Evening star., 1955-07-22


est actor in Hollywood.
The hundreds of thousands of
dollars. after taxes. in which he
presumably is rolling around
should be increased by THE Man
from Laramie" which opened
yesterday at the Trans-Lux. Film
reviewers will be able to leave
their proudest superlatives at
ease in discussing this one. but
it is an apparently sound bet
to collect big at the boxoff1ce.
'"The Man from Laramie" is
q western with the new Grade
A flavor. This is the one that
assumes there was something
In a word, Character behind
the violence of the old Vests
violent men. With a corking
cast including Stewart. Cathy
O'Donnen, Arthur Kennedy
Aline MacMahon and Donald
Crisp, to assist him, Director
Anthony Mann makes the dra-
matte point effectively.
The cliches are there, in the
story based upon Thomas j.
F'lynn's popular magazine serial.
but they are masked by some
persuasive acting and adroit di-
rection. Helpful also in conceal
ing them is some arresting
CinemaScope landscape, in color
of course.
Stewards man in "The Man
from Laramie" is the usual
strong, silent, mysterious type.
The scene of his operation is
one Of those cattle empires
whose ruthlessly repressive
owner, Crisp. has worked out a
program of peaceful co-existence
with the Apaches.
AS the plot progresses, it de-
velops that Stewart has two
reasons for coming to Coronado.
The official one is that the
United States Cavalry would like
to know who is selling repeater
rifles to the Indians, the personal
that the Apaches have slain his
brother with one of the for
hidden guns.
Because he is an actor who
knows how to make the most OF
any material. Stewart is a con-
stantly interesting figure to
watch in the Trans-Lux film. 1t
is his most effective trick to
underplay the plots more violent
sequences and with such expert
fellow underplayers as Miss Mac
Mahon, Kennedy and Crisp these
are brought off pretty engros-
singly.
AS is usual when a loner un-
dertakes the cleanup of one of
these bad situations on the old
frontier ("High Noon." Shane"
bad Day at Black Rock"). the
conclusion is a foregone one.
There are ways. however. of
getting a maximum of suspense
into every standard move and
Anthony Mann. Stewards ia
vorite, is a director who knows
how to do 1t.
This. plus some superb acting
and a script wise enough to
avoid mere blacks and whites
in character, gives THE Man
From Laramie" a measure of
distinction as we'll as an newt
able boxoffice popularity.
GUILD SEASON.: With two
months to go before the first
of the Theater Guild-American
Theater Society's 9-play series
for 1856, approximately 5000
subscriptions have been sold
here. This is the report of Miss
Bess Davis Schreiner who, as
usual, is ready for as many more
subscribers as have already been
signed.
First of the Theater Guild
productions booked for Wash
tngton is THE Heavenly Twins" )"
starring Faye Emerson and Jean
Pierre Aumont. 1t will open at
the National on September 10.
October 3 will bring the second
play, "Anastasia." one of Broad
ways brightest hits last season
with Viveca Lindfors and Eu-
genie Leontovitch. "a Hatful Of
Rain" with Shelley Winters and
Ben Gazzara, is expected to fol-
low as the third play in the
series.
ADDENDA: Olney summer
theater's station wagon feet is
providing shuttle service between
the Georgia and Alaska avenue
transit terminal during the
streetcar and bus strike.
They leave for the theater at
7:45 pm. nightly. Incidental
ly, "Oh, Men! Oh, Women!" is
proving one of the more popular
of the theater's attractions.
"Swan Lake" "The Bluebird, 3"
"Nutcracker," and "Schehera-
zade" will be performed in to-
nights Ballet Russo de Monte
Carlo presentation at Carter
Barron Amphitheater. >. There's
money in those big resort night
clubs, as Wally Cox's fight with
the Las Vegas Dunes this week
reveals. Going after some of
it this next season is Van john
son, who is preparing an act
that will include song and COM
edy. Van started as a singer.
If you didn't know that. On
the heels of its triumphant Shir-
ley Booth festival of four plays,
the Cape Playhouse. Dennis,
Mass rOn1pS i'm with another