Sylvia Sidney, one of the more animated actresses from Hollywood, finds herself busily engaged in a thing called “Thirty Day Princess” which Paramount made and which is being shown this week at both the New York and Brooklyn Paramount Theatres. In this rather amusing film which was adapted from a story by Clarence Budington Kelland whose work appears with regularity in the Saturday Evening. Post, Miss Sidney plays a dual role. At times she is Princess something or other from a movie picture conceived principality while at other moments she is Nancy Lane, a New York actress looking for work.
PLENTY OF PLOT
Perhaps it is not difficult from the above to guess the plot, but there is plenty of it and it runs off smoothly and entertainingly. The Princess’ father, the King, meets an American banker. He tells the money-man that his kingdom needs a loan and the banker suggests that the Princess be sent to New York to help put over a campaign to raise the needed funds but when the Princess arrives she develops a very mundane case of mumps and cannot make any personal appearances. A search is instituted to find a double for the Princess. Of course it is Nancy Lane and Nancy fits the part perfectly; in fact she nearly overdoes it but before the film is over everyone is exceedingly happy.
NO GLAMOUR
Universal took a story by Edna Ferber and made a picture out of it. They call it “Glamour” and it is being shown at the Roxy this week with Constance Cummings in the leading role. Her story about the little chorus girl who marries the composer and then becomes so successful that she leaves her husband and children and runs off with her undeserving dancing partner, is extremely trite in the filming. The plot itself is very ordinary. Universal failed to catch the spirit of Miss Ferber’s work. Mr. Lukas as the wronged husband and Phillip Reed as the philandering dancing partner are convincing. I am afraid the whole thing does not jell however.
CHANGE OF HEART
Kathleen Norris is responsible for the attraction at Music Hall this week. It is called “Change of Heart.” It is based on her novel “Manhattan Love.” Briefly it concerns what happened to two couples who come on from the west to live in New York. I might add that just about everything happens to them.
Miss Norris, member of the “sweetness and light” school of writing who with her husband, Charles Norris, are among the handful of successful fiction writers in the country, recently returned from Germany and upon being interviewed, was quoted as saying that everything in Hitler’s playground was “simply wonderful.” All this talk, she said, about mistreating Jews is a joke. She did not mention who thought it was funny! I do hope you will not presume that because the Norrises like Germany I do not like the picture. Perish the thought. Regardless of its authorship “Change of Heart” would still be an inane, insipid picture and not even the acting of Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell can save it.
NEWS REEL
An interesting shot of Samuel Insult behind bars in a Chicago jail is the high news spot of the show at the Embassy Theatre this week. There are also some exciting scenes of street riots in Cuba and Paris. Actual shooting of the students on the streets of Havana are shown. The camera was right on the spot that time. More propaganda from Germany is also part of the weekly dish. It concerns Hitler’s May Day meeting and, like it or not, it is an impressive spectacle.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.