Penelope at the Pictures

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 7 December 1938, Page 2

Penelope at the Pictures

GLADYS SWARTHOUT SPONSORS EGYPTIAN STYLES IN -ROMANCE IN THE DARK” Until I saw -Romance in the Dark' j last night. Gladys Swarthout was an , unknown quantity to me. I knew, of j course, that she was a famous opera singer, but that doesn’t count for much j in Hollywood these days, most operatic ; stars having proved expensive failures. But no one could say that of the dark- j eyed, magnetic-voiced Gladys. It was a happy choice to team her with gallant debonair John Boles (who doesn’t always get the good pictures he deserves); and a positive inspiration to set Travis Banton the task of designing costumes for the dark-haired song bird. He made an excellent job of it, too. although when you first see Gladys singing at a graduation recital, you wonder if the designer was off colour that day. Actually her white frock with its over-emphasised puff sleeves and extremely full skirt made worse with a deep frill round the hem, is very clever, giving a more vivid idea of her girlish innocence than anything else could have done. John Boles as a famous singer, arrives on the scene with the equally famous impresario, played wittily by John Barrymore (who. incidentally, grows more like brother Lionel every day) and plays havoc with the inexperienced heart of the village girl. A few careless words heedlessly spoken, take her to Budapest, where she believes he will remember her and help her to gain recognition as a singer. Her only means of getting into touch with him is to take the trying job of housemaid in his apartment, and very sweet and demure she looks, too, in her severe black frock and snowy cap and apron. The tenor and the impresario are in pursuit of the same fair countess, ana when Gladys forces her lovely voice on his consciousness, John Boles sees in her a means of distracting his friend's attention from glamorous Claire Dodd. So he takes his erstwhile housemaid to his Riveria house and transforms her into a bewitching creature who spends lonely evenings while he plays "cribbage” with the countess next door One night, however, she looks particularly lovely in blue and white georgette draped alternately in effective contrast and her sponsor realises that he has overlooked her charm for too long.

The next day the impresario arrives and is immediately aware of a mystery. The countess appears on the scene in riding kit and a suspicious frame of mind, and Gladys makes her debut as Princess Zolita from Egypt. In this scene she looks very striking in a turban of silver lame with a black coat heavily trimmed with large sequins, worn over satin trousers. John Barrymore is easily deceived by her Oriental appearance and even the countess respects her as a rival for the affection of John Boles. Complications ensue as a result of which Gladys is launched | in Budapest with dramatic success and ] several gorgeous Eastern costumes. What happens at her debut I’ll leave

I you to find out. It would spoil everyj thing to tell you more, i But I can’t finish without mentioning I that John Barrymore is much more in- ! teresting as a comedian than as a ! romantic lead, that Gladys Swarthout 1 and John Boles sing some delightful numbers together and that two new light comedians are worth seeing for their amusing antics. If you like good music and good singing you’ll enjoy “Romance in the Dark,” because it gives you both. An excellent film, this, and one which deserves every publicity.