MAJESTIC

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 101, 19 December 1931, Page 6

MAJESTIC

TO-DAY AND TO-NIGHT "Iron Man," which opened' yesterday at the Majestic Theatre, Universal has given Lew Ayres a picture. of power, strength and utter sincerity. It is to the credit of the star — and it is Lew Ayres' first real starring picture — that he rises to the occasion and proves himself an actor of the first magnitude. "Iron Man" is a powerful drama, and one which makes no concessions to situations or solutions which are "typically movie." It moves with inevitableness from start to finish. "Iron Man" is the tale of the development of a fighter, from the time he is a "palooka," or ham fighter, until he wins the light-weight crown. The man directly responsible for . this result is the fighter's manager, played by Robert Armstrong, who gives a portrayal which proves again what an excellent actor he is. He knows how to handle his young fistic artist, how to nurse him through his moods, how to deflate his ego at the proper time, and how to inflate it when it means success. There is sincerity in this young man with the magnificent body, the fighter, Lew Ayres. He idolises his manager. But he also weaves around his wife, who has le.ft him, the aura of romance with which he endowed her during courtship and early married days^ Mean while, during his "ham fighter" days, she has left him for the life of the speakeasies, casual friends, a shot at fame in Hollywood. Only when he wins the championship does she think of him and turn back to him — as an easy meal ticket. The girl is played by Jean Harlow, the 11 blonde of "Hell's Angels." And a 'J very sex-appealing and unsympath- rj etic wife she makes indeed. || What happens to him, and his j fight crown, makes a drama that is II highly emotional even through the l! thud of punches in the splendid • prize fight which forms the conclu- | sion of the picture. .