Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 16 July 1936 — Page 14
f ‘Green Pastures’ Quit \edical Career for Stage. Ingram Graduated With Honors From Northwestern
University; for Years Made Bare Living in Hollywood Playing Small Parts. ;
BY JOHN w. THOMPSON
. Prom bacteriological research to
is the unusual turn made by
acting Ingram who plays the role of De Lawd in “The Green. Pastures,” hich is to open at the Circle tomorrow, Surprisingly young—he is 40—to be playing such a role, Mr. Ingram graduate of Northwestern University, where he was an athletic star i received the degree doctor of medicine,
pught to California to experi- { with tuberculosis, Mr. Ingram
gided he never would be able to
attain any of the noble ambitions
that had prompted him to study medicine. White men dominated too
he was relegated to the menial task of cleaning up after them. One does not get this in so many - words from the actor. He minimizes
his days of research, and smiles |
“with embarrassment when asked about them. “1 found that it was not what 1 - wanted to do,” he says without rancor or malice. But from others, from those who have known him a long time, the true story is heard.
Born on Famous Boat
About Mr. Ingram’s place of birth, there is some doubt. He was born on that famous Mississippi River boat, the Robert E. Lee, famed in song and story. His father was a fireman, and his mother was returning to their home in Cairo, Ill, fo await her baby. Illinois claims him, but Missouri and Kentucky have equal rights. His full name is Rex Cliff Ingram. Actually he was christened Reginald Cliff Ingram. But his mother was induced to change his name to Rex. The man who plays De Lawd was graduated from Urban Military Academy in Los Angeles, and then he went to Evanston, Ill, to attend Northwestern University. He graduated with honors.- On his watch chain hangs a Phi Beta Kappa key. Mr. Ingram is described as a straight-forward, self-reliant man, ‘strong, forceful and’ sincere, but with a retiring, gracious disposition. ti college he was a four-letter man,
, track and basketball. He alsp an excellent swimmer. ‘Six feet WO and one-half inches tall, he
Took Extra Job
“When I gave up medicine,” he says, “I became an actor, without, however, any place fo act. For weeks . hung around Hollywood studios waiting for a chance. I had am‘bitions, most of which were concerned with raising the intellectual ‘and cultural welfare of my people. But a man has to eat, and so when 1 was offered a job as an extra, I took it. I first appeared in “Tarzan of the Apes” in 1920. Elmo Lincoln was the®star.” For several years, Rex Ingram, M. D,, played in pictures, making a “bare living. Then David Belasco brought “Lulu Belle” to Hollywood, and Ingram got ‘his first stage § in Los Angelés he playe 4A “Porgy, " “Once in a Lifetime,” “Going Home,” “Lucky Day," and “Har-
lem.” In New York he was out-’
standing in “OI’ Man Satan,” “Stevedore,” “Dance With Your Gods,” “Beale Street,” “Drums of the Bayoux, ” and “Stick in the Mud. Movies in which Mr. Ingram ap- ~ peared include “The Ten Command--
~ ments,” “King of Kings,” “The Big |
Parade,” “King Kong,” “Sign of the Cross,” “Emperor Jones,” “Trader ~ Horn," “Beau Geste” and “Captain Blood.” & N———————————————— Baseball Star
Jim Scott, at one time a famous pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, is working on “Mummy’s Boys,” new : Wheeler and Woolsey comedy.
Was Concert Pianist Gertrude Michael, playing the title role in “Second Wife,” was a concert pianist at the age of 12.
Color Process Is to.Be Tried
Short Subject Using New Method to Be Released.
By United Press HOLLYWOOD, July 16.—A new
color photography process developed by two youthful scientists today was taken under the wing of a major studio which is to release a short subject filmed by the new method. Charles R.. Rogers, production chief at Universal Studio, disclosed he would release the short subject, “The Cavalcade of Texas,” which was filmed at the Texas Centennial in Dallas.
The new color process, known as Telco-color, is the result of experiments conducted by Robert Hoyt, former film producer, and Leon Ungar, a university science student. According to the two men, the new process does not require increased lighting, special cameras and complex developing methods. Charles R. Ford, editor of the Universal Newsreel, declared ine new color photography was suitable for newsreels also as it required only a few minutes more to develop than the ordinary black and white film. Universal also indicated it would be guided by the reception given the short subject in deciding whether to
start work on feature pictures filmed
in the new color process.
