The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1929-08-08

on the inside, the talk naturally
gets around to what's it all
about. Are they getting ready
to open up again at Fifteenth
and G Street?
Sam Warshawsky, who is
general press representative for
R-K-0 pictures, the big corpo-
ration which controls the house,
says the question Of its future
is still in conference. However,
R-K-O has "Street Girl" and
"Rio Rita" completed produc-
tions which are credited with
being good enough to attract
customers at $1.50 top on the
two-show-daily basis. Equipped
for sound pictures, Keith's would
be an admirable theater for such
film exhibits. But hear Mr..
Warshawsky:
"R-K-O may and may not
equip the old Keith Theater for
sound pictures. This is still up
in the air. R-K-O is not inter-
ested in leasing the Rialto (Uni-
versal). Just how R-K-0 is to
get the motion picture money in
Washington will, of course, de-
pend on what attractions we
have to offer. / can say this
much for certain, that Rio
Rita and Hit the Deck will
be road-showed. It seems to be
the consensus of opinion of our
crowd that the successful talk
ing picture is just as big an
attraction as a legitimate show,
if not bigger, and where one Of
our talking pictures will come
up to grade there is no doubt
we'll play it as a road show
attraction.
"By the way, Frank Craven,
who just returned from the
coast, and both directed and
played in The Very Idea,' tells
US that it's really the finest all
talking farce comedy picture
made to date. He says that the
audience literally collapsed at a
preview in Los Angeles. / don't
know whether you know Frank
Craven or not, but he doesn't
do much Boosting; he's very re-
served, and this looks like we've
another big one in The Very
Idea"
That picture of Jimmy Lake in
between John Irving Fisher and
Herbert Rawlinson published in
The Washington Herald yester-
day brings to light the fact
that Colonel Lake almost became
master of cermonies himself.
Almost but not quite.
1t seems that when I. H. Herk
of the Mutual burlesque circuit
summoned the debonair Mr..
Lake to New York it was not
to make him manager of the
Herk interests in Washington.
When the corona-coronas were
lighted Impresario Herk sug-
gested that James J. would make
a nifty permanent master of
ceremonies for the Gayety Thea
ter stage during the season just
about to bow in. "But, my dear
Mr.. Herk, l have retired from
the footlights. Mine was not a
Harry Lauder or a Jack Demp-
sey curtain. It goes" So spoke
Mr. Lake.
When the conference was over
Jimmy had a contract calling
for occupancy of the managers
office. He has been a performer
in burlesqua for 18 years, but
this is his first job in the front
of the house.
A pretty girl totally unknown
to film audiences will have the
enviable chore of being leading
woman and for Rudy Valee the
object of the whispering tenor's
love interest in his first motion
picture.
In New York Rudy is quite
the rage with the feminine popu-
lation. He leads an orchestra,
but it is when he sings that the
girls just forget everything.
They say he has a peculiar
knack of warbling as though
he meant the passionate lyrics
for each particular girl within
radius of his voice. The New
York men critics as a class rate
Rudy a peeve.
There were applicants aplenty
for the task of looking sweet
and demure while Rudy sang for
the studio microphones. Most of
them were professionals. For
one reason or another they were
all rejected. A girl named Mar
garet O'Connor, a swell locker,
landed the plum.
Now that Campus Sweet
hearts" is completed, the Ma
tional Broadcasting Company has
let it be known one of its stem
ographers is Valee's film queen.
She is secretary to John Elwood,
a vice president of N. B. C and
never was in a studio before in
her life. AS a matter of fact
she made the picture while she
was enjoying a two-weeks' vaca-
ton. One of the Photophone ex-
ecutives, struck by her beauty,
suggested a test and that's how
she landed the job.
To make the story better, she
don't care a boot about being a
picture star, so the N. B. c.
folks say. What she aspires for
is a place in the business execu-
tive branch of the business.