The Washington times., 1931-01-27
NEW MUSICAL,
FULL OF FUN
AND TUNES
By ANDREW R. KELLEY

There flashed across the Ma
tional Theater stage last night
Dne of those rare musical come.
dies which come along from time
TO time to make ticket specula-
tors happy and prosperous.
~AmericaS Sweetheart" the new
Schwab and Mandel confection,
has everything that spells a hit.
Fields, Rogers and Hart, au-
thors of the book and lyrics, have
turned to Hollywood for their
fun. To the Hollywood where it
is told some hack like Eddie
Lynch revises and edits Shake
Hpeare, where good plays are
turned into bad movies, where
Gilbert and Sullivan are rated
couple of Tin Pan Alley COM
posers, where the IL Apostles are
ewelled by the cinema to super
Or epic numbers.
Plenty of Fun
Out of this gold coast atmos-
phere the composers have con-
tured up an abundance of clever
batirical comedy. blended it with
b group of tinkling tunes, fine
dancing and the result is two acts
pf superior entertainment. Only
occasionally do the jokes run to
the pullman smoker indelicacies.
Like "Once in a Lifetime" the
parbed-wire take-off on the mil
eionaireS of Celluloidia, the new
musical, Americas Sweetheart"
kids the rival amusement indus
try. 1t tells of two ambitious
buveniles who hike from st. Paul
TO the flicker studios in quest of |
careers. Geraldine March be-
comes a star in the silent pic
lures, while her boyhood sweet
heart, Michael Perry, is just an
extra. Presto! Come the sound |
films. Geraldine is an awful
flop in her first squawkie, "LoVey-
Dovey" which is a Hollywood |
version of Camille or Dumas, i'm
proved by Magnate S. A. Dolan.
Michael has voice with micro
phone magic, and so becomes
famous overnight. A couple OF
klapstick comics, Larry and
Madge, ride to glory with the
new star of S. A. Dolan's pre-
tnier productions.
CoOlidges Appear
During the course of the action,
Rx-President and Mrs. Coolidge
are among those portrayed as
scanning the mysteries of Holly
wood, with the sage of Northamp-
toms speech reduced to the early |
Indian "Ooomph." Clara Bow,
Nancy Carroll, Claudette Col
bert, young Douglas Fairbanks
and other shadow satellites are
among those impersonated in the |
final Grauman's Chinese Theater
scene on an opening night.
This musical chronicle OF the
screen stars and their makers has
been adorned with an 18-karat
cast There is Jeanne Aubert,
French bon bon with a prlma
konna voice embelliShing the role
of Denise Torrel with some
precious melody. Gus Shy. the
nimbled footed comic of earlier
IS. and M. successes is seen as a
Mack Sennett cuStard pie target
who has an ambition to play in
The drawing room drama. He is
feamed with IneZ Courtney to
provide much of the fun and the
usual Sprightly dancing. John
6heehan, playing the movie mag
nate S. A. Dolan, injectS all the
extravaganza and super ego at
tributed frequently to the cellu-
toid tycoonS and mined wealth
of laughs. Jack Whiting and
Harriet Lake, are the appealing
juveniles and sing the outStand-
ing hit of a tuneful score, I've
Got Five Dollars"
Rich in Tunes
In melody, Americas Sweet
heart" appears to have several
tunes destined to be hummed. Be
sides the aforesaid Five Dollars"
was Wen Be the Same" with an
Intriguing air. Not to be over
looked for musical mention are
the Foreman sisters. Hilda, Louise !
and Maxine, whose breath of the |
Tennessee mountains furnished
contrasting interlude of charm
and whose harmonizing in the |
minor keys the audience was re-
luctant to forget.
The new musical is rich in |
dancing and Director Bobby Con-
molly has devised intricate and !
fascinating routines.
NV minority report would set |
down as the dregs of an exhaust
ed fun we'll such ancient hokum
as stripping comics of their trous-
erS and the blatant vulgarity of |
the Lady Godiva scene They are |
the bad smells of generally
sparkling book.
Americas Sweetheart" appears
to be headed for an extended and |
prosperous career on Broadway.