1941-02-22 — Page 17

Saturday,

HONGKONG TELEGRAPH

February 22, 1941.

CLASSIC OF ENGLISH SCHOOL LIFE FILMED

"Tom Brown's School Days'

-At the Queen's & Alhambra“

ROB

OBERT STEVENSON, the British director now in Hollywood, has made a good job.of the famous story of Rugby in the 'eighties. But it is on broad lines that his success lies. He has succeeded in getting the atmosphere and outlining the methods used by head- master, Dr Arnold, to remould the school and repair its tarnished reputation, but he has failed to get much in-, timacy concerning the main character of the book. Tom Brown himself.

Sentiment inclines to, be a little turgid at times, but there is plenty of life in the plot and some very good acting.

Honours go mainly to Sir Cedric Hardwicke as.Dr Arnold, who abominates lying above all things and proceeds to clean up his school by large-scale expulsions which lend him into trouble with the board of governors.

He is dignified, sincere, and manages to suggest a nice sense of balanced severity and humour. An understanding and under- standable characterisation.

Next comes Jimmy Lydon, who makes of Tom a typical schoolboy. It is a fresh, natural picco of acting, and does full credit to this young artist's histrionic powers,

The only time he is not convincing is when he is supposed to have grown to youth and has to look more mature; he still remains the enthusiastic schoolboy in looks.

Billy Halop's American accent is a handicap in his role of the bully Flashman, who has a terrific fight with Tom, but his acting is exceedingly good.

Josephine Hutchinson is rather colourless as Arnold's wife. Freddie Bartholomew is good as East, Tom's friend, with whom he has a bitter quarrel.

1

Sound cameo characterisations come from Forrester Harvey, Polly Meran, Alec Craig and Ernest Cossart.

Naturally, the book has been very much telescoped, and most of the bullying takes place in one sequence, as does the juniors' revenge on their oppressors.

However, the atmosphere is realistic, and, generally speak-] Ing, there is a human touch throughout which helps to picture] with accuracy the "human-bof."

"Invisible Stripes"

-At the King's

HOLLYWOOD has often shown concern over the

Famous Children of Famous Hollywood Parents

by James Arthur

Hollywood's "royal families" motion pictures as a Keystone made generation after genera are in the making. Second gen- Cop and later as a director. tion of Du Mauriers, Irvings and eration Hollywoodiles-the sons Virginia followed in her father's Tearles continue in the theatre, and daughters of yesteryear's footsteps, chose acting as a belleves Miss Grey. And so in stars are founding a notion career and is now playing Hollywood, a similar tradition is picture counterpart of the feminine leads. stage's great traditional families,

While the stage has its Drews,

Coopers and Kembles, the screen can now point to its Powers,

Fairbanks and Chaneys. Both

American penal system, and this film puts for-stage and screen share in the ward a plea for the convict who comes out of prison cle- glory of families like the Barry- termined to live an honest-life.

mores.

Each of those nanies-all of Cliff (Mr George Raft) is let out "on parole" and he soon them famous in silent pictures finds that his record counts against him when it comes to getting,is. as well-known to-day as it One was twenty years ugo. and keeping, work.

generation has grown up since

The story lacks originality. It has a moral to point, and with the help of Cliff's younger brother, who is tempted to grab from society what he cannot get by work, and a placid disregard of the audience, it conscientiously points it.

Towards the end there is a stir in the action and the gang- sters' revolvers pop away as merrily as though the film were back in the old careless days when it had not developed a social con- science.

they first flashed to stardom. And now those names of a gen. eration ago are carried on by the sons and daughters of those who first bore them.

*

¿

"I

was il said

being founded. never Many of those famous stage families now have representatives in thought of being motion pictures. Ida Lupino, Basi janything but an Rathbone and Sir Guy Standing can actress when I each trace their ancestry back to the child," teenth century when some one of their forebears trod the boards Virginia, and set e precedent that has been "I suppose

it followed by each succeeding genera- was because tion down to the present day.

In her new picture, Miss Grey is of my child- teamed with another second genera- environ- tion Hollywoodite John Shelton. Our Shelton is the son of Ruth Orsmand, home was al- silent picture star,

hood

ment..

ways filled with

☆ ☆ people connected The actress' contention that each with motion pictures. The in- actor inust start from the bottom dustry was young then, and regardless of his parents' position there was a breathless excite- borne out by her own experience. She got her Brst taste of acting ment in the air always."

when she appeared as Little Eva bị As the industry grew older, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" at the age of The scion of one such family and she with it, the excitement nine.

