Donna Darling Collection – Part 8

Treasure Chest Thursday

By Don Taylor

When I first saw this clipping, I was immediately excited. This flyer not only showed the venue, and date but also the individual program.  I knew I didn’t have this venue before and that Donna did her “California Bathing Beauties” show in 1920 and 1921. I didn’t know where Kaufmann’s Gayety Theater was, but I figured it couldn’t be that tough, especially because I knew that Russell V. Wright was the manager.

I searched and searched and but couldn’t find which of the many Gayety Theatres it was—Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, or any many theaters in between. I thought sure I’d figure out which theater it was by searching for “Gayety Theatre” and either “Russell V. Wright” or “Russell Wright.” No luck. I knew it should be in “The Julius Cahn – Gus Hill Theatrical Guide.” Then I went to Google Books and searched. Bang! There it was. Although I was frustrated by the process, I was reminded of something I had known but forgot.  A regular Google search doesn’t return everything.  A search of “Gayety Theatre” Russell Wright” returns different results on Google than it does on Google Books. Google Books provided the answer I was looking for; Google did not. The Gayety Theatre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada was managed by Russell Wright in the 1920s.

I looked at what was “On the Screen” at the bottom of the page.  Jacqueline Logan in “The House of Youth” and the short, “Monsieur Don’t Care” with Stan Laurel. Both films were released in 1924. So, this couldn’t have been a February 1921 show; it was the 1925 show.

The cast included the following individuals:

• Al Ross
• Alice Louise
• Anita Walker
• Betty Bryant
• Clarice Allyn
• Donna Darling
• Mildred O’Brien
• Murry Earle
• And an unknown Lascoe

Learned: Donna Darling played in The California Bathing Beauties at Kaufmann’s Gayety Theatre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on February 9^th and 10^th, 1925.

Reminded:  Not all Google searches are the same. A regular search on Google does not include searching Google Books.