Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Eugene register-guard. (Eugene, Or.) 1930-1983 | View Entire Issue (April 21, 1940)
Page Fourteen; THE REGISTER. GUARD, EUGENE, OREGON Screen World by Ridgely Cumraings i ...visas! i 'I'! BURGESS MEREDITH and Belly Field, above, are shown In icene from "Of Mice and Men," film made from John Steinbeck's plar and novel which opens at the McDonald theater Wednesday. r ?'7 9,ZJf lt.i ' Jim i V' This Week at the Theaters CHARLES LAUGHTON. above, plays tbe deformed Quasimodo In "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," RKO's historical spectacle which is now playing at the State theater. Comic Hits Blackout Trench Without Tears," Eng-Ushr-made film version ot the stags success, opening Wednesday at the McDonald Theater, was the first picture to "crack the black out" with a lone run In London. Starring Hay Millnnd and Ellen Drew, its appeal to Lnndon audi ences must have been great, for it tells a gay story in which a fem inine huntress. Ellen Drew is ' turned loose In a school where a half dozen young men are sturiy- ' lng French to enter the diplomatic service. AMERICAN CONSUL Charles Winnlnger, veteran character actor, portrays an heroic American consul in the action drawn; "Barricade," now at the Rex theater. BENEFIT - DANCE For II. of O. Scholarship Fund Sponsored by THE YOUTH LEAGUES Wintergarden Wed., May 1 Adm. 25o IS Pc. Union Orchestra Tickets on Sale at Miller's May 2!), 30, Apr. 1 Mcdonald Sunday Through Tuesday Rebecca. Free, Blonde and 21. Wednesday Through Friday Of Mice and Men. French Without Tears. HEILIG Sunday through Wednesday Trlmroso Path. Thursday through Saturday Zanzibar. Legion of the Lawless REX Sunday Through Monday. Eternally Yours. Barricade. Tuesday, Wednesday. Wo Are Not Alone. All Women Have Secrets. Thursday Through Saturday Gulliver's Travels. Submarine D-l. MAYFLOWER Sunday through Wednesday. H s a Date. Thursday through Saturday. Primrose Path. STATE Sunday through Tuesday. Hunchback of Notre Dame. The Day the Bookies Wept. Wednesday, Thursday. Bad Little Angel. Heaven With a Barbed Wire Fence. Friday, Saturday. Chip of the Flying U. Fivo Little Peppers at Home, Medieval Paris Life In 'Hunchback' A vivid picture of life in medie val Taris is presented in "The Hunchback ot Notre Dame," RKO Radio's spectacular version nt Vic tor Hugo's novel, starring Charles Laughton, which is currently un reeling at the State theater. Dealing with a nobleman's per secution of a gypsy girl and how a deformed outcast, the bell-ringer ot the cathedral of Notre Dame, rescues her, the tale has long been a favorite with readers all over the world. Maureen O'Hara enacts the role ot the gypsy girl and Sir Cedric Hardwickc thai of the villain. Dramatic Nights Nights of drama never twice the same fill the lives ot the exciting new lovelies at the hotel for wo men in "Free, Blonde and 21," the 20th Century-Fox film now play ing at the McDonald Theater. Lynn Bad, Mary Belli Hughes, Joan Davis, Henry Wilcoxen and Robert Lowcry head the cast. (I STARTS NEXT THURSDAY NIGHT Thur., Fri Sat. & Sun., 3 Matinees Last 3 Days April 25, 26. 27, and 28 Nights: 8:15 Matinees: 2:15 EUGENE ARMORY EUGENE SIIKINE CLUB'S FIRST ANNUAL SHRINE INDOOR CIRCUS OVER 1500 CHOICE SEATS ONLY 40c TOP" 1 1 C'm000- ACTS 1 CIRCUS ul.li Iiiviiff ioo r 91, Hour Z Show 41 GREAT DISPLAYS QPTT THESE BIG 0ij FEATURE ACTS rAPT. NOBLE HAMITF.R'S PERFORMING LIONS BILI.ETIi TROUP I II hi H on tiis Himi-msE FLYTN'O LF.CLAIRS on inr. n.viNn mArrrt CASTING'S CHIMPANZEES SENOR FELIX MORALES ll rooi HEAD SLIDE "MISS MONA" BABV r.l.ll'HANr r.LL TSOIT rrr. jAMrs nu,n pi ikxm and unriTT IIOBM AND MANY OTHERS In Which Is Discussed Double-Level Technique, Growing Old, Deanna Durbin, Men, Mice When she grows too old to dream, Deanna Durbin will have lots of nice things to remember, if we may paraphrase an old song. One of the nicest should be "It's a Date," her current offering under the New Universal's aegis at the May flower theater. , . In the four years since 1936, when she made her debut