Evening Star Newspaper, June 19, 1932, Page 43

Stage, Music Revi Screen and ews AMUSEMENT SECTION he Sunday Star, Motor, Aviation, Radio Programs —Part 4—8 Pages WASHINGTON, D. C, SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 1 9, 1932. SPENCER TRACY “SKY DEVILS” METROPOLITAN Bringing the And HE VVPublic Together Suggestions That Are Merely Suggestions and Not to Be Taken Seriously—Little Items That NIa_\ Influence thc RC\';C\V. By E. de S. Melcher. KINDLY public servant,| anxious to improve the | morale both of those who review films and those who ‘ have to read the results, has sug- | gested a solution to what might | eventually be a bigger and better | guide to motion picture Realiz- | ing that there are days when re- | viewers are not in the best of humors, that at times they arc vexed by family upheavals, or heckled by ill health, or grieved by %he lack of sympathy they are winning from their readers, this friendly chastiser sugges that the public should be made to be aware of such facts. When, for | instance, a press man is pinched | by a cold. or aggravated by a| cough, or dispirited by the death | of a great-aunt, his readers should | be told so. In this way a firmer | bond would spring up between | reader and reviewer, since if tk printed word stated that suck and-such a picture was “terrible,” a person who disagreed with such a viewpoint, might be inclined to forgive and forget, if underneath it was stated that the reviewer thought thus because the lady on his right annoyed him all the way through it by a slow but deadly munching on some choc- olate drops. “Are yo always on the crest of the wave when you walk in on a film?” this gentleman cently. And, at a positive and negative shake of the head, he went on to say, “Well, you should be. Your mind should be empty and your spirits at their best.” This emptiness of mind is, of course, not hard to acquire. But good spirits are more of a prob- | lem. In fact, good spirits at a first screen showing (11 am.) are often extremely hard to find.| Nevertheless, says this friend, they positively should be had. *“If you bear a grudge on entering a thea- | ter, how can you expect not to increase this grudge as the pic- ture progresses?” Curiously enough these grudges, our good friend forgets, are often dissipated at the first indication | of a Garbo smile, a pleasing story, | or some sure-fire acting, such as Mr. Arliss supplies. While grudges | may grow from mole hills to mountains at sight of certain| celebrities trying to act like actors | when they are little more than | salubrious clothes models or | glorified candy venders, they may also be reduced to nothing by‘ what is known as “enjoying a | movie,” which reviewers have been known to do. For in spite of many grievances, many pet an-| noyances, and scores of pictures which take the heart and soul right out of one, there are plenty on the market today which even the most finicky critic is bound to get a kick out of. | Mr. Public Servant’s suggestion is not, however, a bad one. It/ gives scope to very pleasing and | very sensible ideas. And \\'hlle‘ these may frighten the touchiest | of cinema sleuths, horrify those | who are forever out of humor and have never been known to laugh | except at the hilarious gloom pro- | vided by Miss Zasu Pitts, it might | also encourage others to mend their ways and to let the public‘ appreciate the ups and downs of their personal reactions. Take, for instance, last week's crop of pictures. This is what might have been done with them: FORGOTTEN COMMANDMENTS. —An attempt to build a modern story around the old De Mille silent saga, “The Ten Commandments.” It is only satisfactcry when these ten commandments are in action. In the cast is a lithesome Britisher, Sari Maritza, of whom great things have been heard. Moses and the chariots are better, however, than she is. P. S—The reviewer saw this at 11 a.m. He was feeling fine. If he'd been feeling bad he probably would have died. Or— SINNERS IN THE SUN—Was reviewed after a morning with the dentist. Both reviewer and tooth doing well—but somewhere along the middle of the picture the jau began to ache. This may have led to the reviewer’s opinion that Miss | Carole Lombard looked better at the | preference in roles runs to romantic | and blue eyes. | pounds