Exhibitors Herald World (Oct-Dec 1930)

October 18, 1930 EXHIBITORS HERALD -WORLD 45 Their efforts to evade the military police, their love escapades and their return to the trenches build the picture into a whiz of a comedy. — Jay M. Shreck, New York City. A JUST IMAGINE EXTRAORDINARY PICTURE. Produced and distributed by Fox Films. Directed by David Butler. Dialog, adaptation and music by DeSylva, Brown and Henderson. Dance direction by Seymour Felix. Photography by Ernest Palmer. With Maureen O'Sullivan, El Brendel, John Garrick, Hobart Bosworth, Kenneth Thomson, Frank Albertson, Marjorie White. t ANTASTICALLY written and imaginatively produced, "Just Imagine" opened this week at the Carthay Circle theatre and has been termed one of the most extraordinary pictures ever made. It is a wholesome kind of entertainment that reminds one, first, of Jonathan Swift and, then, of H. G. Wells. It is the kind of theme that demands courage of a producer until the picture becomes concrete and wins the plaudits of the audience. In story form the picture must have seemed a great gamble but in picture form it appears an outstanding step in the progress of picture making. The unmistakable surprise of the picture is in the opening when the camera lens is projected 50 years hence and astonishes spectators with the inventions in practice in 1980. Sets built for the picture have been designed with the wizardy of "Alice in Wonderland." They combine beauty and mechanical ingenuity. The earthly scenes are in an ultra modern style unrevealed heretofore by the most ultra of ultramodern artists. The Martian scenes are fully as clever and of an extreme motif. It is the music that deserves great credit. A mighty team, De Sylva, Brown and Henderson, herewith make their presence in talking pictures more effective than in any of their previous work. They have a great reputation as song writers and listening to their melodies in "Just Imagine" one can understand the cause of that renown. There is nothing heavy about it. It is intended as an antidote for weariness, an antidote for the fatigued beings who inhabit a jaded sphere. It is gay, cheerful, fresh and humorous. It is almost a satire in many places due to fine direction and conception. The rocket sequence in the picture is the finest and most impressive part of the film. The rocket is designed like a shell from a gun and is built somewhat on the principle of the shells used in the Big Bertha of the World War. Developing its own power after it leaves the surface of the earth it depends on the throw of the earth to propel it from the earth to the planet, Mars. Its departure is pure theatre. In the telling of what is what in 1980 there runs a story of the love affair between a girl and a boy who are forbidden to marry by the Government. Marriage is another of the institutions regulated by the Commonwealth. The boy is insufficiently distinguished to marry the girl; but he distinguishes himself by his Martian visit. Three of the characters stand out more than the others for their work. They are Maurine O'Sullivan, Frank Albertson and El Brendel. Brendel figures in the story as a patient whom noted surgeons have experimented upon to reclaim his life. He reacts to ray treatment and then sings and clowns his way through the show to the satisfaction of the audience. In places his comedy approaches suggestiveness but El Brendel is such a comic artist that he wins forgiveness where another actor would appear vulgar. Marjorie White is in the role of a singing comedienne who adds to El Brendel's gags at will. The entire cast is well chosen and without exception does its work in fine form. — Douglas Hodges, Hollywood. TOM SAWYER Produced and distributed by Paramount-Publix. Directed by John Cromwell. From the novel by Mark Twain. Screen play by Sam Mintz, Grover Jones and William Slavens McNutt. Photography by Charles Lang. With Jackie Coogan, Junior Durkin, Mitzi Green, Clara Blandick, Ethel Wales, Mary Jane Irving, Dick Winslow, Lucien Littlefield. Jackie Searle, James Darwell, Billie Maylor, Billie Butts, Charles Sellon. s TUFF that hasn't graced the screen in many years is in Paramount's "Tom Sawyer." It's a show that is as unique as the story that Twain himself dedicated to American youth. It embodies the things that made Twain the master he was and the things that endear his works to the hearts of the world. It's fine showmanship. It hasn't been the easiest thing to transfer to the screen, most likely, but it has been done with a fine hand both in treatment and direction. It is fortunate that Paramount could find in Jackie Coogan a youngster to whom it could delegate the responsibility of the star role. He is the complete, the youthful and mischievous Tom. It is seriously doubtful that any other child might have been able to do the work. Much is required of the part in the way of pantomime, screen experience and histrionic balance. He stays in character throughout the show and carries off the honors to a degree surprising to many who have been without their Jackie for the past four years. Time has not lessened his talents nor marred his fame. The children who attended the preview in Glendale, Cal., whooped and shouted. They had obviously found nothing (for them) like it for many, many shows. The laughs are as well