Variety (Feb 1930)

43 VARIETY FILM REVIEWS Wednesday, February . 26, 1930 MELODY MAN (Continued from pa^e 39^ teen years later lie is living- under an alias as a musician in a Broad- way restaurant. His daughter, also musically inclined, takes up arrang- Ine and hooks up with a jazz band leader. The young jaazbo also is instrumental in hooking the old boy out of his restaurant job. Conae- ciuently this embitters the old man. But lie relents and the boy and girl unite. The youthful band leader with the girl's help rises to prominence and suddenly finds himself in need of new music for a concert appearance. He and the girl, therefore, rearrange the old man's own composed master- piece by which the Austrian author- ities hope to apprehend him, and by playing it unwittingly betray the old fellow. It all ends in supposition as the old man bids the pair good- bye. ROOKERY NOOK (BRITISH MADE) (All Dialog) Produced by British & Dominions Co. Ditsributlon In U. K., W. * F. branch ot Caumont-Brltlsh Corp. Adapted from the stage play by Ben Travcrs, with screen dlalogr by 8am>. Directed by Tom Wolls. British censors' certificate, U. Previewed at New Gallery, London, Feb. 11. Running time, lOT mins. Recording by W. E. Gerald Popkiss ', Ralph Lynn Olive Popkiss.... Tom Walla Hnrold Twine Robertson Hare Mrs. Twine. , Ethel Coleridge Rhoda Marley ' Winifred Shotter Mlrs. Leverett Mary Brough Mr. Puts Griffith Hami>hreya Poppy Dlekoy Doreen Bendix Olara Popkiss... Margot Grahame This is one of the Ben Travers- Tom Walls bonanza farces which ran at the Aldwych theatre and helped Walls to run a racing stable. .Vs a talker it is the best specinien .so far made on this side. Production," direction, acting, cast- ing, dialog and recording are all about foolproof for any kind of English speaking audience, and that goes for America, too. It Is sur- prisingly non-theatrical; it avoids the fault apparent in many stage successes transferred to the screen of appearing like a photographed ^fytSLge play. It is a motion picture "with dialog, and most every line is a laugti, while practically all the situations are funiiy. .Sophisticated comedy on the whole, It keeps clean; the people look and sound real, and the juvenile girl, Winifred Shotter, Is one of the few this side who looks, sounds and, troupes okay without appearing to have come from a suburban grammar school. Gerald Popkiss takes a country hou.sc for a rest cure, wifo Clara to follow later. Sister-in-law, Mrs. Twine, fi.xes the house near her own country cottage so she can boss things. Clive ((rerald's cousin) comes too as an offset to sister-in- law. Same night as Gerald arrives he finds a girl in pajamas in the dining hall, she having been turned out by her stepfather. Remainder of the story revolves around suspi- cions of Mrs. Twine; the daily help, Mrs. Leverett; the henpecked Mr. Twine and the arrival of Gerald's wife. Though adapted from a farce, comedy remains on a natural level and never appears farcical. Acting, mainly, by original stage -cast, notable for its all round excellence; outstanding being Tom Walls (Britain's double for Men;|ou) and Ralph Lynn. As the bossy wife, who finally gets in dutch witb the girl's stepfather, Ethel Coleridge could not be better cast. A long laugh anywhere this side and a natural for the first runs. Should b© able to play satisfac- torily anywhere in America where they are not too unsophisticated. If it had been made in Hollywood, it would be exploited as a super. Frat. KNOWING MEN (BRITISH MADE) (All Dialog) Produced and directed by Elinor Glyn. Distributed by United Artlats. Story by Elinor Glyn. Adaptation by Elinor Glyn and EM ward Knoblock. Camera, Charles Roslier. RCA recording. Preview, lyondon Pavilion, Feb.. 5. Running time, 95 mlns. Koratt Hurley (CoUette) ;•..;.. '.Bllssa Landl Delphine Jeanne de Casalls Korah'a Aunt Helen Haye Uncle... C. M. Hallard George Vere Carl Brlsson Said to have cost $150,000. Might have been worth it if it had a story and some direction. There's a pro- log in which the inventor of "It" talks about herself and her art and waves a feather pen. Just footage. The dumbbells will not swallow the shallow and card-index story over which nearly 8,000 feet of film slow- ly unwinds. Photography and settings are ex- cellent, all save a model shot of a French chateau, which is so obvious as to .be comic, and is used without logical reason several times. Cast- ing fair, with the exception of Bris- son, who is okay for musical com- edy but Is out of his element here. No suspense from start to finish and no drama till the end, when forced situations are dragged In Story has been so heavily signaled from the opening shot that no one cares whether the rest is seen or not. Korah is at the convent school and has money. Her aunt plans she shall marry George, who has had an affair with Delphine. Korah, to learn to know men, comes home to her aunt alibied as a companion, CoUette. Is there any need to write the rest? George falls, visits the vamp's room at night to get back those compromising letters, is heard and dives from the window into the castle moat or something—may have been the sea—^and aunt discovers Korah to him next day. Adequate treatment might have gotten enough out of the story to have made an average entertaining film. Helen Haye makes the aunt almost a living person, but Jeanne de Casalis, a first-rate