Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-07
From the Front Row
Reviews and News of Washington Theaters

uations which develop, the submerg-
ing of pride and apparently OF char
acter all go to build toward an end
ing which is more dreadful than you
are apt to suspect. 1t is all, how
ever, born splendidly on Miss Hayes
graceful shoulders, and, while some
may complain that she is unduly
severe with her makeup, there Is
little question that she Is striving 1or
an art which goes far beyond tue
mere outlines of personal beauty.
The cast in support of Miss Hayes
contributes some firSt-rate perform
ances. notably Lewis Stone as
magnificent failure; Charles VIM
ninger as an impatient photo
grapher; Cliff Edwards and Marie
Provost as the farmer couple, and
Jean Hersholt, who never fails to
deliver a part with everything he
has in him.
The stage show called "Fantas-
tique" is not so very much out OF
the ordinary, except for an earthly
ballet danced by Anita Avila and
be-deviled chorus, some excellent
top-hat juggling by Mr.. Stetson and
some humor which sometimes is and
sometimes isn't by Mills, Kirk and
Martin. E. de S. MELCHER.
"The Yellow Ticket"
And Landi at the Fox.
TRAVEL, back in the pre-Stalin
l. DAYS of Russia, was an impossible
thing for the Semitic race. In order
to get anywhere, be 1t on tram or
cross country subway, they had,
literally speaking. to be the owner of
a"YelloW Ticket" This ticket, to put
it bluntly, could be acquired only
by becoming a lady of the streets,
which was extremely diSconcerting
for many hundred millions who
stayed at home and didn't pay any
attention to the streets.
In the film version of this once
popular stage play, THE Yellow
Ticket" which opened yesterday be-
fore crowds and crowds at the Fox,
ELISA Landi plays the role of the
good girl who goes bad" mot really)
in order to sneak across the Rus
sian prairieS in search of her father,
who has been i'll in prison and who
is, of course, nothing but a corpse
by the time she gets to him. At the
sight of his SoullesS body Miss Landi
gives one of the most blood-curdling
cries on record and goes into such
shake with their intensity. There
upon Miss Landi vows revenge on
the man who is responsible for all
the tyrannical methods of man
handling humanity and starts upon
a campaign which turns out as well
as you had hoped it would.
Lionel Barrymore, an actor who is
seen far too infrequently on the
screen, plays the role of the wicked
butcher-a role which has much in
common with Herr ("ToSca") Scar
pia-and, delivering it in the best
Barrymore manner, he succeeds in
stealing much of the thunder of Miss
Landi's performance. However, the
latter for the first time really has
something to work with-and she
begins to climb the steps of success
with a good boost for the first flight
Her Characterization of the poor,
yellow ticketed girl, who falls in love
with clever press fellow (the right
arm of the Consolidated Press, and,
in order to win him, has to shoot
Mr.. Barrymore in the very center of
his being, is an Al piece of work,
although, as mentioned above, Mr..
Barrymore is just so much better.
Both do much to make this spas
medically interesting, although Di-
rector Walsh mas perhaps drawn it
out beyond the proper program time.
incidentally, newcomer to the
screen, Laurence Olivier, is particu-
larry natural in the role of the ''lov-
err" although the ladies may say
that his features aren't Gable
enough.
On the stage this week may be
seen the Fox Band completely OBJ
liberated behind yellow wigs and be-
ing amusingly Dutch. The rest of
the Around the World" idea m
cludes phenomenal undertakings by
Harry and Frances Usher and incl
dentals by Nord and Jennie, Tex
MorriSey and company in an animal
act and various dancers, such as
Phyllis Du Barry, Tommy Harris
and the Daniels, E. de S. M