Cinema -:-THE CRIMSON PLAYGOER -:- Drama

Now that it's done-now that Will Rogers has been gives his ideal role as last --it seems abased that it was never find before. The firm executives, to be sure, always best him as an old fashioned Yankee type out the emphasis was always placed on the wrong Yankee characteristics. Either he was provoking general merriment by some faus pas of the "Howdly Duchess" varsity or he was being evicted or swindled by some a lick newcomer. In "David Herum," however, he is not only a Yankee type but a smart Yankee. The scene is not Paris or Hollywood; it is where one naturally expects to find a Yankee, a small town.

"David Harum" is the story of a backstate banker who goes "a long way on character and an even longer way on collateral.: In addition to being a notorious horse-trader and "a hard man to deal with" he has a touch of true Yankee kindness which James Cruze, the director, takes care not to over-sentimentalize.

Edward Noyes Wescott, author of "David Harum" died before his book was published and consequently could not enjoy the material benefits of being the writer of the smash hit of the early 1900's. Members of another generation will be able to remember when several of the lines in the motion pictures were the sayings and by-words of the day.

The plot works around the romance of a young couple played by Evelyn Venable and Kent Taylor with philosopher comedian Rogers as backstage manager. Miss. Venable does an excellent piece of work in her most important part to date and Mr. Taylor succeeds in looking pleasant even if not very much is found for him to do.

The elements that make for the success of "David Harum" are all taken from an earlier era when the words "boom" and "depression" were blessedly technical terms. James Cruze, the director, is the man who directed. "The Covered Wagon." The story is almost Mark Twain style. The star is a product of rural America.

The fact that the action takes place in 1893 provides Mr. Rogers an opportunity to pronounce a few homilies on depressions in general. Despite his success in this field over the radio it is a curious fact that these section are the least successful parts of the picture. His horse-trading scenes and the trotting race where he had to sing to keep his horse from balking, on the other hand, were exhilaratingly effective. We haven't heard an audience laugh so unanimously since the good old days of Charlie Chaplin.