vamp, is wasted on an unbelievable part. Rest of the cast, through no fault of its own, is negligible. May book here and your side on the Glyn name. It has nothing else. Frat. ELSTREE CALLING (BRITISH MADE) (All Dialog) Produced by Brltl,sh International Pic- tures, Ltd. Directed by Adrian Brunei. In association with Andre Cherlot, Paul Murray and Jack Hulbert. Scenario by Val Valentine. Camera, Claude Frlesse-Greene. RCA recording. Previewed at the Alham- bra. London, Feb. 0. Running time, 90 min. Described as a Radio-Cinema Re- vue, this has everything such a film needs, and does nothing with it. In the cast ..are Will. Fyfte, Tommy. Handley, Lily Morris, Jack Hulbert, Cicely Courtneidge, "Teddy Brown, Chariot Girls, Three Eddies, Ber- koffs. Balalaika Choral Orchestra, and also Anna May Wong, Donald Calthrop, John Lohgden, Jameson Thomas and Gordon Harker, regu- lars in B.I.P. pictures. Recording is first rate. But the material is old where it is not amateurish. They have used the "I'm in the wrong flat" black- out, and though this is a generation old here, the film censor would not let it go for the screen. All you see of Anna May Wong is in trunks throwing custard pies in a bur- lesque on "Taming of the Shrew," which starts well with Donald Cal- throp as Fairbanks and then falls to bits. This, in fact, Is the fault with the whole production; many things start well and .then do not come off. Direction seems weak and lacking in cohesive sense, and the thesis upon which the acts are strung—Handley as a radio an-' nouncer and Gordon Harker as a radio fan trying out a television set—is stretched almost to the breaking point. Gag of interrupting the show, which Tubby Edlin did here five years ago in "Pins and Needles," la used, with Calthrop as an actor who will do Shakespeare but gets blacked out as soon as he comes on. Thfs is about the best of the film, thougli the Russian footage runs It close. Will Fyffe and Lily Morris are wasted by using old ma- terial; not old enough to be reminis- cent, as are the Leslie Stuart melo- dies now again in favor, but just old enough to be irritating. Production values are thin, a few shots at random around the studio having been taken to make it look like money. Otherwise, it's an eco- nomic piece of work. It has none of the flash extravagance which characterizes the revue type of talker coming from America, and In contrast with those shown here, looks small time despite its. cast. One thing it does is to show they cannot here, whatever can be done elsewhere, transfer vaude and bur- lesque artistes to the screen with stage material. If the cast had been assembled and then had new and characteristic, but cinematic, stuff written around them, a good pic- ture might have emerged. As It is, except for name values in the prov- inces, where some of the artistes have never penetrated, "Elstree Calling" calls to deaf ears. Frat, CONVENTION SITE E.xecutives will decide within a fortnight whethef the annual con- vention of the I.A.T.SrE.-wlll be held this year in Los Angeles or San Diego. Los Angeles is the probable choice with the first week in June the date. Special Midnite for "King" HoUywooTi, Feb. 25. "Vagabond King" opens at the Paramount here this Saturday, at special $1.50 midniglit preview. •'Roadhouse Nights" (Par) will exit after but four days, shortest book- ing in history of the house. "Vagabond Kln.ij" then opens Sun- day to public at $1 top. Monroe's "Unborn Child" Chicago, Feb. 25. States' rights "Her Unborn Child," will have a loop flrst run at Fox's Monroe starting March 14. Booked for as long as it can stay. ChFs Film Row Moving: South to Wabash and 13th Chicago, Feb. 25. Film row is moving southward. Five companies are preparing to leave for the Wabash and 13th neighborhood. Warners has already completed its six-story building on that cor- ner and moves in March 1 with First National. Universal and M- G-M are dickering for sites on that corner with chances of moving into the Paramount building there. Para- mount Is planning to build a new exchange at Michigan and 13th. Exodus will leave three large buildings vacant, the National Scrieen building, the Warner ex- change, and the Universal building. COAST NOTES Sol Lesser will make 16 westerns with Buck Jones. Evelyn Selbie, "Return of Dr. Fu Manchu" (Par). M-G exercised Duncan Renaldo's option. He's on his second year of five. James Oliver Curwood's "God's Country and the Woman" to bo filmed "by FN. Wade Boteler to "The Devil's Holiday," Par. Geneva Mitchell to untitled short for Roach. Claude Tillster for "Czar of Broadway," u. • - ■ Jack Townley to write dialog for Tiffany. Daisy Celmore, "Radio Revels," Radio. Lowell Sherman, "Hawk Island," Radio. jRck Mulhall, "Fall Guy," Radio. Fred NIblo direct "Easy Going," M-G. .George Fawcett, "Swing High," Pathe. James Gruen writing original at Pathe. Frank Easton, Mariam Seegarand Eddie Kane to "Fox Follies of 1930," Fox. Joseph de Grasse, Ernest Adams, Tom London, and Nick Thompson for "The Storm," U. Lawrence Grant for "So This Is London," Fox. Rose Marie Grimes for "Hell's Bells," Fox. Alice Day, Johnny Walker, James Burtls, Elinor Flynn, Dorothy Gould, Mary Carr and June Purcell for "Ladles in Love," Chesterfield. i GE ORGE O'BRIEN SALUTE*' Navy-Army and Football "thh lone star ranger" Western Present Production "THE holy; TERROR" Lumber Jack —North Woods