EMPIRE

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

EMPIRE

Mao West lias become an international institution, and in ‘ Klondike Annie,’ which is the feature attraction at the Empire, she consolidates her unique position on the screen. No one other than a superb actress could make convincing the amazing characters in whicli Mao West specialises—and in whicli she exploits the manners and costumes of the ’nineties for the entertainment of the present generation—but the response of filmgoors the world over to her first pictures left no doubt that Miss West had hit upon a gold mine when she created a modern version of the alluring ladies of New York’s golden age. In ‘ ivlondyke Annie ’ the scene changes to San Francisco and Alaska, but for all that the spirit of the gay ’nineties is preserved intact. The story opens at a time, when “ ’Frisco Doll ” is in sore straits. Indeed, for a few breathless moments it seems that the heroine is to be out of the story almost from the start, but she escapes with the murder of a Chinese to her record, and takes refuge on a ship bound for Alaska. As it happens, this is an unwise move, and it is not until the fugitive lady is almost converted by the genuine piety and goodness of a woman missionary aboard the ship and has in turn become —temporarily—a missionary, that an unexpected happy ending is reached.