The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1929-05-30
IGLEANINGS.
SCREENINGS
.:s and
By ANDREW r. KELLEY

Jarulns LIDO opened last night,
bursting into full bloom on the
roof of the Arlington Hotel.
The place was packed" says
the decided cable from this de-
partment's spy. Herbert Raw
linson told one of his best
stories in his best manner, and
courteously declined an encore
on a Scotch joke. John Irving
Fisher experienced some slight
difficulty in understanding why
the temperament of the roof
garden crowd was different from
theater audience.
Bobby Dulin and other mem
bers of the Fox ballet contribu-
ted to the gayety, and Emory
Daugherty's band was in its
glory. The evening was re-
markable, however, in that two
masters of ceremonies were pres
ent and did not exchange dirty
looks"
The Shuberts' big theater on
the edge of Central Park, Gen.
fury Opera House, will be torn
down and replaced by a 65-story
office building. One dramatic
critic will also recall it as the
$4,000 wisecrack theater. He
is Jimmy Whitaker (the first
Mr.. Ina Claire), who called it
q mausoleum in a review and
lost his job when the Shuberts
yanked the advertising from his
paper for a full season.
Several of our devoted public
and it seems there are several,
no foolin'-insist that "P. A."
is a gag, or an editorial syno-
nym covering a big stick used
to stir up the contented movie
populace. Well, I'm sorry to
disappoint, but up. A." is a real
person, who writes plainly on
one side of the paper and gen.
orally in purple ink, although
sometimes he makes a mistake
and gets his quill in the vitriol
bottle. He may be the fellow in
the next seat at your favorite
cinema, and if he happens to be,
don't flirt with him. What he
will be glad to know is that
Colleen Moore will wind up her
$12, 500-a-week contract with
First National after another
picture. Then she takes a years
rest, says the report, to spend
the interest on a $1,000, 900 trust
fund.
According to James Norbert
(Jerry) Doyle, who is supposed
to know about such things, the
favorite mystery play of the
headquarters detectives is "The
Spider"
Although it is acted all over
the theater, the men whose bust
ness is to find solutions for
puzzling crimes say it is the
most difficult play in which to
pick out the guilty party. When
it was first shown at the Belasco
Theater last fall all of Chief
Eddie Kelly's homicide squad
took in the performance, the
task of fastening the guilt be-
fore the final curtain providing
the pastime. Most of them
guessed wrong.
Last night a group of the
headquarters best minds looked
it over from the back rows of
the National Theater. What
puzzles them now is how Roger
Pryor does those magic tricks.
Universal Pictures has finally
released the long advertised
night club feature, broadway"
and the consensus of New York
critical opinion is decidedly
favorable George Gerbhardt,
of the Evening World, calls it
the best picture ever made by
Universal. This latter is high
praise indeed for Carl Laemmle's
company made "Hunchback of
Notre Dame" and its success
made the Quasimodo of the pic
ture, the outstanding star who
is today Lon CLANCY.
Broadway" was so long in
the making that rival companies
were able to put first run fea-
lures on the market preceding
its release, paralleling the bright
lights excitement of Gotham's
after midnight joy parlors.
However, by sticking close to
the pla. and the original dia-
logue broadway" in the screen
version has preserved much of
the atmosphere and gripping
appeal of stage drama. The pic
lures comes to the Rialto Thea
ter within a few weeks.
Big time vaudeville, as repre-
scented by the R-K-O theaters,
will inaugurate Saturday open
ing for new shows, beginning
June Is. The split weeks will
be from Saturday to Tuesday
night for the first half with
Wednesday to Friday the last
half. To meet the competition
of the movies is the only rea-
son assigned for the change.
The council of the Actors
Equity Association has also
voted to approve Sunday play
ing for Equity actors. Hitherto
the organization has opposed the
policy of playing legitimate at
fractions seven days a week.
Now the council has reported in
favor of meeting the Sabbath
opposition of the motion picture
theaters. The \renort IF the