Variety (Dec 1929)

— 42- -VARIET-Y FILM REVIEWS SCHONBRUNN (Continued from page 39) affe audience. - It is laid In a sump- tuous I'omantic atmosphere and Its leading figures ai*o good to ga^e upon. Particularly the iRussian, Ivan Petrovlch, shows Ir this picture that he Is a leading man of the Gil- bert type, and with, perhaps, some advantages over that player. Dngover, .who may be rehiem- bored in America as the sexy wife in "Hungarian Rhapsody," here de- livers another sensuou3 exhibition, If a trifle younger, no saying what could be made of her in the States. Story is simple and concerns Queen Maria Theresia of. Austria and her love for ' the. ttunga.rian nobleman Trenck, tvhom she " flrdt. meets incognito. Later, influenced by the Kaiser's jealousy, she ar- ranges a marriage between 7'renck and one of her iV^Itlng woxaon, Waschneck has diriected with much discretion and if tlitere .were more pace it would be a conipletely satis- factory picture. Synchronized score^ and the few dialog scenes, .wer«.:niade ^^fter the picture wag compjetely-. cut and against the wishes.'^t 'the director. The dlalofir, althouirli- iiardly; more than &%, was so bad that it was cut out after the first show. But the synchronized score, afid iseyerai songs sung by Petrovich ' riemain. Recording is no advance vbv^r the talker, "The Land J^Uhdxit Wom- en," brought out by Tobls somQ weeks ago. If anything, the music sounded hollower and ofteln, Jn'the fortes, unbearably sha:rp. How much this is due, If any, t'O. the Tbbl» thie- atre equipment, uged here. Is' -not- known. . TrirSk.. White Hell of Piz Palu (GERMAN MADE) I'.. -(Silent) Berlin, Nov. 26. SokRl Film illrectea by Dr, A, Fanck and G. W. Papst. First run at Ufa Palaet fun Zoo. Bierlln. Despite "Singing Fool," this com- paratively inexpensive German si- lent film will probably be the big money-maker of the season over here. It fits tlie Qerm.an taste with coniplete accui^acy. irt New York it cannot hope fo play the big first runs but it will bowl them over in the sure seaters and fill In nicely on a double featuye. program. Tech- hlcally, and from the anele of action and direction, it rates well up in the International ranks. Frank has already produced sev- eiral films; all of them isucceasful, Which p'.l.yed in the saine. tniiieti, namely mountain climbing in the Bavarian alpp. Tl^lSi Is unquestion- ably his clowning, eeffort. . The sce- nario Is more simple and'more hu- irian, the actors keep real by the sensitive direction of Pajist, who hdhdle? this end oT the megaphone waving. It Is a simple fable .concerning a mountain clinrtber who has lost his wife bh the Riz Palu, a dangerous Alp, 'and', who since then climbs In thelnountalns/aibhe. He encounters a young, married couple in a shelter and the youth, without cause, be- comes jealous. So he decides to go albng oh st dangerous ascent. But the gjri win not be left, out and forces heir- \fray into the party. An avalanche throws the youth down to the end of Mis rbpe aiid the Mder man in rescuing him breaks his leg. Sb the tJiree are trapped half way up an ice wall- After three nnadden- Ing days> riescue cbtnes hut. too late to save- thfe older'man, who freeze? to.death as he;ba8 given hii^ fcwpat- era to save the other ti*^.' - , Photography 'of'the motlntauui Is always InteresttofiT and'c*t$n «we- Ingplringr. Actors dellverVa jflfft" cia;sa performanoe from'^tho 3portlnir angle, and Gustav Diebsl is undoubt- edly a leading man who would-ap- peal In Hollywood. Leni Riefen- stahl, formerly a dancer, is a typical German sporting type but too buxom for the average American taster- more on the line of Gertrude Ederte. Trasic, THE WHITE SHEIK (ENGLISH MADE) (Silent) British International production releaslog through World Wide. Directed by H. .Knole8 from continuity by Violet. fowMt. Caat: Jameson Thomas, LllUon H.