RADIO PROGRAMMES.

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 151, 29 June 1938, Page 10

RADIO PROGRAMMES.

Today's Kadio Programmes will found on page 8.

• ST. JAMES THEATJIE,

"The Last Gangster."

Edward G. Robinson brings all of , his consummate artistry to 10 c Joe Krozac, gangster, killer, and ex tortionist of "The Last Gangs to, which commcnccs on I<riday a V t J] L ®. James Theatre, and the result is a poitrayal which for sheer Power anci '.ra matic effectiveness has not been equalled even by die actor s "Little Caesar" of some years back. "The Last Gangster" is the picture of a domineering, ruthless, underworld czar—a man who has outsmarted rival rrooks and got away with-H, a man who has laughed at Judges and got away with it, a man who recognises no power greater than his pwn. When, his doom finally falls and he is ultimately sent to serve ten years m pri&on for income tax evasion, he is like a child in an unknown world. It is this . man whom Robinson brings to lift ; with that unerring instinct for-making a human being out of a screen shadow which has labelled him of the screen's greatest character stars. Ihe story is given even greater emotional impact in its narrative' of the wile and child who have been leit behind when Joe Krozac is sent to prison. Hounded by newspapermen the gangsters harassed wife is befriended by a reporter whom she marries following her divorce from Krozac. When the gangster finally is released from prison it is with hatred for his wife and the man whom he thinks of as. having stolen his child. It is ultimate understanding of the child's clean new environment and his own. unfitness to be the child s father that leads the picture to its stirring climax. Rose Stradner proves herself not only lovely to look at but an actress of distinguished talent. In the difficult assignment of Edward G. Robinson's wife, she brings to the role a sincerity and dramatic depth. James Stewart, as the reporter who befriends her brings a sharp contrast to Robm-. son's ruthless criminal characterisation. Excellent work is contributed by Lionel Standcr as the • gangster's, henchman who finally turns on him, and others who stand out in the cast are Douglas Scott as the son, John Carradine, and Sidney Blackmer.