Evening star., 1933-05-30
BY MOLLIE MERRICK.

INAGhAtAN1As
HOLLYWOOD, Calf, May 80 (N.A.
NA).-When some necessary changes
are made and vital cutting is done,
Dinner at Eight" will be one Of the
big picture sensations of the year. As
it is-in its first preview stage-it is a
tour de force of acting and directorial
talent, with the least green laurels 60
ing to the adaptors who have done some
rather clumsy things with the Kauf-
man Ferber play, but, fortunately,
things so arranged that they may pe
cut out with no loss to the picture.
Overfootage, which kept us in the
theater for some hours and 10 min
utes, gives ample opportunity to remove
the explanations which the adaptors
thought necessary to add to the action
of the story. The action was, at all
times, clearly understandable, so the
explanative scenes became ant1-cllmax
and redundant to a degree.
But out of it all came a Marie Dress
Ter whose performance is one Of the
finest in a lifetime of good work. AS
Carlotta Vance, the retired but not re-
tiring stage star, Marie Dressler gives
US a depth Of psychology and fund OF
fumor not offered by every role. She
Sustains the humor OF the piece
throughout and to her falls the tag
line at the end-and here may I say
that the adaptors have surpassed the
authors in giving the play the brilliant
finish it should have had. They de-
serve credit, too, for their elimination
OF the kitchen Scene-eXcesS cargo in
the theater version.
John Barrymore as the has-been actor
is excellent. His reading of the role
had a fine restraint; the part IS very
tempting in its opportunities for over
playing. Director George Cukor did a
Job which is on a par with his Bill OF
Divorcement" and the touches he intro
the girls picture and dropping 1t out
into the windy night before he suicides
rs one of the telling bits.
Two excellent characterizations in
The parts of Dan Packer by Wallace
Beery and the hardboiled agent with a
heart by Lee Tracy will not be easily
forgotten. Beery gives one of those
rough-and-ready humans we all love to
see on the screen or stage but pray for
deliverance from in real life. And the
beautiful mixture of heart and hardness
in lie Tracys version Of the agent Is
perfection.
II you are a Jean Harlow fan this
girls performance will thrill you, and
- II you are not you will still take of
! your hat to one of the best bits OF
characterization you've ever seen. As
Kitty Packer, Jean Harlow plays an
ex-hat check girl gone rich, but only
rich. There is no trace of caricature
in her version of the shoddy little beau
ty with her transparent excuses, al
fairs and cheap tactics. And she is
basically raw in the quarrel scene with
out being hysterical. She is also. I
might add, so easy to look at!
Billie Burke, as the wife, modelled
her version on Hedda Hopper's inter-
pretation in the local stage preSenta-
ton. Her big hysterical scene with her
husband-Lionel Barrymore-and her
daughter, Madge Evans, carried the
precise tempo necessary at the mo-
ment. Madge Evans, very fine in Hell
Below" was disappointing as the deb
utante and wore costume in her first
scene which would do justice to a
woman of 50-Odd in year when debu-
tante clothes are both chic and bizarre
Louise Closer Hale is one of my en-
thusiasn1s, so her version of those dry
lines given to the poor relation delight
Gu IIlb DtyOilu way ItODoOll dllU
Elizabeth Patterson came in for the
small parts of the cook and the Sec
retary to Jordan, which gives you an
idea of how beautifully this picture Is
cast. both these actresses being artists
in the line.
The play was purchased at cost o.
$4,000. Its entire production ant
distribution will bring it somewher,
around 100000. should hazard ct {
rough guess. Only eight weeks wer'
consumed in its entire adaptation ant
making If some very clumsy thing
went on in the adapting. all Of then
can easily be repaired with the cut
ter's shears. adding to the picture
strength. The public will eat this on
up If 1 know anything about it, be
cause every woman has at some tim
or other regardless of her income, trie
20 give dinner party and had every
thing 20 wrong. And every man ha
had a dinner party going on in hi
home on night when things went yer
wrong with his business or his invest