The Exhibitor (Jun-Oct 1939)

Servisection 5 THEEXHIBITOR THE SHORTS PARADE THREE-REEL Sport JOE LOUIS VERSUS BOB PASTOR FIGHT PICTURES. Banner. 28m. Another commendable addition to the annuals of championship fisticuffing, this summary of Joe Louis’ eighth defense of his crown should more than satisfy the fans. All rounds are presented, with slow-motion repeats on the knock-downs in the first and second rounds and the knock-out after 58-seconds of the 11th round. GOOD. W. W. TWO-REEL Comedy BLAMED FOR A BLONDE. RKO-Radio— Radio Flash. 16m. Not quite the comedian he was in his many years of vaude, “Dean” Roy Atwell gets his words twisted in only a subdued fashion this time. His married life is in more of a twist. His wife (Leona Souza) leaves him because she heard he was running around with a blonde salesgirl (Marion Martin). Things get themselves fairly straightened out in the usual manner. FAIR. (03201). L. S. M. CHICKEN FEED. RKO-Radio— Flash Comedy. 17m. Forsaking his small comedy roles in features to take the lead in this two-reeler, Billy Gilbert sputters and stut¬ ters through a terribly long 17 minutes. BAD. L. S. M. COAT TALES. RKO-Radio — Radio Flash. 17m. The father of the Jones Fam¬ ily, Jed Prouty, wandered over to the RKO lot to make this fairly entertaining two-reeler relating a man’s woes in at¬ tempting to return the coat his wife pur¬ chased. He starts by trying to return the coat and ends by being accused of shop¬ lifting. GOOD. (03202). L. S. M. KENNEDY THE GREAT. RKO-Radio— Edgar Kennedy. 18m. The bald pate with the unmanageable temper is once again plagued by his incorrigable pa-in-law. Edgar Kennedy depends on his sleight-ofhand ability to become the life of the party and to sign up a partner on a busi¬ ness deal. A disappearing trick causes the disappearance of the future partners’ wife and Kennedy’s unplanned voyage to Aus¬ tralia. GOOD. (03402). L. S. M. Dramatic THINK FIRST. Metro— Crime Doesn’t Pay. 21m. Marc Laurence and Laraine Day head the cast of this tale of how young girls are attracted to shoplifting, how the law steps in, and how crime doesn’t pay. No need to say that this is done in an excellent manner, making it ideal for tie-ups with civic, anti-criminal groups, etc. EXCELLENT. (P-815). H. M. Color Musical RIDE COWBOY, RIDE. Vitaphone— Technicolor Production. 22m. With Dennis Morgan heading the cast, here is a two — reeler worthy of marquee interest in any house. It is the old story of the girl from the East, the hero, and the Mexican bad ’un, packed into two reels, with singing, dancing, fighting, shooting, etc., resulting in a swell short. EXCELLENT. (4408). H. M. ONE-REEL Color Cartoon THE FRESH VEGETABLE MYSTERY. Paramount — Color Classics. 8m. The mys¬ tery of the kitchen, or who took Mi's. Car¬ rot and her carrots is solved by the potato cops, to be accompaniment of some good gags and general humor. GOOD. (C9-1). H. M. LAND OF THE MIDNIGHT FUN. Vitaphone-Merrie Melodie. 8m. Again Leon Schlesinger goes to town with one of the funniest entrants in months. In the best FitzPatrick manner, the SS. Wrecks goes on a trip to the land of the midnight fun, Nome, Alaska, and the voyage, as well as the antics of the inhabitants, is very funny. EXCELLENT. (5303). H. M. LIFE BEGINS FOR ANDY PANDA. Columbia — Walter Lantz. 8!/2m. Among the better Lantz entries, this introduces Andy Panda as a sort of Baby Snooksian addition to his family. He almost gets himself captured by the panda hunters, but still insists upon getting into the newsreels. GOOD. (4262). L. S. M. LITTLE LION HUNTER. Vitaphone— Merrie Melodie. 7m. Massa Schlesinger strayed from his wise-cracking cartoon path to present this drama of the black moppet who went a-hunting. The bird he was chasing nabs the lion that was ready to nab the hunter. It is okay stuff for the kids. GOOD. (5302). L. S. M. THE ORPHAN DUCK. 20th CenturyFox— Terry-Toon. 6y2m. The orphan duck (black) succeeds in having himself adopted by a hen and rooster after he saves their chicks from drowning. This is one of Paul Terry’s better Technicolor offerings, indicative of a definite trend for¬ ward. GOOD. (0553) . SIOUX ME. Vitaphone — Merrie Melodie. 