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THE NEW MOTION PICTURES
THEIR OWN DESIRES— M.-G.-M.
A problem play with Norma Shearer giving a pleasant performance. A boy and a girl meet and fall in love. Then they find that the father of one is having an affair with the mother of the other — and the affair is breaking up both homes. The girl feels she ought to stick by her wronged mother — and the young folks' dreams are on the edge of going to smash. Only when they are wrecked while canoeing do they realize their love. The situation does not work up into anything of dramatic power. Robert Montgomery plays opposite Miss Shearer. Lewis Stone is the philandering husband and Belle Bennett the suffering mama.
SEVEN DAYS' LEAVE— Paramount A tender and moving talkie, thanks to the splendid performance of Beryl Mercer. When the World War comes along and enmeshes the sons and husbands of all her old cronies, a London scrubwoman invents a son at the front. She writes letters to herself and almost believes her fabrication. Then, when a real soldier bearing the name of her mythical son turns up, she is baffled. He, it seems, is on the verge of desertion, being sick of bloodshed. But, when he meets her and comes to see her faith and courage, he goes back to the trenches. Gary Cooper is delightful as the soldier.
ANNA CHRISTIE— M.-G.-M. She comes, she talks, she conquers! Garbo fans can forget their worries. She is as great, or greater, with her speaking voice as she was in the glamorous silences. Her voice is deep and throaty and she uses it to splendid effect. "Anna Christie" was written by Eugene O'Neill, usually rated our foremost native playwright. As the girl, broken by life, who seeks refuge on her old father's coal barge, Miss Garbo is singularly effective. She has come to hate men — until a survivor of an ocean tragedy floats out of the fog off the New England coast. This stranger and her father fight for her love. That's the story.
THE STREET OF CHANCE— Paramount Likely to be the best melodrama of the screen year.
Anyway, it is a swell yarn of the half -world, "with William Powell giving his very best performance today — and that's saying a lot. Oliver H. P. Garrett, ex-newspaper man, took the now celebrated Rothstein murder and developed a logical and gripping story of gamblers, racketeers and the picturesque code of* the underworld. Powell plays Natural Davis, kingpin of the underworld and greatest gambler on Broadway. Natural never cheats — until the future of his kid brother is at stake. Swell performances by Kay Francis and Regis Toomey, too.
NEW YORK NIGHTS— United Artists This marks Norma Talmadge's talkie debut. Her
voice is attractive, but her role in this racketeer
melodrama doesn't fit her and the story itself a
combination of underworld and backstage — is trite. It revolves around a liquor-loving song-writer, his faithful wife and the attempts of an underworld power to win away the woman. Miss Talmadge plays the wife who tries to save her husband and then wavers before the attentions of the boss racketeer, well done by a stage newcomer, John Wray. Gilbert Roland is merely fair as the alcoholic composer. The only interest of this picture lies in Norma's debut.
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