Evening Star Newspaper, January 29, 1942, Page 36

B-14 In ‘The King,’ France’s Greatest Comedian Bestows Brilliance Upon a Mocking, Hilarious Biological Sketch b By JAY CARMODY. Perhaps it would be better to send the kiddies to see Donald Duck or Dumbo, but as for you, there is “The King” which opened yesterday at the Little Theater. “The King” seen as the baker in “The Baker’s Wife,” has to do with 'amour. What it has to do with I'amour is intelligent, witty, naughty, civilized, adult and amazingly funny. It is bedroom farce, as much one as the other, a5’ only ‘the French were ahle t0@—————— = do it before Herr Hitler took over. Even as it makes you happy it leaves you with & sense that here also was some- thing the world 1s poorer to have lost. Although he § does it with 3 equal skill, § Raimu has less 3§ to do in “The King” than in : those previous pictures must have made him one of your two favorite comedians. That -'l; cl'-;li. ts because the brilliant French far- ceur s surrounded on this occasion by a cast which has far too much talent scattered through it to allow the accent to be too heavily placed upon any one performer. Roles of almost equal stature and merri- ment are played by such as Victor Francen, Gaby Morlay, Elvire Po- pesco (a blond Rumanian of enor- mous comic skill) and Andre Lefaur. “Marvelous” is the word for them. * ok ok X Written by Louis Verneuil, who is & sort of Noel Coward with French dressing, “The King” is as saucy a plece of satire as could have been nourished in the France of 1938 when it was made. M. Verneuil’s feeling about kings, politicians and their ladies in waiting, and too im- patient to be kept waiting, was highly mocking and irreverent. To ghow how he felt about them, he dashed off a story of a monarch (of Cerdania) who goes to Paris osten- sibly to negotiate a trade treaty but rather more enthusiastically because he cannot forget the charm of Paris women. His dealings, of course, are with the Qual D'Orsay but he is far too suave to come any closer to it than the most promising contiguous bou- doir. Diplomacy is much more amusing that way. * kX x Raimu’s role in this biological sketch is that of a newly rich Frenchman who would become a Raimu Wears Horns Again AMUSEMENTS, at Little y Louis Verneuil with the incomparable Raimu, last conquered the intricacies of indus- try. He turns out to be desperately shy of those wiles and graces which made French politics so much a romantic adventure. Even so, how- ever, he is getting along well enough until the king comes along o ne- gotiate the treaty, meets up with his old, Raimu's current, paramour. Life for the politico-industrialist after that is one romantic’ mishap after another, the culminating one taking the form of the king’s com- plete conquest of the artless one’s fabulous country home, the home in which he leaves his gauche wife while he discovers the art of phil- andering. The king, played by Francen, is no heartless ingrate, however, in that for each of his charmingly managed indiscretions, he con- tributes to the progress of Raimu's Ppolitical career. * k% % ‘Verneuil's malicious, subtle screen- play is full of passages which give Raimu’s comedy skill the fullest op- portunity for expression. Farce must look far for a mo- ment as funny as that in which France’s funniest fat man looks through the door of his paramour’s bedroom, when he stands outside it a moment later being educated in some of the subtleties of life by the gracious king and the beautiful blond. Hilarious, at & minimum, are numerous other passages, one of which is that in which Raimu as host to the king tells his socially naive wife and daughter just what degree of warmth should be shown to_guests at their first great