THE War Play a Cinch By Jay Cartnody.

One of the favorite subjects of those in, of and close to the theater is THE war play. The reference, of course, is to the drama which will catch the spirit and flavor of war, wrap it up in a powerful package find deliver it with devastating im- pact.

Out of World War I came two such plays, entirely different in treatment, but each rather justi- fiably regarded as THE war play. One of these was "What Price Glory?”, a lusty, gusty sardonic piece of literature by Maxwell An-, rierson and Laurence Stallings. The Other was "Journey's End." a poig- nant, account of triumphant death In battle by England's warrior-play- wright. R. c. Sheriff.

Time Has Not Run Out. It is too early to expect equiva-

lent works out of this war. The soldiers who may write it out of their exnerience are still too busy.

That obvious truth, however, has not kept, a great many theatergoers from hoping for THE war play every time the theme is dealt with by a playwright. Nor has it kept them from being disappointed when play after play has failed to meas- ure up to their expectations.

Nearest thing to the play of plays shout the war. one which dealt with soldiers in actual conflict rather than with civilians as in “Watch on the Rhine." "There Shall Be No Night” and "The Moon Is Down.’’ is Anderson's "The Eve of St. Mark.” That one caught the spirit of battle, of democracy's army, a story of moral victory in the midst of physical defeat. It was cheered as the closest approach in this war to THE play, but no one rated it higher than that. It showed the way while leaving the expectations unfulfilled.

Anderson a Hope Bearer.

Certainly it left Mr. Anderson as the hope bearer, the playwright whose great promise has whetted the appetites for his forthcoming ''Storm Operation." That is the play which Anderson sifted out of his experience in North Africa with the enthusia :■ collaboration of Gen. "Ike" ... uihower who ex- horted him to write it with all speed to acquaint the public with the facts of combat and the men involved In it.

Apart from Mr. Anderson’s first successful project and his currently hopeful one. the last few months have produced other reasons for optimism about THE war play.

One of the most prettily accented of these is the set of five soldeir plays which have been assembled as "The Army, Play by Play." which opens a week's engagement at the National tomorrow night.

The history of this highly success- ful entertainment project is per- fectly designed to inspire confidence in the ability of soldier authors to write of their experience in dra- matic form.

It wTas started with no such end in view. It began, rather, as a play contest, limited to soldier authors, with the object of finding material for the entertainment of servicemen. The idea of Producer John Golden was that there was some highly dramatic material in camp life which

existed apart from that treated in the musical revue, "This Is the Army.” It was his further convic- tion, and the more important one, that there was adequate writing talent to put the material into the shape best suited for soldier enter- tainment.

More Right Than He Knew. Mr. Golden was right, but he did

not know how right. When his five playwright judges were assembled for contemplation of the soldier playwrights’ work they found them- selves confronted by a total of 115 one-act plays. That not only was

many more than had been expected, but the quality -was startlingly higher, suitable for production by the most exacting standard of the professional theater.

This was «o obviously true that when the five winning plays were

produced in what was to have been a one-night presentation (to an audience that had paid $120.- 000 to see them* there was an im- mediate vociferous demand that they be continued. For soldier audi- ences. yes, the critics shouted, but for civilian audiences, too. Official- dom and the public joined in the request, which the Army granted despite the fact that it was a de- parture from the original program.

The five one-act plays, by as many different men in the ranks of the Army, do not in any case represent THE war play for all the enthusi- asm of their reception. Three" of them are hilarious comedy sketches, two more on the serious side and exceedingly well done. Dealing as

they do in most cases with camp life or small segments of action in war zones, they represent enter- tainment value of an order that has been ecstatically praised.

Their greater value, however, is that they show the Army play- wrights are capable of dealing with their experience expertly from the dramatic standpoint, arousing high hope that when that experience deepens some of them will be up to THE war play.

The five authors, incidentally, all have had experience in the theater or the writing fields.

There are a great many others just like them scattered among the 10.000.000 men in the fighting forces. That there should be Andersons, Stallingses and Sheriffs among them is a more than safe bet. The quantity alone, entirely apart from the quality of them represented in Mr. Golden's prize plays, should guarantee that.

Indian Ancestors Prove a Mystery By the Associated Press.

