The Exhibitor (Nov 1939-May 1940)

Servisection 3 THE EXHIBITOR First Love (3002) Family Comedy Drama 84m. Deanna Durbin, Robert Stack, Eugene Pallette, Leatrice Joy, Helen Parrish, Lewis Howard, Frank Jenks, Mary Treen, Kathleen Howard, Samuel S. Hinds, Marcia Mae Jones, Jack Mulhall, Charles Coleman, June Storey, Thurston Hall, Doris Lloyd, Dorothy Vaughn, Lucille Ward. Directed by Henry Koster. The Deanna Durbin-Henry Koster-Joseph Pasternak combination has clicked again, and the dough will be rolling in at the box offices when “First Love” is on the marquee. In short, this is one of the top pictures of the new season, a refreshing, delightful show which will make the adjective department work overtime. Smart producer Joseph Pasternak and Henry Koster have taken the story of Cinderella and, with surprisingly little change, brought it up-to-date as a splendid vehicle for Deanna Durbin. It is the story of the orphan who has been brought up in a smart girls’ school by her uncle’s money. She leaves to enter the uncle’s house, where the wife is slightly daffy, the daughter is Glamour Girl No. 1, the son is just plain lazy, while the father is so busy making money that he is glad he never sees the family. Naturally, Deanna’s coming upsets things, but the servants love her and, like Cinderella, she goes to the ball amidst a motorcycle escort, finds her Prince Charming, returns after midnight, loses her slipper and finally, when she thinks it all just a mistake, the prince comes along with the slipper and claims her. It is 1939 fairy-story-telling, made by a smart production staff, and it will do more than its share of the business. Deanna sings several numbers, “One Fine Day,” “Annapola,” “Home Sweet Home” and “Spring In My Heart.” The handpicked cast is very good. Estimate: It rings the bell again. Laugh It Off (4026) Family Comedy with Music 63m. Constance Moore, Johnny Downs, Marjorie Rambeau, Edgar Kennedy, Hedda Hopper, Janet Beecher, Cecil Cunningham, Horace MacMahon, William Demarest, Paula Stone. Directed by Albert S. Rogell. Swinging out with song, comedy, and a flimsy plot, “Laugh It Off” can fill in nicely on duallers, and should please the paying customers. The story evolves about Marjorie Rambeau, Hedda Hopper, Cecil Cunningham, and Janet Beecher, refugees from a bankrupt home for aged actresses. With the aid of Constance Moore and Johnny Downs, the old gals get a night club going and save the combined carcasses of all, plus that of gambler William Demarest, who faced a “ride” chauffered by gangster Horace MacMahon. Other than the title tune, songs delivered in the picture include “You’re Doing the 1940,” “My Dreams and I,” “Who’s Gonna Keep Your Wigwam Warm?” and “Smile, Smile, Smile.” Edgar Kennedy cops all comedy honors as the annoyed judge. Estimate: Very pleasing dualler. Man from Montreal (4054) Family Action Drama 60m. Richard Arlen, Andy Devine, Anne Gwynne, Kay Sutton, Jerry Marlowe, Addison Richards, Reed Hadley, Lane Chandler, Tom Whitten, Joseph Sawyer, Eddy Conrad, William Royle, Eddy Waller, Max Marx. Directed by Christy Cabanne. Having moved from western and sea locales to the South American jungles, without batting an eyelash, in previous Richard Arlen-Andy Devine outdoor entries, the Universal scripters sent the combine into Canadian territory to provide a setting for this nabe offering. Mark it for an hour’s fill-in. Arlen goes into the fur country to make his pile as a trapper. He falls in love with Kay Sutton and plays sucker for the girl and her crooked brother. Jailed because he refuses to involve the girl in a fur-running scheme, Arlen eventually helps round up the real crooks. As a Mountie, Andy Devine combines heroism with humor. Anne Gwynne, Devine’s screen sister, wins out in the romantic race for Arlen’s affections. Estimate: Nabe dualler. The Road Back (4074) Adult Melodrama 79m. (“The Outspoken Version”) John Emery, Spring Byington, Jean Rouverol, John King, Slim Summerville, Richard Cromwell, Barbara Read, Andy Devine, Noah Beery, Jr., Maurice Murphy, Lionel Atwill, Frank Reicher, Arthur Holil, Arthur Davidson. Directed by James Whale. Inasmuch as the review which appeared on page 401 of the Blue Section is a review of the old version of this picture, different in many respects from this new edition, this now appears for the record. In this version, both Louise Fazenda and Etienne Girardot [listed in the cast of the first] disappear, while there is a great deal of inclusion of newsreel shots, Hitler, marching armies, etc. John Deering provides a commentary, a shouting bombast against militarism and Hitler, substituted apparently for the comedy