Plays Family Roles Seven years ago, Cora Witherspoon played Madge Evans’ aunt in “Phillip Goes Forth” on Broadway. Today, she is Miss Evans’ mother
in the picture, “Piccadilly Jim,” starring Robert Montgomery,
WHERE, WHAT, WHEN APOLLO
‘Public Enemy's Wife,” with Pat: O'Brien and Margaret Jndsay, at 11:59. 1:56. 3:53. 5:50. 7:47 and 9:44. - CIRCLE
“The Bride Walks Qut.” with Barbara Stanyick d Ge R
A LOEW'S ve
fore pe with Josh one, 1
Franch a ae 125. Also } ie 7% Wallace Berry. t Montgomery, Shester Morris, at 5:38, 8:3 Special added San, “Tt Sen In Indianapolis’ local movie, at 2, 3.20. 8:39.
KEITH'S hells Are Coming,
ire offering, under Ke re Charles Berkell, Cur- *
“The Camp Federdl Pla giréetion > tain at
LYRIC
Ro Pryor and Cabin The Fuh vau eviile. 9:38 sta 3:47... 8:50 and bite Pang. with Michael Whalén and Jean Muir. 3 Serten at 11:33. 2:17, 5:20, 8:04
ALAMO ‘Under Two Flags,’ featuring Ronald Colman, Claudette Colbert, Victor len and Rosalind Russell. Also “Hitch Hike to Heaven,” with Henrietta- Crosman. :
AMBASSADOR “Show Boat,’ with Irene Dunn and Alan Jones. Also ‘Florida Special” with Jack Oakie, Frances Drake.
OHI10 “Everybody's Old Man,” featuring Irvin 8S. and Rochelle Hudson, and “The Great Impersonation,’ starring Edmund Lowe.
WEST SIDE % 2702 W. 10th St. Double Feature Rochelle Hudson “THE COUNTRY BEYOND" __ George Brent—"SNOWED UNDER” W. Wash. & Belmont BELMONT ™nuih fultim Chester Morris “THREE GODFATHE “TREACHERY RIDES THE RANGE” 2540 W. Mich. St. Lyle Talbot EULER nA a» Ei SCAPE ME NEVER" : Sai BG SIDE (“THE EX-MRS. © “DANGEROUS INTRIGUE
RING ina
® Dunne—Pa ul Robeson—Allan Jones “SHOW BOAT”
OFTOWN Fo Fi. RRICK
ee aatoy Bore
§ WALKING DEAD” CL & Ft. aver
CLAR ~ CE
EAST SIDE
RIVOLI Smemii
Newly Cooled
TRO Withers Tom wn GEN “THE EW a TRON Be DOOR”
pr DANCE of Bier ~ ne x Wash.
TACOMA
“CHARLIE CH AT pb CIRCUS “THE Vorer ¢ OF BUGLE ANY
TUXEDO “Deshi Faatere™
Desbie Feature n ayia) “MY MARRIAGE” “THE W WALKING DEAD”
IRVING “Puli Toi
arren | "Tres squans FEAT IOY
EMERSON S5af FRE
FAMILTON S28 jes nme ONAN OF SERENE
PARKER af bos
go “F1'8tewart, heiress to a huge Standard
"UNNIEST Mi
Trai the teenth of» ste ok
OLLYWOOD, ’D, July 16—(NEA) | |
know. They've been ite; vou
years.” Voice of customer: “The poor thing! How patient she must be, married to a potato-faced silly ne that! And 21 years, you say! .. Herbert hears these stories and knows that nothing can be dbne about them. To live them down, he
has even begged for a few sinister |
tragic roles—a request which only ened the Warner Brothers’ conviction iat Hush was a very 1 fellow ee Poiea) 4 tried being taciturn. and dour in public, but people would go into guffaws just looking at him. These days, while not at the. studios, he is- practically a recluse on his farm in the San Pernando Valley. ‘But fan mall and press agents follow him even there.
