Evening star., 1934-09-19

NOW ne Is OH Illc SClcSN. IlC Pldy D
with Norma Shearer and Fredrlc
March in THE Barretts of Wimpole
Street" He plays with as great an
assurance as a Shirley Temple and
with as much poise as Miss Shearer
herself. When he is on the screen,
YOU forget the dour Charles Laughton.
When he isn't on the screen, you
wish that he was.
Flush" being one of the greatest
dogs ofOthe Victorian era, is also one
of the greatest dogs of this era. A
sleepy animal on the stage and one
around whom bards and "bardesseS
df there are such things) had their
saw. he has been revived and enlivened
on the screen Instead of sleeping on
from scene to scene, he wags his tall
and shows more than occasional eVl-
dences of intelligence. II we may pe
permitted to say so, he acts l0O per
cent better than some of his mortal
confreres.
OUR introduction to "Flush last
" night was only a small part OF a
piant entertainment sponsored by the
cordial Loew company. While, at
6 80, the Shoreham lobby announced
that the Barrett" preview was under
the supervision of the Messrs. Lowe
(thus causing Press Mogul Lou brown
to quake in his bootS), when the magic
hour of 7 arrived smart Shorehamites
saw that "Loew" had been restored
to its heaven and that cinema re-
viewers were hustling up to suite 4OO,
where Carter Barron, newly Soapeo
and elegant in black, was receiving
his guests of the evening.
This is not the time or the place to
dwell on the virtues or the defects OF
The Barretts." However. it does not
seem amiss to say that the hit OF the
evening, other than Flush, the fllm,
the dinner and the pre-dinner Loew
vodka, was Angie Ratio, the manager
of the Palace Theater.
Mr.. Ratio, believe it or not, for 10
these past IA years and more has
steadily refused to attend such a
function. Said he: MY place is at
the theater''-and there he has stuck,
in fair weather and in foul, watching
out for the comforts of his theater
patrons and saying a warm Italian
''addlesticks" to all those who i'm
plored him to join them at a gather
ing of this kind.
Last night, finally. he melted. Fur
ther than that, he busted off his din
ner Jacket and proved to the multi
tude that he not only has such a
thing, but that he can wear it with
elegance.
Watch for him when you go to the
Palace tonight or tomorrow night.
He's one of the bulwarks of the local
movie world He's short and square
and his face is a genial duplicate OF
either happy Mussolini or modern
Napoleon Angie" has been here
since he was a pup. Like Flush" he
Is widely known and vastly popular.
DROPPED in yesterday afternoon to
- see "The Count of Monte Cristo"
at Keith's Would you believe that the
tall thin Culpepper of Henry VII
fame could be the hero of this highly
successful picture? And would you be-
lieve that the thousand and more
pages of this Dumas classic could have
been compressed into such an exciting
whole?
Frankly. a grandfather told us that
it was absurd for the movies to think
that they could cut Mr.. Dumas pages
and make sense out what was left In
an hour and a half's entertainment.
Grandfather, however, erred. Not
only have they cut and chopped and
weeded here and there, but they have
done all this with splendid results.
Other than Robert Donat, the young
Englishman who exhibits a strength
of acting and a strength Of personality
that is rare on the screen and who
becomes instantly one of the young
players whose next role you look for
ward to with eagerness, this picture
is remarkable for the ease and the
fluency of its dialogue and for the
way in which its fiction is so well done
that it seems to become almost fact.
ELISA Landi has been miscast-as
she has been almost invariably since
she struck Hollywood. But that need
not deter you from seeing film
that is well worth anybody's while
and which deserves the giant audi
ences that are filling Keith's daily.
And, when you hear that attend
ance records have been broken and
that this film will be held over for
another week you may also surmise
that all's not wrong with the film
world-and that it isn't half so
crooked as some may think.
Remember the Farnum brothers in
the silent version of the same story?
If you do, take minute of to COM
pare the two and see what further
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