The Washington times., 1929-03-27

hand in the game.
To make a long story even
shorter, Broadway Melody" is
there is every respect. 1t has
drama, action, songs, dancing,
eye-filling scenic pictures and a
swell story, beautifully told.
1t would take more than a
wagon load of orchids to decor
ate those who deserve credit FOR
a great feature.
But we'll say more about it
all later. Last nights pre-
view was for members of the
National Press Club and as
Managing Director M. J. Cullen
expressed it II never saw a
finer audience file into a thea
ter, anywhere, any time. Broad
way Melody" opens it's regular
engagement at Loew's Columbia
Saturday.
Something like disaster has
overtaken the first attempt to
transfer a stage play directly to
the motion picture screen. "The
Great Power" was the drama
made the subject of the expert
ment, with Minna Gombel and
the same cast which presented
the play on Broadway turned
into celluloid actors.
Major Edward Bowes booked
the feature into the Capitol
Theater, New York, and it
opened Saturday. After two
shows on Sunday he substituted
Buster Keaton in "Spite Mar
riage." The management gave
"inaudibility" as the reason for
the withdrawal. But the critics
without exception branded the
feature "dud."
"Whoops," says a photocard
from Leonard Hall, of Photo
play, revealing him in the busi-
ness of interviewing Greta
Garbo, or maybe it is Lupe
Velez. "Whoops yourself, and
a couple of cherry blossoms"
Is my spring fever reply.
Bailieff's "Chauve Souris" is
pencilled-in booking at the
Belasco for late April or early
May. Blance Yurka, in Ibsen's
Lady From the Sea" will also
be Lafayette Square arrival
within a month. This play is
said to be closest. approach of
the Norwegian dramatist to
comedy.
The piano octet of the Jewish
Community Center on Sixteenth
Street has had its performance
on the baby grands recorded in
Fox Movietone and it will be
seen and heard in the cinema
cathedrals within a fortnight.
Leo Joseph Pincus, who reports
the items, says it required some
three hours before the three
minutes of music was satisfac-
torily embalmed. Nothing in
a music way" he adds could
be finer unless perhaps it be
Rachmaninoff, who also plays
WELL"
Maybe the fellow who writes
the film announcements for the
Fox Theater screen doesn't like
Bert Frohman. Anyway he
spells his name wrong, but if
the master of ceremonies is not
worried about it why should l
be?
The consolation of women
who no longer are loved or
sought after provide the best
remembered part of any con-
versation. Thus in the Fox
screen feature, Making the
Grade Edmund Lowe lands
Lois Moran in the matrimonial
net and as the knot is being
tied this sour grapes dialogue
comes from the church pews:
"Well, she landed him finally.
She was chasing him for years.
The other also ran in the love
stakes retorts: 81 could have
married him myself, but l was
too young to get married"
It's one of the best laughs
of frothy film.
Mark Gates, former manager
of the Columbia, on + Street,
but now the managing director
of a string Of suburban thea
ters in nearby Virginia and
Maryland, reports the business
in the motion picture belt ad-
jacent to Washington is emil
nently satisfactory.
Congressman Frank L. Bow
man of West Virginia asks two
minutes while he discusses the
progress of the talking pic
lures. Is there objection? The
chair hears none, and Congress-
man Bowman is recognized.
Gentlemen:
On Wednesday. March 20, you
carried in your paper news
item relative to competition be-
tween two small towns in In
diana for the honor of being the
smallest town in the world to
have talking movies. Decator,
Ind, was in dispute with an
other small town, Muncy, l be-
lieve, DecatOr evidently winning
the honor because the popula-
tion in Decatur was 5000, as
compared with $500 for Muncy.
l was attracted to this clip
ming onlY hecanuSe of my