Evening star., 1939-11-04

OF Cne DuZZ, Mr.. deu1nger has Writ
yesterday to the Earle's screen W
epttomi0es the war between the cril
excellently made picture, more au-
thentic than its predecessors, but It
suffers from too close . resem-
blance to too many other gangster
Aims. many Of which also have
had the face Of Cagney.
Hellinger's history Of the deadly
decade has q highly documentary
quality. His central characters are
taken from life and through their
thin disguises one cannot fail to
see the wraiths Of such colorful
personalities as Texas Guinan,
Larry Fay and others whose names
made 96-point type in that hyster-
ical day. These are the roles played
by Cagney and by Gladys George,
and whatever Gagney misses by
looking like his usual taut screen
self, Miss George has one of the
finest opportunities of her career.
On the stage, the movies also
contribute the headliners. The bill
arranged by Harry Anger is topped
by Jack Haley, most recently of
Tin Woodman fame in "The Wiz
ard of o." and Mary Carlisle, a
luscious blond whose celluloid image
is not an uncommon sight.
The script of 1.-THE Roaring 20s"
leaves no doubt of Mr.. Hellinger's
eminent qualifications for becoming
the historian of the decade. OBJ
viously he is writing out of a good
reporters intimate association with
a scene in which was planted always
the elements Of its own destruction.
His story starts with the return
OF the A. E. F., the bitterness of
soldiers who joined the prohibition
spawned army of crime when they
could find no other way to make
money. Thence it plunges violently
to the end of the decade along the
well-remembered course of degrada-
ton and sudden death.
For dramatic force, but in the
spirit of the basic text, two threads
of romance run through the Hell
linger yarn. Like everything else,
they are favored with bitterness,
for the four principals line up as
follows: Miss George is in love with
Cagney, who Is in love with Pris-
ella Lane, who in turn is in love
with Jeffrey Lynn. Humphrey Bo-
CART. who would have to be con-
spicuous in such a picture, is Just
in love with power and gold.
For those who are not just little
weary with its repetitiveness Gag
ney's performance as one more
gangster will be a thing of su-
perlative finish. The impersonation
to be remembered most, however, is
that Of Miss George. As the queen
of hostesses of the speakeasy age,
a lady with soft streak always
shining through her lacquer, Miss
George is at her best. Her wisdom
is always womanly thing even as
1t Is worldly. Miss Lanes contribu-
ton to the roar of the lusty decade
Is a portrait of young. wholesome
night club singer. 1t gives her the
first chance to sing that she has had
IN several pictures, and her sweet
ness of voice and temperament has
an especially fetching quality against
its sordid background. The others
all do high credit to their magnum
cum laude degrees from Warner
Bros. crime school.
Some remarkable touches have
gone into the making of "The Roar
Ing 20s," many of which have to
DO with making 1t more emphati-
cally dramatic as an obituary notice
OF gangsterdom. Especially effective
the way 1t is played is Cagneys
death on the steps of a cathedral,
thing that might easily have been
overdone.
Miss Carlisle, the pleasant lass
who has been the object of Bing
Crosby's cinematic affections any
number of times, proves quite as
personable and charming with foot
lights instead of Kleig lights staring
her In the face. Yesterdays matt
nee audience waxed no end en-
thusfastic over her skit with Jack
Haley, a daft romantic affair in
which she is the aggressor, over her
singing Of Baby Me" and perhaps
just over her general contours. It
Is nice to have Mr.. Haley about, too,
for his particular brand of humor
Is mighty enjoyable. He is a very
funny fellow, this Mr.. Haley.
The rest of the Earle's stage pro-
gram is devoted to the swing antics
OF Jack Teagarden's orchestra.
which are something scintillating
as swing antics 60, interspersed with
some jitterbugging by four enthusi-
astic people and some expert Jug
Cling by Howard Nichols