HOLLYWOOD. The only place that Indians can

get automatic Indian garb for use in period pictures showing the sturdy red man is in Hollywood. Worse than that their squaws have no idea about what is really what in correct wear of ancestral finery, and can do nothing about remedying the sit- uation. Research experts working on "Buffalo Bill" fixed all tribal ward- robes, shipped 32 trunkfuls of the real thing to reservations where shots were marie at Kanab, Utah.

PRESEASON GLIMPSE—Winter with its convenient ice has returned tor Sonja Henie, who whips out her blades and whirls through '‘Wintertime,” the opus next scheduled Jor the Capitol Theater. That is Jack Oakie in the coat.

WHAT'S THE ARMY LIKE? — The question on every one's tongue is answered by five highly literate soldiers in “The Army, Play by Play,” which opens at the National tomorrow night’. Top photograph shows a scene from one of the more hilarious of the five one-act plays, “Button Your Lip.” Below, Pvt. Robert Schtenlng and Sergt. Phillip Kaplan illustrate one of the toughest moments in a soldier’s life, when he tries to borrow $10. The passage is from “Pack Up Your Troubles,” another of the comedy sketches in the quintet of plays.

Ridicule Customers Relish By Rosalind. Shaffer.

HOLLYWOOD. Olsen and Johnson, high priests

of comedy with rituals of gunfire, yells, drum bearing and speed, have been kidding the public for more than 20 years, and they still can enchant sensible people into climb- ing up on the stage to be made ri- diculous in front of family, friends and strangers.

Ole Olson, swarthy and the tall member of the team, does most of the talking. Chic Johnson, the blend short one. tilts his hat back, crosses his feet, leans against some- thing and listens.

As Ole tells it, he started off as a violinist after a whirl at Northwest- ern University and all the refine- ments of a higher culture, obtained through the cash of his father, a boilermaker. But Olsen discovered quickly that there is a bigger au- dience for "The Old Grav Mare" played slightly off key with aban- don. than for a violin concerto fault- lessly rendered. At that point. Ole shed all the appurtenances of violin- playing genius, except his shiny- black pompadour, and went in for laughs and corn.

Cleanliness First. Chic Johnson, too. headed for a

cultural life; he was a graduate of the Chicago Conservatory of Music, and his hammer and tongs tactics with a piano are the direct result of his work in symphonies, concertos and etudes at the conservatory. About the time that he, too. found that corny music is more popular than the classics. Olsen and John- son discovered each other, that is. Olsen discovered Johnson. They have been partners for 29 years.

Their comedv is based on the idea that things happen around them; they don't think of themselves as such funnv fellows, rather as the instigators of funny things.

A cornerstone of the Olsen and Johnson formula is ‘keep the laughs clean.” Both family men. thev have kept in mind‘the family audience, with grandma, pa. ma. the kids, and the folks.

"Don’t give ’em a chance to re- lax" is another axiom. Something is happening every minute, and you have to see only one Olsen and Johnson show to know what that means.

Money has come plentifully and is passed around freely. Anything is a good excuse to buy somebody a present or to give a party. Repeat- ing the Christmas theme in the heat of late August, the boys gave a Christmas party for the cast of their new picture and all comers on the set. with a tree, Santa Claus and presents for every one.

Laughter Almost All. They are eager to seize anv and

all comics with a good act for any show they are putting on. Thcy'il use anybody's suggestion for a good gag. They've taken over movie tricks, too; they’ve had a lot of fun doing scenes with animals talk- ing by the new process developed by film technicians.

‘‘There are three things the world over that are the same,” says Olsen, “the need for food, for love and for laughter.”

Some critics of their noisy tom- foolery comment that thare is a good deal of the paternal boiler-

maker in the comedy of Olsen and Johnson. They'd be the last to deny this.

A prop list of requirements for one of their scenes is a short cut to realization of what their comedy means to a property man: Eight African spears and shields, a dozen goldfish, an electric chair, a cuckoo clock, a pair of snowshoes, a set of golf clubs, a rowboat, a cigar 12 inches long with a stuffed bird perched one the end, a bicycle, a wooden machine gun. a set of bur- glar's tools, two shotguns, a dozen stuffed ducks, a pickax.

Public Already Asks Spiritual Guidance Of the Groaner By' the Associated Press.

