One advantage the University Theatre has over any other movie house in the Boston area is the inertia of rest. Even if the average patron gave a hoot for the quality of what he saw on the screen, the energy required to get into town to see some super-classic would be prohibitive. The man with the cinemaitch merely wanders to the University and takes what comes.

This time it's "Sea Devils", for one. The glories of the Army, the Navy, the Marines, and the combined air forces of all three have been subjects of Hollywood endeavor, and nauseam. This is, so far as this reviewer knows, the first time anyone's gotten the licks in on the Coast Guard. And, guess what, Victor McLaglen is the swaggering hard-drinking pride of the force.

Against a background of New London barrooms and immaculately white icebergs this picture dedicated to the bravery and determination of the Coast Guard tells a story of frustrated love at last triumphant. It almost never fails to be quiet entertainment.

The other picture is "Ready Willing, and Able". The title is descriptive of Miss Ruby Keeler's position, for she's just a schoolgirl, desperate to play on Broadway, who attains her end by pretending to be a famous English star. She's so ready, so willing, and so very able that she wins both her way to fame and the producer's heart.

The picture is a controlled extravaganza. There are very few chorus numbers, and the production is probably unique in being carried musically by a single tune, the pleasant "Too marvelous for words".

There is nothing in either show to make the customer close his eyes tight and shrink in his seat. In this weather and with Divisionals coming on that is tantamount to a recommendation.