The Washington times., 1929-06-06
|GLEANINGS
SCREENINGS
AND
By ANDREW r. KELLEY

Nine years ago-or maybe it
was eight; anyway, it was years
ago--a hopeful young author
bundled up and sent away with
a prayer motion picture story.
1t was dashed off in the quiet
of many an evening with a
glamorous Paramount star in
mind for the leading role. Days
passed. Then months. Then
years. Harding and Coolidge
and Hoover, Bucky Harris won
a worlds championship. Short
skirts became shorter. The >
movies began to talk out loud.
Still no word.
Why prolong the closing act?
Yesterday the story came back.
What has happened to it in the
meantime | shall never know.
What ] am thinking about is
giving it a set of "yeahs," in
serting some loud knocks on the
door. putting in a back-stage
scene. buying a secondhand
theme song and starting it forth
on round of the talking
studios. The postman may
bring the rejection slip before
Gabriel blows his trumpet. Who
can tell?
Amos m Andy will be Ma
tional Broadcasting Company
stars. the great network hav-
ing paid 100000 for a release
on their contract with WMAQ,
the Chicago Daily News station.
The news might properly be-
long in the radio columns, ex-
cept for the fact that Correll
and Gosden (Amos n Andy
are a vaudeville team which sue
ceeded in raising the weekly
salary from $50 a week to
$4,000 within the span of a few
years. and are. now working in
the Pantages theaters.
Radio did it. Amos n Andy
are at present on the air nightly
at I'll p. m. from Station
VOL of Washington. They
have a blackface comedy serial
act that has captured the fancy
of radio audiences to an extent
hitherto unknown. In the West
their theatrical success has been
sensational and loud-speaker ad-
diets are providing the box
office lines.
Here in the East Correll and
Gosden are practically unknown
to vaudeville and movie audi
ences. However, so confident
is the team that radio popu-
larity has created a desire to
see them the offer is made to
any vaudeville or motion picture
theater within the broadcast
radius to play the act on
straight percentage.
The reported sum paid for the
contract is, according to Variety,
the greatest ever given to ac-
quire the exclusive services of
entertainers. In the near future,
the feature will be transferred
to WRC. the local station of the
National Broadcasting Company.
1t is an old-timer in the thea
ter who jingles the phone to re-
call for other old-timers that
Percy Haswell may be seen on
the screen at the Earle Theater
this week. She is, of course,
Mrs. George Fawcett and in the
prime of her career was a great
stock, favorite when the present
Belasco was the Lafayette
Square Theater.
Percy HaswelI was one of
the greatest of Washington
stock stars" reports the old
reliable. 81 can remember her
now as Lady Bah in "The Little
Minister" and in "The Moth and
the Flame" There are traces
of the beauty that was the talk
of the town once upon a time
although she plays a frowsy old
trump in the Maurice Chevalier
film.
Washington will see "Trial of
Mary Dugan" again next season
as a road attraction. The Bay
ard WELLER play has made a
fortune for A. H. Woods and
Washington was one of the cities
which rolled up imposing re-
ceipts. As a consequence, it
will not be released here for
stock production.
MARY Dugan" and ''Dracula"
were two plays which found
business good all along the line.
They probably earned more
money for the lucky producers
than any shows which ventured
the road in a season managers
like to forget about.
Believe it or not, but an
Englishman comes right over to
Broadway and outguesses all the
American critics in picking the
shows of the departed season
which would make money.
st. John Ervine, of Mr. Pulit-
:, zer'S morning journal, won
Variety's contest for the highest
rating in picking the hits as
against the flops. Ervine re-
viewed IS shows, and his predic-
tion as to their success was
right in So cases and wrong in
IL.
He had the advantage of writ
ing his reviews "a hours after
the plays had been witnessed.
He had the added asset of being
practically unknown to the act