FOOTLIGHT FLASHES

Evening Star, Issue 16845, 21 September 1918, Page 9

FOOTLIGHT FLASHES

[By Loitereb.] Bruce and his Rosebuds finish their Dunedin season on October 12. Following a short interregnum of pure vaudeville at the Princess Theatre, Tom Haverly and the Rule Kewioie Kids return on October 28 with a number of new shows. In Wellington Haverly is breaking even the Johnson Company's box-office records. Leslie Craze, the Lieutenant Tjfnmerli of the Williamson production of 1 The Chocolate Soldier,’ has lately been running a squab farm at Brighton (near -Melbourne). Ho has now, however, been lured back to the stage by a tempting offer from the Tivoli management to play in the revue ‘ ’Snice ’ in Sydney. Lionel A twill, who played hero in 1 The Whip,’ has lately been appearing in New York in Ibsen revivals with the great Narimova. There will be some chance in the Bruce personnel at the end of the month. Ruby Kennedy is beinir withdrawn to join a, big minstrel combination which the Fullers will try out in Auckland, and a promising young actress, Florence Fannine, is being sent from Sydney to Lake Mies Kennedv’s roles. Walter P. Howpate, a well-known Australian singer, died recently, aged 53 years. As a young man ho was joint lessee I of the old Nugget 'Bhea.lvs in Bourke Street Bast (Melbourne'). 1 Tire ’cellist Laurie Kennedy was mar- j r;Vd in Melbourne recently to Dorothy: M’Bride, the quaint and clover little pianist of the Trio Chissiqne, recently { here with Fullers. Oscar Asche has acquired tho American j play ’Oh, Lady!’ for London product t-ion. t Johnny Farrell will manage the New | Zealand tour of ‘The Thirteenth Chair’ j Company, which commences at Wellington on Tuesday. ” { I Victor Loydall, the Scottish comedian I who made such a hit with ‘ We Parted On j the Shore ’ in the 1 Mother Boose 1 pantomime. died in Svdnev the other day. For some years deceased had had a rough time, and subscriptions were raised to alleviate his distress. Con Moreni and diaries Zoli were at latest with the “ Fnglish Courtiers” at the Temperance Hall, Hobart. In the new piece by Bruce and His Rosebuds—‘ Two Peas In a Pod’—winch goes up at the Princess Theatre-on Monday, Bruce and Raymond have the roles of tramps. The American comedian’s Hank is a great study, and patrons almost unanimously prefer this characterisation to his Irishman. The Fuller firm expect to open thennew and na-latial Sydney vaudeville house about Christmas. It will be called Fullers’ Theatre, and will be a two-a-day house. Nataline M’Calhnn, the Dunedin soprano, continues to justify the golden 1 opinions formed of her locally as one of Miss Ray Jackson’s pupils. She is still ringing with the Oappelli Company, and tho Auckland ‘ Herald ’ of Monday last makes the following eulogistic reference : : “One of tho delights of the concert was j the, fu-tistio and unaffected singing by | MBs Natalina M’Callum of Sanderson’s j ‘ The Valley of Laughter ’ and ‘ Spring’s | Awakening.’ In the choice of these, as<| well as the recall numbers, ‘I Know a! Lovely Harden ’ (D’Havdolot), ‘ Wake! Tip!’ (Phillips), find ‘I hear a Thrush’; (Cadman), the soprano wisely avoided straying into regions too remote. Miss M’Callum has -an engaging freshness of manner, and a pleasing way of suggesting the mood of a song. Mr Alfred Marks, of Sydney, who will , bn remembered as advance agent for his 1 brother’s (Mr Qeorge Marlow) companies j when they toured the Dominion, has had S cable adviV© that his wife, known , professionally as Elwyn Harvey, has re- i ceived an engagement in the United [ States, where at the end of last month ! sho was cast for the. title rolo of a new ! nln.v at the Morosco Theatre, San Frau- j ci.sco. Reggiardo, a very clover novelty juggler whose work (somewhat after tho pattern of CinonevalTs) will be remembered bv older Fuller patrons, rejoins the firm's; | New Zealand circuit at Dunedin next j week. Some years ago Mr Recginrdo nban- 1 cloned the variety stage, and has since been | in business in this City. ! An event of importance for local play- | goers is the return season of that fine | actress Kafhlone MacDonell. which com- 1 mences at His Majesty’s Theatre on Tups- j dev. She return? with three new plnvs— j ‘Romance,’ ‘The Rainbow,’ ‘The Cm- I dcrella. Man ’ —and will also revive for one j night, the popular ' Daddv Long Legs.' j The most important attraction is nmloubt- j edly ‘Romance,’ a play by Edward _Bbel- I don, wbicb completed a thousand nights’ i run in Loudon in May lash. The only two | plays to exceed that'record since the war j began are * A Little Bit of Fluff ’ ami ; ‘ Peg o’ My Heart.’ ‘Romance’ is tho ' story of an opera singer and a- curate, and I from its rapturous reception everywhere j must- have an enormous allure. The at- \ mosphere, according to one critic, is ‘ rapture and roses.’ Chua Waldron again sup- j ports Miss MacDonell. j A London cable published hi tho An?- i tralian papers reads : ‘‘ ‘Tho Times,’ in its critique of ‘ Shanghai ’ at Drury Lane, ssvs that Miss Dorothy Bninton was delightful as Fan I an, being-full of charm and merriment. Miss Tvy Shilling s dancing was the best thing in the operetta, and it needed a poet or a. rhadsndist fitly to celebrate ‘this splendid shilling/” Tho principal comedian supporting Miss Bninton is Alfred Lester,

