The Washington times., 1929-03-26
.GLEANINGS
AND
SCREENINGS
Ry ANDREW Z. KEILEY

SOCIETY IuTHSu OuL AnSI hAShI
for the stuffed shirt opening of
The Jazz Regiment" the all
colored show at the Gayety-
Sundays night performance was
nearly wrecked by the collapse
of pretentious scenery-And
Palm Sundays nights gross
was $1,200-important money,
indeed for a Ninth Street at
traction.
Sh, here's a trade secret.
The advantage of preview is
to send out an audience as
advance booster for the forth
coming engagement. Works
like charm when the feature
is worth boosting. Tonight's
preview: Invitation opening for
Broadway Melody" for the
Press Club at the Palace Thea
ter. Wednesday night preview:
"Corinne Griffith in "The
Divine Lady," heralded as
Corinne's greatest to date.
Metropolitan Theater, all seats
so cents.
Sunday afternoons balmy
weather and the beginning of
Holy Week hit the F Street
box-office a solar plexus wal
lop. The lobby crowds are ex-
pected to gather beginning Sat-
urday when every first-run
house will go after the Easter
money with screen specials. The
National Theater is bidding for
the vacationing school children
with an Easter Monday matinee.
According to the poets the
spring of the year is the time
when a young mans fancy
turns to romantic things. But
not all of them. Some crave
self-expression in acting. Like
the fellow who arrived at this
desk yesterday, beseeching aid
and advice on joining the Ma
tional Players. A good-looking
chap, down on his luck at
present, and bathing dishes in
one of the nearby restaurants.
But he feels he has within him
the art of moving the multi
tude. Maybe he has. His diff
ficulty is that he must eat and
sleep while polishing his talent
even as you and /. l wished
him luck in the ambition and
assured him Mr.. Cochran was
a kindly man.
Another arrives, so help me,
with the idea for the greatest
screen epic ever made. What
is it? | couldn't find out. 1t
is an idea within his head that
has never been committed to
paper. Those Hollywood peo-
pie swipe everything" he said,
in explaining the mysterious
manner. What | want to know
is where to sell it, If l could
get to the right man in motion
pictures he would buy it in
minute. It's brand new and
would make the greatest movie
ever made" l stressed the Gif-
ficulty of marketing anything
intangible and suggested he
hint at his idea or outline It
alphabetically" No use. The
secret will be guarded until it
is poured into the right ear.
If ever. Of such is ambition,
as somebody said, which
passeth all understanding.
Ed Howe's son, who edits /.
paper in Amarillo, Tex, is also
the music critic. Last week
when the Chicago Civic Opera
Company visited the town he
had the nerve to say that Mary
Garden was no great shakes as
a singer, but was a great act
ress. Indeed he found the Chi
csgo productions shoddy affairs.
Immediately the intelligent1a
took him to task and wanted TO
know what an editor who played
the piano with one finger knew
about music criticism. So Mr..
Howe convinced them he had a
musical education and back
ground and was only saying
what others less courageous
were thinking. Once he raised
hob by accusing Colonel Lind
bergh of wearing a high hat.
But what interests me more
is that Mary Garden after bank
ing the check for a cigarette
endorsement suddenly needed a
fag during a press interview.
The scribes offered six different
kinds, and Mary, of all things,
picked, we'll, you'd never guess.
like the naive assurance Of
Producer Samuel Goldwyn in
Offering 80 free round trips to
Hollywood to those film critics
who write the best notices on
his next two releases. Bulldog
'Drummond," with Ronald Col
man and Wilma Banky in "Ihis
is Heaven"
In each city the reviews of
the pictures written by the
critics will be facsimilied on a
ballot. Members of the audience
will be asked to read the vari-
Gus reviews and vote which
criticism comes closest to their
own ideas of the pictures value:
What, my dear Watson. will
happen if the local George Jean
Nathans should happen to write