Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-13

uIGS III CIllS TASK OF VIII
J ing pieces about the mo-
ton pictures is the re-
-cord1ng of outstanding work, di-
rectorial or acting, which one
comes upon all to infrequently
There are many who hold that
ssae critics work soon turns him
INTO a hard-boiled, moroSe indi-
v1dual who pounds his typewriter
IN a spirit of destruction; that he
sees only the defects of a produc-
ton and fails to mention the good
points. But when one gets right
down to the bottom of the matter
the average motion picture writer
gets real thrill in announcing
the discovery of a new star or an
nounctng that the public has &C
Claimed player who has all the
prospects of turning into a top
rung performer.
And all this comes about and is
written after seeing Ladies of
Leisure" This picture, which has
not yet been exhibited in New
York, or anywhere except in
Washington and Los Angeles. is a
much better production than it's
stage parent, BelaSco'S Ladies of
the Evening" The story has been
changed, switched around and
made into a movie-a treatment
which should, by the way, be re-
quired of all stage productions be-
fore the screen versions are made
The average stage show will not
stand unchanged transfer to the
studio and the sound picture.
Now that the vehicle has re-
ceived a word or two, we get down
to the real subject-a new star of
the photoplay. Barbara Stanwyck,
by her work in Ladies of Leis-
ure," steps from the featured
players to the spotlight of the
movie world. Her success is i'm
mediate, her work so thoroughly
good that she will find herself in
the select group headed by Greta
Carlo. And her triumph also NAV
be likened in way to the recent
success of the Carlo in Anna
Christie" Combined with Miss
Stanwyck'S cleverneSS in handling
her role is her unusual beauty
and grace. She should go far in
the world of motion pictures, and
we herewith predict such a future
for her, placing our name and Of
fetal seal to the document.
There is another bit in Ladies
of Leisure" which is handled
by a capable character actor,
Lowell Sherman. 1t is about the
best thing he had some, showing
without doubt that a man land
especially an actor never grows
too old to improve. This man
Sherman is at his best when play
ing the sort of character in which
he is featured in Ladies of
Leisure"
picture producers advertise in
the trade papers great num-
berS of short subjects-one and
two reel pictureS-to be used as
added attractions with regular
theater bills, but in glancing back
over the shorts" of the past six
months I am rather doubtful of
the quality of these products.
The coming of sound should have
aided the manufacturers of these
OL4OA b-ACCA oubJCGOOp d4l4 GLlCy LII
tended that it should, but the
short subjects remain just about
where they were. With the ex-
Ception of few nature studies
and couple of short comedies by
Marie Dressler and Polly Moran,
have had no opportunity to view
a good short" during the past
Winter.
The manager of a Washington
motion picture palace informed
me yesterday that he had spent
one night, to 4 o'clock in the
morning, in the private exhibition
room of a. distributing firm. He
viewed % Shorts" wore out two
pairs of Spectacles and finally Sc
1ected a single picture as worthy
OF exhibition in his theater.
We might start a campaign for
better and shorter Shorts"
\ r X 4
CARL LAEMMLE, head of Uni
verSal Pictures, announces
that he has secured the American
rights to THE White He'll of Pitz-
Palu," which is "the greatest pic
GuAC w COIIlC OuG VI GuIOpS III
years" The picture was made in
the high Alps of Switzerland.
Peak-Palu is one of the highest
and most hazardous, with ava
lanches, storms, breath - taking
slides and great falls. The story
concerns three persons, two men
and a girl, who are trapped while
climbing the peak-and the eter-
nal triangle, as usual, is handled
with subtlety and delicacy."
X X y 4
MOTION picture publications,
N commenting upon the Hays
code which was recently adopted
by the producers, are heartily in
favor of the move, but they all
agree that the success of the
measure will depend largely upon