THE CINEMA
"Train of Events," (Gaumont.)---" A Song Is Born." (Odeon, Marble Arch.)—,--" My Dream is Yours." (Warner.)
Train of Events relates the stories of four different sets of people who become involved in a train smash ; in other words it is four little films bearing no relation to one another save that in the hearts of the characters there lies a common desire to get to Liverpool We have Mr. Jack Warner as the engine driver who lives in a world of steam and greasy rags, with Miss Gladys Henson as his wife and Miss Susan Shaw as his daughter. We have Miss Joan Dowling as a waif enamoured of an extremely morose German prisoner of war played by Mr. Laurence Payne, not without difficulty. Then there is some light relief in the shape of Mr. John Clements as a composer-conductor married to an inhumanly understanding wife, Miss Valerie Hobson in a frolicsome mood, meanwhile flirting with Miss Irina Baronova. Lastly there is Mr. Peter Finch with a murdered Miss Mary Morris in a theatrical props basket. In spite of, or perhaps because of, having three directors and four authors, this film is as bumpy as a cobbled street, and there are patches of almost everything—fun, cosiness, melodrama, bathos and boredom. Mr. Finch, whose first appearance on the screen this is, deserves full credit for his handling of a hard role ; Mr. Warner exudes that Cockney kindliness for which he is justly famous ; and Miss Baronova pretends to play the piano with such magnificent passion she should be awarded an Oscar. Although I pick these plums out of the pie for special mention, the other plums are by no means bad, and would be even better were they allowed to settle down a bit. As it is one hardly has time to cut through the crust to .reach them before they are spilled onto the British Railway line. One is so used to Mr. Danny Kaye behaving like a lunatic that it is something of a shock to meet him sane. In A Song is Born he is one of seven cherubic professors who are engaged in compiling a musical encyclopaedia, and it becomes Mr. Kaye's business to explore the depths of jazz, jive and bebop. The bands which offer him their services are as stimulating, rhythmic and noisy as any swing- lover could desire, but they fail to galvanise Mr. Kaye into any form of convulsion, and he remains throughout as quiet as a milk shake. He proves, however, that he can act sincerely and that it is as easy for him to be touching as it is for him to be funny, and indeed I found this unexpected flair for pathos very fascinating. Miss Virginia Mayo's feline charms make an excellent foil for his timid thrusts, and though perhaps there arc moments when Mr. Kaye's New Look sags a trifle at the hem, on the whole this is a nicely stitched film. For me personally it held the seed of yet another sorrow which the years are now planting with such obnoxious frequency in my soul. I have watched myself forsake the art of putting on my stockings standing up, taking the stairs two at a time and remembering the names of dance tunes, and A Song is Born reminded me that I cannot, try as I may, distinguish bebop from swing.
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The story of My Dream is Yours, a musical Technicolor starring Miss Doris Day and Mr. Jack Carson, is about as original as sin ; to wit it concerns the efforts of a crooner to get recognition on the radio—or indeed, on anything. However, stories don't matter very much, and within its narrow limits this is quite a pleasant affair. Miss Eve Arden, that able exponent of the hardboiled, does much to enliven it, and in addition there is a very unlikely character, a really charming little boy. I do not wish to dismiss all little boys as inevitably odious, but it must be admitted that Hollywood's idea of a dream child usually embarrasses more than it delights ; but in Duncan Richardson it has found a heart-throb. Miss Day makes a soupcon too much noise for my liking and I prefer Mr. Lee Bowman's juicier notes, but there they are, you can take your choice, bright and
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