Evening star., 1937-12-25
.Keith's Film
Has Flavor
-l
OfSatire
Lily Pons' Picture
Combines Music
And Comedy.

.THE magic voice and vivid per-
sonality Of Lily Pons are util-
lied for some light-hearted and
4 literate ridiculing Of the prima
donna picture in Hitting New
High" which opened yesterday at
Keith's. As if rather fed up with the
standard plot of the story which in
wolves Observation-Disclosures, R-K-O
has chosen to be slyly humorous about
the whole subject. 1t laughs in Raoul
Walsh's picture and you will laugh
with 1t, unless you are determined to
be in another mood than that in which
director and cast 60 about their work.
And, even If you refuse to recognize
the japeries involved, you still will like
Miss Pons. Her coloratura soprano
voice never has been recorded more
beautifully than in the music of Hit
ting New High" in which her feature
number Is that exacting solo from the
mad scene in Lucia di Lammer-
moor" Blithely. she climbs to the F
above high c and you need know MOTH
ing about music to sit through the Sc
quence marveling at the miracle OF the
human voice. plus the recording appa-
ratus Of the modern motion picture
camera.
Robert Harari and Maxwell Shane,
who wrote the story Of Hitting a New
High" obviously thought the whole
cycle OF musical films has turned into
a pretty amusing thing. From that
premise. they have cast Miss Pons as a
Paris night club songstress who ought
to be In opera whether she wants to or
not. The agent provocateur for get
ting her there Is Jack Oakie (silent
partner OF the firm Of Pons and Oakie)
who Is both funny and enterprising
press agent. As means Of getting Miss
Pons to New York with proper recog-
milton OF her merit as a singer, Oakie
maneuvers her into the jungles of AZ
rlca. When the voice she reveals there
to the talent scouts Of the METROPOLITAN
Opera turns out to be that Of q human
being land a nice one to look at) in
stead Of bird or beast, fame and for
tune turn out to be the things around
the corner.
Mr.. Oakie and Miss Pons are not
the only laughter items in Hitting
a New High" Edward Everett Hor-
ton and Eric Blore lit must be a foul
to make an R-K-O picture without
the latter turn out to be a couple of
amusing gentlemen in supplementing
OakIe's. efforts to convince Miss Pons
that the Nets for her, and she for the
Met. Others in the cast who contrib
ute either to the element of conflict
or comedy are Eduado Cinannelli, Luis
Alberni and John Howard. All of them
give performances OF a standard that
authorizes the statement that the cast
ing OF the picture is excellent.
II you are no opera lover. you need
not steer around Hitting a New High
because OF the Lucia" number or that
from "Mignon' James McHugh and
Harold Adamson have created several
others IN the modern, not classical
mood, which Miss Pons sings with such
deceptive ease that you will be moved
to emulate her.
Hitting New High" is not Miss
fons greatest picture. but on the whole
II Is one quite in keeping with the
spirit OF Christmas, if, OF course. the
spirit OF Christmas is the light-hearted
thing it Is reputed to be.
lnere is a new issue of the March
OF Time to supplement the main fea-
lure, an issue which finds its ma ior
feature in the story of laugh-making
BY such radio. stage and screen comics
as JACK Benny. Eddie Cantor and Fred
Allen. The item is pretty decisive in
It's implications that it is no easv lob
to make the country huppy. J.C.