Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-17
Flashes From the Screen
News and Comment of the Picture World
BY c. E. NELSON;


would be to make the talking pic
lures than 1t was the silents. And
yet the first thing the various pic
ture houses did on adopting the
talkies was to raise their prices. In
most cases this raise in prices was
effected by charging the same
prices for balcony seats as the
seats downstairs. This struck me
! as illogical, too, because in the
case of the silent picture the bal
cony seats are just as good as the
seats downstairs, while in the case
of the talkieS there are no theaterS
In Washington where you can hear
upstairs as well as down. So 1t
looks to me like the managers
waited until the value of their
product went down and then
charged more for it.
Incidentally, it is not the raise
in price that am worrying about.
I think that it is marvellous that
we can see the pictures we do at
the small price. But the raising OF
the prices of the balcony seats has
caused the former balconies TO
swarm downstairs and has made
it exceedingly difficult for persons
to get seated downstairs.
Then there is another thing
that sticks in my crop and has for
years, since the days of the nickel
theater and 'Broncho Billy That
is the habit of some theaters, anG
I mean downtown theaterS, to cut
their programs at times. I con-
slider this petty larceny and feel
that there should be some way TO
warn the managers. If I pay so
cents for a certain advertised
show, then I am entitled to see
that show, and it is not honest tC
say to me, You can see the act we
have left out if you care to waste
an hour and a half seeing again
the parts of the program you have
already seem It seems to me that
the managers of theaters should
so arrange their programs as to
make all this unnecessary, and I
believe they will eventually be
compelled to do so. I remember
one case in particular where !
missed seeing one of Robert
Benchley's talkieS because of be-
ing taken in in this way.
Perhaps I am wrong in all OF
the above. I often am"
From this viewpoint, it appears
that the writer of this letter is not
altogether wrong. AS regards the
sound pictures, they are not less
expensive than the old Silents. AS
a matter of fact, they cost consid-
erably more to the exhibitor. The
only expense the latter has elimi-
nated-and this only in some in
stances-is the doing away with
an orchestra. Many of the larger
theaterS retain their big musical
organizations. Regarding the bal
cony prices, Washington'S theater
admission fees, as the writer adj
mitS, are quite reasonable. The
writer of this column has solved
the seating problem by attending
the movies around about the old
fashioned supper hour, and he
certainly sees the whole show.
with perhaps an extra reel or two.
Managers retain the right to
switch their programs to meet
emergencies. It Is doubtful wheth-
er they will ever give up this privi-
lege, right or wrong, as the case
may be.
Short Flashes.
HARRY TIERNEY, who wrote
the song hits for "Rio Rita"
is writing 'DiXianna," an operetta,
for Bebe Daniels.
A sister of Lois Wilson, using the
screen name of Connie Lewis, has
signed a contract to appear in
First National pictures.
Barbara Kent plays in the new
picture, "Out to Kill" starring Ru-
dolph Schildkraut.
The Warner Brothers musical
production, SHOW of Shows" is
scheduled to open in New York
this week. The picture has 100
players, many of them stars, and
is made in Technicolor.
Doug and Mary Fairbanks, on
vacation in London, report that
they will not co-Star in future pic
lures. No reason was given for
this decision, but it is reported to
De LIlO WISH VI Miss ElChAOIus
Because they have no sound
equipment in their Office, the Vir-
ginia board of motion picture CEN
sorship is considerably handicap
ped in handling such films. The
members are relying largely upon
the producers and exhibitors in
the censorship details.
Janet Gaynor and Charles Far
rell, appearing in Washington this
week in Sunny Side Up" are to
be co-starred in Budapest" a
musical picture.
William A. Setter will direct Cor
rine Griffith in Back Pay" a story
written by Fannie Hurst.
Weber and Fields, together with
Louis Mann and Josephine Sable,
have been signed by Metro Gold
wyn Mayer to appear in a musical
production to be known as "Just
Kids"