Evening star., 1934-03-14

Mr.. Lodges career is OF interest.
inasmuch as he has been swiftly Sue
cessful at almost anything he has
done When a STRIPPING at Massa-
chusetts preparatory school, he
amazed professors by his command of
French. When at Harvard he did
likewise, appearing frequently and
authoritatively in productions given
by the Cercle Francaise And when,
In New York, he seemed to be thriv-
ing as a Wall Street barrister, he an
nounced one fine morning that he
was going into the films, his ancestral
home is said not only to have rocked
but to have quaked
Nevertheless, Mr.. Lodge went-and
after few modest roles and one or
two good ones thes done everything
from Little Women" to weSternS) he
was signed to be Miss Dietrich's lead
ing man in The Scarlet Empress" )"
one of Paramount's most SumptuouS
offerings. the feeling that he had
'arrived" permeated the plush parlors
of his acquaintances and soothed the
somewhat tangled nerves of those
close to him who still imagined that
HOLLYWOOD was a big bold and bad
place.
Mr.. Lodge yesterday was very pos
tive about Hollywood Standing tall
and bronzed and broad over and
above his aunt's handsome fireplace,
he said: 1T is time that Hollywood
stopped being attacked. To my mind,
the reason that there have been so
many poor pictures is because these
pictures made money for the pro-
ducers- and they couldn't afford not
to make them The reason that very
often art" has been overlooked is
because the films are still busy with
their mechanics. Unlike the stage,
their walls have not as yet been built
solidly and permanently around them
They are still experimenting, still
striving for effects. and in this hustle
and confusion they have probably fire.
quently sacrificed some of the finer
things"
Mr.. Lodge, who might perhaps have
been an orator, spoke all this with
fire in his eye and with a loyalty to
the West Coast that would have
amazed certain Back Bay inhabitants.
He spoke it also with that zest that
director Won Sternberg must have
put into him as he piloted the young
man through his emotional sequences
with Catherine the Great" a role,
which is said to be one of Miss Die
trich's finest.
Today Mr.. and Mrs. Lodge will be
given further celebrations. Tomor-
~, will fa
given more. After that New York
will have something to say. And then
Saturday they will set sail for Cali
fornia. In the meantime, Miss Die
trich's leading man" isn't quite GER
tain what his plans are. But you can
be sure that he will remain an actor.
Mr.. Lodge still can argue. But he's
no longer lawyer.
HERE'S NEWS: Al Jolson will prob
ably appear in person at the
Washington premiere Of The Wonder
Bar" Proof of this comes by mail
via Mitchell Rawson of the Warner
Brothers New York Office. Says he:
Dear Mr.. Melcher: Your article the
other afternoon about Al Jolson, in
which incidentally you suggested a
visit by Jolson to Washington in con-
nection with the opening there of
Wonder Bar was read by Jolson
himself in the train coming from
Philadelphia to New York the same
night I am able to assure you
now that in all probability Jolson
will be in Washington when Wonder
Bar has its premiere there
thought you might be interested in
this"
We are. Aren't you?
X
MATCH young Ann Sothern. You
saw her here twice in musical
comedies, at the National, under the
name of Harriet Lake. Then she
was redhead-attractiv with
nose that went up, and a small, not
very important singing voice. Yes
terday We saw her in the extremely
pleasant and diverting film, Let's
Fall in Love-" which should do very
well at the Earle, starting Friday.
Miss Sothern has grown in looks, in
acting ability and in vocal strength
She sings nicely, acts very well in
deed. and has become far, far hand