The Washington times., 1929-01-29
GLEANINGS
AND
SCREENINGS
By ANDREW R. KELLEY


Of audible films.
II may impress you, as it
did me, that its central char
acters, the aCisco Kid" and
s'Tonia, could talk their lines
iii pidgin English and not be-
come screen bores. Dialect on
either stage or screen is
treacherous material for actors.
There are impressive silencess
in this new picture, due to the
fact that no musical synchroni-
zation accompanies scenes on
the desert. II would have been
little silly to have d SYM
phony orchestra playing in the
vast open spaces Of the West,
but the accepted Hollywood cls-
tom has been to insert such
musical Interpolation, regard
less of whether it belonged. ''Ins
Old Arizona gives you silence
when appropriate screen noises
are not available.
Warner Baxter's "Cisco Kid'
generates q certain amount Of
audience appeal. Like the la
mented Holbrook Blinn's bad
Man." he is black-leg bandit
and vicious enemy Of society
but the chivalry which makes
him respect his women victims
and his devil-may-care bravado
elgender a degree of SYM
pathy-a feeling that here is
a fellow, If steered right, might
become a useful citizen. Vocally
he is just about as fine as
any who have embalrned their
voices for posterity.
| thought Edmund Lowe as
Sergt. Mickey Dunn was char
acter paced too slow and de-
liberate for the best effect. He
is given most Of the comedy
wisecracks in the dialogues
couple are right risque and
ightens the feature accordingly.
But he always impressed me as
slow thinker with the dogged
courage of a good soldier but,
mentally, still in the kinder
garten. Not the ideal selection
to run down a quick thinking
and alert trigger bandit and
a pursuer certain to be foiled
in the end. Loves voice is ex-
cellent.
Dorothy Burgess, new conner
to the screen, does a satisfying
Job as Tonia. You may readily
perceive why the scrsen idols
of Hollywood are perttiTbed over
the wholesale drafting Of stage.
talent Here is an actress withrl
out d vestige Of screen expert
ence who steps into lead role
and scores ilnpressiveIy, chiefly
because she has good movietone,
voice. This is not saying She
is without acting talent, for she
possesses all the essential
requisites for becoming q half
breed Mexican vamp. The point
is, that good speaking voice
landed the contract and oppor-
tunity which spells probably
greater things in pictures.
The noises in In Old Arizona"
are worth their separate para
graph. It is the first attempt
to can for the cfnemas the
sizzling sounds of ham and
eggs on the, spider. Also if.
you are given to singing in the
bathtub you may hear how il.
sounds to the. neighbors as well
j as the noise when the saturated
sponge is squeezed to shower
the head The squeals of fright
ened pigs, the braying Of a mule,
the rattle Of the mail coach over
the hunnpy desert roads, the
walls Of baby and even the
rolling dice, are resonantly re-
produced.
Tom Barry, who wrote the
screen adoption, has handled his
dialogue To carry the narrative
along with progressive interest.
Some of his wisecracks, at
tributed to the Mckinley era,
bear the 1928 rather than the
antique label. The O. Henry
finish is preserved. The @Cisco
Kid" rides away, and the audi
ence is left to Judge whether
1T is to further brigandage or
responsibility in some far off
land.
The fundamental fault Of the
sound pictures, that they blow
up and overemphasize sounds
which mean nothing IN particu-
lar but are easy to capture,
still persists. In Old Arizona" "
marks the first effort to take
. sound feature out Of doors.
In that respect it is d novelty
and the result is worth Growing
about.
Leonard Bergman, Erlanger
general manager, and the play
discoverer Of the Messrs. Shu-
bert, were among those who
looked "Scarsa over carefully
last night. They were seeking
2 hit for one Of the many vacant
New York theaters and must
still continue the search.
-
Robert Elliott, who made such
a bit as the plain clothes cop
in Romance of the Under