HOLLYWOOD. Actors like Spencer Tracy, Pat

O'Brien, and now Bing Crosby, who play the roles of priests on the screen, find themselves in a peculiar position fraught with many conse- quences.

Their fan mail, asking for advice on every spiritual topic under the sun. bulges. Somehow these letters must be answ'ered. and secretaries are few and far between these labor- shortage days.

Between extra help to write the letters and the cost of the stamps and stationery, Spencer Tracy, after a five-year spell since he did Fa- ther Flanagan in "Boys' Town,” says he has spent a small fortune and a great deal of extra time.

Bing Crosby’s mail, even before the release of the film in w'hich he plays the role, has already begun to leap, and the fifth studio secretary is now working with four others to keep ahead of it.

Heart Is Elsewhere Harry James really gives out with

j some fast triple tongue, tooting 900 notes of "Hora Staccato” on his

i trumpet in 90 seconds for a scene in ■ "Mr. Co-Ed,” a college comedy caper about a plenty solid songwriter who

I is the only male student in a girls’ | school. James, one of the hottest ! music makers today, is a softie for the classics, and hopes some day to conduct his own symphony or- chestra.

Evidence in Refutation of an Old Theatrical Tradition By Harold Heffernan.

HOLLYWOOD. One of the chief traditions of the

legitimate theater for many genera- tions has been that actors are born, rarely developed. This belief in- creased from year to year as sons

and daughters followed in the foot- steps of fathers and mothers.

Then the movies came along. Bang! went the old concepts. The

royal-blood stuff was out. Today the kinds and queens of movieland are persons who did not inherit a

drop of histrionic blood. For the movies, actors ceased being born and started springing from every- where.

From one end of Hollywood to the otper, 50-some odd pictures are

under ^vay-—and in only a few iso- lated instances can you find a star

"to the manor born,” as it were.

One exception might be noted.

Mickey Rooney, star of Andy Hardy's "Blonde Trouble,” traces his

immediate antecessors to the vaude- ville and burlesque fields.

In one picture, "His Butler s Sis-

ter,” just tapering off at Universal, none of the three stars has an ounce

of acting background. On a basis of inherited talent they might have

become almost anything but actors. Yet Deanna Durbin, Franchot Tone

and Pat O’Brien rank with the screen's best.

Welding Her Destiny? Deanna’s father, James Durbin,

started life as a blacksmith, became an expert welder, then a real estate

salesman. Tone is the son of a sci-

entist and manufacturer, his father now being president of the Carbo-

rundum Co. Likewise, Pat O'Brien's father expected him to continue in

the furniture business, taking over

the fine stand he had built up in

Milwaukee. Being the daughter of a super-

visor general of steamships for the

United States Government doesn’t seem to provide much background for an actress—nevertheless. Irene

Dunne has managed quite well with her film career. So has Charles Boyer, whose father was a dealer in farm machinery abroad.

Needless to say. Robert Montgom- ery inherited none of his thespian talents from his father, Henry Montgomery, who was vice presi- dent of the New York Rubber Co.

Rosalind Russell's father prac- ticed law in Waterburv, Conn. Greer Garson. Academy Award winner for "Mrs. Miniver,” comes

DEANNA DURBIN. CHARLES BOYER.

IRENE DUNNE. FRANCHOT TONE.

from English nonprofessional act- ing parents. So does Ronald Col- man. Joel McCrea's father operated a chain of stores. Clark Gable's father was a laborer.

There are scores of other top- flight stars in Hollywood who have

j achieved their positions entirely 1 through training, rather than i through inherited talents. Among ! them are such personalities as Gary 1 Cooper, Myrna Loy, James Stewart, Bing Crosby, Claudette Colbert, Spencer Tracy, Ginger Rogers, Fred

MacMurray, Cary Grant and W. O. Fields.

On the other hand, just to prove the rule, there are a few young movie players who do quite all right in spite of being sons and daughters of stage and screen professionals.

For instance, beautiful Maureen O'Hara finds it no handicap being the daughter of Rita Fitz-Simons, talented member of the famous Abbey Players. Diana Barrymore has proved herself in half a dozen pictures. Noah Beery, jr.. and Jack Holt, jr., today are box office names almost a.s important as their fathers were in their prime.

