Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (Sep 1935 - Aug 1936)

9>idepi>ndent EXHIBITORS FILM BULLETIN AS I SEE THEM . • . REVIEWS OF NEW FILMS By ROLAND BARTON BOXOFFICE RATING:— • Means POOR; • • Means AVERAGE; • • • Means GOOD; • » 9 « Means EXCELLENT Plus ( + ) and Minus ( — ) will be used occasionally to indicate slightly above or below the point rating. At best this "point" system 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 criticism. CAIN AND MABEL Hollywood Preview BOXOFFICE RATING COMEDY with music . . . Weak story and only fair comedy throw the whole burden of this on Gable . . . He is below par, too . . . Rates • • + generally. Warner Bros 89 Minutes Clark Gable . . . Marion Davies . . . Allen Jenkins . . . Roscoe Karns . . . Walter Catlett . . . Ruth Donnelly . . . Pert Kelton . . . William Collier, Sr. . . . Hobart Cavanaugh . . . David Carlyle Directed by Lloyd Bacon This will have to rely strictly on Clark Gable and the strong comedy support of such names as Allen Jenkins, Roscoe Karns, Walter Catlett, Ruth Donnelly and Pert Kelton. It has its moments, but they are few and far between. "Cain and Mabel" lacks the spirit of fun the public demands in its modern comedies. It is forced, studied and occasionally downright boring. Marion Davies, as usual, is a waitress who finds herself in the enviable spot of becoming the star of an operetta after the flareup of the star singer. Karns, a press agent, does the manipulating. Gable is a boxer who becomes heavyweight champ through more of Karns' trickery. Both become unbearably egotistical and hence obnoxious to the public. Karns forces them into a fake, but eventually true romance. Gable is far from his best, obviously uncomfortable and with little chance to show himself to advantage. Thus it is with most of Miss Davies' leading men! She, never anything to write home about, is even less effective in this than in some of her previous efforts. Walter Catlett does the finest work in the picture, his characterization of the theatrical producer squeezing every possible laugh out of t heroic. The other comics do their share to bolster a weak story and tepid direction. Warren and Dubin contribute several tuneful melodies. AD TIPS: Sell Gable strong ami give the supporting cast equal billing with "Davies. HANNA (Hollywood). SEVEN SINNERS BOXOFFICE RATING MYSTERY-COMEDY . . . Engrossing murder mystery yarn with several novel angles . . . Bright comedy dialogue helps materially . . . Lowe above par in detective role . . . Rates • • + where they like mysteries. G a ii 1110)1 1 -British 69 Minutes Edmund Lowe . . . Constance Cummings . . . Thorny Bourdelle . . . Henry Oscar Directed by Albert de Courville This British-made film is a cleverly directed and smartly dialogued mystery-comedy from the pattern of "The Thin Man." It will engross mystery fans especially, although the plot is rather involved. Its boxoffice potentialities rest on the established popularity of this type of story in this country and that should spell slightly above average grosses. Stronger cast names would have improved its chances immeasurably. As it is, if the saleable title is exploited, surprising results might be gained. Edmund Lowe is an American detective out for a good time in Europe. He comes across a body, finds it disappears, then locates it again when the train he is on is wrecked. With his girlfriend, Lowe sets about the business of solving the mystery and finally locates the guilty man, who holds cigars between his third and fourth fingers. Leader of a gang of gun smugglers, he has been disposing of his associates by killing them and putting their bodies on trains, which he subsequently wrecks. Lowe turns in one of his better performances, dropping some of that annoying suavity. The others in the cast supply competent support. Direction by de Courville is topnotch and the dialogue is lively throughout. Suspense is built intelligently and relieved by shrewd bits of dialogue. AD TIPS: Sell this on the order of "Thin Man." The title lends itself to numerous teaser stunts for advant e e \ ploitation. BARTON. TEXAS RANGERS, The Hollywood Preview BOXOFFICE RATING SUPER WESTERN . . . Thriller for the men and kids . . . MacMurray will help with the ladies, but there isn't much for them here . . . Rates • • + generally; more for action houses. Paramount 90 Minutes Fred MacMurray . . . Jack Oakie . . . Jean Parker . . . Lloyd Nolan . . . Edward Ellis . . . Bennie Bartlett Directed by King Vidor In scope, "The Texas Ranger" is an imposing outdoor melodrama of the clash of banditry against frontier civilization, but it is far from wholly satisfactory as entertainment. It hasn't that magnificent sweep of "Bengal Lancers," nor the compactness of story. As a boxoffice attraction it is principally suited for men and children. Women will find little in it to please them, except if it be the presence of Fred MacMurray, who is far below par in western surroundings. It is an attempted glorification of the Rangers, who contributed so much to the civilization of the old West. MacMurray is the leader of three bad men, the other two being Jack Oakie and Lloyd Nolan. MacMurray and Oakie join the Rangers in Texas and later meet up with Nolan, still banditing. They plan to cooperate, but the two Rangers are sent out to get Nolan. MacMurray refuses, but Oakie goes and is killed by Nolan. Then, MacMurray goes out after his old crony and brings him in. There is an incidental romance between MacMurray and Jean Parker, the commandant's daughter. Oakie walks off with acting honors, delivering one of those sympathetic performances for which he is noted. He also sings two songs. Nolan is strong as the bandit holdout. King Vidor failed to give the film the excitement and full romantic magnificence popularly sought in such stories. It doesn't strike as quite a "big" picture, but rather a super western and that difference is important to the boxoffice. AD TIPS: Sell it as a spectacle, an epic of American bistpry, fold romantically, dramatically. Sell Mai Murray to the women. HANNA (Hollywood).