ST. JAMES THEATRE

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 45, 16 November 1940, Page 15

ST. JAMES THEATRE

With such names as Randolph . Scott, Kay Franeis, aud Broderick Crawford heading an excellent cast, the success and entertainment value of “When the Daltons Rode,” now screening at the St. James Theatre, is assured. “When the Daltons Rode” tells in a series of everquickening scenes the taje of the Dalton boys and how their exploits came to terrorize the people of America. The film opens on a quiet country-town scene, with a stranger (Randolph Scott) asking for the Daltons. The four Dalton boys and their mother are having their photograph taken in the stereotyped style of the period, when a. disturbance arises in which the high spirits and quick tempers of the Dalton brothers is amply illustrated. There is no real harm in their horseplay, however, and after nearly killing the stranger they recognize him as their old-time playmate and make him welcome in a typical openhanded Western manner. Bob Dalton is the more or less accepted leader of the boys, if anyone could be said to lead such an energetic band, and he is in love with the local postmistress (Kay Francis). Unfortunately, Scott meets her and also falls in love with her. Kay, after a struggle with herself, admits a reciprocal feeling, but loyalty to Bob will not let her break off her engagement of long standing. When unscrupulous companies try to swindle the Daltons out of their land a fight ensues, during which one of the intruders is accidentally killed, aud it is ibis episode that marks the turning point in the lives of the Dalton boys. 'The film goes on to illustrate the slow but almost inevitable change which follows, and which eventually turns them into desperate bandits, demanding and expecting no mercy from their fellow men. Scott, who is a lawyer by profession, does what ne can for his erstwhile friends, but neither he nor the girl can stay their fate. The working up from the leisurely and often humorous opening scenes to the terrific action and excitement at the close, i# very well done indeed, and there are certain scenes (the near-lynching, for example) in which an atmosphere of almost desperate baste and high emotional tension is excellently created. Broderick Crawford stands. out as an actor of grout promise and intelligence, and Kay Francis and Randolph Scott give the' polished performances expected of thorn.