GRAND

Evening Star, Issue 22445, 16 September 1936, Page 14

GRAND

“ He carried the message to Garcia. ” lias become a way of saying be reached l his goal although beset by all manner of adversities, and struggled and fought his way through overwhelming difficulties to reach the objective of his duty. The carrying of the message to Garcia was au incident of fact in the Spanish-American War over 3(5 years ago, which Elbert Hubbard perpetuated in a short essay. He made the incident proverbial. Now a film, ‘ A Message to Garcia,’ has been founded on that adventure in the interior of Cuba, and it commenced a season at the Grand to-day. It is a film of fast action and rough and tumble adventure of a well-tried kind. John Bowles has the part of Lieutenant Rowan, who is entrusted by the president of the United States with the delivery of a message to General Garcia, isolated by the enemy in the interior jungles and swamps of Cuba. Barbara Stanwyck is cast as Bnphaelita, the daughter of a loyal farmer and

Rowan’s assistant and guide on the journey. Wallace Beery has the important part of Sergeant Dory, a renegade of the American marines, who has to avoid both sides in the war because he has spied for both, sold ammunition to both, and both have probably found it had) sawdust in place of powder. This thieving, spitting, grinning, coarse American is an appealing rascal, and when he discovers Rowan’s errand is forced by the latter to act as guide. Ho is blamed for half the troubles that beset the littlo party, but really is their saviour, and his last act, when mortally wounded, is to shoot Dr Krug, the spy whose commission is to prevent Rowan delivering his message to Garcia and who has dogged the young American from even before he landed in Cuba.