and, like his feminine counter- Reviewer looked fine on the beach. The pic- ture had some mice-looking clothes in it—and there uas a leading man playing opposite Miss Lombard «The ansuer to this onme is that if the tooth hadn’t ached so much the reviewer might have realized that this man was Chester Morris.) Or again— Anent this week’s WEEK ENDS ONLY—Why is it that when a young man paints he is a hero? And when he starves at painting he is even more of a hero? And why is it that honest young girls aluays work in speakeasies and that this 13 meant not to be such a nice thing to do? (This was reviewed just before | dinner. The reviewer wanted his | dinner, but the stage show took so | long e missed both the soup and | the meat course. Do you blame him | jor getting a little grouchy about a film which 1s really pretty good in spots?) ALAN DINEHART & KAY FRANCIS * STREET OF WOMEN* TALLULAH BANKHEAD THUNDER BELO! - LACE _ . ZASU PITTS 'STRANGERS OF THE EVENING” KEITHS National Theater Group The more we think about this | system the better it seems. After! awhile a reviewer might be able | to get his audiences crying—if he hasn't already. By bringing in | short sketches of Auntie Zilch or | Mocher Machree he might play | on people’s emotions to such an extent that they might write him | long epistles telling of their own | troubles. In this way the great-| est bond in the world could be drawn up between cinema en- | thusiasts and reviewer. Imagine, for instance, the tremendous en- | thusiasm that would be aroused | by a reviewer saying that he saw s You Desire Me” -after waving good-by to Miss Garbo from a| Manhattan pier as she set sail for sunny Sweden? Interest would undoubtedly center more on what Miss Garbo looked like, and were her fect really as big as battle- ships—than on the review; but| certainly, maybe for the first time | in his life, the reviewer would be bound to have a fleet of readers. Then, again, to be able to say that you thought “Grand Hotel” was fine when you went with your mother-in-law would be bound to | make it a wonderful picture (which it is), and the public would undoubtedly flock to it with in-laws or without. Such possibilities are endless. But then the censor would be bound to step in sooner or later and take out all the fun. After| all, a reviewer wouldn't be able to tell everything—so, if he can’t tell everything, why tell anything? O'Neill Story Bought. FUGENE O'NEILL, America's fore- < most dramatist, has been added to the list of important writers who will figure in World Wide Pictures’ line-up of product for the new season. World Wide has acquired the screen rights to Eugene O'Neill's play “Recklessness,” which will be produced by the Tiffany unit under the title “Gambling in Souls.” This World Wide production will be | the third work by the great dramatist | t> reach the screen. His masterful | “Anna Christie” was the first and | Strange Interlude” has just been adapted to the screen by M-G-M. Negotiations for the acquisition of the play on which “Gambling in Souls” will be based were carried on with O'Nelll in the South, where he is at present engaged in writing a new play. Ideal Actress. SURVEY of the featured players at the Fox Studio leads to the conclusion that the ideal screen actress for that company's coming motion pic- ture season is a dainty miss 5 feet 3 inches tall with reddish brown hair, brown eyes, and weighing 113 pounds. Although in her early twenties she has had several seasons of stage training for her work before the camera. She has a good singing voice, can dance acceptably and her outdoor pleasures include swimming and riding. Her leads. Her leading man has dark brown hair He measures an even 6 feet in height, tips the beam at 171 part, has been recruited to pictures from the stage. He favors outdoor recrea- tions, particularly hunting and swim- ming. Of the 12 featured actresses not one has black hair. Red is the predominant color, 6 having tresses of that shade. They range in intensity from the bright Titian of Clara Bow and Peggy Shannon, through the autumnal tints of the coiffures of Janet Gaynor and Sally Eilers, down to the sherry color ‘Makes a Splendid Record Average Theatergoer Knows Little of the Difflcul-‘j ties in Providing Spring and Summer Stock. Manager Has