Maude Adams is one of the very few stars of the American legitimate stage who remain adamant to the tempting offers of the “movie’’ managers. It is stated that she refused recently an offer of £IO.OOO to appear in a screen version of Barrie’s ‘Peter Pan.’ It is stated that Wirt'n Bros.’ circus will tour the Dominion- about the of the year. Tho big tent show includes Les klontforts, featuring " the loop of death ; the Devines. deseri red as “six maniacs on a wire”; Tex. Bailey, with his performing horses, dogs, and sheep : the Garcias, acrobats; Bello Ouva, gymnast; Rosman and Ram-field, jockeys : and tho Umskills and Zandil Sisters, aeroliats. Walter Weems, the black-face comwmn bore with tho Tivoli Follies, was on a. New York variety -bill in July. Apropos 'of the story which recently gained currency claiming Mary Piokfcrd as a Dunedin-bom girl i-a. Bulletin writer said hor name was Dolly Kicho'son, and she was well known as an amateur), Kennedy Black, manager of the Scarlet Troubadours, and himself a native of Djiuedin, lias been recalling for tho ‘Xew Zealand Sporting and Dramatic Review ’ a few authentic Duncdinitcs who took successfully to the stage or concert platform. His memory embrace? Bland Holt, Walter BontJoy, Chase Willeby and Clutsam (the song writers), Jerome Patrick, Win. Hunter, Prink Foster, Mabel Man-son nice Braithwaite), Jo© Brennan, Ernest Drake Amy Murphy. and Dorothy Gajd’mjr. A number of other well-known names spring to the lips: Ohas. Wilmot, a- publican hero in tho old days, who subsequently went to London and produced with Clarence Holt (Bland’s father) a whole series

