Evening star., 1939-09-16

that the film should have a fairy
tale flavor, since it deals with the
World War story Of the famous
"ash-can" feet of submarine chasers
as fabulous chapter as ever crept
into the romantic annals Of the Ma
tion's first line of defense.
No dull, documentary account OF
the vagrant, but highly successful
operation of the splinter fleet is
this one which a distinguished Off
cial audience helped to christen in
last nights ceremonies. The en-
phasis is upon the comedy and the
generally abandoned spirit of the
unbelievable enterprise, and Beery
as a stormy. rebellious old tugboat
captain engaged in a personal war
with Germany creates many hilar-
ious moment. 1t takes about Is
apparent violations of the law OF
probability to get him into and out
Of those grotesque pedicaments, but
the law of probability undoubtedly
was imperative in the case of the
submarine chasers. The script writ
ers. Wells Root and Comdr. Harry
Haislip, ought to know what they
were writing about all these long
years after the censorship which
kept the splinter fleet such great
mystery in its heyday.
With submarines back in the pub
lie eve, well. figuratively back in the
public eye, the picture has a peculiar
timeliness. Without implying that
they ever again will constitute a
defense against undersea craft,
"Thursler Af1oat" actually brings six
of the old submarine chasers out of
their retirement to show how gallant
such frail, fast little boats and their
zany crews could be. Many a Sc
quence pictures their famous Y-guns
in action. deluging the sea with
depth charges designed to blow sub
marines to their special hell What
ever trickery is involved, M-G-M
made it look very Illuminating. More
than that, it made it an encourag-
ing and entertaining sight for those
who have little stomach for sub
marines no matter how loud their
prayers to achieve neutrality.
In the course of all this violence
and scooting over mad and menac-
ing seas, Beery is introduced to
Thunder Af1oat" audiences as a
tugboat captain who is the quint-
essence of the rugged individualism
of that profession. He eventually
gets into the Navy, through a wild
anger at German submarines after
one has sunk his Susan H. Once
in the service he demonstrates a
majestic incapacity to understand
any of the rules. Yhe Navy COM
mand, he is convinced, is downright
nuts, not merely in it's notions OF
how to war on submarines but also
in its idea that it can interfere with
his plan to take on Germany single
handed. 1t is lusty, roaring role
full of the rich dialogue of a spe-
cialist in INSTRUMENTATION and Beery
has the time of his life with it.
Two little threads of love, one
paternal, the other romantic, rur
through the tempestuous action Of
Thunder Afioat." They creep ir
through the circumstance that Vir-
ginia Grey plays the salty daughter
of Beery and the fact that Chester
Morris, an old rival in the tugboat
business, is inarticulately in love
with her. Miss Grey's part, as il
relates to Beery, is the feminine
equivalent of the one Mickey Rooney
played with him in "Stablemates. u
1t occasions some humor but bit
too much of heavy handed senti-
ment. The character also is weak
ened because Miss Grey has trouble
dropping her final "g's," which is the
first requirement of tugboat daugh-
tiers.
All the best scenes, heroic and the
reverse, belong to Beery. He is most
convincing in the latter, typical Sc
quence being that in which he calls
the Navy all the dirty names he
knows because it makes him-a tug
boat master and an aristocrat-clean
DllgeS ana paint hullS.
k* X X
Gene Ford has pieced together 8
kind of crazy quilt stage show that
should be amusing once the minor
debacles of the opening show of yes
terday are past and forgotten. Grace
melody and humor are the major
ingredients. The former is provided
by Don Loper and Maxine Barrat
dance fashionists, and the 2(
Rhythm Rockets. The melcdy de-
partment is in the capable custody
of Staples and Cerny mot the COM
poser of those exercises and etudes)
The three Swifts, those comedy jug
glers you must have seen before
take care of the comedy and Harry
Kahne has captivating mentalis1
act. Kahne's act finds its climax
when he shows the audience how
simple 1t Is to think and do three
things at the same time. J.C.