The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-04-08
Promising Pictures Feature Programs Of Local 7heaters
DOMESTIC COMEDY
 STUDS POLL BILL
The First Hundred Years With Robert Montgomery
 Starts Tomorrow


 The domestic comedy which hit its stride in '"The Thin Man" and has been becoming increasingly pop ular of late in a series of man-and- wife pictures, strikes a new high note in '"The First Hundred Years, screening tomorrow at the Loew Poll theater.
 Robert Montgomery, popular star,
 has the male lead. Bob's career dates back years ago where he obtained a job in Rochester stock where George Cukor directed the cast Mont gomery learned the arts of the stage well enough to invade the Broadway shows as 8 leading man he re- fused the offers of film contracts for some five years but he gave in at last and So This Is College mark ed his film debut year from then he was made star in Man In Possession" followed series of striking successes climaxed with Night Must Fall" now in "The First Hundred Years, he returns to the type of comedy role which first established him.
 Playing the feminine lead is vtr. ginia Bruce, one of the screens most bewitching blondes, known almost as much for her beautiful complex ion and large blue eyes as for the warm disposition and acting talents which accompany them for these things she is indebted to her early life in North Dakota where she was born and in California where she has lived most of her life her early years were spent quietly at school after she graduated from high school her par ents moved to Hollywood where the career of Virginia Bruce really be- gins before she enrolled at college a director asked her girl friend to bring her to the studio when Virginia appeared he i'm mediately signed her to a contract for few years she played small roles at three or four Holly wood studios at which point New York beckoned and she went East in a few weeks after her ar- rival she was in the Ziegfeld Follies from which she drifted into Smiles, another Ziegfeld produc- tion, and Americas Sweetheart" then Hollywood called again and Virginia went back to make "The Love Parade" with Maurice Cheyalier and Jeannette MacDon- aid . . and then Slightly Scarlet" Miracle Man" "Jane Eyre" Society Doctor" |. "The Great ziegfeld" Born to Dance" "Between Two Wo- men" Bad Man of Birthstone" . and "Arsene Lupin Returns" to mention few but her blonde loveliness and talent have never been better displayed than in "The First Hundred Years.
 Breezy in story, in movement and in the delineation of its characters, "The First Hundred Years, wins rating as one of the best-told com- edy narratives of the season, timely, convincing and thoroughly enter taining.
 The comedy combination of Ro- bert Montgomery and Virginia Bruce is sure-fire, Montgomery never having been better than as the best designer who can't per- suade his wife, Miss Bruce, to give up her job as a theatrical agent to make a home for him. That the star can turn from a Might Must Fall" to the domestic high comedy of such pictures as Hive, Love and Learn" and "The First Hundred Years" proves him one of the most versatile actors in pictures.
 Miss Bruce in her best opportun- ity to date, handles her part with deftness and her accus- toned charm. If anything, hers is the most difficult characterization. The smooth touch of the two leads is amply complemented by Warren William as Miss Bruce's business partner.
 Every player in the supporting cast merits mention for making a light story thoroughly alive and real Outstanding are Binnie Barnes, Alan Dinehart, Harry Davenport, Nydia Westman, E. E. Clire, Torben Meyer, Bodil Rosing and Irving Ba- con.
 Richard Thorpe's direction is evil dent in the closely-knit sequences, in the continuous motion of the nar- rative, in the very casualness which makes the drama doubly emphatic by contrast Norman Krasna pro- duced from his own original story.
 For the further enjoyment of Loew Poli Theater patrons there is presented another big hit with 50 i much thrilling excitement and so many unexpected laughs you'll say i it's the swellest mystery-romance of the year and it is! Michael and Gloria Stuart are ex- | cellent in the leading romantic roles. 1
 Current attractions concluding their engagement this evening in- clude MT. Moto's Gamble, and i Boots and Saddles"