Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-18
NATIONAL
Hunting. Tigers
sn VndtaSs

Hunting. Tigers better actors thar
IN India" those trained. An.
one doubling thi
is invited to see Hunting the Tiger ir
India" now showing at the National
The spectator can't. quite believe il
when he finds, himself becoming in.
tensely emotional over the snarling eff
forts of a tiger (screend a few feet In
front Of HIM to escape death by belly
ing his way through the elephant-h high
grass Of midas interior. The SPECTATOR
sympatlies will lie with the tiger-until
the tiger leaps. This Is an awesome
spectacle and one, breathes with relief
when he sees the subsequent shot" at
longer distance, in which sportsman
astride a pad elephants head brings
the beast down with one perfect shot
directly between the tigers eyes.
Comdr. c.. M. Dyott was in charge
of the expedition for the American
Museum of Natural T.story OF New
York. Mr.. Dyott's expense account
must have been enormous. But ne got
the specimens Among them was a
rhinoceros with one tusk, hideouS AMI
NAL reminding of prehistoric days. the
beast was pictured in q, panicky, might
across prairie land, with a. cub at ITS
heels.
can be said to have q climax. The
killing of three is shown, one days
hunt A herd of 100 elephants, pad"
and "houdah," carries the hunters
afield. The suppoSition that tiger
hunter is comparatively safe when ne
wounds jungle beast from the heignt
of an elephants back, is riddled with
holes when the spectator sees "a tiger
spring nearly to the top OF the ,ele-
plants head.
In each case the elephants drew a
gradually diminishing circle, until the
tiger is in the grass inside ring about
100 feet In circumference. Then they
wait until the grass stirs. A rev sec
onds more and some hunter in the ring
catches sight of the cats magnificent
head. Then the shot.
Comdr. Dyott's description Of the
hunt accompanies the film. which in
rludes the killing of many animals other
than, the tiger. Quiet music is syn
cfronized to give the ear its due.
The Aim will be ranked by many as
the most dramtic animal picture ever
taken. 1T is well worth anyone's time.
Numerous short subjects and orchSs-
ira music complete the program.
j. N. P.
norrc Life is full of. illusions.
- - - When Tie eye SSCS Wh"o ~
Thurst0n not and falls to see what is.
and tits not exactly true
Jane that the hand is quicker
than the eye. but the lat
ter organ has its limitations. " is
prone to see what its owner expects 10
see. rather than what actually happens.
Upon this basis of physiology Is oullt
the art of the magician.
This is shown in some Of its most
startling aspects at Polls this week in
the work of the celebrated magician,
Howard Thurston, and his daughter,
Jane Thurston, who is being trained
to follow In his footsteps. 1t is use
less to attempt to solve the mysteries
Thurston preSentS-the disappearance
of a woman while suspended in mid-air
under the dome of the theater, the van
ishing of an automobile with i've per-
sons in the center of the stage before
the eyes of the audience, and the
weird deviation act, where, apparently,
the law Of gravity IS set at nongnt. II
they could be explained easily they
would not be firSt-claSs mysteries. As
IL is, they offer material for endless
speculation.
Thurston is master Snowman. He
throws about his productions an at
Ynosphere of weirdness and mystery
which puts folks in the proper frame
of mind to see anything, and what
they do see fully juStifieS their expec-
tations. The magician has added sew
eral new tricks to his repertoire. includ-
ing some OF the most inexplicable. He
offers to explain nothing. Everybody
is entitled to their own interpretations
of the queer vanishings.
The final trick, the disappearance OF
the automobile from mid-stage, affords
a splendid example of the limitations
of the eve. Instead of q second OF
darkness there is a fash Of binding
light and when the onlooker has recov-
cred from the momentary blinking the
mystery Is consummated. Automobile
and girls have vanished into thin air.
The weirdness of the performance is
relieved by the pleasing personality OF
the magician himself and by the sing
ing and dancing numbers interpreted
among the mysteries, In which Miss
Jane ThurSton plays the leading role.
But the apparent defiance of the laws
of Nature in the tricks is what fingers
in the mind, challenges the ingenuity
OF the onlooker and furnishes food for
thought for days to come. TIL.
CAVETV Known around. the cir
Ma l l. cult for years as pur-
sliding veyor of dependable fun
Billy Watson and song, Sliding" Billy
Watson came into the
local iburlesque house, the Gayety, yes
terday and established himself and his
versatile company for what looks like
good weeks run. Opening audiences
greeted him with brisk applause. The
Watson show proceeds at good gait.
Among those in the company who
contribute notably to the entertainment
may be mentioned Eddie Murphy, comic
and dancer; Frank Mallahan, AL Allen,
Robbie Eckhard, ingenue;" Lilly Lewis,
prima donna; George Montford, juve-
nile, and Esther Lang, another. tngenue.
Marie Arnold. the Soubrette, registered a
little triumph OF her own at opening
shows.
The chorus and the Gayety Trouba-
dours, under Matt Mannix, nierited
every crackle of hand-clapping they got.
F. c. o.
COLUMBIA onstr aaf1slVe Of of the
The Tanning adapta bility OF
OF the Shrew" Shakespeare to the
terms of mass en-
tertainment, such as he has never
actually enjoyed before, has come to
Washington this week. It is evidence
which reveals that the Elizabethan
tempo and spirit, when projected in a
medium contemporary with the mood
of it's audience, is actually the tempo
and spirit of all time. This evidence
is. quite naturally, the. taking picture
version of 1.-THE Tanning Of the Shrew,"'
showing now at the Columbia.
II it be not taken as apology to say
that the present picture represents
Shakespeare in style peculiarly adapt
able to the screen according to what
people have come to expect of the
screen), it still remains interesting to
note how suitably it conforms to the
demands of the microphone, for the