in "Three Smart Girls," the youthful miss with the million dol lar pipes has made six musical hits, and it looks like "Date" is the seventh. The picture is a good example of the double-level or scat-ler-shot technique. It is aimed at the customer in the balcony who wants action and laughter and at the same time it pleases the esthete in the orchestra who likes adult dialogue, artistic settings, good photography, good music, thoughtful direc torial touches. The balcony customer doesn't object to any of these things either, provided he gets his quota of thrills and laughs, so everybody is happy, including the exhibitor who receives proof of public approval at the box office. Growing Up Miss Durbin has her most ma ture role to date and does well by it. Not beautiful, not even ex actly pretty, she has a charm an her own. - Part of It is no doubt due to her exceptional voice, but even if she didn't sing a note she would still have something com pounded of youth, freshness, naive self-assurance, a sort of starry eyed faith in the essential good ness of the world that is very ap pealing. Deanna, If we may refer so familiarly to one with whom we have only a sol-distant and cel luloid acquaintance, struck fame at the awkward period of emerg ing adolescence. She has grown Into budding womanhood un der the watchful. eyes of the 85 million V. S. citizens who go to the movies each week. (The figures -are from Will Hays' an nual report.) That she has gone through this critical period with nary a fumble nor false step is a tribute to the careful nursing and shrewd pick ing of stories for her by Universal, William Seiter, her director, and her various script writers. If "Date is smooth entertain ment, and it is, much of the credit must go to Norman Krasna, of whom more anon. These Hasting Years Kay Francis, Walter Pidgeon. and Eugene Pallette head a strong supporting cast. Miss Francis plays Deanna's mother, who is also rival for Pidgeon s a flections, and we can just imagine her mis givings over the Mammy role, al lowing herself to be typed as be- ng "of a certain age. We don t think she made any mistake in abandoning the ingeiiuo parts to those better suited to them: hor last few pictures have not been howling successes and we doubt if Kay Francis Is mBde of the same stuff as Sarah Bernhardt, who played Juliet at the age of sixty. There is a big black-browed lug named Lewis Howard in the picture who turns in an excellent performance as Deanna s fellow drama studpnt and would-be swain. In a misunderstanding over the French pronunciation of Dauphin and "dope fiend he seizes the opportunity to do a bit of comic mugging that had the audience in stitches and kept this corner smiling every time he re appeared thereafter. Samuel S. Hinds and S. Z. Sa- kall also do nice characterizations of a benevolent producer and a harrassed playwright, respectively. Deanna sings Shubert s beauti ful "Ave Maria," the high spot of the picture for us, and five other songs. Boy Wonder To gel back to Norman Krasna, who authored the script, which blends so nicely with Miss Dur bin s talents. The press sheets modestly dub him a "boy won der." At 21 he had been a drama editor, magazine editor, and play wright. On the verge of 30 now, he is established as one of Hol lywood's best scenarists and has also been a producer. We don't know if lie is a boy wonder, but he gets our vote as an able writer. Orcon Welles Speaking of boy wonders and enfants ternbles reminds us of Orson Welles, an outstanding member of the species. They are pt to be very irritating at times, these bov wonders. Still and all. Mr. Welles must have had a cocktail too many before hla recent apeech In LB" t (raftili re Kansas City in which he referred to movie actors as "really the same class of people that wait on tables." That was a very rash thing for Mr. weues to do. If he had said the movie elite were "just like people who wait on tables" he might not have made anyone an gry except a few snooty Holly wood notables who cherish a fond belief in their superiority to the rest of us. Rag