The Exhibitor (Nov 1939-May 1940)

Servisection 2 THE EXHIBITOR be creeping up on him. Other youngsters in the cast include June Preisser, the cute blonde dancer who appeared with Rooney in “Babes in Arms,” Martha O’ Driscoll, and Margaret Early, who sports a southern accent. Mickey’s rattletrap jaloppy which keeps disintegrating throughout the picture also furnishes him with good foil for his gags and grimaces. Estimate: Top-ranking Hardy. Nick Carter, Master Detective (15 Family x Melodrama ) 60m. Waited Pidgeon, Rita Johnson, Henry Hull, Stanley C. Ridges, Donald Meek, Addison Richards, Henry Victor, Milburn Stone, Martin Kosleck, Frank Faylen, Sterling Holloway, Wally Maher, Edgar Deering. Directed by Jacques Tourneur. Metro’s first picture with the supersleuth known to millions of readers turns out to be a rattling good meller, which should fit nicely on the twin billers, thanks to a good cast, speedy direction, and plenty of action. It’s a tale of spies after a military secret, with plenty of fighting, chases, etc., to satisfy the thrill fans. The wind-up is another chase, with Nick Carter apparently defeated but the police come in the nick of time, led by comedian Donald Meek, an amateur detective. All in all, this will please the kiddies and those who go for spy stories. As the first of an apparent series, it fills the bill. Walter Pidgeon is more than adequate as Nick Carter. Rita Johnson is the heroine, Stanley Ridges the heavy. Estimate: Fast moving action meller, dualler. MONOGRAM The Gentleman F*MILY . Western with Music From Arizona 7iM. (Cinecolor) J. Farrell MacDonald, Joan Barclay, John King, Craig Reynolds, Ruthie Reece. Johnny Morris, Nora Lane, Doc Pardee, and Rex, Jr., (Horse) . Directed by Earl Haley. Here is a good western, without the formula cattle rustling, leaving the trail at intervals to show some natural color scenes of Phoenix, Arizona, and its swank hostelries. J. Farrell MacDonald is about to lose his ranch with the government threatening -to foreclose for failure to pay income taxes. His only chance is to win the big race with his favorite horse. Meanwhile, the heavy enters the picture, tries to fix the race by having the horse doped, and a transient cowboy comes to the rescue with a dark horse from the MacDonald ranch, winning the big race, and the hand of the rancher’s daughter. John King is a standout as the wandering cowboy and Ruthie Reece, Arizona youngster making her first screen appearance, is a winsome and talented child worth watching. Racing climax is a real thrill and the picture should prove a welcome relief from the formula blackand-white western. Estimate: Pleasing dual supporting fare; color should help. PARAMOUNT Emergency Squad (3917) Family Action Drama 57%m. William Henry, Louise Campbell, Richard Denning, Robert Paige, Anthony Quinn, John Miljan, Jahn Marston, Joseph Crehan. Directed by Edward Dymtryk. A medicore “B,” this is saved by some exciting action, making it suitable fare for the nabe houses and kid audiences. Richard Denning and Robert Paige are buddies on the police emergency squad, joking, quarreling, and trying to beat each other’s time with pretty newspaper reporter Louise Campbell. In following up a story, Campbell unwittingly becomes a tool for crooked tunnel engineer John Miljan and racketeer Anthony Quinn. These two sabotage their own tunneling job in order to corner the construction company stock when it drops. William Henry, Denning’s brother, is killed in the tunnel. Campbell discovers the plot, is trapped by the crooks in tunnel shaft about to be blown up. The two pals effect her rescue in the nick of time, and everything turns out okay. In addition, a clever police dog adds his bit to the action. Estimate: Lower nabe dualler. Gulliver’s Travels (3915) Family Cartoon Fantasy 77m. Producer, Max Fleischer; director. Dave Fleischer. Screen play by Dan Gordon, Cal Howard. Ted Pierce, Izzy Sparber, Edmund l Seward. Story adaptation by Edmond Seward. Based on the story by Jonathan Swift. Music and lyrics: Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin. Singing voice of Princess Gloria: Jessica Dragonette. Singing voice of Prince David: Lenny Ross. Photography, Charles Schettler. Atmospheric music by Victor Young. Directors of Animation: Seymore Kneitel, Willard Bowsky, Tom Palmer, Grim Natwick, William Henning, Roland Leffingwell, Frank Kelling, Winfield Hoskins. Orestes Calpini. The second all-Technicolor feature cartoon must be compared with the first, “Snow WHte.” As such it does not seem to have that certain something which caused the Walt Disney creation to be such a sensation, but, on the other hand, it is