party. Nothing could be funnier unless possibly that sequence in which the king, wandering exploratorily through the upstairs of the home, encounters the simple, deeply im- pressed wife and comes gallantly to the conclusion that they should have a midnight snack in her boudoir. That Francen and Mile. Morlay also are possessed of rich farcical talents is exquisitely dem- onstrated in this long, vastly amus- ing sequence. “The King,” as we say, is some- thing you simply must see while the kiddies are having their fun at the political force now that he has| nearest Donald Duck. 20000000000000000000000 B 3 WashigTon % Benchley Remains SICAL INSTITUTE ¢ $ sccreaitea by Board of Education $ In That Quandry :In teaching children—In working vllh: Wide World News. & iiing or téashers “and. arisie - $ ay and Evening Teaching & | Robert Benchley, working in two 91730 16th St. N.W. men.-r mflz plctures simultaneously, has diffi- LOANS 76 years of buying, selling and lending on diamonds, jewelry, etc. Liberal Loans at Lowest Possible Rates CASH FOR OLD GOLD (Government License) Est. 1866 E. HEIDENHEIMER LOAN OFFICE 1215 H St. N.W. ALERANDRIA VA, NA. 1527 Theater Parking 5 6 PM 101 AM \ EQPITAL GARAGE Dance Lessons CAN LEARN FOR THE _PRICE Here is an opportunity for two Rl TRIAL LESSON____ Victor Martini Studios Not Connected With Any Other Studio 1511 Conn. Ave. Enter 1510 19th DANCE CLASSES NOW FORMING Here's your opportunity ’ Arthur Murray. \. Dance Lessons. _ Final enroliment Pebrul;{ 3rd .°. first_class Febru- j i ;'gnfi"»':ov?f’“ Wit ... (/fi\ Ethel M. Fistere’s ARTHUR MURRAY STUDIO HOLLYWOOD. culty remembering which scene goes where. Upon completing a scene in “Take 8 Letter, Darling,” he resumed work in “Out of the Frying Pan” to dis- cover himself looking down an apartment house staircase and find- ing William Holden and Martha O'Driscoll in an embrace. “When did this happen?” Bench- ley plaintively inquired. “Last time I was on this set, these two weren't even in love.” The Major, at 81, Plays 510th Part Waj. Frederick Farrell plays his 510th role, that of a French restau- rant proprietor, in R-K-O-Radio’s “Joan of Paris,” the vehicle with which Michele Morgan and Paul Henreid make their Hollywood bows. Maj. Farrell, just turned 81 years of age, estimates that in upward of 400 of his film appearances he has played a Frenchman. It affords | him no little amusement, being as Irish as he is. He spent 17 years in France, eight in Germany, two in Italy, one in Vienna, served in the Black Watch during the Boer War, and has been in Hollywood for 18 years. He be- came a screen actor at the age of 63. Claire Signed Claire Trevor has signed with Paramount to co-star opposite Bur- gess Meredith in “The Black Cur- tain,” the studio’s projected film version of the Cornell Woolrich mystery adventure story. Miss Trevor, who has had experience in many action pictures, is best known as the leading lady in “Stagecoach.” “The Black Curtain” will go into production soon, with Jack Hively THE EVENING STAR, ROMEO IS TOUGH—AL least the one played by Robert Taylor to Lana Turner’s Juliet is a bad fellow in “Johnny Eager,” which opens at the Capitol today. RO i e il b . o gfBi Re s /MG aos T ngil i i gae M L giiAL s il et AMUSEMENTS. D. C, THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 1942. WASHINGTON, T AMANORA SAINT? | I don't want Him I want YOU!” TONIGHT AT 8:30 Next Mat. Sat. at 2:30 Jack Kirkland’s Famous Play T0 ROAD:. JOHN BARTON Eves.—50c, $1.00, $1.50,,, Mats.