Page Nine
Screen World
by Ridgely Cummings
THE REGISTER-GUARD, EUGENE. OREGON
A- . ...:-iV-v: --. - ; -, ' -
i Vf if' ' ' s;
i5 XI
1 1 f&jm
D0,ars lo be teasing- the or Maestro In this
tCttli BAfi PPTYoure Wron." which remains at the
"llfater througn ni-uc-
fcrtf
1
K
-r - scene from "Geronlmo." described as "the roarlne
?.kl nnrlnr savage who dared the might of a young nation."
starring Preston Foster, comes to the McDonald theater
hsta-
'lie great
mixed choir
4 tin decade!"
THnHLING VOICES
:-:CHAL-SYMPHONYI
HEAR
FT m AT
Kittled by Famous
Dr. Melius Christiansen
E EVE., JAN. 30
COURT
USERVATIOXS NOW
Isend seats, $1.25, S1.00,
wntral admission. 50c.
tii or telephone orders to
:uet Office, McArthur
sn (3300); tickets will be
i lobl concert time.
(Portland Appearance
Already Sold Out!)
Tin Pan Alley
Blushes Over
Victor Herbert
"It's like asking a painter to
touch up the 'Mona Lisa'!" was
the comment of Frank Loesser
and Phil Boutelje, crack Holly.
wood song writers, when Para
mount recently asked them to
compose lyrics for three melodies
by Victor Herbert!
The incident took place during
the filming of the new musical ro'
mance based on the experiences of
the famed Irish-American com
poser, "The Great Victor Herbert,"
now playing at the McDonald
theater, featuring . Allan Jones,
Mary Martin and Walter Connolly.
Words for the songs were need
ed, so that Jones, Miss Martin and
company could sing them. Loesser
and Boutelje were commissioned
to perform the miracle.
"And it was a miracle, if we
could do ' It, Loesser explained
"The music practically defies the
use of words. If any lyrics were
suitable, or good enough, they
would have been written long ago.
But we tackled the job on one
stipulation. We've got it in black
and white that none of those lyrics
ever can be published. We
wouldn't want to do that much
harm to Herbert's music."
Under the spell of the new ly
rics, "Puchinello" has become
"Happy Day," a birthday song
"Al Fresco," written for the piano,
becomes a solo for Miss Martin
if
r Kim
During the late unpleasantness that is now referred to as
the first world war, there was a song making the rounds that
went something like this: "Don't bite the hand that's feeding
you . . . etc." It was good sound economic advice diverted to
patriotic use.
We were never very good at taking good advice, however,
and today we're going to take a few nips at the movies.
All right, so we get past the box-office and take our seats
in the theater. It is dark. The atmosphere is hushed, con
centrated. We watch the screen. Soon we become engrossed
in the tribulations of the characters. We live with them,
vicariously.
By Proxy
The villain mistreats the pure
and lovely heroine. "Hey! Stop
that!" we shout mentally. We are
angry. The villain gets his just
deserts in the end, but we haven't
done anything about it. Our
adrenal glands have secreted stim
jlating juices which had us all
prepared to fight, and then the
hero did our fighting for us. Also
our love-making.
Where does that leave us? Be
hind the eight-ball, psychologically
speaking.
Human beings, according to the
psychology books, and we've been
reading one lately by Floyd L.
Ruch, University of Oregon grad
uate in the class of 1925 human
beings have several basic emo
tional reaction patterns. Alumnus
Ruch lists them as excitement,
anger, fear, and lust.
Useful Men
In the days when man's life was
precarious because of wild ani
mals, limited food supply, and a
generally hostile environment,
these passions functioned to keep
him and his race alive.
Chased by a sabre-toothed tiger,
fear gave man that extra stimulus
that enabled him to make a hund
red yard dash to the nearest tree
in something under 10 seconds
flat. Lust kept him procreating in
times of crisis when a more logic
al person would have been occu
pied trying to stop the leak in
the roof of the cave.
Nowadays man's enemies are
semi-inanimate objects like rent
collectors, propagandists, depres
sions. Fear or anger aren't very
useful in combatting these things.
In other words, these emotions
are fine and dandy provided they
are useful. Not used, they are dis
turbing, dangerous.
Our point is that going on a
"movie jag" is apt to become a
dangerous habit. .
For too many people movies be
come an escape from reality, an
antidote for the frustrations
seemingly inherent to a machine
age.
