The Film Daily (1936)

Z % Jleviews of tl*e> Hew Ti£*ns> <* d •MAD HOLIDAY" with Edmund Lowe. Elissa Landi, ZaSu Pim. Ted Healy. Edmund Gwenn, Edgar Kennedy. M-G-M 71 Mins. MILDLY DIVERTING MYSTERY STORY GENEROUSLY FILLED WITH LAUGHS FOR AVERAGE FANS. Presenting frothy, light entertainment and tragedy at the same time, it is difficult to classify this laugh-studded mystery drama which appears to be both a travesty and a very serious piece of business. Only the individual picture patrons c?n decide. But anyone, regardless of how his or her interpretation is gaited. will discover enough all-around diversion to make the ticket investment fairly worth-while. Just about everything happens on the boat that bears Edmund Lowe off on his vacation. He is weary of working in crime pictures, so off he goes to rest his nerves. Out on the high seas he meets a pretty blonde who introduces herself via a mock murder. For it is she who is the undercover author of the screen thrillers in which the jaded Lowe has repeatedly been the leading man. But there is an actual killing aboard ship, and the actor and author team to solve it. It all happens because of the magnetic magnificence, size and value of a diamond known as the "White Dragon." As every film fan knows, the hero and heroine apprehend the thief. They naturally fall in love. But the real thing the audience doscn't suspect is the amount of comedy and parody that reigns in this production. That is the surprise. ZaSu Pitts is the notoverbright lady who causes most of the laughs. Her not-overbrightness is just the character she portrays, and well, too. Lowe is a pleasing hero, ani Elissa Landi effective. Picture is best suited to houses whose customers are mystery-minded and like screenplays that arc no tax on introspective powers. Cast: Edmund Lowe, Elissa Landi, ZaSu Ted Healy, Edmund Gwenn, Edgar Kennedy. Soo Yong. Walter Kingsford. Herbert Rawhnson, Raymond Hatton, Rafaela Ottiano, Harlan Briggs, Gustav Von Seyffertitz. Producer: Harry Rap'; Director, George B Seitz; Author, Joseph Santley; Screenplay, Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allen Woolf; Cameraman, Joseph Ruttenberg; Editor, George Boemler. Direction, Peppy Photography, Capable "WANTED: JANE TURNER" with Lee Tracy and Gloria Stuart RKO-Radio 67 Mins. INTERESTINGLY, LIVELY CRIME FILM WELL-ACTED AND SOLIDLY ENTERTAINING. Well-paced and nicely rounded melodrama of unrelenting fashion in which Post Office Department tracks down violators of its services. John Twist lives up to his name handsomely as writer of the screenplay, for there are several themes running i through the main action, all of which are skillfully, logically and amusingly handled. Edward Killy's direction is peppy and the 1 photography clear-cut. Lee Tracy is the young, able and somewhat personally irresponsible inspector who is assigned to run down a bandit-killer who has perpetrated a hold-up on a U. S. mail truck and murdered the driver. Assisting the sleuth is a department secretary, Gloria Stuart, whose attractiveness is far more apparent to film audiences than to Inspector Tracy, who tardily is enamoured of her. They go to Los Angeles on the case, find that the killer and his gang are in hiding. Two young lovers are made innocent victims of circumstances in the final round-up, but all's well that ends well, — and this exciting film does. The innocent ones are vindicated, and belatedly the dynamic Mr. Tracy discovers that his heart is shared by his duty and his genuine devotion to Gloria Stuart whom he saves in the nick of time from death at the hands of the gang leader. Audiences will find this above par as crime films go. The dialogue and characters are true to life and thrills and sordid happenings are deftly counterbalanced by humor. Cast: Lee Tracy, Gloria Stuart, Judith Blake. John McGuire, Frank M. Thomas, Patricia Wilder, Barbara Pepper, Willard Robertson, Aileen Pringle, Irene Franklin, Paul Guilfoyle. Producer, Cliff Reid; Director, Edward Killy; Authors, John Twist, Edmund L. Hartman; Screenplay, John Twist; Cameraman, Robert de Grasse; Editor, Ted Cheesman. FOREIGN DIE GANZE WELT DREHT SICH UM LIEBE" ("The Whole World Revolves About Love"), Europa Tonfilm production with German dialogue, directed by Erich Waschneck with Charlotte Susa. Karl Ludwig Diehl, Ralph Arthur Roberts, et al. in cast. Presented at the Garden Theater. Pleasing mystery-romance with action taking place on train aboard which a beautiful woman finds her jewels have been stolen. There are several suspects in the best Hollywood film manner, — a count, a professor and even a detective. A handsome Direction, Peppy Photography, Clear cut. waiter aids the lady, retrieves her gems and wins her love. Aside from briskly entertaining story, picture has advantage of Charlotte Susa and Karl Dehil in leads, plus Waschneck's direction. "BEFEHL 1ST BEFEHL" ("Orders Are Orders"), a DEKA production with dialogue in German; direction by A. Elling, and a cast including the popular Bavarian