The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 67

3 0OTierEnml amusements, classified ads SECTION 5 JUIY 15, 19 5 4 ART CALENDAR, p. 14 MOVIES, pp. 1, 2, 3, THE THEATER, pp. 1, 4 RADIO AND TV, pp. 1, 15 MUSIC, pp.

1, 14 CLASSIFIED ADS, pp. 6-13 Paris In Midsummer Is Bustling With Enough Stage Activity To Rival Broadway In Winter By WILLIAM GLOVER, Associated Press Writer i mm v. itm 1 I 12 ri i l.f j-1 3 i Li) Vw" i I LA i lb 1 II I I 1 ft If frY ti W(4 'Wm'i'ftJ PARIS, July 24. It doesn't have a Broadway, but Paris is Ousting out with enough theater energy to blow every fuse on the Great White Way. Drama is a national cultural enterprise here, not just a private gamble for hopeful angels.

The variety, thrills and excitement offered in the midsummer heat of Paris can hardly be rivaled by New York in the snap of midwinter. Everybody gets into the act, on both sides of the footlights. Lower price scales and more shows make it easier to get tickets, so plain local citizens mix in the stalls with tourists and prosperous merchants. Strange Melding There's a similar blending of varied community elements on stage, too, in a strange melding of formality and the unexpected. Broadway hat wilted down to IS or thowt.

Par it currently hat 38, not including the Foliet Bergere and other nude tpectaru-lam, ballet, circutet and tuch novelties a a Japanese dancing troupe. By way of further contract, I'm told that during the winter seasonal peak, all HI Paris theaters are open. New York, which hat only 36 houses for legitimate shown, rarely putt them all to work simultaneously. One of the chief reasons for these differences is costs. They're so high in New York a show must be a hit to survive.

In Paris, the weekly overhead is lower, and some shows can settle down for a fair run even if the reviews were mixed and the audiences light. Government Helps The National Government also pitches in financially. Four big enterprises in Paris, the Opera, Opera-Comique, Comedie-Francaise and Theatre National Populaire, as well as several small experimental companies, are State-supported. Biggest man currently on the Paris theater scene is playwright Andre Roussin, with four simultaneous clicks running. Roilssin, who also gives out a weekly commentary in an entertainment journal, has come a cropper several times when his shows were offered in New York, particularly with "Nina" (now playing a re- Joey Faye Featured Svracusan The Blarkhurn twins, Royce anil Ramon, are stars of "The Boys From Syracuse," the next Amphitheatre production opening tomorrow night.

vival here) and "The Little Hut" of last season. The reason for his lack of transoceanic success may not be so much the failing of Roussin, however, as the difference in those he would entertain. Frenchmen and their ladies come to the theater with an Old World point of view. Amour and bedroom farce are among the true realities for Paris. Of 38 shows now running, 13 are devoted to spoofing the grand passion in one way or another and most of the ways would not do for New York audiences, even if the censor weren't looking.

It's not only that they are a bit risque; a lot of them lack the dramatic elements American theater fans expect. Looking in on two of them "The Tranquil Corner" and "Husband, Wife and Death" was interesting. Both have been mentioned as likely prospects for future inspection in New York. I don't think they'll make the successfully. Melodramatic Farce "Tranquil" concerns a young couple isolated in a forest cottage for a week end and the things that can happen to disrupt the calm.

"Husband" (Roussin's newest hit) makes into farce a plot that could only be melodrama in the United States a young wife trying to eliminate her elderly husband and get his insurance. Another current offering touted as having high promise for New York is Suzanne Flon as Joan of Arc in "L'Aloquette" by Jean Anouilh, another playwright of great Paris success who flopped in New York. The play, excellently performed, is a stimulating theatrical evening as Anouilh dissects the Joan legends in a satirically dispassionate mood. Mile. Flon brings the center role a lustier interpretation than is usually accorded the Maid of Orleans, in neat contrast to a reading given across town for six performances by Ingrid Bergman.

Mrs. Rossellin! (Bergman), under her husband's direction, appeared at the opera in "Jean au Bucher," a drama with music by Arthur Honegger. Her performance, with the President of the Republic in attendance, was the undoubted gala high light of the season as the great star proved anew her sensitive, fragile genius. Another late-season one-performer sensation has been Marcel Marceau, who for two hours nightly holds 1,000 persons spellbound at the Renaissance with pantomime. Should Do Well In U.