But we hope nobody takes these
random thoughts too seriously. If
nobodv went to the movies then
nobody would want to read about
them, and then where would this
column be?
Amusement is a worthwhile
function, and one that the movies
perform will. Then there are a
lot of experiences that arc broad
ening and educational when they
come second-hand, but which are
out of our reach actually.
What we're probably "agin" is
horror pictures and super-thrillers
for kids. The old folks are us
ually sophisticated enough to
watch them detachedly, but the
kids live them, and come out
emotionally limp.
G W the Wind opened In
Fortland at road show prices
DADDY'S "HEART" it
ia the MOVIES N0WII
ANewSlar..
A Provocative Star
.Comei to th Screen!
NARY MARTIN I I
j im hut itwiMTOiiimiJ J i y I
ISP
last week and is scheduled to
stay there a month or so. It's
an M-G-M production and will
come to the Mac when it comes.
Jimmy Wutkins, assistant man
ager, tells us It Is due here In
March, also at road show prices.
This has the earmarks of being
a musical week on the screen.
First on our list comes Violinist
Jascha Heifetz in "They Shall
Have Music, at the Rex today
in conjunction with Bette Davis
in "The Old Maid." Andrea Leeds
is playing opposite Heifetz in the
musical number, and this looks
like the best fifteen cents worth
of entertainment in town.
Then at the McDonald today
there is Allan Jones singing op
posite Mary Martin in "The
Great Victor Herbert," Miss
Martin is the Texas song
bird who sang "My Heart Belongs
To Daddy" on Broadway last sea
son. She made headlines when
her daddy died and the producer
didn't tell her until after the show,
although half the audience knew
about the tragedy.
One of the outstanding cul
tural events of the week Is, of
course, the VLT's three night
stand of "Pride and Prejudice,"
which takes place out at the
fairgrounds starting Tuesday
night.
Much has already been writ
ten about the production, but It
will do no harm to reiterate
that this department's favorite
local actress, Virginia Mikulak,
Is playing the lead. It is a case
of Miss Mlkulak's pride against
Bill Nash's prejudice. Mr. Nash,
instructor In drama at the uni
versity, plays the male lead op
posite La Mikulak, and the plot
concerns itself with resolving
the antagonism between the two,
Topping the State theater's pro
gram is "Lady of the Tropics."
This is the one in which Robert
Taylor is a sort of gigolo on a
cruising yacht. The yacht stops
at Saigon in French Indo-China
and Taylor meets Hedy Lamarr-velous.
Their eyes meet and one of
those phenomena which happens
more frequently on celluloid than
in Eugene takes place. They are
in LOVE.
Taylor jumps ship, woos and
wins the beautiful Eurasian, Miss
Lamarr. But there is a fly in the
ointment, or rather two flies. One
is the barrier of race, for Hedy is
half French and half some other
unmentioned race, probably Ma
laysian. The other is a rich and
powerful native admirer of Hedy's
played by a menacing Joseph
Schildkraut.
We won't tell you any more
except that it is a moderately en
grossing tale. If you are an ad
mirer of Miss Lamarr, and this
department is, if for no other
reason than that we are fascinated
by the problem of trying to figure
out if there is a real brain under
that marvelous exterior, then the
picture is worth a couple hours
of your time.
One of our Hollywood spies, or
if that sounds too imposing one
of the studio press agents who
mail the Guard the latest chit
chat from the land of "never
never," tells us that blonde Ann
Sothern has recently acquired the
most beautiful appendectomy scar
ever carved on the human abdo
THEY FINALLY got married. Wedding bells ring for Priscilla
Lane and Jeffrey Lynn, above, In "Four Wives." which makes Its
local debut at the Heilig theater today. The rest of the family get
married too In this sequel to the popular "Four Daughters."
Theatre
program
Mcdonald
Now Through Tuesday
The Great Victor Herbert.
City of Chance. '
Wednesday Through Friday
Geronimo.
All Women Have Secrets.
Saturday
Swanee River.
20,000 Men a Year.
REX
Sunday Through Tuesday
The Old Maid.
They Shall Have Music.
Wednesday Through Saturday
Disputed Passage.
Crashing Through.
HEILIG
Sunday through Wednesday
Four Wives.
Sabotage.
Thursday through Saturday
Invisible Stripes.
Kansas Terrors.
