Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-10

wealthy young socialite, ana In THIS
role wins the heart Of the admtraIS
daughter. So far, this Is all in
harmony with the advice to Young
Men" recently dished out by the
famed college professor, who directed
his charges to marry the boss
daughter" Prof. Rogers could not'
however, have anticipated all the
excitement which was necessary
preliminary to ambitious matrimony
in this instance.
Our hero, like all worthy young
men on the make, Is at frSt as
credited, but, to the intense surprise
of none, ultimately distinguishes
himself as q brave fellow when the
feet is threatened with destruction,
following the explosion Of an oil
tanker lying in harbor near q loaded
ammunition barge JoneSy, or Mr..
Montgomery, as you will, Is about
to make his escape after a dis
astrous fight with his superior ofn-
cer-and rival for the fair damsels
hand-when the big situation" de-
velopS. He responds as expected,
and from that moment on the tale
is all movie history.
Every artifice of the moving pic.
ture lot is employed to conceal the
flimsiness of this story, and with
the aid of q competent cast, the
camoufage Is effected. Dorothy
Jordan, as Kit, the heroine, is more
charming than the majority Of her
more practiced screen elders ever
can hope to be; Cliff Edwards, our
ugliest and one Of our funniest
comedians, handles the low-comedy
character expertly, and Ernest Tor
renee plays "Scotty," the hard
boiled boatswain- with -the-heart-of-
gold, with that splendid ability
which has characterized his flne rec
ord as q screen actor. The minor
parts are handled satisfactorily.
In addition to the aids supplied
by good histrionics, "Shipmates" Is
lifted almost bodily, one might say,
into class A by the skilled direction
of the many minor sequences which
the story contains, and its merit Is
topped of with stunning photog-
raphy in the battle maneuver, sea-
side. fire rescue and other scenes.
On the stage this week there Is
a troupe of acrobatS who perform
with startlingly simian grace, an
amusing magician whose tricks
pleased the crowd, and several other
paSSable vaudeville features. II you
like adagio dancers and atmosphere
sketches, you may see company OF
performerS-Chief Broadway ana
Forty-second Street and his ener-
getic Navajos, they should be titled
who do something that Is Indian
because there are feathers on the
heads, and another bit which must
be Egyptian. inasmuch as no one
l4kh hofUaar1
chest and waist, and some do worse.
r. B. p.
May Robson, at RialtO,
Makes Her TaIkie Debut.
YOU have to hand it to May Rob-
L son. With no fanfare, press
agent flag waving, or Hollywood
drums exploding all over the lot, she
has gone into the talkies, and in her
first picture, Mothers Millions" has
given one Of the most notable per-
formances of the year.
This grand actress OF the stage,
whom the past generation pats itself
on the back for having produced and
starred, and whose manner Of acting,
although of the old school, seems
about 90 per cent ahead OF 30 per
cent of the Hollywood idols, appeared
Yesterday for the first time on any
screen at the Rialto. 1t was
quiet, rather pathetic world pre-
niere." The great reaches OF the
theater were almost vacant, ana
many of those who attended turned
to their neighbors and asked, VINO
is this May Robson, anyway"
Miss Robson should not remain
under cover long. She proves in this
curious film, which Is almost an
hour too long, and full OF ph1loSoph-
ical theories, that are talked out 70
the nth degree, that she can doml-
nate anything she Is tn-and IN this
particular picture she taxes the
whole weight OF it on her none TOO
youthful shoulders, and, with dlg-
nifty and great charm, holds the au-
dience spelbound by what she Is
acting.
May Robson in the talkies. The
word should be passed along. And
those who sigh and shudder and
imagine that she has been swallowed
I'D in the methods of this age
should make a trip TO the Rialto at
once and see for themselves. AS
natural, it is said, as she ever was
on the stage, she walks into the CEN
ter of the cinematic spotlight and
stays there practically unsupported
for nearly two hours.
The story, which she makes seem
almost believable, shows her as the
lady lionesS Of Wall Street. The
richest woman in the world, taking
care Of vast estates, she outmaneu-
vers the cleyerest Of the spectators
is old, and spiteful, a miSer, and
one whom her children fear and de-
spise. until they learn to under
stand her real character. In the end
she manages TO fix everything up
and, II we are TO believe some of the
moral, suggests that II lady such
as she had been actually working
away down in the Street" there
would have been little danger OF q
crash.
AS preposterous as most of the
story Is, one doesn't have TO more
than half swallow it--for the rest
of the time there is Miss Robson-a
great lady Of the stage-proying that
she can be a great lady Of the
talkies. too. And she makes the
other actors in the cast look like so
much cream cheese.
e. de S. MELCHER.
THE Public Enemy" at Earle
With Good Stage Show.
WHEN a grand jury makes its
w scheduled report on the prog
ress of the battle against crime, 1t
throws into relief several characters
in the class Of public enemies. Very
rarely is there a master mind in the
lot A superficial view gives the i'm
preston of-ReakneSs In human quail
tiles. The chief occupation OF these
persons caught in the net Of the law
Is reckless thieying accompanied by
carelessness in taking human life.
THE Public Enemy" offered by
Warner Bros. and Vitaphone at the
Earle Theater. undertakes to picture
a supreme specimen of this type OF
predatory men. Climaxing q series
OF pictures dealing with gangland
and seeking to reach the high mark
in explosive drama" it has set itself
TO the task of being more frightful
than its predecessors. Its feld is
one which covers the liquor racket"
with rival forces in action. The