The less said of the acting achievements of the children of some of our foremost acting families the better. In most cases thev have failed miserably to uphold the standards of father or mother.

The youngsters of Dolores Cos- tello and John Barrymore, for in- stance, have done nothing, although they have had plenty of opportuni- ties. And where could you find bet- ter acting blood than a combination of the Barrymore and Costello families?

Frustrations of Chaplin. Charlie Chaplin's sons have also

failed to show the slightest trace of their father's remarkable talent. This, incidentally, is one of the most bitter disappointments In Charlie's life.

The same holds true of Beatrice Joy Gilbert, daughter of John Gil- bert and Leatrice Joy, two of th« most-loved stars of the silent days.

Harold Lloyd's children don't ap- pear the least bit talented in a his- trionic way. They have no interest in the movies, seldom attend shows. And this despite the fact that acting is In their blood from both sides of the family—their mother being the former Mildred Davis, popular star of the silent screen and leading woman for Lloyd in many of his best comedies.

More examples could be cited on both sides of the fence—but the evi- dence Is conclusive.

So far as the movie business is concerned, it's everybody's game. And your chances of winning suc- cess are far better if you spring from the homes of bakers, butchers or any one who hasn't the faintest con- nection with the thea-tah. (Released by the North American Near*-

pap*r Alliance. Inc >

Pearl’s Antics

Brighten Show On Broadway

By Lawrence Perry. NEW YORK.

Feeling among theatrical pro- ducers that Broadway will accept al- most anything in this era of ready

! spenders with plenty to spend has not been altogether borne out by

; facts in the season thus far. Titus

giving the Season benefit of mag- nanimity, we hasten to say there are

enough productions unwarrantably enjoying life, liberty and pursuit of dollars to lead to the above con-

j elusion by sponsors of—well, of

| such a comedy as A. L. Berman has been successfully tempted to sub- mit at the Bijou Theater. It is called “All for All.” an adaptation by Norman Bruce of a play by Aaron Hoffman which enjoyed pros- perity in the rfietropolis some 20 years ago.

If it has any excuse for its refur- | bished resurrection other than that ; it had a meed of success two decades i ago, it lies with the presence in the j company of Jack Pearl, who always

has reminded me of the funniest comedian, in his particular vein, I ever knew, the late Sam Bernard. Such being the case. Pearl can get a laugh in this quarter any time he tries for one -which in "All for All" is frequently. Then as a foil

I there is Harry Green, who can be— and now is—funny, too.

Longevity Predicted. In truth they are so funny and

j they build so expertly upon a mass of wacky humor, bequeathed by Weber and Fields, that I should not be at all surprised if some of the clientele that made "Abie's Irish Rose” and "Friendly Enemies” last almost forever, carry this piece for quite a lengthy duration.

Pearl, as John Bauer, sr., is the owner of a fruit cannery. His fore- man is Albert Kruger (Harry Green',

j an old pinochle comrade of some 30 | years’ standing. Their relationship is sorely tested when young Bauer,

i jr.—he has been to college—organ- izes the plant workers into an in-

I dustrial democracy, into which the foreman is inducted as leader. All principles of co-operative planning and many heretofore unheard of are

applied to a business already $150,000 in debt. With the president, now on salary, and his former foreman

i thus at cross-purposes, the back- and-forth recriminations, outbursts of rancor, transient reconciliations and various other manifestations of

j comedy temperament are the life of the play—and all the life there is, really.

Preservation by Comics. But even they cannot carry what

| ought to be a one-act play—and a

good one, too—through three acts, bolstered by a faint boy-and-girl love interest and the complication of a rapacious banker who wants to take over the plant for purposes

: purely his own. In the end he is foiled by the workers, who raise funds among themselves to pay off the mortgage, while a breezy go- getter from the West starts the plant off on new life with a novel

; plan of carrying canned goods to | consumers via motorcade,

By no expansion of sympathy can

; I say that the exposition of social economics and class idealism con- tained in this piece provide food for

(See PERRY, Page C-9.)

