Motion Picture Herald (May-Jun 1936)

May 2 3, 19 3 6 MOTION PICTURE HERALD 45 arranged for as suggested by the nature of the treatment, probably the most dependable selling angles are present in the names of Robert Young and Peter Lorre among the players, W. Somerset Maugham as author and Alfred Hitchcock as director. The story concerns British Secret Agent Ashenden, sent to Switzerland to find and kill German Secret Agent Marvin, whose name, appearance and present alias are not known. Ashenden is supplied, with a feminine confederate, Elsa, represented as his wife, and with a male assistant employed to do the actual killing, a rapacious individual called The General. Prior to Ashenden's arrival Elsa has met and been courted by Marvin, posing as an American. Elsa, Ashenden and the General become acquainted in the bathroom sequence mentioned. Marvin believes Elsa and Ashenden husband and wife but continues his suit nevertheless. The British agents trace the murder of a fourth confederate to Gaypor, a German tourist, and kill him, learning immediately that he was the wrong man. The General makes a licentious contact with a native girl, learns that her sweetheart is employed in a chocolate factory which transmits German secret service messages and bribes him to betray the identity of the man they seek. Marvin has left Switzerland meanwhile, taking Elsa, who has determined to leave Ashemden and the British secret service. Ashenden and the General follow, capture Marvin on a troop train within the Turkish border and are about to kill him when the train is wrecked. Marvin is pinned under the wreckage and, dying, asks the General for a drink. The General gives him his flask, shoots him as he drinks, and regains and drains the bottle. A postwar flash indicates that Elsa and Ashenden have served throughout the period of the emergency and are prepared to live happily ever after. Reviewed privately. Weaver, New York. Produced and distributed by Gaumont-British. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Screen play by Charles Bennett from the play by Campbell Dixon from the novel "Ashenden," by W. Somerset Maugham. Continuity by Alma Reville. Dialogue by Ian Hay. Additional dialogue by Jesse Lasky, Jr. Photographed by Bernard Knowles. Art director, O. Werndorff. Edited by Charles Freud. Recorded by Phillip Dorte. Musical director, Louis Levy. Reviewed without P. C. A. certificate. Release date undetermined. Running time, 85 minutes. Adult audience classification. CAST Elsa Madelein Carroll The General Peter Lorre Ashenden John Gielgud Marvin Robert Young Gaypor Percy Marmont Mrs. Gaypor Florence Kahn R Charles Carson Lilli Lilli Palmer Frankie and Johnnie (Republic) Melodrama "Frankie and Johnnie were sweethearts," and eventually become man and wife only to have Johnnie succumb to the wiles of lissom Nellie Bly and the slug of Frankie's forty-four. That, just as in the old ballad, is the plot of this picture and what appears to be the chief exploitation angle. The action limps along until after the wedding of the two principals, which comes in one of the later reels, and through it are interspersed two songs by Helen Morgan, rendered in a none too creditable fashion. Chester Morris is the fickle Johnnie and the late Lilyan Tashman was Nellie. Florence Reed, prominent on New York's legitimate stage, is Lou, operator of the Mansion House, in which all the drama is enacted, and Cora Witherspoon, Walter Kingsford, William Harrigan and John Larkin round out the cast. Up the Mississippi on the S. S. Natchez comes Johnnie Drew, ostensibly "just a country boy" headed for St. Louis, but clever enough to relieve several professional river gamblers of all their money during the trip. At the Mansion House in St. Louis, music hall presided over by hard-boiled Lou, he meets Frankie, who is about to marry the long-faithful Curley. Meeting Johnnie, however, changes Frankie's plans, and after much competition from Nellie she swears to be true to Johnnie — "as true as the stars up above" — and she marries him instead. The husband soon tires of the faithful wife, however, and spends all his nights gambling and meeting Nellie. In short, "he done poor Frankie wrong." As Johnnie plans to travel down the river to New Orleans for a fresh start, Frankie seeks to go with him and borrows money from Lou for the trip. Johnnie, however, intends to take Nellie instead and as the horrible truth dawns on Frankie she takes up her gun and the final scenes deal with the unfaithful Johnnie's funeral as Curley reappears to comfort Frankie in her great sorrow. Reviewed in a projection room with an audience composed of newspapermen and fluffy dowagers, all of whom remained silent throughout the entire film and continually fidgeted in their seats, perhaps from the heat. — Baehler, New York. Produced by Select Pictures and distributed by Republic Pictures. Directed by Chester Erskine. Story by Jack Kirkland. Screen play by Moss Hart. Musical arrangement by Victor Young. Photographed by Joseph Ruttenberg. Running time, 65 minutes. P. C. A. certificate, No. 851. Release date. May 1, 1936. Adult audience classification. CAST Frankie Helen Morgan Johnnie Chester Morris Nellie Bly Lilyan Tashman Lou Florence Reed Timothy Walter Kingsford Curley William Harrigan Andy John Larkin Mrs. Thornton Cora Witherspoon Fatal Lady ( Paramount-W anger ) Melodrama It's novel, to say the least, this idea of mixing weird, baffling murder mystery and grand opera music in a picture. That's what "Fatal Lady" is — a melodramatic, suspense packed murder mystery embellished with grand opera. If that was all it afforded, it would, from a standpoint of difference, be a subject worthy of patron and exhibitor interest. But the unique amalgamation is only one of the many features incorporated in this picture. As a straight