Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-31
The snoring picture c4lbnm
By Robert E. Sherwood.
HERE Is always Q hot contest for
the coveted distinction, worst
nictiIYe of the wear" The field

HERE Is always hot contest fol
the coveted distinction, worst
picture Of the year" The hele
i is q huge one and filled witt
worthy, formidable contenders
It is, therefore, unwise to make any
emphatic predictions as to which en-
trant will win.
However, I feel that T am In q posi-
ton to cast OF caution and announce
thst the struggle for the low-water-
mark title Of this year has already been
settled. For I have just seen Reno,
q film based on Cornelius Vanderbilt
jr.'s, great sociological romance. ] am
free to state that II any one can show
me worse picture In 1881, ! shall not
try to look at 1t.
The star of "Reno'' is Ruth Roland
who In the old days was always being
continued next week. No lady has ever
been left in greater number Of en-
barrassing situations. One week the
final fadeout would find her on the
brink of Niagara, the next week in the
path of the Overland Limited, the third
week she would be suspended by her
long eyelaSheS over a cauldron Of boil
ing acid In the secret retreat OF some
fiendish Chinaman. Some of the Ole
serial flavor is apparent in Reno" but
II COHJAlLlS, IcBTCb 70 say, IlOuC VI
the old serial thrills. Miss Roland again
suffers refined tortures at the hands
Of q leering heavy cher busband). and
she is again infinitely noble, brave and
virtuous under pressure. But with the
addition of spoken dialogue-and espe-
cially the kind of dialogue one would
expect to find in a novel by Cornelius
Vanderbilt, jr.-the charm Is dissipated
There Is a big moral In Reno" to
the effect that after all we're only hu-
man and apt to have faults, so why not
forgive and forget. That is good, sound
advice, and every one who sees Reno
will pay heed to it and forget at once
that there ever was such an offering
Unfortunately, there are other films ir
prospect on the same theme, and these
may act as grim reminders. One OF
them, entitled Merry Wives OF Reno,
Is now in production, and the rumor Is
that its star, Loretta Young, will COM
bine pleasure with business by obtaining
her own divorce while on location In
| Nevada.
Miss Young certainly has a remarka-
| bic fair for news value. Her runaway
marriage to Grant Withers was so un-
utterably romantic that movie-mac
maidens all over the world swoonec
| with vicarious ecstasy. Now she threat.
ems to make an equally good story out
Of her divorce.
WILL HAYS has promised that next
season will witness great revival
of morality and there will be nc
| further intimations Of sex or crimi.
nality (kindred subjects) on the screen
I have examined the published plan:
OF some of the leading producing com.
panies, and I can only conclude thai
news of Mr.. Hays promise has not yei
| reached them. Indeed, the announce.
ments indicate that the coming Sum.
mer and Fall are due to be hotter thar
ever.
Here are a few selections from the
Fox program: Bad Girl" featuring
Sally Eilers, which is described as the
story Of a "red-lipped shopgirl. Iumult
Clothes. Boy friends. Fun. Gayety
Kisses. Aching with suppressed emo
tons"
THE Yellow Ticket" Modest maid
chaste, lovely-caught in the avid clutch
of ignoble nobles-lured to luxury
branded by this sign of shame"
wicked" Gun mol with baby
Felled by fate. Was she wicked OF
weak? Primal woman at grips with
law. love and decency."
Skyline" Eyes flash-lips touch
it she who paid?"
In Her Arms" Oriental pride
| yields to Partisan kisses in a duel Of
male might and female charm"
THE Eysterical Age" "Whoopet
making on the primrose path-where
only prir1roses are prir1. Kiss-es-kiss-
can comedy of the younger generation
petting and partying."
"Rogues' Gallery" why did she &c
hay wire? Was it fame, finery OF
fame?"
"A Ticket to He'll" "A girl lifting
herself by her shoulder straps paid as
she went and went far"
Other titles on the Fox list are Sugar
Daddies," Human Toys" Devils
Daughter" Some Girls Are Dangerous, -
Honeymoon" Champagne" "Alimony
Queens" Cheating she Wanted a
Millionaire" and 'Disorderly Conduct. y
***H
THE Universal program sounds even
more alluring to those who, as P.
G. Wodehouse puts it, like their bed
time stories a bit salty" There will be
several follow-ups of "Dracula," includ-
ing "Frankenstein' Ono man has ever
seen his like-no woman ever felt his
white-hot kiss'D and THE Murders In
the Rue Morgue."
BY way of proving that the gangster
era has passed, there will be Baby
Faced Gangster" 1.-THE hero of this "cut
his teeth on a sawed-off shotgun'o
Bullet Proof" "a "high-pressure, true
honest melodrama of men, women and
guns'D, Homicide Squad" ("murder on
the loose-blazing bullets'D and "A
Lady of Resource" ("she was queen of
the bootleggers, and what a queen!).
"Barbary Coast will tell Of the land
where men kill for smile, and die
for kiss. Leering facss-slippery I'm
gers-hgures that once were men"
"Derailed," concerning men hard as
nails who take their women where they
find them"
Heaven on Earth Raging rivers
Of romance! Turbulent tides of pas
sicn!"
Waterloo Bridge" I'm spite of her
lurid past he loved her!"
There will also be one called "The
Spirit of Notre Dame" dedicated to
the incompatible Knute Rockne," and
1ax,E ia ~ n