Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World (Apr-Jun 1930)

April 5, 1930 EXHIBITORS HERALD-WORLD 55 action from the entire cast. Would say that it only pleased about 60 per cent. The recording on di6c •was as good as any picture that we have run to date. Many remarked that it was one of the plainest pic-tures that they had ever heard. Ten reels.— Marion F. Bodwell, Paramount theatre, Wyoming, 111. — Small ■town patronage. MGM ANNA CHRISTIE (AT) : Greta Garbo— Mae Tinee gave this four stars, and for once she hit the nail on the head. Greta Garbo has done something finer than she has ever done before, because of her voice which seems to add something to her. Hurrah for Greta, I congratulate her. Ten reels. — W. Burr, Orpheum theatre, Lancaster, Wis. — General patronage. THEY LEARNED ABOUT WOMEN (AT): Van & Schenck — Plenty good. Nothing but good comments. The type that makes them come again. Sold at a price that makes money. Good recording. Eleven reels. — Robert K. Yancey, New Bonny theatre, Mansfield, Mo. — General patronage. A LADY TO LOVE (AT): Vilma Banky— An Italian love picture, starring Miss Banky, but it’s nothing to write home about. First night’s business fair, but fell flat on second night. Recording is good, but the Italian brogue is hard to understand. — R. A. Preuss, Golden Gem theatre. Golden, Col. — Small town patronage. NOT SO DUMB (AT) : Marion Davies — I checked up on this one, happened to drop in on this in neighboring city. Putting Marion Davies in a picture Ike this, after her superlative work in "Marianne,” is a crime. It should have been titled a "Dumb Picture,” for that is what it is, and I don’t blame the Penn exhibitor for panning it in “What the Picture Did for Me” column. — Columbia theatre, Columbia City, Ind. — General patronage. THE PAGAN : Ramon Novarro — March 6-7-8. Very good picture. Nine reels. — Benjamin Shnitka, Royal theatre, Innisfail, Alta., Canada. — Small town patronage. SHIP FROM SHANGHAI (AT) : Special cast— March 15. A program picture, with the poorest recording so far received from Metro. This company’s product, as far as recording, has been coming through okay, with this exception. Glad I only played this one night, and on a Saturday, too, because the recording was terrible. Seven reels. — W. Burr, Orpheum theatre, Lancaster, Wis. — Small town patronage. SO THIS IS COLLEGE (AT) : Special cast— March 13-14. Mighty good entertainment in every respect. Great recording, good story, fine entertainment and everybody happy. Metro disc recording top notch. This Robert Montgomery and Elliot Nugent will get over with anyone. Nine reels. — Henry Reeve, Mission theatre, Menard, Tex. — Small town patronage. SO THIS IS COLLEGE (AT) : Special cast — March 17. Very good. Certainly would go over great in a college town. Drew the worst ice storm in years for this picture. The first one on my new talking outfit. My town has only three hundred people in the village and not such a very large surrounding population. I am within fifteen miles of the largest city in the state and all concrete road, but still believe that talkies put on right will pay. Have also made a new resolve with the start of talkies here. I am going to report on every picture I play, which won't be many, for awhile, as I am only operating on Saturdays through Lent. “What the Picture Did for Me” is certainly a great department and deserves every exhibitor’s contributions. Eleven reels. — G. B. Orne, Richmond theatre, Richmond, Vt. — General patronage. SO THIS IS COLLEGE (AT) : Special cast — One that our patrons enjoyed. Recording on disc good. Eleven reels. — Parkside theatre, Clinton, la. — General patronage. MYSTERIOUS ISLAND: Lionel Barrymore— March 8. A wonderful production and evidently very expensive to produce. All in technicolor. Unreal and fantastic, but held the interest of our people, especially the children. — George Ledge, Green Lantern theatre, Claymont, Del. — General patronage. HIS GLORIOUS NIGHT: John Gilbert— February 21-22. Draggy, dull, disinteresting, etc. But again, it couldn’t have been so much even in sound unless my idea of just fair pictures is all wet. Six reels. — H. Beebe, Rialto theatre. Nelson, Neb. — General patronage. UNTAMED (AT): Joan Crawford — A mighty fine production. Nothing but good comments. Just fair recording. Nine reels. — Robert K. Yancey, New Bonny theatre, Mansfield, Mo. — General patronage. UNTAMED: Joan Crawford — March 14-15. Fair, but not up to the standard Metro would have you think. It is plain to see, Metro sells the exhibitor instead of the picture’s actual merits. Perhaps with sound it would have amounted to something, but as a silent it is very ordinary. Six reels. — H. Beebe, Rialto theatre, Nelson, Neb. — General patronage. THE VIKING: Pauline Starke — March 13-14-15. All in technicolor. Very, very good. Nine reels. — Benjamin Shnitka, Royal theatre, Innisfail, Alta., Canada. — Small town patronage. THE CAMERAMAN: Buster Keaton — Very good comedy. Seven reels. — Julius W. Schmidt, Grand theatre. Breese, 111. — General patronage. THE DUKE STEPS OUT: William Haines — Very good. Seven reels. — Julius W. Schmidt, Grand theatre, Breese, 111. — General patronage. DANCING DAUGHTERS: Joan Crawford— Very (good entertainment. Showy, but not smutty. Ten reels. — Julius W. Schmidt, Grand theatre, Breese, 111. — General patronage. WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS: Lon Chaney— About as good a picture as Chaney ever made. Eight reels. — Julius W. Schmidt, Grand theatre, Breese, 111. — General patronage. SHOW PEOPLE: Special cast — Just a good picture. No special. Eight reels. — Julius W. Schmidt, Grand theatre, Breese, 111. — General patronage. Paramount SWEETIE (AT) : Nancy Carroll — -Here is a fine box office attraction that brings favorable comments. A good bet for any theatre. Nine reels. — B. C. Brown, Temple theatre, Viroqua, Wis. — General patronage. SWEETIE (AT): Nancy Carroll— March 16-17-18. Talking picture. A very good picture. Helen Kane and Stuart Erwin stole the picture. The star and cast gave good satisfaction to the young folks. Singing, dancing and music are all good. We played it sound-on-film. Good recording. Too many football and school pictures to make any house records with them, although they please the young folks. — Bert Silver, Silver Family theatre, Greenville, Mich. — General patronage. THUNDERBOLT (AT): George Bancroft— March 7-8. Did not please over 70 per cent of the few who came to see Bancroft joke his way to the electric chair. If you have plenty of admirers of this star it may go over as his work is good and his voice in keeping with his style ; yet ten reels is too much inside the bars. Ten reels. — O. A. Fosse, Community theatre. Ridgeway, la. — General patronage. DANGEROUS CURVES: Clara Bow— This will disappoint you and all the Bow fans. Just a fair plot. Eight reels. — Julius W. Schmidt, Grand theatre. Breese, 111 — General patronage. THE RAINBOW MAN (AT): Eddie Dowling— February 27-28-March 1. Very good entertainment. Clean and interesting. Every exhibitor, with sound equipment, should play it. Ten reels. — Arvid G. Wiklund, State theatre, New England, N. D. — General patronage. PARTNERS IN CRIME: Beery-Hatton— March 7-8. A very good comedy. Went over big in spite of the fact it was ancient product. Seven reels. — H. Beebe, Rialto theatre. Nelson, Neb. — General patronage. THE LADY LIES (AT): Claudette Colbert— Very clever picture that failed to do average Sunday business. Tried to explain that it was good as all reports having been that way, but the title and the unknown cast kept them away. Charles Rugglee is fine as are all the cast. My first Paramount and they send a sound on film print. Recording good, but had to retime one reel after screening it. — Austin Childs, Rex theatre, Hanover, Kan. — Small town patronage. THE MIGHTY (AT): George Bancroft— A good picture, with good dialog and plenty of thrills and action. This pleased generally. Seven reels. — B. C. Brown, Temple theatre, Viroqua, Wis. — General patronage. Pathe THE FLYING FOOL: William Boyd — Average Pathe Boyd picture. The “Volga Boatman” is the only finished piece of work that Boyd has turned out, I believe Greta* Garbo and William Boyd would team up good in a strong dramatic production. Seven reels. — Parkside theatre, Clinton, la. — General patronage. THE FLYING FOOL (AT) : William Boyd— A very good picture. Recording on disc good. Patrons seem to like William Boyd in this type of a picture. Several good flying stunts that keep the audience in suspense until it is over. Seven reels. — Marion F. Bodwell, Paramount theatre, Wyoming, 111. — Small town patronage. SAILORS HOLIDAY (AT): Special cast— Well, I do not know what the producers want to get so many people to play in a picture for. Is it because they want to fill it with a lot of noise ? They seem to all want to talk at the same time, and they make such a confusion till no one knows what it i6 all about. That is the way I see this picture. — Walter Odom & Sons, Dixie theatre, Durant, Miss.