ST. JAMES

Evening Star, Issue 22449, 21 September 1936, Page 2

ST. JAMES

An entirely new film has been made f ‘Three Live Ghosts,’ and'those who omember the success of the picture .vhen it was made in the early days of talkies will welcome the opportunity of measuring the immense progress of film technique since 1930. The new production, which is now at the St. James, is a splendid achievement. It presents a story constructed on the lines of broadest farce in a way that will appeal to all filmgoers. Briefly, ‘ Three Live Ghosts ’ concerns three soldiers—an American, a Cockney, and a titled Englishman, “ queer ” from shellshock—who return from the war after imprisonment in a German camp, to find themselves officially listed as “ dead.” For varying reasons they decide to remain hidden behind this official cloak of anonymity. Their adventures as they move through London as living dead men, without names or identity, provide moments of hilarious comedy. Claude Allister, Richard Arlen, Charles M‘Naughton. and Beryl Mercer head the brilliant cast. Beryl ..Mercer, incidentally, recreates the role which made her famous on the stage—that of a Cockney mother who gets into a pickle by collecting her boy’s war insurance, only to have him bob up, hale and hearty, when she has spent the insurance money. 'THE ’FRISCO KID.’ A stirring story of life on the famous ■" Barbary. Coast ” of California, in the early fifties, is presented in • The ’Frisco Kid,’ the Warner Bros.’ film which opens at the St. James on Friday. In one of the most powerful roles of his career, James Cagney gives an outstanding performance. He is ably supported by Margaret Lindsay, who makes a delightfully attractive heroine. Ricardo Cortez is at his best in the part of a gambler, while other good characterisations are given bv Liii Damita and Donald Woods. The story tells how the vigilantes cleared up the rough element in ’Frisco, and although this theme has been dealt with numerous times before, an altogether different aspect is presented in this thrilling drama.