Zurich Herald, 1951-02-22, Page 6Rte. Seventeen Years
Still Going Strong
'faire a derelict irltot ri ;raphic
audio, dust off an +4d play straight
out ('f the attic, .sign up a kw needy
actors ,tnxicuts for a *ur.utth'.s work,
lay in a rapids supply of beer
—anti the answer is $3.000,000.
Way back in 1820, a young pro-
ducer sassed Galt hell was staying
:with his grandmother in Berkeley,
Califoruitt, when flue <.,ld lady ask-
ed him to bring town ;.t trunk stored
vt the attic and prostiseoi to show
hint :.cant: old-fashioned costumes.
Hidden amid the flounces and lace
was the yellowed script of a play
first produced by showman P. T.
Barnum, 'The Drinkard." or "'file
Fallen Saved."
Grannie read it and roared with
daughter. Galt read it and doubled
exp.
Vowing, to produce it, he took
seven years to raise the stoney. Yet
today "The Drunkard" has broken
the world record for the longest sin
ever known.
Galt converted au old photo
studio into a makeshift theatre and
produced the play in 1933. Here we
are in 1951 and it has achieved 7,000
performances. That's three tines
longer than the London run of
"Chu Chin Chow" or double the
Broadway record of 'Tobacco
Road,"
In seventeen years over 2,500,000
people have seen the show and paid
snore than $3,000,000 into the box-
office. Pre-war actors left the cast,
fought in France, and returned to
their old parts when the war was
over. Twenty marriages have taken
place between cast and house staff
and the show has reared a healthy
crop of infants. One of the first,
now a sixteen -year-old boy, will
soon have a part!
Boris Karloff has seen the show
forty times. Billy Burke, Edward.
.Arnold and Irene Dunne are dozen -
visit devotees, Charlie Chaplin,
Marlene Dietrich, Dick Powell and
Ginger Rogers are all regulars.
Maybe the secret is beer. When
he revived the old melodrama, Galt
Bell decided to pad out the evening
with old-time music hall atmo-
sphere. Free beer and ham sand-
wiches are included in the price of
admission. Altogether, sixty tons
of sandwiches have been munched
and 4,000,000 bottles of beer con-
sumed. In addition, thousands of
candle -lit birthday cakes have been
awarded to people celebrating birth-
days or wedding anniversaries.
At first. the traitresses and stage-
hands gave the music -hall turns.
Since then nearly every star and
famous visitor in Hollywood has
obliged, from Lily Pons to Mae
West. In the world's most actor -
populated town, "The Drunkard"
can boast the world's greatest star-
ring cast. Yet few of the authentic
cast of the play have gone into the
movies and none has found subse-
quent fame.
After seventeen years the play is
staged seriously and every tempta-
tion to gag is resisted. One patron
always stood up during Act Two to
deliver a lecture on the perils of
strong drink. After being escorted
out seven times, he complained he
did no: know how the plot turns
out. When the hero spurns the
villain's bribe, the cheers from the
audience crack the ceiling. In actual
fact, it has been replastered five
tines. Continual embellishments
have made the theatre one of the
most luxurious in America.
Says puzzled Galt Bell: "It isn't
good drama. It has not intentionally
funny lines. There isn't a speck of
dirt in it. I don't know why 'The
Drunkard' goes on and on."
Perhaps it's just another of those
things that could only happen in
Hollywood!
i coma
ed
Perfumed Cotton, Pads Are
wad Also Economical
an
ctical
ldlr EDNA 3£EES •
N THESE days of rising costs, ft's a wise woman who uses a few
tricks for extracting double duty from the small luxuries that
add to the graciousness of living.
If your pet extravagance is soap perfumed with your favorite
scent, try this tip for prolonging your enjoyment of the fragrance.
Instead of stowing it away on your household supplies shelf, put it
in with your lingerie or linens ---just as you would a fine sachet.
You'll find the dffeet is similar—a delightful whiff when you open
your drawer or closet door.