S. Marceau, a lean-faced youth with a Chaplin shuffle, has made a name for himself on the Continent in the last seven years, and should score heavily whenever he decides to visit the United Slates. His mime show is a series of impressions of various types of people and comic situations. Although some of it is old, his superior art and masterful body control make the material seem fresh and stimulating. In one two-minute bit, for example, without moving from one spot on the stage, he grippingly portrays the life of man through boyhood, maturity, old age and death.

Another high note of current Paris theater is the First International Festival of Dramatic Art at the Sarah Bernhardt Theater, with guest companies from 10 parts of Europe participating. The project opened to loud applause, with an Italian company performing "Cyrano," and will wind up the end of this month with a Tel Aviv Troupe. 'Boys From Syracuse 9 Is Next On Bill at The Amphitheatre Brook Byron Likes Southern eating Mayf ield Folks See Brook Byron During TV Rest By MARGARET GALLOWAY Courier-Journal Special Writer BROOK BYRON, of radio, television and movie fame, came back home to May-field recently for a visit, greeted all the relatives who had come to meet her, and then stated emphatically, will somebody cook up a batch of good old Southern-style corn bread and green beans with bacon like we used to have?" Miss Byron, who left Mayfield at the age of 16 to gain fame for herself in the field of acting, finished a six-month stint in the popular radio and television serial, "Brighter Day," only a day before she caught a plane from New York to visit Mayfield. "In this, I played the part of a girl who became mentally ill, and at present I am supposed to be in a hospital," she remarked. "That's how I got this time off to come home for a visit." From Hollywood to TV The daughter of Sam Bynum, retired Mayfield farmer, Miss Byron turned to the stage and radio and television after a few years in Hollywood, where she had roles in several pictures with such famous stars as Shirley Temple and others.

'Her movie name was Delma Byron, Before Hollywood beckoned, she modeled in New York for some time, after which she won the title of "Miss Greater New York" in a beauty contest, and a movie contract followed. Her latest TV appearance before arriving in Kentucky, other than the serial, was on Allan Mowbray's show, "Colonel Flack." Another weekly TV show where Brook Byron's name appears frequently on th cast is the "Rocky King" feature. In the September issue of Radio-TV Mirror magazine, the lovely face of Brook Byron will adorn the cover, and inside there will be a story on her and also pictures of the actress with her husband in their 83d Street apartment in New York. Miss Byron's husband is an engineer, designing jet planes. To any stage-struck youngster, here's a bit of advice from someone who has been all along the way in show business.

"You must go all out for it," Miss Byron stated, "and the only way to get any place is through work, and more work. There are simply no short cuts in this field." rpHE eyes of Richard Rodgers, fabulous copartner of Oscar Hammerstein, II, are on Louisville tomorrow night at 8:30 as the Blackburn Twins, Ramon and Royce, open in "The Boys From Syracuse" by Rodgers and Hart at Iroquois Amphitheatre. A successful week for this jet-propelled version of Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors" might launch a revival by Richard Rodgers on Broadway. Royce and Ramon Blackburn, two tall, talented and twin personalities, are bubbling with enthusiasm for its possibilities, and the cast, warmed up from a week in Pittsburgh together, is equally optimistic. Among the featured players are Joey Faye, late of "Top Banana," and Herb Corey, who play the second pair of twins.

Ronnie Cunningham and Mildred Cook, two attractive young ladies, also are featured with Evelyn Ward, dancing partner for the Black-burns. Claude Horton, the Amphitheatre's Nat Burns and Ed Clay round out the cast. "We want to make all the appearances we can," said Royce when the Blackburn twins first arrived in Louisville. "This show is great really great but most people haven't even heard about it. When it gets started, the laughs come without stopping because it's true situation comedy." "Not built on timely topics," interposed Ramon, "but based on human nature, which is why Shakespeare has stuck around so successfully." "And there's not a one of us who doesn't want to work to put this show over," said Joey Faye.

