Evening star., 1936-12-27

Tor long intervals from world that I,
Of publicity. He can do as he pleases 6
Modern Times" his public shells out
Its nickels. dimes. rubles. lare. shil-
lings or pfennigs to a total OF
$4,000 900.
In calculating the merit of Chaplin
as. it is disclosed in this figure (Which
incidentally is one for which Variety
must be credited), no grossly CONNER
cial yardstick is being applied. When
money talks it sometimes describes an
artistic success as we'll as a CONNER
cial one. 1t does so clearly in the case
Of the man who has more tears and
laughs to his credit than stars who
make five times as many pictures.
The appeal of genius is universal
Chaplin's genius is that. 1t is visible
In the fact that his picture-that as
tonishing satirical comedy on the ma
chine age-earned more money abroad
than in the land of its conception and
nativity. (Again. thanks to Variety)
What Chaplin has in the way of an
art the whole world can understand
Talking. which he makes it rule not
to do in spite of sound synchronizatlon
with pictures, would add an impure in
gredient to that art That is another
respect in which Chaplin refuses to
conform. Let all other stars iabber in
all the languages man has created
Chaplin knows enough to remain silent
and be understood everywhere.
There are many occasions when the
art group can scorn what the box Of
flee has to say of success. but not when
it screams so loudly OF the funny little
man who never says word.
THERE is a great deal of drama
l. about play with which the play
wright has nothing to do. The point
is neatly exemplitled in the case OF
The Two Mrs. CAROLS" which will
have its American premiere tomorrow
night at the National Theater.
Immediately this play evolved in
manuscript form, it seemed to de-
velop 8 destiny of its own entirely
apart from the will of It's creator.
1t was designed for Broadway pro-
duction, for example. Somehow or
other, it opened in London and ran
there for a whole year before any one
could get it turned around and headed
for New York. The London house in
which it opened was engaged for four
months. But the play refused to leave
the English capital-and vice versa
so another theater had to be taken
over for another three-months stand.
A third finally was needed, before B. A.
Meyer, the producer, stopped hlling
houses with it. He Was quite as help
less in handling it as was Marguerite
WELLER, its author.
EvEN Washington felt the repercus-
- sions of The Two Mrs. CAROLS, 3"
when it spun out of the typewriter and
started taking over its own fate.
When Mrs. WELLER put the last period
on the manuscript. talented Frances
Starr was in semi-retirement. Life
was moving serenly; kind of life to
which the play seemed no nearer than
Aldebaran. It was destined to lure
Miss Starr out of retirement and back
to the stage which she has graced so
well. She will play the first Mrs. Car
roll to Elena Miramova's second.
The play is scheduled TO open in
New York on January IL. The way it
has acted, however, it might turn
around and go back to London at the
end of its Washington engagement
WELLESLEY and Sweet Briar
w alumnae in Washington will have
double occasion to turn out for next
weeks performance of "1he Chill
dren's Hour" at the National. Anne
Revere and Katherine Emery. play
tng the parts Of the school teachers
around whose lives the play revolves,
are graduates, respectively, OF those
two schools. The vengeful brat with
whom they have to deal turns out to
be q pretty severe strain on every one
In the cast in spite Of high general
average Of education among the
players.
The play which ran for IS weeks
in New York is the fifth subscription
play Of the American Theater So
ciety's season.
4 *
THOSE who saw Greta Garbo IN
"Queen Christina" still believe
that the greatest sequence she ever
played was that In which she burned
permanently into consciousness the
picture of that inn room where she
found love and brief escape from royal
responsibilities.
While there Is nothing in her cur
rent Camille" at the Palace to equal
that, Miss Garbo makes splendid use
of whatever furniture comes to hand
In her emotional moments. Not that
she throws it, or breaks it, but rather
that she makes 1t take on the SEEM
ing Of life to aid in expressing her
feeling. The table on which she leans
In the travail Of that moment when
she talks to Arinand's father in the
current picture. appears to give her
the support of conscious rather
than an inanimate thing.
Such is the quality of the Garbo
artistry.