Evening star., 1934-01-19
MORRIS AT THE RIALT0
IN "KING FOR A DAY"

CHESTER MORRIS comes to no
happy end in "King for q Day." In
fact, he is electrocuted, and he does not
pray or make any exciting confessions
or get himself saved at the last minute.
as any film hero about to be executed
should do. There is practically no con-
ISOLATION at all in the way Mr.. Morris
works himself around to enforcement
on what the boys know irreverently as
the hot seat. He has not done any
numbering. he is making the great sac
rifice for his sister and not for some
lovely siren who has insnared his heart,
and he never was much Of help to his
clergyman father.
These unfortunate circumstances
might prove too much for the tender
hearts Of movie fans, If it did not so
happen that King for Day" is so
weird and inert the citizens out front,
after watching it an hour or more, can
think Of no place they'd rather see Mr..
Morris made king than on the electrical
throne. He has struggled along man
fully with a prize fighter and the hey
day story, ramming his arms around
pugilistically, albeit in the wrong direc-
tions, and smiling his bravest to keep
up the spirits of a poor company. The
battle so obviously Is losing one, how
ever, 1t seems almost lucky his sister
happened to kill her paramour and
give him the opportunity to take the
quick and heroic way to oblivion.
Kid Williams (Mr. Morris) Is a small
town youth who finds his happiness in
going around poking fellow citizens. He
wins fight or two in the leaky roof
circuit, and his managers bring him to
New York, where Mr.. Slapsy Make
Rosenbloom. the light heavyweight
champion, slaps him right out Of the
ring and back into his sodajerker uni
form. All disguised In her war
paint, Miss Alice White comes along
such as that Is. Then Mr.. Morris sis
ter deserts the old home town of Ma
sonville and her reverend father and
her mother, and comes to New York.
She dances right into q chorus and
thence into the arms Of a sinister gent
who manages prizefighters All this, of
course, Is building up to a very great
climax, indeed. The manager makes
Kid Williams a championship con-
tender; the sister plants her favor
where it seems best. The day before
the beeg fight, the sister (who Is Miss
Helen Twelvetrees If you haven't heard)
shoots friend manager to keep him
from revealing her unoriginal sin to
her brother-that being, of course, one
of the best ways to keep secret, to
shoot somebody around the house and
then hope the police and the news
papers and all those curious people will
not begin asking questions.
Well, Mr. Morris discovers what has
happened. sends his sister home, plants
his hngerprints on the murder gun, and
goes away to win the world champion
ship. There's the big climax, see? He
is in there knocking the champion all
over when the detectives from head
quarters lump into the ring at the count
of 10 and snatch him. Only you don't
see, because after this climax is all
worked up in the prize ring, it disap-
pears suddenly. and all you see is the
Rev. John Williams having paralytic
stroke back home In front Of the radio.
There are some night club scenes in
this picture, If you like them, and you
might want to look at man named
Warren Hyman. who gives a superb i'm
perSonation of a slug-nutty pug.
The auxiliary program at the Rialto
includes Louise Fazenda in a short
called Mountain Music" and the usual
news reel R. B P Jr