Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-21
JUNIOR THEATER-"Kings in
NOmania."


With two charming plays for chill
dren, Kings in Nomania,' featuring
the program, and 1.-THE Vanishing
Princess" as a curtain raiser, the
Junior Theater of Washington con-
cluded its first repertory Saturday eve
ming at the Wardman Park playhouse.
The company will reopen January
20 with a Spring repertory to include
old masters of the stage. such as
ShakeSpeare's Twelfth Night" plays
by Barrie, Milne and one of Shakes
peareS contemporaries, as well as Little
Women" always popular with the
younger generation.
kings in Nomania," Percival wildes
new play, is a Graustarkian fancy
which proved as delightful to the
parents as to the children themselves.
Shirley Horton gave a finished per-
Torrance as Yancu the bootblack, who
was king of sorts himself. Gordon
Kilbourne was a gracious young
monarch, while Maxwell Davis fitted
nicely into the part of the handsome
and pompous gendarme. The support
ing cast was well trained and included
some budding theatrical talent Of first
caliber
An interesting study in contrasting
characters was offered in the little cur
tain raiser, 1.-THE Vanishing Princess"
from the pen of John Golden. Gordon
Kilbourne played the princess" Mason
Hardy was king of her heart, Kay
Conway handled the role of Matinka
with ease, while George Finger did
some noteworthy work as Mr.. I-Say,
grasping landlord.
Altogether, the Junior Theater move
ment is one to be encouraged in Wash
ington, bringing with it the opportunity
for the children of today to enjoy the
pleasure of clean comedy and the choice
favoriteS Of yesterday, presented in a
manner that cannot fail to educate as
well as delight. In addition, if the
Ogle, Tinnin, Brown Co. continues to
thrive, the producers will bring before
their public master artists of the foot
lights, including E. H." Sothern him.
self, who is expected to appear within
the next few weeks in dramatic recital.
OLUMBIA-"Wings.'
When the news reel flashed President
Coolidge signing the peace pact, the.
picture was greeted with sincere and
fervent applause by an audience that
was considerably sobered by the power
full propaganda against war so thrillingly
and so grippingly displayed in Wings"
For this photoplay scars above. the
mere story of few individuals whose
lives were caught in the storm Of war:
They are, rather. the pawns in a grim
sermon against the real horror of war;
the experiences of the individuals typify
the millions who heard the war god
laugh and were the victims of his grim
joke.
wings" is truly an epic, an epic OF
the most terrible catastrophe in. all
history, done with heavy strokes of
realism, unrestrained perhaps In Its
truth, but nevertheless great in its un-
forgettable lesson. Dealing with the
phase of combat that was most thrill
ling in the last war, the picture reaches
a peak in the air battles, so moving,
| so un-acted as to give the excitement
of actual happenings. There is gal
| lantry about the whole affair, and tense
! fascination. The encounters are furi-
Gus ones. No effort is spared to make
| them absolutely convincing, and an
effective experimentation makes the
realism complete.
AS for the story-it is a simple. I'M
| affected one in which the primary
human emotions are thrown against the
| canvas of a world in turmoil. -Four
young people are swept into the chaos,
| three directly, the other in an indirect
way suffering most of all. One Is
victim to the service and the other
three emerge completely changed in
dividuals. the effects of the war in
delibly written on their characters and
outlook.
But the story itself must give way
to the sermon, the narrative to the
epic, and it is in the scenes of war
that the picture reaches supreme
heights
The players all act with more in
tenslty and power than we have come
to expect them capable of. Clara Bow
and Buddy Rogers sharing honors
in roles that are a little of their regu-
lar routine. Richard Arlen plays with
a foreboding seriousness, and as the
Inflated hero, his work is moving.
There is bit of comedy injected here
and there that reflects wartime hys-
terra and is pathetic rather than funny.
wings" is worthy of the panegy-
RIGS that have greeted it everywhere.
It's two-year run in New York and its
two-dollar prices elsewhere are easily
explained. But here for the first time
at popular prices, it is picture which
should not be missed 1t is living
document of mankind's greatest tragedy,
document which deserves to be
shelved for future generations as a
permanent record 'of thrilling moment
in world history,