Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-03

women in the
Phillips Holmes. mass, when they
have violated
the code. Penetrating the rough ex-
teriorS of persons in the realm of
crime, it is possible to join with
the dramatist and actors in discov-
ering that the prison, like the outer
world, has its types and degrees of
good and evil.
While an off-hand Judgment would
call this production merely another
prison drama, it has none of the
superficial character of most of these
pictures dealing with convicts. Like
the story Of an individuals emotions
in war, there is representation of
both thought and action, as these
human misfits realize their position
and know that they are not neces-
sarily brutes because they are be-
hind the bars.
Walter Huston heads the cast, and
WaShingtonians who have recently
seen his work in Abraham Lin
coin" will understand the quality
of acting that he puts into the role
of the public official who sends men
to prison while serving as prosecut-
ing attorney, and later meets them
in one great group as he takes the
post of warden. His very lack of
heroics makes the emotional scenes
of the picture more impressive. His
outstanding climaxes, in which he
first faces hostile men in a crowded
prison yard without flinching and
conquerS them by his own mental
force, and later endangers his own
position by granting a parole to
satisfy his daughters desire for the
freedom of prisoner, are among
the finest bits in recent motion
picture history.
In his successive scenes he is as
ISOLATED with several other good
actors, including the popular and
clever Phillips Holmes, Constance
Cummings Mary Doran and Frank
Monroe, all of whom contribute to
j the success of the film
The scenes of the prison life are
so realistic that one can feel the
deadly monotony of the endless days
that reach out from the screen and
engulf the onlooker. From the OPEN
ing shots of the interior of the in
stitution, showing the prisoners
moving as a mass and not as in
dividuals, all taking the same pace
without a single miSstep, the tempo
OF the picture is set, and it maintains
its pace to the end, working up the
emotional climaxes the more strong
~ by this surface pace. Even where
life or death is in the balance, there
Is no hurry. There are lots of hours
in which to accomplish things when
ten or twenty years stretch ahead.
There is plenty of time for thinking
and planning and hating, when
every act of every day is directed by
some one else and is exactly like the
acts of $500 other Gagged beings.
The utter ruin of fine brain
under the system has never been
more logically developed than in this
picture, due partly to the restrained
acting on the part of the entire cast
and partly to the superb directing.
1t is good directing when 5 minutes
of checker game can make one
see six years of dragging monotony
recreation that is not recreating,
work that Is not working, and life
that is not living.
The news reel and several short
subjects complete the program.
D. c. C.
New Fox Film
Light and FancifuI.
Lax 6AAd VA yarn J2ldt great
auntie ate marshmallows over
and rocked herself to sleep thinking
about is to be seen at the Fox this
week. Called appropriately enough
The Princess and the Plumber"
and taken from the magazine story
by Alice Duer Miller, it is a pleasant
little story stitched through with
amusing comedy by Joseph Cav
thorne.
While Charles Farrell's voice is
still far from the ground and his
acting addicted to eyebrow whimsi-
calities-probably not his fault-he
makes the role of the plumber like
able enough and runs off with the
princess to the audible signs of the
audience. incidentally, although the
film Is stolen body and soul" by
Mr.. Cawthorne, one must admit that
Moureen O'Sullivan is an engaging
and attractive bit of royalty, and one
OF the really few out Hollywood way
who can definitely look, act and
speak the part convincingly
The sponsors of this, remembering
perhaps certain sugar-coated cpl
sodes Of the past few Farrell pic
lures which came very near being
Waterloos from vocal points of view,
have refrained from the usual COL
lection of amatory warblings. Mr..
Farrell suits words TO actions with
out lyric backgrounds and becomes
engaged without so much as half a
refrain of musical II love yous."
This jumps the film up several
notcheA in this opinion.
The story relates the romantic adj
ventures of the young American son
of a rich vice president of a rich
plumbing firm, sent 70 learn the
business" at castle which has been
rented by prince to an American.
There lives, of course, the lovely
daughter who loves the pseudo
plumber at sight and vice versa, ETC.
The love affair and the etceteras,
as a matter of fact, are overShad-
owed by Joseph Cawthorne, who at
the word of prince lifts his hat
and in doing so becomes the star Of
the picture. Louise Closer Hale
seems goods as the chaperon and H.
B. Warner unbelievable as the IA
Their. There Is also Bert Roach COM
mendably falling down a mountain.
The stage show, Cadets" sound
ed very nice from the outside. I'm
fortunately the crowds prevented
this observer from getting closer.
However, once inside-and go early
the newsreels and Ron and Don say
ing good-by to the organ and the
Brousilod Orchestra in splendid
form top on grand bill.
z. de S. M;
Second Week