—50c, 77¢c, $1.00 Tex WK, BEG. SUNDAY EVE. AT 8:20 alle its "m VIQUATAE S Produced by DARRYL F.. ZANUCK < Ditecsed by JOHN FORD Scroen Play oy PRip Dunae 4 TWINTIETH CINTURY.OX MCTURE and the sure craftsmanship of Schubert in his most lyric mood. In point of nuance, intonation and ensemble, the members of the string quartet gave a finely polished per- formance, If the quartet stressed a little too present INSTITUTION" 0 OPERA | 'SUND OW N Zlbbr Htseugoré dvesFiveorweancce %% GENE TIERNEY-242 o2 THURS.FEB. 576 MENTS; Wed. Eve.. LA TOSCA; Thurs. Eve, LA TRAVIATA; Pri. Eve., FAUST; Sat. Mat. MARTHA (in English), Fol- lowed by BALLET DIVERTISSEMENTS; Sat. Eve.. IL TROVATORE. EVES—S$1.10, .$1.65, .52.20, .82.75 MATS—$1.10, $1.65, $2.20 (Tax Incl.) SEAT SALE NOW! MEN NEVER FORGET A GIRL LIKE MARVIN MYLES 1 Where and When <R Pix—“Girl Fro g = Current Theater Attractions ||ber batie for Rusia: ‘1130 am, | | ZOVA FYODOROV HEDY LAMARR and Time of Showing Sl I D *Best FOREIGN Petars of the yow 32722 Stage. AMUSEMENTS. it Ao Exsling File *-how Robert YOUNG * Ruth HUSSEY e A Wortims Mallop/ Excellent’ =~ National—"“Tobacco Road,” seems endless: 8:30 ;m CLARE TREE e - MAJOR CHILDREN’S Tagior pecomes an- undermortd || THEATRE OF NEW YORK tough: 10:45 am. 1:35, 4:25 7:15 presents and 10 pm. Stage shows: 3:35, 6:25 and 9:15 pm. Columbia—“H. M. Pulham, Esq.” the decline of a New England dy- nasty: 11:40 am, 2:10, 4:40, 7:05 National Theatre and 9:35 pm. Earle—“Sergeant York,” biography Tickets, 55¢, $1.10, $1.65 of a hero: 10:40 am. 1:20, 4:05, Available at 1734 F Street N.W. 6:45 and 9:40 pm. Stage shows: 12:55, 3:40, 6:20 and 9:15 pm. Keith’s—“Ball of Fire,” Barbara Stanwyck knocks the dignity out of Gary Cooper: 5:30, 7:35 and 9:40 p.m. | Little—“The King,” with that in- comparable PFrenchman, Raimu: | 11 am., 12:40, 2:20, 4:10, 6, 7:50 and || (s g ) 9:40 pm. (“THE BAKER'S WIFE®) Metropolitan — “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” Sheridan White- side on the screen: 5:20, 7:25 and 9:40 pm. Trans-Lux—News and shorts; con- tinuous from 10 am. Palace Valley,” the movie version of Rich- ard Llewellyn's best-seller: 1:40, 4:20, 7 and 9:40 p.m. 11 am, H.M.PULHAM Esq.’ || SLEEPING BEAUTY Saturday, January 31, 10:30 AM. and National Box Office Mail and Telephone Orders Telephone ME. 3834 11:15 am,, 1:20, 3:25, 11 am, 1, 3:15, B \ L shown in France as —“How Green Was My CAPTIR & * * * ISR TR 1101 Conn. Ave. DI. 2460 | directing. AMUSEMENTS. AMUSEMENTS. HELLZAPOPPIN around here «« .« “BALL OF FIRE" is. sizzling (almost a cone flagration) . . . honestly everything is in an uproar. ., what with Universal, produc.' ers of “HELLZAPOPPIN,”| stewing and fretting wanting to get their picture on the screen and all the time . . 4 YOU (the public) are causing our cashiers to go home at night dead tired . . . why— because you are keeping the’ ticket machines humming (and the treasurer worrying all_our neighbors to death trying to get change). . . yes sir-ee ‘tis truly HELLZAPOP- PIN .. .but, let’s get to the point . +xe YOU MUST BE SERVED .°?". you want “Ball of Fire” 80 you get it. And we, and we’re proud too, as is Mr. Goldwyn and RKO- .Radio Pictures, to announce A Opposite U. 5. Trectuwry on A TH WEEK for GARY COOPER BARBARA STANWYCK IN SAMUEL GOLDWYN'S SUPERB COMEDY Gl e e @ e AMUSEMENTS. 30's30 Little °* S, AX AR Ak Ak kA ok kkkk ok X A * # WARNER BROS, usq- Buy Defonse Bonds & Stamps 530 Foature 11:00-1:45-4:35-7:25-1000 . Tun out the Lights! Tum on: ' the Moon! Turn on the Fun! Fredric Loretta " MARCH 1w YOUNG Siony s e o Flaming drama of a high-born beauty who blindly loved the most icy-hearted big shot gangland ever knew. STERLING - Patricia DANE - Glenda FARRELL A Metre-Goldwyn- Mayec Pictars EDWARD ARNOLD - v HerL - Roert Henry O'NEILL:.Diana LEWIS - JOUNLEE MANI and LS TIWARD SRANT '* WERWR'LEROY © s0M Warner EARLE. Last Bay- GARY COOPER in *SERGEANT YORK'” pls Stags Show Prodecedby W. CONSIDINE, X. ° . Warner Bros . METROPOLITAN .