Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (Sep 1934 - Aug 1935)

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1935 j AS I SEE THEM . . . Reviews of New Films By ROLAND BARTON Boxoffice Rating • • • — SCARLET PIMPERNEL, The With Lcrlie Howard, Merle Oberon, Raymond Massey, Nigel Bruce Directed by Harold Young United Artists — 95 Minutes Adventure Romance For GENERAL Audiences A grand adventure story just misses being one of the season's biggest boxoffice bets! "The Scarlet Pimpernel" should be the most successful English film since "Henry the Eighth" and were it not for a poorly constructed script, it could easily have topped that other job by Alexander Korda. Laid during the French Revolution, the plot concerns an English gentleman who has organized a band of his friends to rescue members of the French nobility from the guillotine during the Reign of Terror. Using the symbol of the Scarlet Pimpernel, a flower, Leslie Howard's identity is unknown even to his lovely wife, Merle Oberon. He suspects her of having betrayed a group of his friends to the French. He poses constantly as a stupid and inane fool, but every so often he boldly dons a disguise and crosses the channel to save a few doomed French aristocrats. The French ambassador is warned that he must catch "The Scarlet Pimpernel," or forfeit his own life. He forces Merle to aid him by telling her that her brother is a prisoner of the French and that he will be guillotined unless she helps him find ihe Pimpernel. Only when Leslie has apparently fallen into the ambassador's trap, does Merle learn who "The Scarlet Pimpernel" is. Then, she goes to die with him, but in a very clever manner, the English hero outwits his enemy and escapes to find new happiness with his wife. The script is guilty of presenting situations which are not clearly explained. Much must be taken for granted, but even this fault does not serve to take the excitement and adventurous spirit out of this film. Adults and children, alike, will get a real movie thrill out of it. Boxoffice Rating • • + IRON DUKE, The With George Arliss, A. E. Matthews Directed by Victor Saville Gautnont-British — 86 Minutes Historical Drama For GENERAL Audiences For the reason that it was directed in slipshod and unsympathetic manner, "The Iron Duke" fails to be impressive. The Duke, of course, is Wellington, the fighter who fought for peace. While George Arliss' performance is not quite up to par, he makes the story engrossing while he is on the screen. The famed Battle of Waterloo accents the inept direction; it is a badly botched job, wholly lacking in composition, sequence and drama. There is plenty of noise and plenty of action, but it is all so badly organized that there is practically no excitement at all. The story begins with Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, when Wellington outmaneuvred the Little Corporal. Then the "Iron Duke" turns his efforts toward preventing the European Allies from tearing apart France. They demand that the King of France rid himself of his selfish courtiers if he is to remain on the throne. Wellington seeks to have the King do this, but the daughter of Marie Antoinette, neice of the King, interferes. She tries to get Wellington out of the way by misrepresenting his friendship with a young woman who admires him. The Duke, however, turns the tables on the young Frenchwoman and forces the King to follow his demands. Then, Wellington returns to England to face the censure of the House of Lords for failing to gain some material advantages for his country's victory over Napoleon. In the film's most dramatic scene, he tells the Lords that he sought no profit for his country, he sought only peace. He leaves the House to the wild acclaim of his countrymen, determined to settle down with his family. There is probably enough dramatic sweep and human interest to mildly please general audiences, but it is primarily a class film in that such audiences will enjoy the historical aspect of the story. Average business is the best that can be expected except in houses where Arliss is a particular favorite. It is suitable for children. Boxoffice Rating • • — WOMAN IN RED, The With Barbara Stanwyck, Gene Raymond, Genevieve Tobin Directed by Robert Florey First National — 69 Minutes Romantic Melodrama For GENERAL Audiences That pserless comedian, Jack Benny, appeared in person last week at the Roxy-Mastbaum Theatre in Philadelphia, and they gave us "The Woman in Red" as an added attraction. After the film had been on for about 20 minutes and had gotten nowhere just about as fast as it could, I turned to my companion and remarked that I had suspected they would give us something as bad as that with Jack Benny; and they did! Three quarters of the film is absorbed in winding itself up for a wild and wooly unwinding in the last one quarter, in which an innocent pure-as-drifted-snow young wife becomes involved in an accidental drowning of a drunken young miss on a big brother's boy friend's yacht for which he stands trial and shields the young wife who is innocent and pure-as-drifted-snow until she comes forward to cry, "Hallelujah! I'm the Woman in Red!" (the title). And if you think that sentence is long-winded and without particular point — wait until you see "The Woman in Red!" Barbara Stanwyck is a professional horse show rider, working for Genevieve Tobin. Gene Raymond is a semi-professional polo player, working and playing for Miss Tobin. (Now don't ask us to differ entiate between a professional and a semi-professional in the horse business, because the picture never does make it quite clear). Miss Tobin likes Gene. Gene marries Barbara. Miss Tobin fires Barbara. Gene quits. They go to Gene's home town, where Barbara gets the idea of starting a horse breeding stable. A rich friend lends Barbara the money without Gene's knowledge. Now comes the yacht, the accidental drowning, the murder trial, the rich man's noble silence, Barbara's confession that she was on the yacht, and, finally, the reconciliation of the young couple. It all is pretty dull stuff. No good for children. Only the names in the cast entitle it to a fair-minus rating. Boxoffice Rating a WINKING TICKET, The With Leo Carrillo, Louise Fazenda, Ted Healy, Luis Alberni Directed by Chick Reisner M-G-M — 70 Minutes Comedy For NABORHOOD Audiences One of Metro's minor efforts. A cheap picture with an unimportant cast. This comedy of a barber holding a winning ticket on the Irish Sweepstakes is just an idea stretched into a fulllength film, which drops off soon after it starts The cast includes a few usually reliable comics, but the story is seriously lacking in laughs. Reel after reel unwinds with only sparse spots of humor. Carrillo, an Italian barber, is sold a sweepstakes ticket by his ever-scheming brother-in-law, Ted Healy. His wife, Louise Fazenda, is strongly opposed to gambling. While trying to hide the ticket from her, Carrillo slips it to his lawyer, who places it in a cup with which the baby is playing. The obvious complications ensue as the frantic search for the ticket is carried on. It is finally found where it had been placed by the baby. The direction is mediocre, missing the pace necessary for a comedy of this type. The script is a haphazard affair, padded to the hilt with situations which exist only for the purpose of dragging the film out to feature footage. It's a weak sister that will realize something only for theatres in Italian neighborhoods. THEATRES WANTED! Phila., Up-State, New Jersey, Delaware Our Dealings Are Strictly CONFIDENTIAL M.H.GoodisJnc. 1201 Chestnut St. PHILADELPHIA, PA. • CLEM'S • Motion Picture Supply House Expert Supply Service for the Independent Theatre 255 N. 13th ST., PHILA. SPRUCE 1884 "The show must go on!" — and it takes reliable delivery service to get it there on time . . . HorlacheR DELIVERY SERVICE 1228 VINE ST. PHILA. M. Lawrence Daily, Notary Public iom—b— be— n ii i—i i rirramnrnxas^ BOXOFFICE RATING We have been requested by many exhibitors to use some simple system of indicating our rating of the boxoffice value of the films reviewed below. The "point" system of evaluation, at best, can give you only an arbitrary estimate of a picture's drawing power, so we urge you to read the entire reviews. Some pictures are particularly suitable for certain types of audiences and this must be covered in the detailed criticisms. • Means POOR • • Means AVERAGE • • © Means GOOD • • • © Means EXCELLENT Plus ( + ) and minus (— ) will be used occasionally to indicate slightly above or below the point rating.