Hollywood Spectator (Apr-May 1939)

a handsome young doctor she comes to know at the hospital. Part Seems Rather Synthetic CJ Mary Beth Hughes certainly brings an abundance of lush and sensuous qualities to the role. In a recent review I said that no young screen actress I had seen struck me as being more favorably endowed for filling the niche of the late Jean Harlow. Now and then, however, we feel her performance could have been further developed, and occasionally her essayal does not quite ring true. Doubtless Miss Hughes can stand some further grooming in the art of Thespis, but for these fluctuations she is not altogether responsible. The part itself seems to be rather synthetic. One wonders if Frances Hyland, the capable writer of the screen play, did not think up at least some of the girl's meannesses before she thought up the girl. At any rate, the girl’s resourcefulness at deception does not always seem consistent wiith her naive behavior at other times. Motivation of the character might have been improved at times, I believe, by the direction, especially in a concluding scene when she is being grilled by the police. Apropos of the screen play, a good many cash customers are going to wonder how the young doctor manages to carry the injured gunman— the lass tells him the latter is her brother — into a beach house belonging to a friend. Surely the place would have been locked. Lynn Bari Agreeable Direction by Ricardo Cortez is generally competent. Lynn Bari, in a not very eventful part, again shows increasing finesse and sparkle. I should not be surprised to see her in a starring spot some day. Joan Davis is highly amusing as an officious maid, and Henry Wilcoxon, Robert Lowery, and Alan Baxter give substantial shows. The sets by Richard Day and George Dudley, with decorative frills by Thomas Little, are, as I have intimated, extremely lade-da. George Barnes’ photography adds to the glamour. Despite the large num HOLLYWOOD DOG TRAINING SCHOOL Carl Spitz, Owner Fritz Bache, Manager Phone 12350 Riverside Drive North Holly. 1262 No. Hollywood, Calif. ber of characters involved, the film moves along at a good clip, indicating dexterous editing on the part of Norman Colbert. A fairly diverting yarn of the popular sort. The gods from the shoit factory may like it a good deal; more discriminating patrons may deem it somewhat too fluffy. Contains nothing for study groups. Not the best fare for children. Gentleman Crook Quite a Fellow THE LONE WOLF STRIKES, Columbia Producer Fred Kohlmar Director Sidney Salkow Screen play Harry Segall, Albert Duffy Story Dalton Trumbo Based upon novel by Louis Joseph Vance Photography Henry Freulich Cast: Warren William. Joan Perry, Eric Blore, Alan Baxter, Astrid Allwyn, Montagu Love, Robert Wilcox, Don Beddoe, Fred A. Kelsey, Addison Richards, Roy Gordon, Harland Tucker, Peter Lynn. Reviewed by Bert Harlen HOROUGHLY a master-mind is the Lone Wolf, who here temporarily forsakes a life of retirement, a lush existence amid his domestic aquarium of many rare fish, and steps back into the hazardous pursuit of purloining. This time, though, the fellow is on the side of justice, having consented, as a favor to an attorney friend, to recover a string of valuable pearls from a gang of crooks. And what strategy the man adopts; people are mere puppets in his hands. No untoward development can disconcert him; he can turn any situation to his advantage. Of course, it is all so much blarney, but there is a certain satisfaction in watching a fellow creature be so enormously clever. Rather flattering to the species. The finesse with which Warren Williams interprets the character is the primary asset of the picture. The eventfulness of the story, rapid movement, and some effective suspense are other good points. It is a crook drama of standard entertainment value. Some Loose Threads •J As usual, fortune smiles upon our gentleman crook — pardon me, ex-crook. People accept phony pearls without bothering to examine them. People fall into his trap exactly as he planned they would. The principal threads of the plot are brought together at the conclusion and tied in a nice big bow, the crooks and police coming together at just the right time and place. At that, there are a few threads left loose. I cannot remember that the murder of the girl’s father was pinned on anybody, which was one of the Wolf’s asserted objectives. Nor can it be proven that a man and woman who first purloined the necklace, ever had it. Outstanding in the supporting cast are Eric Blore, Astrid Allwyn, Montagu Love. Joan Perry is satisfactory as the heroine, thought the fact that the girl she portrays makes an almost constant nuisance of herself, following the hero around and gumming up his plans, renders the actress’s appearances on the screen not always popular. Sidney Solkow has given good journeyman direction. Lhe screen play was by Harry Segall and Albert Duffy, based on an original by the gifted and prolific Dalton Trumbo. A crook drama of a standard sort,. Substantial fare for a supporting position on the bill. Has nothing for study groups. All right for children. If they ask how. if crime does not pay. the Lone Wolf could have retired so comfortably . cook up something about his Aunt Lulu. ENTERTAINMENT VERYONE is talking about entertainment. Now, just what is it? It runs the gamut from the jig-saw puzzle to the football game, from the fun of old maid to pinochle. It includes the country dance and the fancy-dress ball. It vaults from leapfrog to the Olympic Games, from the rodeo to the Grand Opera. It projects from the toy lantern to the technicolor film. It extends from a labor of love to revelry and carousal. All — for one purpose; to amuse, divert or recreate the participants. Lhe Ancient Greek sought his relaxation in the race and the arts. The Roman, as exaggerated by Nero at the burning of Rome, gloated in debauchery and dissipation. The Egyptian luxuriated at the festival on the Nile. The Englishman thrilled at the Derby or Cricket. The Spanish senorita flirted at the bull fight or sparkled at the fiesta. J he Norseman fused with the Midsummer’s Eve merrymaking. Our Colonial dames and sires disported in the Quadrille or curtsied and bowed in the stately minuet. The South Sea islander regaled his queen at the Feast of the Flowers. The Oriental sprinted and dashed at the gymkhana. All, as some sage has said, for the feast of reason and the flow of the soul. Varied as the individual; diffuse as his ambitions; far-flung as his tastes; widespread as his ideal is man’s enter tainment. Who dares to hold a cold concrete cube of ice in his hand and keep it so? Who is so bold as to try to pick up the drops and reassemble them as a complete entity? Who has the courage to interpret conclusively the nebulous term, entertainment ? Isabelle Daniel. RAGE EIGHT HOLLYWOOD SPECTATOR