Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-15

L.: m ass effects
John Wayne. with brilliant
palette. Thanks
to the wide screen used in this pro-
duction, the prairies seem to stretch
out as endlessly as they are meant
10. and the "schooners" plying
across them, picturesquely real, act
as though they had never been
touched by cinematic veneer. The
whole film. In fact, breathes OF the
great outdoors, where literally 1t was
framed, and it has as actors men
who act like men and women who
are not overcome by the possibilities
Of their profiles.
where "The Big Trail" suffers Is
in the familiarity of the story and
the sequences that should be stirring
but aren't. quite, because time ana
the picture industry have done them
over and over again. Thus, when
the caravans come to the swollen
river and men and women, cattle
and whole estates really are swept
away down stream, one Is impressed,
but not overcome, because the screen
has chosen this as its favortte target
many and many q time before. And
the Indians-the most genuine coll
lection of dark-skinned yodlerS that
probably have ever been corralled in
a single picture-are spectacular ana
bizarre, but not blood curdling, even
when they swoop down upon the
wagons and do little loose scalping.
The hardships and the many
tragedies that overlook the hardy
pioneers of the West on their per-
iIous tourney have been treated rev.
erently by Mr.. Walsh. There Is also
q love story that is naive aud pleas
antly told. The plot has to do with
bearded villains and white "rene-
grades" and what there Is Of it does
very well. Unfortunately, however,
the obvious manipulation OF the
shears in the cutting room has rem
dered the whole q trifle disjointed,
SO that the plot Is sometimes lost
in the shuttle.
But it isn't the plot that matters
anyway. It is more question OF
getting down to brass tacks, as the
director has done, cutting slice out
of our history book and transplant
ing It to the screen. honestly and
with almost heroic skin, even though
most of this Is not by any means
new either to the eye or to the ear.
The cast is thoroughgoing in its
entirety. 1t never seems remarkable,
because the characters are sub
merged, rather, under the impor-
lance of the whole. But as Q tail,
athletic. unactorish ''hero," the new
conner John Wayne is undoubtedly q
splendid choice. So also are Mar
euerite Churchill in the role of the
girl, Tully Marshall as 'the eternal
friend Tyrone Powers as the gat-
tootfed villain and the ridiculous
Mr.. BrendeI.
The stage show, titled BUSY Bee"
idea, by MesSrs. Fanchon and Marco,
Is better than usual through the
efforts of IS "Sunkist Beauties" who,
in an orchestra act, are reminiscent
of Heidt's Calffornians. which is
about the acme of perfection. Mr..
Brusiloh and his orchestra, the
news reels. comedies and Ron and
Don at the organ complete the bill.
=. de s. M.
"The Cat Creeps'
Worth Patr0nixing.
a LII who are fond Of being chilled
to the core and frozen to the
marrow, by all means should visit
the Rialto, where for q second week
1.-The Cat Creeps" Is being shown to
eager crowds.
The word has been passed along
that this picture Is among the
"thriIlers" of the year-the theme
of the play THE Cat and the
Canary" being its nucleus. The plot,
which has been thriving in amateur
dramaticS throughout the land,
needs no repetition; the value Of the
film lying in the amazing resource
fulness of the camera in presenting
everything In q new light and with
blood-curdling results. The screams
that emanate from the screen have
been heard, 1t Is said, all the way
up and down Ninth Street-Helen
Twelvetrees being the most insistent
In the vocalizations. She is also the
star of the picture-and very salts
factory one, as those who have seen
her previous work in ''Her Man" and
other films should know. She is ably
supported by that svelte blonde siren,
Lylian Tashman, who enacts one OF
the most interesting scenes, dart11g
from her bed in nightgown with a
train almost as long as q bridal
dress-and Neil Hamilton, the
Iamlllar young juvenile whose PRONE
seems TO proceed him everywhere.
The acting, the direction, and Miss
Tashman's nightgown are distinctly
worth the visit along with tnnumer-
able other things. r. w.
"The Gorilla"
At athe Metropolitan.
I ACK Of convincing qualities puts
- THE Gorilla" into a class out
of harmony with the Metropolitan's
customary offerings. Mystery which
might appeal II the combination of
brute force and cunning had been
made to present a real danger Is
lost in an elaborate series of impos-
sible incidents.
There is a Jekyll-Hyde phase Of
the story, ii an entirely new setting.
The incidental complications involve
architectural novelties in a home,
based upon story-book conceptions
of ancient tyrants and their secret
passages. The incidents are so
obviously constructed that an OBJ
server Is impelled merely to specu-
late as to how ingeniously the story
has been worked out The result is
that great many things are ex-