» » 2
NE woman wrote: “You remind O me so much of my dear, late husband . . , Who died in a mental hospital.” Press agents write: “Herbert has the maddest house ‘of all Hollywoodsmen—electric chairs, watersquirting telephones, an Eskimo butfer who knows only two English words, ‘colossal’ and ‘terrific.’ A goldfish pond 12 feet square is built into the floor of the living room. , .. The comedian is developing’ a horticultural marvel to be known as a fruitsalad tree, or Her: bert’s Folly. On a grapefruit tree he has grafted oranges, avocados, peaches, apples, plums and walnuts.” Mr. Herbert is powefless in the clutches of a giggling Frankenstein. Vainly he parries the canards that ‘are hurled at him: ineffectually he points out that most of his numerous years have been devoted to serious things. Serious ~haw
2 3 s HE was born in New York City and generally was considere¢ avery funny little boy, mostly on account of his face.. One of his earliest recollections is the look of furious resentment that spread over his ' father’s countenance when somebody opined that little Hughie looked just like his papa. There® was another time wher an acidulous old aunt declared tha. Hugh closely’ resembled a cucumber. The boy studied himself in a mirror; and amended the verdict by reminding his aunt that no cu-
Heiress Signed for New Movie Role
By United Press
“HOLLYWOOD, aly. = Kay
Oil .Co. fortune amassed by. her father and grandfather, today was signed to play a minor role in a new version of Rex Beach's. “The Barrier. 2? The girl ‘is the daughter of Robert G. Stewart, Standard Oil Co. executive, and the granddaughter of James Stewart, pioneer oilman. Miss Stewart came here to visit, and was/persuaded to play an extra role as a joke. Her work brought a contract: offer. The heiress left immediately for her home in Stock-
bridge, Mass., and ir to return here
- Hebrew.
in August to begin work.
Here’s friend Hugh Herbert, one of the newest additions’ to Holly wood’s most exclusive colony, the colony of successful 1 comedians, as he looked surrounded by a bevy of beauties.
cumber ever was cursed with golden curls. Thereafter he'd stand before the mirror and practice for hours trying to contort his face into resemblance to that of an ordinary person. The only result was a mobility of expression that made him look even funnier. For his first job in the entertainment business, Herbert hid behind a movie screen and spoke the lines of all male characters in the ecarliest © “talking” pictures. A stock company manager lured him out into the light and give him a job as an actor. 8 8 =» 2 E had many serious roles, and for years was seen on major vaudeville circuits as a pathetic old Also, he directed a few plays and wrote scores of vaudeville skits. : Warner Brothers hired him as a director and writer, and he penned the first all-talking feature picture ever produced. That was ‘The
Lights of New York,” which start- |
ed as a short, but was expanded to full length. Herbert also wrote “The
Theater to Show
WIRE Barn Dance
The WIRE radio barn dance is to be broadcast directly from the
Fountain Square Theater stage at 6|
o'clock tonight, according to Earl
Cunningham, manager. The show isto be presented again at-§ aT p. m. as a stag
tion ‘only. Following = show; elimination trials in’ the “Miss Indiangpolis” beauty contest are to take - place on ‘the Fountain 3 Square ' UU =~; 4
stage. TN LIAL |
TONITE ONLY
TWO STAGE SHOWS
6:00 P. M. & 8:47 P. M.
sTamc™ BARN DANCE
Rhy oo old Favorites in Person On the Screen, “The First Baby'’
Attend the 6:00 P. M. Show and See Them Actually Broadcast.
TOMORROW—See This Timely Topic in Film!
Great Gabbo,” which Von Stroheim directed. He acted sometimes; mostly as an accommodation, and in small parts.
But his success was something less
than sensational until Joan Blondell |.
opened the hotel room door in “Good-by Again,” and let a new fun-ny-faced zany into pictures. Since then "he has been very busy. » » »
.CTORS ‘and actresses like o ‘have lunch with Herbert, or to play pinochle with him on the set, or to be a guest at the Herberts’ ranch home—which really isn’t full of trapdoors and collapsible furniture. But they don’t like to work ‘with him.. The reason is that Herbert steals scenes. Not intentionally, maybe, but he steals them. * It’s. that face, and the
Play in Comedy
Times Special "HOLLYWOOD, July 16. ~The at-
of 150 extras used in the scenes, the majority can neither read nor write except in their native Egyp-
5 t 49 Y Egyp ‘and Arabia in Egyptian administra-
tive service. Movie ‘of Verne's Book to Be Made
Times Special HOLLYWOOD, July 16. — Jules Verne’s famous novel, “Michael Strogoff,” which was filmed in French and German versions, is to be done in English, with Pandro S. Berman as producer. Joseph N. Ermolieff, the film's European producer, is to serve under Mr. Berman as technical adviser. He is to study American production methods, and may re- | main here permanently.
