Evening star., 1935-09-02

i of the heel-and-toe. the arrival Of
important than either of those ever ,
Mr.. Astaire opened another barra
R-K-O-Keith's, in a picture entitled
"Top Hat" and large blocs of his de-
vout congregation promptly jammed
Fifteenth street in a mad race to get
the first peek.
They found their timber gargoyle
more active than ever before, jigging
his way through five staccato routines,
any one of which would make the
average vaudeville dancer swoon with
envy.
He rips into some nifty rattles to
accompany a tune called mo Strings"
polishes off that episode with sand
dance, which must have been derived
from capers by the original Sand Man;
joins his partner, Ginger Rogers, in
few turns for isn't It a Lovely Day"
solos Top Hat" Cthe most spectacular
of them alb, and again teams with
Miss Rogers for Piccolino.
For the true Astaire disciples, this
chart will suffice as description of
R-K-O-Radio's new musical. For the
benefit of those who regard hooters
as a necessary evil of modern civilized
life, it may be added that Top Hat"
also has a plot-a nice. mellow old
plot, about the ripe age to become its
own grandmother.
Because Of its vintage, the plot
happily can be treated like an old
hat used merely to cover up. Under its
lid will be discovered some delectable
comedy by Eric Blore and Edward Ev-
erett Horton, q newcomer to the screen
named Helen Broderick and batch
of good dance tunes by Irving Ber-
lin. As If that were not enough
Hardie Meakin has tossed In to his
current program some footage of the
Dionne quintuplets, the best kid act
in show business. There is a whole
short subject devoted to them.
OFFICIAL report on TOP Hat" via
~ Western Union: "We went and
done it today stop Fred Astaire and
Ginger Rogers Top Hat broke every
existing record and on q short day
too stop This includes Little Women
as well as previous Astaire- Rogers
pictures" It's from Hardie Meakin,
of course, and it speaks for itself.
HARDIE is not the only local theater
- manager who is smiling this
week. Carter Barron, boss Of all that
is Loew hereabouts, breaks down and
admits that he expects the current
flickers at Loew houses to BIZ. on
boom days" Garbo's Anna Ra-
renina," at the Palace, kept step or
opening day with the record opening
of the hit which preceded it, China
Seas" and down the street the Co.
lumbia is setting out to hang UP q
record, or at least near record, with
the revival of "Smilin' Through" The
Fox, too, is in clover, having had over
flow audiences at almost every show
since Fridays opening. Don Bestor
and his orchestra on the stage and
the George Burns-Gracie Allen luna
cies on the screen in Here Comes
Cookie" says Mr.. Barron, ARE keep
ing the Fox cashiers extremely busy"
THE HENRIETT A." Roadside
Theater's best farce of the sea.
son, goes into its second week tonight.
Denis Connell and Ann Ives carry of
top honors for their acting in the
hair-brained and intricate comedy.
Some of the others are Richard
Stringfellow, Ralph Fowler, Dorothy
Dietz, Robert Duke, Ralph Thayer.
Marvin Beers. John Rappolt, jr.;
Lansing Hall and Jean Smith. Harold
Weinberger directed.
X ~
d IcHARD MIDGLEY, who four
nights a week takes on every
aspect of purity and righteous man
hood in the Willard Players East
Lynne" at the Press Club auditorium,
will add to his local laurels next Mon
day night, when he steps out as
Archibald Grosvenor, "the idyllic poet
and apostle of simplicity" in the
Washington Community Players pro-
duction Of Gilbert and Sullivan's
Patience" at the Sylvan Theater.
Not only will Mr.. Midgley act and
sing. but he will trip about the
greensward in gay dances. and a
couple of his contributions promise to
be high-lights Of the proceedings.
jeanette Bittner will be the prima-
donna appearing opposite the acting
singing dancing Mr.. Midgley, and
there will be a chorus Of "rapturous
maidens" and chorus of dragon
guards"
ONLY two programs remain on the
schedule for the outdoor theater
on the Monument slope-"Romeo and
Juliet" this Wednesday, and the Gill
bert and Sullivan operetta next Mon
day. Attendance this year has been
the largest in the history of the Syl-
van Theater, but the early Autumn
chill, which has crept upon us, for
bids any outdoor productions after
September IS, according to the Com