Exhibitors Herald World (Oct-Dec 1930)

44 EXHIBITORS HERALD-WORLD October 18, 1930 w NEW PRODUCT This department does not attempt to predict the public's reactions to pictures. It does, instead, present detailed and accurate information on product, together with the frank and honest opinion of the reporter. J FEET FIRST LLOYD AND LAUGHS! Produced by Harold Lloyd Corporation. Distributed by Paramount Publix. Starring Harold Lloyd. Directed by Clyde Bruckmatt. Story by John Grey, Alfred A. Cohn, and Clyde Bruckman. Scenario by Felix Adler, Lex Neal. Photography by Walter Lundin and Henry Kohler. Supporting cast: Barbara Kent, Robert McWade. Lillian Leighton, Noah Young. Henry Hall, Arthur Housman. UDICIOUSLY returning to that powerful box office triumph, "Safety Last," for one sequence Harold Lloyd has made a dialog picture that is bursting with comedy and laughter. The best part of "Safety Last" — the skyscraper climb — has been revamped and regagged to say nothing of re-staged with dialog in "Feet First." That is a striking thing about the new picture because it has proved to be such a tremendous sequence. The entire picture is filled to the brim with well constructed laugh situations, however, and is one of the most rapid and exciting things ever given the talking screen. It is comedy that for 8,000 feet is never out of character. There are thrills that serve the needs of suspense. Thrills also serve in a natural way as menace to the boy and girl who head off the troupe. Lloyd neither attempts to make you laugh at the things he does nor laughs at them himself. He relies upon the brainwork of some of the most skilled humorists in the scenario craft to frame things that are funny and clean. The result is the audience at the preview in a big Coast theatre laughed uproariously. There was little letup. The laughs surged with the construction of the comedy. Each build up led to a sub-climax. The big sequence of the picture is the scaling of a building near the finish. It is remindful perhaps of "Safety Last" except that it runs into more footage, a reel and a half, and that it has dialog. It is not merely thrilling, it is exceedingly funny. Lloyd finds himself perched, innocently, on a scaffolding that is being elevated to the twentieth story of a building. The scaffolding is flimsy and Lloyd is in constant jeopardy. He climbs from one story to the next, human fly fashion, and through consecutive dangers until he arrives at the top. His precarious position i1 little the less relieved, however, because he is at the edge of the building and has great difficulty keeping his balance. The story -tarts with Harold in an office boy position with a shoe company in Honolulu. He has aspirations to be a shoe salesman and makes desperate attempts to attract the attention of his employer. Every effort only brings him into bad repute. His heart has already been snared by the handsome Barbara Kent. By one way and another he inadvertently gets himself on a ship hound for the mainland. Other passengers are the president of his firm. HERO COMEDIANS BERT WHEELER AND ROBERT WOOLSEY pack a full cargo of laughs into Radio Pictures' "Half Shot at Sunrise." With them is Lent Stengel. his secretary, who is Harold's secret love, and the president's wife. The voyage which consumes a third of the footage, and is built with gags, leads up to the point where Harold must deliver "the papers" on the mainland 36 hours before the ship is due to arrive. There is considerable interest in his efforts to deliver, although there isn't the kind of interest that might be termed suspense. The direction is well done. The gags are sharp, fast and not one is a dud. There is no "clocking" laughs; it is a steady stream of them. Lloyd's voice is in character with his well reputed pantomime. He has a high pitch that is quite the kind most people wish and expect of him. The settings are fresh and with the exception of the building climbing scenes they are new to Lloyd pictures. — Douglas Hodges, Hollywood. AUDIO REVIEW NO. 42 Pathe — Sound This review is rather less interesting than the average. The opening feature is called "Marrakech" and seems to be merely a series of scenes taken in the streets of Morocco, showing native salesmen exhibiting their wares, and several scenic views of the surrounding country. "Dog About Town" may be of interest to some women, but is not particularly appealing, being what might be called a fashion review of the latest styles in dog attire. The alligator pear, and the manner in which it is grown, picked and dressed for the table, occupies the concluding spot in the audio. Closeup shots of alligator pears, however, are not the most fascinating pictures one might imagine. Running time, 10 minutes. HALF SHOT AT SUNRISE A LOAD OF FUN.— Produced and distributed by Radio Pictures. Director, Paul Sloane. Author, James A. Creelman, Jr. Dialog by Anne Caldwell and Ralph Spence. Music and lyrics by Harry Tierney and Anne Caldwell. Photographer, Nick Musuraca. Recordist, Hugh McDowell, Jr. Editor, Arthur Roberts, with Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, John Rutherford, George MacFarlane, Roberta Robinson, Leni Stengel, Dorothy Lee, Hugh Trevor, Edna May Oliver, Eddie de Lange, E. H. Calvert, Alan Roscoe. Release. October 4, 1930. Footage, 7,344. T HERE is a boat load — make it the Leviathan — of tomfoolery and fun crammed in this new Radio picture starring the team of Wheeler and Woolsey. If these two comics in "Half Shot at Sunrise" don't make the audience howl, then the audience is at fault. As stated, it is all tomfoolery, but about the most pleasant and refreshing tomfoolery one could imagine. It brings the laughs that bring the tears to your eyes, and that should be sufficient comedy for anyone. It is the type of picture in which Wheeler and Woolsey excel — a picture which bothers little with story, but is overflowing with situations. Give them the situations and they will take advantage of them 100 per cent. The picture moves rapidly, but the gags have been well timed and therefore none of the dialog is lost in the roars of the audience, a condition which is not avoided often enough in the audible film. Although there are a couple of good musical numbers in the picture, it should not be sold to the public as a musical comedy, for it makes no effort to be one. It should be exploited as one of the best farces to reach the screen thus far this season. Particularly good in the cast is Edna May Oliver, who never failed in adding to one's pleasure at seeing a Richard Dix picture. As the wife of a trifling colonel of the army she is excellent. Dorothy Lee matches well with Wheeler, the two being sweethearts in this film. Leni Stengel as the vamp and George MacFarlane as the colonel likewise are capable in their performances. Paul Sloane has done a fine piece of directing. Though farcical in treatment, the situations, due to Sloane's guidance, are never overdone. Arthur Roberts' editing, too, is worthy of note. "Half Shot at Sunrise" is the story of two buck privates who are A. W. O. L. in Paris.