Zing! An arrow whizzes through the air, crashes through a light globe, and imbeds itself in the wall, vibrating smartly. Three more do the same thing, leaving a remonstrant, unidentified bather in the dark. It's not at all certain that the arrows are golden. But that opening shot is the only excuse for the name, "The Golden Arrow," of Bette Davis' latest. Or else we're too obtuse.

Of such is the quest for new titles to old dishes. And the tripe served up this time needs a new name, indeed. A lot of vacuous material is handled in a devil-may-care fashion, but the effect usually falls short of amusing. A soapy soap heiress (Bette) falls in love with a surly reporter (George Brent). She proposes to him in an up-side-down machine in an amusement park (where Bette is escaping from her normal position), in a manner so abrupt as to be calculated to take George's and your breath. The female proposal is standby number one. The next is a business marriage in which the wedded couple don't mean business. Then there are those awful namby-pamby European counts, who are always such a trial to people like movie heiresses and Jiggs' daughter. Actually, if one ever showed up, he would be quite refreshing because of the rarity. Finally, Bette turns out to be an impostor. All this conduces to the happiness of the people in the show, but scarcely to that of the people watching it, who become so bored they forget to be surprised.

Last week they promised us a hodge-podge; that's what we got. There is a "Jumbo" clown, however, with surprisingly capacious clothes.