^JJftj'lB, War- wick Ward. JuU» Suedo, .Oi .McliAuirWln, At the Uttle Carnegie, "N;. T., .beginning Dec. 7. Bunnlng time. 02:tnlna. Unreels much like the^ old "Poor Pauline" serial except that the perils are not included, A clumsy piece of work filled with what impresses as old newsreel strips of galloping Arabs. -Poor fare even for the mongrel policies. Little or no continuity. JataiiBspn Thomas Is too Englislv'for th6> title role, and UUIan Davis, iis the-lady who deliberately ride'SV int<>i- the danger zoiie occtipled',-...l>y;.;"lxoBt|le Riffs, is painfuUy stiftjlapdvforihal unfler ail circumstance^^:"- Warwick Ward, as the menace. Is cast .aSi^e sheik's traitorous lieutenant.^ His grimaces approach ovife- and' ..out n^ugginer. . : " ■ ' Wdty. Paramount Pep Club la holding its annual iMtU-at thetrAstoir hotel Feb. 7. ■ --i;::^".^ ':, " Bkck-and-WIiite Cost 1 Now—at low cost—sound pictures can be printed without sacrificing any of the deticate tints formerly used • • • • Eastman Sonochrome Tinted Positive Films have given the industry a wider range of tints than was ever available Before—^in films so adjusted that they give amazingly faith- ful sound reproduction. And though they combine sound and color, these new '■ Ealstman films cost no more thsm regular black-and-white positive. EASTMAN KO^^ COMPANY ROCHESTER, ]NEW YORK rJ.E.Bruiatour, Inc., Distributors New York Chicago Hollywood 7 ( DescriQimtfttdlaloo)! Talklps Plctur|!%#|, Xno» pcMolyi^oii ot Commander G<icn» ii> Dyott'« 'Weflo aflrt'wild, game fllrii^JRCA Bounde«: ■■ t3c*y-' righted: b/X^yA^Vi'Vfotogiapbed bj ppyott In oonJuntAlbn .^tth:i. S. Vemajr on V.r- nay-Faunthorpe Sxpedltton, under ausplcea of American Museum of Natural History. Descriptive dialog by Dyott. No plot cait. Opened Dec. 0 at Cohan, New York, two-a- day at $1.50. Runnlntr time, 81 natnute*. Strictly a soe^dy^litdl iungie-;il^e educational for. schools'and the lec«^. ture halls. Doesn't rate as theatre after the record of weakness In the regular pop houses of preceding. ani-_ mal Alms, making this one partlcn- larly dubious. . , Ruh as a 11.60 spec at the Cohan may help the distributors sell it as a cdiiilitercial In the regular ..stands' here and thei*e. . iSome plugging .'In the schools and piaces of instruction may aid, aiid plenty of it is needed, besides being employed. After'65 minutes of footage, dur- ing Which' time not a single tiger is produced, the picture reaches 16-> mlQute cUniax In form of a tiger hunt. Three of the ;jungle kings are bagged and not much excitendent. The antics of the frightened trans- port elephants Is interesting; but Aot provocative of extra heart Ijeats. It's probable that without . the 65 minutes of build-up the tiger, bunt would not be tis eviiiting as it is.' Of course, the yljeiws ot the peop][e and lower animals of India are ar-^ resting. For the record the picture is valuable. For the popular theatre box office even"- the praiseworthy photography hold's islight value. Previous to the tiger hunt, the gun and camert^ sportsmen seek ele- phant, rhino and spotted deer. In- teresting but not thrlUidg. More like a natural history exhibit. -. . . Every few feet hold ..:|in- Inserted shot of vultures on the , wing or looking for dead flesh; Next-to- closing scene "qf th6 picture (fade- out is old-fashioned sunset) flock of vultures on a carftass^ Vulture Is an ugly creature, almost sickening to look at. Not so pretty and leaves a not'-so-nice farewell Impression. Commander Qeorge M. Dyott, photographer, first introduced, in a drawing room set and ptoceeds to verbally illustrate the entire picture. The Commander is a pleasant talk- er, but apparently his memory is not so good. When In view of the cam- era while talking (all the talk was added) he obviously glances at notes planted behind a silver receptacle. A well-played .score of Jungle and oriental inusic runs through the footage and mingles nicely with the Commander's chatter. RCA sounding job was Impressive at the Cohan^ where projection Is faultless. Program announcement by. the sponsors of "Hunting Tigers iii In- dia" informs that other pictures of the same type will follow. Others, should have the semblance of a story if wishing to improve the commer- cial worth of an educational. Bige. N, B. Price War St. John, ,N. B., Dec. 10. Price war Is