Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-07
Flashes From the Screen
News and Comment of the Pheteplay
BY c. E. Nelson.
Bye. E. Nelson.

40 "OR the past year or two. il
a. - has seemed that all thu
$50 stage stars have been flock
81 r. = ing to the screen. Each
= Hollywood bound train carried
siis wei known actors and actresses
to the studios. This was &C.
sSt counted for, to a large extent, pl
sv.g dull days on the stage and tht
y movies were looking for biz
onf names, and the stage had those
names. During the past few
- months, as result, you were al
most certain to find your fayorite
stage star somewhere in Beverly
Hills and around the west coast
studies.
However, the proverbial worm
Is turning. Movie stars are going
sesz on the stage. CoSeen Moore is
1oi schsduled for performance here
stsa An washington of her new stage
To vehicle, The play, according to
.s ~ late reports, will carry the title OF
Foam" and the actress is now re-
ne hearsing her part In New YORK;
sEt Also comes the report that hog
LaRocque and Wilma Banky, well
bs: known to all screen fans, are to
STo make a Washington showing in
-s5 their new stage play While
Lenore Ulrich cannot be rightfuliy
81. called a movie star, she has been
ea y. devoting her time to the celluloid
"a for the past year or more She
no makes her local appearance in
new play at the National, opening
the 1880 season for that play
house.
given stage tryouts within the
months to come, and it is possible
that Washingtonians may have
cit an opportunity to entertain many
- -. Hollywood celebrities before the
SC w. Winter is over.
" !, NO less an authority than DAVID
80. Wark Griffith comes forward
-; with a statement that the silent
"a film will never be discarded. He
sssG considers that such great panto-.
Al -inimists as Charlie Chaplin will
20 always draw crowds with their
-. particular medium OF entertain
~ ment.
1''s Griffith, by the way, is now in
sxs New York to see the premiere OF
arr his new picture, Abraham Lin
.sss coln," which Is sure to attract
al much attention from the moyle-
= :. going public. This is Grimth'S
az az first picture with dialogue. 1t was
SO made in % days, but 1t was in re-
ear flearsa1 for several months, and
a:t.s 1870 volumes on the life of Lincoln
were gone over to obtain the pho
- toplay material. Walter Huston
plays the leading role.
st-- In the above statement that
3 t'Abraharn Lincoln" is Grifhth'S
first sound picture. we may qualify
THAT statement to a certain eX-
tent. It is his first sound picture
Z according to the mHdern idea.
& The director, If we remember
rightly, experimented with a sound
Z version of Dream Street" and
this was given a showing in New
B York. The recording was by q
g disc system, and the picture was
never generally released. Grit
{ fifth expects to release 'sFhe Birth
Z of "a Natisn' with dialogue, but
& this Is giving him eonslperanle
dificultx Several q the members
of the original cast have died, and
he feels that the theater-goers
& nrefer the re-made picture as
nearly like the original as pos
s sible, with, of course, the addition
y. of sound:
Grifath is searching libraries
for new material, and 1t may be
that he will fall back upon the
& works of Dickens. He also con-
8 Templates story of the Confed-
s. eracy, giving filHn picture of the
q Southern side of the Civil War.
b This, he feels, would be his grand
). gesture In the new field OF the
talking pictures.
MYTH the new .Lincoln" pic
IVY ture Griffith has not fol-
8 lowed history too closely He has
& taken episodes from the life Of
the martyred President and woven
e them into a story which contains
large element of entertainment.
81 There Is romance, spectacle and
& drama In the film story, together
with that hunanness which is al
ways associated with anecdotes of
Lincoln. Walter HuStOnS part is
well played, and early in the story
* much of his work Is opposite Una
Merkel, who gives ereditable
Z performance in the part OF Ann
kERptledge.
If such a picture as this Lin
4 coin" is to become one of the sue
- eeSses of the screen, why cannot
lTS other famous Americans be pie
G-tured. The lives of such men as
George Washington, BENJAMIN
Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and
numerous others down to modern
times are filled with the stuff
which goes toward making sue
~ cessful drama. The sound film
offers an opportunity to the pro-
.ducers In this particular line.
+ \ y
SU~ONE of the interesting phases Of
sound production, at least to
the outsider looking In, is the
manufacture of strange sounds
for the various pictures-the off,
- stage noises that add SO much to