The Exhibitor (Jun-Oct 1939)

THE EXHIBITOR Servisection 6 TERZO ANNUALE DELL’ IMPERO COL DISCORSO DEL DUCE. Esperia. 10m. From Luce Institute Nazionale’s newsreel shots of Italy’s recent Empire Day comes these pictures of Italy’s war might, with a climactic address by Prime Minister Benito Mussolini. This subject, topical and well made, should go well on all -Italian programs. GOOD. W. W. Sport CLOCKING THE JOCKEYS. 20th Cen¬ tury-Fox — Sports Review. 10m. A day with the jockeys, from sun-up to sun¬ down, how they train, spend the day, with the highlight the running of a race. Made in the standard manner of the series, it is a nice sports entrant for any house. GOOD. (0302). H. M. FOOTBALL THRILLS OF 1938. Metro — Pete Smith Specialty. 10m. Pete Smith discourses, while action shots are shown of plays in the Southern California-Alabama, USC-Duke, Pittsburgh-Carnegie In¬ stitute of Technology, Minnesota-Washington, Minnesota-Nebraska, MinnesotaNorth Dakota, PennsylvaniaColumbia, Army-Columbia, Wisconsin-Northwestern games. It is a topical subject for fall re¬ lease. GOOD. (S-912) . H. M. Travel AGHILEEN PINNACLE. 20th CenturyFox — Magic Carpet of Movietone. 11m. Second of the series, this holds to the background of the first, Alaska. Father Hubbard, with two aides, climbs the pin¬ nacle to find that it is part of a volcano blown away years ago. The scenery, of course, is awe-inspiring, while the Hubbard-Lowell Thomas commentary inter¬ esting. GOOD. (0103). H. M. CALLING ON CAIRO. Central. 8m. A rather routine, but interesting, travelogue of the old and the new Cairo, this is, as is characteristic of similar pictures, most noteworthy for the ever-fascinating views of the pyramids and the sphinx. GOOD. W. W. GOING PLACES, No. 66. Universal. 9m. A visit to the McKee tropical forest in Florida, where man has made what might be termed an artificial jungle. A fruit grower and an industrialist are respon¬ sible, with the 80 acres having a lot of animals and tropical plants. GOOD. (7351). H. M. IN MOROCCO. Columbia — Travelogue. 10%m. Andre de la Verre here offers, with Milton Cross narrating, a routine trave¬ logue of Rabat, Fez, and Marrakech, prin¬ cipal cities of the Sultanate (under France governor-generalship) of Morocco. The major, if not unusual, purpose of the sub¬ ject seems to be the contrasting the old and the new, all of which is of little im¬ port to aught but the most rabid, vicarious travelers. FAIR. (9556). W. W. NEVADA UNLIMITED. RKO-Reelism. 9m. Shots of Nevada, of Reno, of the state’s industries, these make a nice Chamber of Commerce sort of reel which should go great guns in Nevada, and be pleasant fare otherwise. GOOD. (04601). H. M. Commercial ALL IN ONE. Jam Handy. 10m. Where¬ as breeds of dogs have been developed with a single purpose, the modern auto¬ mobile (here it is Chevrolet), on the con¬ trary, has been built to give the owner “all (desiderata) in one.” This is an en¬ tertaining commercial, with the plugs re¬ stricted the mere pictured car. GOOD. W. W. BACK OF THE MIKE. Jam Handy. 9m. Well-made, up to the excellent standard of some of the commercial reels made by this company, this shows what happens in a radio studio when a thriller of the wideopen spaces is presented. It shows shots of how the little boy listening imagines it might be, and then actually presents the procedure. It’s a plug for Chevrolet, but one would never know it. EXCEL¬ LENT. H. M. RADIO BLOCKADE. Jam Handy. 9m. Effective, in that it presents how police combat crime through use of two-way radios, this is okay for use on any pro¬ gram. It is a plug for Chevrolet, but you’d never guess it. Execution, script, etc., are all well handled, and this ranks high in the commercial film category. EX¬ CELLENT. H. M. LAST MINUTE REVIEWS UNITED ARTISTS WARNERS-FN Intermezzo, A Love Story Family Drama 70m. The Private Life of Elizabeth and Essex Family Costume Drama 106m. (Selznick) Leslie Howard, Ingrid Bergman, Edna Best, John Halliday, Ann Todd, Douglas Scott, Cecil Kelloway, Eleanor Wesselhoest, Enid Bennett. Directed by Gregory Ratoff. A moving, highly emotional drama, “In¬ termezzo, a Love Story” portrays the love story of a