Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-23
Tow that outdoor golf of the
| miniature ariety has
ceased to draw ready cash,

nj miniature variety has
ceased to draw ready cash,
and other lesser varieties
Of entertainment have failed to
attract, the motion picture venture
seems to have settled down for
the Winter, at least. Better pic
lures are coming from the studios,
and there is a large element OF
hope in the future, in spite of the
tendencies of a certain portion OF
the population toward savings &C.
counts. Movie attractions of the
Capital during the past week were
topped, not by the much-heralded
"Big Trail" but by Min and Bill, =
a picture with the wrong sort OF
title, but a picture which goes far
toward establishing Wallace Beery
and Marie DreSSler as two OF the
finest performers in the cinema
world.
The career of Marie DreSsler is in
tereSting, to say the least. For years
too numerous to count, unless
one used a handy adding machine,
Marie has been entertaining from
the footlightS. Always a first
rate comic, she was a substantial
success on the stage, but she did
not reach the height of entertain
ment power until she Travelled to
Hollywood a year or two ago. To-
day she stands at the top Of the
movie ladder, and in the days to
come she will be competitor with
Charlie Chaplin as box office
attraction. This latter statement
is q prediction, but will receive
one of the surprises of my life II
1t does not turn out to be fact.
Marie DreSsler has more photo
play talent than all the Clara
Bows, Norma Talmadges, Mary
Pickfords and Norma Shearers
rolled into one.
Wallace Berry always has been
o box Office player, and his best
work comes out when he is teamed
with player of the Marie Dress
Ter type. It would be pleasure
to see the two of them starred in
q straight comedy picture-Some-
thing quite different from Min
and Bill"
EOR my part, I must refuse to
enthuse over 1.-The Big Trail"
It Is q big picture, with million
PLAYERS and animals, more or less,
but the bigneSs of it leaves me
cold. In the first place, it is pat
termed after that wonderful movie,
1.-THE Covered Wagon" and sew
eral other Western film products
of a year or two ago. Much of the
scenery is magnificent, but the
story is small; many of the play
ers are excellent, and many Of
them fail to register. The con-
tinuity is not well taken care Of,
and the thread of the thing, like
the wagon train itself, is some
times lost in the desert, the noun
tains and the plains. 1t shows
how the pioneers went Westward,
but that's about all. However, !
may be wrong, again.
X
THE dog is having his day-at
least in the movies. Holly
wood reports that there are Is dog
farms In the vicinity of the movie
capital, all providing educated
dogs for the falrl world. Hal
Roach, the producer of comedies,
when In Washington recently in
formed me that the new sound
pictureS had made animal pic
lures a sort of problem, but that
it had been solved to certain
extent. Roach, who uses a num-
Der of animalStin his "Our Gang
comedies, explains the difficulties
1ary tho &nn% that thu nVairN al twain
erS cannot instruct their charges
by voice on account of the micro
phone. One trainer, who owns a
wonderful dog, is always present
when a picture is being made, but
he instructs his pet by a sign
language. Then, II Mr.. Dog does
not perform properly, he is quite
likely to hear from his master
when he arrives back home. The
new crop Of educated animals is
trained by signs, not by voice,
and some of them are really stars.
A TTENTION of the motion pic
ture industry has been focused
for some time on the suit for
100000 filed by Anne Nichols
d6dAI1ob O1IC OA1AtCkod1 W. M1OS
Nichols, in her petition, alleged
that the motion picture producing
company had used her play,
"Abie's Irish Rose" in the manu-
facture of 1.-THE Cohens and
Kelleys," but by a decision handed
down November 10 in the United
States Court of Appeals, New York,
the Universal Co. is the winner.
The suit was instituted in 1925,
and since that time has been a
legal battle, the defendant COM
pany having spent in the neigh
borhood Of $3.50, 900 in denying the
charge of plagiarism. The suit
and verdict have nothing to do
with the photoplay version Of
"Abie'S Irish Rose" which turned
out to be a monumental flop"
y
Short Flashes.
ON account Of popular demand,