Judge — May 3, 1930 — page 25: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

UVGIVG Teo IN British war, ches the blemished. Consider it any we is the best war movie ywn in this country. Yet it is really not a movie; two hours of dialogue re- lieved only by two action scenes hardly come within the direct. terri tory of the came It is not a movie story, but it has character, skill and (You can name the celluloids qualities on drama “Journe tenuous ntlemen in nd,” re: mov un- you ever that have those your fingers.) It is a fine piece of work. despite the Oxonian cheerfulness and the rat hero r exaggevated despair of the when he fears his fiancée will harn he is a drunkard. But behind I this well-tailored conversation is 1 war that shatters nerves; a war that sets a handful of sensitive men in a dirty cellar and finally destroys them because, while they do not understand why they should go on, it is not pos- sible to turn back. The business of war is in “Jour- ney's End"—not the trappings. Men yo in the line, they eat and drink and ainst the background of a game that has stupid but rigid rules. There ry. no flag-wav- ourney's « company com- against logic, shattered nerves his commanding officer for the lives of his men. They are unsupported, they are fronted with « hig attack and they know they are doomed. They die playing the rules; stupid, futile but somehow heroic. The director, Whale, de- serves everlasting credit for his work. The dialogue moves like machine-gun fire. The trenches are trenches. No Man's I mander James nd is not a public square full of flags, French lassies and es- taminets. It is a barren bog, clut- tered with wire and rusty parapher- nalia, A squad of men crawl over its muddy length; some of them get shot ind hang in the wire. The survivors crawl back to their muddy quarters and eat, sleep and talk. They had no idea as to why they should have gone JUDGE By PARE LORENTZ in the first place, and they were shot for no good reason execpt that it was of the The direction of these two action scenes inserted in the play was absolutely perfect. Colin Clive gave the finest perform- ance I have ever seen ie. If you have read any of the glish chroniclers of the war, particu larly Scigfred and Robert Graves, you will understand just how magnificent his work is in this part. It is not that the war was fought by gentlemen, nor that it was a hideous nightmare for the British soldier. But i ngland won her victories on the ing fields of Eton, she her youth a set of instincts and nc that made the last unbeliev- able horror to them, “Journey's End” is as fair a presentation of that horror, Colin Clive as fairly terizes it, as you will ever see. T HERE is that Will “White plenty of reasons why wouldn't want to. see one rules. Sassoon war an talk around town omebody cen- sored it. but the old Recommended “Anna Christie’—Garbo talks is any reason for you. “The Case of Sergeant Grischa”—A war movie that falls of its very commendable effort Said No”--It has enough with Will faines siler, to. make that “Money—Smooth from the old farce kit with thrown in for “Journey's End”—S\ to finish. Easily the yet turned lox “The Man From Blankley’: more at last gets something te n comedy that production ma Out of the child ash “Men Without Women" —A submarine thriller with enough action to keep y awake King Vidor's ver- sion of © Gg Marion Davies and “The Rogue but there ts mend it Song’ het nothing else to sings, recom OV &? devil sex is not one, and I have yet to hear of the censor who shears from boredom instead of excitement. It might be that the little school- girl who almost broke her hip trying to go native might h. of the censors, but with a circus full of Bows, Damitas and Crawfords, you'd think they would have some knowledge of the subject. Personally 1 would be glad to send my little brother, if I had one, to any party the young lady in question gave. But, to zet on, “White Cargo” has been pro- duced and rewritten so many times I hardly think any cast could have made it good. The lighting in this version is horrible and, all in all, if “White } is suppressed there is no rea- > down your back hair and ery about it. “Posey” is smooth adaptation of the old farce, “Come Out of the Kitchen It is a good professional job from start to finish, ineludir preee and shoots fooled some son tot sus child who is so obnoxious mean that, unless her, she should be worth her weight in gold. Nothing amuses me so much as children who somebody ‘go about bit- nd burning houses, and ady, Mitzi Green, adds an arrogance to her tricks that gave me inhuman satisfaction. (If you have + child on the borderline of control, I advise you by any means to keep it “Honey.”) There is theme song and a stupid negro spir- itual scene that slows the action, but a wise crew gets through these aber- rations very nicely. It’s ing guests this young from sceing good show. ‘ ik Bexson Murpen Case” is other one of those S. S. Van Dine als. There is only one murder in this one and it doesn't stack up with its predecessors. Hitherto the chief charm of this series been the insouciant distribution of — corpses around the place, so that even though there is a complicated and silly con- clusion to the mystery the whole thing is disappointing. has