Evening star., 1939-04-19

oS ouuly doSol tcu. Lie Sly dIiu me-
logically into his Pearls of the Gro
Little Theater. If 1t had no other
picture would be worth seeing just
to learn how M. Guitry could use all
OF those people in single film.
Never having enjoyed intimate
contact with the crown of England,
this department is in no position to
say what degree of historical accu-
racy there is in a Gallo genius
suspenseful. humorous and slightly
mad narrative. Historical accuracy
is unimportant anyway in this case.
for M. Guitry Is merely out to tell
q good tale and, bless us, he does.
The fantastic qualities of Pearls
OF the Crown do not stop with
mixing Popes, Kings, Queens, Bor-
gias, the Normandie and Martinis
The script includes such diversity
OF language as English, French,
Latin and few dashes of Alb
byssinian. So cleverly is it directed
and acted that one leaves the thea
ter feeling like the complete lin
guist, fellow who did not miss a
word in any part of the alien
tongues.
The story M. Guitry tells is how
four perfect pearls found their way
into the top of the English crown,
and, more particularly, how three
others of the original set of seven did
not do so. 1t is a long story with
many turnings and, as is to be ex-
pected, some of the writings of the
plot are not so interesting as others.
There always is something good just
q few feet ahead, however. Maybe
1t is the slyly satirical moment when
Henry Wits table manners are
being disclosed. Or perhaps it is one
in which the director depicts the
brief life of the dauphin by showing
him sitting on a throne, then in the
next frame shows the throne empty.
1t does not sound funny, but it is
one of the merriest ideas in the
picture.
Kids playing dress up in the attic
could not have more fun that M.
Guitry and his cast. In addition
to writing and directing the pic
ture, Guitry plays four such diverse
parts as modern Frenchman,
Francis I, Barras and Napoleon III.
Nine. Guitry, Jacqueline Delubac,
gets beautiful shot at three great
ladies, one a modern mink, the
others Mary, Queen of Scots, and
Josephine
M. Guitry's dialogue is very bright
stuff, full of impudence and not
entirely free from wicked implica-
tions. He makes use of that mar
rative technique of which he is the
complete master.
He calls his story "a veritable fairy
tale" and he gives it an ending
that is the most imaginative thing
Of the season.
You will enjoy it, barring a few
minutes now and then.
X X X X
Loew's screened Prison Without
Bars" yesterday, and one of the
residual wonders of it all is just
how soon Hollywood will kidnap
Corinne Luchaire for its own pref
ty purposes. Mile. Luchaire cannot
escape. Even in period which
finds movie audiences so preferring
brunettes that the great stars are
growing dark, her blond beauty
commands admiration. Her fea-
lures are not the sculptured kind,
for which Hollywood always has
been ready to throw away its BIRTH
right. but they add up to an i'm
pressiveness that really is some
thing. Something like that of Nam
cy Kelly, Twentieth Century Fox's
newest find.
Mile. Luchaire, who is only II,
also obviously is a person with a
talent for acting. Her good little
bad girl, coming to the Columbias S
screen on Friday, is an excellent
portrait.
"Crisis," advance heralded as one
OF the finest documentary films
ever made, will open today at the
Metropolitan. 1t is the story
OF what happened to Czecho-Slo
vakia. With it will be shown
'Blackwells Island" which stars
John Garfield and tells story
which you'll swear represents War
ner Bros. kidding some of those seri-
GUS prison pictures they have made
-. The National thinks you ought
to be told, and so do we, that the
box Office for Maurice Evans per-
formances of Hamlet" and Hen
ry w" opens tomorrow. :. Better
not wait too long. Elanor
Counts, one of the girls in Bob
Burns I'm From Missouri" got
her movie job by picketing Para
mount Studio. The sign she
carried called attention to the fact
that she had pretty legs plus a
talent for acting. -. She was hired
because she was from Arkansas,
and Mr.. Burns is a setup for fellow
Arkansans. A double length,
~naR AaRuansA