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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 1936)
EDITOR: MIRIAM ETC,TIMER UNIVERSITY OF OREGON. EUGENE, THURSDAY, JANUARY IG. 1936 Taboos and Restrictions In Morie Productions Disgust Stuart Partner Lamenting the taboos and re strictions placed on moving pic tures by the “American mind’’ and the money mad producers, Stuart Portner, one of Oregon's recent Rhode scholarship candidates, yes terday voiced his disgust with the industry which deliberately evades its opportunities for becoming significant or great. Investigation Malle Portner, with the intentions of writing his doctorate thesis, inves tigated the field quite thoroughly. He poked about in Hollywood of fices, worked as an extra and tried various methods of finding out if somewhere there weren’t some point to the business beside money. But everywhere he found a lack of interest in everything except box office receipts and technicali ties. It was a hostile lack of in terest—they wouldn't be d i s - turbed. Not Real “The cinema isn’t real,” Portner said. Never do they attempt to portray regionalism, he explained, I contrasting the books of successful and important authors who do so, with the stupid “happy ending" scenarios which are the rule in Hollywood. “Socialized medicine, birth con trol, or anything radical’’ are im mediately thrown out by directors, and the man who does attempt to portray anything real tones it down so completely that it fades into the background, he continued. Directors Discussed A man like Von Sternberg who attempts to put real art in'his pic tures, by using symbolism and light and shadow effects in his photography, has produced nothing but failures as far as the public is concerned. “They can’t compre hend,” Portner said. Men like Cecil Blount DeMille with his glorified bathtubs continue to produce “greater pictures every time,” and Frank Capra turns out prize-winning atrocities, Portner continued. Mediocre Movies The movies are “mediocrity per sonified,” he continued, even when they portray splendor it is only vulgarity, “everything gawdy — smacks you in the face.” Portner sees nothing in the mov ies which portrays the social sphere, or attempts to portray it. Perhaps, he said, they wish to make the audience forget reality —forget troubles in a dream ef fect. '‘Cocked Out and Old Loce’j Plot* Posses Time Test ‘Jolted out of pleasant memories of the past Sheridan's “Rivals” was yanked out of the cobwebs, dusted off, and yet showed a sur prisingly polished finish on the Guild hall stage last night. It will show again tonight. Many expect ed the “Rivals,” Which has been kicked about theatre attics rather roughly for some years since its “hey-day” at the turn of the cen tury to be somewhat cracked and frazzled about the edges. However, the play showed a lus ter, which although dimmed by an tiquity, was nevertheless as Mrs. Malaprop might say, still shining because of successful perpetuation. Characters Well Presented The characterizations, with few exceptions, were well stencilled, and undoubtedly were the props on which a play, still clever, but slightly wobbly with old age, was held up. The characters drawn by Sheridan are of that universal de sign which will always live, on or off the stage. It was within the Guild theatre players' power to de stroy these characters for their own audience last night, but they sustained them, much to the de light of those who attended the performance. The direction kept the audience, to paraphrase again, from antici pating the past . . . with all due respect to the "old she-dragon, Mrs. Malaprop.” Mrs. Soybolt, as director, chose a plav which dallies with several old fashioned love af fairs, confounded by mixed identi ties, and only to be settled by af fairs of honor, and succeeded in making the audience like it. She was greatly aided by Mrs. Sevbolt ns the “old she-dragon, Mrs. Mala prop,” with which part she illus trated why we must always have Mrs Malnnrnn witti us Plnv Slow Starter The play started slowly, and quickly confirmed this writer’s opinion that ancient costume dramas are not for Guild hall, not, in fact for today’s audience, ex cept when slipped in at recess. The tempo begun to pick up. however, and the actor’s performances soon 1 were smoothed out ami interwoven i in a more neat pattern of cocked hats and old lace. It was evident that much of the humor of Sheri- ’ dan’s time depended on situations familiar to even the theatre mod erns of today. His humor and type characters were brought to the au dience as a well cooked dish, but the out-moded asides and the flur ried scene episodes showed the wear and tear of the years. Sets Practical It was as much of a comfort not to have to look at high-celling, gold frescoed settings, as it was. no doubt, to the stage crew who had to change them better than seven times during the course of the play. The settings designed by Horace Robinson were simple and adequate and did not detract from the effect of the play which sue Chit-Chat By Henrietta Horuk Excuse us for mentioning it, but a recent contribution to library shelVfes is "History of Oregon Lit erature,” by Alfred Powers, ruddy cheeked dean and director of gen eral extension work in the Oregon educational