Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-09
The Snoring Picture cAlbMm
By Robert e. Sherwood.

~ NE must admire the courage
displayed by Lawrence Tibbett
in risking his reputation in
~. the noise factories of Holly
wood He had great deal in
the way of dignified prestige to lose
when he consented to play the lead
in a romantic operetta on the screen.
His fine voice might have been mutt
lated by the Sound-recording machines.
Worse, he himself might have appeared
on celluloid as a figure of fun-in fewer
wor Is, ham.
Luckily, Mr. Tibbett's daring eXcur-
sion into the lower realms of art has
proved to be eminently successful. AL
though his first picture, THE Rogue
Song" Is no great credit to the cinema,
he himself energies from it with addi-
tons rather than damages to his prev
iouS prestige.
It is probable that Metro-G oldwyn
will want to enlarge his present con-
tract. which calls for only. one picture
a year. He will be invited to spend a
considerable amount of time in Holly
wood and to earn vast sums of money.
Furthermore, the audiences at his OPP
cratic and concert appearances will be
materially increased by the hundreds OF
thousands of fans who yearn to see
and hear their favoriteS in person.
Of course, this form of triumph may
mean little to such as Lawrence Tib-
bett, who can draw sufficient crowds
without benefit of movie advertising.
Even so, it must be intensely gratifying
to him to realize that he Is a hit in
pictures, especially when he considers
that he might easily have been some
thing else
In all probability, there will now be
a grand rush of opera stars to Holly
wood, just as there was a grand rush
of nanny singers in the wake of AL
JolSon. This is to be viewed with
alarm.
For Mr.. Tibbett's case is an excep-
tional one. He has certain emphatic
advantages over most of his colleagues
of the Metropolitan, the Scala and
Covent Garden.
For one thing, he can act in an
| easy. naturalistic and thoroughly en-
gaging manner. Aside from his laugh,
which is bit Pagliaccian, he has none
OF the exaggerated mannerisms of the
grand operate school. For another
thing, he is a native son of California,
which means that the cinema is no
mystery to him. He Is not camera con-
Scious. He was born in Bakersfield, the
son Of an embattled sheriff, and was
educated in Los Angeles perfect
background for hero of the films.
Other opera stars will realize the i'm
portance Of this background when they
attempt to follow Mr.. Tibbett's example.
Having seen some of them in Vitaphone
| and Movietone short subjects, one may
| shudder to think of the crimes of ham
acting they will commit when they are
turned loose in full-length ptotoplays.
y X X X
IN preliminary advertising of 1.-THE
Rogue Song" Metro Goldwyn an
nounced that Lawrence Tibbett's voice
would be heard round the world" At
the first performance of the picture
they evidently tried to make good this
threat. The valves, or whatever they
are, on the loud speakers were opened
wide. and the baritone roars that burst
forth from them all but shattered the
eardrums of the audience. These ear
drums, be 1t said, had ben trained to
receive nothing more violent than the
subdued croonings of Rudy Vallee, and
Mr.. Ttbbetts powerful tones conse-
quently came as something Of shock.
X 4 X y
In the loudest moments, the audi
ences sympathy went out to Catherine
Dale Owen, the heroine of "The Rogue
Song" Through long scene Miss
owen nao 10 remain In Mr.. Tibbett'S
arms, while he sang Cat the top of his
lusty lungs) some of Franz Lehar's
lovely melodies at a range of 8 inches
from her fair face.
Through all this she had to retain
her composure. She even had to sug-
gest that she was responding, pas
sionately, to the solo. She dropped her
eyelids and parted her lips over and
over again; she languished and sighed.
inaudibly, and more than once. she
WINGED perceptibly. It was as harrow
ing demonstration of grim fortitude
as has ever been witnessed.
OF course, female opera stars have to
go through this ordeal frequently. They
have to remain passive, in the tenor's
or bassos embrace, and listen to
lengthy ariaS roared into their ears.
But female opera stars have the great
consolation Of knowing that, when the
aria is over, they will be able to get
back a little of their own. The tenor
or baSSo will have to remain passive
for several minutes and listen to them.
Miss Owen hasn't that consolation.
She doesn't sing a note.