Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-28
Continued From twentieth Page)

s"oJ 40 1uAIB aSs bLley QlQ WITHOUT tklSSe
Things. And one sees an implacable
Solute; the detail possible In close ups
ths.very CULVER of an eye, plus the shud-
dering sound of breath itself, brings
the action and the feeling of the play
to every member of the audience with
almost cruel exactneSs. Every seat Is q
front row seat: the wide and swinging
gestures of stage technique, rendered
necessary in order to magnify impress
sions to auditorium proportions, so to
speak, are here made waste. The small
gesture, the delicate gesture. the SUI
premely Important restrained gesture,
here come into their own, for the voice
goes with them at last in moments Of
utter harmony.
Thus in Old Arazona" is step for
ward in talking-picture production,
what one might almost call symptom
OF the new technique. Intrinsically, as
far as its cinema qualities are concerned.
II Is hardly startling. It's pageantry has
been exceeded in such films as "The
Covered Wagon" even though some of
the Photographic effects are magnificent,
and its acting has been surpassed in
any number of films one could name
offhand. 1t Is shot full OF joke and
laughter. wisecrackS and bright gags,
and moves swiftly and smoothly. There
Is no question OF the public'S approval
of its style; one had only to watch the
faces of people going up the aiSleS after
the last click closed the Aim on Tomas
faithless body to realize that 1t was tell
ingly handled Edmund Loves sergeant,
nasal impertinent, irrepreSsible,
staggering Mickey Dunn, would be an
outstanding Characterization without his
voice, but his grasp of the value of tone
and sarcastic twang makes the role the
whole peg upon which the film is swung.
Warner Baxter. sentimental, romantic,
imprisoned Cisco kid, is very ac-
ceptable. Dorothy Burgess playing
Tonia-O'Henry's mixture of Carmen
and Madonna "-Overacts dreadfully
is overpassionate even for torid
dulcet in voice and carriage, an awk-
ward figure for all her snaky grace:
her voice. at times, has an unfor-
tunately sharp quality, strident and I'M
pleasant.
The stage production on the Fox's
current bill is conventional janboree,
including the inevitable clever tap dam
GERS, a quartet with a long and lanky
basso, group of seven trumpters, a Mexi-
can dance artist, and the ensemble in
crinoline. The feature mergeS into the
opening title page Of the Aim with a
lot Of shooting all very exciting.
MIR. Brusiloff directed the orchestra
In rendition of Schubert's "Serenade,"
giving his fine. strings and brasses a
chance to feature, but why did he
have to jazz it? Newsreels. a color
style feature. and novel trailer adver-
Using coming production, rounded out
the bill. F. o.
PALACE-"A Lady Of Chance"
Norma Shearer seems to be one of
the few condolences Of the celluloid
who can completely overcome a weak
story to turn out q consistently good
performance. Such Is the situation in
her latest vehicle, "A Lady Of Chance"
current at the Palace, for certainly the
plot of the hard-hearted little gold dig
ger who finally falls In love with a no.
body is not new, but Norma makes up
for any script, shortcomings. She Is at
all times beautiful, clever and the COM
mander of the picture; with but one
outstanding exception Tin the final
clinch and fadeout) she is exceptionally
chic to an almost unbelievable extreme.
Norma would probably have scored in
this comedy-drama with only an ade-
uuate supporting cast but as 1t is, those
who form the integral background are
far more than that, for they all flt
nicely into their respective parts. Lowell
Sherman. playing with much lighter
touch than usual, and Gwen Lee, blond
but not too clever, are excellent as the
co-workers of the racket" of mailing
the rich but dumb "daddies." Young
and StatueSque John Mack Brown Is
cast opposite Miss Shearer, as the boy
friend who finally mefts her cold and
calculating heart. Polly Moran inserts
one of her inimitable bits Of character
work, Buddy Messenger Is seen as the
young brother to Johnny and Eugenie
BeSserer, lends touchingly human
mother portrayal, much to the ad-
vantage Of the picture. The film is
synchronized with orchestral score.
Much in keeping with the sophisti-
Gated tone of the feature attraction is
the newly mounted revue, Beauty Shop
Blues" which offers more than the
usual quota of hit numbers. Karavaef
almost stops the show with his anlaz-
ingly difficult tapping, in which he in
PRODUCES Russian technique. His female
Gibson Sisters, Eva and Audrey. in a
French doll novelty and a truly re-
markable acrobatic dance number,
which were well received. Stanley
House revived the old song hit, "Oh,
Gee, George" and put it across, follow
ing 1t with more tomfoolery. Helen
Lynd attempts an impersonation Of Le-
more Ulric's Lulu Belle" Wesley Eddy
and his Syncopators score with. the cur
rently popular number. That's How I
Feel About You. Sweetheart" in which
Mr.. Eddy sings. The Foster Girls
dance In their usual clever routine
through several unusual numbers.
Fox Movietone and M.-G-M news
reels and THE Prelude" by the Palace
Orchestra under Harry Borjes. add to
the complete enjoyment OF an entertain
ing bill. =