Humorist Has Role Fred Stone once more displays his popular brand of homely humor in “Grand Jury,” new drama.
V tho Want
to Stay Cool
Many Persons Sit Through Several Shows to Escape Heat, Loew’s Manager Says: System Keeps = Two Men Busy All Day.
Imagion 10-vat mp buriog fn evry sent 1m Lows. Some
»
heat, eh
through a show. And yet: Loew's, like other downtown theaters,
sitting - always is cool as a mountain breeze. Hundreds of people spend hours in
theaters just to escape the outside temperature, according to L. Ward Farrar, Di Souise: Toews ictus dray Suing Dasne Be
manager. To combat the heat which would emanate from 2446 100-watt bulbs, Loew's installed air conditioning equipment costing $100,000. With the all in, it costs at least
4 $6000 a season to keep Loew's pa-
trons cool in the summer and warm in the winter. This summer's unusually hot weather will jump the weather-making costs considerably, officials said. Loew’s chain of theaters has been operating air conditioning equipment for 15 years. Two mer™ are employed at each theater to keep an eye on the thermometer every minute of the day. The air from the theater is sucked
. | into the air-conditioner under the
stage, where unconditioned oxygen is taken through a huge, vat-like tunnel, where it actually is “washed” by more than 750 gallons of water a minute. This water, brought. into
the plant from regular city water
mains, is cooled to 38 degrees in a bank of pipes called condensors. After being cleaned and cooled, the water is pumped through 300 sprays, which cool the air in the tunnel.
Moisture Taken Out
This excessively cold water acts as a “demoistener,” as it sprays (hrough the hot air, causing the excess mois-
ture to drop into a basin under the
tunnel. When the air has been washed, it leaves the plant approximately 50 degrees cold, and is mixed with fresh warm air until it reaches the proper temperature for the theater, which at Loew's, is 10 or 12 degrees below outside temperatuge. According to Engineer Myers, it’s not the difference between Loew’s temperature and outside heat that cools one off; it's the difference in
humidity. And it's much nicer to! :
breathe clean, dustless air than the germ-laden stuff which fills - the streets. (By J. W. T)
RE, Astaire Too Busy
for Stage Return
Times Special HOLLYWOOD, July 16. — Fred Astaire took time off from his new picture, “Swing Time,” which he is making with Ginger Rogers, to check rumors of his stage return. “I am too busy to do a play.” Astaire said. “My time is come pletely taken up with screen and radio work. It is not possible for me to think of returning to the stage.” He expects to go to England for a brief holiday following completion of “Swing Time.” :
Makes Costames
Walter Plunkett is currently dee signing over two. hundred costumes for Katharine Hepburn and other feminine players in “Portrait of a Rebel.”
"Radio Star Featured Patricia Wilder, famed to radio audiences as “Honey Chile,” has an amusing role in “Count Pete,” with Gene Raymond and Ann Sothern.
SWIM—DANCE
WESTLAKE
BEACH TERRACE Dance Every Night Except Monday PAUL COLLINS ORCHESTRA
ize
“Ta
i? { 4
of the
They were once FULL-SIZED HUMANS
Devil!
“ufitil they
fell into the power of this madman who shrank them into 13-inch DEVIL DOLLS
and ‘made them STEAL
AFTER! Now a Devil Doll... She steals. . . She kills .., She does the -bidding of a hideous master mind!
BEFORE! Once a bedetifl girl . . ad denly- transformed by the magic of a
‘madman seeking revenge!
THE MOST AMAZING
Film in 10 Years! 8
TEN EE LIER
Laugh with “We Went To College’! Tnrill with “Devil Doll’! |
' HUMAN DOLLS to do the work
"Plu another MEM iit? The funniest
college yarn
ever filmed..! “WE WENT
COLLEGE"