The Bioscope (Jul-Sep 1931)

July 15, 1931 THE BIOSCOPE 29 Acting : Madeleine Carroll has little to do but look beautiful, and at no time resembles the vamp we presume her to be. The best piece of acting comes from Dorothy Bartlam as the simple little wife who registers the anguish she feels with telling effect. Carl Harbord makes the most of a colourless role, and Kay Hammond does her best to introduce some rather weak humour. Production : Interiors are well mounted, including the well-appointed home of the husband, cafes and the theatre dressing-room. Lighting is occasionally overdone. Sound : For the most part the recording is good. “Too Many Cooks” (R.C.A. Sound on Film) Offered by: Radio. Directed by: Wm. Setter. Length': 7,194 feet. Release Date : Not fixed. Certificate : U. Type : Romantic comedy. Cast : Bert Wheeler, Dorothy Lee, Roscoe A tes, Florence Roberts, Robert McWade. IN BRIEF : Slight story of lovers’ efforts to build their own home, a scheme well nigh ruined by constant intervention from their respective relatives. A clever situation tolerably well acted, but drawn to excessive length. Suitability : Should make a fair comedy offering in most popular halls. Selling Angles : Star, witty dialogue. Plot : Albert draws up the plans for the house he hopes to share with his fiancee, Alice Cook, and the building goes on apace. Everything goes well until the arrival of Alice’s host of relatives, whose constant interference is the bane of Albert’s existence. To complicate matters, Albert’s uncle, who is also his boss, decides to come and live with them. Quarrels ensue, the lovers part company and Albert loses his job. He manages to complete the house and is about to sell it to a pal when Alice turns up again. Better still, the uncle repents, reinstates Albert and makes over the house to him as a wedding present. Comment : This is the bare outline of a simple little domestic comedy which will create many a laugh at the awkward predicament in which the two young people find themselves. Restricted as it is to practically the one set, the action is rather limited and repetition is at times apparent. Though not in the least original, the situation is a diverting one made interesting by witty dialogue. Acting : Bert Wheeler is sufficiently foolish as the love-sick youth afraid to hurt the feelings of his girl or to run foul of the many relatives. Dorothy Lee’s otherwise appealing performance is entirely spoilt by badly spoken lines, many of her words being difficult to understand. Perhaps the best performance comes from Roscoe Ates as the stuttering buggy-driver. Production : The background for the story is confined chiefly to the one set, that of the house in various stages of building. Sound : Recording throughout is first-rate. “ A Free Soul ” (Western Electric Sound on Film.) Offered by : M.-G.-M. Directed by : Clarence Brown. Length : 8,412 feet. Release Date: Not fixed. Certificate: A. Type: Drama. Cast: Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, Lionel Barrymore, Clark Gable, James Gleason, Lucy Beaumont. IN BRIEF : Engrossing story of the infatuation of the daughter of a dipsomaniac lawyer for a leader of the underworld. Strongly emotional passages in the depth of affection existing between father and daughter, alternating with thrills of gangster activity. Excellent direction and superb characterisations by star and whole of talented supporting cast. Lavish settings. Admirable recording. Suitability : A first-rate box-office attraction, with big appeal to every class of audience. Selling Angles : Star and cast ; strong human interest. Plot: Jan Ashe, daughter of Stephen Ashe, a drink-sodden lawyer J is infatuated by Ace Wolfong, a gangster, and after his acquittal for murder secretly visits his apartments, where she gives herslf over completely to him. Jan’s father, also, is a frequent visitor to the resort run by Wolfong, and it is here that he accidentally meets her after he has insulted Ace for having asked permission to marry her. On their return home Jan declares her love for Ace and meets her father’s abhorrence of the matter with the suggestion that if he will give up drink she will refrain from seeing her lover. The bargain is struck, and the two retire to the hills, but after three months the man succumbs to temptation and passes out of the girl’s life. She returns to Ace, whose brutality, consequent upon the thought that she has purposely avoided him, kills her affection. Ace threatens to expose her associations with him, but the timely intervention of Winthrop, Jan’s loyal fiance, who kills Ace, prevents this. Winthrop is tried for murder and successfully defended by the father, who, making a sensational reappearance, spares neither his daughter nor himself and dies as the result of a seizure. Comment : Here is a film which contains every ingredient to spell success at the box-office and one that will not only delight the huge army of Shearer fans, but 95 per cent, of therest of the picture-going public. That the story strikes a somewhat false note in the incongruity in temperament of the lovers and ends on a trial scene absurdly unconvincing in its melodramatic and loose procedure are small items which are lost in the absorbing entertainment it offers as a whole. Clarence Brown’s expert direction carries the interest alongjin a succession of thrills, and pathetically appealing interviews between parent and child, whose devotion to each other is exemplified in her