CRIMSON PLAYGOER

When a jilted member of the socially elect stands drunken outside the church in which his erstwhile sweetheart is being married to a wealthier rival and proceeds to vent his bitterness in witty remarks about the holy ceremony, it is only fitting that a poor shop-girl standing by should save him from the police. Equally natural is it that, after diverting his thoughts from the river's brink in an evening of alcoholic pleasantry, she should marry the fellow to complete his salvation. Like most plots, this one has not all the elements of originality, but in "The Girl from 10th Avenue," Bette Davis and Ian Hunter make it seem both plausible and pleasing.

Hollywood has been untiring in its efforts to drive home the moral object-lesson that a female member of the social register may possibly be no "lady" at all, and that a girl of low extraction quite often possesses those qualities which are said to adorn the true gentlewoman. It is some time before Ian Hunter, after waking up to find himself the husband of Bette Davis, realizes that he has a jewel. Old friends seek to draw him away, and there is the lure of the gilded siren, whose marriage to another has not, it appears, diminished her affection for him. Excellent direction and acting give the whole a pleasing effect. As the shop-girl, Bette Davis is so attractive that the indecision of her spouse at times becomes a reproach to his intelligence.