Cinema: The New Pictures: Aug. 30, 1937

(2 of 3)

Gangway (Gaumont-British) is the third British musical in little more than a year to tackle the task of making Jessie Matthews as popular in the U. S. as she is in England. A slavish imitation of the current Hollywood musical comedy formula, Gangway sometimes comes close to clicking, gives one more indication that British cinema can as yet boast few native screen writers within trailing distance of Hollywood's best, but that British producers are still trying to pick up the trail.

Pat Wayne (Jessie Matthews), assistant cinema critic on a Fleet Street paper, is assigned to cover the movements of a U. S. film star (Olive Blakeney) whom Scotland Yard suspects of being an international jewel thief. Pat, determined to dog her quarry to earth's end, signs on as the actress's maid, quickly gets into difficulties which result in her hiding in a trunk. Next thing she knows she is aboard a liner which is returning the cinemactress to the U. S. Also aboard is a young detective (Barry Mackay) and a U. S. gangster (Nat Pendleton), both of whom mistake Pat for the thief. The gangster has orders from the Big Fellow in Manhattan to deliver Pat as a willy-nilly ally. No sooner has the boat docked than Pat is hurried away by gangsters, told she must do a decoy dance that night when a Mrs. Van Tuyl, wearing a load of diamonds, shows up at the night club. When the time comes Pat does her enforced bit up to a point, then suddenly covers the crooks with confusion and limelight as they close in around the sparkling neck and bosom of Mrs. Van Tuyl (Doris Rogers).

Jessie Matthews does her scampering best throughout this gallimaufry, manages to appear at times an appealing if toothy bit of cockney femininity. What gives Gangway a slightly embarrassing quality is the earnest brightness with which its British characters mimic American parts of speech. Though they are almost letter-perfect and have obviously been coached within an inch of their larynx, their "yeahs" and "flatfoots" and "old battle-axes" induce on the U. S. ear the same faint note of horror as a child's unmeaning blasphemy or an innocent lady's use of an unprintable word.

Broadway Melody of 1938 (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer). Mrs. Caroline Whipple (Binnie Barnes), wife of a confection tycoon, owns a horse named Star Gazer, beloved by Sally Lee (Eleanor Powell) whose father bred him. With the horse, Manhattan-bound in a stockcar, Horsetrainers Sonny (George Murphy) and Peter (Buddy Ebsen) find Sally tucked up in the feed. A Manhattan playwright, Steve Raleigh (Robert Taylor), whose show Caroline is backing, finances Sally's auction bid for Star Gazer, tries to cast her as his leading lady. Jealous, Caroline withdraws her backing. At this point only juvenile or feeble-minded members of the audience will fail to perceive that, if the show is to have a conclusion, Star Gazer must win the $25,000 handicap.