Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Jul 1929)

94 Continued from page 62 as black diamonds ; and I fancy that the music gives him new inspirations for his own work. Heaven knows he must need new ones, seeing that he has to invent and design the settings and costumes for th: prologues at the Warner Theater in Hollywood. And all that, besides costumes, many costumes, for the stars. Well, anyhow, luckily for him and for his audiences, he never fails to get the inspirations. Those spectacles are worthy of New York, Paris, London, Vienna ; for Earl Luick is remarkably talented. J can't help staring at him a little, and at the other stars of the fourth dimension assembled for music, talk, laughter, and coffee. But I am not the only one who stares, or shall we use the politer word "gazes" ? loll^vtfood's Fourth Dimensic Another who uses his eyes, greatly to the advantage of his chosen work, is one of the fourth dimension's brightest stars whenever he appears in Hollywood — Russell Vernon Hunter, the young artist who is already celebrated. He has had exhibitions of his extremely modern and original work in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, but he sighs for Europe and will be appreciated there. I hope he'll take with him some of my favorites — for instance, his "Self Portrait," his "Woman of Moods," and several portraits of fourth dimension stars whom those observant eyes of his are always singling out for notice. He calls his work "expressionistic," and I think no better adjective could be coined for it. I should need several thousand more words, and many more pages of Picture Play, if I were to try to tell about the whole group of fourth dimensionists — sculptors, artists, script writers, singers, dancers, violinists, whom I met in that realm. But those I remember best, grouped on the colorful cushions of the bungalow in its fountain garden, are those I have described, some of whose faces have been photographed especially for Picture Play by Harold Brown. The big idea is, that five or six of them shall go to Paris next year, assisted by a marvelous colored cook, to open an allAmerican cafe on the Rive Gauche. If they do, it will certainly be that wonderful and also all-American thing, a wow. Continued from page 71 The scene is laid at a famous military academy, where "Bunk" Hill undertakes to get even with "Flash" Wells, the top athlete, by managing Cyril Reade so that he becomes the rival of W ells, and finally his superior. This is made doubly entertaining, because Reade doesn't care for athletics and is handicapped by the brilliant record made by his father at the same school. Finally he performs a feat of heroism in rescuing both his enemy and the commandant's daughter from a fire. Whereupon the three boys swear eternal fealty in the manner of students the world over. There is constant movement in all this, a great many laughs and invariable wholesomeness and charm. All the young people, including Nancy Drexel, as the heroine, are engaging and, thanks to the skillful direction, they react to the situations as young people would, not like blase actors imitating juniors. "Prep and Pep," though, is a picture to be seen rather than read about. "The Cat and the Canary's" Offspring. Paul Leni's direction of "The Cat and the Canary" paved the way for eager anticipations of his new picture, "The Last Warning," another mystery yarn. Those anticipations are not, unfortunately, realized ; but the picture is far from unimportant. It has the same eerie, gruesome quality that made its predecessor notable, as well as superb photographic values. Chief among its faults is its excessive length and the confusion in solving the mystery, which in the hurry of last-reel telling passes by the spectator and causes no surprise. In spite of all this, the premise of the piece is unusual. It concerns the mysterious murder of an actor-man The Screen in ReViev? ager during the performance of a play in his theater, with suspicion pointing to each player in turn. The theater is closed for five years until finally a new producer appears, engages the original cast and plans to resume performances in the hope that the guilty man will betray himself. One by one the players are mysteriously warned not to participate in the revival, until finally the threat of death hangs over the heads of them all. Eventually there is a chase through the flies to apprehend the unknown person who has been terrorizing the company, followed by the quick solving of the mystery. Dialogue is heard from time to time, without adding a whit of suspense, or even interest. The best performance, as well as the best voice, are contributed by Montagu Love, as the new producer, others in the cast being John Boles, Margaret Livingston, Mack Swain, Bert Roach, Roy d'Arcy, and Laura La Plante, whose sole duties are to look frightened and scream from time to time. Yet, for all of this, "The Last Warning" is worth inspecting. Underworld, But Good. It seems that crook pictures are capable of infinite variety, for in spite of the epidemic which followed "Underworld" there comes, now and then, an excellent one. Such is "Romance of the Underworld." This quality is due more to the direction and acting than to the story itself, but the former merits are so strongly in evidence that one doesn't resent the rather trite yarn which inspires them. It concerns Judith Andrews, a hostess in an underworld night club. She is unhappy in her work, and her troubles are increased by the menacing presence of "Derby Dan" Man ning, whose unexplained hold on her is sufficient for her to give him her earnings. When the place is raided Judith is befriended and released by Edwin Burke, a detective, who finds employment for her. Beginning as a laundress, she ends as a private secretary and marries her boss. If you know your formula, you aren't exactly surprised when Derby Dan invades her happy home and demands blackmail. As Judith has captured your sympathy, you are glad when she appeals to the detective, and still more pleased when he lays a trap for Derby Dan, whereby the crook is killed and the young wife's secret is safe. All this is illuminated by shrewd, ironic detail such as was seen in "Dressed to Kill," an earlier picture directed by Irving Cummings ; and the acting of Mary Astor, as Judith, and Ben Bard, as Derby Dan, is intelligent and restrained. However, the more spectacular performance is that of Robert Elliott, whose nonchalant detective is a creation which one hopes will not be spoiled by repetition. One's eyes never stray while he strolls through a scene, because each step, each flicker of an eyelid, denotes quiet authority. Trifling and Pleasant. There is a pleasant, civilized quality in "Captain Swagger" strong enough to make one overlook its lightwaistedness as a story. It has a veneer, even though there is little substance beneath the polish. Its merits are wholly due to the ingratiating Rod La Rocque whose elegance is always convincing, because it is an integral part of him as an individual. This fanfare should not drown praise of Sue Carol, whose femininity is Continued on page 100