setup. The three-pound lukewarm com pilation of Oregon's struggle to he somebody in the literary field is an attempt at history, but somehow reminds me of an engine missing —or a train starting on a two-mile run, full speed ahead, or still, pack ing a trunk for an overnight trip. Which doesn’t mean much—but then, the volume in question may be put in the same pigeonhole. Our first kick is that what might be called real literature pro duced by Oregonians could be written on the point of the pro verbial pin, practically, and to use three pounds of paper and ink for the task is the height of Oregon egotism. Kick number two—while every moonstruck lad and lassie, ceeded in spite, and yet, because of itself before its judges. The su preme court of the theatre, the au dience, approved. Miss Portia Booth as Lydia, the capricious 17-year-old niece of Mrs. Malaprop, showed she had studied her part and a result was effective, both in her reading of her lines, and her action which was enlivened by well timed emotional outbursts. Reviewer Reviews Characters Bill Cottrell ns Sir Lucius OTrigger stepped out on his own. but gave a most consistently ef fective presentation of that gay dandy. Miss Margaret Chase cap tured the audience’s fancy from the start with her flightiness which was balanced by the demure bear ing of Julia, played by Helen Campbell. Bob Henderson, who took over the part of Sir Anthony Absolute at a late date, blustered his way into favor in spite of a voice that at times bounced dangerously. Ethan Newman returned to Guild hall as a most satisfactory Fag. It was felt that Milton Pillette’s characterization of Capt. Absolute was carefully drawn, but that, perhaps, he used too fine a brush. George Smith’s obvious talents were wasted on the part of Faulk land. Budd Winstead, Charles Bar clay and Mike Garwood showed comedy possibilities which the audience was quick to realize. They helped give the play a "shot in the arm.’’ L. D. Send the Emerald to your friends. Subscription rates $2.it) a year. DeMille Dotes on Botlhttilbs RECENT BOOK REVIEWS THE MAN WHO HAD EVERY THING, by Louis Bromfield, Harpers, New York, 1935, $1.50. Love without benefit of clergy resulting in the birth of a child is but one of the things that Louis Bromfield presents in his latest novel, “The Man Who Had Every thing,” without insulting or out raging the reader’s sense of de cency. Upon closing the book, one feels ashamed to admit that he isn’t shocked at the tale he has just read. Restless Note Bromfield’s hero is Tom Ashford, successful, brilliant, and irresisti ble pursuer of whatever feminine beings happen to appeal to his roving eye. The author introduces a restless note into the story at the very beginning by depicting Tom as a man of 38 who is bored, restless, and unhappy; fallen com pletely out of love with his wife, and for that matter, with his mis tress, too. Too Smooth The story is extremely interest ing, as it deals with people who are bad in the eyes of many. It lacks the touch and depth of a psychological novel for which it seems to be intended. It is smooth — too smooth. E. Watkins and H. Jones. THE STARS LOOK DOWN, by A. J. Cronin. 1935, Little, Brown, gpd Co. 628 pp., $2.50. Coal mining strikes and the World war catastrophe are com bined in this novel of English rural life from the past twenty years. “The Stars Look Down’’ on every class from the poorest pit boy's family to the owner of the mine, without once giving a hero upon which to rest our acclaim. Views on War Each character lives his own life in his own fashion despite the class in which he lives. As for the war, Cronin considered it the “quench less self-interest of man.” To him, fear of public opinion was the rea son many young men entered this lasts war. Quiet Style The coal mining disaster gives the author an opportunity to use his quiet style, which for its very quietness makes the scene more vivid. This is the third of Cronin’s nov els since his medical career ended and his writing career began. M. Blackburne. had a poem published are included in the History, some of Oregon’s literary aristocrats—Steve Smith, and Pat Morrissette, for instance, are given the go-by. Or are we low-brow in our taste? Vanity Fair Wanes After the February issue of Vanity Fair, the publication will be swallowed up by Vogue—word comes from Conde Nast, publish er. Reason—in spite of the very high circulation, Vanity Fair is not bringing in the desired shekels, and the editors are not putting out the magazine just for the fun of it. Mrs. Edna Woolman Chase, pres ent editor of sophisticated Vogue, will guide the fortunes of the com bined fashions trust as editor-in chief. * * * Christmas Book Boom Publishers are still purring nnd stroking their beards and tucking away tidy profits from the flood of Christmas hook buying. For the first time since the 1929 demise America went book crazy and • ww——«■ i ay?.'• iimuimi'S"- • :«3MNHa SPECIAL PERMANENTS $1.00 Extra 11 i*rh Grade Solutions $1.7.') $2.50 $:i.50 With Genuine Frederics Solutions $5.00 $7.50 $10.00 All Permanents Given On Frederics Machines Shampoo and Fingerwave 50c Love’s BEAUTY SALON Phone 991 972 Willamette 'jwwmiii uiUimuitauuumiiiiiuttiiMi.aiiinumumiuuiuu.aiUiiumtjia»,ji...:i : It VT~ i.fe, i!. iJ.lti'l .