National Box Office Digest (Jan 1940-Jan 1941)

DECEMBER 9, 1940 13 'Play Girl' Surprise Class Hit in B RKO-RADIO The Digest’s Box Office Estimate 70% Executive Producer Lee Marcus Producer Cliff Reid Director Frank Woodruff Screenplay and Story Jerry Cady Star Kay Francis Featured: James Ellison, Mildred Coles, Nigel Bruce, Margaret Hamilton, Katherine Alexander, George P. Huntley, Kane Richmond, Stanley Richmond, Stanley Andrews, Selmar Jackson, Marek Windheim. Photographer Nicholas Musuraca Time 75 Minutes Given class direction, adroit playing, and a bang-up scripting job, RKO’s "Play Girl” comes off as a neat package of entertainment. It is class in every department, and a credit to all concerned, in showing the rest of the world, that oodles of money and "big name stars and writers” are not necessarily the ingredients that make up a good motion picture. In fact it is a hurl back at those who are howling for the death of the "B.” The picture not only fools you with a clever twist in plot construction, but grows on you to such a point that you find yourself guessing at the end, as to the outcome. Kay Francis, never more delightful, portrays a woman who is playing the game for all it’s worth. But she is playing it straight, and no one on either side gets their fingers burnt. She is always ready to settle down but. the opportune time never presents itself. Knowing that she is slipping she gets to figuring. Age is her obstacle. She knows all the tricks that only years of experience can teach, but she is still slipping. What to do? Well, it suddenly hits her that as long as she has the experience, all she needs is the youth. So she adopts a protege, to trim the suckers. In Mildred Coles she has a natural. She is just the type to twist the hearts of such prominent men as Nigel Bruce, and George P. Huntley, both "filthy” with money. But the unexpected happens. Mildred falls for a nobody, in the form of Jimmy Ellison. This goes on for some time until you discover about four jumps before she does, that he is not just a nobody, but a prominent figure in the famous "Dun and Bradstreet,” Miss Francis’ "bible.” From there on you can more or less guess it, although at the end they drive home the point about age in marriage. Nicely done, and very effectively, with Kay Francis losing out to youth. Miss Francis has found her correct place now. She is too good an actress to be wasted in modern mother parts, as she has played, but as a wiley woman who knows her man, yet cleverly knows "herself,” she is excellent. James Ellison with not much to do, registers effectively. Mildred Coles, a new face, is definitely, a "comer.” She has youth, and, most im FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS COLUMBIA The Digest’s Box Office Estimate 65% Director — Charles Barton Based on book by Margaret Sidney Screenplay Harry Rebuas Star Edith Fellows Featured: Dorothy Ann Seese, Dorothy Peterson, Pierre Watkin, Ronald Sinclair, Charles Peck, Tommy Bond, Bobby Larson, Rex Evans, Kathleen Howard, Mary Currier, Helen Brown, Betty Jane Graham, Shirley Mills, Shirley Jean Rickert, Antonia O land, Rita Quigley. Photographer Benjamin Kline Time 63 minutes "Five Little Peppers” meets that phrase we of the industry so frequently use "a nice little picture.” It is satisfactory family entertainment, no matter that some reviewers seemed to think that the end of the series was an opportunity to jump aboard something. Your reviewer saw it with a cash audience at Pantages, and if a family picture can get by that near-hoodlum audience — which delights in razzing even million dollar epics — then it has its spots among the small town theaters. This one takes the five little tots off to an ultra-ultra school, with the comedy complications that might be expected. Edith Fellows is her usual captivating self, and it is BRIEF REVIEWS only your reviewer’s inability to separate the other youngsters of the group that prevents giving a heartfelt tribute to one talented tyke. So we’ll let it go for all of them. WEST OF PINTO BASIN MONOGRAM The Digest’s Box Office Estimate 65% Producer George W. Weeks Director S. Roy Luby Original Elmer Clifton Screenplay Earle Snell Stars Ray Corrigan, John King, Max Terhune Featured: Jerry Smith, Gwen Gaze, Tristam Coffin, Jack Perrin, Carl Mathews, Dick Thane, George Chesbro, Phil Dunham, W. E. Osborne. Photographer Ed Linden Time 60 minutes George Weeks continues to deliver all the customers will expect in the third of his "Range Buster” series, and if he can keep up its pace of combined comedy and action, it will soon be listed as one of the safest of the Saturday matinee bets. Nothing surprisingly new to the story premise, it’s the good old one of cleaning up a town bossed by an unscrupulous heavy, but script development and care-free playing keeping it neatly balanced with hot riding and comedy to what should be satisfaction for its customers. Budget Group portant, can act. Margaret Hamilton, as a companion maid to Miss Francis, was good. Nigel Bruce, and George P. Huntley are at home in rich parts. As two "suckers” who thought they were men of the world, yet knowing they were still "suckers,” all the time, could not have been better. Frank Woodruff has a nice credit to add to his list in "Play Girl,” a class production from all angles. Jerry Cady, no newcomer to this reviewer, continues his supremacy in the "B” field. His worth in turning out these engaging "B’s” must be more to the company than giving him some epics, which we feel sure he could do equally as well. The picture is another good credit for producer Cliff Reid, whose RKO record is something to talk about. Nicholas Musuraca’s photography, in high "key,” was splendid, especially in handling of Miss Francis and Miss Coles. Exhibitor’s Booking Suggestion: A sleeper surprise for which the women will go hook, line and sinker. Previewed Dec. 9th. WHAT THE OTHER FELLOWS SAID: REPORTER: "Ultra-sophisticated and gaily cynical to a degree rarely encountered in Hollywood product, this 'Sleeper’ emerges as one of the smartest and most entertaining comedies of the season.” VARIETY: "A smart enough item to make a substantial bid for top billing, 'Play Girl’ will add entertainment bulk to the dualers and may draw well enough in less important bookings on its own.” FATHER IS A PRINCE W. B. FIRST NAT’L The Digest’s Box Office Estimate 65% Associate Producer William Jacob* Director Noel M. Smith From Play by Sophie Kerr Underwood, Anna S. Richardson Screenplay Robert E. Kent Stars Grant Mitchell, Nana Bryant, John Litel Featured: George Reeves, Jane Clayton, Lee Patrick, Billy Dawson, Richard Clayton, John Ridgely, Frank Wilcox, Vera Lewis, Frank Ferguson, Pierre Watkin, Mary Currier, Frank Orth. Photographer Ted McCord Time 58 minutes "Father Is a Prince” is one that can just a s well be forgotten. Based on a hack and dated play by Sophie Kerr and Anna Richardson that may have induced the producers to feel that it had something in common with the New York stage hit, "Life With Father,” its mechanics never gave scripter or director much of a chance. Story concerns the successful business man who dominates his family in every possible way. and we go through a lot of this to arrive at the expected destination, his sudden reform when his patient spouse is on her death-bed. The players do the best they can with the material.