The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

266 The Educational Screen 0.. llllltlllllllllllMllilllinilllHIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIllinillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllltMllllllllllllIllllllIllilllltllllllllllllllllllllllinilllllllllllMIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllltlllllllllMltllltllllllllllllllllllll Q THE FILM ESTIMATES Being the Combined Judgments of a National Committee on Current Theatrical Films H.. lllllllllllllllllllllllltllllDIIIIIII ■ ii'itiitiiiiiillllllliilllltllilllliiiiliitiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii'MiiiittiiiiiinitiiiiiiiitiiniMiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiitiiii(a] The Film Estimates have been officially endorsed by The Motion Picture Committee of the General Federation of Women's Clubs The Motion Picture Committee of the National Congress of Parents and Teachers The Home and School Department of the American Farm Bureau Federation Titles of Films (Actors) (Producers) Alias Jimmy Valentine (William Haines) (Metro) Excellent "crook" play, with "sound" at the climax. Minimum of guns, maximum of human interest. Doubtful for the young, for the adored hero is a crook. Anybody Here Seen Kelly? (Bessie Love) (Univ.) An A. E. F. Irishman is followed to New York by his little French sweetheart. F'irst he flees, then pursues. Rather good little comedy. Annapolis (John Mack Brown) (Pathe) Not much of a story, but clean little comedy with interesting scenes of Annapolis. Beware of Bachelors (Wni. Collier, Jr.) (Warner) Cheap, rowdy play with cave-woman vamp. Crude bed-room farce. Beware of Blondes (Matt Moore) (Columbia) Crook story — gang of thieves chase honest hero ; two blondes, one honest, one not, etc. Beyond London's Lights (Jacqueline Gadsden) (F. B. O.) Young aristocrat gets familiar with housemaid, who escapes, etc. Bit of Heaven, A (Lila Lee) (Excellent) Follies girl marries society man. Meddling aunt wakes husband's suspicions of his wife — baby — reconciliation, etc. Captain Swagger(Rod La Rocque) (Pathe) A war-ace falls to level of a cheap dance-hall career, untroubled by moral conventions. Circus Kid, The (Frankie Darro) (F. B. O.) Precocious orphan boy joins a circus and wins out. Interesting bits of circus life. Companionate Marriage (B etty Bronson) (First Nat'l) Judge Lindsey in person, and his ideas in particular. Direct propaganda for "companionate marriage", played with more dignity than convincing logic. Crash, The (Milton Sills) (First Nat'l) Another roughneck thriller, with Sills as the usual heavy hero, bossing a wrecking-crew and compromising a girl. For IntelllKcnt AdulU Fine as croolc play Amusing Perhaps Mediocre Hardly ]M Mediocre Hardly Fair Hardly For Youth (15 to 20) 1, .1 . Perhaps •-•■ » Amusing Wholesome Hardly Passable Better not Perhaps Very doubtful For Children (under 15) Doubtful Amnsinf Wholesome No No No Hardly Perhaps No No Titles of Films (Actors) (Producers) Detectives (Dane-Arthur) (Metro) Exciting and comical for those who laugh easily. Crook story. Do Your Doty (Charley Murray) (First Nat'l) Slap-stick melodrama — crude, but unobjectionable except for drunken scenes. Dream of Love (Joan Crawford) (Metro) Miscellaneous plots, philanderings and seductions in the high society of a mythical kingdom. Notable photogiaphy, some good acting and much hokum. Driftwood (Marceline Day) (Columbia) Some more moral derelicts in the South Seas. Good girl pursued, etc. Dry Martini (Mary Astor) (Fox) Unusually risque stuff — divorced American father lives with mistress in Paris — his daughter comes and plans companionate marriage with a French painter, etc. Farmer's Daughter, The (Marjorie Beebe) (Fox) Crude burlesque of farm-life — city villain — rough and tumble slap-stick. Forbidden Love (Lili Damita) (Pathe) Atrocious title for charming love-comedy, produced in Paris and refreshingly different from the average product of Hollywood — ^both in theme and acting. Four Devils (Janet Gaynor)(Fox) Janet Gaynor does fine work in story of two circus boys and two circus girls with sexy complications. Glorious Trail, The (Ken Maynard) (First Nat'l) Thrilling western— of some historical interest for it concerns running of first telegraph line through west. Head Man, The (Charlie Murray) (First Nat'l) Slap-stick— as one supreme comic touch, a lot of women get drunk and parade through town. Home Towners, The(Richard Bennett) (Warner) Genuine "all-talk" film — finely spoken and acted — rather a photographed stage action than a "movie". Action interesting but a bit slow — due to great care given to dialog and accurate synchronization. (Suggests new possibilities in "sound.") For Intelligent Adults No No Hardly Hardly Trashy Mediocre Interesting Fair Fair No Notable For Youth (15 to 20) For Children (under 15) Perhaps Perhaps, if not too exciting Passable Doubtful Unwholesome No No No By no means No Hardly Hardly Good Beyond them Doubtful No Good Good, if not too thrilling Doubtful No Interesting Good