great musician who finds that, even for an artist, true happiness cannot be built on the unhappiness of others. This is an excellent picture from an artis¬ tic and dramatic standpoint but from a practical standpoint it is obviously a pic¬ ture for the class houses. It is also largely a woman’s picture. Leslie Howard’s re¬ strained interpretation of the great Swed¬ ish violinist, Holger, is the high mark. The story opens when Holger returns home to the wife and children after an arduous concert tour. His happiness in this domestic scene is apparently complete until he falls in love with the talented young piano teacher of his little daughter. He throws over the ties of family and runs off with her, but soon it is plain that the idyllic perfection of their love must end. Holger misses his little daughter, and when he returns home for a glimpse of her, she meets with an accident. She recovers, but the incident makes it clear that Holger must give up his love and find his happiness in the responsibilities of his home. Estimate: High-rating dramatic piece for class audiences. (Technicolor) Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Alan Hale, Vincent Price, Don¬ ald Crisp, Henry Stephenson, Henry Daniell, Guy Beilis, Robert Warwick, Keith Kenneth, Nanette Fabares, Rosetta Towne, James Stephenson, John Sutton, Maris Wrixton, Directed by Michael Curtiz. Having contributed often to motion pic¬ tures’ list of outstanding productions, War¬ ner Brothers once again prove, in “The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex,” that the screen can truly be great. There are those who will say that this Technicolor film will do a tremendous business only in the metropolitan centers. We agree wholeheartedly with the former, but think any theatre anywhere can get behind it to good returns. A picture as big and as beautiful as this deserves selling and can be sold big anywhere. Director Michael Curtiz has re-created skilfully the tragic romance of proud virgin Queen Elizabeth and equally proud Earl of Sussex in the persons of Bette Davis and Errol Flynn, two of filmdom’s strongest marquee at¬ tractions. To say that Miss Davis is superb would be redundancy; she is at her best. As the bitter Queen Bess, Davis puts her kingdom before her love for dashing Flynn. They love each other, but Flynn’s lust for power; Davis’ downright stubborness; and court intrigues conspire to keep them apart. Flynn is beheaded for a treasonous revolt upon the crown, and dies because he is too stubborn to take the crown when it was offered him. Mere words cannot tell this story — it must be seen. Davis and Flynn dominate through¬ out, but Olivia de Havilland scores heav¬ ily in a minor romantic role. Donald Crisp, Alan Hale, and treacherous intrig¬ uers Vincent Price, Henry Daniell, and Henry Stephenson do yeoman work. Nan¬ ette Fabares impressed deeply in her one scene with Miss Davis. Estimate: Celluloid masterpiece; get be¬ hind it. COMMERCIAL The Middleton Family Family At the World’s Fair *50^. (Technicolor) (Modern Talking Picture Service) Marjorie Lord, James Lydon, Ray Per¬ kins, Helen Bennett, Ruth Lee, Harry Shannon, Adora Andrews, Douglas Stark, George J. Lewis, Georgette Harvey. Di¬ rected by Robert R. Snody. Distinguished chiefly by the fact that it presents a commercial film in the form of a romantic melodrama, this Technicolor five-reeler sponsored by Westinghouse is a combination of a tour through its World’s Fair exhibit and a propaganda piece for priyate ownership. Without taking a brief for any side on the latter matter, it is this corner’s opinion that it has no place in a motion picture offered for public con¬ sumption. Story, briefly, has the Mid¬ dletons visiting the Fair. Daughter Mar¬ jorie Lord falls in love with radical art teacher George J. Lewis, while her upright home-town boy friend is expounding phil¬ osophy from his guide post at the West¬ inghouse exhibit. Kid brother James Lydon (now under RKO contract) steals the show as he helps Lord and Lewis get together. Radio star Ray Perkins does a small bit. The film is distributed free to exhibitors. Estimate: Might be tried as filler with high bracket feature. 396