A STAR’S DEBUT

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22496, 2 September 1938, Page 5

A STAR’S DEBUT

' A new star appears in “Stolen Heaven,” a film which contains some of the great masterpieces of music and which will be screened first at the Avon Theatre next Friday. The star is Olympe Bradna, a brilliant young French actress, who has been described in Hollywood as “the first star of J938.” In “Stolen Heaven” she plays cpposite Gene Raymond. “Stolen Heaven” tells a romantic tale of a pair of jewel thieves who, in their attempts to eliide the police, hide away in a remote forest, where they find temporary refuge in the cottage of an old musician, whom the world has long forgotten. This 'man, played by Lewis Stone, represents a side of the world the young scamps have never known before. He is sentimental, generous, and trusting, and offers Olympe and Raymond refuge from their pursuers. The youngsters succumb completely to the tender influence of the old musician, and with him make plans for his “comeback.” But before they can bring their plans to completion they are joined by their former confederates, played by Glenda Farrell and Porter Hall. Their friends convince them that they have merely “gone soft,” and they finally agree to make their “getaway” on the very eve of the festival which is to mark Stone’s return to the world of music. But to Olympe their stay in the forest has meant something more than just a refuge, and she cannot leave the old man. As the curtain goes up on the great music festival, she makes it clear to Raymond that she regards their past life as a great mistake and that her place is beside the man who has befriended them. Raymond must finally choose between their confederates, who are ready to make their getaway, and Olympe, who has found something real in life in the forest. “Stolen Heaven” is an experiment in combining a dramatic story with sentiment of the most “heart-warming” and human kind, and judging by this picture it is a successful <pne. Besides writing the original story, and directing the film, Andrew Stone, the young man who brought the sensational success, “The Girl Said No,” to the screen last year, brought another original touch to the film. It was the synchronisation of the action with the background music. Set to the music of some of the world’s greatest masters, the action is fascinating and entertaining to follow. Olympe (pronounced O-lamp) Bradna received her unusual first name because she was born back-stage in the Olympic Theatre in Paris. But Qlympe did not go on the stage im-

Olympe Bradna Appears in * “Stolen Heaven”

had to wait 18 months. After her debut in a Paris version of that popular musical comedy of a few years ago, “Hit the Deck,” Olympe’s fame was established, and a triumphant tour of the capitals of Europe followed.

She took New York by storm in an American edition of the famous “Folies Bergere.” Her Hollywood chance came through the interest of George Raft, who, after seeing her dance in New York, found her a part in “Souls at Sea.”