The Exhibitor (Nov 1939-May 1940)

THE EXHIBITOR Servisection 4 Horrors of War Family Documentary (Merit) 51m. Produced by Maple Attractions. Phonied war scenes are spliced with newsreel clips of the first World War in this cinematic editorial urging this country to keep out of what is going on in Europe. It’s not edited too well and the sound sounds awry. Most exciting sequence is towards the end when the Huns and U. S. troops meet in open battle. Although it doesn’t amount to much shakes as a film, it has the obvious exploitation angles. Estimate: Dull preachment picture; can be exploited. Secrets of a Model Melodrama (Time Pictures) 58m. Sharon Lee, Harold Daniells, Julian Madison, Phyllis Barry, Bobby Watson, Grace Lenard. Directed by Sam Newfield. Feeble story of a young girl’s seeking a modeling career, this mess of reelage is replete with trite dialogue and bad acting. However, it may have a market in the small town and nabe houses where moralistic yarns of gals led astray and back have had previous success. It is probably suitable for most adolescents, though it won’t particularly interest them. Sharon Lee, who aspires to become a model, gets a temporary job waiting on cars at a roadside beanery. She is wooed by poor but honest milkman Harold Daniells, but because she needs money to help her ailing mother back home, she listens to the opportunities offered by slick, wealthy Julien Madison. He turns out to be a reptile in the vegetation, as everyone expected, and nearly ruins the lives of Lee and her pal, Phyllis Barry. Young Daniells does a fair job as well as Phyllis Barry, but Miss Lee and the villain are decidedly not up to even “B” snuff. Estimate: Very low -rating dualler. FOREIGN Between Two Worlds __ Family Melodrama (Esperia) 80m. Isa Miranda, Vassa Prihoda, Assia Noris, Guilio Donadio, Mario Ferrari, Tatiana Pavoni, Olinto Cristina, Oreste Bilancia, Carlo Pieltrangeli, Ernesto Sabbatini. Directed by Goffredo Alessandrini. With a pre-Hollywood Isa Miranda carrying off the lead with great finesse, “Between Two Worlds” is a smoothlyfashioned bit of Italian cinema which will please those who understand the language. English . sub -titles are an aid for those who take their talk in American. Miranda finds herself in love with fiddler Vassa Prihoda, but the glamor attached to a visiting Maharajah is also quite fascinating. However, before she goes too far with the Maharajah, she finds her senses and returns to Prihoda. Estimate: Very satisfactory Italian fare. The Ghost Camera Family Melodrama (Olympic) 52m. Ida Lupino, Henry Kendall, John Mills, Felix Aylmer, S. Walter Stanley. Directed by Bernard Vorhaus. Made for the nabe dual trade and the mystery followers, this British importation has some suspenseful moments, a smattering of comedy and Ida Lupino. Plot structure is made up of the tracking down of incidents depicted by films in a cameraman found by the hero in his car. In doing his detective work, he unearths (1) the heroine, (2) a jewel robbery, (3) a murder, (4) the heroine’s missing brother. All this leads to an inquest and a murder charge against the brother. However, when the criminal responsible gets too bold, he gives himself away and the murder is solved. Typically British, it has one familiar name. Estimate: British import for the nabes and duals. Louise Family Opera (Mayer-Burstyn) 72m. Grace Moore, Georges Thill, Andre Pernet, Suzanne Despres, Ginette Leclerc, Le Vigan, Pauline Carton, Jacqueline Gautier, Rivers Cadet, Beauchamp. Directed by Abel Gance. An innovation in film-making, the transformation of the opera “Louise” in toto into a full-length French motion picture, is deserving of all the superlatives one can possibly heap upon it. Praise is due the producers and director not only for bringing grown-up entertainment to the screen, but also for the excellent manner in which the show is handled throughout. From a box-office angle, there is no limit to its possibilities as far as art and French houses are concerned; Grace Moore will act as a marquee magnet for general run theatres. Story, in brief, is that of a poor Montmartre seamstress (Moore) who is in love with a penniless composer (Georges Thill) and Paris. Her folks object, but love and Paris win out in the end. The music and songs are recorded perfectly throughout. Deems Taylor did the English titles, and a grand job it is. If there is any criticism to make, it is just weakly to bemoan the fact that a more familiar opera wasn’t chosen. Estimate: Worthy of playing time anywhere. Overture to Glory (Elite) Family Drama 85m. Moishe Oysher, Florence Weiss, Baby Winkler, Maurice Krohner, Lazar Freed, Benjamin Fishbein, Jack Mylong Munz, Leonard Elliott, Helen Beverly, Luba Wesoly, Ossip Dymow, Erika Zaranova, Ivan Busatt. Directed by Nosseck. Typical Yiddish tear-jerker celluloid, “Overture to Glory” will have to depend on the draw of Moishe Oysher for the marmalade on its bread and butter. And exhibitors playing Yiddish films should not underestimate Oysher’s box-office popularity. Oysher’s beautiful voice holds sway in a synagogue where opera scouts hear him sing “Kol Nidre.” They lure him to Vilna, where he does okay until a countess lures him astray. It isn’t until his son lies dying that he returns to his home town and repents in baritone. By way of suggestion, we believe an actorsinger as talented as Moishe Oysher can enhance his popularity and the monetary worth of his starrers by appearing in modern dress and in American settings. English titles are adequate. Estimate: Fair tear-jerker; sell Moishe Oysher. Skeleton on Horseback Family Drama (Carl Laemmle, Jr.) 78m. Hugo Haas, Zdanek Stepanek, Bedrich Karen, Vaclav Vydra, Ladislav Bohac, Karla Olicova, Jaroslav Prucha. Directed by Hugo Haas. Ironically enough, this Czecho-Slovak film, which is so anti-Fascist, is said to be the last motion picture to come to these shores from what is now a Nazi-ridden nation. On that ground, however, the picture stands as a highly exploitable import which can make money for those who can play foreign films. From a production angle, it doesn’t approach the standard we are accustomed to here. The story has Hugo Haas, who also directed, playing the role of a doctor in a Fascist country. He discovers a means of successfully combatting a dread disease and refuses to divulge his method until the dictator calls off the senseless war in which the country was involved. He is killed before he has a chance to do his work. The story is a powerful anti-dictator document and is deserving of playing time. It’s too bad it isn’t mounted well enough. But that can be forgiven if one realizes its drama. Fannie Hurst edited and wrote the fairish English titles. Estimate: Exploitable Czecho-Slovak attraction. Timberland Terror Family Action Drama (Paid to Kill) 66m. (Hoffberg) Frank Leighton, Shirley Ann Richards, Campbell Coplin, Frank Harvey, Aileen Britton, Joe Vali, Letty Craydon. Directed by Ken G. Hall. Apparently filmed in the woodlands of Australia, this action yarn is okay entertainment for those who can take their lumber stories mixed up with a bit of romance. Although there is a scarcity of players whose names amount to any great shakes, this picture has enough on the ball to satisfy from the supporting role on duallers. After Frank Leighton saves Shirley Ann Richards from drowning, her father hires him to work in his lumber lands. He gets on the wrong side of a mob of no-goods, but everything turns out for the best. Estimate: Good action dual support. Ultimatum Family Drama (Hoffberg) 73m. Erich Von Stroheim, Dita Parlo, Bernard Lancret, Abel Jacquin, Georges Rollin, Marcel Andre, Aimos. Directed by Robert Wiene. Although there is a tendency for the players and the script to glorify war, an undertone of pacifism runs throughout the excellently enacted tale of the drama which took place between the time of the Sarajevo incident and the declaration of war in 1914. Despite its 1914 setting, the film is a timely one and can be sold as such in both general run and art houses. For the latter group, the picture should provide a box-office hypo. Serb officer Bernard Lancret is married to Austrian Dita Parlo whose nationality makes her an espionage suspect when feelings between Serbia and Austria-Hungary are anything but calm. Lancret is dispatched on a secret-service mission by general Eric Von Stroheim and is captured even though his Austrian friend Abel Jacquin attempts to help him escape. Lancret is killed while trying to break from the army hospital just as war is declared. Good performances prevail throughout. Estimate: Excellent Gallic cinema. of Family Melodrama 62m. (Time Pictures) Lloyd Hughes, Shirley Richards, Sidney Wheeler, James Raylan, Elaine Hamill, Frank Harvey, Ronald Whelan, Alec Kellaway, Leslie Victor, Campbell Copelin, Charlie Chan , Marcelle Mamay, Horace Cleary, Claude Turton, Bobbie Hunt, Paul Furness, Charles Zoli. Directed by Ken G. Hall. A poorly strung-together yarn about a 474