Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-03

"f1ickerS" came to the littl
red schoolhouse for an exhi
~ bition of the moving magi
lantern" there has always been ;
queen of the movies" There ha!
always been an outstanding public
favorite among the woman play
ers. When the movies were beins
recognized as a novelty worth see
ing, Mary Pickford received hel
first assignment from director
and for many years to come she
was the 'queen'-"America'S darl-
ing of the screen" During the
past few years she has abdicated
other favoriteS came to the fore
ground-Norma Talmadge, Con-
stance Talmadge, Pola Negri, Clara
Bow and Colleen Moore. However
these latter have not really taker
the throne of Mary Pickford. They
have been especial favoriteS with
out becoming reigning queens
Norma probably came nearest tC
climbing upon the throne of movie
popularity.
But during the past year two
actresses are bidding for the
throne. They are Greta Carlo
and Gloria Swanson. The latter
has always been popular, and con-
siderable doubt was expressed as
to whether she would make a hit
in the sound pictures. There is no
longer any doubt; her picture,
1.-THE TreSpaSSer," jumps to the
top of the seasons list of hits
Greta, with her recent work and
her mysterious personality, has
also won high place in public
favor-and so it appears that two
queens" are competing for the
ruling power of Moviedom. Z
The male stars seem to be fol-
lowing the even tenor Of their
ways. AS yet, we have no out
standing personality among the
stronger" class of players. Rich
ard Dix, Richard BarthelmeSS,
John Barrymore and Thomas
Meighan are going well in the
sound pictures, but they are not
in the ruling class; the woman
stars reign supreme.
The old stars are passing New
stars are being made. It is the
way of the world, and with the
stage and screen in particular.
Many Of the old silent film favor
ties have been Shuffled into the
movie discard. Others should be
given the same treatment, when
one looks upon the situation from
a hard-boiled viewpoint.
WILLIAM FOX, who can be de-
W pended upon to bring out
something new every once In a
while, is turning the Embassy
Theater, in New York, into an eX-
elusive news reels picture house,
and the experiment is being
watched with considerable interest
by magnates and patrons. 1t is
reported that this is to be only
one of a chain of such theaters,
others being established through
out the country.
Sound pictures have not been SO
well thought of when they are
connected with the news reels.
The newest and SillieSt idea, as
has been mentioned before in
these columns, is the reading of
the printed titles. This does not
speak we'll for the producers
opinion of photoplay patrons, al
though a census will show that a
large percentage of a movie audi
ence is quite intelligent enough to
read the printed captions. Per-
haps Mr.. Fox will see his way clear
to changing all this sort of thing?
RY a system of their own, the
producers have discovered that
fully one-tenth of the audiences
attending the sound photoplays
are new patrons. FirSt-run houses
are breaking records, and the
managers are crediting the talk
ing pictures with this state of af-
fairs. Some of the greatest box
Office receipts have followed the
announcement of such pictures as
xStreet Girl" 1.-THE TreSpasser, "
SThe Hollywood Revue 1.-THE
Cock-Eyed World" and THE Gold
Diggers of Broadway" Naturally
"Street Girl" broke all records at
Keith's during the past week, ac-
cording to Corbin Shields, mana
ger-preSS agent. The records at
the Keith-RKOs Theater started
with Street Girl as far as the
movies are concerned.
X X \
MILE. MISTINGUETTE-she oil
the internationally renowned
underpinning-is coming to Amer
lea next Spring to make talking
pictures. Her advance agent
states that the mademoiselle's legs
have been insured for $1,000,000
and that "she is the idol of the
Paris music halls" The star
played at the Apollo Theater, il,
Chicago in 1924 in innocent
Eyes"
THE free-lance writer who ha'
been trying his hand at movie
scenarios has not met with