The Washington times., 1929-11-14
LEA N NGS
AND
sc E EENlNGS

to say. George ArllSS IN LIS
raeli'' IS Just about as fine q
talking feature as Hollywood
has placed on display since
the screen became audible.
It's at the Metropolitan and
viii be replaced Saturday by
Pauline Frederick in "Evi.
cence." '.Disraeli'' has drawn
well but not well enough to
make second week compel
ling. On Broadway the George
Arliss tickets are handled by
the spectators and it Is among
the top pictures selling for 50.
The answer, Of course, must
be that "Disraelip has no espe-
Cial appeal for the youthful
movie goer and the George
ArliSs name means absolutely
nothing to the devoted follow
ers Of Clara Bow.
one Of my devoted readers
complains again that this col
un1n devptes too much atten-
tion to box office crosses. and
is continually printing figures
In which the average theater-
goer had no interest.
1t is my privilege to dis
agree and offer an explanation.
Most seasoned theater-goers are
influenced by big figures. They
tell the inside story Of pictures
and plays that have caught
on with the public. When the
regular movie patron reads that
sCock-Eyed World, 2 for in
stance, had broken the record
at the Roxy Theater, nothing
more was needed to show that
the picture had the certain
something which created box.
office lines. The. Fox publicity
offices consider the strongest
kind Of printed argument as
demonstrating the appeal Of
Janet Gaynor and Charles Far
rell in Sunny Side Up" Is the
fact that this feature broke the
financial mark made by Cock
Eyed World in its first .popu-
lar-priced booking at Cincinnati.
When an exhibitor hears
that Bebe Daniels in ''Rio
Rita" viii pass the $20, 900 mark
for seven days bust ness at
Keith's Theater In washington
he realizes that feature has box
office "It' particularly when he
knows the capacity Of the play
house and that at the so cent
top scale it represents con-
tinual lobby crowds. Before
Keiti's closed last year its aver
age business was around $1,000
d week. An amazing proper
ton Of the theater-going public
Is wise enough to know that the
pictures which attract the big
money, and the shows which
are handled by the. spectators,
generally offer the best pros
poets for entertainment.
So, we will continue to print
box office crosses, whenever we
can get them and the figures
appear to tell a story. Thus
you might like to know that
the blonde Irnogene Wilson who
is the film star, Mary Nolan, in
Shanghai Lady" has attracted
the best business which the
Rialto Theater on Ninth Street
has enjoyed since Broadway"
was the attraction. The present
prospect is for a week passing
$4,000 in receipts and that,
comparatively speaking, Is not
to be sneezed at. In fact it
demonstrates, if you please, that
Mary Nolan's first starring pic
ture is right good success in
Washington.
What were the ten best plays
of last season? Burns Mantle
who writes a book about them
every year, CA Dodd-Mead and
Co., publications. lists them as
follows: Street Scene" "Jour-
ney's End" wings Over Eu-
rope" Holiday" THE Front
Page" LET Us Be Gay" Little
Accident" !" "Machinal. !" Gypsy"
and The Kingdom of God.
Little Accident" right at
this moment is on view at
Polls Theater with Thomas
Mitchell featured. "Wings
Over Europe" is New York
Theater Guild production which
will come to the National
Theater as the closing attrac-
ton of the Guild season within
q. fortnight. Kingdom of
God'' is Ethel Barrymore's play
which opened here at Polls
last season and will be in
cluded In the brief engagement
which Miss Barrymore will
soon play at the BelaSco.
OF the other plays in the
Burns Mantle list. "Machinal"
was q financial flop. And so
was Gypsy" Neither play
ever got out of New York.
''The Front Page" ran q full
season on Broadway and died
after q few weeks on the road.
Holiday" is touring and may
be seen later in Washington.
LET Us BE Gay" is still on
Broadway and so are Street
Scene and Journeys End"
although the latter play also
has three companies en- tour.
General Manager Joe Gates
for the Shuberts wires that
Washington is to see the Amer
ican premiere Of an unusual
play next Monday night. It is
Death Takes q Holiday" by
Walter Terriss and emphasis
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