DOUBLE-FEATURE BILL

Evening Star, Issue 22578, 20 February 1937, Page 21

DOUBLE-FEATURE BILL

STRONG PROGRAMME AT STRAND Two highly-entertaining films are featured at the Strand this week. There is an unexpected turn in the story in each scene of ‘ Palm Springs,’ which is the principal attraction. A popular pleasure restort in California, Palm Springs, forms the setting. Here the most luxurious appointments of a modern city are to ho found within a stone’s- throw of the desert, where even Indians hesitated to venture not many years ago. A penniless, retired British military officer arrives with his faithful servant and his daughter in Palm Springs, and the captain sets to work to hide from his daughter the knowledge that he is out of pocket. Meanwhile the daughter has captivated a cowboy, and bids fair to have another admirer. Learning of the true state ol her father's means, the girl decides to marry for money, and two camps are formed, supporting marriage for love or marriage for money. The latter means an alliance with a wealthy young fellow with nothing to do but spend money. Eventually true love has its way, and the ending is n romantic and pleasing one. Good acting by each member of the east makes this picture a highly enjoyable one Frances Langford has a reputation as singer and actress which sho fully maintains, and Sir Guy Standing gives a polished performance. A newcomer to the screen, Smith Ballew, gives a pleasing performance as a romantically-inclined cowboy, and David Niven ami Ernest Cossart fill minor roles capably. The musical score is a full one. Songs which seem likely to be popular are ‘ Palm Springs,’ ‘ 1 Don’t Want to Make History,’ ‘ Dreaming Out Loud,’ and ‘ Will I Ever Know,’ and they are sung to good effect by Miss Langford, an accomplished radio singer, and Ballew. ‘ Palm Springs ’ was directed by Aubrey Scotto and produced by Walter Wanger. The other picture is ‘ They Mot in a Taxi,’ with Fay Wray and Chester Morris at the head of an excellent cast. This production is fully as good as its co-featnre, and there is not a dull moment from the first scone to the final fade-out. It is a comedy in its essentials, and the romance is blended into the laughs with the utmost dexterity.