Year-Around Job. ATURDAY night next, when the National Theater Players stage the final perfcrmance of “As Husbands Go,” marks the ending of another epoch in Washington theaterdom. On that occasion the Na- tional Theater Players bring to a close their eighth annual Spring and Sum- mer season. The current company keeping the fire of drama burning on the hearth of the old theater has been rated by critics and public alike as the best group of troupers ever as- sembled under the | banner of the Na- Theater Without it is the best all-round resi- dent company ever gathered together by the originator :nd sponsor of the ompany on_view 3. E. Cochran. Eight years ago, when “Steve” 5 Cochran conceived the idea of establishing the National Theater Players, he did something that many before him had dreamed of doing, but had never accomplished. He got together the nucleus of an organization that was, in the years to come, to be what is known ‘as “an institution.” This, looking backward, was the resuit of foresight on the part of a native Washingtonian who was reared in the theater. Manager of the National Theater in the Winter, Mr. Cochran “Steve” Cochran. thought, at first, it would be a good | thing to “extend the season” beyond that period when “road shows” folded up for the regular theatrical season. So he picked the Summer, the Spring, as the starter, for giving native Wash- ingtonians a chance to see Broadway attractions. The idea took on im- mediately, and this week the National Theater Players put the crowning touches to eight active seasons. In those eight seasons, back of the scenes there has been more activity than meets the eye, and the average theatergoer may be pardoned if he has not ‘always reccgnized the vast amount of work that has gone into these productions. Truly, the National Theater Players is a one-man organization, in the sense that Mr. Cochran is their sponsor, that he begins his managerial duties about the first week in January of each year, preparing for the opening Spring play, and carries on—without the financial or physical help of any other person, except an office helper— until the final bills are paid, about this time of each year, after a full 10-week run 7 In other cities in the land, notably in Detroit and Cincinnati, the populace itself turns out and gets actively be- hind its Summer theater. In Detroit, where the Jesse Bonstelle Civic Theater holds forth, an actual subsidy makes possible the continual operation of the speaking stage. In Cincinnati Mrs. Charles P. Taft led & list of crusaders bent.on saving the theater and ended with_pledges of $264,000, which keeps the Stuart Walker Players running se: son after season. With the National Theater Players rated as equal, if not surpassing, any of these companies, it is interesting to note that one theater- man guarantees first-class theater to Washington. It is, too, rather a feat of magic, when the vicissitudes of the general theater are considered; but Mr. beginning 3han she did later ' om; - p BT G’ A T ) | Maron Bums x| (o, B manaed -t e the National, | | So far as caliber goes. Mr. Cochran | need take his hat off to no manager | |in the country when a comparison of | plays and players, performances and production enters the discussion. This | company, assembled year after year. | stacks up now as the star company | of the country for Spring and Summer | service. From the ranks of the orig- {inal company sprang many Broadway | stars. So that, in theatrical circles. it |15 considered an honor to afix a sig- | | nature to a contract of the National| Players. No company to appear in Washington in repertoire is better bal- | anced than the outfii now occupying | the boards of the National Theater | Players. Donald Woods is rated one of the best young actors. Leona Pow- ers has made her reputation. Kathryn Givney excels in two mediums. the| stage and the screen. Ona Munson has three to her credi:—musical com- | edy, movies and stage. Owen Davis, | ;Jr.. who just departed, and Freddie Sherman have no peers as juveniles Mrs. Addie Hibbard leads American character women. Raymond Bramley, | Burke Clarke, Forrest Orr, Karl Neil-| | sen and John Kline, coming in some- | times as a substitute player, make a good combination. ‘The selection of these players was left to no haphazard chance. Mr.