Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-19
Costello i'm Madonna
AA Axyov.ma


Of Avenue A."
In Madonna of Avenue A." the fea-
ture picture at the Earle this week, Do
lores Costello has a role that brings out
the fulness Of her dramatic ability: It
is fine picture, at times tense, then
humorous, and at times sad, but Miss
Costello responds excellently to all the
emotions.
The beautiful Dolores, who has been
acting since she was child and who
comes from a family OF actors of abil-
ity, has, ordinarily. soft-spoken, well
modulated voice. She can make it, how
ever, a sobbing, broken voice or reach
the demands Of dramatic intensity with
present picture. Its story has been
published in advance and doubtless is
familiar.
Although not co-starred, Louise
Dresser, In the part of Dolores mother,
offers as fine a bit of acting as any in
the cast. Equally well she portrays the
part Of the mother and of the hostess
at a cheap night club. Near the end
Of the picture, after her daughter has
denounced her, she Is the perfect pic.
ture of q broken woman. Her art OF
uAGhCuR - WOAACAAAAp WAVAA IN 4AAeS
under her eyes, many lines in her face
and her general unkennpt appearance,
along with her facial expression of utter
WEAKNESS. It leaves no one in doubt
as to the end she will meet.
In the not so weighty male lead Is
young Grant Withers, whose career has
been neither so long nor SO varied as
those of the feminine players. but his
performances in Madonna OF Avenue
"A" Is an eminently successful one. He
is good looking and has a fine singing
voice, which is heard in his excellent
rendition of fairly tuneful theme song.
Others with talent in. the picture are
Douglas Gerard, Otto Hoffman and
Lee Moran.
Sharing interest with the feature
picture is the inaugural issue OF The
Evening Star Universal NewSreel, Sh6a7-
ing interesting and unusual happen IS
all over the world, among them shots"
taken by q cameraman whirling to earth
attached to parachute. He secured
some very weird photography. Other
scenes include the great Wyoming rodeo,
in which champion cowboys from all
over the country participated; river
boat race between three old side-wheel-
ers, the record breaking run of the Ger
man liner Bremen and an amusing
circus given by the children of Los
Angeles. A Pathe talking comedy. GO
Easy Doctor: Fox newSreel and a
selection by the Earle Orchestra COM
plete the program.
PALACE-"The Single Standard"
A picture which on the whole re-
spectS adult intelligence and which
presents Greta Carlo less seductive but
more fascinating. perhaps. than ever,
THE Single Standard" is this weeks
feature at the Palace. 1t has the added
distinction of being a good silent"
among a deluge of merely so so' talk
les.
It is a relief to return, occasionally,
to the movies in their original medium
and to realize how eloquent their silence
can be in the hands of really good
star. Few actresses are capable of ex-
pressing the subtleties or graspihg the
finer expression Of moods as is Greta
Carlo. Her fascination as PAN
tomime artist is so great that one
rather shrinks from its possibilities in
shattering via the spoken word. Per-
maps Miss Carlo will be just as faSci-
a Swedish accent IS handicap, espec-
tally If the popular conception of
Swedish accents holds good.
In 1.-The Single Standard" Greta casts
aside the filmy draperies of her siren
ish" days and adopts the smart" man
ner of "a Woman of Affairs" playing,
however, with even more vivacity. The
Arden" of this picture is a more
plausible II less dramatic person than
the Diana" Uris) of the Arlen pic
ture, and Carlo makes her a woman
of disarming frankness, life-loving
creature who places a decided emphasis
on her idea of playing the game"
She fits into the new manner with
perfect ease, wears her sports clothes
with dash, and handles her rather try
ing emotional scenes admirably.
Nils Asther plays "Packy Cannon"
artist. pugilist, sea rover and heart
smasher. and handles the large order
remarkably well. Asther still has his
tendency to pose. but on the whole
this is perhaps, his sincerest work so
far.
John Mack Brown is the "steadying"
influence who marries the girl and
affords contrast to the rather glamor-
Gus Nils. Otherwise, his work has lit
tie of distinction.
The production is handsomely mount
ed and the interior sets are done in
the -modernistic manner, a little
"arty" to be sure, but none the less