of molodratna-s, SaJvfnd, Jennie Nye (burlesquo comedienne and dancer), Marion Willis, Jessi-o Ramsay (Mrs W. S. Percy, the ideal Maritana), Robert Inman (Hoeney was bis correct name), H. E. Jewett, Philip Newbury, Harry S-tockwell, Jim Montgomery, Harry Norman, Flo Belcher, Nellie Black, Frank Bland ford, and Geo. Darrell, who, though not a native, was in business hero (atari ones manager of this paper) before he trod the boards. J. C. Williamson. Ltd., have provided thoir dramatic “ star ’ (Margaret Wycherlv) with probably tiro strongest company they have included on one pay-sheet eiaco Be lie w and Brown-Potter toured Australasia for them 20 years ago. In addition to the noted American actor, Brinsley Shaw, Miss Wycherlv is surrounded in the cast of * The Thirteenth Chair’ by Gaston Mcrvale, lan Maclaren, Sydney Stirling, Leslie Victor. Liz cite Parkes, Nancy© Stewart, Ethel Morrison, Tien Hogue, .and Eileen Robinson. Wychcrly herself, aa most people will know, plays her original New York role of Rosalie La Grange, the clairvoyant. ‘The Thirteenth Chair’ in a murder-mystery plav bv Bayard Veilfer, the author of ‘Within tne Law,’ and Miss j Wychcrly is the author’s wife. The New Zealand season commences at Wellington next week, and the company are due in I Dunedin on October 5, and play four nights. There was a flutter at Her Majesty’s Theatre at Sydney one night last week (ears a writer in the ‘ Sunday Times’). Miss Connie Bdass does nob como on until after 10 o’clock. To pass the time between dinner and her call she dropped into a picture show where tho flint was apparently a somewhat dull one, for she presently dropped asleep. ‘ God Save the King ’ being played awoke her to the dreadful knowledge that riio waa late for her entrance into ‘Gh ! Bow!’ Rushing out. Miss Ediss jumped into a taxi and arrived at tho stage door just as Cecil Bradley walked on to the Gtagc in her part-. ‘Mi?* Bdiss remarked afterwards that she lied been 28 years on the stage, ard had never before missed her cue. For 19 years aho played at tho London Gaiety, and was never once late. After tho performance Mr Ward presented Miss Bradley with a cheque for Mica Ed ass's salary for tlvt night. Mr J. T. Groin, the well-known writer on theatrical suhjoc'®, whose name _ was? recently prominently before tho public in connection with Miss Maud Allan’s action for libel against Mr Pemberton Bilkng, M.P. (it was under Mr Grain's direction that tho muich-erit-icised performance of Oscar Wilde’s ‘ Salome ’ was given, has resigned bis position as dramatic' critic of the London ‘Sunday Times.’ In making the announcement the editor “finccrelv regrets the civcnm«ta."w through which Mr Grein’n valued collaboration of more than 20 years enrocs to an end.” Arthur Playfair, one of tho best-known comic actors on tho English stage, died in London last month, aged 49 years. In j earlier days he placed long seasons under the management of the Kcndals and Chas. Haw trey. Amongst his most successful i■ hararterisatio ll s were the Buffer in ‘Tho Man From Blanklev’s ’ (19061. T)rGrim«lone in ‘Vice-Versa' (1910), and the Duke of Orkney in ‘Theodore and Co.’ (quite recently). It is not generally known that the little town of Allora (Queensland) and its district is the setting used by “ Steele Rudd ” for bis ‘ Selection ’ stories. At the request of the resdents. tho Bert Bailey Comedy Company recently broke their journey en route from Brisbane to Sydney to give a special performance of ‘ On Our Selection ’ there, Tho small boys of the district, who appeared to be as familiar with the stories as they should be with their school books, pointed out in turn the originals of tho whole family. They were interested in tho arrival of the company, not as a combination of actors, but purely as the interpreters of ‘On Our Selection.’ Tho parents ami the school teacher were unanimous in expressing the wish that it would be'?, long day before tho company visited AJlora again. Incidentally, two adults were sufficiently interested in the matter to vide in some 50 miles to have a look at their neighbors on and off the stage,—• ‘Daily Telegraph.’ Kyrfe I’ellew used to claim that he held a record. He had, he said, made a date 1 with more fair admirers nt one moment ! than any attractive actor of his day and generation. A letter came to him while ho was at tho Melbourne Princess with Mrs Brown-Potter, signed “ Gwen,” telling him of the unbounded admiration Gwen bad lor him. and beseeching him, if he had any sympathy for the tender regard of pure young mairienbend, to be on a particular .seat in the Botanical Gardens at a specified hour on a day mentioned. Impelled by curiosity) Bellow attended, and presently a procession of college girls, extending for quite a- hundred yards, two deep, began to file past, and all cast adoring eyes on “ Curly.” An impulse tired Ifellew to stop one maiden under the nose of an indignant teacher. “ Which of yon is Gwen, my dear?” he said. The girl ; gfegled. “We’re from the Lady Gwcndolin College.’ she said. “Wo arc all Gwens.” Then Bellow understood. He had an appointment with a whole school. — ■Bulletin.'