— General patronage. BIG NEWS (AT) : Special cast— March 15. Talking picture that gave 100 per cent satisfaction. Good story. Great acting by whole cast. Recording fine. Lots of action. A regular entertainment, and pleased them all. — Bert Silver, Silver Family theatre, Greenville, Mich. — General patronage. NOISY NEIGHBORS: Eddie Quillan— March 16. Nice little picture. Well rounded out for entertainment. Hasn’t much natural drawing power silent, but did fair business and pleased. Six reels. — O. B. Wolfe, Screenland theatre, Nevada, O. — Small town patronage. Rayart THE TWO SISTERS: Special cast— March 12. Nothing much to this. Class it with the lesser grade of program picture. Nobody kicked and nobody cheered. Print okay. Photography not so good. Business pretty good. Six reels. — O. B. Wolfe, Screenland theatre, Nevada, la. — Small town patronage. RICO THE VAGABOND LOVER (AT): Rudy Vallee— Broke house records on this one. How they liked it. Recording perfect on disc. Played it two days to packed houses. A sure fire box office natural. Rudy's voice as clear as crystal. Eight reels. — C. E. Mosher, Orpheum theatre, Rockford, la. — Small town patronage. HIS SECOND WIFE (AT): Conrad Nagel— A woman’s picture, and they’ll like it, too. Would have made money on this if the men would have come. The best recording out. Sound on film. — R. A. Preuss, Golden Gem theatre. Golden, Colo. — Small town patronage. SIDE STREET (AT): Special cast— March 14. Talking picture, and a mighty good one. Story fine. The Moore Brothers are all good actors, and a splendid cast. Recording poor and was hard to understand. If recording had been good it would have given big satisfaction here. But all said it was hard to understand. — Bert Silver, Silver Family theatre, Greenville, Mich. — General patronage. DANCE HALL (AT) : Special cast — A right nice little program. Disc recording was not quite as clear as it should have been. Arthur Lake is great, but in two different pictures made by different companies I found that his dialog is a little hard to understand. Picture runs one hour and five minutes, which is too short for a feature picture. — M. W. Larmour, National theatre, Graham, Tex. — General patronage. TANNED LEGS (AT) : Special cast — One sweet little picture from an entertainment and box office standpoint. Had some of the other companies released this picture, they would have classed it as a special or a road show. Buy it. Advertise it and make money on a talking picture. It should have been about two reels longer. — M. W. Larmour. National theatre, Graham, Tex. — General patronage. JAZZ HEAVEN (AT): Sally O’Neil— Good little program picture. The only thing hot about it is the paper and title. This is a human interest heart story of show kid and radio studio. No need for the sensational angle adopted by R K O. J. C. Jenkins told you the lowdown on this one a few weeks ago. He hit it right, as usual. Seven reels. — Henry Reeve, Mission theatre, Menard, Tex. — Small town patronage. Tiffany PARTY GIRL (AT) : Special cast — Right now is when Douglas, Sr., will 6well up and say, my son is some boy, and he is. In this he does the best performance of his career. John St. Polis comes to the front again and does a splendid father role. Jeanette Loff is good and does a mighty sweet song. Marie Prevost and the many others make this one of the outstanding talking pictures to date. Recording on disc great. — W. H. Brenner, Cozy theatre, Winchester, Ind. — General patronage. PEACOCK ALLEY (AT): Mae Murray— Some ES RETURN THE GUARANTEED $1200 RADIOTONE TALKIE EQUIPMENT If your business does not improve in 4 months. 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