The Washington times., 1930-05-17
JOLSON WINDS
UP WARNER
CONTRACT
BY DOROTHY HERZOG
Copyright, 1880. Premier
SnrndinnAA InNN

HOLLYWOOD, Cal11., May ~
AL Jolson has finished his current
and last outloud for Warner
Brothers, Big Boy" He and
Mrs. Jolson plan to depart the
colony in a few days en- route to
New York and thence to Europe.
AL has signed to make his next
'vocalloid with United Artists, but
this film doesn't go into produc-
'tion before. November. So East
ward ho! for the Jolsons.
The Warner lot won't seem
&erzactly the same without Al
Saround. Was it two years ago
Cor more-that he went to work
flor that company in THE Jazz
kSinger"? The Warner boys were
ssnarooned on the financial rocks
lat this time. There was more
tthan money staked in The Jazz
Singer"
And then-zowie! Over the
top smashed this first big talky.
fPanic and delirium in the indus
try. The outlouds we're no longer
a farce. Hollywood readjusted
its box office perspective. Sound
stages shot up. Sound equipment
twas imported. Millions of dol
lars in constructing the new
method of picture producing.
Many producers grumbled loudly
and died hard. They looked at
the talkies as a fad, a darn ex-
pensive fad.
Al Jolson, regardless of what
he may or may not do in pictures
now, goes down in the historical
annals of the celluloid industry
as the star pioneer whose dynamic
name and personality launched
the new type entertainment.
Listens Familiar
This one smacks of wear but
the chap who relayed it to me
contends it actually happened.
It concerns Bill (Oirector) Beau
dine who, together with some
friends, journeyed forth into the
stream country to snag the dart
ing trout. The day ended with
nary a trout to his credit. Bill
started home, disconsolate. The
family expected trout. He de-
toured from the main road to
Noah Beery's trout ranch. BY
gum, the family would have
trout! Bill filled his creel to
the lid with a glittering mess
of 10-inch trout raised by the
Beery experts. Home. EXulta-
ton. The family showered him
with compliments. Shamelessly,
Beaudine accepted them. All was
beautiful, until the cook paused
from cleaning the fish to poke
her head into the living room
and blast:
MRS. Beaudine, what do do
with the tin tags they got in their
Snouths?"
All, Bill, that you, good husband
and good father that you are,
should perpetrate such cunning
trick upon your trusting family.
Weep, sinner, weep
Good.
Gale Henry East, in behalf of
Henry East. who trains dogs for
movie work. pens the following to
ye scribester:
Here is an item which might
prove interesting to the dog.
minded readers of your column. It
is the happy fact that the local
moving picture dogs are getting a
real break. Of course, you know
that substitutes who speak foreign
languages are being used for the
foreign versions of our present-day
movies. But dog barks the same
lin all languages. Hence, three or
four times as much welcome, work
nowadays for the canine artists. "
'Tother eve, I dropped into a
nearby theater to see Fighting
Blood" directed by D. w. Grif-
fifth. It was a one (maybe a
:two) reeler. It was produced at
least IS or more years. Long,
gooey. saccharine subtitles that
almost alternated with the action
of the picture itself. Said action
was the old familiar stuff that
thrilled youthful picture audi
ences in those days. Indians. An
attack. The hero rushing for
Uncle Sans cavalry. Saved at
the crucial moment. Cheers!
Heavens, what a breathless dis
tance pictures have come since
then. It was good, though, to
see Robert Harron on the screen.
Bobby Harron, who died when
such a lad. Whose picture future
would have glittered. When Grif-
fifth first started producing on
his own, he co-featured Harron
with a feminine player, but Har-
ron passed on. Richard Barthel-
mess, unknown, stepped into his
shoes. Richard has realized the
future that Harron. too, would
have realized. One of the trag-
edies of the tragic inside stories
of the motion picture, Bobby
Harron.
Said to be a rare sight in
Hollywood: Bessie Love buying
potatoes. No argument.
Winnie Lightner has leased
William (Pathe) Boyd's home in