and Bull , But when he dragged in the word "class" Mr. Welles stepped out of bounds and it is not to be wondered at that he has been thrown for numerous losses in the public press ever since. It was woefully undemocratic of the "man from Mars" to men tion "class." Like waving a rumor before Paul Deutsch mann, who immediately scents a story and is restive till he runs It down, this word "class" Is a bloody rag to everyone who maintains there ain't no such animal. Mayhap Mr. Welles believes in some sort of intellectual aristo cracy, as some of his other pub lic utterances might lead one to believe, but he is on soggy ground when he confuses intelligence with economic status. In these United States the peo ple who wait on tables like to be lieve they are just as good as the people they serve, as indeed they are in every respect except the size of their pay envelopes. Of course this opens up a wide field for discussion that would include the relative strength of heredity and environment, the question of whether one needs money to get culture, the availability of public libraries, museums and so on and so forth. So we won't pursue il any furth er, except to say that we liked best Ihe reaction of Bette Davis, who said there are an awful lot of nice waiters and waitresses and she hoped they wouldn't mind the comparison. Reminiscence A couple years ago, along In January or February of 1D38, a Dollar line ship named the Presi dent Pierce docked in Hoboken after completing a round-the-world cruise and the fellow who is writing this column paid off before the U. S. shipping commis sioner, packed his belongings in a pair of battered Shanghai bags, and took to ferry to Manhatten. That evening he went to a cut rate theater ticket agency, I think it's called Gray's, on the subway level of Times Square, and looked over the boards which hang be hind the counter to see what the atrical bargains were being of fered. It was winter. Ihe season ol shows, and there were any num ber of flops, near flops, and plays that had opened weak and were hanging on hoping for belated recognition. You could buy or chestra seats to them for the price of a balcony, and a balcony seat for the price of a movie. Bucking the critics and appealing over their heads to prospective audi ences, producers with faith use this method to cover their empty rows of plush cushions. On another black board were listed the more successful plays, at regular prices. Our undecided hero, who had not been exposed to any sort of play publicity for three months, wavered momen tarily. Then he saw "Amphitryon 38," with Lunt and Fontaine, and was about to remove the safety Wmm DEANNA DURBIN Is the center of a triangle that Involves Walter Pidgeon and Kay Francis in this scene from "It's a Date," musical drama now playing at the Mayflower theater. A SCENE from "Gulliver's Travels," technicolor version of Jono than Swift's classical satire on kings and commoners, is shown above. Produced by Max Fleischer, the picture opens Thursday at the Rex theater. pins from his wallet when out ot the corner of his eye ho read "isteinbeck. ' Investigation showed that "Of Mice and Men," with Wallace Ford and Broderick Crawford, was on. He knew of Wallace Ford only as a minor movie comedian, and of Broderick Crawford nothing. But for some strange reason, possibly a predilection for the realistic as against the fanciful, he picked that play to see. Nor was he sorry. Steinbeck's stuff plays itself. The lines are so genuine, they ring so true, that anybody who reads them sincerely can put them over. "Of Mice and Men" is coming to town this week, Wednesday at the Mac. and if Hal Roach, who pro duced it. and Lewis Milestone, ivho directed, have ttuck any where near close to the script it ought to be one of 1940's ten best. Burgess Mereditn, who did such good work in "Winterset." is cast as George, the spunky little ranch hand who might have "lived off the fat of the land" if he hadn't had big dumb Lennie to keep out of trouble. Lon Chaney Jr. plays Lennie, strong with the strength of a brainless Brobdingnag. "Guys like us the loneliest guys in the world," Steinbeck has George say. and much of the story is devoted to their efforts to win some land of their own, a mite of economic security. 