A similar plan may be carried out with cotton pads, which many
women tuck, after perfuming them, into pockets or cuffs in pref-
erence to stetting their skin, Instead of simply tossing these•pads
out after use, try tucking them in with your undies. Or else tie a
Ouster of them on ribbons and hang them on the hanger with your
favorite dress.
This idea may be extended to your kitchen, too. Instead of
allowing your fruits to lie until used in brown paper bags in your
kitchen cabinet, try arranging them in your most attractive bowl
and using them as a centerpiece for your table.
Vegetables, too, cin be used for colorful decors tine effects -w
particularly such vividly -hued ones as eggplants.
erve as a
ache
Hollywood star Ruth Roman tucks a cake of perfumed soap in with
her lingerie in order to enfoy its fragrance each time she opens
the drawer.
Bing Crosby -Twenty, Years n top
Ru 1s Life Like A Big Business
By ERSKINE JOHNSON
HOLLYWOOD.—The ratan in
the tan slouch hat, vivid green
slacks and yellow sport shirt ram-
pant with red hibiscus flowers stood
squinting into the' sun beside a
small white ball on _the fifth fair-
way of the Bel Air Country Club.
It was an easy 140 -yard shot to
the green, unobstructed and dead
ahead. But it was almost a full min-
ute before Bing Crosby addressed
the ball and sent it screaming to
within 18 inches of the cup.
He carefully studied the lie o£
the ball, tossed a leaf into the air
to determine. the force of the after-
noon breeze, squinted at the roll
of the green, took two practice
swings, squinted again, rejudged
the distance.
A championship match for a
silver-plated trophy?
No, just a Sunday game with
the boys for 50 cents a hole.
:x :x *
But that minute of cool calcula-
tion and planning is one of the an-
swers, perhaps the most important,
to the question of why, after 20
years, 47 -year-old Bing Crosby is
still the world's Grand Khan of
Crooners. It is why he is always
one of Hollywood's top ten money-
making stars, Mr. Music—live,
transcribed or on `shellac—and a
modern Mr. Midas.
On the golf course: or anywhere
else, Bing Crosby never makes a.
snap decision.
He studies every move he makes
like a golf shot,
He has the iron nerves, steadiness
and icy temperament of Ben Hogan
and the shrewd business braid of
an industrial tycoon.
The Crosby empire has a big
organization .— brothers, lawyers,
writers, tax experts—but even they
admit,. "Bing is the organization."
Yet, to the world Bing Crosby
Well KnownTo The Sporting Fraternity Of Ontario, j'oe
Crysdali,; one of, the, masters of ceremonies at the Canadian
'N'ational Sportsmen's Show in the Coliseum, from March 9
to 17, interviews Sharkey, the trained seal. Sharkey is the star
'}:'rfrft-tncr of the stage and water revue which will be held in
:Crena of the Coliseum twice daily during this big spring-
time exhibition.
is a carefree, lazy, wandering min-
strel who is always relaxed, always
casual, nonchalant, the master of
savoir-faire and boodle -dee -boos
and a Hollywood -to -Nets York, if
not an international bon vivant.
:x ,x
*
The Bing Crosby of the level
head and calculating mind isn't the
same Bing Crosby wito fell uphill
to national fame as one of' Paul
Whiteman's 1828-29 Rhythm Boys
picture of a carefree minstrel with a
shrewd brain.
There's the voice, which started
it all in the first place.
Crosby's soothing baritone, vari-
ously described as broken toned,
a groan and a moan, has outlasted
his hairline, half a hundred movie.
queens to whom he has warbled
in 43 movies and five sets of Para-
mount studio executives since bobby
soxers first swooned over' "When
The Blue of The Night Meets the
Gold of The Day" in 1931.
As one of Whiteman's Rhythm
Boys, Bing was a "hot" scat singer.
