"THE EARL OF CHICAGO"

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24450, 8 November 1940, Page 5

"THE EARL OF CHICAGO"

Robert Montgomery, whose talents for comedy are well-known, oddly enough scored two of his biggest hits in " Night Must Fall," which won him nomination lor the Academy Award, and "TheHig House," both dramatic character studies. Now he has been given another opportunity for character portrayal in 1 the most unusual motion picture of the year, "The Earl of Chicago," which has its Dunedm premiere to-day at the Regent Theatre. From the time he read Brock Williams's original story about a Chicago gangster, Silky Kilmount. who inherits an English estate and becomes the Twelfth Earl of Gorlev, Montgomer: wanted to play the role and he did not rest until he had persuaded his studio to assign him the part. Interested in criminology, he was fascinated by Suky as a character. During a visit to Washington while preparing for the picture, Montgomery visited J. E. Hoover, a personal friend, and did research on the idiosyncrasies of gangsters. Among other items, he picked up one that made Silky an interesting gang character. He learned the surprising fact that there are a number of big shot gangsters who have a psychopathic fear of guns and this queer mental quirk about guns makes Silky's distorted personality different! from any screen gangster yet pictured by Hollywood. The supporting cast is headed by Edward Arnold, Reginald Owen, Edmund Gwenn. E. E. Clive, and Ronnie Sinclair.