STAGE AND SCREEN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 20 June 1931, Page 3

STAGE AND SCREEN

Drury Lane's hext production is to I,e a now Loliar operetta, “The Land of Smiles. ’’ in which Hen' Richard Timber is to play load at an enormous salary. The situations follow on a, Chinese man’s love for a white girl (Keuee fiullard, an English singer who has achieved fume abroad); Holla Kurtliy, an Austrian soubrettc, is to recreate the part of the indispensable Chinese girl in the tangle, and George Vollaire, who was in “Kid Loots” in Xew Zealand centres is also cast. Franz Debar is to conduct the opening performance —his first visit to London since the original “Merry Widow” production in pre-war days.

Gertie Miller, a former London stage favourite, now Countess of .Dudley, shared a box with Edna May, the ori"inal Belle of Xew York, now Mrs Oscar Lcwisholm, at the London revival of the famous comic opera.

Harry Phydora. the Dame in “Mother Goose,” of 1007, the best of the Williamson pantos, has the star role in “A Warm Corner a comedy now on tour in suburban London.

India, Africa, and the Far East are as familiar to Ronald Riley as his native place, Nottingham, where, by the way, he was once a choir hoy in the company of no less a notability than Leslie Henson. One of the tenors was Frank Cochrane, afterwards Aschc’s producer and the original Cobbler of “Chu Chin Chow.”

Mare Connolly, the American playwright, is writing a play about the late Princess Victoria, sister of the Kaiser, and Alexander Zubkov, the ridiculously voung Russian nobody with whom she fell in love and married. There is dramatic material in her elderly romance.

The death is announced in London at the age of seventy-eight of Alma Stanley, who visited Australia with Harry Paulton’s comedy company in 1897, and appeared there in “My Friend From India” and “A Night Out.”

An interesting fact in connection with the season of the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera' Company, now at Melbourne Theatre Royal, is the widespread interest it has aroused not only in Melbourne, but throughout the whole of Australia and New Zealand. From all parts inquiries have come to the J. C. Williamson Ltd. management asking whether the company would go on tour, and whether it would he possible to arrange for visits to the various country centres as well as the, principal cities. Not even in the brightest clays of prosperity has a Gilbert and Sullivan company scored such success as this organisation has achieved.

The film “The Blue, Angel,” in which Emil Jannings makes his talkie debut, has been banned by the censor. It is understood that the reason for the banning of tlie film is tlie nature of the subject, tlie film depicting tlie fall of a schoolmaster after his marriage to a cabaret singer. On tlie question the agents of the film refused to make any statement, saying that their relations with the censorship office were of the best, hut that tlie film would probably ho taken to tlie Appeal Board. Rejected first in its original form the picture was carefully reconstructed mid again rejected. “The Blue Angel” has won highly commendatory criticism in every country in which it has been exhibited, though the copy released in England was severely cut. It was included in a recent list of the best twelve films of the year, others being “The White Hell of Pitz Palu,” “Journey’s End,” “All Quiet on the Western ’Front,” /‘Hallelujah,” and “The Big House.” “The best individual acting performances of the year from any country in my opinion wore those of Emil Jannings and Marlene Dietrich in “The Blue Angel” and the year’s outstanding performance was that of Mr Jannings,” said a London critic, reviewing the year’s films. “The Blue Angel” was filmed in Germany, and is the first talkie of the Germany Ufa Company to reach New Zealand, apart from educational subjects.—Wellington correspondent.

MOVIE STARS LEAD SIMPLE LIFE

MARION DAVIES’ PRANKS

GILBERT IS FOND OP BOOKS

Yachts, drawing rooms and the enormous swimming pools in which novelists and short-story writers say the motion picture stars spend their spare time do not occupy an important place in the social life of Hollywood. Jn fact, the tastes of the stars arc extraordinarily simple writes a correspondent. A recent symposium compiled by a California newspaper shows that most of the better-known players have hobbies and interests which would be scornfully looked down upon by Broadway sophisticates. There is no stage star of to-day who would ever claim walking her chief diversion, and yet Greta Garbo likes nothing better than to go walking alone and whistling improvised tunes on her way.

Ramon Novarro. outside of such purely intellectual interests as his music and dramatic experiments, enjoys nothing more than to drive out at night to some roadside tuck shop and have a little snack before bedtime.

Marion Davies likes to play telephone pranks by voice mimicry, and Wallace Beery sits in his dressing room and j whistles when he is alone. Polly Moran ! puts the lights out in her house, and sits by the front window to watch the cars go by on idle evenings, and William Haines enjoys ringing people's doorbells when he knows they don't want to be disturbed. Robert Montgomery shuts himelf in to write short stories. Buster Keaton is always to be found roaming the sets at the studios on his days oil 1 , and Marie Drosslcr’s secret vice is prowling through old trunks for clipping books and faded lobby displays and programmes. John Gilbert loves to shut off the telephone and park himself in front of the fireplace with a hook. Ernest Torrence camps at the piano and spends hours idly wandering over the keys, gently strumming or ferociously hammering vagrant tunes as the mood dictates. Harry Carey likes to splice lariats. Norma' Shearer enjoys personally answering correspondence, and Lawrence Tibbett cannot resist the lure of songs, ad libbing the lyrics as lie sings. And—believe it or not—,Toan Crawford's pet passion is making hooked rugs! Starvation unnecessary for reducing fat when you take Youth-O-Form Capsules. Absolutely harmless. 6/6.—Noes, Chemist,. TTardy-st. ~Old ago gets the happy Yeaston feelin" after eating Yeaston Tablets.— Nees, Chem>^ s * Hardy street.

Stay at Stoneliurst. Permanent and casual guests given complete attention. Tariff is consistent with the times, being only 12/6 and 15/- a day. Telegrams “Stonelca ” Christchurch.