"But after that first role, nothing Raft gives a routine performance, but William Holden man-is Virginia Grey, the daughter-only increased for her. ages to strike some life out of the part of the younger brother. of Ray Grey, who pioneered in

"I discovered then that acting happened, she reports. "I played is different from any other had-just-about-given-up-the-thought parts and was a 'stand-in. I business. One can inherit a of a second Grey in motion pictures

was cast in "The Great Zieg factory or shop and thereby be when come a manufacturer or shop- feld. That proved to be the break'

I'd hoped for." keeper. But the son or daugh- During the filming of the plcture. ter of an actor inherits only a Virginia was named the most beauti- pame, and that doesn't make ful of the Ziegfeld girls by a group [him an actor."

Pressure

WEEKLY

on

HEALTH FEATURE

Brain Causes

Queer Ideas and Feelings

By CLAUD NORTH CHRISMAN

WOMAN called up re-ceiling or running about the somewhere in these brain could be found a pressure that might cently to complain about room.

be relieved and the trouble

He says that "every

to

of newspaper men. Thereafter she was signed to a long-term contract *

which assured the name of Grey be- But it's the desire to live up perhana one day to be the name

ing continued in motion pictures- of that inheritance that has a Hollywood "royal family,"

Are You

Sure?

1.

Who said: "History shows that the leaders who start a war never finish it?"-Mussolini, Lloyd George, Clemenceau, Bismarck?

2.

The tallest building in the world is (a) the Eiffel Tower (b) Chrysler Building. New York (c) Empire State Building, New York (d) Taj Mahal.

3.

What female butterfly has perfect wings, cannot fly, yet gave its name to a famous aero- plane?

4.

A basilisk is a (a) law code complied by Basil I (b) lizard (c) four-sided pillar (d) musical instrument.

5.

6.

Who is the world's fastest runner? How many Atlantic bases were leased by the Give British Empire to the United States? the names.

Cause Brain Twists queer feelings in her hands. and feet. Some time before. Here we have an instance of remedied. Usually this pressure she had fallen in a faint excitement causing a congestion is from tumour, and these tuni- through a doorway and in certain brain cells. This creat- ours, according to Dr Howard down the entrance steps, ed a pressure that replaced the Melutyle, present a formidable

normal ideas with distorted ones, problem. She struck on her forehead, The hallucinations of fever are state hospital for the insane

should employ a bruising and cutting herself of much the same order; the

competent badly. Since then she is "snakes" of alcoholism are off- #eurologist to study all cases and determine whether tumours sure she has some trouble spring of a brain that is oppress- that will affect her minded and distorted by the effect of were the cause of the insanity

of m. patient." - alcohol. unless something is done

Tumor Is Located Such tendencies to brain twists about it.

run all the way from queer idens An example was cited in which This is not an unusual in the mind of one who is upset the patient saw walls of colour, situation, and may be met in by some disturbing experience dragons, midgets or Biblical all ages, from the child who or injury, to actual conditions of characters. Air was pumped into disense that are difficult to certain brain cells, then X-ray complains of night terrors, to the mature person who diagnose by any except experts. pictures clearly revealed the We had a popular ditty some shape, density, and contour of has sensations he does not years ago that carried a refrain the brain tumour. When the understand. There is little about "pink elephants on the tumour had been removed, hal- disappeared, the doubt that in all these cases, ceiling." Many a person who has lucinations there is a condition that been the victim of this sort of sense of smell returned, and the hallucination has found himself patient returned to a normal life. causes pressurc

committed to a sanitarium if his This brings up the whold sub- portion of the brain, thus ideas continued to grow in the jeet of the baffling casca of creating distorted ideas, wrong direction. This trouble schizophrenia, or a "split mind," which are recognised as not has happened so often that it in which the subjects have spells normal and are hence wor- has drawn the attention of of withdrawing into what seems research paychiatrists, who do to be an entirely different world. risome to the individual.

not stop with an ordinary Dr Edward Strecker, a Univer- Take this matter of "night diagnosis, but make a desperate sity of Pennsylvania psychiat terrors" among children. In my effort to track the trouble to its rist, has an entirely now opera- family we had a bunch of very source.

tion for this. It involves enter- practical youngsters, but a weird, The McIntyles of Cincinnati, ing the brain cavity through the exciting tale, if read to them Dr Howard, and his wife Dr temple and making a fan-ahap before bedtime, would mean that Aurelia, who feel that persons cut in the brain lobes. In the few In a few hours we should have aufforing from brain twists could casca thue for attempted many to get up and turn on all the and should be helped, have mental disturbances have been lights in the house to prove that reported to the American relieved, and some serious ones 10. there was nothing moving on the Paychiatric Association" that improved.

on

some

7. What British Sovereign had smallpox in

1572?

8. A famous British commander of the present war has written a biographical and analytical study of Field Marshal Lord Allenby, who made a name in the last Great War.

Who is the soldier-author?

9.

Who is the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the U.S.S.R.—(a). Molotov (b) Stalin (c) Kalinin (d) Voroshilov (e) Kushenin? Where was Chiang Kai-shek born?

Answers On Page 14.

104

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