The Exhibitor (Nov 1939-May 1940)

14 THE EXHIBITOR England and France so closely allied today provides the story axis upon which this ornately produced Gallic propaganda import spins its entertainment web THE EARL OF CHICAGO (Metro) — Robert Montgomery, Edward Arnold, Reginald Owen, Edmund Gwenn, E. E. Clive. 85m. This is off the beaten track, incorporating stark tragedy and broad satire. Robert Montgomery is a successful Chicago racketeer, who suddenly finds himself heir to an English earldom. The offering is made for the discriminating patrons. FRAMED (Universal) — Frank Albertson, Frances Robinson, Sidney Blackmer, Jack Arnold, Jerome Cowan. 60m. Filling the requirements satisfactorily for a bottom action-dualler, this attempts no other mission, and should please well in that division. Lacking names, it does have action and plenty of speed, showing how, in a single day, a reporter clears himself of a murder charge on which he has been framed. GREEN HELL (Universal) — Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Joan Bennett, John Howard, Alan Hale, George Bancroft. 87m. Harry Eddington’s first production effort for Universal, this film with a seat-selling title is stuff for the hardier movie-goers. In a jungle setting, “Green Hell” spends the first half of its running time building up a situation which does not start clicking with action until towards the end. However, when action does come, it arrives with dramatic impact. There are plenty of marquee names. HE MARRIED HIS WIFE (20th Century-Fox)— Joel McCrea, Nancy Kelly, Mary Boland, Roland Young, Cesar Romero. Zany comedy stuff which finds Nancy Kelly out of historical costume and apparently equally out of place, “He Married His Wife” is another weak celluloid poke at the horsey set. Its value for exhibition purposes lies chiefly in the drawing ability of a corking good cast, all of the members of which strive valiantly, albeit vainly to lift the film above the mediocre program class. HIS GIRL FRIDAY (Columbia)— Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart, John Qualen, Helen Mack. Here is one case where the remake of the original success, “The Front Page,” does not suffer one whit after having come down through the years. As a matter of fact, from the reception accorded the picture by a heterogeneous projectionroom audience, we are prone to believe it should do as well or better at the box office than its predecessor. KING OF DIAMONDS (Re di Denari) (Esperia) — Angelo Musco, Rosina Ansel mi, Mario Pisu, Vanna Vanni. Maria Denis. 84m. It seems a shame there are no English titles on "King of Diamonds,” because there is enough meat to it to make it worthy of exhibition in more than just Italian theatres. Here is Italian picture-making at its best. LAST DESIRE (Transatlantic) — Raimu, Jacqueline Delubac, Pierre Brasseur, Tramel. Liam O’Flaherty’s “Mr. Gilhooley” makes its screen debut in the form of this Gallic adaptation, the result being a fair-to-middling film which will have to be sold by advancing the sex angle. MONEY TO BURN, THE HIGGINS FAMILY IN (Republic) — James, Lucile, Russell Gleason, Harry Davenport. Lois Ranson, Tommy Ryan. 60m. Pleasing dualler for the neighborhood trade, the Higgins Family in “Money to Burn” keeps to the general tradition of the series. Background this time is the radio contest fad. The Gleasons, of course, are very good, and the casting of the series compares favorably with most of the series seen around. MY SON IS GUILTY (Columbia)— Bruce Cabot, Jacqueline Wells, Harry Carey, Glenn Ford, Wynne Gibson. 63m. Herein lies the tale of the cop who had been on the force for years and years only to discover that his son was a crook and never would amount to anything. It is the familiar tale, all of which relegates the film to the bottom spot on nabe duallers. OF MICE AND MEN (United Artists) — Burgess Meredith, Betty Field Lon Chaney, Jr., Charles Bickford, Roman Bohnen. 104m. This is an excellent screen version of the stage play, providing screen entertainment off the beaten track. As a masterly piece of screen craftmanship, it should command industry attention. What it does at the box office will depend largely on the way it is exploited. It is a story of the itinerant laboring class, a tragic picture of their loneliness and frustration. THE AMAZING MR. WILLIAMS. Melvyn Douglas and Joan Blondell head the cast of the Columbia show. REMEMBER THE NIGHT (Paramount) — Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray^ Beulah Bondi. 91m. Excellent dramatic fare, this production should attract large audiences, for it is one of these pictures that will be passed around, especially among the women, by word of mouth. The cast does a fine job, and the names in it should be sold by the enterprising exhibitor. Barbara Stanwyck plays a jewel thief, and Fred MacMurray the prosecuting attorney whose duty it is to convict her. Preston Sturgis wrote the story. SANTA FE MARSHAL (Paramount) — William Boyd, Russell Hayden, Bernadene Hayes, Marjorie Rambeau. Earl Hodgins. 68m. Cut in the familiar Hopalong Cassidy pattern, this holds to the formula of the series. Hopalong, the federal marshal sent to the town to restore law and order, manages to attach himself to a medicine train. TEVYA (May man) — Maurice Schwartz, Miriam Riselle, Rebecca Weintraub, Paula Lubelska. 93m. An “Abie’s Irish Rose” set in pre-Soviet Russia, “Tevya” makes its mark as one of the finest Yiddish pictures — from both production and entertainment angles — to hit the domestic screens. With Maurice Schwartz, the Yiddish stage’s No. 1 actor-director, handling the megaphone plus the thespian lead, the film holds interest throughout. “Tevya” should prove a bonanza to its backers and to exhibitors who can play Jewish pictures. TWO-FISTED RANGERS (Columbia) — Charles Starrett, Iris Meredith, Bob Nolan, Dick Curtis, Kenneth MacDonald. 55m. Charles Starrett again brings law and order to the Wide Open Spaces, gets the gal (Iris Meredith), and sees Bob Nolan elected sheriff. That’s all, but there is plenty of action — and some songs by the Sons of Pioneers — to keep the fans not only happy, but anxious to see the next release. For, you see, Columbia is, unostentatiously, or so it seems, really giving the Starrett material out of which to make high-rating western entertainment. WESTBOUND STAGE (Monogram)— Tex Ritter, Nelson MacDowell, Muriel Evans, Steve Clark. 58m. Desperadoes again roam the rocky hills of the Great Wide Open Spaces, robbing, pillaging, and murdering, but Tex Ritter, with the aid of a quintet of U. S. Cavalry deserters, bring order out of chaos — and the westbound stage — and gold — goes through. This is, in short, a good Ritter. Shorts THE AWFUL GOOF (Columbia — Charlie Chase Comedy). 17m. Good. 1939— DARK YEAR OF HISTORY (Paramount News, No. 35 — Special YearSummary). 16m. Excellent. PARAMOUNT PRESENTS FRANKIE MASTERS (Paramount — Headliner). 10m. Fair. POPULAR SCIENCE, No. 3 (Paramount) . 10m. Good. THE SHADOW (Columbia — Serial, in 15 episodes). First episode, 30m.; others, two reels. Excellent. TOUCHDOWN REVIEW (ParamountParagraphic) . 10m. Good. Patronize Our Advertisers I TELL THEM “I SAW IT IN THE EXHIBITOR’’ January 3, 1940