| Cochran, like the celebrated “scout of base ball, goes all over the country for his material. . The length of time| it takes to gather together a company is something the public little realizes. For instance, Mr. Cochran went all the way to Houston, Tex., to see the| work of Donald Woods. Then he signed this young man to a contract. Likewise, when the Washington mai ager first heard of Leona Powers he had to go to New Orleans before | making sure she was to be his leading woman. Kathryn Givney had to be coaxed back from the West Coast and | Ona Munson, with big movie contracts staring her in the face, had to be convinced that special training under the beneficial stage direction of Clif- ford Brooke would carry her a long| way in the films. These are the | things that make the National Theater | Players & troupe outstanding. | Running through the record, one finds: Minor Watson, the first lead- ing man, afterward starred on Broad- way in “A Wise Child” and featured performer with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in “Reunion in Vienna' Roger Pryor, rated by Percy Ham: mond as one of the ten best players role of “Blessed Event”; Stanley Ridges. starred in many Broadway Lits; Leneta Lane, playing leads on| Broadway; Nancy Sheridan, in “Cy- nara”; Romaine Callander, featured layer with Belasco's “Mima” and i he original cast of “Grand Hotel”; Roberta Beatty, leading woman for William Gilette in “Sherlock Holmes” Helen Wallace, with George | M. Cohan in hi: ‘Confi- Mary . nd leadirg lady for Glenn Hunter in “Peter Flies Higl Daphne Warren Wilson, in the original “Bird| in Hand” company; John Warburton, with “Bird in Hand” and now in the motion pictures; Edward Arnold, fea- tured in “The Nervous Wreck” and with many Theater Guild productions, now playing a lead part in “Whistling in the Dark,” the Broadway hit. On Saturday night the eighth sea- son of the National Theater Players comes to end in a blaze of glory. After that the general public will forget| about the plays and players until the next season rolls around; but not Mr. Cochran. Not long after the regular theater season gets into swing he will begin figuring out plans for the ninth and Summe in America, for his work in the lead |, g " LEONA POWERS “AS HUSBANDS GO* NAT/ONAL Stage and Screen Attractions This Week NATIONAL PLAYERS—“As Husbands Go.” evening. GRIFFITH STADIUM—“Aida,” at 8:30 o'clock. Opens tomorrow grand opera outdoors. Tonight SYLVAN THEATER—“The Great American,” outdoor pageant. Tuesday, Wednesday ar.d Thursday evenings. ON THE SCREEN. LOEW'S FOX—“Week Ends Only.” This afternoon and evening. EARLE—"Street of Women. PALACE—"Thunder Below.” This afternoon and evening. This afternoon and evening. KEITH'S—"“Strangers of the Evening.” This afternoon and eve- ning. METROPOLITAN—“Sky Devils.” This afternoon and evening. COLUMBIA—“Mystery Ranch.” ‘This afternoon and evening. New York Has Twenty Shows for the Summer Lower N\meer Than Usual, but a Few 0{ Them Rank Well—Shakespeare’s “Bad" Play Is W. ell Staged. By Percy Hammond. NLY about & dozen legitimate playhouses still keep their doors open on Broadway, and doldrums. (Trippers arriving in London these June days will find, on the contrary, some 40 plays to choose from, but June is, of course, the height of the London social seasor The plants set out in the Broadway garden at this time of the year wilt so quickly, as a rule, that it is a trifle unsafe to speak of a new plece, lest it has already gone hence, but among the more vigorous blossoms intended for the Summer trade would appear to be | inner essence of practically the entire the revue “Hey, Nonny, Nonny!” with Frank Moran, Richie Craig, jr.. Ann Seymour, Dorothy McNulty, Jack Mec- Cauley and various others more or less well known in musical vaudeville. “Hey, Nonny, Nonny!” is certainly no “Of Thee I Sing” or “Face the Music,” but an informal collection of some 25 sketches and satirical “black-outs” crisp and clever enough to make an enter- taining evening. There is a really amus- ing burlesque of “Mourning Becomes Electra” entitled “Life is Just a Bowl of Eugene O'Neils,” and another good bit, spoofing the troubles of the Metropol- itan Opera Co. In the latter, the burlesque Otto Kahn and his collaborators, decide to call in the