Movie Classic (Mar-Aug 1936)

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Here she is — the explatmum-blonde, nowbrownei+e Jean Harlow, as you will see her m "Riff Raff" ^^Tsolti' The Latest Reviews . . . c Cag0?.1' 7ero Irene Dunne Rot>ert . Qbsesston A\\ce FaV« Ju<i<3e Ra**er' Warned V^eS^ • • • • Riff Raff is not a great picture, but out of its smooth mixture of comedy and drama emerges a new Jean Harlow. The girl who became famous as THE platinum blonde has made a courageous move ; she has changed to "brownette." And from the change she has gained new attractiveness and — what is more important — new credibility as an actress. No matter what talents she may have shown before this, her exotic-hued hair has always kept her from appearing completely real ; now, with her hair of such a color that her acting can outshine it, she should begin going places as a dramatic actress. She is already on her way in Riff Raff, in which she has Spencer Tracy, always one of Hollywood's most believable actors, as her co-star. The setting is a colorful one — that section of California devoted to the canning of tunafish. She is a cannery belle ; he is a champion fisherman — and they are naturally attracted to each other, even though they don't want to admit it. They have some comic combat before they marry. Then, after some tough breaks, they encounter trouble of a melodramatic order. Once the story curdles slightly ; that is when the scenarist rings in a prison-born baby for some sob effects. The rest of the time, the tale has forceful sincerity and honesty, with both Jean and Spencer living their roles. As Jean's tattered sister, Una Merkel, stands out. (M-G-M) Professional Soldier is a surprise picture. You expect it to be some sort of war story, and it turns out to be an exciting and amusing fantasy. Victor McLaglen and Freddie Bartholomew are the stars. McLaglen is a rough-and-ready ex-Marine looking for trouble, so that he can get into it. And when he takes an assignment from some revolutionists to kidnap a Balkan king, he gets into plenty. For the king turns out to be a boy — a very human boy, with all of a boy's inclinations. The man doesn't want to kidnap him ; the boy insists. He wants to escape his kingly confinement and be "regular." And "regular" he becomes, with amusing developments and with the embarrassment of his reluctant captor, who has become his model of a man worth copying. And, despite himself, the likable roughneck works up a real liking for the youngster — such a liking that he finally risks his life for him. Ring up another hit for each one of them! (20th Century-Fox) Ceiling Zero packs the biggest dramatic wallop of any James Cagney-Pat O'Brien picture yet produced. It isn't a picture that will keep you occupied for an evening and then let you forget it ; memory of it will stay with you for days, weeks, months. Beside it. their previous aviation picture, Devil Dogs of the Air, seems minor and inconsequential. Ceiling Zero plays on every one of your emotions, not just a scattered few. This time there is no flag-waving for emotional effect ; they are commercial aviators, and the major setting is Newark Airport. O'Brien is manager of the airport, which is the base of operations for Cagney a daredevil aviator who fears neither foul weather nor fair women, but has all due respect for O'Brien. To keep a date with June Travis, he plays sick to get out of a flying assignment, and Stuart Erwin takes out his plane, runs into a storm, and crashes. Torturing himself as the cause of Erwin's death, Cagney goes aloft to test new ice-resisting equipment, radios tips for improving the device, and then finds the wings of his plane becoming heavy — too heavy. Both stars are superbly real ; so are Erwin, as the slow-talking, unlucky flier, who is afraid of his wife — Isabel Jewell, in a poignant, dramatic bit as his widow — Gary Owen, as a victim of a crack-up — and June Travis, as the girl who thinks Cagney means what he tells her. (Warners) Magnificent Obsession is the kind of picture that is hard to find these days — a pic 20