Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Jul 1929)

70 The Screen in ReViextf "Sonny Boy. "Geraldine. 'Queen of the Night Clubs. "Lady of the Pavements.1 and into it fades the biblical city of Rephaim. Mary is Miriam, the handmaiden of Noah, and Travis becomes Japheth, his son, while the chaplain who ministered to Mary in prison is transformed into Noah. Nickoloff is seen as the pagan god Jag hut, whose demand for a sacrificial bride finds answer in Miriam who, torn from Japheth, is dragged to the palace. It is at the moment when the populace is flouting Noah for building the ark, and Miriam is about to meet a fate worse than death, that the flood is unloosed. Though blinded at Jaghut's order, Japheth wanders through falling masonry and raging torrents, confident that he will find Miriam. He does. There are innumerable points on which "Noah's Ark" may be criticized, but the sheer magnificence of the flood reduces minor faults to relative nothingness. Besides sound effects throughout the film, there are several dialogues which, though inoffensive, are unimportant except to enable us to hear players for the first time. George O'Brien, Guinn Williams, and Noah Beery are among these. Dolores Costello has, of course, been heard before. But after all, "Noah's Ark" is a picture to be seen more than heard. Who Killed The Canary? Some clever sleuthing and smooth talk by William Powell, as Philo Vance, put "The Canary Murder Case" in the class of those films that hold interest, but give one a chance to feel superior by pointing out an occasional slip. Bright Sherlocks must strain the credulity of their audiences and admirers now and then, no doubt, but the screen Philo more than makes up for it in the way he solves the riddle of who killed The Canary. So all will join the police sergeant in wishing the gentleman sleuth good luck in his next case. Although essentially an all-talkie, there is fine suspense in an almost silent poker game arranged by the detective, which outclasses the climacteric episode. Mr. Powell's screen voice is lifelike, giving PJiilo the tonal shadings needed to make the role convincing through the various scenes. James Hall, as Jimmy Spotswoode, proves that ■he also has a gift for talking on the screen. The story, as the army of Van Dine readers know, gets an early start through the murder of a show girl, played by Louise Brooks. The plot is conveniently thickened, on the night of the murder, when Margaret decides she is through with several men she has flirted with, and undertakes to do some heavy blackmailing. This results in a grand puzzle for the police, but Philo takes off his gloves and sets to work. Suspicion falls here and there, for the cops always insist on taking a part in these mystery solutions, and Sergeant Heath gets things into a fine mess. Then the great detective sees through it all, and proves his case in spite of a turn that would have floored a lesser individual. Louise Brooks, as the hardboiled Margaret Odell, is first seen smiling down to her lovers as she swings out over the audience from an elaborate stage setting. Later, when she frightens the gentlemen with a phone call, Margaret Livingston does some businesslike dialogue for her. Jean Arthur is permitted to do her own talking, as Alys LaFosse, the girl destined to be happy. Eugene Pallette is the police sergeant. Gustav von Seyffertitz, Charles Lane, Lawrence Grant, Louis John Bartels, and E. H. Calvert are seen and heard a great deal. The novel is followed fairly closely, except for the addition of the juvenile role played by James Hall. The mighty Philo is toned down to a human being, however, and emerges as an agreeable person — decidedly an improvement. On the whole, the picture should please the followers of Philo Vance's adventures, unless his creator has fanned their imaginations beyond reason. And it is a pleasure to report that no theme song is launched with the picture. Upholstery. "Lady of the Pavements," an elaborately mounted melodrama of the second empire in France, brings to light characters who are old friends in spite of their brilliant trappings, and situations that every moviegoer knows well. For example, there is the haughty, wicked Countess Diane, who is spurned by her fiance when he finds her in the embrace of another man. He says that no Von Arnim has ever married another man's mistress, and that he would as soon marry a woman of the streets. With this as her cue for revenge, WWWM«BMWWlll»m[MmHH(WHBWIHHIWtHHWmWW