planned for adults as for juveniles. However there is that everpresent Twain philosophy in it for an older audience that makes the story beautifully whimsical and homely. The cast headed by the star and Mitzi Green is remarkably well chosen. In it are people seldom given great credit on the screen and yet here they find themselves in parts that do them justice and which they likewise do justice. There has, as might have been previously intimated, been little alteration in the comedy and story of the three youngsters who felt abused by the townfolk. They have their grave disappointments and seek a way to freedom by running away. They find a pirate's island and make it their home. A man has already been murdered. The two youngsters, Huckleberry Finn and Tom, by devious methods bring the criminal to justice. It is from start to finish one of the company's best pieces of product. Possibly I should say "best" but I dislike the expression. — Douglas Hodges, Hollywood. A HEADS UP ONE FOR THE COAST GUARD. Produced and distributed by Paramount. Director, Victor Schertzinger. Adapted by John McGowan and Jack Kirkland from the musical play by McGowan. Paul Gerard Smith, Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart. Photographer, William Steiner. With Charles Rogers, Helen Kane, Victor Moore, Margaret Breen, Gene Gowing, Helen Carrington, Billy Taylor, Harry Shannon, C. Anthony Hughes, John Hamilton, George Hale dancers. Release, October 11, 1930. Footage, 6,785. H, .EADS UP" is only mild entertainment. One reason for this undoubtedly is the fact that it follows so closely Charles Rogers' previous musical, "Follow Thru," which, in the opinion of this reporter, was the better of the^ two pictures. However, the performance of Victor Moore in "Heads Up" is one not to be missed. He ranks high in the roster of stage and screen comics, and his work in this picture saves the subject from being just an ordinary musical comedy. Moore is the dumb type of comedian with a flair for nonsensical inventions. This combination, expertly handled, is sufficient in many instances to carry a picture. Rogers in this picture was unfortunate in the leading woman chosen for him, Margaret Breen, who is new to pictures. The United States Coast Guard and its activities in ferreting out rum runners is the background of this picture. Rogers upon graduation from the Coast Guard Academy asks for immediate duty. He is assigned, much to his discomfiture, to the yacht owned by the mother of the girl he loves. He argues that the suspicions of his superiors are unfounded. This, they say, is for them to decide. Boarding the boat under cover of night he overhears the captain discussing plans for taking on a load of liquor with the man who the mother hopes will marry her daughter. The liquor is taken aboard and a fight ensues between the crew and the Coast Guard, climaxing in the wreck of the yacht. The passengers are stranded on a small island, and here Rogers discovers that the yacht had been used as a rum runner unbeknown to its owner. The girl, who thought he had double-crossed her mother, learns the truth and the two are reunited. Fair entertainment. — Jay M. Shreck, New York City. A THE LADY OF THE LAKE POEM ON THE SCREEN. —Produced and distributed by Fitzpatrick Pictures. Directed and adapted by James A. Fitzpatrick. Photographer, Bert S. Dawley. With Percy Marmont, Benita Hume. Lawson Butt, James Carewe, Haddon Mason, Hedda Bartlett, Leo Dryden, Sara Francis, James Douglas. Release date, November 1, 1930. Footage, 4,749. O COTT'S immortal narrative poem is here presented on the screen with sound but no speech. Said to have been photographed in the highland and lake country of Scotland, the actual setting of the original poem, the scenic effects are beautiful and add much to the creation of the necessary atmosphere. The picture opens with a male chorus appearing on a stage rendering the opening lines of the poem in song. The scene then fades into the story, returning again to the stage to conclude the film. Subtitles carrying the thread of the story are quotations from the narrative of Sir Walter, while appropriate music and song accompany the picture throughout, including the wellknown "Hail to the Chief" and otber Scotch ballads. The story of Roderick Dhu, the leader of Clan Alpine; Douglas the outlawed enemy of James Fitzjames, the king; and Ellen, Lady of the Lake, is one familiar to every school child. The feud which had existed between Douglas and the king, and finally is brought to an end through the appeal of Ellen, forms the central theme of the story, while the love of Ellen for Malcolm Graeme, rival of Roderick Dhu for the hand of the girl, forms the romantic interest. Direction has been handled with skill and an attention to detail as regards the original thought of the poem which is admirable. No attempt has been made to modernize it, except for the opening and closing chorus numbers which tend to give the film) a musical presentation flavor that is highly entertaining. Photography, particularly in the instances of the scenes on the lake, is excellent, while the few interior views of the castle in which Roderick Dhu makes his home are authentically realistic. Percy Marmont as James Fitzjames, the king of Scotland, gives a fine performance, ably sec