"I Surrender Dear," the 1931 hit,
established him as a crooner, or,
Performer — The ''biggest hit -radio could remember" shows
how he got that fear—and stayed there—during a broadcast in.
1945 with Claudette Colbert and a crooner named Frank
Sinatra,
and by his singing of "1 Surrender
Deur" with Gus Arnheint's orches-
tra at the Los Angeles Cocoanut
Grove.
Twenty -seven-year-old Bing
Crosby was a playboy having such
good times that he missed shows
because of long weekends at Agua
Caliente and Paint Springs, Ile was
broke so often that he sold "pieces"
of himself to a score of agents; it
later cost hitt $35,000 to untangle
this octopus grip on his career.
And he had to beg for a two-day
"leave of absence" to shag with
the Rhythm Boys in Whiteman's
movie, "The King of Jazz," be-
cause of a 30 -day. Los Angeles jail
sentence following a "mellow mo-
ment" automobile accident.
Bing. in fact, was both broke
and jobless when he married movie
starlet Dixie Lee in 1930 against
the advice of Dixie's boss, Pro-
ducer Sol Wurtzel, who warned
leer:
"Dixie, if yon starry this Crosby
character you'll have to support
him for the rest of your life."
it was Dixie, 13iug says, who
stoppt.d hits from being a playboy
and shoved hila into success. Three
other IX OM en --his mother, Kate,
Crosby, singer Mildred Bailey and
Elsie Janis ---also were convinced
he had a great future and constantly
lectured him about throwing his
life away.
As Bing remembers: "Tliey fin-
ally showed me the light. Up until
then I was- a fat headed guy.",•
The Bing Crosby keeping -at -the -
top formula is more than just the
'as f',be calls himself, "a groaner."
AshataVt. he sings everything from
"4'ckeste Fideles" to "Chattanooga
Shoe Shine Boy.'
The secret of his magnificent dic-
tion. and carefree phrasing goes'
back to his only training in voice
—as a choirboy in the Catholic
Responses and as a perennial high
school and college elocution contest
winner.
Discount Crosby's choice of
songs as a success reason. I•le long
ago stopped. picking theta. He
says:
"I can't spot a bit. L just sing
'est."
Bing handles his tilns`tl career,
• which won hint a 1944 Academy
Award Oscar for " o:ng ify Way,"
as he judges the pitch of a golf
green. The• formula is simple:
He plays a happy-go-lucky, casual
himself in different costumes — "I
wasn't Crosby in only one picture,
'Going, My Way,"' he says—sur-
rounds himself with important co-
stars, keeps everything in good
family taste, plays every scene with
an almost deapan, unhannny ease
and sets the dialogue, and the gags
fall where they may.
His biggest thrill in 20 years of
entertaining?
Singing to GIs near Metz during
the war when U.S. artillery shells
were whizzing over his head, getting
his first job with- Pant Whiteman,
accepting an Academy Oscar.
His favourite ail time songs:
"Home on the Range," "White
Christmas" and "Dinah."'
NEXT WEEK: Cracking the Big
Time.
Window Box With
Automatic Watering
Watering house plants has always
been something of a problem. Often
they either get too much moisture
'or too little. Now we have a' self-
watering plant box, which can be
constructed at home and prevents
these common errors of judgment.
The box may be any size that is
needed to fit the space for Which
it is planned. In order to make it
watertight,' the inside must be coat-
ed with asphalt paint. A. metal tube
or pipe is se perbendicularly at one
end, and water is added through it.
A false bottom, about an inch
above the bottom of the box, makes
a reservoir. Holes about a half inch
in diameter are drilled in the bot-
tom of the box, approximately eight
to ten inches apart along the centre
line. Wicks are inserted in these
holes and moisture is drawn up
through them.
Home -Made Wicks
The wicks may be made from
strips of burlap, rolled up to about
the size of a cigar, or from glass -
wick which is sold in garden sup-
ply stores. A layer of sand, about
an inch deep, is placed on the -false
bottom, and soil is then added to
about an inch from the top of the
box. The result is an even distribu-
tion of moisture, which may be con-
trolled as desired.