a commendable effort in every department. That it will attract the kiddies, and that it is saleable, especially as a holiday picture, is apparent. Paramount’s first feature length cartoon unwinds as delightful entertainment. The story follows the original with remarkable fidelity, showing Lemuel Gulliver shipwrecked on the island of Lilliput, in a heavy sleep from his arduous adventures, where he is tied hand and foot by the frightened little people. Breaking his bonds, he discovers he has walked right into the middle of a war between Lilliput and Blefusco, caused by differences over a song to be sung at the wedding of the respective daughter and son of the rival kings. Gulliver settles the dispute by wading into the ocean and seizing the anchor lines of the invading fleet, convincing the rivals that a combination of the songs, “Faithful Forever,” will make everybody happy. Star of the piece is “Gabby,” the town crier and busybody who drew lots of applause and favorable comment from the preview audience. The animators have done a remarkable job. Scenes of the armies of small people on the march and the attacking fleets are excellently executed. Gulliver’s Travels is a distinctive contribution in the field of the feature length cartoon, reflecting artistic genius and delightful entertainment for old and young. Audience reaction was excellent. Estimate: Can be exploited for big returns. Family The Light that Failed Melodrama 99m. Ronald Colman, Walter Huston, Muriel Angelas, Ida Lupino, Dudley Digges, Ernest Cossart, Ferike Boros. Pedro De Cordoba, Colin Tapley, Ronald Sinclair Sarita Wooton, Halliwell Hobbs, Charles Irwin. Francis McDonald, George Regas, Wilfred Roberts. Directed by William Wellman. Based on the famous Rudyard Kipling tale of the same name, this picture is splendidly executed in every detail and should bring in the more appreciative type of cinema-goer. Its one shortcoming as a mass attraction is its deficiency of love interest. However, a tenderly frustrated romance manages to worm its way in at a few spots. Ronald Colman is a colonial war correspondent with a penchant for drawing pictures while he follows the British army on their imperialistic forays into the Sudan. He receives a wound over an eye, quits correspondence work for painting, becomes a notable success. Vaguely, he proposes to his childhood sweetheart (Muriel Angelus), who is struggling to become a successful painter herself. She admires but does not love him and goes to Paris to avoid hurting him. Colman continues to paint but finds himself going blind from his old wound just as he is about to finish his masterpiece. In order to finish it before his eyes fail, he drives himself and his model (Ida Lupino) at a killing pace. Lupino hates him because he has thwarted her designs on his friend Walter Huston, and when Colman goes blind, she smears his painting beyond repair. Neither Huston nor Angelus have the heart to tell him, but he learns the truth from Lupino herself, leaves for the Sudan dashes into a cavalry charge and is killed. In the authorship of the original story, exhibitors have a wealth of exploitation possibilities, especially with bookstores and libraries. Estimate: Sell Colman, Kipling names. RKO-RABIO The Hunchback of Adult Notre Dame (015) Charles Laughton, Sir Cedric Hardwick e, Thomas Mitchell, Maureen O’Hara, Edmond O'Brien, Alan Marshall, Walter Hampden, Henry Davenport, Katherine Alexander, George Zucco, Fritz Lieber, Etienne Girardot, Helene Whitney, Mina Gambell, Arthur Hohl, Curt Bois, George Tobias, Rod La Roque, Spencer Charters, Kathryn Adams. Directed by William Dieterle. Even more grotesquely awful than when Lon Chaney played the role of the misshapen monster of Notre Dame in the silent days (1923), this famous story of Victor Hugo has been given a tremendous production by RKO-Radio. What the effect of this terrifying subject will be on the average audience is difficult to predict. Charles Laughton’s make-up, as Quasimodo, is a horrible phantasmagoria of deformity and ugliness and may be repulsive to many. However, as one of the characters in the picture observes, people are afraid of ugliness, yet crowd to get closer to see it — which may be the key to much of this picture’s box-office value. The cast is studded with business-drawing names, including that of Walter Hampden, famous actor of the American stage. The story is the same as the silent version with the exception of the ending, that has been altered to permit the hunchback to live, instead of falling to his death from the cathedral. Sir Cedric Hardwicke is the high judge, who first befriends Quasimodo, later deserts him. 440