Incidently, Faye and the Black-burns made a radio appearance at 8 o'clock in the morning, heretofore an unbelieveable rising time for any actor at the Amphitheatre. Shakespeare Help To decipher the plot is to tip off the denouement, although a trip to Shakespeare will answer all questions. "We're playing the show very straight," said Ramon. "The Boys from Syracuse" was written funny and Mr. Rodgers hasn't had to make many changes.

"But the songs, said Herb Corey, "They're the greatest 'Falling In Love With 'Sing for Your Supper' and ('This Can't Be Love' well, you just can't beat 'em." With a cast so desirous of "selling" the show, there is good reason to hope that "The Boys From Syracuse" will prove a successful vehicle to follow the enchanting Jeanette MacDonald, who brings her weelc in "Bittersweet" to a conclusion at 8:30 this evening. Where To Get Tickets Tickets for "The Boys From Syracuse" may be purchased at Baldwin Piano Company, Stewart Dry Goods Company and at outlying Taylor Drug Stores in Louisville, as well as in New Albany and Jefferson-ville. A special box office has been set up at Fort Knox Service Center. Tickets for "The Boys From Syracuse" range from 60 cents to $3. It will be followed on August 2 by "The Three Musketeers," starring Don Ameche.

and Rock Hudson 'Magnif icent Obsession' Comes Back To The Screen Again, This Time Starring Jane Wyman Ingrid Bergman Displays fragile genius in an effort to Douglas's "Mag nificent starring j- xF)lr i 11 '31 rMi 1 mmmmmmiiimiitmmimmK- in i Immmmii hi ii nn 1 1 'Dm -iiiir-v i'iii hmmumiJ jiirirairminw i nnir Tin iiiriiiMiiMMiiiMiMMiiMiiiiaiiiini-- f.MHtmmmi uTTtrnrniniriii I 1 11 iiiiti.iimi rw.nn.i mm nan Obsession," recently made into a film again and Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson. In the photo Five famous cameramen were engaged capture the dramatic mood of Lloyd C. By BOYD MARTIN, Courier-J ournal Movie Editor shows Tom Kelley at work with the stars. Ray Jones is next, Ed Estabrook (top) and William Walling at right turned his lens on every conceivable type of subject, with outstanding success. The work that these men did on "Magnificent Obsession" gives graphic proof again that a camera is "an instrument of artistic expression, instead of a mere mechanical device, if handled by an artist.

The assembled result of the work of the five artists makes at least one thing apparent. Although the same subjects Miss Wyman and Hudson were each used, each set of "stills'" was completely different in overall mood and effect. It was frpm "Magnificent Obsession" tbat Robert Taylor jumped immediately into "Camille" starring Greta Garbo and became thereafter a leading man very much in demand. Irena Dunne had the role originally that Miss Wyman is now playing. at extreme left, William Mortensen is shown posing Miss Wyman and Hudson, while the following photo with the photographic medium through manipulation of the print in the enlarging process.

Tom Kelley, advertising photographer whose pictures are credited with selling untold millions of dollars worth of products over all the world. Ray Jons, chief photographer at Universal-International, who has bestowed his glamour treatment on virtually every leading actor in Hollywood. Ed T. Estahrook, winner of three Academy Award Oscars for his outstanding camera achievements on studio sound stages, and for 14 successive years president of the International Photographers of the Motion Picture Industry. William Walling, distinguished in cinema circles as a "Photographer's photographer," a notable creative craftsman who has REMEMBER "Magnificent Obsession?" That's the film that brought Robert Taylor into prominence as a subject for movie cameras.

The film story has been made again and now stars Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson. In making the film Universal-International conducted a unique photographic experiment. Five of the nation's foremost photographers, each renowned in his respective field, were engaged by the studio to participate in the idea. Each of the cameramen worked with the principals of the picture in an attempt to capture the mood of Lloyd C. Douglas's highly dramatic tale.

If you remember the first film you will recall that this is a story of the rebirth of a man's soul through the forgiveness of a girl for whose blindness he was responsible. It shows the blessings which befall those who give generously of themselves to their friends. These were the emotional elements guiding the work of the individual photographers as they trained their cameras and adjusted their lighting for Miss Wyman and Hudson in the "still" gallery of Universal-International. Each cameramen worked independently of the other. Those participating in the unique experiment were: William Mortensen, famous for his merger of creative artistry.