This system of automatic water-
ing is especially good for plants
like African violets, which are
harmed if moisture reaches their
foliage. What is more, too much
hand watering causes "waterlog-
ging," which excludes necessary air
from the plant roots. Because plants
consume moisture at different rates,
smaller Pricks may be used, or their
lengths increased so as to reduce
slightly the rate of absorption.
Most Useless Game
aline
In All The World
That's how they a it r to patiwtes;
tr. useless game,
'.There is no patieeee champion-
ship, 110 challenge , ep for getting
''nt "once ill a lifetime' twice Una
,lay, 00 publicity ct ted to defeat-
i.ng the Double Dceasn, no money
to be made out of it.
Yet despite its uselessness, or
perhaps because of it, there are mil-
lions of patience l,h..'''rs, They ill-
t•lude the fainous , ! 1be infamous
--patience is amenno !lte officially
approved pastimes inn rise.. death cell.
Once the patience hug has bitten
a man, it is almost es difficult for
hint to Set rid of it :.r. it is to stop
smoking.
Somerset \Iaughar says in"The
Gentleman in the that cnn-
sidering the shortutss of life and
the infinite number of importaut
things there are to do, okaying pa-
tience is proof of a 1110ant (lis -
position. .
But although he r.tr.-oacl+ed him-
eelf, he got out the cards. Ile knew
seventeen vitrifies of patience, and
was trapped by the *ogled web of
that known as 'Elie Spider,"
.An ardent player once decided to-
"collect"
o"collect" all the known games of
patience. He listed 7,400 different
games and then gave •::p.
'Mlle only thing alt patience games
,ha1;e in common . is that they are
played alone, hence the American
and Canadian name c.f 'Solitaire"
for the pastime.
But, as every placer knows, the
.only way to play alone is to lock
yourself up in a rbont, The desire
of onlookers to give advice to a
patience player is so irresistible that
soon the player finds he is becom-
ing a mere dealer of > rrds for other
people.
The skill required in patience
varies according to the game play-
ed. I don't know any patience
game .of pure skill. I probably
should not play it if 1 did, for the
element of luck is oast of the
fascination.
The skilled player learns to allow
for the unpredictable rather than
stick to a preconceive' plan which
has been :made uselese by the tray
the cards fall.
One well-known politician does
jigsaw puzzles as a relaxation, no
doubt because jig -saws appeal to
those people with logical minds who
believe everything can be planned
and will fall neatly into place.
Patience players prefer a pastime
which takes account of luck, learn-
ing to make the best of good luck
and to minimise the effect of bad
luck.
Nowadays patience is not so
widely _played. As a method of
soothing the nerves and taking the
mind off work and worries, it has
to compete with radio and movies.
}3ut of all leisure occupations it
must be the cheapest and most
harmless. No juvenile delinquent
ever pleads that he ',vas led astray
by playing patience.
Even knittingwhich provides oc-
cupation for the hand~ while sooth-
ing the mind has figurer. in criminal
history.
If the women of Revolutionary
France had only been astience play-
ers instead of knitters, the revolu-
tion might have been less brutal,
since they would have ?tad to keep
their eyes on the car+ls instead of
vatching the guillotine!
Cold Wind Blows Some Good—The bitter; beim; ium-
peratures in i',orea have played havoe with fighting ;:fell :tncl
their vehicles, hot for these youngsters., Ring Winter has bt en
a pal. His hoary breath turned this pond into nil ire rink, a
signal for children to improviseskate-and-sled tut111,it1Rtjnf15
and take t0 tite ice. Using hulltes111: do ski -poles, the vnutltistrrs
push themseives across he ice, oblivion:-.; to the tlteai1 struggle
around the n1.
JITTER
^-.
By Arthur Pointer
'(041 6uouLDA 144oWN BErraR
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