Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-19

|HAT pernicious term. theme
song" il gradually disappearing
from the language Of the day.
But 1t Is not being driven out
by the sour protests raised by
some of us critics. It Is going because
one song is no longer enough for any
There seems to be but small doubt
that the "all-singing, all-danctng" MINIS,
packed with poppy song numbers, are
far more popular than are the straignt
dramas or comedies which struggie
along without benefit OF music. Inc
biggest hits of the past year were the
Cirisand-music shows, and there Is
every indication that the HOLLYWOOD
PRODUCERS will continue to rely heavily
on Jazz throughout 1880. . -.
Strangely enough, they haven't yet
discovered a way to introduce songs III
a reasonable and natural manner, ex-
cept by going back to the old Ior i11,S,la
Established in the first talker, Tne
'1azz singer" in which AL Jolson APP
reared as Al Jolson, and consequently
had a perfect excuse for introducing
AL Jolson ballads.
All sorts of new experiments have
been tried, and not one OF them mas
worked to complete satisfaction.
There have been several out-ano-out
musical comedies, such as 1.-THE Desert
Song" "Rio Rita" Sally and Hit
the Deck" which have been lifted bod
iIv from the stage, retaining all the
extrayaeant artificiality OF the original
nrodIctions. There also have been the
revues. which have departed in no I'M
portant way from the standard stage
Most Of these have been temporarily
i nrofitable. but even Hollywood knows
| that this form Of graft won't last. the
n,Iblic as a whole refuses to grant to
I the screen the same degree OF license
that it grants to the stage. There Is
an essential realism to the screen that
| the stage can never enjoy, ana the
public won't permit that realism 10 DC
| sacrificed.
In "The Desert Song" were some
| magnificent pictures Of the desert ana
of COWBOYS in sheik costumes riding
| madly across it. The movie fans nave
! reason to be accustomed to views OF
| this sort and have learned to be 1m-
pressed and convinced by them. But
when the squadron of sheiks burst out
| into the chorus of song number, sing,
| college glee club, the fans merely
| laughed. Their credulity had been
J strained beyond the breaking point.
IONE Of the most curious attempts 70
~ avoid this difnculty is made In
mo, No, Nannette" This. Of course,
is an adaptation Of a popular musical
comedy, the plot of which was con-
cerned with the benevolent attempts OF
a prosperous Bible salesman to provide
costly clothes for beautiful young
ladies.
1t Is a typical musical comedy, plot
but the movie producers have chosen
not to treat it as such. They nave trleo
| to treat 1t as realism. They have re-
yised the story so that the heroine Is
an actress, the young hero Is a song
writer and the Bible salesman Is
wealthy angel who backs the show.
Thus they feel that they have thu
right to introduce songs and chorus
girls whenever they feel like 1t. Fol
Instance, the heroine may say to the
hero, Come on, Tom, play us that new
melody you've just composed" Tom
replies diffidently, "Ill play 1t II you'll
sing it." So then the lovers proceed tt
render "Tea for Two" which was writ
ten in 1924 by Vincent Youmans. >
The same formula Is employed II
"Glorifying the American Girl" which
also has song writer for hero. Hi!
compositions, it must be admitted, are
considerably fresher than Tea To-
Two" but they are not, 1t must ais.
be admitted, so good.
Both mo, No, Nanette" and "Glorify.
ing the American Girl" wind up witt
reproductions of the shows, photo
graphed in Technicolor, which have