The Washington times., 1937-03-27
THE VOICE OF
Broad way
BY Louis SObOl-
Casual Comment!


This is the era of disillusion
ment In the days before the
cinema and radio, people invited
us behind the scenes, an earth
quake, a shipwreck, an avalanche,
a train wreck, etc, were Shuddery
and thrilling to the eye and the
ear. Now we know it is merely
some papier-mache buildings set
off by a stick or two of dynamite
that furnish the spectacular earth
quake shiver-it is only a minia-
ture ship which sinks in a small
tank-toy trains which collide,
etc. Trick shots, process shots,
phoney backgroundS-the movie
people have let us in on all OF this.
And the radio people, inviting
large audiences to the major
broadcasts, expose their devices,
too. Now we know it isn't a real
gale blowing-that no door actu-
ally opens to let in the murderer
or the comics stooge, that a set
of wooden blocks takes the place
of the horses hoofS we hear clat-
tering down the road. They took
Santa Claus away from us long
ago-they tell US there never were
fairies-I mean the kind with
magic wandS-a book is coming
out soon, exposing all the miracles
of the Bible. It's getting to be a
helluva realistic World-Shame-
fully realistic, if you ask me.
Sunday there are to be Spe-
cial memorial services for the
victims of the New London
Tex school disaster. They will
be conducted at special mass
at st. Jerasimo'S Greek OrthO-
dox Church on West Seventy
sixth Street, of which the Rev.
VasiliOs is the priest. As mem
ber of the choir this Sunday
there will be the Greek priests
son. Broadway knows him bet
ter as Mario, of the ace dance
team of Mario and FlOria. A
minor Broadwayite is back in
town now carrying his heart in
a sling so that nobody would
know unless you looked at his
eyes or listened to him talk.
He was gOofy about pretty lit
tie entertainer and got her
many news breaks by bounding
fellows like us who slave under
a by-line. Finally he convinced
a Hollywood talent scout the
dame was everything he bOasted
she was and she landed herself
neat contract. Her first part
was minor. but the notices are
major, and he began to fret
because now the letters from
her were becoming more and
more infrequent. So he Scraped
together his last few pennies
and flew out to surprise her
AS / say, he's back and the
torch flames high. When he
reached Hollywood, she told him
she couldn't be seen with him
as the publicity department had
advised her it would ruin her
career unless she went out with
famous people.
Peaches Browning finally comes
into the chips and, believe it or
not, most Of Us are happy for her
-. Especially a few of us, includ-
ing this writer, who knew her
when -. She was such a silly, chat
terry baby in those early Browning
days when we were turning out
her confessions for the tabs
But the years whipped her into a
handsome, amazingly sane and in.
teresting young matron with no
suggestion of the flighty Broadway
touch She rates the money
break Richard Himber's chief
hobby, as is we'll known, is magic
D.. He has unusual deftneSs with
the cards and the coins But he
admits one trick tops them all
Wave an empty wallet in front of
your friends - and watch them
disappear.
The Broadway pests are many
-. There Is the frill who has
one drink on the house-the
rest on the floor The press
agent who gets a line in your
column once every six months
and boasts that he writes your
column every day The guy
who won't talk back to you
but how he'll talk in back of
you The yapS who do you a
favor and tell you to forget it
but they never do The
playbOy with a girl on his lap
and a foot in the grave
The first nighters who don't
know the first thing about first
manners The bore who
thinks he's as interesting to you
as he is to himself But God
bless them alI-how would you
fill a column without them!
The gazettes carry the story o
the man who has written 5000
word novel without using a singl
word containing the vowel "e
Otis Chatfield Taylor in {
brief report on the book, managel
to convey his criticism in tn
same manner This yarn,
he writes, "is monotonouS pas
words. It sounds as putty DRIP
ping on a tin roof. Confinin