1940-11-23 — Page 13

Saturday,

HONGKONG TELEGRAPH

November 23 1940.

FOUR

HR

ere's

THE

History is being rewritten so quickly these days that it is not safe to film even a mythical-kingdom yarn. "Four Sons," now showing at the King's Theatre, is a melodrama built around Hitler's adoption of Czechoslo- vakia, yet it has the elements of yesterday's newspaper.

I. A. R. Wylie wrote a story, filmed in 1928, of a Bavarian mother who lost three of her four sons in the last European war. It was an emotional drama of mother love, viewed in kindly retrospect, of the terrible tragedies of war.

Hollywood has rewritten all this into a study of a Sudetenland peasant mother at the time Germany occupies her country, rolls into Poland and starts upon the mad march to conquer Europe. You see undercover German "social clubs" paving the way for conquest, and are presented with a well-staged panorama of goose- stepping Nazi troopers cutting their way across a defenceless country.

In her film debut, Eugenie Leontovich plays the part of the mother, Frau Bernle, with pictorial effectiveness. Wife of actor-director Gregory Ratoff, Miss Leontovich

SONS

has a proud record in the theatre, her hits including "Grand Hotel" and "Tovarich."

The role is handled with fine restraint, although the picture of the mother's suffering is unnecessarily long and detailed. The picture is very well worth seeing, and if it fails to move deeply it is solely because the tragedy has been laid on with too heavy a hand.

The scenes, however, knit well together. Memorable are those of the killing of brother by brother, the betrayal of the culprit by the victim's wife, the farewell to the youngest son when he departs to fight in Poland, and the lonely dinner when the mother's table is peopled by the ghosts of the departed family.

The sons are played by Don Ameche, Alan Curtis, George Ernest and Robert Lowery, while Mary Beth Hughes provides a good interpretation as a young peasant wife. Mention must also be made of the faithful reproduction of the life and scenes of the little Czech village-where life was sweet until the shadow of the Swatiska fell across the land.

GULLIVER'S HOLLYWOOD NEWSREEL

TRAVELS"

PRETTY GIRL PARADOX

The year's most Interesting new tudies ever since we can remember. screen lean may be Deanna Durbin Miss Darnell's views are reactionary and Shirley Temple.

-even for territories outside Holly- Producer Joe Pasternak is inter- wood--which seems a bit hard.. "To ested in co-starring Shirley with one me a kiss is just awfully important," Max Fleischer's first

his

Hollywood is going to do some- more important stars. The she declares i full of

in defending her refusal length cartoon,"Gulliver's first proposal was that the should to allow escorts to bestow the custom-thing about its oldest paradox

Gloria Jean. Mr. and Mrs. partner

агу

V man I want it to mean some-

Travels," makes its Hongkong George Temple, however, trod politely ki 500d-night salutation. "When the fact that there is a short- debut at the Queen's and Alham- but fanly on the suggestion. They thing." Films, of course, are differ-age of female stars although

feel that ley and Jean

Shirley and

are to ent. Kissing Tyrone Power before hundreds of pretty and talented a near the same age and that they both the cameras for instance is classified girls come to the film capital

have let li be known that they can get it.

bra to-morrow.

This is not, of

course,

celluloid copy of Dean' Swift's alise in singing and dancing, as work--and very nice work it you annually and are never given a

vehicle.

services.

*

tumble.

ironical fantasy. It has charac- would be willing to allow the Infant ters Dean Swift never heard of, IT girl to appear with Deanan, and Biggest laugh at the preview of "He Faoul Walsh, one of the town's) as well as a handful of songs, Pasternak is trying to find a suitable Stayed for Breakfast: was Melvyn tending directors, recently decided that, in content and interpreta-

Douglas's line: "Of course I am a that something should be done about Communist." Melvyn Was tion, would

among it for the good of the industry and is probably have Dorothy Lumour is mascot of the those accused by the committee in- reviving the old tradition of selecting puzzled the Dean very much U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Army yestigating un-American activities of the thirteen baby stars" of the year. indeed; and its message about Air Corps. She has been presented being a Red.

That Director Walsh isn't stumbling in the dark on a plan to and new international relationships de- with miniature wings by all three

faces is evident from the results of livered with a mildness certainly

the old custom one

carried out not found in the original.

annually by film publicity men.

They called their selections "wam- pus baby stars" and from their num- ber · came some of the greatest Lana Turner, having put on eleven stellar names in the history of pounds, is now on a diet.

Hollywood. Clare Bow, Mary Astor, Joan Crawford, Dolores Del Rio, Janet Gaynor, Joan Arthur, Lupe "What an actor that man is!" ex-Velez and Loretta Young are just a John Barrymore's former few of the actresses who used their putian beach, discovered sleeping by beautiful discovery of recent years, wife Dolores Custello, after she heard

card wampus selections as a spring board the tiny people,

and carried away makes a notable contribution to that John tel! the United States bank- after a vast amount of work with good-night-kiss-at-the-garden- gate ruptcy referee that he was "a little levers, cranes, and the other para- controversy that has worried young confused when it came to financial phernalia of building construction, The sense of ant-like activity and

But the Lilliputian episode, to which the film confines itself, right have been designed with a cartoon- in view. No other medium could express quite as effectively the disparity between Gulliver and the tiny Lilliputians. This is been in one of the earliest scenes, that in will Gulliver. is

is washed

up on the

Judy Garland received her first Paulette Goddard startled Holly romantle movie kiss in "Little Nellie wood recently with the most striking Kelly," fucky man was* George make-up Innovation since the, pla- Murphy. tinum blonde. It was a daring mid- night-blue lipstick, christened "Cana- dian Evening."

Linda Darnell, one of the prettiest girls in films and certainly the most claimed

•

into fame.

cs." He was being questioned editors about his assets and hla

huge expense of effort is cleverly nose is a lively lite fellow and thts of 88,000 dollars and unsuccess-

conveyed.

there are three spies who combine

did

On the whole, the grotesque charac- something of the sinister appeal of fully tried to explain what he ters are more successful than the the witch in "Snow White" with the with the 1,000 dollars a week allowed others. The princess heroine 16 slapstic

tactica of "The Three him as lving expenses." · Asked sweet but quite lifeless, and Gulliver

how he used the 1,000 dollars, he said: Altogether, a pleasant piece of "Oh, just household expenses--those Gabby, the town crler, with his fam- entertainment, with a marked appeal things have always been mysterious ing Technicolour hair and bulbous to young people.

to me."

is amiable and similarly lifeless, but

"Girls like thess have become great assets to the motion picture industry," Walsh declares, “but rome one had to give them the opportunity of being discovered, Now you know and I know and everybody knows that there are many girls potentially as good but who haven't got a chance in the world to prove it. We hope to rive them that chance by bring- ing them to the attention of the right people."-Neil Rau.

"We agree--blast all wing forwards who always leave the real work to chaps like you, BUT

you've-pinched-our-mug P

3

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