4 This week offprs exceptional screen fare all along the line. Now playing at the McDonald Is "Rebecca," starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine. Al fred Hitchcock, as famed for his DANCE Swimmers Delight Sunday, Apr. 21 with Tub Brown and His Ore. State Dance Band! Springfield Theatre TODAY'S OlOAVTIO BILL Andr PHn. EIIph Drw sn4 rrtftton Foslrr In "OERONIMO" An Evlo at Iht Wtil plu Charltl Ka(ll "Stny" Mftlle la HIS EXCITINO NIGHT" Snort Subjtrts Nw Molt SraU IV (blldrfn IDe 17 stone bulk and gargantuan appetite as for the subtle psy chological touches in his direct ing, wields the megaphone. Robert Sherwood adapted the story from the best-selling novel by Daphne dif Maurier. inciden tally, Eugene had a sample of Sherwood's writing ability last week in the University's produc tion of "Idiot's Delight," in which Gerry Smith, Parker McNeill, and Jim Davidson walked away with the orchids. Yes, "Rebecca" looks like a good bet, but it has competition. Down the street at the Heilig Ginger Rogers is now playing a shantytown tomboy in "Primrose Path." with Joe "IcC'rea opposite her as the boy from the "right side of town." This one has received favorable notice from Time magazine, and a several page spread of pictures THE DRAMATIC TALENTS of Ginger Rogers abnvTS at the Heilig theater In "Primrose Path," romantic inl the hit of the same name. " n from Life, two publications which seldom go overboard on derelicts, to stretch a metaphor. RKO-Radio produces, Gregory Le Cava di rects, and Miss Rogers is said to be given a wide field in which to exercise her dramatic ability. Then at the Rex this Tuesday an old favorite returns. It is "We Are Not Alone," from James Hil ton's novel of the same name, with Paul Muni and Jane Bryan in the leads. We wrote at some length about this one a few months back, out it is worth repeating that it is first class adult entertainment. Muni gives a sensitive perform ance, Miss Bryan is very good, and the Edmund Goulding directing is worthy of the James Hilton story, which is saying a lot. PENNER AT STATE The plight of a pigeon-raising taxi-driver who is compelled to becomeahorse.trainer,J Will makps f,. .. . tf5 lu, m(J screaming .j.. . . " the Bookies Wept" Joe pi, test RKO Radio vehicle at the- State Theater S, Grable has the femi ' Volcano Erupts In Film Climax An earthquake, volcano J and desperate hain.. M savage natives andlionj,g " u'er wild beasts of tb i Can ilinoln ora - 1 1 versnl's adventure film, -d bar." wVilh -- m, "1 the Heilig Theater. UUfel as uie woman o-J Others in the cast ottbtS nun are james Craij, W iidrit?in. nam ia c Fadden and Clarence Mia ElEVENTH AT ALDER. H LAST FEW DAYS I TO SEE TVPANNa Tvnmw GREATEST AND MOST COLORFUL SCREEN TRIUMJt All New Show Today! Weird and Wondrous Beyond Your Most Paring Dreams! Mawm inn iiiiii fmn - rEIVr.RS FROM HEAVEN Tlirv Tfnvi x tie i i n. i.iu A M1UON LAVGHS! WTMBOOKJHW&PT Witt, BEIIT GR A8LE He made a j j pFmi business K fsf!gr ! ! pljl of n Vjr 1 1 fmm but the Cv . ! i !? IU1IJIC III I ' love. ..was i ' I tV'J' I ri , ckI.-.-i ---b amaTO'nfffPiinTBaaaj j . rROMAI NcFanK i i I tmiriiTimr , ; ttf III: I "--"... ..ln .1 I --tmvi I I r7.. awar-torn ill .jw l m ai ill. r i : v fli: I a lil iCN 1 r - . - I I m I Xlit h double heart ttoukli I undet the ,peU ch fc. 'Tr js Hawaiian moonl CONTINUOUS SHOW FROM 12:45 TO 12:00 ON SUNDAYS KPDLD(3 STARTS TODAY! FOR 4 BIG DAYS! A ROMANCE AS THRILLING AS HER FIRST STOLEN KISS! She learned about flirt, iog from her mother . but found out about love from the man who thought he knew all about it. r GERS RO( McCREA PRIMROSE PATH MARJORIE RAMBEAU HENRY TRAVERS MILES M AN OER - ' Ginger in pigloili piorl"9 tin rol thai ihokl New York (., tll, p0y ,on hr 20 tenwliongl wethlt ' ' MrtTri Because of the darine theme, this picture . recommended for children. P ' - Jl 1 I, dcflnlff' "V
