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Show m ifp:l llllll m I, V WHO'S NEWS THIS WEEK By LEMUEL F. PARTON XTEW YORK. Within the exploits IS of men of achievement may and often does-lie the favoring element ele-ment of chance, frequently recognizable. recog-nizable. But often, too. it is hidden in a vague background of contnbu- in a vague nat'" tory factors. In Jascha Heifctz's agreement to appear in a forthcoming motion pic-vv pic-vv ture, Samuel Way Smoothed Goldwyn's pow- Sam a bxplott excite the envy of his rivals and the admiration of his friends. The eminent violinist's personal aversion to the screen as a medium of expression has long endured in the face of repeated offers of-fers Mistrust of sound track reproduction repro-duction of the notes of his beloved violin was Joined with his repugnance repug-nance to the elemental music he believed he would be called upon to play and, above all. was his objection objec-tion to strutting the screen as an actor. So Goldwyn's success In overcoming the great musician's re-luctance re-luctance is now being proclaimed. Yet, lying back of Heifctz's name on the dotted line of a Hollywood contract are various imponderable factors. His wife, for instance, who was Florence Vidor of screen fame, may have been the influence behind his first appearance on any stage In a histrionic capacity. This was last spring when he took the role or a hill-billy fiddler in the an-nual an-nual show of a sophisticated mid town club, of which he Is a member. Garbed tn overalls, cotton shirt and red wig topped by a broken down straw hat he played "Turkey In the Straw," violin upon his knees, as the time-honored Jig tune has never before been played. And for an encore there was "Danny Boy." So who can say that the siren voice of Sam Goldwyn was not merely mere-ly the fanning of a flame lighted when, with gusto and amid wild acclaim, ac-claim, he sawed a violin lying across his knee? Born in Vilna in 1901, Heifetz's American debut came in October, 1917. An American citizen now, he lives in Redding, Conn. Sam Goldwyn it was who lured Maxine Elliot to the screen back in 1917 and she was but a predecessor prede-cessor to such exalted artists as Gcraldine Farrar. PAUL ROBESON'S magnificent bass voice will have adequate opportunity op-portunity for expression in his portrayal por-trayal of the title role of Sam Byrd's forth-Bishop's forth-Bishop's Plight coming produc-AlteredAimof produc-AlteredAimof of a play Paul Robeson adfPted J author from Roark Bradford's John Henry stories. sto-ries. There will be incidental music by Jacques Wolfe. One often marvels at events, apparently casual at time of occurrence, oc-currence, which are found significantly sig-nificantly to have affected human hu-man lives and so shaped destinies. desti-nies. When Paul was a senior at Rutgers, where he bad won high scholastic honors and gained for himself a national reputation as a football end, he was looking toward the cloth as a profession. His father was a clergyman in a small community communi-ty in New Jersey and, from boyhood, boy-hood, Robeson's idea had been to follow in the paternal steps., Not ktg before graduation, the elder Robeson died and among the funeral arrangements was a plan to have the presiding bishop of the church conduct the obsequies. Accordingly, Ac-cordingly, the prelate came to the scene of the funeral from his home in a village in the southern part of the state and after the services he addressed the assembled mourners substantially as follows: "Brothers and sisters. I had to borrow the money to come to this scene of sorrow and unless you all contribute to defray my Journey home, I am afraid I shall have to walk." Whereupon, of course, the necessary neces-sary traveling fund was raised. After Aft-er a while the bereaved son met I the late Foster Sanford who was . his football coach, his guide, mentor j and friend. "You are still headed for the min-I min-I istry?" Sanford asked. "Yes sir," was the reply. "I still am, sir." "The highest you can ever get to be in your church is a bishop, isn't it?" Sanford asked and when Robeson said that was i true, the coach fixed him with J his compelling blue eyes. "And so you arc going to enter a profession pro-fession where, even as a bishop, you will have to borrow money to Ket from north Jersey to south Jersey." That was all that was said. But 1 next day Robeson came to his I fntnd. confiding his intention to i plump for the law and for voice. I lCons.ohd.,ied Feature-WNU Service.) |