The Washington times., 1933-08-25

NJ GQe n IL w y U u MOAANoJ
night, having gay time OF
it-carrying on in great spirits
with the entertainers and
among themselves. 1t was nice
to watch them-they seemed
to be having a grand time
without being annoying to
other patrons. I've watched
plenty of Broadwayites having
q grand time" but usually
every other patron in the place
suffered as a result. Intro
duced by Charlie Davis, l
learned that the vivacious lass
in the quartet was Elsie Fer
guson, I'd, and the three boys,
Bryant Washburn, jr., Eric Won
Stroheim, jr., and Carly lie
Blackwell, jr. Young Black
well, jr., got up and sang
"Stormy weather"
He didn't sing it any too
well, but it was quite accept
able because he didn't sing it
too badly and his gestures were
very graceful Elsie FerguSon'S
niece demurred at dancing or
singing but she got up and
made a pretty speech about
hoping to get by on her per-
sonality. Bryant Washburn,
jr., merely sat in his seat and
Rrinned and Eric Won Stro-
helm, jr., rose and played ring
around-the-roSy or something
like that with the youthful
nudes of the chorus.
So here we're three fine look
ing boys whose papas had
faded from the picture lime
light with the advent of the
talkies-and a gal whose aunt
was once the toast of the dra-
matte terrain-voted the most
popular actress two years in
succession by both graduating
classes of Yale and Harvard
and once by Princeton. Carlyle
Blackwell, pere, dropped out of
sight years ago but popped
into the news pages with his
marriage to European widow,
worth millions-and popped in
again with his subsequent d.
vorce and new marriage. Bry-
ant Wahburn used to set many
a youthful female heart aflut-
ter in the days when he was
the handsome man of the
Silents.
Eric Won Stroheim, ST., set film
circles aflame with his "eXtrava-
CANT" expenditures on film pro-
duction-you probably recall the
time the movie world was set on
its ear because it was reported
he had squandered more than
q million on a single picture, an
unheardof sum at that time.
Carl Laemmle informed me
about a year ago in reciting his
experiences with the German di-
rector that the sum was a gross
exaggeration but had provided
excellent publicity.
And now, here are four of the
second generation in toWn-and
thus far their only claim to
fame is the reputation of their
relatives. Always an unfair
handicap. A few manage to
overcome the disadvantage.
Doug Fairbanks, jr., did and so
did Buster Collier for a time.
It's still too early to determine
what success awaits the young
Barrymores. Francis x. Bush
man, jr., was flop, but Maurice
Costello's daughter did all right
until John Barrymore exiled her
to private and domestic life,
and Richard BENEFITS daugh-
ter. Constance, is still doing all
right.
The unIuckieSt fellow in town
Is the young man, practically a
novice in the insurance business,
who at a dinner met one of the
most important executives of
one Of the most important ciga-
rette companies and started his
@ lbtile propaganda with such
excellent results that after a
campaign of almost five months
he finally had his prospect
clinched for million dollar
policy.
If you know anything about
insurance you know that meant
the young mans career was
practically assured. Came the
day of the appointment. The
papers were on the deSk-the ex-
ecutive was shaking his fOun.
tain pen. A shiver of excite
ment rippled through the young
agent-he was ready to faint
for joy. In his extreme ner-
VOuSneSS he reached for a ciga-
rette.. 'May 1 have One?" asked
the executive, mildly.
He took the prOffered ciga-
rette, looked at it-and then
eOldly addressed the agent. "I'm
SOrry," he said, icily, "But I
can't do business with anyone
who does business with our com.
petitOrs." The insurance agent
had made the mistake of smOk-
ing the wrong brand.
Having devoted an entire
paragraph to the report that the
once colorful Mandarin was
going to be reopened in China
town by Jimmy Kelly and hav-
ing expressed the wistful hope
that some of the old-time glamor
would be revived, l now learn