FilmIndia (Dec 1937 - Apr 1938)

ANNA $ T E N — The Glamorous Russian Anna Sten, the glamorous Russian star of the Garrett Klement film, "A Woman Alone," was born in Kiev, Russia. When her father, a ballet dancer, died, in 1922, Anna had to support the family. In her spare time she studied for the stage, but she soon had to give up this training to work in a restaurant. A group of child performers with whom Anna was associated played in another town. Their work interested the director of one of the State-endowed theatre companies of Stanislavsky, who had them coached for a presentation of Hauptmann's "Hanneles Himmelfraht," and Anna was given the leading role. Her performance won for her admission to the Film Academy, and at eighteen she appeared with one of the Stanislavsky compa nies in Moscow, acting in plays by Masterlink and Pirandello. ANNA STEN "Too Fat"! Anna then took film tests with the Sevkino company, and passed with flying colours. She was sent to join a unit working in the Crimea. To keep warm Anna bundled up, and was very nearly rejected for being "too fat"! After making several films, including "The Yellow Ticket," at the Machapron Studios, Moscow, she went to Germany to appear in "The Brothers Karamazov," "The Tempest" and other successful pictures. Her work in these productions interested Sam Goldwyn, who put her under contract. She made her Hollywood screen debut in "The Lady of the Boulevards". This was followed by 'We Live Again" and "Wedding Night". She then came to London specially to play the role of Maria, a little peasant girl who becomes a great dancer in "A Woman Alone". New Thrills Brought to Screen by "Dick Tracy9' The outstanding action thrills of the season highlight the swiftmoving plot of the Republic serial "Dick Tracy", soon coming to the screen. With machine-gun rapidity the daredevil detective and his federal pals perform hair-raising stunts as they battle the Spider gang and its sinister leader, The Lame One. Nine separate, desperate handto-hand battles are fought by Ralph. Byrd, who portrays the title role. And since movies nowadays demand realism there were no punches pulled by Byrd or George DeNormand, Phillip Mason, Al Taylor, Loren Riebe, or Buddy Roosevelt, the quintet of leading henchmen of The Lame One. Other breath-taking thrills include: The wrecking of a car driven by Carleton Young which sees the machine go hurtling over a 200 foot bank and bursting into flames. A procession of hundreds of mobilized trucks roaring through the city streets toward the Bay bridge of San Francisco to thwart its attempted destruction. The crash of a 100 foot tower crane that misses Tracy by a fraction. Tracy's leap from a 600-mile an hour speeding car to a hillside. Tracy's wireslide stunt, wherein he slides off a boom and rope from a chimney to another building 75 feet away. The crash of a roaring plane into a railroad trestle. Enveloping a ocean liner in a smoke screen by the Spider gang who plan the theft of a fur shipment. A 50-foot dive into the harbour by Smiley Burnette aboard a motor-cycle which leaps off into the river at 50 miles an hour. A parachute leap by Tracy while holding little Lee Van Atta in one hand. Tracy losing his balance while running on the narrow ledge of a roof, and hurtling in a 40 foot fall to landing bouncingly on two taut wires. A fifty foot dive from the stern of a steamer into the ocean while fully clothed by Tracy to escape the clutches of the Spider Men. 50