Evening star., 1933-06-01
Explaining the Cinema's
Rough-and- Tumble Stuff
"Punches on, Jaw" Are Simply Action Touches
Inserted Into Films to Keep Cash Customers
on the Edges of Their Seats.
By e. de S. Melcher.

you are exhiliarated the way you used
to be at sight of little Annie tied to
the railroad tracks when the train was
growing In the distance and the hero
came along at the crucial moment and
saved her. Fists, after all, have always
played an important part in our ma
tional drama, although in the old days
they were more limited at than accom-
plished.
If you have seen this weeks isis
Hopkins" you must have noticed what
I mean. In this the villain merely
twirls his mustache in anger and Hero
Donald Woods gets all set to knock
the man down. That he doesn't even
tually is probably due to the gay nine
ties Watch and Ward Society, which
always had hand in such things.
Actually, we are as much puzzled
about the continual socks in the films
as you are-although a mite more toll
Grant. We believe however, that the
reason for their existence must be the
fact that writers and players and direc-
tors feel that way about each other
and they get some sort Of an outlet to
their emotions by watching other people
rehearse them.
If you are gentleman you don't, OF
course, repay your debt in this way.
Not out in the open, that is. But we
are afraid that it does happen-clan-
destinely-more with fists nowadays than
with pistols or swords That Is the rea-
son why the cinema harps on 1t so
much. The films know that fists exist and
that jaws exist. They must do some
thing to show that brother z dislikes
cousin H. Probably, after trying to
think Of some new form of torture, they
get little weary and come back to the
same old method. Fists and jaws, after
all, have always gone together. So
they combine them over and over and
over again. Just as they do everything
on the screen. Just as they overdo
verything-witneSs this weeks Laurel
and Hardy comedy which should have
been boiled down from 90 minutes to 80,
and even at that might have lost a
couple of minutes more.
'The Gold Diggers of 1885," which
has done better even than "42d Street"
In its debut at Denver, will come to the
Earle week from Friday. This Is
the picture which stars Joan Blondell,
Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler and others
and one which Miss Blondell ad-
mitted to us really belongs to Aline
MacNIahon. The Paramount Co.,
incidentally, thinks good deal OF col
lege HunnoF," and is spending vast sums
trying to make the public think ditto.
=. The film, with Bing Crosby, Oracle
Allen and others In it, is coming soon
to Loew'S Palace. 3. The gentleman
you saw yesterday in a new blue suit,
blue shirt, blue tie and new white hat
is Manager Eddie Gilmore, one-time
press mogul under Executive Carter
Barron, and now celebrating his first
vacation away from his Loew's Grand
Theater in Atlanta. The attractive
lady you saw with him Is Mrs. Gilmore.
The only mistake (as far as we
know that Gene (Keith Theater)
Dennis has made was to tell the younger
generation of Roosevelts the name Of a
horse that came in last. Bobbie
Arnst, formerly a Zegfeld player In,
was it Sunny" comes to town tomor-
row in "Whoopee." Leonard Davis,
well known local baritone, actor and
radio announcer, has succumbed to
vaudeville. He will do tour
starting almost Immediately and
that reminds US, why doesn't some one
do more with one Of our chief local
singers-"the singing Romeo OF the
police force"-Henry Nestor? /.
What happened to last Friday nights
performance at the Belasco? Was
1t or wasn't 1t? Ona Munson VIII
saw farewell to friends tomorrow night
at a N. w. banquet. Ernest Lup1tch
will be in town tomorrow.