Minsky brothers, and so we e “Carmen” as the Minskys would do it, with a “hot strip tease” and a candy butcher howling his wares up the aisle. In the “Mourning Becomes Elec- tra” burlesque, Mr. Morgan plays the author, and at the end is shot at, but happily saves himself by having the manuscript of his new play—a tele- phone book—in his breast pocket. There are a number of puns. At one point they tell about a man who was ill and the doctors advised him to go some- where where he would have quiet and be left completely alone—“so they put him in business.” * kK ok SHAKESPEARE‘S “Troilus and Cres- sida” is a bad play, but it has some lovely rhetoric and a number of famous lines, and The Players’ revival of the unfamiliar relic was a labor of love for which those who saw it had every rea- son to be grateful. But for an amateur performance of the tragi-comedy at Yale in 1916, this is said to be the first time “Troilus and Cressida” has been produced on the Western Continent. There have been some half dozen productions in England in the more than 300 years of the play’s ufiga nn:n?’ne or two of late “m 4md that |to be about all. his “flops.” The reasons were not hard to dis- Shakespeare also had the season enters its Summer | cover, even in the lively, vivid and| | workmanlike production The Players | gave the old play. It isn't a play even |in the sense th "“Romeo and Juliet” | is still a perennial romance and “Ham- | let” an interesting character sketch and | an occasionally exciting melodrama, but | a hodgepodge of scenes, excursions and “alarums” in which about the only uni- fying forces are the magnificent Shake- spearean rhetoric and the author’s mo- mentary disgust and disillusion with the | human race. Love is sensuality. Military glory the | bunk. None of the heroic Greeks and | Trojans, except possibly Hector, have comedy and | any heroic impulses. About the only | | characters who have any “brains” are | the wretched go-between, “Pandaru: |and the scavenger, Thersites. to whom everything is only “wars and lechery: nothing else holds fashion. Cressida, in her love for Troilus might be another Juliet, so far as any- thing is said in the lines to the con- trary, yet no sooner is she put across the lines into the Greek camp, in ex- change for a Trojan prisoner, than she is off with Troilus and on with Dio- medes, even to laughing the lover to whom she has just sworn eternal faithfulness in the most moonlit Shake- spearean rhetoric and giving her new admirer Troilus’ last gift. And this is not done with any apparent artistic or other purpose, but without rhyme or Teason, and altogether to the spectatcr’s bewilderment and dismay. Not even Shakespeare—or possibly it were better to say Shakespeare least of all—can afford thus to break the rules. But there are same beautiful speeches in the play, and some, especially those about war and military glory, which are curicusly modern. Indeed, it is the adult satirist rather than dramatist who is writing for the most part in this play. PFrom “Troflus and Cressida” comes that “one touch of nature makes the whole world kin” speech, and that other re- mark of Ulysses’ that “Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back, whereon he puts alms for oblivion. Those scraps are good deeds past, devoured as soon as they are made, forgot soon as done.”” And it is Troilus, speaking of Helen, who says that “she is a peasl whose price has launched a thousand ships and turned crowned kings to mer- chants.” ‘The Players’ production was fine.and brilliant in all that met the eye—in the costumes, the sensitive lighting, the the use | pense, | as hostess. BEN LYON & + JOAN BENNET WEEK ENDS ONLY' FOX GEORGE .. OBRIEN MYSTERY RANCH® OLUMBIA LOEW'S FOX—“Week Ends Only.” ‘J OAN BENNETT and Ben Lyon are | starred in “Week Ends Only” at Loew’s Fox Theater this week, along with the stage show, “Keej 3 Klowning,” with Collins and Week Ends O presents Miss Bernett as the daughter of a once wealthy New Yorker who, when losing bhis money, scon dies of despair, | leaving her penni: less Without means of support, she bravely goes out job hunting and encounters h e r father's former butler, who is the manager of the city’s most exclu- sive speakeasy. The butler real- | izes the value the girl's social sition would lend 