CINEMA
u Lone Star." (Empire.)----" Ore 9 : Lezione di Chimica." (Studio One.)—" Two Tickets to Broadway." (Odeon, Marble Arch.) Tim Empire is beginning its New Year, if not with .a loud bang at least with innumerable noisy poppings. Lone Star relates one of those very complicated stories concerning the political situation in the United States during the middle half of the last century. That it is about the annexation of Texas, then a self-governing province, I am certain, but which side any of the players favour, and why, eludes me like a will o' the wisp. Mr. Clark Gable's gallant (or base) actions are motivated either by patriotism or a desire to sell beef to someone—the enemy I think—and Miss Ava Gardner's behaviour, swayed hither and yon by love, does nought to clarify the situation. However, this is of small moment, for these two stars, attended by a third, Mr. Broderick Crawford, give such spirited per- formances that they quite deter the unpolitically-minded from going to sleep. Not that this, in any case, would be possible ; for into the haze of history there are injected posses galloping in every, direction, Red Indians pinging their arrows, duels, and, in the end, quite one of thb best Battles of the Barricades I have ever seen. Mr. Gable, whose years seem merely to have added to his agility, is over- whelmingly virile, and, though I personally prefer him suave in tails, he gives a fine account of himself banging about in buckskin. The odd thing is that, now I come to think of it, I don't believe I enjoyed this film very much.
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Signorina Valli, who is the protagonist of Ore 9: Lezione di Chimica, a drama of high-school life, is certainly far more animated in her native tongue than she is in ours, and proves that not only is she beautiful, which we knew, but that she is also alive. The film is a pleasant innocuous affair centering on the adolescent passions inspired by a chemistry master, and it is notable rather for its settings than for its acting. Hundreds of soi-disant little girls in gym-tunics romp through a school the elegance of which must make those who studied in rooms of peeling cream bound by chocolate dado pale with envy. Added to which the curriculum consists almost ex- clusively of riding, cooking and music lessons—and, of course, chemistry—and when the hard day's work is done it's bed in a satin nightdress for everyone. Directed by Signor Mario Mattolu with a pleasing regard for crowd formations, for bird's eye views of girlish crocodiles and sunlit groups, the film is one which can be enjoyed in a quiet dreamy way ; an undemanding, unpretentious comedy of schoolgirl manners.
The Marble Arch Odeon welcomes the New Year with what is very nearly a first-rate musical, falling short of the highest marks through its lack of comedy, or rather for the presence in its script of two hard-working but entirely unfunny comedians. The leading man is Mr. Tony Martin, who has a voice of great potency and charm, a crooner who can take Leoncavallo in his stride on his way from moon to June. A quartet of girls, the Misses Janet Leigh, Gloria de Haven, Ann Miller and Barbara Lawrence, dance and sing like nymphs and shepherdesses about him as he fights his way, despite the futile machinations of his agent, Mr. Eddie Bracken, into television, and they are extremely versatile, easy on the eye, and make their verbal points, which are often quite sharp, with aplomb. The initial sequences, in which a group of college students give their Miss Leigh a send-off to Broadway from her home town, have a gaiety and exhilaration which is never recaptured, but the film sustains a carefree note throughout and is refreshingly unsentimental. Only when Messrs. Joe Smith and Charlie Dale, as two Italian delicatessen merchants, take the celluloid, does the heart grow heavy. Their quarrels, in heavy pidgin English, are a collossal bore.
VIRGINIA GRAHAM.
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