Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1937-04-16

New York, April 16-I have seen a
photoplay called marked Woman"
starring Bette Davis and it is good
film, full of drama and an unusual
honesty at the end-although it is
scarcely fit for the kiddie matinee
trade. What I'd like to discuss in to-
days lecture is the treatment accord
ed night clubs by the movies.
1t has been going on so long that
not much can be done about it, and
probably it is not anything that will
shake the fabric of the body polite
even if nothing ever is done about it.
But there is field for some enterpris-
ing producer to come along and do
night club film which, according to
the type of joint selected, mirrors the
real article realistically.
Miss Davis is pictured as an unfor-
tunate hostess in a clip joint" The
clip joint, it so happens, was a Man
haitian phenomenon almost as stand
ardized as the brownstone front speak
easy of the dry millennium. It was be-
hind a weathered, slightly disreput-
able facade and usually reached
through a steel-barred street door
and up a flight ot steps to a dingy,
comparatively small rectangular room
hung with faded wall Grapes, with an
orchestra platform at the far end.
There were tables along the side.
The real-life clip joint had a pecu-
liar and appalling technique. Rarely
did the thieves who ran it attempt to
crowd the room with suckers and
fleece them in wholesale lots One
of
"steerer'-he might be a taxi driver
or ne might be street corner loiter-
er with an eye for sizing up gentle
men out for merriment-got the vic
TINS to the scene with many a wink
and insinuation and then the fun, for
the management, began.
AS soon as the party entered, an
orchestra leaped to the platform and
began saving and footing away. The
hOstesses moved forward in a flock
and clamored for the nice gentlemen
to buy them drinks. At closing time
which might be set at 1 a. M or or
or 4, according to the whim of the
operators, the nice gentlemen were
apprlsed and a check presented. The
check might be $100 or even $3.50 or
S5OO-but it was always outrageous
Several lantern-jawed gorillas would
move forward and announce that, oh,
yes, they were going to pay and like
it. Or take the beating Of their lives.
And if they proffered a check it was
with the understanding that they
would remain in the place until bank
opening that morning.
Actual clip joints were distinctly I'M
savory places, as you gather Yet the
huge, modernistic place which is rep
resented as "clip joint" in the film
under discussion, filled to overlooking
with millionaires and stated by sin
lister gangsters in evening regalia, is
put forward as unsavory, too It even
has gambling room, replete with
dice and roulette tables something I
never saw in any night club, clip joint
or otherwise, on the Island of Man
haitian: but then there were some-I
wish there were more-I never visited.
OF course, to make every variety of
night club resemble, on the screen, a
combination Of the Ritz Crystal Room
and Madison Square Garden may be a
convention dictated by the desire to
convey glamor But marked Woman"
S pretty hard and bitter film. The
use of the typical clip joint atmos-
phere-any cop in the Forties could
furnish diagrams and specifications
would, in this humble opinion, have
added to the effectiveness of the story
Perhaps, as they say, the Hollywood
cinemakers are Woodworking lot
who never get chance to investigate,
ct first hand, the pitfalls of the big
city Or it may be they consider all
niOhf O111hc Olin Joints oo5 Iot