2 to the establish- | ment and hires her | Here she meets Lyon and | their romance starts. | “Week Ends Only” is a smart mod- | ern play, taken from a novel by Warner Fabian. who wrote “Flaming Youth.” The picture was directed by Alan Cros- land. ard the screen play and dialogue were handled by William Sonselman. Others in the cast besides Miss Bennett and Lyon are: John Halliday, Halliwell Hobbes, Walter Byron, John Arledge and Berton Churchill. “Keep Klowning.” the stage show. which comes to Loew’s Fox from the Capitol Theater in New York City, stars Collins and Peterson, comedians. An- other feature of the production is the dancing unit—24 Chester Hale girls. This group, which was trained by Ches- ter Hale, is described as the best-cos- tumed and most talented of any danc- ing line ever to appear on local boards. Stan Kavanaugh, expert juggler and famous comedian, is another one of the high lights of the show, as are Jean and Angie Queen, dancers. Wesley Eddy, master of ceremonies, has a new program and Phil Lampkin offers “Roses,” a new overture arrange- ment, to complete the program. po- § M KEITH'S—“Strangers of the Evening ({GTRANGERS OF THE EVENING, now showing at R-K-O Keith's, has been taken from the novel. “The Illustrious Corpse,” by Tiffany Thayer. It has a cast that includes Zasu Pitts, Lucien Littlefield, Tully Marshall and Eugene Pallette. The story concerns a mysterious murder that involves most everybody and every one in the cast, and, which though built to produce the always sought-for thrill, has a, background for 71 minutes of outright | laughter. In addition to “Strangers of the Eve ning” Keith's is offering as an extri added feature “The Tragedy of Everest. This picture depicts the efforts of an | expedition to climb Everest, an at- | tempt that ended eventually in the deaths of 13 of the party. | The balance of the program consists of Pathe News and a cartoon animated | comedy. | EARLE—"“Street of Women.” “ ARNER BROS.’ EARLE THEATER | celebrates its new Friday open- ing week with an “all-star” program. | including Kay Francis in “Street of | ‘Women,” her second starring vehicle for Warner Bros., “Ukulele Ike,” singing comedian of the stage, screen and radio, in_person. | In “Street of Women" Miss Francis adds another brilliant portrayal of the | modern young woman to the gallery of | the parts she has already created. The | | story concerns the difficulties en-| ( countered when a married man falls in | |love with a modiste, whose young brother is in love with her lover's daughter. The complications bring both tragedy and joy, eventually set- tling themselves so that the situation | is smoothed out for both couples. Sup- | porting Miss Prancis is a distinguished cast which includes Roland Young, Allan Dinehart, Adrienne Dore, Allen Vincent and Gloria Stuart. ‘The complimentary attraction is Cliff | Edwards, singing comic of Hollywood, | | who headlines the stage activities. Ed- levels behind or above those in which the dialcgue of the moment is taking | place, of the two motifs of love and | military glory. ‘Tte acting and elocution, handicapped by the vast space of the Broadway Theater, left more to be desired. Even with amplifiers it was hard to hear mcst of the company, only a few of whom, ! naturally, were trained in the robust| Shakespearean tradition. Miss Edith | Barrett was the Cressida and Jerome Lawler the Troilus, and the other parts were taken by Otis Skinner, Charles Coburn, Eugene Powers and Herbert Ranson, not to mention the amiable amateurs from the Players’ Club ranks who volunteered to wear armor and spears. * k x X THE week’s only new offering was a plece called “Back Fire,” presented by a group of actors and actresses| known as the “Broome Stagers.” It| was a dull opus about a lady with a “past,” with little story, humor, sus- | Arizon; | the small | Central America, where the only white |one white woman. Howard Hughes, and Clff Edwards, py Week’s Pictures Cover Espeially Wide Range { Tallulah Bankhead, Joan Bennett, Kay Francis, George O'Brien and Zasu Pitts Lead the List of Stars in Downtown Theaters. wards, perhaps better known as “Ukulele Ike,” will be remembered as the fea- tured comedian of such screen hits as “Stepping Out.” “So This Is College.” “Marianne,” Montana Moon" and scores more. Other acts are Edgar Bergen, the ventriloquial humorist; Rita Royce, offering “Impressions,” as- sisted by a company of four; the Four Ortons, tight-rope thrill specialists, and Maxine Doyle, mistress of ceremonies. Completing the program will be seen for the first time on any screen the Mills brothers, radio sensations, in a novelty song short, “I Ain’t Got No- body”. the latest issue of the Graham McNamee news reel snd the Earle orchestral prelude. COLUMBIA—"Mystery Ranch.” 