Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-30

T\HE closing Of the National, Rialtt
and the Little Theater will Gre
ate a good deal of gap II
Washington's amusement world
When Manager Cochran's stool
group departs these precincts they leave
talking pictures ins complete control o.
the situation along the main stem, anc
motion pictures. as such (since not al
OF the suburban and neighborhooc
houses are not wired for sound), entire
masters of the city's theatrical destiny
for awhile at least.
It is a situation far from unusual ir
American cities at this time of the year
Those peering forward to the eventua
humiliation of the legitimate stage by
dialogue and sound pictures may seS
some significance in the local state OF
affairs. The fact remains. however
that a promising season is booked fol
next year on the legitimate stages ano
New York producers are a-bustle with
plans. Filmdom's sway will hold ahso-
lutte only until the regular Fall season
rolls around.
THE Rialto, UniVersal's washington
L house, will, lin all probability,
throw open its doors again in the Fall,
it is said Beginning with tir-top bust
ness with "Showboat" some nine weeks
ago. the Rialto has had what the man
agement calls fair" box Office, with
its subsequent bookings sloping away as
hot weather came along. A vacation
seemed dictated by simple business
principle. The Rialto Is large house
and 1t has large overhead.
Universal has had none too strong a
list of pictures available to town
such as Washington, accustomed to the
first run features and specials of most
of the other big companies. Show
F1,- r1V4v rnnlyc otAd
have run for five, it is said. But
Broadway" another top-notcher. which
might have been calculated to do good
business here, is tied up in New York,
where it opened at the Globe May 81.
Universals plans for the new season
bid fair to provide the Rlalto with good
material, If the local house decides to
reopen. Recent announcements dis
closed that the company has program
calling for the expenditure OF sl2' 900
600 on silent pictures and talkies, the
whole list to be dedicated to Carl
Laemmle, the company's president, as
a tribute to his 20 years as q moving
picture producer. There will be 332
subjects, varying in length from 12-reel
supers to single-reel cartoons. Seven
are to be prismatic features with spe-
cial music "Showboat," Broadway
and Paul Whiteman in The King OF
TOHN IRVING FISHER enters his
- fourteenth consecutive week as mas
ter Of ceremonies on the stage at the
Fox with the current picture, 1.-THE
Black Watch" Prior to his entrance
upon this type of showmanship MT
Fisher and his piano were in vaudeville
In a sketch called THE Nut.
The Fox announces a schedule OF
III EnIlyi,,1 Y,irfIYraS for the NEXT six
weeks. Beginning with From Head
quarters" on July 6, the pictures will
follow thus: Behind That Curtain"
July Is; Pleasure Crazed." July 20;
''Masouerade, July 81; Hard Boiled
Rose" August. 8, and Words and
Music" August 10.
THE latest information on the Metro
4 politans new cooling plant is that
&c will begin to function on July 4.
on the evening of July 3 midnight,
most likely the Metropolitan will have
an advance screening of ION With the
show" the Warner Bros Vitaphone
production entirely in color. with dia-
logue, song and music. The picture
viii be opened to the public the fol-
lowing Saturday. July 6, for that week.
This technicolor production has ex-
cited wide interest. One OF the CHIEF
problems confronting the motion pic
ture industry, now that sound has been
established as an asset, is the securing
of realistic effects in color. The con-
junction of color with motion picture
photography is, as a matter of fact. al
most as old as the movies themselves.
AS early as 1895 the first color Aim was
shown at the Cotton States EXPOSE
ton at Atlanta, Ga. 1t was "Annabelle
the Dancer" a hand-colored film from
the Edison kinetoScoDe
simultaneously, in England, expert
ments were being made by Edward A.
Turner, chemist, who finally, in 1901,
interested Charles Urban, an important
figure In the British film trade, in his
efforts to combine the three primary
colors on the screen By means Of pro-
lection.
In 1902, at Turner's death, his work
was taken over by another, but years
passed and no progress was made. One
day Urban went to Paris on business.
A street vender selling postal cards at
tracted his attention. The cards came