Evening star., 1929-06-24

Another Of those pictures, In which .
woman of many charms and few scru-
pies plays havoc with male hearts,
tangles the skein of half dozen placid
destinies and then comes 10 . shrieking
expiation of her wrongs-it's The
Squall' this time. at the Earle. q cir
cult of temptations, passions and
retributions.
For a note of variety they have placed
the action in Hungary. The variety of
accents that issue from the talkie ap-
paratus is destructive of any possible
fian in any sense. Most of them talk
stragiht American. the good old YER
nacular: the gypsy girl alone (Myrna
Loy) delivers herself Of o weird patois
and sings q theme song in the accepted
gypsy style. One would think that the
cast might have decided upon q stand
ard pronunciation of proper names at
least. But no; the name "Niki," for ex-
ample, Is pronounced "Neeky" by some,
Mckee" by others, and "Nicky" by still
a third contingent. Such q lapse is
Characteristic of the general careless
ness that marks the making of the pic
ture, despite the Hungarian background
of Alexander Korda, the director.
The title Of the work carries its SYM
bolisi1f.' THE squall--it comes, it goes,
1t is over In no time," says the master,
Laios. Eyes; but look at the damage 1t
does" his wife rejoins. ''The Squall" In
the flesh Is Nubi, the Gypsy girl, who
comes and damages and goes, under the
lash at last. The dialogue and titles are
cut to pattern.
Among the cast Myrna 10y may be
credited with an energetic, II fiorid, por-
trayal: Alice Joyce's characterization Of
the mother seemed to have found favor
with a good many in Saturdays au-
dience; Zasu Pitts did her whimsical
out; Richard Tucker appears as the
master; Carroll Nye is his son, Loretta
Young the latter's flancee.
Gales Of honest laughter greeted an
other feature on the Earle's program.
1t was short audible sketch presenting
Fred Allen In q pointlesS and plotleSS
abandonment to foolishness, q delight
full piece of froth, The newsreels, an
overture by the orchestra providing an
accompaniment part Of the time to
Hungarian dance by Lola Blanche. I'LL
out the bills running time.
RIALTO-"ScandaI."
Sophistication in the high places, with
the upper crust is supposed to have, Is
the theme Of Scandal" the half-and-
half talkie-silent feature at the Rialto
this week. The story, taken from
Adela Rogers ST. Johns THE Haunted
Lady" gives Laura La Plante and her
blond loveliness something to be whim-
sical about, which is something Miss
La Plante cannot be as well as she can
be other things. John Boles, drafted
from musical comedy when it was de-
cided out Hollywood way that the
talkies were here for good, supports
Miss La Plante in her whimsicality. The
third featured player, Huntley Gordon,
does well by the role Of polo-playing
husband who, when he gets his chance,
proves himself to be as big of heart as
he Is Of physique.
Scandal" as it inevitably would be,
Is another version of the quite current
triangle theme. Into the lives of the
prominent Innes family, who are right
ciety, comes . former suitor of Mrs.
1nnes, played by Miss La Plante. Now
Mrs. Innes really is in love with her
husband and cares nothing for the
young man played by Mr.. Boles. De-
spite the tremendous dread both she
and her husband have for scandal, she
simply cannot tell the former suitor to |
move On.
However. she finally does reach that
point. Back in his own home the Inn |
petuous young mans wife is being MUIR
dered. He goes home, finds the body, |
calls the police, and. unable to explain
where he had been for those two hours, |
Is arrested as the murderer. Then,
scandal or no scandal, MRS. Innes tells |
the world she was the woman whom the |
man would save.
In the course of events leading up to |
The tragedy Mr.. Boles gets Q chance to |
sing one song which Is not up to the |
excellent work he did In "The Desert |
song, though good enough to show |
tnat he possesses an excellent voice.
The newsreel, a Single" featuring |
the Brox Sisters. and one Of the short |
college Lie" series complete the BILL |
6ulwarking the evening from q musical |
sAndpo1nt and making q good Job Of
IL u the Rialto Orchestra.
LITTLE THEATER-sSimba.~
"Simba." that remarkable record Of |
Martin and Osa Johnson's four-year |
camera Safari in Africa, has been
brought back to the Little Theater for
Inc current weeks showing. Announce |
ment has 1t that the picture Is to be |
R1thdrawn from circulation shortly. |
placed In museum for so years, and |
Lnen TO be released for general exhihi- |
ton again: Presumably this win serve |
SUMMER ART SCHOOL |
buttons.