Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1938)

GOLD DIGGERS IN PARIS— Warners I HE Freres Warner have made another musical. Our impulse is to repeat that sentence until all the space is used up, but this one deserves special comment because it has an amusing story twist, Rudy Vallee and the Schnickelfritz Band in it. Mistaken identity is used to the hilt, with Hugh Herbert, as a French representative (ugh), thinking Vallee's Club Bali swingsters are the American Ballet group and inviting them to the Paris Exposition. They go, get into trouble, save everything by presenting their own show. Rosemary Lane makes eyes at Rudy. The best numbers are "I Wanna Go Back to Bali" and "A Stranger in Paree." Production is lavish, of course, with plenty of Berkeley girls. • THE RAGE OF PARIS— Universal IT was probably inevitable that Universal would introduce new star Danielle Darrieux in a comedy. The surprising thing is that Darrieux took the tired script and made it successful entertainment. As a French girl out of work, she sets out to get a rich husband — and, by golly, gets one. Louis Hayward, who apparently drips with the necessary, is snapping at her bait when Doug Fairbanks, Jr., comes along, kidnaps the gal, takes her to his mountain lodge. At this point there is much cute business which Darrieux carries off hilariously. Both Hayward and Doug, Jr., live up to Miss Darrieux's pace. Helen Broderick and Mischa Auer are very chipper — but watch the stars shine for the newcomer. Enfin — Heigh Ho the Darrieux! * THREE BLIND MICE— 20th Century-Fox IHREE sisters, living on a chicken farm, get a legacy, decide to spend the money to secure a rich husband for one sister. Lots are drawn. Loretta Young wins. In Santa Barbara, chosen as the base of the trio's man hunt, there are two men. One, Joel McCrea, looks rich but isn't; the other, David Niven, both looks it and is. Loretta chooses Joel; finds he's broke; takes David. Then Joel comes back, says "But we love each other" — and she goes back to him. The other sisters, Marjorie Weaver and Pauline Moore, are then constrained to find a solution that will reconcile wealth and love. This is the prize package of all recent stories about predatory girls, but you will find it amusing. Wise-cracking Binnie Barnes takes top honors. A V E S YOUR PICTURE TIME AND MONEY THE BEST PICTURES OF THE MONTH Alexander's Ragtime Band Tropic Holiday Holiday White Banners Lord Jeff The Rage of Paris Hold That Kiss Yellow Jack Three Blind Mice BEST PERFORMANCES OF THE MONTH Tyrone Power in "Alexander's Ragtime Band" Alice Faye in "Alexander's Ragtime Band" Don Ameche in "Alexander's Ragtime Band" Danielle Darrieux in "The Rage of Paris" Fay Bainter in "White Banners" Jackie Cooper in "White Banners" Mickey Rooney in "Lord Jeff" Freddie Bartholomew in "Lord Jeff" Binnie Barnes in "Three Blind Mice" Dick Powell in "Cowboy from Brooklyn" Robert Montgomery in "Yellow Jack" Katharine Hepburn in "Holiday" Cary Grant in "Holiday" Mickey Rooney in "Hold That Kiss" Maureen O'Sullivan in "Hold That Kiss" INTO this emaciated yarn, transparently thin in spots, Richard Dix manages to inject a neat and wholesome bit of entertainment. Dix poses as a blind sculptor in order to retrieve stolen letters from a museum piece of statuary. Ace, the Wonder Dog, comes in for plenty of honors when the thieves gang up on Dix. Whitney Bourne, Frances Mercer and Eduardo Ciannelli feature in the cast. PRISON NURSE-Republic nNOTHER Big House story dealing with a convict doctor, Henry Wilcoxon, who wins a pardon for his aid in stemming a typhoid fever epidemic in prison. However, just as Wilcoxon is about to be freed, he becomes innocently involved in a prison break and loses his freedom. Marian Marsh and Johnny Arledge complete the cast principals. Dull and pointless throughout, so just skip it. THE LADY IN THE MORGUE-Universal REGARDLESS of the rather gruesome title, this turns out as a breezy high-stepping little mystery tale with Preston Foster once again proving himself a modern Sherlock Holmes. When a woman's body is found in a hotel room with no clues to her identity or her murderer, Foster steps in, and prestochango — the mystery is solved. Patricia Ellis and Frank Jenks are two capable performers. SWISS MISS-Hal Roach-M-G-M LAUREL AND HARDY return to the screen in a picture far below their usual high brand of comedy. The boys, mousetrap salesmen, journey to Switzerland, where they meet Delia Lind, who is in love with her composer, Walter Woolf King. Each routine seems stale and reminiscent of Mack Sennett. King and Miss Lind sing pleasingly. (Continued on page 89) 45