Evening star., 1935-12-22

doesn't come out with the theory that
the movies have killed the stage-and
that sooner or later they will thus kill
themselves.
How then, if the stage is dead, can
"Victoria Regina" night after night
pack the National even before the
play has reached Broadway? And
again, why did Mr.. Whites Scandals"
whether you liked them or not) play
to standing room only audiences at
which the laughs, roars and other evi-
dences of good times pleased not only
the actors but Mr.. White himself, who
could be seen leading the orchestra
from the wings and personally super
vising each song and each skit.
Nor does it take that attractive
actress, Miss Helen Hayes, and Mr..
Whites radiant chorines to shake
moths out of the theater. In another
column on this page you will find that
Prof William Lyons Phelps says that
Nazimova is even better than was
Duse in her difficult role in Ghosts. :"
This admission by veteran critic is
one of the most important ever made,
since the current generation is seldom
given the breaks over generation
that has gone-and Nazimova is not
ordinarily mentioned in the same
breath with DuSe.
ON BROADWAY, the gleam of sue
cess hangs in the eye of such other
dramatic productions as "Porgy and
Bess," Paradise Lost" Gin spite Of its
panning), First Lady" the Washing
ton saga; Jumbo" the giant enter
tainment out of which sprang the
seeds of this weeks circus business at
the Fox; Jubilee, - "At Home Abroad" !"
boy Meets Girl" the Hollywood
classic, and Dead End" in which
Fifty-third street comes into its own.
If the theater is dead, then can it
be possible that such attractions are
being sold out nightly-and the boys
and girls down from school and COL
lege are having to find entertainments
which are neither quite so jammed,
packed and expensive? Can the thea
ter be dead with Nazimova riot in
1sben?
THE movies are helpful rather than
otherwise these days as well.
Great chunks of money are being
spent in the right direction, and If
you think all is tinsel, folly and sham,
then HE yourselves to such produc-
tions as "a Tale of Two Cities" and
Captain Blood" over which the sky
has been the limit and the amount
OF coin shed on them only goes to
prove that Hollywood can be wise in
Its extravaganza as well as stupid.
While we doubt if the former will
have as great an appeal as David
Copperfeld," it is nevertheless a cork
ing good picture and one which every
one should see. Its cast is as good
as the best you can remember; its
story is the one you've read with
the exception that the looks Of the
two heroes" are not made identical
and over it all Metro Goldwyn-M Mayer
has spread a great part of its for
tune, giving it the elegance, the good
taste and the perfection that a pic
ture based on such popular book
demands.
The same may be said for Captain
Blood" in which the central figure rises
out of the sea and the wind and the
d-blooded flsticuffs Of piracy. A
rollicking story for young and old, 1t
also proves that the Warmers were
shrewd in spreading their bank ac-
count at its feet and that the million
dollars spent on its production should
come back at it by the handfuls.
TN THE latter film young man by
the name of Errol Flynn comes to
fore as potential star. A tall, broad,
intrepid son of Ireland in his own
right, he steps out onto the screen and
instantly makes it his own. Those
who had fears that he was just good
looking young man with a will to act
need no longer bother about their
worries. Mr.. Flynn, is not as yet, an
outstanding actor, but he may very
vfu develop into an important per-