Exhibitors Herald World (Oct-Dec 1930)

November 29, 1930 EXHIBITORS HERALD-WORLD 31 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. SIN TAKES A HOLIDAY DELIGHTFUL! Produced and distributed by Pathe. Directed by Paul L. Stein. Authors: Robert Milton and Dorothy Cairns. Photoplay, Horace Jackson. Musical Director, Josiah Zuro. Art Director, Carroll Clark. Assistant Director, E. J. Babille. Photographer. John Mescall. Sound Engineers, Charles O'Loughlin and T. A. Carman. Film Editor, Dan Mandell. Costumes, Gwen Kenneth MacKenna, Basil Rathbone, Rita Wakeling. Cast: Constance Bennett, La Roy, Louis Bartels, John Roche, Zasu Pitts, Kendall Lee, Murrel Finley, Helen Johnson, Fred Walton. HERO OF THE WEEK W. ITH the hand of a craftsman similar to that of Lubitsch, Paul Stein has made of "Sin Takes a Holiday" one of the most delightful talking pictures of the season. It is light and cheerful. It is not the kind of drama that requires ponderous thinking. It is much more the breezy, witty and spontaneous piece of entertainment that makes weary men glad they came to it for relaxation. Added to that it is one of the most finely directed pictures of its kind that I have seen. Stein has always known how to direct motion pictures and has succeeded in his art where a great number of his fellow aliens have failed. The picture is another of those that are giving the Pathe program its class, prestige, style and bookings. It therefore follows closely upon the heels (chronologically, at least) of "Holiday." It features a great actress, Constance Bennett. She shows in this work that others of her successes were not accidents. She plays a part that is not the easiest and does it well. Opposite her is Kenneth MacKenna, a young man who has had great experience reading lines on the stage. He does well as her admirer, employer and husband. He could not have done better. However, his type isn't perfect for this part. His manner does not suggest the things that it might have. Possibly the best actor of a superb cast is Basil Rathbone. He has often done himself credit but in this he does more than that. He uses hands, lips, eyes and eyebrows to express the feeling the author desired to give the audience. The story is that of a young lawyer who believes he is immune from marriage. He boasts of it. He makes much of it. His secretary realizes it. At last he is in a position where he shall marry or become socially embarrassed. He marries. But the girl he chooses is the secretary (Miss Bennett.) That naturally complicates the situation and gives a plot. It is a story in which the love theme follows the marriage ceremony. The dialog is smooth and the words flow naturally from the tongues of every member of the cast. The stage direction is of a very high type throughout the production. — Douglas Hodges, Hollywood. CONRAD NAGEL gives an exceptionally fine portrayal in "Today," matte by Majestic Pictures from the stage play of the same name. TODAY NAGEL EXCELLENT! Produced and distributed by Majestic Pictures. Directed by William Nigh. Authors, Abraham Schomer and George Broadhurst. Dialog by Abraham Schomer and George Broadhurst. Adapted by Seton I. Miller. Camera, Jimmie Howe. With Conrad Nagel, Catherine Dale Owen, Sarah Paden, John Maurice Sullivan, Judith Vosselli, Julia Swayne Gordon, William Bailey, Edna Marion, E. Thornby, D. Demarest. Release date, November 1, 1930. Footage, 7100. M AJESTIC Pictures has done an excellent piece of work in the screen adaptation of the stage play of the same name, with honors going in particular to William Nigh, the director, for an intelligent and dramatic film, concluding with a real punch; and to Conrad Nagel, the star, for an exceptionally fine portrayal. Nagel takes the part of a young man who had built up a fortune in Wall Street, only to have it crash about his ears. His wife, played by Catherine Dale Owen, once having become used to luxury, cannot bring herself to give it up. The manner in which she permits herself, under the guidance of a false feminine friend, to slip into an easy way of regaining the finery she had lost in the crash, and the efforts of her husband to start afresh, make up the theme of a highly dramatic story, to which added effectiveness is given by the work of Nagel. His discovery, quite by accident, of his wife's conduct, and the final sequence which is as interesting as it is surprising, ends the film with a real climax. The supporting cast is on the whole decidedly competent. In the early stages of the film, Miss Owen rather overdoes her lines. Her work does not come up to the high standard set by Conrad Nagel. Photography is on the whole good, with most of the film set in interiors. The home to which the couple move with the husband's parents after the bankruptcy, however, is rather too sumptuous to appear consistant with the circumstances to which they were supposed to have been reduced. This is essentially a highly sophisticated story of the modern day, with a cleverly implied contrast between the young wife, who could not bring herself to stick by her husband when their circumstances were poor, and the mother whose only thought was for the son. Nigh has succeeded admirably in conveying the theme of his story by means of successive dramatic highlights, leaving much to the imagination of the audience. It is probably true that not all types of people will readily appreciate this picture, as far as theme and treatment is concerned, but the performance of Conrad Nagel should be enjoyed by anyone. — Charles S. Aaronson, New York City. A BEAU IDEAL PRETENTIOUS! Produced and distributed by Radio Pictures. Directed by Herbert Brenon. Original story by Percival C. Wren. Adaptation by Elizabeth Meehan. Scenario by Paul Schofield. Featuring: Irene Rich, Ralph Forbes, Loretta Young, Lester Vail, Don Alvarado, Otto Matiesen, Paul MacAlister, Leni Stengel, and Hale Hamilton. Chief Cutter, Marie Halvey. B 1 UILDING on a theme similar to that of "Beau Geste," Herbert Brenon has given the screen a picture with adventure, love, suffering, and a dash of idealism. It is from the pen of Percival Christopher Wren, author of the above-mentioned story. It stands out among a class of pictures based on sacrifice and altruism. Radio Pictures well may be proud of the subject for its pretentiousness and the message it bears. There are many elements in it that evidence a desire on the part of the studio to create something sensational and commanding. There is an awe-inspiring sand storm in it that is as realistic as any storm hitherto shot. Tons upon tons of fine silt blow across the lens of the camera in such a gale that the illusion threatens the audience. It terminates, the troops buried beneath it. That scene closely precedes one of mutiny. The troops discover that their leader has lost