FOOTLIGHT FLASHES AND MOVIE GOSSIP

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 58, Issue 72, 27 April 1929, Page 9

FOOTLIGHT FLASHES AND MOVIE GOSSIP

'hollywood as it is. i Two hundrcd and fifty people are i f'worishly rcporting tlio doings of Hollywood to the world at iarge, with j the result that more Hollywood dale hnes lind their way into the press than tioni auv other place of lts si/.e on ei.rth. London, Paris and New York are cities. Herc is a village spread c\ er a vast anionnt or spnce, a village nith a main street which live years ago v as conspictious for its einptv lots, its j ehurches and general out-of-door ease. | The main street is fourteen blooks i long. It is the weirdest hodge-podge | 4 exclu.sive shops, inclusive cafeterias and popular calcs whero the priees approximate Ciro's and the food is shoer .Americana. First payment down Istoies, last payment obtained offices. I schools for everything from beauty j c ulture to vocal improveinent ; get-r.ch-quick sclicmes ; sidewalk stands where men demonstrate picking np n;ns in silk hosiery — the.se are extras glad of a day's oooupation, distastoful though it mnst he to have coniplaeent hcusewivcs stand comfoi'tahly by wliilo t.Jie demonstrators go through the odious pantomime of the liappy * runi eatcher. There are eagle-eyed cnshiers ' who have heeome expert in ferreting j out the professional clead-heat ; sphinx - ! eycd crcdit men who have heeome elairj voyant in their ealling; bank clerks 1 v. itli -arms wearv from catehing the ! hounding rubhcr cheques — all in the | nr.me of art, ladies and gentlemen, all in the ninne of art.

plays and players. | The nnnunl musioal farco with which i the Universitv students seck to make 'a brighter Auckland will be staged ! this vear at the St. James' Theatre. It is'titlcd "The King of Kawau" and will open a short season on May 18. * v * The new Arnold Ridley play, "The Wrecker." will have only a short season in Auckland, the niu commeneing ;at His Majesty's Theatre on Mav 8 and concluding on May 14. Tt is a .-onsa t ion a I railwav drama which has j hecn even more succcssful than its i author's initial efl'ort, "Tho Ghost i Train." ^4 V 'c Scottish humour old and new, the old quite as Iresli as the new when it ccmes from siieh a unique personality as Sir Harrv Lauder, has been dclighting audieuces at His Majesty's Theatre, Auckland, recently. The great- comcdian receives support from a well-balaneed company of vaudeville artists and provides varietv entertainment of exceptional excellence. * * In a newspaper interview in Melbourne before her departure for England, Miss Margaret Bannerman expressed the opinion that the rampant sentimentalism of American plays was tcnding to keep Australian audieuces in swaddling clothes as rcgards appreciation of suhtler, better work. Aliss Bannerman expressed a hopo of again visiting Australia, with a serics of plays "having a heart tug in every line." tramps to hollywood A few mouths ago a girl tramped 3000 rniles to Hollywood in search of fame before the cameras. "And others have done harder tliings than that to pet here," she told an arnazed official. With these words in mind a easting director examined his lists of registered extras and set about inquiring how thev came to Hollywood. Alore than 30 ma'.e extras owned up to having "ridden the rods" (stowed awav on the under-carriages of freight trains), or had "jumped a ride" in goods trucks. Two men, now employployed as stunt aviators, flew their own 'plancs to Hollywood. Tim McCoy rode into the cinema city at the head of a band of redskins belonging to a travelling troupe, was seen by a studio executive, grabhed as a technical adviser for an 'outdoor pioture then under production, and later gradunted into the ranks of film players. Gwen T.ee. hlonde leading lady, drove her faithful flivver from a niiddle-west town to Los Angeles. One girl got to Hollywood from Kansas by asking for "lifts" from passing mo'torists. Artother hid in a linencupboard »aboard a Pullman coach.

