Evening star., 1940-12-13

fed cell block. They are Marjorie
Rambeau and George Tobias as a
pair Of gentle immigrants whose
presence provides not only contrast
for the dark doings of Garfield.
but add touches of drama and
comedy to the movement of the
story.
De whole ting begins when Gar
field cdat's Joie Lorenzo, is a kid
who thinks he's tough. He must be
like his daed pa. mebbe, cause his
ma IS a gran lady who runs a
spaghetti jernt SOS de kid won't turn
out to be no dope. Spaghetti jernts
amt no good, mebbe for brats like
Joie. He leads his pal Nicky into
a scrape and when de railroad dicks
nab 'em only de laws pity for
Mama Lorenzo keeps EN- from doin'
four years in stir, or whatever is de
lingo for reform school.
You'd t'ink no boy wild nice
nom like dat would go on being
bad, but dat's because you don't
know Joie. Joie, he's a bad one
While Nicky, de odder kid, goes
straight all de way trough to a
cum Loudly Gn chemistry at Moo
Yawk u, Joie goes West, gets mixed
up wild a gang and takes a rap for
tree years for safe-crackin'.
At de end of his stretch. dere's
a dame who's been Waitin' for him
supportin herself by writin' rich
danes names on checks. She
shouldn't have ought to, nacherlly
but she's such a pretty dame dat
somehow you don't hold it against
her none, feelin' dat somehow she
couldn't help it what wild him in
stir dat way and she havin' to eat
Dere's worse t'ings dan forgin.' All
de time, too. she's been sendin'
money to Joies MON to help Nicky
trough Moo Yawk U.
Wild the kid about to graduate,
Joie and Laurie (she's de dame,
see?) t'ink dey'd better scram to
Moo Yawk to see how t'ings is wild
Nom and Nicky and de spaghetti
jernt.
Good oil Nom. she takes dem to
her heart like dey was lambs in
stead of black sheep. OATS just
what Laurie needed. mudder love
and learnin' how to cook and make
beds, and go straight, so when de
doorbell rings she won't have to
tink its no cop. Dat Joie. though,
he's still no good. He keeps on wild
old ways until he gets in jam wild
the gang, has to lam, stays away
such a long time widout writin' dat
de girl falls for Nicky and vice
versa. Everything is goin just fine
until Joie gets word of de dame and
Nicky and goes back to bust things
wide open again. He'd a done it,
too, ceptin MON give him bust
in de puss, de one she'd been savin'
ever since he was little kid. Amt
dat a hot one?
Hot or not, it is acted with
great deal of energy and skill by
every one concerned. BY now, Of
course, Garfield could act the unre-
generate young victim of the social
system in his sleep. That he doesn't
probably is due to Warmers having
a rule against sleeping on the job
Miss Rambeau, on whom the studio
is determinedly fitting the mantle
of Marie Dressler. has one OF her
better roles both as to comedy and
drama as Mamma Lorenzo, the
kindly immigrant mother who held
out for years against the truth that
her son was a heel. She is abetted
in the comedy sequences of East OF
the River" by Tobias, whose talent
for comedy is used this time to
portray a waiter whose mind is torn
between the last order and what
horse he ought to play in the next
race. Also new to the cast Of the
story are Brenda Joyce as the good
at-heart moll and William Lundi-
gan as brother Nicky. The rest are
regulars in their regular. parts.
Alfred Green's direction has help
ed to make one forget how thorough
ly standard the whole thing is.
The Earles stage show this week
goes circusy in flavor, inspired nc
doubt by the presence 'on the bill
of Sharkey, the SEAL Sharkey, q
talented seal as seals go. gets some
rather bright assistance in the 4C
circusy minutes from Harry Stock
well, who sang the Princes songs in
Snow White" the Roxyettes and
Truzzi who juggles quite skillfully
and comically. Then, to round
things out nicely, there are Tip
Tap and Toe to show that tap
dancing isn't Just simply tap dane
ing. j. G.