'ONTINUING with its new low- price policy, Loew's Columbia Theater is now offering “Mystery Ranch,” a Western thriller. which stars George O'Brien. The play is taken from the famous story by Stewart Ed- ward White, called “The Killer.” It is a Fox picture and was directed by David Howard. Cecilia Parker, who appeared with O'Brien in “The Rain- bow Trail,” is the feminine star of this new production. “Mystery Ranch” is the story of an a ranger who is sent to Paraiso Valley to break up a reign of terror therc which has caused many murders and has brought about the domina- tion of Henry Steele, the part played by Charles Middleton. It has been called the outstanding Western pic- ture of the year and shows O'Brien at his best. PALACE—"Thunder Below.” 'ALLULAH BANKHEAD is the star of the powerfully dramatic “Thun- der Below,” at Loew's Palace Theater this week. Bupporting Miss Bank- head in this new Paramount produ | tion are Charles Bickford. Paul Luka: Eugene Pallette, Ralph Forbes, Leslie Fenton, James Finlayson and Edward Van Sloan Richard Wallace was the director and Charles Lang handled the photography. The story is taken from Thomas Rourke’s novel. “Thunder Below” has its settings in town of San Mateo, in residents are a half dozen men and The men are all employes of a big American oil com- pany doing advance work in the heat and humidity of this tropical locale. Charles Bickford, the boss of the out- fit, is a vital, energy-filled engineer. Tallulah Bankhead is his wife. Paul Lukas is Biriford's first assistant and also his best friend. But, in spite of all this, he is in love with Bickford's wife and she with him. Trouble. re- morse and other complications ensue. METROPOLITAN “SKY DEVILS,” the World” of the air, produced by for laugh purposes only, will be the major screen. offering this week at Warner Bres’ Metropoli- tan Theater. “Sky Devils” concerns three flying clowns who violate every rule of war to have a good time, and in the face of court-martial for disobedi- ence accomplish so many accidental feats of gallantry that they are deco- rated for their impertinent exploits. The “Sky Devils” are Spencer Tracy, William Boyd and George Cooper. Also in the cast are Ann Dvorak. now a First National star; Billy Bevan, Yola D"?Vfll, William B. Davidson and Jerry The bill is completed by a supple- mentary program of short-reel subjects, including Paramount sound news and a new animated cartoon novelty entitled “Bosco’s Dog Race.” Jungle Cameras. T would seem that the problem of camera lighting would be non- existent in an area where the sun shines all day. But the theory proved Jjust another rumor to the camera men who went to Siam with Frank Buck to take animal pictures for his “Bring 'Em Back Alive,” which film inci- dentally, is to open at the R-K-O Keith's next Friday. The cameramen found that the equatorial sun rays have a deflnite yellowish cast and require plenty of exposure. The actinic value of light is definitely weaker because a ray that beats down directly on the earth “bounds back.” In the temperate areas the sun’s rays strike the earth and are slightly deflected. ‘The humidity, too, contributes to the difficulties of jungle photography, but Carl Berger and Nick Cavaliere, the cameramen for the expedition, were forewarned by the employes of an American film manufacturing firm which maintains a large branch in Singapore. Humidity has a doubly bad effect in that it obscures the lighting and also rusts the iron parts of the camera, which had to be oiled every day. Scenes in the jungle were photo- graphed from blinds erected whenever possible against the wind to prevent the human scent from blowing toward the animals. Elephants, the camera hunters reported, are especially dangerous in excitement s other means for |that respect. Their sight is unde m L]