suggested sacrifice and the father’s scathing condemnation of the man who offers her marriage. Sympathy is rather centred on the gangster because of his treatment at the hands of Jan’s family, and it is to be admitted that he, to say the least of it, receives a raw deal at the hands of all concerned. In a film full of moving situations it is unnecessary to make special mention of any particular episode. It is entertainment from beginning to end. Acting: The role of Jan Ashe calls for the best in Norma Shearer, and she is never found wanting. As a girl abandoned to a life of pleasure she is an adept, but she proves equally effective as the sob-racked daughter willing to forgo everything to secure her father’s happiness. The latter part is superbly played by Lionel Barrymore, whose struggles against the craving for drink provide a memorable performance. Clark Gable enhances his already enviable reputation as a gangster, and Leslie Howard does well as the quietly disposed fiance. James Gleason dispenses a welcome touch of humour in his own inimitable way. Production : An excellently handled attack with fire-arms between rival gangs is a big thrill. All interiors are well mounted and lend the correct colourful atmosphere. These include the court scenes and sumptuously appointed apartments. Some charming mountain exteriors are a feature. Sound : Excellent in every department. “Everything’s Rosie” (R.C.A. Sound on Film.) Offered by: Radio. Directed by : Clyde Bruckman. Length: 6 324 feet. Release Date: January 18, 1932. Certificate: U. Type : Romantic Comedy Drama. Cast : Robert Woolsey, Anita Louise, John T\ , T? 1 sw /> n s' n TP Sills’ v t C Ti'vn n h PCI J IN BRIEF • Slight story of mutual affection between a quack doctor and his adopted daughter. Woolsey at his best in welter of wise-cracks both new and old. Commendable blend of hilarious nonsense and human appeal. Suitability : |Light entertainment for the popular type of house. Selling Angles : Star’s adroit fooling ; romantic interest. Plot : Doctor Droop, an habitue of fairgrounds for the purpose of disposing of quack medicines, is moved by seeing a little girl ill-treated and his intercession on her behalf results in him adopting the chi d^ Fourteen vears later we see him at another fair with the now beautiful Rosie acting as his partner in a fortunetelling booth. It is here that she meets with her first love and prevails on her indulgent guardian to take up permanent residence in the town, a suggestion to which he agrees overcoming monetary difficulties by taking a job with the local jeweller. Subsequently he attends a reception at Billie’s home, but being possessed of sticky fingers he cleans out the guests by playing a variation of the three card trick. Through the intervention of Rosie, the money is paid back, but on leaving the house he is arrested for a burglary committed at the jeweller’s, and Rosie is sent to a home. By gambling with his jailer he makes his escape, rescues Rosie and leaves post haste for the next town. In the meantime the police have found out their mistake and Billie follows them in a fast car. Everything then is rosie for Rosie but not exactly for the doctor, who must henceforth plough a lonely furrow. Comment : It is a pity that in this, Woolsey’s first individual starring picture, he has not been afforded stronger support from the point ol view of both cast and story. In consequence of this the him is apt to fall somewhat flat at those times which find him absent from the screen, though fortunately these are few and far between. The character portrayed is one bound to make an instant appeal to the average cinegoer, introducing as it does a heap of laughs and not a few touches of pathos. On the one side is the fairground showman bubbling over with high spirits and exhibiting few scruples where the shekels are concerned, and on the other the benevolent guardian to whom the youngster s happiness is the first consideration. Acting : Woolsey has every opportunity to indulge in tomfoolery md is irresistible while doing so. As the thoroughly incompetent fortuneeller gulling a bevy of empty headed females, or tricking his audience >y his dexterous handling of three nut-shells and a pea the while he holds hem enthralled with rapid American jargon, he supplies his best screen ffort to date. Anita Louise is sweet as his adopted child, though she till lacks that experience necessary to make the role convincing. John )arrow as her lover is stiff and unromantic. Others in the cast do well. Production : The fairground exteriors are admirably arranged and upply scenes of animation throughout. Interiors .include those ot the >ooth and the well appointed rooms at the youth s home Sound: The fact that the whole of Woolsey’s quick-fire talk is quite atelligible says much for the quality of the recording. The effects are nnallv <rnorl “The Air Patrol ” (Powers Cinephone Sound on Film.) ffered by: Equity British. Directed by: Stewart Paton. Length: 5,770 feet. Release Date : Not fixed. Certificate: U. Type .Aerial melodrama, from a story by Arthur Hoerl. Cast : Kenneth Harlan, Charles Delaney, Josephine Dunn. Richard Cramer. IN BRIEF • Sensational adventures of two young airmen in putting jwn a gang of smugglers, concluding with struggle in mid-air Jand paraiute descent. Music, dancing and love-making. Vi nil Trnrbkinp Selling Angles : The fighting, firing and climax. Plot : Jerry and Andy receive instructions at Air Patrol Headquarters