The Washington times., 1929-05-27
|GLEANINGS
SCREENINGS
Re- ANOREW r. KELLEY

William Hartman Rapley
landed from the Aquitania in
New York on Friday and bright
and early Saturday morning
, was busy at his desk in the
National Theater.
The dean of Washingtons
theater magnates made his
Mediterranean cruise a bus
mans holiday by paying 1856
francs for a pair of seats to
hear Raquel Meller in Paris and
about the same tariff for loca-
tions down front to watch the
latest revue entertainment as
concocted at the Follies Bergere.
in Naples a performance of La
Tosca at the San Carlos Opera
House found Italians eager and
enthusiastic to hear the best
singers at $6 seat.
Across the Atlantic the Iegiti-
mate theater does not face the
stiff competition from the
movies which confronts Ameri-
can producers but the season
just closing has been notable
for poor business, according to
the European managers.
Barrymore headed for the
bush leagues" is q memoranda
/ find scribbled on a scrap of
paper and dropped on my desk
during q short absense. It may
possibly be intended for the
sporting editor but at the risk
of purloining paragraphs from
Kirk Miller, I'll cast it in type
as the bright remark of some
unofficial critic still resentful of
eternal Love-"
These are happy days for good
acrobats. Many of them have
become adagio dancers, and
those who are not with the
white tops find better oppor-
tunity for their show-offs in the
movie houses.
Vaudeville was accustomed to
have the Strong-armed clan and
the head-to-head balancers do
their feats either to a staccato
of crashing chairs of an audi
e1lce being seated or distrac-
tions furnished by exiting Gus
toners of the two-a-day. At
the Palace Theater this week,
Prosper and Monet, well-muscled
athletes, are spotted right in
the middle of the revue bill and
stop the show. Their routine is
much like that of the Rath
brothers, collection of hand
to-hand lifting feats, accom-
plished with delightful ease and
certain skilled grace-and
their reception was of the sub
stantial character which in an
other day earned the Rath boys
featured billings with the Win
ter Garden shows.
While it sounds like a revo-
lutionary change in the theater,
do not be surprised if the legiti-
mate theaters consider soon the
opening of new attractions on
Saturday. Reason, the movies.
When Saturday was just pay
day for many folks and before
the great shrines of the screen
show chose it to open their new
entertainment, the last "a hours
Of the week was counted on for
bumper business by the legiti-
mate houses.
Now the word comes from
New York and other key cities
that Saturday business has been
shot through the crowds flock
ing to the cinema exhibits. The
result is that few of the Broad
way attractions will hold Satur-
day matinees this summer. So.
one remedy being discussed is
opening road attractions on Sat
. urday. The advantages foreseen
are notices by the critics in the
Sunday papers. fresh competi-
tion for the new movie shows
and full houses for opening per-
formances. The plan will re-
quire considerable readjustment
of booking arrangements,
In the Movie4ene Follies I
managed to get q hearty giggle
out of Stepin Fetchit and his
pals in the cameo skit which
might be called "The Shot Gun
Wedding" 1t is film elabora-
tion Of a story which was aired
in o. o. McIl.tyre's readable
column and has also done valiant
service for those journalists VINO
write for amusement pages. But
what will happen when this
slightly. risque tag line finish
comes under the eyes and ears
of the film censors. l am afraid
the projection booth will be
compelled to use the fader.
"Sonny Boy" as crooned by
the millionaire minstrel to little
Davy Lee probably welled up
enough tears to float Noah's
Ark and swept the music coun-
tiers clean until the radio was
forbidden to turn it into a ma
tional nuisance through exercise
of a copyright restriction.
The theme song malady is
now epidemic in London, and
from Time one learns that
Premier Stanley Baldwin in his
campaign for reelection ending
Thursday is finding Sonny