7m. Somewhat a successor to “Sweet Sioux,” this Technicolor Leon Schlesinger tells of the great drought and the medi¬ cine man’s bringing its end by using the pale face’s rain pills. GOOD. (5301). W. W. Cartoon PORKY’S HOTEL. Vitaphone — -Looney Tune. 7m. Porky Pig runs a hotel, but it is Daffy Duck who furnished most of the laughs when he gets mixed up with a gout victim, who runs around in a motorized wheelchair. GOOD. (5601). W. W. Highlight Shorts TWO REEL Comedy Slapsie Maxie’s — Vitaphone Dramatic Metropolis — March of Time No. 1 — RKO Musical Remember When?— Vitaphone Novelty Birth of the Movies — Alliance ONE REEL Color Cartoon The Autograph Hound — RKO -Disney The Bookworm — Metro Dramatic One Against the World — Metro Musical Artie Shaw’s Class in Swing — Paramount Novelty Birthplace of Icebergs — 20th Century-Fox Filming the Fleet — 20th Century-Fox Information Please— RKO Library of Congress — Columbia Take a Cue — Metro SHEEP IN THE MEADOW. 20th Cen¬ tury-Fox— Terry-Toon. 6m. When Mary’s lamb is abducted by the wolf, Little Boy Blue comes to the rescue. GOOD. (0502). Comedy CAPTAIN SPANKY’S SHOWBOAT. Metro-Our Gang Comedy. 10m. The gang puts on a showboat revue and Alfalfa sings, despite the efforts of Butch. The kids will like it. FAIR. (C-131). H. M. THE DAY OF REST. Metro — Robert Benchley. 9m. Benchley tells how to rest on Sunday, gets into the usual difficulties, finally gives up. Made in the usual Benchley fashion, it is uneven, as usual. FAIR. (F-141) . “MONKEYS IS THE CWAZIEST PEOPLE.” 20th Century-Fox — Dribblepuss Parade. 9m. Monkeys, here, there and everywhere, with their antics ex¬ tremely amusing, and Lehr’s commentary also standard. For clarification, this is much funnier than last season’s Lehrs. GOOD. (0401) . H. M. Dramatic THE ASH CAN FLEET. Metro— Minia¬ ture. 11m. Informative and historical, this novelty presents the timely story of David Bushnell’s invention of the submarine and the depth bomb. Beginning with an in¬ terview, in which Von Hindenburg blames Germany’s loss of the World War to fail¬ ure of its submarine warfare, the film then develops the efforts and experiments of Bushnell at the time of the Revolutionary War to establish his bomb as an explo¬ sive to destroy ships. It reaches the mod¬ ern stage in its closing scenes, which show the small fleet of the U. S. Navy shooting bombs at an enemy submarine. This short should prove interesting to young and old. EXCELLENT. (M-72). G. K. K. A FAILURE AT FIFTY. Metro— Minia¬ ture. 10m. Edmund Grover plays the part of an unemployed, disappointed man of 50, who, when he is ready to drown him¬ self, hears, from a stranger in the fog, the story of another man of 50. The latter failed all through his younger years, but eventually came through to be a great president, Abraham Lincoln. The stranger disappears after giving confidence to the unemployed man, who, looking up, sees he has been standing near a statue of Lincoln, on Lincoln’s Birthday. EXCEL¬ LENT. (M-73) . H. M. Color Novelty FASHION FORECAST, No. 1 . 20th Cen¬ tury-Fox. lOVam. In two clips, Vyvyan Donner offers the new season’s styles as viewed along Peacock Lane, with furs pre¬ dominating. “Chapeaux Nouveaux” (new hats) is just that. Ilka Chase does the commentary, in which there seems a sug¬ gestion that not even the producers take the subject seriously. The Technicolor work is weak, and, while the models are as pulchritudinous as ever, the reel lacks the all ’round oomph of its earlier prede¬ cessors. GOOD. (0601). | Novelty SCREEN SNAPSHOTS, No. 1. Columbia. 10m. Harriet Parsons gets off her new seasons’ lineup with enough on the ball to make us wish she’d keep it up right I through the series. Numerous stars are shown being made beautiful or unbeauti¬ ful — as the case may be — by Hollywood’s ace make-up men. The four Westmores, headed by Warners’ Perc, are shown do¬ ing most of the work on famous players. EXCELLENT. (1851). L. S. M. 395