MAYFLOWER
Now through Wednesday
That's Right You're Wrong.
Thursday through Saturday
Four Wives.
Money to Burn.
STATE
Sunday through Tuesday
Good Girls Go To Paris.
Lady of the Tropics.
Wednesday, Thursday
Bridal Suite.
SOS Tidal Wave.
Friday, Saturday
Stranger From Texas.
'Indianapolic Speedway.
Deems Taylor
Reminisces on
Jascha Heifetz
Deems Taylor, the noted com
poser and music critic, journeyed
3000 miles across country to see
Pascha Hcifcti.
The two men were chatting be
tween scenes of "They Shall Have
Music," now at the Rex theater,
when Taylor interrupted to say
that his favorite story concerned
Heifetz's first American appear
ance in 1917 at Carnegie hall.
"I was sitting in a box at that
debut recital along with a world
famous pianist and an equally
famous violinist. The violinist be
gan to show signs of distress.
"The longer you played the
.V 0
V1 t t
V iK is'
k .. .... - . r
IblttfcMMJW
ROBERT TAYLOR, above, looks happy. But you would look
that way too If you were playing next to Hetv Lamarr In an exotlo
romance of the far east titled "Lady of the Tropics," at the State
theater from today through Tuesday.
ESCORTS
Two Kansas cowpunchers, chap
eroning a shipment of Kansas
horses to a peaceful looking Car
ibbean island that turns out to be
a seething volcano of revolution,
nrovide excitement in Republic's
"The Kansas Terrors," coming to
the Heilig screen Thursday. The
three make up Republic's new
Three Mesquiteer trio Bob Liv
ingston, Raymond Hatton, and
Duncan Renaldo.
men. At least that's what she
hopes.
It seems that Miss Sothern,
having decided that no self
respecting cinemactress can be
caught these days lugging around
an appendix, went on a shopping
tour for aesthetic incisions.
She learned that they came In
all shapes and sizes square,
long, round, half-moon, V-shaped,
and jagged. The crescent-shaped
incision took Miss Sothern's fan
cy and that's what she ordered.
She won't know what she got until
the bandages arc removed.
If the publicity men should let
us down, we'll have to wait for
her next picture.
SPRINGFIELD Theatre
TODAY'S Sl'PEB BILL
8onJ llrnt Tyrnn Powr In
SECOND FIDDLE"
A SperUI by Irrlnf Berlin
Alio BonlU Grtnvllle In
4,Nnrjf Drw nd Ih
Hidden HUlrrftii"
Short SubJrrU Nrwt
Millnoo Sundir
Moil Broil lo Chlldron to
move uncomfortable he became.
Finally, running his handkerchief
around his collar, he turned and
whispered: "It's awfully hot in
here, Isn't It?'
"And at this the pianist remark
ed dryly: 'For violinists, maybe,
but not for pianists'."
Ml New Show Today
Also
WALT DISNEY CARTOON
ELEVENTH AT ALDER.
ONLY A FEW DAYS LEFT TO SEE
THfe OLD PROFESSOR
with iD tbi prize pupils of Uw
Tnllaeta fit Vucleil trnnwloHro "
and a hand-picked bunch of screen
favorites in the laugh-swing-story
HiiHiign gi ins season!
ALSO
"Gun Play" "Monroe Doctrine"
CONTINUOUS SHOW ON SUNDAY
MAYROBSON-LUCILLE BALL
DENNIS 0'KEEFE EDWARD
EVERETT HORTOH R0SC0E
KARNS MORONI 0LSEN
FROM 12:45 UNTIL 12:00
m' rpnn FT! 1 Starts Today
BETTER PK1URES-PiRFKT S0UllpX
Priscilla LanevjAS 'S,,f'-
Lola Lane VfjR m'
Gale Page;
The Ions owafted sequel lo "Four Daughters"
with the same cast, featuring
Claude Rains
Jeffrey Lynn Eddie Albert
MAY ROBSON FRANK McHUGH
DICK FORAN HENRY O'NEILL
A WARNER BROS. Firt National Picture
I t i mm
Till Ckantttr
f "Mickty Bordn,"
at Hi Apptand In
"Four Damektm"
H Pottrajid hy JOHN
GARFIELD
ALSO
Aril Rt.au' onrl ITio Clmh. TnlAr rilrtnnn -
CONTINUOUS SHOW DAILY FROM 12:45 'TIL 12:00
w