Today’s Film Schedules CAPITOL—“Holy Matrimony,” mistaken identity of a beard: 1:50,

4:30, 7:15 and 9:55 p.m. Stage shows: 1:10, 3:50, 6:35 and 9:10 p.m. COLUMBIA—“So Proudly We Hail,” Army nurses on Bataan: 1, 2:50

5:10, 7:30 and 9:50 p.m. EARLE—“Thank Your Lucky Stars.” film stars lampoon themselves:

1:35, 4:25, 7:10 and 10 p.m. Stage shows: 1:05, 3:50, 6:40 and 9:30 p.m.

KEITH'S—“Behind the Rising Sun,” and inside Japan: 1, 2:45, 4:30, 6:15, 8:05 and 9:50 p.m.

LITTLE—“Black Sea Fighters,” a Soviet record: 1, 3:15, 5:50. 8 and 9:15 p.m.

METROPOLITAN—"Destroyer,” Eddie Robinson in naval combat: 1:05, 3:15, 5:20, 7:30 and 9:35 p.m.

PALACE—“For Whom the Bell Tolls,” Miss Bergman’s showpiece: 1:05, 3:50, 6:35 and 9:20 pm.

PIX—"Charlie Chaplin laugh week”: 2:15, 4:55, 7:25 and 10:10 pm. TRANS-LUX—News and shorts: Continuous from 1 p.m.

Competitive Neighbors By John Lloyd.

MEXICO CITY. As motion picture production is

increasing and improving in Latin America, the Hollywood product is slipping in popularity from the Rio Grande to Cape Horn.

A survey shows that, while United States films still rank first, the vir- tual monopoly they orfce held is gone. More and more Mexican and Argentine pictures, and to a less extent productions of Chile, Cuba and other countries, are entertain- ing the Latin fans.

The reason, say cinema critics and distributors, is primarily the Latin American’s preference for en- tertainment in his own language and not any deterioration in the Quality of Hollywood's output. The latter, critics agree, are still dis- tinctly superior to the Latin Amer- ican product but there is something "foreign’’ about them, much as Rus- sian talkies, no matter how excel- lent, would be to North Americans.

Buenos Aires is the No. 1 produc- ing city in Latin America, with Mexico a close second and gaining.

Cantinflas. funny man of the Mexican screen, who fights bulls in spare time, steadily outdraws all other actors, including Hollywood's best, throughout Latin America.

Bette Below the Rio. Tire most consistently popular

screen actress in Latin America is Bette Davis, who has a following from Mexico to Argentina.

In Argentina. Deanna Durbin and Ginger Rogers are other popular Hollywood feminine stars; in Chile, Greer Garson and Ingrid Bergman, with Dolores del Rio and Lupe Ve- lez. currently appearing in films of their native Mexico, also drawing fairly well.

Among Hollywood male stars, Charles Boyer enjoys perhaps the most consistent popularity in Latin America. Top-notch made attrac- tions in Chile, besides Cantinflas and Boyer, include Clark Gable. Paul Muni, Robert Taylor, Errol Flynn. Gary Cooper, Carey Grant and Tyrone Power of Hollywood and Luis Sandrini and Jorge Ri- goud of Argentina. Argentina likes Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable, Ty-

rone Power, Mickey Rooney and Fred Astaire. In Mexico, Errol Flynn, a frequent visitor, enjoys great popularity, along with Gary Cooper and Carey Grant of Holly- wood and Jorge Negrette, songster, of Mexico.

In Mexico the all-time record drawing card was "The Three Mus- keteers," starring Cantinflas. Next came "Mrs. Miniver" and third was "Casablanca." In fact. "Mrs. Mini- ver," with its subtle touch, enjoyed success throughout Latin America.

Disney's "Saludos Amigos." with a Latin American backdrop, ran for six and one-half weeks at a first-run cinema in Buenos Aires, where a

picture that lasts more than two weeks ranks as a hit.

Slated for Bolivarians. Some Latin American audiences

have likes and dislikes that can't be tampered with. In Colombia the fans demand repeats of those por- tions of a picture that strike their Taney. Hence, Deanna Durbin may sing a song and then come back for an encore—if the audience stomps and claps loudly enough. One movie impresario who dared defy the cus- tom of turning back the reel on such occasions was sorry later. A riotous crowd wrecked his newr theater.

A once-in-awhile motion picture industry which claims to be the oldest in Latin America, and has as its stars and extras local business people with a flare for acting. Is getting ready to produce the 12th and 13th feature-length films in its 11-year history.

