The Exhibitor (Nov 1939-May 1940)

SIX-POINT FEATURE REVIEWS COLUMBIA The Amazing Mr. Williams Family Comedy 80m. Melvyn Douglas, Joan Blondell, Clarence Kolb, Ruth Donnelly, Edward S. Brophy, Donald MacBride, Don Beddoe, Jonathan Hale, John Wray. Directed by Alexander Hall. “The Amazing Mr. Williams” contains all the elements of good celluloid entertainment, a top-notch comedy which can ride in the top brackets in most situations. Melvyn Douglas and Joan Blorfdell win new laurels as a comedy team, and the direction of Alexander Hall is highly commendable. A fast-moving comedy, this should draw a brisk line to the box-office turnstile for maximum laughter and business-building and word-of-mouth comment Douglas, ace member of homicide squad, finds his plans for marrying the mayor’s secretary (Joan Blondell) very much thwarted by a series of baffling crimes. From here on, it is a fast and furious race between love and duty. Douglas, after proving he has won the high regard of his chief, pulls a boner, learning that he is about to send the wrong man to the chair. In attempting to save the innocent victim, he becomes a fugitive himself. This results in more complications, finally bringing Blondell to his aid. Big laugh of the picture comes with Douglas, dressed as a woman, tries to lure a maniac killer into a trap. More fun comes when Douglas, on his way to prison with a convicted murderer, stops to spend the evening in a jitterbug parlor, after passing off the convicted man as a college chum. Edward S. Brophy is a standout as the killer. Audience reaction was excellent. Estimate: Top-ranking comedy. METRO Another Thin Man Family , _ . Comedy Drama (13) 102m. hunches to bag the criminal, which he succeeds in doing with the unwanted aid of spouse Loy. After a couple of extra murders, Virginia Grey, Smith’s adopted daughter, in love with Leonard, is exposed as the criminal. Asta the pup is still a member of the family and there is an addition with the introduction of Nicky, Jr., in the person of a cute baby who answers to the name of William A. Paulson. W. S. Van Dyke’s direction is notable and the performances of both William Powell and Myma Loy are par excellence. Audience reaction was good. Estimate: In the better grosses. The Secret of Family Dr. Kildare (12) Dr8A2mA Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, Lionel Atwill, Helen Gilbert, Nat Pendleton, Laraine Day, Sara Haden, Samuel S. Hinds, Emma Dunn, Walter Kingsford. Directed by Harold S. Bucquet. Using a phobia as a basis for an imaginary illness; and psychology as a cure, this one, with a thin plot, but well directed and smoothly acted, holds audience attention without use of tense situations or suspense. Lionel Atwill, multi-millionaire, whose daughter (Helen Gilbert) shows a peculiar complex, seeks the advice of Lionel Barymore, ace diagnostician, who, in turn, puts Lew Ayres, his assistant, on the case. It develops that Gilbert has a fear of becoming mentally deranged and blind. This has been instilled in her by Sara Haden, her old nurse. Ayres gains Gilbert’s confidence by posing as a friend of her father and finally solves the problem by arranging a fake eye operation when Helen has become blind through fright and phobia. Ayres and Barrymore turn in good performances, and Laraine Day carries the love interest with a further display of her histrionic ability, which seems to improve with every picture. Audience reaction was good. Estimate: Standard Kildare. MONOGRAM heavy police guard, Lawson is murdered. Officers Patrick Barr and Henry Longden accuse Alexander Knox, who very accomodatingly swallows his own death capsule. Sonnie Hale keeps the laughter going in a grand comedy performance. Estimate: Okay English mystery program. PARAMOUNT . , Family Cjerommo! Melodrama 90m. Preston Foster, Ralph Morgan, Andy Devine, William Henry, Ellen Drew, Gene Lockhart, Pierre Watson, Marjorie Gateson, Kitty Kelly, Addison Richards, Chief Thundercloud, Monte Blue, Joseph Crehan, Hank Bell, Frank Cordell. Directed by Paul Sloane. Aimed at the houses that like their action fast and furious, “Geronimo!” will have no trouble satisfying. Paramount has produced a soldier-Indian story of 1876 with plenty of good exploitation values, acting, etc., and some high rating thrill sequences. The story is one of the quest for Geronimo, Apache leader, who, aided by trickster-Indian agent Gene Lockhart, hurled several thousand Indians at a handful of U. S. troops in an effort to avenge the death of his family years before. That he doesn’t succeed is due to the efforts of Indian scout Andy Devine and captain Preston Foster, who gives his life in order that one man might get through to the fort and bring the cavalry to the rescue. Entwined is the clash between the general (Trank Morgan) and his son (William Henry), a lieutenant under his command, whom he had not seen since he was a baby. Morgan puts the army ahead of his personal life, and realizes his mistake almost too late. The romance is very slight, Ellen Drew being Henry’s sweetheart, who comes to the outpost and almost loses her life when Geronimo kills Henry’s mother and wounds her. All in all, this is strong action show, with the angles obvious. Estimate: Highly exploitable. William Powell, Myrna Loy, Virginia Grey, Otto Kruger, C. Aubrey Smith, Ruth Hussey, Nat Pendleton, Patric Knowles, Tom Neal, Phyllis Gordon, Sheldon Leonard, Don Costello, Harry Bellaver, William A. Pulsen, Muriel Hutchinson, Abner Biberman, Marjorie Main, Asta. Directed by W. S. Van Dyke, 2d. This is the tops in the Thin Man series, marking William Powell’s return to the screen after a long absence. The story opens with Powell and Myrna Loy set for a holiday only to be detained through a hurry call from the Long Island estate of C. Aubrey Smith, Loy’s late father’s business partner and keeper of the money bags. Sheldon Leonard, a former employee of Smith, whom the latter sent to prison for embezzlement, tries to force money from Smith through a series of death threats. Everyone is under suspicion, including Powell, who follows his own The Phantom Strikes (3923) Family Mystery Drama 58m. (English Made) Wilfrid Lawson, Sonnie Hale, Alexander Knox, Louise Henry, Patrick Barr, John Longden, Patricia Roo, Peter Croft, Charles Eaton, George Merritt, Arthur Hambling. Directed by Walter Forde. Monogram’s tie-up with England’s Pathe is the happy cause for the importation of this suspenseful and exciting film version of Edgar Wallace’s “The Ringer.” With Wilfrid Lawson, the father in “Pygmalion” and “Allegheny Uprising,” holding down the lead, the picture proceeds at a speedy clip and should not fail in pleasing the whodunit fans. A shady lawyer gets a death threat from a criminal known only as “The Ringer.” Despite a RKO-RADIO Legion of the Lawless (082) Family Western 59m. George O’Brien, Virginia Vale, Herbert Heywood, Norman Willis, Hugh Sothem, William Benedict, Edwin Waller, Bud Osborne, Monte Montague. Directed by David Howard. This is a passable George O’Brien vehicle and, while not on a par with some of his previous offerings, it should satisfy his regular fans. O’Brien turns lawyer and rides into a small town ruled by the law of the vigilantes. Comes trouble over a railroad right of way, with crooked members of the citizens’ committee trying to gain control of the property for profiteering. O’Brien goes to work in his customary manner, with a powerful fist and a November 29, 1939 THE EXHIBITOR 423