Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-17

leaves little to be desired as far as
mere jazz and its virile corrolarieS
are concerned While this gentle
man, who sings with his hands and
losses his hat around like a rubber
ball is never anything but Ted Lewis,
he still has that happy faculty of
putting so much Of himself into his
work that you can never say that
he IS letting you down. Even II you
don't admire the mediums which he
employs, you have to hand 1t to
him as being one Of the most tire
less and willing maestros of jass on
record. His show is swift, noisy and
full of the dusky kind of dancing,
which means swinging hips, clapping
hands and the exhilarated frenzy of
frenZied feet. Mr.. Lewis sentiment
may be redolent Of New York's East
Side, but that needn't interfere very
much with your good time.
AS for John Gilbert, the strong
armed lover Of the silent screen, who
Is persiStently trying to come back
in the talkies, he and his new film,
THE Phantom Of Paris" are both
entertaining, but for different rea-
sons. The former because it is i'm
possible while watching him to take
him seriously, and the latter because
pretty good story to start with and
ends by cutting it to ribbons. This
is mostly the fault of Mr.. Gilbert,
who. unfortunately, tries very hard
and succeeds only in being an actor
with great command of noise. He
rants and he roarS, but you can
never believe him-and his only nat
ural moments seem to come when he
has his arm Ground lady. 1t Is
too bad that M-G-M should give
his such dif11cult roles. IN simpler,
smiling moods he is quite pleasant
and his voice has been trained down
and is no longer an ordeal to lis
ten to.
The members Of the cast who sup
port him don't do it with any great
devotion either. Miss Moorehead-
a villianess of sleek proportions-is
for the first time in her life COM
pletely out of gear. Lewis Stone
looks as though his life was being
deSpaired Of, and even the lovely
Miss Hyams doesn't seem to realize
that when Gilbert comes back as her
dead husband his nose is quite I'M
like what it was before.
The first part of the film, how
ever. is good, and 1t is interesting
to watch it go to pieces. And then,
of course, you're only there to hear
rs everybody happy?"
E. de S. MELCHER.
Eddie Cantor Stars
In "Palmy Days" At Columbia.
PUT for one or two hilarious
~ sequences the new Eddie Cantor
MIN, "Palmy Days." now at Joew's
Columbia, lacks something which his
other pictures had. Possibly the fact
that it doesn't seem as devastating
as some Of Its antecedents. is due to
the late ,cavortings of the Marx
Brothers, who vacated this theater
to give place to Mr.. Cantor. Com
parsons are, of course, odious. Lut
the memory of these four un-
paralleled horsemen of the comic
kingdom still brings outlaws to the
throat. and perhaps are the reason
why Mr.. Cantor seems to have
slipped little down the cinematic
hill.
The rime or reason for all this is.
however, truly Eddie Cantian. He is
wooed and pursued and consider
ably unnerved by the gargantuan
Charlotte Greenwood, who loves him
as no woman has loved before. He
oAl6o, 4lC CLldVtCLO dIIu Llc ScJo IllUO
the ladies' swimming pool and at
this point deserves the howlS Of
laughter which are thrown at him.
No gentleman with eyes and a face
like Cantor can help but be funny
when, robed In a shower curtain, he
walks briskly through the opposite
sex's dressing room to find himself
about to plunge into a pool Of
mermaids.
Like all Cantor pictures this is not
to be ignored. In fact, 1t is probably
better than all but one picture in
town. The ideal laugh provoker for
after-dinner relaxation, it will neither
tire nor provoke and should do much
toward looSening depressed jaw
bones. One of the few films which
now boasts COR otherwise) a chorus
you may see trick" photos Of
comely ladies beSporting themselves
in gymnasiumS clad in less than
warm attire, and through a swarm
of fortune tellers and gyps and jip-
pers you may find that Cantor isn't
what he is meant to be and that his
love isn't what he thinks 1t Is either.
It's all very good fun, perhaps
and probably would be 100 per cent
but for the lingering tonic which the
Marks provided. See it and laugh
but you won't die laughing.
E. de S. M.