Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (Sep 1935 - Aug 1936)

12 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1935 AS I SEE THEM . . . Reviews of New Films By ROLAND BARTON PR. SOCRATES BOX-OFFICE RATING GANGSTER MELODRAMA . . . Good story of this type, but suffers by apparent careless treatment in production . . . Has suspense, but not much gunfire . . . Rates • • • — in action houses and rurals: • • + elsewhere. Warner Bros. 70 Minutes Paul Muni . . . Ann Dvorak . . . Barton MacLane . . . Robert Barrat . . . Helen Lowell . . . Directed by William Dieterle This is a good melodrama on the sheer strength of the story. Had Warner Bros, taken more pains to make it a finished production, it might have been one of the best of the gangster film cycle. Throughout the picture, evidences of haste or carelessness are obvious and, consequently, exhibitors' returns on it will be considerably less than what they might have been if two more reels had been allowed for more complete development of the story. Several situations are extremely suspenseful, such as the one in which Muni goes into the gangsters' hideout to save Ann Dvorak and injects dope into each gangster's arm, supposedly as a typhoid antitoxin. Other sequences are gripping, but not, by far, to their fullest extent. I always had the feeling that each scene could have been built up with much more excitement. But, W. R. Burnett's inimitable gangster yarns (he wrote "Little Caesar") have power in themselves and "Dr. Socrates" shows enough to make fairlv exciting melodrama. Paul Muni, as usual, is sincere and believable. Helen Lowell brings a few laughs as his house keeper. Ann Dvorak is appropriately sympathetic. Barton MacLane again turns in a good gang chief portrayal. He's apparently tops in this line today. Give this a good-minus rating for action and rural houses, and average-plus for others. PLOT: Muni, former Chicago surgeon who quit when he failed to save his sweetheart's life after an accident, settles down in a small town and is eminently unsuccessful in his efforts to build up a medical practice there. Jealousy of the only other doctor in the town holds it against him, as is the usual prejudice against a stranger. Unable to meet his grocery bills. Muni gets a hundred dollar bill for extracting a bullet from gangster MacLane's arm — at the point of a gun. He fails to report the case to the police. Ann Dvorak, hitch-hiking, is picked up by MacLane just before they hold up the town bank. She escapes from the car during the hold-up, but is shot and suspected of being a member of the gang. Muni protects and cures her and love grows between them. After Muni is forced to treat the gang leader's arm again, he returns home determined to tell the police. He finds Ann has been kidnapped by MacLane. Muni goes to the hideout to get her, while Federal agents prepare to attack the house. Muni, duping the gang, injects dope into their arms on the pretext that he is preventing them from being afflicted bv an imaginary epidemic of typhoid. The G-men shoot it out with MacLane, who is unaffected by the dope longer than the others. The town acclaims Muni a hero, but he has plans for Ann. AD TIPS: Where gangster stuff is welcome, sell this as such. Elsewhere, it can be sold as a study of small town prejudice — and another grand performance by Muni. R. B. METROPOLITAN BOX-OFFICE RATING OPERATIC-ROMANCE . . . Carried solely by Tibbett's grand singing . . . Everything else about it is mediocre, or worse . . . OK for class spots, where it rates • • + , but it will nosedive elsewhere . . . Rates • • — generally. 20th Century-Fox SO Minutes Lawrence Tibbett . . . Virginia Bruce . . . Alice Brady . . . Cesar Romero . . . Luis Alberni . . . George Marion, Sr. . . . Directed by Richard Boledawski This hangs together as entertaining film fare only by the robust baritone voice of Lawrence Tibbett. To the evele of operatic movies, launched by "One Night of Love," Producer Darryl Zanuck offers his contribution and the first production for Fox carrying his personal label. It is nothing to rave about, nor will it mean money to the vast majority of exhibitors. Tibbett's magnificent voice records beautifully and it is bound to impress those who enjoy singing. In an effort to provide something for the masses, he renders two semi-popular songs, "Road to Mandalay" and "Glory Road," and he handles these with a volume and lift that is bound to send a tingle up the spines of the most spiritless individuals. But, between the Met singer's numbers, a slightly dull, prosaic thread of story is expected to hold the spectator's interest. It will not. Dealing largely with the petty rivalries of operatic personalities, the story and its handling are commonplace. Several excellent troupers surround Mr. Tibbett, but the material put into their hands is too routine to allow them a display of their true talents. The ebullient Luis Alberni is again the volcanic vocal teacher. George Marion, Sr., is outstanding as a temperamental conductor. In class houses, Tibbett's name will sell "Metropolitan," but it will go below average in city neighborhoods and rates poor for rural houses. PLOT: Alice Brady, a has-been opera singer, starts a company of her own when the Metropolitan turns her down. Tibbett, also disappointed with the Met, joins her company. She tries to win his affection, but he has fallen in love with Virginia Bruce, a singer. Brady quits the company, but Virginia turns out to be a wealthy heiress and comes through with a check to put on the opera. It is successful and Tibbett and Bruce wed. AD TIPS: To sell those who are not interested in opera, feature the romance and comedy; also give space to "Road to Mandalay" and the Ne"ro spiritual "De Glory Road." For houses where opera is appreciated, mention the aria from "Barber of Seville," Toreador song from "Carmen" and the "Pagliacci" prologue. ELK. HANDS ACROSS THE TABLE BOX-OFFICE RATING COMEDY-ROMANCE ... Has that light, capricious type of comedy, but not enough to make it more than fairly amusing . . . Goes too heavy on the romance . . . MacMurray turns in another gay performance . . . Rates • • — for better class spots, less for action and rurals. Paramount 85 Minutes Carole Lombard . . . Fred MacMurray . . . Ralph Bellamy . . . Marie Prevost . . . Ruth Donnelly . . . Astrid Allwyn . . . Directed by Mitchell Leisen Amusing. This might have been one of the season's gayest comedies, if Paramount hadn't felt it necessary to insert a most boring stretch of that sticky romantic sentimentalism for which authoress Vina Delmar is noted. Starting happily enough in that popular madcap manner of "It Happened One Night" (when will critics cease using that as the screen comedy yardstick?), "Hands Across the Table" continues a rather merry pace until Carole Lombard and the handsome, fresh Fred MacMurray discover they are really "that way" about each other. Then the show bogs down and becomes a wearisome love-sick balderdash. Luckily, it picks up its early humor again in the (Continued on Page 10) 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.