Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Jul 1929)

Tke Screen in ReVievtf 71 Countess Diane sends Baron Finot to find a lady of the pavements who, for a price, will do her bidding to humiliate the proud Karl von Arniui. Baron Finot doesn't exactly find her on the streets, but her carefree ways in a cafe indicate a close relationship to the gutter. She is coached in the supposed ways of a lady, and at a glittering reception is brought by Countess Diane to the attention of Karl, who is immediately enthralled. Their romance progresses to that point where a revelation is conventional, and Nanon del Rayon flees, ashamed and heartbroken, back to the cafe where, needless to say, Karl follows to assure her that nothing but love matters in the world of the movies. This familiar story has the doubtful quality of permitting the fairly seasoned spectator to anticipate every move of the characters, so the conclusion is hardly one to arouse any suspense. But the players succeeded in holding one's interest, particularly Jetta Goudal, as Countess Diane, Lupe Velez, as Nanon, and William Boyd, as Karl. Miss Velez is lively and unrestrained, and Miss Goudal is every inch the great, though wicked lady, wearing her costumes with a delicate distinction all her own, thus making the lack of distinction in her role more regrettable. Very frequently Miss Velez sings, but her songs are feebly sentimental and her voice is too limited to give them color, or even distinctness. "The Barker's" Brother. "The Spieler" is another picture of carnival life. Without a sentimental story like some of its predecessors, its atmosphere and detail are better, and the narrative is thought by experts to be truer to the life it portrays. At best it is a sordid existence, but credit must go to the director, Tay Garnett, for depicting it with brutal realism instead of sugar-coating it with maudlin icing. Two crooks read that Clco, the owner of a sideshow outfit inherited from her father, is trying to operate it without the crookedness of such enterprises, so decide that the girl and her show are fair game. The crooks join the show and discover that while the girl has the best intentions, her troupe is infested with petty grafters as well as criminals, who practice all known devices for fleecing the public as well as the proprietress. Flash, the crook who becomes a barker, is gradually disarmed by Clco's sincerity and honesty, and falls in love with her. The picture has many melodramatic thrills, interesting camera angles and last, but not least, admirable acting on the part of all concerned. Alan Hale's best work is found in Flash, and Renee Adoree is interesting as Cleo. Fred Kohler and Clyde Cook are also important, and brief dialogue adds to the effectiveness of the film. Are Mammy Singers People? Lest you run the least chance of forgetting that George Jessel is the star of "Lucky Boy," he calls the role he plays George Jessel. Not that there is much opportunity to overlook him, for the picture is a collection of songs — all of them sentimentalizing his mother — which he sings for all they're worth. The acting of the other characters consists of asking George to sing. Sometimes he does so without being asked. He begins bright and early when he is seen in a music store, only too willing to sing every song in stock to a customer. But he is misunderstood by his father, a jeweler, who wants his lyrical son to help him build up his business. So George travels from the Bronx all the way to San Francisco in order to get a chance to sing on amateur night, whence he goes to a night club and fame. News of his mother's illness reaches him, so he sings directly to her over the radio. When he arrives at her bedside her improvement is immediate, and not long afterward he is singing from the stage of a theater which bears his name in huge electrics. Some of the players who impel Mr. Jessel to sing are Rosa Rosanova, William K. Strauss, Gwen Lee, Richard Tucker, Margaret Quimby, and Mary Doran. Starring Davey Lee It was inevitable that Davey Lee, the Sonny Boy of "The Singing Fool," should have stardom thrust upon him by shrewd producers eager to convert into gold the tears the child caused to flow in Al Jolson's film. So the little boy is the star of a picture called "Sonny Continued on page 98 "The Spieler." "Speakeasy." "The Dummy." "The Canary Murder Case."