ST. JAMES THEATRE

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 261, 31 July 1937, Page 15

ST. JAMES THEATRE

* “Laughing Irish Eyes”

Pictures about the Irish always seem to have more mass appeal than those dealing With any other kind of people, so “Laughing Irish Eyes,” which began yesterday at the St. James Theatre, has an advantage from the start. It is a typical mixture of romance, humour and song, flavoured to popular taste with Irish blarney. Not by any means outstanding, but quite entertaining in its unpretentious way. There are no star names in the cast, but it has been chosen with care, and contains many good “types”; the action covers plenty of ground at a brisk pace ; the oldworld charm of the scenes in Ireland are well contrasted with those set among the rush and bustle of New York’s sporting world; favourite old Irish songs are introduced at frequent intervals and most attractively sung by Phil Regan, a handsome young tenor; and the prize-fight ■which brings tlfe story to ,a climax is an exciting and realistic piece of screencraft. I n fact, there is pretty well everything that one would expect from a picture called “Laughing Irish Eyes.” Phil Regan is versatile in the role of Danno O’Keefe, a singing blacksmith who is taken away from his forge in Ireland and sent to Ameri-

ea in mistake for a boxer. This happens as the result of a wager by an old fight promoter that he can find a champion in Erin. And in the end, the singing blacksmith proves as handy with his fists as he is with his voice, though the way is not made easy for him by his rival for the love of Peggy Kelly, the fight promoter’s daughter. Having won the championship, Danno deserts the ring for radio and romance. Besides singing tunefully, Began puts plenty of punch into his fight scenes and shows fair ability as an actor. Evelyn Knapp is a winsome heroine, and the names of Walter C. Kelly, Warren Hymer, Mary Gordon, J. M. Kerrigan. Herman Bing, Haymond Hatton and Betty Compson are worth noting in the supporting cast.

If you are in the Dionne Quintuplets, now three years old, there are 1800 feet of them on the supporting programme. NEW PARAMOUNT THEATRE * “When Thief Meets Thief” The British film “When Thief Meets Thief,” which is now showing at the New Paramount Theatre, is deserving of considerable attention by those people who like' their stories to be exciting, unusual, ami filled with incident. Indeed, the only real complaint that can be made against this United Artists’ picture is that the plot tends occasionally to become obscured by too much action and change of scene, but on the whole the continuity is tighter and the direction crisper than in the average British film. Nor has there been counting of cost on the production side. The star is Douglas Fairbanks, jun., a young man whose popularity has suffered from the sins of overacting remembered against his father, but who actually has few equals on the screen in roles demanding youth, vigour, and romantic bearing. Those who saw “The Amateur Gentleman” should agree with this, and now be is equally at home in a modern setting. Like “Raffles”-and “The Last of Mrs. Cheyney,” this is a story about amiable crooks. If such people existed in real life they would soon find themselves behind bars and there would be few to mourn, but when they appear on the screen everyone wishes them the best of luck. So it is with young Fairbanks in his portrayal of a handsome rum-runner, safe-cracker, and cat-burglar, and with Valerie Hobson sis a beautiful adventuress whose activities are more within the law but scarcely less a menace to polite society. Romance enters the story when Fairbanks goes to take the girl’s jewels but steals her heart instead, but before this he has had exciting encounters with a blackmailing colleague (Allan Hale), and this unpleasant person returns later to furnish the film with several surprising twists and a rather ingeniously-contrived climax. I have long regarded Hale as one of the five most capable villains on th* screen, and his latest performance confirms that belief. All in all, “When Thief Meehs Thief” is melodrama well worth watching. KING’S THEATRE *. “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” and “Border Cafe” Both pictures now showing at the King’s Theatre, “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” and “Border Cafe,” would probably be classed as Westerns, yet as such they are inclined to be disappointing, for in both there is a lack of that fast and exciting action which is the foremost requirement of this type of entertainment. In “The Outcasts of Poker Flat,” the novel written by the famous Bret Harte has been considerably altered, not always to advantage, and there is little or none of the accustomed fast riding and gun and list-fights. The picture is also somewhat overburdened with diahigue—one expects Western heroes to be men of few words. On the other band, the settings arc picturesque, the locale of the tale being the Californian gold-rush country in 1850. No less colourful are the characters, the major figures being gamblers who prey upon the town of Poker Flat until the inhabitants organise themselves as vigilantes and drive them out. The fact that the chief “outcast” has by this time become softened under the romantic influence of a school-teacher increases the dramatic interest of the plot. Preston Foster and Jean Muir have the leading roles, but the really outstanding feature of the picture is the performance of the child actress, Virginia Weidler, the “mascot” of the gamblers, and her precocious ability at the poker table supplies some novel and amusing moments. “Border Cafe” is a modern Western story with a fairly familiar plot and comparatively slow movement except in the closing scenes, where there is a welcome burst of hard riding ami hard shooting as the hero, hitherto rather spineless, proves his manhood by rescuing the heroine from the big city gangsters who have taken up cattle-rustling. Harry Carey, John Beal, and the Spanish dancer, Armida, have the leading roles.