in the first version. The commentator attempts to show how and why Hitler came to power. Of course, there is much of the first “The Road Back” remaining but it is subordinated to the commentator’s message. The treatment is much the same as in “All Quiet.” The story of how soldiers who returned from the front could not adjust themselves is well told. The first “Road Back” was not a box office success but it drew critical praise as a story of post-war Germany. The second “Road Back” is a mixture of a sincere picture and a commentary but it may be attractive at the box office. Seen in the projection room, it was difficult to tell. Estimate: Topical version has selling angles. WARNERS-FN The Dead End Kids On Dress Parade Family Melodrama 62m. The Dead End Kids ( Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell, Leo Gorcey, Bernard Punsley) , John Litel, Frankie Thomas, Cissie Loftus, Selmer Jackson, Aldrich Bowker, Douglas Meins, William Gould, Don Douglas. Directed by William Clemens. When “the angels washed their faces” in a previous Dead Ender, a little smirch was left on Leo Gorcey’s phiz, and, as a result, producer Bryan Foy and Director William Clemens have turned out an entertaining program of the adolescent toughies’ starrers. A projection room audience rocked with laughter when laughter was called for, and the women shed tears freely when the screen emoting called for that reaction. John Litel, superintendent of a military school, repays a debt to Leo Gorcey’s father by forcing the hoodlum to enter the school. What goes on at the academy doesn’t take much taxing of the imagination. Gorcey is shunned after he almost causes the death of Billy Halop, but he ends up a straightlaced. hero. There is plenty of action and fun. Things move so swiftly that one doesn t notice the absence of a romantic interest. Estimate: Okay dual program. We Are Not Alone Drama 112m. Paid Muni, Jane Bryan, Flora Robson, Una O’Connor, Raymond Severn, Alan Napier, Ely Malyon, Douglas Scott, Stanley Logan, Montagu Love, James Stephenson, Craujord Kent, Lilian KembleCooper, Sidney Bracy, Billy Bevan, Doris Lloyd, Henry Daniel, John Powers, Colin Kenny, Cecil Kellaway, May Beatty, Holmes Herbert. Directed by Edmund Goulding . Full of that wistful charm and subtle meaning so characteristic of James Hilton’s writings, this picture will delight the hearts of those who love the sentimental in drama, as well as life. Muni, though inclined to overact a trifle at times, excellently portrays the little English country doctor whose almost childlike gentleness is mercilessly buffeted by a violent world. But even more outstanding than Muni’s somewhat studied performance is the superb acting of Jane Bryan. Miss Bryan plays the part of the humble Austrian girl whom Muni takes into his home as a governess for his imaginative, high-strung son, Raymond Severn. Muni’s wife, Flora Robson, does not understand the child, takes his acute sensitiveness for lack of discipline, treats him with a brutal severity which makes the boy and Muni hate her. When Jane Bryan, a homeless Austrian dancer whom Muni had saved from suicide, is hired as governess, the boy finds in her a sympathetic understanding, becomes immensely attached to her. Robson learns that the girl was an actress and an attempted suicide, demands that Muni get rid of her. On the night that Muni is taking Bryan away to catch a train, Robson is accidentally poisoned and dies. Muni and Bryan are apprehended as he is about to put her on the train. During the trial, Britain enters the World War and anti-German feeling combined with circumstantial evidence helps to convict the innocent pair. Too late they realize they have loved each other for a long time. Before they are hung, they make certain that no one will tell the sensitive son anything concerning the affair, the trial, or how they died. Estimate: Excellent drama for discriminating audiences. MISCELLANEOUS She Goes to War Family Melodrama (Mitchell Leichter) 87m. Eleanor Boardman, John Holland, Al St. John, Edmund Burns, Alma Rubens, Glen Walters, Margaret Seddon, Yola d’Avril, Evelyn Hall, Dina Smirnova, Augustino Borgato, Yvonne Starke, Eulalie Jensen, Captain H. M. Zier, Edward Chandler, Ann Warrington, Gretchen Hartman, Florence Wix. Directed by Henry King. Originally released in 1929 by United Artists (made by Inspiration Pictures), “She Goes to War” was then about 10 per cent dialogue, 90 per cent silent, but, withal, a picture of solid entertainment, dealing with war from a woman’s angle. With comedy, suspense, and thrills, Director Henry King deftly stripped the glamour from war, and revealed armed 417