Tag Archives: Max Weldy

Dolly Tree Interview in the Daily Express 26th January 1922

I recently found a detailed interview with Dolly Tree in the Daily Express from January 1922 in the British Newspaper Archive. This feature was not available during the research for my biography Dolly Tree: A Dream of Beauty and so the information it provides was not included. So here is the text and commentary as it does show some invaluable and interesting points.

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Brighter London at the London Hippodrome, 1923

Julian Wylie’s 1923 London Hippodrome show Brighter London was in fact the second longest running revue in London during the 1920s, being overtaken by The Whirl of the World (1924) at the Palladium. The show had no real story but comprised a series of episodes with Cupid setting out to brighten London culminating in the appearance of the celebrated American band leader Paul Whiteman and his orchestra. 

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Leap Year at the London Hippodrome, 1924

Leap Year at the London Hippodrome, 1924

George Robey was the star of Julian Wylie’s third Hippodrome revue Leap Year described as ‘one of the best revues that London has ever seen’.  Launched at the London Hippodrome on 20th March 1924 it ran for 471 performances. The show had no cohesive plot but was designed to showcase the talent of Robey as a comedian and he appeared in at least 11 of the scenes, which means that in fact Leap Year was constructed around him.

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The Ambassadeurs Show 1929

The Ambassadeurs Show 1929

The fourth Ambassadeurs show in Paris was presented by Edmund Sayag in the summer of 1929 with a vaguely oriental but again distinctively American content.

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Hugh Willoughby

The British artist Hugh Willoughby rose to prominence in the new wave of costume designers and illustrators that emerged after the First World War during the Jazz Age. He made a name for himself in London and Paris before moving to the USA in the mid 1920s.

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Folies d’Amour

Folies d’Amour

The 4th production at the French Casino, New York was Folies d’Amour launched in late August 1936 and transferred to the London Casino in January 1937. Once again Clifford Fischer presented an excess of scenic artifice, flamboyant costumes and feminine pulchritude to such an extent that the New York Times said he was following in Ziegfeld’s footsteps with such tableaux as the Flowers of Paris, the old Jewel Box, the Metal Age and naughtiness of Goodnight.

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Folies de Femmes

Folies de Femmes

The Folies de Femmes revue was the third show launched at the French Casino New York in February 1936 with an array of talent and spectacular scenes that included the Women from Paris, Military Fashions, Music of the Accordians and Supper in Paris.

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Folie Parisienne

Folie Parisienne

Folie Parisienne was the second presentation at the French Casino New York in September 1935. It was transferred to the Miami Beach French Casino in January 1936 and was then the opening show at the London Casino in April 1936. It was a highly elaborate mix of spectacle, ballet and speciality acts with fashion shows, dog shows, butterflies, fountains, a carpet of roses, aerialists, dancers and as usual a magnificent array of mannequins and chorus girls.

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