musical show featuring Mary Ellis' voice rendering arias from several operas as well as specialty numbers, it has much to interest class audiences, particularly those who have a real appreciation for good music. As a murder mystery, encompassing in a forceful way all the elements common to this type of picture, it is a thrill action show of the character and caliber in which the masses have demonstrated an interest. Possessed of an attractive title which in itself and without the support of other commercial features can be made the basis of an intriguing interest creating campaign, the show at first sight offers several substantial but not any too strong cast names. It has a different idea. It is conceived, directed, played and written in a manner to give exhibitors and theatregoers something out of the beaten track. On close analysis, taking all it offers and particularly audience reaction to its preview into consideration, the resulting entertainment is of a grade for catching popular fancy probably more quickly than exhibitor attention. With the fatal lady of the show, Mary Ellis, playing with assurance and conviction and singing in a manner that is an artistic treat, the picture is played in a realistic and believable atmosphere. As Maria Delesano, she is an exotic diva who brings the male world worshiping at her feet and leaves a trail of tragedy. Freed of complicity in a New York murder mystery, she goes to South America, pursued by Phillip Roberts, whose affectionate admiration is ardent. Star of a smalltime opera company, which permits the introduction of the continuous musical embellishment, she is befriended by Malla. Conflicting romance involving him, Phillip and Fontes builds tense drama. Malla is mysteriously slain. Maria is suspected, tried and acquitted. With maestro Glinka she goes to Europe, pursued by Phillip and his elder brother David, who is determined to save the boy from the sure tragedy of the fatal lady's fascination. As much attention is given to music, Phillip is killed and the circumstances this time are such that David knows that Maria cannot be guilty. Determined that he shall unravel the weird melodrama, David puts himself in the position of the other martyred lovers in relation to Maria. In a finale that is vivid in its development of dramatic suspense and thrill action, the killer reveals himself and his motive for murder. Cleverly, so that there is little justification for advance solution theories, Glinka confesses his crimes, explaining that his motive was that Maria's love for music was so great that it never should be shared with love for man. Keyed to an engrossing pitch, the picture is first of all a class attraction that under the guidance of the right kind of intelligent showmanship exploitation should be made attractive to general mass audiences. In Miss Ellis, who probably didn't have the right kind of vehicle in her previous pictures to bring her forcibly to audience attention, there is a personality with whom smart showmen can do much. Needing selling, the picture undoubtedly will repay those who exert their energies in doing so to a surprising degree. It can't be laid down simply as a novel musical melodrama with a good title, a star of rather unknown quantity and a supporting cast of standard worth. Previewed in the Alexander Theatre, Glendale. Following "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town," which is exceedingly different in character, the early part of the picture saw several walkouts. This is not unusual, no matter what the pre7'iew, and those remaining quickly came under the picture's spell and watched with careful attention the unfolding of its drama and applauded several times in appreciation of the music. The applause at the end indicated general satisfaction. McCarthy, Hollywood. Distributed by Paramount. Produced by Walter Wanger. Directed by Edward Ludwig. Screen play by Samuel Ornitz. Additional dialogue by Tiffany Thayer. Original by Harry Segall. Adaptation by William R. Lipman. Musical direction, Boris Morros. Song, "Je Vous Adore." Operas, "Isabelle" and "Bal Masque." Art director, Alexander Toluboff. Photographed by Leon Shamroy. Set decorations, Howard Bristol. Film editor, Ernest Nims. Costumes by Helen Taylor. Sound, William Fox. Assistant director, Ralph Slosser. P. C. A. Certificate No. 2113. Running time, when seen in Hollywood, 72 minutes. Release date, May 15, 1936. General audience classification. CAST Marian Stuart, Maria Dolasano, Malevo Mary Ellis David Roberts Walter Pidgeon Ramero Fontes John Halliday Melba York Ruth Donnelly Uberto Malla Alan Mowbray Feodor Glinka Guy Bates Post Guili Ruffano Samuel Hinds Phillip Roberts Norman Foster Rudy Edgar Kennedy Anita Jean Rouverol Head waiter Albert Conti Filipe Frank Puglia Adagio team — Peaches O'Neil. Lawrence Vess, Eldon Jones The Clutching Hand (Stage and Screen) 15-Episode Serial Arthur B. Reeve's fiction detective, Craig Kennedy, is played by Jack Mulhall in this serial characteristic of the author's works. The immediate occupation of the detective hero is to find out who abducted Inventor Girondo, together with his secret formula for making gold, and what was done with him and it. A great deal of fast action had led to this state of affairs and little stress had been laid upon romantic or comedy factors. Aside from television and, of course, the premise that gold can be manufactured by formula, no resort to the miraculous or fabulous is made. Among the other players in the cast are William Farnum, Marion Shilling, Bryant Washburn, Yakima Canutt, Robert Frazer, Franklyn Farnum, Ruth Mix, Reed Howes, Mae Busch, Rex Lease, John Ince, William Desmond, Gail Patrick, Olin Frances, Gaston Glass, Bull Montana and many others. The serial is a Weiss production, directed by Albert Herman and supervised by Louis Weiss.