Show Murder Mystery and COln Comedy dy F Feature V Victory Double Bill By CANDID KAY Youve You've seen better and ond youve you've seen a lot worse pictures than the two The Crosby Case and Smarty now playing playing- on a a. double bill billat billat billat at- at at atthe the Victory theater They w wont won't nt cause you to stand and cheer but on the other hand you wont won't feel any acute distress N Neither ither one stands out as better but but- Joan Blondell and Warren WroTen Williams Wil WIl- hams liams have given much better performances ii ls better vehicles Its It's true than they did in Smarty i With decidedly choppy continuity apparently done for effect or something something some thing The Thc Crosby Case is t. another of those murder mysteries in which the author director and actors arc arcin arcin arcin in to keep the audience guessing guessing guess guess- u sing s- s ing as to who did the dirty work althe at al atthe atthe the crossroads It hardly seems cricket crick et to me to deliberately ly introduce a alot alot alot lot of misleading clues clues' statements statements and vaguely explained references references' as long as the thing Is a guessing game but perhaps that's neither here nor nor there in judging entertainment The Crosby Case starts out with Dr Crosby rushing through the lobby labby of his apartment hotel Hes He's been shot He falls d dead ld in inthe inthe th the street and a dumb taxi driver to add a little humor to the thing in later sequences runs over him Before the unraveling business busi busi- ness is completed you have as suspects an ex-aviator ex with a anone anone anone none Joo too savory reputation tio Willie Willie Wil Wil- Villie lie th the Squealer who's mixed up in III a picture stealing unfortunately unfortunately not the movie kind racket a beautiful girl o morals moraIs and her maid a doorman the taxi driver and a dopey German German Ger Ger- man scientist whose eyesight is none too good Gwan Think Im I'm going to give Ive you an ed edge e in tt this is sleuthing business by y telling you who is the killer You figure it out out and and if it you cant can't the police inspector conveniently tells you rou in the last few minutes Of the cast which included some ome pretty prett good movie es enam-es- names s Alan lan Dinehart Dine Dine- hart har Wynne Gibson William Collier Sr ST Skeets Gallagher I still cant can't I. I figure his in on the story J J. J Farrel MacDonald Onslow Stevens and Warren Hymer Hymer Mr Collier walked off with the honors as the police sergeant Melody Smarty is the story of an nn anno annoy annoy- ing ng young oung wife who should have been slapped lapped and was by was by two husbands Its It's t's ts farcical from a to izzard but theres there's some funny lines and some exaggerated exaggerated ex mugging by Edward Everett Ever ett ctt Horton who gets gets' pretty wearisome some ome after while His pet tricks of the he acting trade are arc getting somewhat he hc he uses them so often To give you a rough idea idea idea-a a pretty young oung wile wife rules her husband husband hus hus- band with an iron hand and a lotof lot lotof of or babyish antics He finally gets fed up and during a bridge game gives her hera a well weil boxing box ing of the e ears rs She promptly divorces him and marries the lawyer lawer friend of the family who divorce Continuing Continuing Continuing ing her old neverfail method with the new hubby she rates a second ear-boxing ear and ends up persuading husband No 1 the dope hes he's the original packing of All Right Ho hum Blondell plays the young wife Williams is Husband No 1 and game gives her a well-earned well box box- I Horton is his successor Beautiful Claire Dodd roams aimlessly through the he picture but she adds a lot pictorially pictorially all ally if it nothing otherwise Frank McHugh Mc Me- Hugh lugh is dragged as another friend of the family solely for what laughs can be chiseled out of his hs occasional l lines and bits of business business and and those laughs weren't exactly frequent Completing the bill is a Hollywood Holly wood On Parade a a veritable Cooks Cook's tour our of the who's who in flicker flicker- 1 town town and and a newsreel P. P As A.'s Big Dig News As Ag result of or a series of or bloodcurdling bloodcurdling blood blood- curdling screams emitted during during- the filming of the murder m s s- tery Afterwards Julie Hayden sprained her vocal cords so that she was unable to speak above a whisper NO ROPE Even In his return to the stage locally in Ah Wilderness Will Rogers isn't allowed to demonstrate his ability with a rope In 15 talkies he has played all sorts of characters except that of n R cowboy But they do dosay dosa dosay sa say westerns have come in again so there may be hope Those galloping films as a class have more than the traditional nine ninel l lifes es of the thc cat Virtually every year they h have ve died and producers have noted their passing with sundry tributes trib utes or They The were dying six years ago because talkies had In come and the public wanted sophisticated entertain entertain- ment But westerns kept on appearing appear ing InI despite their apparent end The last death they underwent saw Ken Maynard the thc principal champion of talking opry hoss But George OBrien O'Brien is going to make some more now John Wayne still rides Buck Jones is active and even Paramount which dropped the idea last year car is to resume feature westerns west west- erns ems with Randolph Scott starred as before 4 FRANKENSTEIN RETURNS The ending of Frankenstein talkie thriller horror-thriller of at three years ago saw the monster portrayed portrayed por par by Boris Karloff perishing in a burning mill where he had sought refuge Such a trivial detail is proving no deterrent to a revival of the character for The Return of Frankenstein You see it was only implied that the monster met death You didn't actually see him die And what do you OU think now He escaped after all just all just to provide a sequel S 4 a STOPPING MAY l May 11 Robson told it at a luncheon the other day She was resting In the courtyard of an an nn Inn at Riverside when a small girl approached and and eyed her curl curi 0 yAre y Are NAre you May Robson the actress act ress the child asked finally Yes said laid Miss Robson sweetly I I am Then why dont don't you OU act ad the little girl demanded I a ano e a eno no DO YOU ou CARE Esther Ralston in an interview five live years ago said Within two years Im I'm m going goin to forget all about movie things and just be bc domestic and hap hap- I py Esther one of the years year's more prominent divorcees is now busily engaged in up a new career to take the place of the one she was going to forget all about abouL a a e a eTilE TilE THE CODY BET The death of Lew Cody recalls the payoff of one of the most amusing bets ever wagered in Hollywood Cody was the winner and Frank Mayo his crony for years the loser Both were enjoying great film popularity at the time of the Dempsey Firpo title bout Cody picked Dempsey Mayo Mao was a Firpo fan They agreed that the loser Joser of the bet should dress in full livery livert and act as the others other's chauffeur for a week Lew was wasa a merciless winner and Mayo remained remained re re- in liver livery the full rull week with no lime time off orr for good behavior be be- havior a a EXIT The mansion that Mary Astor's parents occupied when they sued her for support has been vacated by them Mr and Mrs Otto leUthe left leU the showplace for a chicken ranch near North Hollywood We Wc arc are just renting our new quarters quarters Mrs explained but we intend to buy the place if LI things go well The dropped their suit against their daughter after she told of repeatedly offering them an allowance allow allowance ance i if they would give up the costly mansion |