The pictures, to be made in sound at a cost of less than $40,000 ca^h. will, like their predecessors, play Venezuelan movie houses and those of other Bolivarian nations of Co- lombia. Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia,

If they are like the previous pic- tures made thus far in Venezuela they will gross about three times the amount spent on them, please Vene- zuelan theatergoers and provide a lot of fun for the local dramatists who will take part in their produc- tion. The venture is more like the Little Theater movement Jhan the establishment of a movie industry. But its sponsors have hopes.

A Major Raid On Propman’s Bag o’ Tricks Bj the Associated Press.

HOLLYWOOD. The most elaborate and Important

ghost portrayed in films for some

time will be that which Charles Laughton Is enacting in the title role of ‘‘The Canterville Ghost,” adapted from the famous Oscar Wilde story. Three hundred years of ghosting are shown, with an ad- ditional modern scene, and the ghost, in addition to walking through walls, dematerializes. and even takes off his own head and holds a conversation with it.

Optical illusions of the usual ; camera sort are used, such as double exposure of the film, stop motion, in which the camera stops w-hile the figure appears or disappears, and

: then continues filming, and special lens assemblies which distort or shoot around the ghost. This latter principle is based on stage magic invented by Robert Houdin, the great French conjurer.

The .fcene in which Laughton takes off his head is a special effect embodying several processes, the secret of studio technicians, but it represents the use of double exposure to block out the actual head, and the employment of a prop head, made in the make-up department, which speaks with the same process used to provide human speech for animals on the screen, which in- volves ventriloquism. All of these scenes represent the most accurate synchronizing, and a combinaiton of several tricks done at once, rather than one simple process.

Avenue Outmoded Stock shots made In peacetime,

before the rationing of gasoline combed a large percentage of traffic from the streets of the country, are now worthless. A shot of Fifth ave- nue needed for “Pin Up Girl” had to be remade for a background ecene of the famous street as it is today.

Garbo Pell-Mell Film folks say one of the funniest

sights they ever saw was when Greta Garbo used to pick out a deserted street, pull her skirts up to her knees and run pell-mell down the pavement—just for the exercise— with her chauffeur following closelv behind with her car. She wanted to be alone!

The Script Girls Are Vigilants Of Film Sets By the A'.*oc:ftted Frevr

HOLLYWOOD The real hero of those huge

scenes which are so impressive on

the screen is a heroine, a script girl. She who must keep track of the endless but important detail when such scenes are shot; for one

slip, and an ever-watchful audience will burst into laughter, destroying the effect of the expensive setup.

One such scene was filmed for the Oriental spectacle, "Kismet.” during the past week. James Craig, playing thn young caliph who wins Joy Page, the daughter of Ronald Colman. rode a white steed across a 2-acre location, followed by an es- cort of horsemen, through a street filled with hundreds of extras rep- resenting Arabs.

Then 200 pigeons were released from three birdhouses. Which wav did the pigeons fly? The caliph, fol- lowed by dignitaries and slaves, as w'ell4as his horsemen, rides with banners flying. Were the men with

■ the purple saddles or the ones with the cream-colored saddles nearer the camera line? Ten camels amble across the scene: was the smaller of the two baby camels following the black sour-puss camel or the rust- colored one?

Which Knee Is It? A dancer buries his lance into the

ground as a beggar rushes in call- ing his cue lines. Did the lance hit the ground first, or later? An archer shoots an arrow into one of the es- cort: did the man fall cn his left or right knee0

The script girl must note ail these things, for the constant retaking of portions of scenes and the neces- sary cutting and joining of the com- pleted film would be all too apparent without her watchful eye.

Film Youth Rears Ambitious Head

i By the Associated Press.

HOLLYWOOD. Believing it takes youth to star

youth on the screen, universal has j assigned Felix Feist, only 33, to di- rect the next Donald O'Connor pic- ture, "We of the Theater," in which

; the ages of 19 supporting players and that of the director average only 14 years. A stickler for work, Feist produced one recent picture in 16 days, and another in only 12.

IMPLIED ADVICE—At least this shot from ‘‘A Lady Takes a Chance” seems to be ardently in support of the many "Don’t Travel” requests currently circulating. The lady, who is obviously taking chances in the foreground, is Jean Arthur. The film ie next on the Earle schedule.