comedian, Weiss Ferdl. Presented at 86th Street Casino Theater. Despite thin material Ferdl performs capably and amusingly as the young soldier who comes out of the army and tries to adjust himself to civilian living. He takes charge of bellboys in a badly mismanaged hotel and succeeds in instilling military bearing as becomes the best traditions of the military. His efforts win him a better job. SHORTS The March of Time (21st Release) RKO Radio 20 mins. Timely The situation of present-day Belgium under the rule of young King Leopold is presented very graphically, dealing with the political phases centering around the activities of Leon Degrelle's party, the "Christus Rex." His growing power is emphasized as he swings the youth of Belgium to his banner, and his sensational career in the past year may point to the birth of a new Fascist party a la Hitler. Meanwhile Belgium's government does everything in its power to preserve a strict neutrality, leaning neither to communism or fascism. The army has been strengthened, and the air is surcharged with a jjolicy of watchful waiting. The 30-year-old problem of a St. Lawrence waterway, linking the Great Lakes with the Atlantic via the St. Lawrence River is again being agitated by important groups in Washington and out. Charts and photographs make clear the enormous benefits that would accrue to a dozen lake cities if the dream ever becomes a reality, only requiring that the obstacle of the 48-mile International Rapids section be overcome. The reel closes with a review of the Federal Theater project. The subject shows how the old troupers of the stage carried on in the palmy days of the living theater. Then today we see the Federal Theater functioning in its second year and moving ahead mightily, giving employment to thousands in varied activities, and bringing recreation to towns that have never before witnessed stage performances. "You Can't Get Away With It" Universal 26 mins. Graphic A very graphic presentation of the behind-the-scenes work of the G-Men, the film being taken by permission of Attorney General Cummings, and with the cooperation of J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of teh U. S. Dept. of Justice. In fact Hoover opens the film as seated at his desk he outlines briefly the aims of the department and what his men are expected to do. Then into the actual work, showing the training of the investigators and operatives. The highlights of many episodes connected with the capture or killing of noted public enemies are covered very interestingly. The detailed work of the various scientific departments such as the laboratories in checking up the clues on various crimes, the work of the different departments such as finger-printing, kidnapped persons, etc., all forming a highly entertaining reel that holds the interest easily with its factual story of tracking down dangerous criminals. Hoover finishes at the close with a short talk. Narration by Lowell Thomas. Produced by Charles E. Ford. Photographed bv William J. Miller. "Paradise of the Caribbean" (Going Places No. 31) Universal io mins. Fine Scenic A very interesting camera jaunt through the British Island of Jamaica. The narrator guides the audience through the capital, Kingston, and then out into the Island where the natives are seen at their daily tasks. The market place with its abundant variety of tropical products. The Panama hat industry as conducted by the women who manufacture the hats in their homes. The sugar plantations, showing how the product is prepared for the markets of the world. The novel method of digging Jamaica ginger out of the bog lands. The hard wood industry. And finally the banana plantations, and the shipment on the vessels in the harbor. Closes with some gorgeous shots of the scenic attractions of the Island. "Wonders of Nature and Art" (Going Places No. 30) Universal 10 mins. Diversity Three interesting subjects are presented, opening with the Petrified Forest of Arizona, tracing the transformation of the rainbow forest down through the ages. The glass-blower's art, showing through the work of one expert how the ball of fiery material is fashioned into the article of commerce or the object of art. The third sequence is a novel journey aboard a Chinese steamer plying the dangerous gorges of the Yangtze River. Good narration throughout. "Television Highlights" Universal 10 mins. Routine Vaude Still another gag to take the curse off the presentation of ordinary vaude acts that have no particular outstanding merit. Just fair, this collection. The gag is having Henry Youman, emcee at the Yacht Club nite spot in New York, trying! to interest Lew Hearn in a televi-, sion instrument. He demonstrates j the invention, and in turn the acts do their stuff as if coming through: the screen of the cabinet. Gogo del Lys, the radio singer, does a num-< ber. Mae Wynn & Zella Company do their vaude routine. Roy Smeck; does a swing number. Patsy Wynn; and the Twelve Prom Girls do their' song and dance specialty.