Madonna of Avenue A (Warner). A Bootlegger who sings nicely in the moonlight, accompanying himself on the guitar, meets a lonely girl from a private school, teaches her how to drink. Ousted from school, the girl visits Manhattan to find the Park Avenue home her mother has spoken of so often. It is a dull, wandering fiction, hardly made bearable by the good looks of Dolores (Mrs. John Barrymore) Costello. Most expected shot: the moment when the girl and her mother meet in a bar where the mother, who had lied about her high estate, has been swigging with sailors.
The Power of Evil (Armenian). Said to be the first feature production made under supervision of the Armenian Soviet, The Power of Evil tells what happens when a family conceals the fact that its daughter has epilepsy so as to marry her to the richest young man in the village. It is subtly acted, well photographed, superbly directed. U. S. audiences, familiar with the works of Armenian mot-maker Michael Arlen (Dikran Kouyoumdjian) will find no traces of that young man's simpering suavity in this sombre, compact story. You see how the bridegroom's mother and sister plot to get rid of the girl, first by such witchcrafts as burying a crow in the garden, later by murder. Best shot: Barbara Matatian's realization, as she comes into her husband's house for the last time, that something dangerous, terrible, something she cannot see, is waiting for her in the shadows beyond the door.
The Hollywood Revue (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer). This is good-humored, fast film vaudeville, with nice tunes and without a story. There are some new tricks in it. When the master of ceremonies looks for Bessie Love he finds her in his change-pocket; a lilliputian Marion Davies appears with a chorus of giant Grenadiers, later grows up to normal size. During one of the color sequences there is a trick with perfume; the spectators sniff—is it possible?—yes, they smell orange blossoms. Gus Edwards sings "Lon Chancy Will Get You If You Don't Watch Out;" Norma Shearer and John Gilbert put on the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet; Marie Dressier sings and prances around. Sometimes slapstick turns into comedy, sometimes comedy trails off into slapstick. The Hollywood Revue is not sophisticated but it is good entertainment. Best song: 'Singing in the Rain.' Prettiest girl: Joan Crawford. Silliest shot: Jack Benny covered with icing from the cake. Best shot: Marie Dressier imitating Marie of Rumania. To publicize the film in Manhattan, a smart manager put up a "human billboard" of flesh-&-blood chorus girls outside the theatre.