Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-06


Straight" presents itself as the real
thing, with the minimum of blood
and gore, but the maximum of en-
tertaining speed of movement and
plot.
Mary Lawlor plays opposite Dix
and she does her bit well, SO much
so that were it not for Dix she would
easily merit major honors as the big
star. Few actors or actresses can
take any laurelS of consequence from
Dix when he has been cast in a
vehicle that calls for snap and verve.
with a touch Of laughter amid his
daredevil courage. One finds all
these rolled together in "Shootin'
Straight" which isn't at all what
one might think from the title. for
positively it is not wild and woolly
Western.
The big shot Of the big town gang
sters tMr. Dix, a reckless but win
ming gambler who takes the old
heads for ride on the baize tables,
appears as a crap-shooting reformer
in the production. He's no reformer
by choice, but by accident, having
been smashed up in a train wreck
while possessing the wallet of a
reformer, that had been stolen by
his nimble-fingered body guard as
the two fled inquisitive police.
Mary Lawlor plays the part of
the preachers daughter, who nurses
the gang warrior back to health
under the impression he is the re-
former 1t will pay to watch her in
the future, because she's destined to
get much higher than the role she
has in this picture. She is an
actress.
The story carries these two into
plenty of action because Of Mary's
brother, who has given some I. o. us
to the towns gambling king, who
desires Mary. AS the reformer, Dix
shoots dice with the gambler, win
ming of course.
Eventually it becomes necessary for
the bogus reformer who is lodging
the law to clean out the den Of the
gambler and win back the brothers
notes. He does all of that to reach
a happy ending.
An old story, to be sure, but one
can forget 1t in the acting of Dix
and Mary Lawlor. There are enough
new situations and lines in the play
to lift 1t from the depths to a high
niche of its own.
Short subjects, newSreels. a comedy
and the animated "talkie" cartoons
round out the bill d. TX
Zone Romantic Night"
Good, But Less So Than The Swan"
COMPARISONS being inevitable,
1t seems only just to report that.
"One Romantic Night" the screen
version of Ferenc Molnar's play.
The Swan" now at Loew's Palace,
Is not up to the standard set by its
original.
The picture, however, is distinctly
above the average and one that is
made often important through the
actions of its players.
Not only does the film tell of the
now classic story of the young
princess who fell in love with the
tutor, but it brings Lillian Gish
back to the screen with a new per-
sonality Gas advertised) and a new
voice. Somehow the transition to
this So-called new personality
does not seem especially marked.
Miss Gish is still at her best when
she is rolling her eyes heavenward
and fixing her thoughts presumably
on the idyllic beauties of this world.
She incorporates, it is true, a lcer-
tain ROBUSTNESS into her character
ization, but the effect never allows
one to believe that she Is at all diff
ferent from what she used to be.
Her voice Furthermore is not just
what might have been expected. Per-
haps due to the microphone, 1t Is not
continually smooth, nor always con-
vincingly youthful. Miss GiSh may still
be found to be as fragile as ethereal
and as wistful as when D. w. Grit
fifth first precipitated her to the
brink of waterfall. Every now and
photographs quite beautifully.
Setting aside the fact that this
film makes many departures from
the text of the play, peeling on
much of the original froth and
veneer, one may say that, for screen
entertainment purposes, 1t has un-
usually suspicious idiosyncrasies.
These are due mainly to the antics
of Marie Dressler, who overacts and
overactS continually, but neverthe-
less Is as funny as always. Playing
the part of the scheming mother
who Is trying to snatch a prince
and throne for her daughter, she
summons up all the powers OF her
burlesque drolleries and lays them
on with uncommon energy. Although
devotees Of the play complain that
she raises havoc with her part, one
might as well admit that II she
hadn't tried so hard lone Romantic
Night" might have been q more
honest II not 30 amusing an a1air.
These who contribute much 70