The Washington times., 1936-09-04

Movie studios keep close track
of what the other fellow is doing.
They do it by means Of personal
surveys in key cities and contact
with editors George Gerhard
is making one of these periodical
inspections for R-K-O Pictures and
dropped in to say Hello" yeSter-
day For eight years Gerhard
was the motion picture editor OF
the New York Evening World,
leaving that post to become pub
licity manager for United Artists,
later first public relations coun-
sci for Radio City Music Hall
Mr.. Gerhard confirms what others
have discovered, that Washing
ton is the No. / movie city of the
United States, one of the few spots
that enjoyed box office prosperity
all through the depression .
Washington also gives the movies.
line for line, more newspaper
space than any first run location
in Uncle Sans dominion.
SHEARER FLIES HERE
Another washington visitor yes
terday was Douglas Shearer,
brother of Norma, and recording
director for Metro oldwyn-M
He planed in from Hollywood to
set the new High Fidelity sound
system at the National Theater. &.
Shearer is a projection expert and
inventor who is not obliged to
trade on his sisters influence or
the fact that his brother-in-law,
Irving Thalberg, is mighty in pic
lures. AS q matter of fact that
industry recognizes him as No. l
man on sound, gives him credit for
imparting a bit of screen magic
to jeanette MacDonald's voice .
Music critics say that Lily Pons,
Gladys Swarthout and Grace
Moore can sing better than Jean
cite Macdonald, but it is a fact
that M-G-M songbird has never
had other than perfect sound
projection, one of the main reasons
why her pictures have all been box
office bell ringers, why San Fran
cisco" looms as the box office
champion of 1896. Engineer
Shearer has specialized for 10
years on sound, invented many
new gadgets, and at the moment
is giving personal supervision to
the equipment in all cities where
Romeo and Juliet" is opening. {.
1S-YEAR-OLD COMPOSER
With Lady Yukona Cameron,
his partner and miSSuS, suffering
from a nervous breakdown, AL
Trahan, the Paderroughski of the
piano, has been obliged to can
eel his engagement at the Capt.
toll George Barto and Dewey
Mann, the long and the short Of
comedians, will fill the headline
spot Joseph Feldman, IS.
year-old Washington composer,
writes that Irving Berlin will
next month publish his new song,
Love Will Never Touch My
Heart" and that it may be heard
nightly at the rainbow room of
the Hamilton, at La Paree and at
Glen Echo Park Young Mr..
Feldman confeSses that he can't
play the piano or read a word
of music. How does he do it?
Let him tell the story. Il do it
through an active musical imagi-
nation. First, I conceive the
title. That expresses the mood
of the music and the lyric seems
to come to fit the melody
A very good system, says Com
poser Feldman, who has his name
on so published song covers.
COL. RATIO is EETTER
Col. Angie Ratio, manager of
Loew's Palace, writes from Edge.
water. Md, that he is impatient
for his complete recovery from a
long illness, hopes that he will be
greeting customers in the F Street
lobby in the very near future. {.
In the meantime Colonel Ratio
loves to get letters and if you feel
like sending him holiday greetings,
the address is Care CalaWassee,
EdgeWater, Md. Now that R-K-O
Keith's face lifting process has
been completed and Swing Time
patrons will find renovated the