SLAVERY UP-TO-DATE

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22306, 21 January 1938, Page 16

SLAVERY UP-TO-DATE

Very appropriately named is the Warner Bros.' melodrama. "White Bondage." which is coming to the Pla?a with "Hot Money." The white bondage- referred to is the bondage which holds some of the so-cnik'd "share-croppers" in certain parts of the extreme Southern States of Ihe United States of America those humble whites and blacVs who grow and pick cotton lor the large land-holders. Jean Mnir, a perfect type for an unsophisticated type of role, plays Betsy Ann Craig, granddaughter of Old "Pap" Craig, a cotton share-cropper who, like many others, is being cheated by Trent Talcott, a not over-honest plantation storekeeper. Harry Davenport plays this scoundrelly part so well that good, old-time hisses from Hie audience are in order. Betsy Ann, her grandfather, and her sweetheart Cal Sander.-:—the latter notably done by Howard Phillipsknow of the cheating, but there is nothing they can do about it. Talcolt is too powerful. But along comer Gordon Oliver, co-starred with Mi? c Muir in "White Bondage." in the guise of a man-of-all-work, David Graydon. lie discovers the tricky device by which Storekeeper Talcott's scales have made lighter by hundreds of pounds the bales of cotton brought to him by the share-croppers. Talcott, however, learns of these discoveries and manoeuvres Graydon into a false position where the croppers believe he is their enemy, and not their friend. Talcott infuriates the croppers into a lynching mood, and they get as far as fixing their rope around • Gray-

"White Bondage" and "Hot Money"

don's neck just before Betsy Ann, in an exciting climax, saves him. Uprisings among cotton sharecroppers have been frequent in America, and this picture, based on the subject, has been laade into a smooth running and en grossing all'air. "Hot Money," Warner Bros.' newest comedy romance, lias Ross Alexander and Beverly Roberts in the leading roles. The picture is said to be a riot ol laughs with a delightful underlying romance. The theme is based on the "wild cat" promotion schemes of the days of easy money, and in this instance is the sale of stock in an organisation formed to sell a liquid concentrate, which, added to water, will make a substitute for gasoline that will run an automobile 2!i miles a ,'lallon at the tost of 1 cent. Stock in sold quickly to a gullible public, but the company acts into hot water with . the Better Business Bureau. The action moves fast and furious, with stockholders clamouring for their money back and the promoters threatened with arrest. But an unusual event takes place which brings the picture to a close in a riotous climax. Alexander and Miss Roberts, the fast talking promoter and his secretary, form a new and pleasing team of screen lovers. Joseph Cawlhorn, famous stage and screen comedian, and Paul Graetz, former German comedian who made such a hit in "Mr Cohen Takes a Walk," have the leading comedy roles. Others in the cast include Andrew Tombos, Harry Burns, Ed Conrad, Anno Nagel, Frank Orth, Cy Kendall, Andre Beranger.