npw in progress With the replacement of sllents by talkers at the Queien Square. This was the first local house to Intro- duce sound, but after a trial of three weeks they, were replaced by sllents at 25 cents. For the sec- ond talker try at this house prices are 36 cents nights, 16 for children and 20 for adults in the afternoons. Only one floor in the house which was converted Into a theatre from a skating rirtk.' It's an independent site, operated by Fred Selby. Capitol, renamed from the Im- perial, owned wholly by E. F, Albee and operated by R. K. O. In alliance with Famous-Lasky, has a Alght top of 56 for one feature talker, a short comedy and newsreel. Strand, renanied from the Unique and oper- ated by F. G. Spencer, Ltd.. gets 44 cents for one feature talker knd several reels of shorts. Rialto, re- named froth the Opera House and also operated by the Spencer firm, has a top of 44 for one feature taikeir and shorts. Capacity iat the iQiieeri Square for the new scale. ^VE IN CAUCASUS Some 673 reels have been shown in the junior and senior high schools of Schenectady, N. Y., since the be- ginning of the term. •^1 , (RUSSIAN MADE) (Silent) -• 'CtoorsIdBO prodaotloii. Releaised by Arm^ fclno. Adoitiatloo mad* from '^Biliso/'ba ^{GRjoMlati noTellBt, A. KartwlC. .AH^^ucZ :«|jur cast. Scenario by Tretyakor uS BtaenKolal. Directed by N. Shengelal. Can^ eraman, V. Kereselldze. At Film Ouit&, New Tork, week Not. 80. Banning tlinZ CT mlAutefe. \ ^^^^^^^ ' , Ni* as .entertainment. Just aim othet* Russian effort at pliotographn Ingi places. Again the trouble is that many things some folks do in life are uii'^ interesting, even in the theatre, re« gardless of how I'^allstio the actioQ may be copied.- Russians, ever since the Punch and Judy dawn, have been pantomiming,, and they haven't yet learned there's much more to tha picture art than facial twitches^ hand-dapping and legging. Thtd film is nothing inore than an ahaly. sis of the art of pantontlme laid oh thlclc aiid sober and utterly lacking recreative quality. Though, of course, in Russia, where it should have remained, they may go for it. Story supposedly based on actual Incident among Caucasian tribes isi, • Tersk country and matter of hlstor-, J[cal' record In -Russian army ar^. ch|ves, period not given. Some action so goofy that evien thj artie custoniers hissed at this house. ■ Napoleon On St.. Helena ' ■ Berlin, Nov. 25, Xiupu Pick Film. 'Directed by Lupu Pick, with Werner Kmiia. and Albert Bosaerman featured. First run. at tbe Ufa Pavilllou, Berlin. Luptt pick is unquestionably one Of the very few. topnotch directors atill'^ left in Germany. This produc- tion is one of the best he has turned out; . ^ Interesting idea to plcturlze >'apo- leon's last days, and Werner Kraus Is an ideal exponent of the part. After seeing him on the scre-^n, the other portraits of the man seem un- true. He gives the-character that combination of sharp intelligence and power wliich historians have led us to believe belonged to the great Corsican, and at the end, when he Is left almost alone, there is distinct pathos. Albert Bassermann, as the English governor, also delivers an extraor-. dinary performance. Scenes between these two men are as strong as any seen in latter day pictures. Whether the historical treatment of the last days of Bonaparte will interest the public is a question, but surely there are" enough Napoleon fans to give the picture a reasonable run. No denying that it is an out- standing example of continental film 'art. Trasfc. V PMblix'J2S0 prize to the theatre exploiting business with the largest number of parades during Septem- ber has gone to M. K. Moore, man- ager of the Worth, Fort Worth, Tex. Number of parades staged was 61. Oscar Bower, formerly managing the Plaza, New York, now at the Colony, replacing R A. Newklrk. mmm M\R€0 5^ "Love Parade'^ (Par.) Is sched- uled for general release Feb. 1. SPANISH-LATIN AMERICAN FILM BUREAU Mo-w Acting aa Advisor for SONO-ARX'S PRODUCTION, "SOHBRA.S DE ClLOIitA," STARRING JOSB BOHR ADDRBSS METROPOLITAN STUDIOS, HOLLYWOOD Telephone OR Sill