SNAPS IN THE STUDIOS. Burns Mantle offers the opinion in tho August ‘ Cfreon Rook’ magazine that it is no longer a question of what the movies will do to the theatre, hut rather of what the theatre has done to the movies. Five or six years ago, ho says, he set out to write an article on tho five most popular motion-picture “ stars.” and lie crime to the conclusion then that Mary Pickford, Marguerite Clark, Anita Stewart, Clara Kimball Young, and Alice Joyce were the pre-eminent live. Only one of these —Marguerite Clark—had any stage experience for the basis of her screen success. To-day, Iris inquiries satisfy Mantle that the honor roll i? led by the followig 11 (lie found it impossible to restrict choice to five) : —Alary pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Marguerite Clark, Elsie Ferguson, Charlie Chaplin, W. S. Hart. Jack Barrymore. Alla Nazimova, Madge Kennedy, Billie Burke, and Pauline Frederick. Nine of tho 11 are legitimate stage players, from which (with other reasons given) tho writer deduces that tho advancement in value and artistry of the motion picture play lias ensured the ascendancy of the legitimate favorites of the stage in the silent drama. Off-hand one could mention many other honored stage names, now as honored by movie, patrons—Wra, Desmond. Viola Dana. Irene Castle, Robert Warwick, IT. B. Warner, Theodore Roberts, Thomas Meighan, Henry Kolkor, Tyrone. Power, for example. The latest real “star” to succumb to the lure is Blanche Bates, a former Eelasco leading woman, famous in America for her impersonations in the stage versions of ‘ Under Two Flags,’ 4 Madame Butterfly,’ 4 The Darling of the Gods,’ and ‘ The Girl of tho Golden West.’ Miss Bates will make her screen debut in a fdmatisation of Zane Grey’s novel ‘ The Border Legion.’ Coming features at the Empire Theatrearc tho 12-act play ‘ Joan the Woman,’ starring Geraldine, Farrar; ‘ Revelation,’ a .‘■v.'vx h-•!<;•, may witn Nazimova; and ‘ The Little Princess,’ a new Mary Pickford triumph, founded on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

' Tho Girl From Bohemia,’ released by Pathe on August 25, probably marks the retirement of Irene Castle from the screen. Tho later Win. Fox activities promise some remarkable productions. Amongst those for early release are a picture based on Theodore Roosevelt’s story ‘ Put the Flag on the Firing Lino ’; * Why America Will Win,’ based on the life of General Pershing; ‘ Queen of the Sea,’ featuring Annette Kellertnan in a 75ft dive ; Wm. Farnuni in ‘ Riders of the Purple Sage ’; and Theda Bara in ‘ When a Woman Sins’ and ‘ The She Devil.’ ‘ Tho Sleeping Memory,’ starring Emily Stevens, is a Metro picture, dealing with tho weird and tho occult. It is In seven acts, and comes to tho Empire next Friday. Stars who have recently signed np with Paramount and Artcraft are Dorothy Gish, Cameo, Bryant Washburn, Ethel Clayton, Lila Lee, Fred Stone, Henry B. Walthall, Mary Anderson, Marion Sais, Lilian Gish, Robert Harron, Rosemary -Thcby, Doris Pawn, Caroline White, and Shirley Mason. “Stars” who figured in ‘ Intolerance ’ and ‘The Birth of a Nation’ appear in ‘The Missing Rank Notes,’ which will be shown at the Octagon and King Edward Theatres next Saturday. The artists in question are Bobbie Harron, Norma and Constance Talmadge. Two clover children. Francis Carpenter and Virginia Lee Corbin, plav tho roles of the children in the William Fox production ‘Tho Babes in the Wood,’ which tops (ho new bill at the /King’s Theatre. A visitor to the Fox studios asked Francis what part he was playing, and, after an instant’s thought, tho youngster replied : “I’m Mr Babe.’ Dougins Fairbanks latest Art-craft feature, 1 The Man from Painted Post,’ is “ just dandy.” It affords Empire patrons an opportunity of seeing the greatest collection of Western “ champions ” yet semhfeM in onn production. Taylor Holmes, the .actor who proved so successful in ‘Efficiency Edgar's Courtship ’ and other Essanay comedies, has been engaged on a three-year contract by Triangle Film Corporation. Forthcoming Constance Talmadge productions are ‘Tho Shuttle,’ ‘The Lesson,’ and ‘ The Studio Girl.’ According to a New York paper, .Marguerite Clark is shortly to marry s wealthy New Orleans lumber dealer. Ruth Roland recently received .960 from a New York fashion journal in payment for designs for a riding habit. The star handed the cheque to Fannie Ward’s Convalescent Soldiers’ Hospital. A very acute study in human nature is tho description given of tho Vita graph play ‘His Own People,’ which comes to the Queen’s and King Edward Theatres on Wednesday next, it contains one character—a blacksmith—very reminiscent of Jeffery Farnol’s heroic characters. Harry Morey takes this role, and Gladys Leslie plays opposite him. At last! Gerard’s ‘My Four Years in Germany ’ got ns far south as Christchurch, and then was sent north again to satisfy imperious demands for this superfeature. It is now definitely announced, however, that Dunedin patrons will have tha picture in about four weeks’ time. ‘Joan tho Woman,’ said to be the biggest picture play secured for a Dunedin “ continuous ’ bouse, comes to tho Empire on October 4. It is in 12 acts, and comprises 10.791 ft of film. Geraldine Farrar, the acclaimed operatic soprano, has the rnio of Joan of Arc, and the play is said to furnish not only a wonderful diorarnic spectacle, but one of the most intense and spiritual stories the. screen has given birth to. ‘The Babes in the Wood,’ now current at the King’s Theatre, depicts the whole of the fairy story that the little ones pore over so raptly. The story, however, is introduced in a modern way. John Hamil ton tins married a second time. Tho second wife dislikes his children, and is in love with her husband’s brother. He pretends to go away on a long voyage, and circulates a story of his death at sea. Then secretly he returns and surprises a plot, between the two ho suspected to kill bis children for the monetary gain of the fortune he had left, Tim supposed dead man enters the house, takes his children on his knees, and tolls the story of 1 The Babes in the Wood,’ the tale, appearing on tho ! screen as he narrates it. At the end the thread of the modern story is resumed.

