Evening star., 1932-12-11

~ been made by every film
n reviewer in the country as
to what he or she thinks
are the 10 best pictures Of the
wear. when you come right down
to it. this list shrinkS down almost
miraculously to three good pic
lures. Thus we are inclined to
say that there we're only three
best pictures of the year" and
that they are Grand Hotel, Ar
rowsmith" and "Smilin' Through" !"
After this there was such a gen.
eral divergence of opinion, so
much scratching around among
the cinema highways and byWayS,
that while it is true that the
standard of the past seasons films
was as high as it has ever been,
when the final survey is made it
Is not easy to salt out seven other
films which can approach the ex-
cellence of the first three.
Back Street" which will prob
ably be Included among the win
ners, was outstanding only be-
cause of the super work of Irene
Dunno; "Scarface," because (prior
to that superior film, Il Am a
Fugitive" which, unfortunately,
was not included on the list it
was by all odds the most brutal;
and some of the others, in which
we are forced to include Love Me
Tonight" mot our choice by
long shot because the direction
. was so clever that it was made to
seem much better than it really
was.
While this subject by now is
somewhat ancient, and the hon.
sorable Film Daily has long SINCE
drawn up the names of those who
will win these cherished hOnorS, 1t
seems that this is a good time to
rank those in the theatrical game
and to include this year the stage
and the screen as one-Somethlng
which possibly has not been done
before.
The reason for this is that as
you look up and down Broadway,
and as you look up and down
Hollywood, there is little differ
ence between them. Broadway,
which at one time was keeping
pretty much aloof from its West
Coast neighbor, now must admit
that it is no longer playing game
of hide-and-see with it. Here
YOU may see in the flesh that
handsomest of current screen
ladies. Lii Damita, parading the
boards with Harry Richman and
Bert Lehr in Mr.. Whites modest
production, called Varieties. >.
Here again you may see Mr. Con-
wav Tearle and Miss Marguerite
Churchill adding much to the
-Ferber Dinner At
Eight" Here you may watch Mr..
Paul MUM, free from his cinema
chain-gang, delighting large au-
diences in Counselor -At-Law,"
and Miss Dorothy Gish emotlng
politely opposite that new matinee
Idol. Charles Lederer, in autumn
Crocus." Here also are a host OF
other screen celebrities who spend
half their time on the coast and
who, therefore, would seem TO JON
these two amusement centers
more and more closely together.
Thus, if this ranking OF who Is
who these days includes both
stage and screen names, the ex-
cuse for doing this is, that as
long as Miss Ethel Barrymore has
succumbed to the Klieg lights
whatever difference there might
thave been between them is now
negligible.
"A FTER viewing Miss Barrymore
in that less than light COM
-edy, Encore" however, we can
not possibly admit that she is at
She moment the first lady of the
theater. Our choice for the first
five major league stage and
screen ladies includes:
l. Katharine Cornell.
2. Helen Hayes.
3. Greta Carlo.
4. Marie Dressler.
5. Lynn Fontanne.
The gentleman actors who
stand, temporarily, at the hea6
of the list are:
l. Leslie Howard.
2. Paul MUM.
3. Lionel Barrymore.
f. Alfred Lunt.
5. Charles Laughton.
Such lists being always provoca-
tive of other lists, the first grour
might be augmented by the fol-
lowing:
8. Eva La Gallienne.
z. Ala Nazimoya
g. Ruth Draper.
q. Irene Dunno.
20. Norma Shearer.