«®i, r cleaned out a number of best sell ers in various bookstores. T. E. Lawrence’s "Seven Pillars of Wis dom” in spite of the $5.00 price was a favorite and is still running strong;. Only a few copies have been bought by University of Ore gon students—since most of them are waiting till it comes out in the Reader’s Digest! Coming in February One month from today, another journalist will make his debut as a book writer. The newest to join the ranks of Anna Louise Strong, Marguerite Harrison, Vincent Sheean, Stanley Walker, Walter Duranty, and a few others is John Gunther, and his "Inside of Eur ope.” Mister Gunther, European correspondent for the Chicago Daily News, gives the lowdown on the dictators and statesmen of present Europe. Upstarts like Mussolini and Herr Hitler will be given the count. How did you like “Bedroom Com panion ?” ++•*++» i 11 Lovely | Handkerchiefs f In All Stylos ami Colors I BLOCKPRINTS $ CROSS STITCII EMBROIDERY APPLIQUE PRINTS WHITE MADEIRA Sold at THE GIFT SHOP + Next to Rex Theatre. if ■Hr++-l"H,+++t'++++H++'H'+t"t M-G-M, Random To Cooperate In New Venture A new form of cooperation be tween a motion picture company and a book publisher cornea to light with the announcement by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Ran dom House of a special edition of "Romeo and Juliet" to be published by Random House on the date of the national release of the Metro picture version of Shakespeare’s tragedy. Book Outlined The terms of the contract call for a volume that will include the original Shakespeare text, an arti cle by William Strunk, professor of English at Cornell, and techni color adviser to the studio for this picture, outlining the problems that must be met in transforming a Shakespearean play into honest and acceptable talking - picture tSUUKJJ of Oregon and the Northwest bv Oregon Authors * I These beautifully printed books are published by the Metropolitan Press Conmanv. AUTOGRAPHED COPIES of Alice Henson Ernst's book of plays of the AHskan country are still available al though this edition is almost exhausted. This book has been put on the preferred list by the American Library Association. ! ORIENTAL ART SHOP Annex of Miner Building. By Barney Clark We went down the other day and peeked at the new Graham line. Particularly interesting was their top car—the Supercharger. A six with 112 horsepower, it is a plenty potent bus. After a little figuring around with pencil and paper we discovered that it has one h.p. for every 29 pounds of car weight, and if that doesn't spell s-u-p-e we will eat the thing, beginning with the tail-light! It looks good, too. The one in town now is a flashy yellow crate, with a slx-ineh strip of body color down the center of the radiator, splitting it into two sections. It has the solid, chunky appearance of the Graham’s of two years ago instead of the emaciated outline of last year’s car. The other two members of the line, the Cavalier and the Crusa der, are not match for the Super charger. The Crusader is the same car without the supercharger, and has only 85 h.p. The Cavalier is the baby of the line, with 70 h.p. and a different nose. Also in town is the new Stride baker Six. A conventional job, with pleasing lines and a two-tone col or combination, it is livelier and faster than last year’s model. The instrument panel is novel, sporting a triangular speedometer. The coupe has a unique rear win dow, also triangular in shape. It opens like a windshield, cranking up away from the body instead of dropping down into it like a win dow. It is wide, providing a con siderable angle of vision, and gives a rakish, European aspect to the whole car. And if you will peer into the De cember copy of “Motor” you will find the sweetest sports car France ever produced. It is a 183 cubic inch Bugatti torpedo coupe. Slung so low it nearly scrapes the ground, it has no runningboards, no bumpers. In order to make en trance into the coupe possible the doors are cut back above the win dows, into the roof! The roof it self is molded in two humps over the heads of the passengers and flaunts a narrow fin down the mid dle. Like most Bugatti sport mod els it has a racing cam and super charger. Get out of the way! form, and finally, the complete text of the actual “shooting script.” It is to be assumed that students of motion-picture technique and aspiring scenario writers may re gard this script as a perfect model —as far as Metro is concerned, at least! Irving Thalberg will write an introduction for the Random House book, and there will be pho tographs from the picture, which will feature Norma Shearer as Ju liet, Leslie Howard as Romeo, John Barrymore as Mercutio, and Edna May Oliver as The Nurse. MIST By Mary Graham How I hate mist! It's strange; j I used to love it—those damp, misty evenings when I walked down the walk towards home with my coat unbuttoned, the mist gath ering in shiny drops on my coat; soft particles of water tfaressing my cheek like a lover's touch. And to see through the thin veil golden blurred squares where windows should be; and the golden pots hanging suspended in mid-air which in daylight were prosaic street-lights. And now I hate it! I’ll never forget the night I first saw and met her. I was alone in the little office buried