RIVOLI THEATRE.

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 102, 27 October 1938, Page 15

RIVOLI THEATRE.

Tracy and Luise Rainer.

More than ordinary originality has gone into the making of the picture, "Big City," which opens tomorrow at the Rivoli Theatre, with Luise Rainer and Spencer Tracy co-starred. There is no pretense at picturing the emotions rampant in any metropolis. Instead, the story devotes itself to the human adventure of a humble taxicab driver and his immigrant bride. The city is merely background. Miss Rainer, Academy Award winner for her role as Anna, Held in "The Great Ziegfeld," and as O-Lan, the Chinese farm woman in "The Good Earth," retains the same human qualities that made those roles so powerful. Tracy, who was the priest in "San Francisco" and the seaman in "Captains Courageous," now becomes a hackman with the same human touch that made his previous characterisations stand out as the most impressive in years. The story is a drama of romance and tribulation in the seething life of the city. It could be any city. As it happens, it is New York, because we recognise Jack Dempsey's famous restaurant in the shadow of Madison Square Garden and many of the sporting fraternity who dine" there. The supporting cast was carefully chosen and they achieve their respective roles effectively.Among outstanding players are Charley Grapewin, Janet Beecher, Eddie Quillan, Victor Varconi, Oscar O Shea, Helen Troy, William Demarest, John Arledge, Irving Bacon, Guinn Williams, and Regis Toomey. "Big City" is vital screen drama. There is nothing^ trivial in it because, primarily, it is human. "Thank You, Mr. Moto," the second feature, with Peter Lorre in the leading role, is a thrilling mystery drama.