Silver Screen (May-Oct 1939)

one dances as divinely as Ginger it seems a shame to me not to have her dance through life. Ah, well! Next we come to "Sorority House'' which stars my favorite ingenue — Anne Shirley. (And Anne is another reason why I don't like John Payne. He married her). Anne's father (J. M. Kerrigan) is a small-town grocer. He borrows $1,000 to send Anne to college, where she rooms with Barbara Read and Adele Pearce. The ambition of all college girls is to join a sorority. Anne realizes with no social background she is not likely to get a bid to a sorority. Then she meets James Ellison and it all comes out. He tedls her she'll have plenty of bids. Leaving her, he phones all the sororities and tells them her father is a chain-store owner. Next morning the girls are congregated in the living room of their boarding house. "Alice Fisher," says the landlady with an arch expression, "mail for you — that I think you'll be very interested to see." "Oh, thank you," Anne smiles. "Let's go see," says Adele eagerly. "Maybe it's a sorority invitation." "Don't be silly," Anne admonishes her as they start towards the mail box. "That could never happen to me." But when they reach the box there are SIX letters for Anne. She opens one and turns breathlessly to Adele. "It's from the — the Gammas! They want me to come to their party!" "Oh, Alice, isn't it wonderful!" Adele breathes. Anne rips open another. "And the Chi House!" she ejaculates. "Aren't you excited?" Adele burbles. "Excited!" Anne echoes. "I — I don't know what to do I'm so thrilled." A rapt expression comes into her eyes as she repeats, "The Gammas!" They take it once and then they have to do it again because Anne said, "They want me come to their dance" instead of "to their party." "Also," Adele adds helpfully, "I forgot my cookie." She's supposed always to be eating. I leave the set without speaking to Anne. That girl does something to me. With a simple sentence like, "The Gammas! They want me to come to. their party!" she can bridge the years for me and bring back those stormy sweet days of adolescence when fraternities and sororities were the Alpha and Omega of existence — when the set of a fie or a date was the most important thing in life and rent money hadn't even been heard of. Next is "The Second Shot" with Allan Lane, Lucille Ball and Evelyn Brent. When Dennis McTeague (Allan) comes to Panama from his camp in the interior, to go on a spree, his first stop is a cheap cabaret owned and operated by his old friend, Evelyn Brent. Because business has been so rotten Evelyn has just had to fire her chorus girls, one of whom is Lucille. All the girls are stranded and worried about getting back to the States. When Allan walks in, flashing a roll of bills, Evelyn gives the girl the high sign to act gay and make the place look pros ■j o r July 1939 parous.. Allan spies Lucille, looks at her and turns to Evelyn. "How many chances do I get to win this kewpie doll?" he inquires. "I'm sorry," Lucille informs him, "but—" "Lucy!" Evelyn interrupts hurriedly, "be nice to Mr. McTeague or I'll fire you." With that she nudges Lucille in the back. "Don't let old Paint-in-the-face heckle you," Allan encourages Lucille. "This is Mr. McTeague, Lucy," Evelyn introduces them. "Can the 'McTeague' stuff," Allan warns her. "My mother named me Dennis." "You don't look like a 'Dennis' to me," Lucille puts in. ||What do I look like?" Allan banters. "Oh, I dunno," Lucille replies — at a loss for once in her life, "something like Spike — or Butch." "Gee, it's nice to see you again," I greet Evelyn. "It's good to see you again," she smiles. "Remember how we used to hate each other?" I remind her. "I wish I worked oftener so we could hate each other more frequently," she answers quietly. That sobers me, too. For here is one of the finest actresses pictures have produced—and, except for bits, she hasn't worked in years. A big star one day — forgotten the next. No one who saw her in "Underworld" will ever forget her as "Feathers." Nor was that her only bid for fame. Every portrayal was a cameo — clean-cut, convincing. Seeing someone like Evlyn playing the parts she plays now always throws me into a blue funk. So I leave the set hurriedly. The last picture on the lot is "G-Dog" starring Ace, the Wonder Dog, Virginia Weidler and young Tim Holt. I like all of them but I'm just not in the mood for this sort of thing now so I jog out to — M-G-M fJlWO pictures going out here— "A * Hundred to One" with Melvyn Rudy Vallee, giving a soulful look to Sonja Henie in their romantic film, "Second Fiddle." They got along very well between scenes, too. Douglas and Louise Piatt; and another "Tarzan" with Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan. Taking them in the order named we gravitate towards where "A Hundred to One" is shooting. This is a cops-androbber story with a couple of murders and a kidnapping thrown in for good measure. I told you before that I can't go into the plots of these things. They take up too much space but it's a honey and you know how Melvyn Douglas is when he has smart dialogue to help him along with his sleuthing. This time he not only has smart dialogue, but Florence George to aid and abet him. And "Tarzan"? Well, Tarzan is Tarzan and Maureen — you know without my telling you that any picture with Maureen in it is well worth seeing. On top of that, this is not only the last picture you'll see her in for sometime (because she has a date with the stork) but it's also the last time you'll see her as Tarzan's mate. Don't say I didn't warn you. Ifiiit isliisiiii ..... fMSA lilt Before starting work on "The Real Glory," in which she appears with Gary Cooper, Andrea Leeds hied herself off to the beautiful Samarkand Hotel in Santa Barbara for a restful two weeks' vacation. 57