The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-03-27
LoveIyLady
Thrills Her
Music Fans
Otherwise Drab Film Lifted
by Tunes; Hit From
Romeo, Juliet
BY JOHN w. THOMPSON

1OAAAN W. SUN
Gladys Swarthout in more ways
than one is the heroine of Give
Us This Night" showing at the
Circle.
This lovely lady with the glorious
voice saves the second of her movie
ventures from becoming completely
drab. Lovers Of good music may be
+ comforted by the fact that the film
is filled to overfiowing with operate
and semi-classical tunes, the best
Of which is from Romeo and
Juliet"
In the story, said to be the first
operetta ever written for the
screen, Antonio, a fish peddler
Gan Kiepura and his friend, To-
fmasco Benny Baker, break up a
performance Of "Rigoletto" in Sor-
rento They dislike the slaughter
ing Of the score by one Forcellini
(Alan Mowbray).
Then They Meet
At mass the next day, Antonio
meets the operas prima donna,
= Maria Miss SwarthouD, and she
Z asks him to sing with her. They
walk out of the church into the
hands of police sent to arrest An
tonic for smashing the perform
ance the night before.
In jail, Antonio is given try-out
by Bonetti, Maria's tutor and di-
rector Of the opera company. They
, all like his voice, and against his
, mothers advice, the boy goes with
them to Naples. There are weeks
of rehearsals. He, meanwhile, falls
in love with Maria, and she with
him. They plight their troth be-
meath full moon.
But Bonetti, also in love with the
girl, shows Antonio a song-poem he
has written as proposal to MariS,
and nobly Antonio fees, leaving the
way open for his friend. Bonetti
! realizes he can't have Maria, so to-
gether they go to Sorrento to find
[: the tenor. They conflde in his
mother, who, seeing that Maria
really loves her son, promises to
help.
Antonio Saves Opera
The opera opens the following
night and Forcellini, drugged with
E. drink, misses cues and sings fiat.
+. With his mothers persuasion, An
{, tonic arrives on the scene just in
{: time, climbs up the balcony in
+. Romeo and Juliet" takes Maria in
e his arms.
+, Mr.. Kiepura contributes little to
4. the picture His 'over-acting drags
, down many sequences which Miss
; Swarthout does her best to build
F.. up. Mr.. Kiepura has splendid
f, voice, but he seems to run away
. with himself.
. Miss Swarthout is even more at
: vase than she was in Rose of the
, Rancho" and still shows promise
. of becoming one of the screens
. best singing ladies if given
chance.
Best Musical Pieces
II Mean to Say I Love YOU" MY
Love and l." Music in the Night"
: and "Was There Ever a Voice" are
, the best of the musical numbers.
'Preview Murder Mystery" the
second of the Circles pictures, stars
. Reginald Denny, Frances Drake and
) Gail Patrick in story about MUIR
der in movie world
AS the last shots of the re-make
|. of Song of the Toreador" are
completed at the World Productions
Studio, another anonymous threat
ening note arrives for Neil Du Beck,
star of the film. He is warned he
! will not live to the film preview.
At a dinner preceding the pre-
view he drinks a glass of bicar-
: Donate. then slumps dead in his
: seat at the showing of the picture.
Death Is Stalking
Back at the studio, the director
, E. Gordon Smith, gets the same
; kind of note. His wife, star of the
! pictue, escapes death when real
, bullets are substituted for blanks
. in a shooting scene of picture
! Smith is found hanging in the
( studio yard, dead. A night watch
man is done away with in strange
/. fashion.
+ After much detecting and search
F, ing. the culprit gets his due from
. machine gun.
The producers have relied on old
f, fashioned hoodwinking to get the
, audience to suspect every one in
, the film. It's amusing in spots.