement is made
of the future of the Fifteenth
street house, which will be aban-
doned by the Keith forces.
The Earle has been one Of the
most popular theaterS of its sort
in the Capital. and it is with re-
gret that one hears of its passing.
However, the city is in need of
high-claSS vaudeville. and this
particular theater answers the
purpose.
There is also a probability that
the President Theater, on Penn
Sylvania avenue near Eleventh
street, may be opened with Winter
stock, but this rumor cannot be
confirmed. Polls, on the Avenue
near Fifteenth street, is scheduled
TO come down by the razing proc
eSS, and it will hardly be opened
this Fall. This will leave only
two Legitimate" theaters in
Washington this Winter-the Be-
laSco and the National-unlesS the
old Keith house is taken over for
straight drama and musical
comedy. There is some talk OF
this move, but no steps have been
taken up to date. The AmbasSa-
dor, Tfvoli, Savoy and other
neighborhood tl1eaters are plan
ming no changes in policy for the
coming season, and they viii con-
tinue with the programs which
have made them so popular with
their patrons.
DAVID wARK GRIFFITH. the
pioneer director of really good
motion pictures, is also being
hailed as the pioneer of the sound
product. When, 10 years ago,
Griffith produced Dream Street"
he gave the picture a WORLD pre-
nniere at the Town Hall in New
York with the. Kellem process.
which was a system of sound
synchronization parallel to the
1928 methods. The picture thus
presented made somewhat of a
sensation, and newspapers of the
time predicted a great future for
the sound pictures. Griffith made
an effort TO interest capital in the
idea, but financierS refused to
listen to its possibilities.
Then the featuring of sound
effects with photoplays remained
generally neglected until recently,
when discoveries of acoustic &C.
ceSSorieS met with more SubStan-
tial response, and a decade later
Griffith finds himself starting
SHThe Love Song" which will have
Movietone vocal and instrumental
music and sound effects synchro-
nized with the Aim. Irving Berlin
has composed the song, Where
Is the Song Of Songs for Me?"
especially for the film story, and
the featured players Of the story
are William Boyd and Lupe Velez.
,
nOUGLAS FAIRBANKS does not
intend TO jump. That is, he
will not Jump into the talking
pictures. although his new pic
ture. THE Man With the Iron
Mask" will be synchronized for
music and sound effects. But
there viii be no dialogue. Doug
is holding back on the talking
pictures, but if there is any one
capable of going into the talking
game" it is Doug himself, on ac-
count of his varied stage expert
ence. He achieved stardom and
popularity upon the speaking
stage, but he feels that the motion
picture, because Of its universal
tongue, is a greater medium of ex-
preston than the spoken word
And the star also explains that
while he realizes the novelty and
advances made by the talking
pictures during the past few
n~onths, he feels that they still
r ave serious limitations, partic-
ularly TO his type Of production
In planning his new picture
Fairbanks announces that he does
not intend 70 Let his use Of SOUND
devices impair the international
ism Of his screen productions. The
star has made q study Of the
motion picture in Europe, and bis
decision regarding the spoken
words comes from what he terms
the great dif1culty in translation
for the foreign market" The Fair
banks, Pickford and Chaplin pic
lures have always been great
favorites with the European movie
patrons, and Doug, naturally, IL
looking toward that market for
his product.
MOT ONLY will the MUSIC be GVn-