The Film Daily (1929)

WE POINT WITH PRIDE TO THESE EXCERPTS FROM NEW YORK NEWSPAPER REVIEWS ON 44 PICCADILLY" REGINA CREWE in NEW YORK AMERICAN: "GILDA GRAY MOVIE PICCADILLY BRIGHT SPOT ON SCREEN. The Little Carnegie Playhouse has something to brag about this week. It is showing the American premiere of Gilda Gray's made-in-England photoplay PICCADILLY. Even in its mute condition it is the rainbow spot in a dull pictorial week. The drama is skillfully limned by Director E. A. Dupont, who has "Variety" to his credit. It is a motion picture axiom that film action must take place against an interesting background. Here it is provided plentifully. What Broadway is to New York, Piccadilly is to London. And much of the hectic wonder of that pulsing thoroughfare has been imprisoned in the picture. And if this were not enough the locale switches to the picturesque Limehouse district, which is populated with all sorts of bizarre and fascinating people. With a nice touch, the entire plot is made to hinge upon; the complaint of a surly gourmand about a soiled plate. It causes an investigation in the swanky Piccadilly Club which takes its owner far back to the dish-washing department. There he discovers a Chinese scullery maid, Anna May Wong, dancing for an attentive audience. She is brought out of the kitchen to bolster up a floor show which has been slipping with the popularity of its chief entertainer, Gilda Gray. Gilda incidentally is enamoured of the owner. And he of her. Anna May's Oriental "it" finally ensnares the nightclub man, who finds himself in her arms during a visit to her seductive Chinese boudoir. By all means see the picture, which, by the way is an adaptation of an original story by Arnold Bennett." QUINN MARTIN in the WORLD : "The Dupont settings, the atmosphere of Piccadilly and of Limehouse and of Soho, are very well managed, and the acting of the leading man, Jameson Thomas is extremely effective. Mr. Thomas is not unlike Ronald Colman either in appearance or in method." EVENING POST: "Anyone seeking a good silent picture, intelligently handled from start to finish would do well to visit the Little Carnegie Playhouse in Fifty-seventh Street, this week. E. A. Dupont, director of "Variety" is the maker of PICCADILLY which has a story written especially for the screen by Arnold Bennett and a good cast, including two actresses well known in this country; Gilda Gray and Anna May Wong. The story, simple as it is, is handled splendidly by Mr. Dupont, aided by an especially good cast of principals and numerous extras gathered apparently from London streets. Exterior scenes taken in Piccadilly lend plenty of atmosphere to the film. An actor named Jameson Thomas is very good as the proprietor of the Piccadilly Club and Anna May Wong gives a charming performance as the Oriental dancer out of the scullery. Gilda Gray is seen in several dance numbers." NEW YORK TIMES: "Perhaps the greatest asset of PICCADILLY comes from the camera. Mr. Dupont is noted for his unusual touches, and he has not spared them in this production. Even the opening, which ordinarily is but a staid, prosaic list of characters, has become almost part of the picture. The director has managed to get the most from his situations without overdoing them. Miss Gray seems to have been rediscovered as an actress. For a long time she has been docketed as an exponent of "shimmy" but in PICCADILLY she appears to show that acting is not above her. A prophet apparently is without honor; Miss Gray found it necessary to flee to English studios to have a chance. Of the players besides Miss Gray and Miss Wong, King H-Chang gives a good performance as the friend of the Chinese dancer. He is said to be a restaurant owner who went into the picture just for amusement, but he appears to be a finished actor." It must be good, and box-office Produced at the Elstree, London Studios of B. I. P. Photographed by Werner Brandes Physical Distribution thru Educational