STATE THEATRE.

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 105, 31 October 1939, Page 6

STATE THEATRE.

Tomorrow's New Programme

That tireless Oriental sleuth, Mr. Mo to, in the person of Peter Lorre, wins a well-earned vacation at last m his newest 20th Century-Fox thriller, "Mr Moto Takes a Vacation," which opens tomorrow at the State Theatre. But his thrilling trip to the Arabian desert turns 'out to be a vacation in name only—for the wily J. P. Marquand detective is simply posing as a Japanese tourist on vacation, while actually protecting a young archaeologist who has unearthed the priceless crown jewels of the Queen of Sheba for the San Francisco Museum. Menaced by the curse of an ancient tomb and cornered by arch-criminals of two continents, Mr. Moto meets his most thrilling adventures, solves two baffling murders, and saves the jewels. Joseph S.childkraul, Lionel Atwill, Virginia Field, John King, and Iva Stewart are featured. The ever-versatile Tom Walls, famous the world over for his comedy roles, now proves conclusively that he is one of the most accomplished actors on the British screen by his sterling performance in "Old Iron," the associate film. The London critics have hailed his work in this film as one of the finest bits of character acting sines talkies began. As Sir Henry Woodstock chief of a great shipping line, and a stern but scrupulously just father, Tom Walls gives a gem of character study which would have delighted Galsworthy. Not that some of the famous Tom Walls comedy touches are missing, however. There are brilliant flashes of kindly wit, which both amuse and at the same time add to the veracity of the character he is portraying—an old man of iron with a sentimental side barely hidden below. There is a well-balanced supporting cast of players, including Eva Moore, Cecil Parker, Richard Ainley, Veronica Rose, David Tree; Leslie Perrins, and Enid Stamp-Taylor. Tom Walls produced and directed.