in thought before my typewriter. I didn't hear her slip in; I only heard her say “hello” and then I saw her against the door through a blue haze of smoke from my cigarette. She wore a loose, tan coat with a big collar that framed her face. fTiro Cities’ Mooie Boosts Dickens’ Sales Book sales of Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities” have increased 38 per cent since David O. Selznick produced the famous work. This information was made public fol lowing a national survey of book stores. Conducted by the M-G-M studios’ reading research depart ments, the survey is considered to throw an entirely new light on the effect of the filming of novelized stories, since it had been contend ed in some quarters that novel sales usually decreased after the story was produced in films. Great Mob Scenes The mob scenes in the picture are some of the greatest in the history of picture-making. Thou sands of extras were employed for the storming of the Bastille, revo lutionary scenes, and the citizens’ court. All this cost the producers plenty of money. The two trials of Charles Darnay, the husband of Lucy, are both excellent pieces of work in direction and acting. Build Ups Being a story set in the days of the French revolution, there are the customary build-ups to get the down-trodden poor in a mind for action. One of the scenes is the faithful old trick of having a youngster run down and killed by the carriage of a haughty aristo crat. Some persons may shudder a time or two during the height of the revolution for the guillotine thuds on and on, sending heads flying. Only the thunder is heard, thanks. M. Leonard. The amethyst was thought to be a marvelous sedative for the overwrought nerves of erotic lov ers during the middle ages. $1A TERM All the New Books As Then Come Out Buy a membership for one dollar. This entitles you to all the hooks you can read, one at a time. Each hook may he kept for seven days, after which time there is a charge of three cents a day. We are taking special pains to put the very latest in Fiction. Biography, Travel, and History at your command. Bring in a list of the new (or old! hooks you want to read. Anything within reason will he added to the library. New This Week Son of Marietta Men and Brethren Luck of the Bodkins Marching! Marching! The Next One Hundred Years Uniuersitij 'CO-OP RENTAL LIBRARY 9 Sparkling jewels hung to her lash es and gleamed in her hair; her face glistened beneath the veil of breathy mist. "Isn’t it exquisite,” she laughed, “I love it so!” she added, "the mist.” I understood—she was like the mist, close, soft and beautiful. She babbled on; she’d been walk ing in the mist. Her little hands fluttered as she spoke and her eyes danced; my heart danced, too. He didn’t come so I took her home, my heart, hands and body envying the cool night mist that played hide-and-seek in her hair, kissed her white throat and ep folded her slender, swaying form. We stoop at the step, shut out from the world by a white, shim mering curtain—we were alone and my pulses danced at her near ness. Madly, I reached out my arms. "No, no,” she said, “don’t you understand? Mist means luck on one's engagement eve; you mustn’t spoil it!” I heard her voice and noticed the halo around her dark head. I turned away—mentally I begged back my heart which was in the hands of the girl who stood on the steps in the mist. The fog was cold on my face; it was crush ing and stifling. I looked back but only a white wall met my gaze. <iiiinniiiiijmiiiiii!i:iiiiiiii[!iuiiu!iii:ii!iiiiiiu::i!!;iiiiiii!iii[i>>tii!Hii!iiiiiiiiiii;iiU!iiiiii!U!inimiiiii!!iiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitti.iiiiiiiiiiiiHi!iiiiii!iiiiiiii!iiiiii»i!iiiiiii!iiiii:!iiiiii!in WE TELL YOU of Theme, Kayser, La France Famous Makers of QUALITY HOSIERY The very sheer chiffons— chiffon service or service weights are shown in the smart colors for spring wear. You may depend upon these well known lines for beauty of weave—for service —for right styling. They are here in just the right shades to harmonize with your every costume. We Price Them 79c and $ 1.00 THE BROADWAY INC. 30 East Broadway REGISTER NOW FOR TAYLOR’S BRIDGE TOURNAMENT CONDITIONS OF PLAY 1. Play will begin Monday, January 20. At the end of four weeks of play, February 1, each team should have played 15 rubbers to be eli gible for the elimination tournament, for grand prizes, which will begin February 3, Teams entering late must still play the required num ber of rubbers. 2. The two high scores and the lowest score of the week (a week of play running from Monday morning to the following Sunday midnite) on a basis of four rubbers as a maximum, will be awarded choice of prizes on display for that week. Scores must be turned in at the end of the play period and at tested by the opposing team. 3. Partners or teams may be either men, women, or mixed. There is no limit as to time of play or opposing team, just so that rubber re quirements are made. Part ners should however continue throughout the entire tourn ament, but in case of neces sity, can be changed by notifying the management. 4. Cards and pads will be furnished by the manage ment. 5. Names of winners will be published in the Emerald each week. PRIZES ON DISPLAY AT SID & WALT’S