The Exhibitor (Jun-Oct 1939)

Servisection 2 her prize fighter husband and his coveted career. Young Billy Cook, factor in the domestic mis¬ understanding and a subsequent reunion, is a standout. Scenes between father, son and mother are especially fine drama. Fred MacMurray wins new acting honors in the prize fighter role and Charlie Ruggles, manager of the fighter, ham¬ pered by the domestic problems of guiding his boy to the championship, comes through with a masterful performance. Offering is studded with good comedy and pathos. The fight stuff is topnotch. Audience reaction was excellent. Estimate: Topnotch attraction; can be ex¬ ploited. FAMIT-Y Some Like It Hot comedy with music 64m. Bob Hope, Shirley Ross, Gene Krnpa anil Or¬ chestra, Una Merkel, Rufe Davis, Bernard Nedell, Wayne "Tiny" Whitt, Harry Barris, Frank Sully, Pat West, Sam Ash. Directed by George Archainbauld. All the cats, jivers, jitterbugs in town will hotfoot it over to their local theatres to get a first hand view of Gene Krupa’s swing crew in action, Bob Hope's dry wit, Shirley Ross’ vocal renditions. The picture, in itself, isn’t much, but the radio popularity of Hope, Krupa should go a long way in bringing in the trade from the ’teen age, college groups. Otherwise, this is a swell addition to bolster up dual bills. Hope, a carnival barker with big ideas, high opinion of himself goes broke, but meets up with Shirley Ross. After Krupa’s band leaves him for a better spot, Ross joins the orchestra, Hope gets down to serious business. He returns just in time to pre¬ vent his gal from marrying someone else, get a good job as a dance palace emcee. “The Lady’s In Love,” the title song are destined to go places on the air waves. Hope, Ross form a pleasant pair, Krupa’s stuff is tops in its class, but the film in its entirety isn’t big league. However, the patrons will find it more than slightly entertain¬ ing. Estimate: Nice musical for the younger ele¬ ment. Unmarried family Moio\ Comedy-Drama 63m Buck Jones, Helen Twelvetrees, Donald O’Con¬ nor, Dorothy Howe, Larry Crabbe, Robert Arm¬ strong, John Hartley, Ed Pawley, Sidney Blackmer. Jack Roper, Philip Warren, Louise Carter, Kathryn Bates, Sarah Edwards. Directed by Kurt Neumann. Discarding for the first time in his long and dis¬ tinguished career his cowboy’s chaps and blazing six-shooter and donning pugilism’s mitts and civil¬ ian mufti, colorful Buck Jones becomes rather colorless Charles Jones. Nor does he, even in the squared circle, sling those mighty rights and lefts with that same telling effect that made his fists hardly less to be feared than the ,45’s form¬ erly packed on the hip. "Unmarried” turns out to be merely “an experiment noble in purpose.” This is the story of how a loveable, dumb, hasbeen fighter (Jones), too "tough” to consider mar¬ riage, and a not-too-loveable night-club proprie¬ tress (Helen Twelvetrees), too “sophisticated” to consider marriage, are forced into assuming that status when the 12-year-old son (Donald O’Con¬ nor) of his manager (Robert Armstrong) is on the latter’s death, more or less thrust upon them. How they manage is the basis of the story that climaxes when the boy, now grown (John Hart¬ ley, decides not to leave college for a career of pugilism and when Jones and Twelvetrees finally decide on a life of domesticity, appear before a parson to say "I do.” This work may have some impetus through the Jones and O’Connor names, but the hypo will probably not last, even though it is a pleasant programmer. Estimate: Buck Jones doesn't ride again — in mufti. (Editor’s Note: “UNION PACIFIC, re¬ viewed May 3, 193 9, is not a Technicolor produc¬ tion. Garbling of wired review resulted in Techni¬ color classification when review appeared but pic¬ ture is in black and white. Please mark your records accordingly.) Bond, Arleen Whalen make a personable couple as the adult romantic interest. Supplied with a sterotyped story, Withers, Whalen, Ernest, Bond, Director James Tinting, et al., were sty¬ mied from the very beginning. Estimate: Fair Withers. RKO-RADIO Adult Panama Lady (925) Melodrama 3 v 64I/2m. Lucille Ball, Allan Lane, Steffi Duna, Evelyn Brent, Donald Briggs, Bernardene Hayes, Abner Biberman, William Pawley, Earle Hodgins. Directed by Jack Hively. With Lucille Ball emoting in the style of a South American Sadie Thompson, RKO offers the exhibitors a little more than an hour’s worth of supporting celluloid for duallers. Ball, a come-on gal at a Panama bar, works out a debt to Lane by becoming his "housekeeper.” Trouble is, she insists upon housekeeping, much to Lane’s dis¬ appointment. She murders an old beau who at¬ tempts to steal some of Lane’s important papers, then leaves for New York where she goes to the dogs. Lane catches up with her, proposes mar¬ riage. At times the film is fairly entertaining, at other moments it shifts into slow motion. Lane is a plenty okay performer, but we can’t help but wish Ball would stick to the comedienne roles in which she best fits. Estimate: Lower half dualler. REPUBLIC Blue Montana Skies family Western 56m. Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, June Storey, Harry Woods, Tully Marshall, Al Bridge, Glenn Strange, Dorothy Granger, Edmund Cobb, Robert Winkler, Jack Ingram, Augaie Gomez, Walter Schrum’s Colorada Hillbillies. Directed by B. Reeves Eason. Definitely not a "typical” horse opera, the latest Autry opus should keep his countless fans happy. Although lacking the action found in "Mexicali Rose,” there is more story in this than in most cowboy films. Consider the fact that Autry gives out with six songs, the title tune being the catchiest, then you can realize how much of the 5 6 minutes are left for action, Autry, Smiley Burnette get mixed up with a mess of smugglers using a dude ranch as a front. The singing buckaroo rounds up the gang by the novel method of starting a landslide, finishing the job with a gun battle. Incidentally, he also gets lovely June Storey. Estimate: Okay Autry. 20fth CENTURY-FOX Boy Friend (943 ) Melodrama 72m. Jane Withers, Arleen Whalen, Richard Bond, Douglass Fowley, Warren Hymer, George Ernest, Robert Kellard, Minor Watson, Robert Shaw, Ted Pearson, William H. Conselman, Jr., Myra Marsh, Harold Goodwin. Directed by James Timlin g. Now that Jane Withers has allowed some ro¬ mance to seep into her films, exploiteers will have something new to work on in promoting “Boy Friend.’ This entry is no better and no worse than the previous Withers’ efforts which assures exhibitors that the regular run of the young¬ ster s fans will be around again. For the aver¬ age, nabe house, this can’t date higher than a fair support for the feature. Jane takes up with the police school students rooming at her mother’s house. When Robert Kellard's brother, George Ernest, arrives from military school. Together they help solve a murder and robbery. Richard The Jones Family in family _ _ , , , / _ . 2\ Comedy Hollywood (946) som. Jed Prouty, Spring Byington, Ken Howell, George Ernest, June Carlson, Florence Roberts, Billy Mahan, William Tracy, June Gase, Marvin Stevens. Directed by Malcolm St. Clair. Title tells the story on this, the 13th in 20th Century-Fox’ series about Maryville’s first fam¬ ily. Mayor Jones is nominated to represent local Legion post at a Holywood convention and the movie-strurk youngsters, Jack, Roger and Lucy insist on going along. So do Mrs. Jones, Granny. After getting slapstick laughs out of departure and trailer trip west, the Joneses arrive. While the mayor is tooting a horn in a Legion band during parades. Jack falls for a movie siren, Roger makes friends with a cameraman, Lucy, thanks to a screen juvenile who becomes inter¬ ested in her, gets a screen test. Ultimately dis¬ illusioned by film capital, the tribe treks home. The film is cut to what has become a standard¬ ized Jones family pattern, the comedy tends to slapstick. Estimate: Will do for second feature, but doesn’t quite keep up with the earlier Jones. Rose of Washington Square (943) Family Musical 86m. Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, Al Jolson, William Frawley, Joyce Compton, Hobart Cavanaugh, Moroni Olson, E. E. Clive, Charles Wilson, Hal K. Dawson, Paul Burns, Louis Prima and Or¬ chestra. Directed by Gregory Ratoff. Although lacking the novelty, scope, Don Ameche of "Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” this successor to last year’s reCord-smasher stands on its own merits as one of the better musicals destined to hit a high water mark in the mat¬ ter of grosses. In Ameche’s place as the man jilted in favor of Tyrone Power as the apple of Alice Faye’s mischievous eye is Al Jolson. Nos¬ talgia reigns, not only in the song revivals as was the case with "Alexander,” but more so in the return of Al Jolson in blackface. Faye, Jolson’s vaudeville partner, breaks up the com¬ bination to marry Power, a petty con man gone straight. Power's pre-marital chiseling gets him into hot water after the wedding, he ends up en route to Sing Sing with Faye promising she’ll wait ’til he serves his five years. Jolson’s act¬ ing is adequate, but when he puts on the black grease paint, gives out with some of those old "Manny” songs, "California Here I Come,” he’s terrific. Faye is plenty okay as the loyal wife, reaches the heights when she warbles “My Man” (prepare to capitalize on the movie-made re¬ vived popularity of this song), the title tune, several other oldies. Estimate: Should do big biz. UNITED ARTISTS Family Captain Fury Melodrama . 91m Brian Aherne, Victor McLaglen, Paul Lukas, June Lang, John Carradine, George Zucco, Doug¬ lass Dumbrille, Virginia Field, Charles Middleton, Lawrence Grossmith, Lumsden Hare, Mary Gor¬ don, John Warburton, Claud Allister, Will Stan¬ ton, Edgar Norton, Margaret Roach, Billy Bevan, Edwin Brian. Directed by Hal Roach. This is really a western in a new dress set against an Australian background. Brian Aherne and Victor McLaglen are English convicts impris¬ oned in the early Pacific colonies where they must serve their time at contract labor. With a Robin Hood tendency, Aherne sets out to aid the set 312