Smyrna times., 1933-05-31
MONIES S
NkskAksa 3ssssssssz&kaa. aa.xSSsksx4
Attractions at Strand Theatre

America be like in 1910? That is
the question asked and answered in
Men Must Fight" new Metro
Goldwyn-Mayer screen drama. 1t
has an all-star cast headed by
Diana Wynyard of "Rasputin and
The Empress" and "Cavalcade"
fame, Lewis Stone, Phillips Holmes,
May Robson and Ruth Selwyn. The
production is said to be one of the
most unusual pictures to come out
of Hollywood. 1t covers develop
ments in America from the end of
the last World War to the period
of 1910 in an effort to picturize
what the next war will be like.
Robert Young, who is also appear
ing in Joan Crawford's new hit,
Today We Live" heads the sup
porting cast and prominent roles
are filled by Robert Greig, Hedda
Hopper, Donald Dillaway and Mary
Carlisle. The picture depicts the
drama of a woman who, losing her
lover in one war, fights to prevent
her son from being forced to take
up arms in another war. Daring
in thought and speech, it is not
war play but an anti-war play, a
story of woman's war against
war.
Friday and Saturday Delightful
comedy, with a liberal allowance
of drama, makes the Internal Ma
chine" new Fox film production,
one of the most enjoyable pictures
offered to local audiences in some
months. Chester Morris and Gene
We've Tobin head the cast, and both
turn in excellent performances.
Miss Tobin, first revealed to the
world as an excellent comedienne
in zone Hour With You" has
much stronger role in this picture
and acquits herself with honors.
Morris is always dependable and he
is especially good in his comedy
scenes. And we believe that Victor
Jory's work is one of the seasons
triumphs.
Monday and Tuesdays Spectacle
upon spectacle, magnificence out
doing itself-Cecil B. DeMille's
The Sign Of the Cross" treats aud
fences to a vivid picture of pagan
Rome in all its glory. Many be-
lieve, and steadfastly contend, that
the day of the film spectacle passed
with the advent of talking pictures.
It remained for the master of the
spectacle in the silent days to
prove that sound had only served
to increase the scope and effective
ness of this type of entertainment.
Here is unfolded the whole pageant
of Rome in the time of Nero-at
once the most dissolute and the
most colerful period in Roman his
tory. Here is the dramatic con-
trast between the palaces of the
patrician Romans and the humble,
hidden abodes of the early Chris
tians-on the one hand the wicked
Empress Poppaea in her luxurious
bath of asses milk; on the other,
the Christian girl, Mercia, minister
ing to the tortured and hunted
among the people of her faith. And
here, as climax to the whole
spectacle, is the Circus Maximus
with its gladiatorial combats, its
wrestling matches between black
men and bears or crocodiles, its
battles between amazons and
dwarfs, its chariot races, and its
featured event-the feeding of the
Christians to the lions. Here, in
short, is an unforgettable pano-
rama of an age of blood and licen-
tiousness and passion and majesty.
Nearly 1900 persons made up the
cast of ''The Sign of the Cross"
These include Frederic March, Ellis
sa Landi, Claudette Colbert, Char
les Laughton and thousands of Tex
tras" who appear in Roman street
scenes and in the arena in which
Nero stages his bloody games ''The
Sign of the Cross" merits extrav-
agant praise. 1t is difficult to inn
agine more perfect Nero than
Charles Laughton. The manner in
which this young Englishman por-
trays the cruelty, the lewd mad
ness of Nero and yet maintains an
absolute semblance of reality, is
little short of miraculous. 1t is a
performance that will go down on
the screen role of honor. AS the
cruel sensualist, Poppaea, Claud-
cite Colbert is also responsible for
performance of unusual brilliance
ELISA Landi rises TO new and un-
expected heights of emotional act
ing as the Christian, Mercia, and
Fredric March surpasses anything
he has ever done for the screen as
the favorite of Nero's court, Mar
Gus Superbus, whose love for the
Christian girl proves stronger than
tradition, wealth, position or even
life