Included in the now programme at the Octagon and King Edward Theatres is an interesting Pa the scenic, showing the great abbeys of England. The advent of Clara Kimball Young in California to make photo-plays resulted in a section of the community protesting against permission being granted for the erection of ft studio for her company. Tho Real Estate Board of Pasadena passed a. resolution opposing tho studio mi the ground that it would tend to lower property values in its neighborhood. The Rev. W. 0. Loomis preached a sermon at Lincoln Avenue Church on Sunday, June SO. substituting fur a Biblical text the question: ‘Shall tho crown city give its crown to a. movie queen?’ A counteragitation was organised in .Miss Young's favor, and a petition endorsing the erection of the studio was signed by merchants, business and professional men, artisans, and others. A now screen version of tho classic adventure romance ‘ Robinson Crusoe,’ whose hazards and excitements have brought tho red blood pounding to all our hearts at ous time or another, will be shown at the Octagon and King Edward Theatres next Saturday afternoon. Tho first episode of a big new serial, ‘The Fata! Ring,’ comes to tho Queen’s Theatre on October S. The popular Pearl White has the leading role. A picture of great power which has been creating unusual interest over in Australia is ‘The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin.’ It is a Jewel production, and will be released in the Dominion by tho New Zealand Picture Supplies, Ltd. Nazimova, the star of Metro’s super feature. ‘ Revelation ’ listed for release in Dunedin shortly, was born in the Crimea, and educated in convents at Odessa and Geneva. Her stage career covered appearances in ‘ Trilby ’ and 4 Tho Second Mrs Tanquoray’ at Petrograd. In 1905 one appeared in Now York in Ibsen’s ‘ o Doll’s* House ’ and ‘The Master Builder.’ Shortly after tho outbreak of war she made a great hit in, a vaudeville sketch, ‘ War Brides,’ and later went to the Metro studios. She now playa in pictures dur-

ing leisure hours (for a salary of £2OO a clay), while aLill maintaining her position as a “star” in legitimate plays of the bizarre typo. It became known recently that tho damage suit of tho Vita-graph Company of America against Louis E. Mayer, of Boston, and his associates, which had been pending for almost a year, had been amicably settled by the payment to Vitagraph of a very substantial sum. Last September Vitagraph brought suit against Anita Stewart to prevent her from breaking ho i’ contract with them in order to enter the employ of Mr Mayer, naming Mr Mayer and others as co-defendants. It developed that Miss Stewart had signed a contract to work for Mayer before her contract with Vitagraph expired. Owing to the time Mias Stewart was unable to work, due to an automobile accident, Vitagraph agreed to let Mayer have her, and everything is now on a satisfactory basis between the parties to tho suit. Mr Smith, of Vitagraph, said ho bad at stake tho principle of a star’s obligation to her employer, as well as the interests of tho company, and that tho courts had fully vindicated that principle. The suit originally was for 250,000d01. Anita Stewart's first play for Vitagraph since the rupture is the ‘ Mind the Paint Girl,’