■ i b b r ■ g i i d a ara ■ ■ *' B " 8 1 ' w&a scSbs ooSaB radarazai Bflw LIJI fan mail. I Oue of tlio lii-Ofot problems flint ihe offieials at the Paramount studi()s . have to Iace is the disposal of wliat is . known as "fan mai!." Thousands ot j pictui'egoers all ovcr the world delight | in seiuling lctters to their lavouraite | stars, and every dav a deluge of let- | ters descends on Hollywood, which has : a postal staff as Inrge as that oi a. big j ! city. Thirty-three people at the Para- , ' mount studios. roceive in all. a total j i average ot 10.000 letters a dav : that j ' is 2~>U.OOO a month. (Tara Bow re- ' ceives close on 40.000 each month, ' and other stars are not far behind her. | silt the contents of the letters, for ' A hig staff is employed to open and ' thov are a- very valuahle indication of ' the popularity of the star. \a london 'yarn'. When .Sir Harry Lauder was in ! pantomime at Drury Tane, London, j he no ti ood thi\t the old Scottish stage j cloorkecper had a had cold, so he Pie" sented him with a woollen muffler and I ;i balaclava cap, to pull down over his l cnrc. Noticing tho old chap had disi cardcd t ho balaclava, nftor two or thrce evenings, Sir Ilarry in(]uired tlie rcason. ad cts like thcs, said the doorkccpcr, "that cap terrned oot a graiter mcsforchcn than the cand, hecause ah only lerrnt thcs evpnen that full half a 'duzon folk had envitcd mc to hae a nep and ali didna hear wun o' thoin."

in film land. Miss Barbara Kent has heen selectfod for the leading role in the new Havnld Lloyd picture, which will he rclcascd this yeav by Paramount. Mai. j St. Clair is now directing the produc- ! tion. y. "r 4= | Metro-Goldwyn-Maycr will produce | "Lord Byron of Broadway" as an all- , musical talkic. William Nigh. the j director of such successes as "Across i to Singaporc." "Four Wnlls" and "Mr Wu," will direct. The cast will be anI nounced later. Ji". * * Following on the liecls of its acliievement iti securing talking siihjects oi ^lussolini, George Bernard Shaw and 1 King Alton: o of Bpain, Fox Alovietonc i has just fmished a subject of I)avid ! l/ioyd George. This was sccured in i tlie intimacy ot Mr George's own | home. fj; * * j Sir Harry Lauder, now making a \audevillo tour of Xew Zpaland, ha> r.c hieved another remarkable success Ion the niotion picture screen by his work iti "Auld Lang Syne," which production Paraniount will release during Ihe year. Miss Dorothy Boyd and Pat Alieine have i'eatured roles in tho picture. * * * A replica of the Folies Bergere was built at the Paramount studios for scencs in Maurice Chevalier's first starring ])icture for that organisation. titled "The Innocents of Paris." Cliovalier liimself was a star at the Lolics Bergere in Paris, where. he danced and sang as the partner of the famous Mistinguette. •>fi * -r ben greets party. Seventy-one actors entcrtained Bvi. Gieet to dinner at a London hotel ic cently. The occasion marked the ap pioach of Alr Greet's jubilee in theat rical work. and his hosts numbered 71 bccau.se "B.G.," is He is generall. cailed, is 71. Actuallv, he has had more than 50 years of acting and th.*atrical management. He was an ama tt-ur actor before he took the plung.as a professional. Among those present at the dinner were Leon Quarterrnaine, in the eliair, Sir Nigel Playfair, and Fred Terrv, all of whom ha\e r.cted in Ben Gveet companies. Tlie iiiimlier of cx-"Ben Greetians" must he more than a thousnnd. Sybil Tliorndike is oue distinguished _ example among actresses. There is a proposal to give Mr Greet a big testimenial matinee performance shortlv, •rnd already tliree West End theatres have been offered for the purpose.

^■»acaaBgaRaaa|isgagffi talkie criticised. Pcrhaps it is because I have to visit some 25 plays each year that I seldom see a film, and I had niy first experience of a "talkie" when I saw "Interference." wrote Alan Parsons, dramatic critic for tlie Dailv Mai!. The synchronisation is aston ishiugly peifeet, and the vnk'eg splendidly audihle : on the other liand, thev sound hollow and unnatural and mncli too slow througliout. This does not can that I do not consider fcliat tlie "talkie" has a hig future : ohviousiy ii has, especiallv for Englisli people, for the voice of Mr Clive Brook is 111 pleasant contrast to tlie very Ameriran intonations of his two leading w omcn . • * • pays big bonus. Theatre managers have often cailed a company togetlicr to suggest a deciease in salary in order to savc a play, says a Jamdon paper, but I\laurice Browne's gesture at the Savoy is si fficiently unprecedented to be worthy of record. After a reoent matinee, ho told cverybody employed in the theatre, including not only the actors but the stage-hnnds and programme sellers, that owing to the success of "Journey's End" it was proposed to give a honus on the salaries for the past month.

THEATRE BOOKINGS. NAPIER: April 27, 29, 30.— J O. Williamson (Midnight Frolics). May 10 and 11. — Sir Harry Lauder. May 18. — J. O. Williamson (PatsvL Mav 21. — J. C. Williamson (The Wreckers) . HASTINGS May 9. — Sir Harry Lftuder. •June 11 and 12. — Shakesperean Company. July 24 and 25. — William Heugban.