DE LUXE THEATRE

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 106, 28 January 1939, Page 13

DE LUXE THEATRE

# “The Mysterious Rider” And “Give Me A Sailor” I J aramount's reputation for making good Western pictures is more than maintained 'by “The Mysterious Rider," which ■ heads the new programme at the De Luxe Theatre. With the initial benefit of a story written by Zane Grey, this production has been embellished by fine outdoor photography, a sound cast, and direction that carries the tale along in the vigorous manner expected of a “cowboy picture.” It is a surprise—and quite a pleasant one —-to find Douglas Dumbrille, who has hitherto specialized in important supporting roles in major melodramas, figuring as the hero of a Western. He is seen to advantage as an outlaw who returns to the ranch from ■which he was wrongly dispossessed years before, to settle accounts with his enemies and secure control of the ranch for his daughter (Charlotte Fields). After a rather confusing start, during which the characters and their motives are established, the story unfolds in the traditional manner, embracing gun fights, hectic chases and rescues. Having become famous (or notorious, according to the point of view) because of her outsize in mouths and her hoydenish manner, Martha Rayo is now the subject of a campaign to turn her into a “glamour girl.” The change is obvious in “Give Me a Sailor,” the second feature, in which Miss Raye is presented as the winner of a “beautiful legs” contest —an honour she received by mistake when her legs are entered for a. beauty contest instead of the cake she has ’baked for a cookery competition. Miss Raye, who is still a slapstick comedienne, in spite of her legs, is supported by a cast which includes Betty Grable, the radio comedian, Bob Hope, and Jack Whiting, who was leading man to Jessie Matthews in “Sailing Along.”