Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1938)

17 NO VEMBER 5, 1 9 3 8 'GANGSTER'S BOY* Stirring Father-Son Drama Rales • • • for action houses, good dualler elsewhere. Monogram 82 Minutes Jackie Cooper, Lucy Gilman, Robert Warwick, Tommy Wonder, Louise Lorimer, Selmer Jackson, Betty Blythe, Bradley Metcalfe, Bobby Stone. Directed by William Nigh This is the besl independent release in many, many months. Writing, acting, direction all show finesse not usually found in indie films. With a strong exploitation title and Jackie Cooper for the marquee, GANGSTER'S BOY should get good business right down the line, with action spots clicking exceptionally. The yarn is a father-son natural, handled with emphasis on its tear-jerking potentialities, and the women will have their hankies out before it's over. It lacks the gunplay action fans might expect from the title, but none will be dissatisfied, for it is always deeply engrossing and strongly dramatic. Jackie Cooper lives with his mother. His father, a retired gangster, arrives in town with plenty of money and takes charge of the family. A local newspaper breaks the story about his past and Jackie is shunned by most of his high school mates. Only Tommy Wonder and Lucy Gilman, children of Judge Selmer Jackson and Betty Blythe, stick by him. Returning from a dance, Tommy runs down a bicyclist. Believing that he will be barred from West Point, where he intended to go, because of his father's past, Jackie takes the blame. A whiskey bottle, placed in the car by Bradley Metcalfe, makes his position so much tougher. Despite Warwick's pleas, Jackie insists on taking the blame. The case, tried before Jackson, ends dramatically when the judge's own children and Metcalfe confess. Jackie wins the plaudits of the town and is seen going off to West Point with his pal, Tommy. Cooper turns in a walloping performance, getting the most out of his sentimental scenes. However, acting honors go to Warwick, who makes the exgangster father a tremendously appealing character. The support is generally good. William Nigh rates a sprig of laurel for a smooth, tight directorial job. AD TIPS: Sell the title and all its implications. "The Sins of the Father Should Not Be Visited Upon the Children!" Put the question to the young people: "Suppose You Were the Child of A Gangster!" Sell Cooper on his past performances in "Boy of the Streets" and "That Certain Age." PIX 'THE STORM* First «< Rates • • for action houses. Hollywood Preview Universal 75 Minutes Charles Bickford, Barton MacLane, Preston Foster, Tom Brown, Nan Grey, Andy Devine, Samuel S. Hinds, Florence Roberts, Jack Mulhall, Helen Gilliland, Stanley Hughes, Joseph Sawyer, Marion Martin, Dorothy Arnold. Directed by Harold Young This is a good old fashioned melodrama neatly pointed to the entertainment appetites of the action fans and male audiences who like their melodrama in large chunks. Screenplay is a honey, laden with action, suspense and plenty of rought and tumble fisticuffs. Acting is top flight, as are the production and direction. Climax, which consists of an operation aboard ship via radio instructions, packs an excellent parting punch. Action Drama This will get above average in the action and smaller situations. Better grade houses will find it a top flight dualler. Bickford is a wireless operator who believes he is sending his brother, Tom Brown, through agricultural school. The kid instead is following in his brother's footsteps. This causes a rift between the two, which is widened when Bickford disapproves of his engagement to Nan Grey, a ship's nurse whom he believes to be a gal of easy virtue. Bickford accepts a shore post, but when he discovers Brown is sailing as an assistant operator, he replaces the top man on a ship captained by Barton MacLane, who knowingly permitted his pal, Preston Foster, to go down on a sinking ship. Grey is also aboard in her professional capacity. A few miles out Brown comes down with acute appendicitis. No doctor is aboard, so Miss Grey performs the operation via radio instructions from a surgeon. It ends satisfactorally and Bickford is reconciled to his brother's forthcoming marriage. The score between Bickford and MacLane is settled ashore. Bickford's performance in this ranks with his best. Less raucous than usual, MacLane also does good work. Preston Foster's few scenes are admirably enacted. Tom Brown and Nan Grey make an engaging romantic team. Andy Devine and Frank Jenks hold down comedy spots ably. Harold Young's direction is punchy, expertly meeting the action requirements of the script. Ken Goldsmith's painstaking production leaves nothing to be desired. AD TIPS: Sell it as red-blooded drama of iron-fisted men. Feature the operation by wireless sequence. HANNA (Hollywood) THE EAST EXPRESS' Engrossing Mgsterg Quickie Rates • • as dualler in action houses Universal 63 Minutes Kent Taylor, Dorothea Kent, Don Brodie, Greta Granstedt, Paul Hurst, Samuel Lee, Albert Shaw, Edward Raquello, Robert Emmett Keane, Charles Trowbridge, Addison Richards Directed by Otis Garrett While it is quite an engrossing little fable about subway trains, crooked politicians, detectives and murders, THE LAST EXPRESS rates only secondary billing in action houses. Reasons: A nameless cast and obviously quickie production values. The fast moving plot has been cleverly enough contrived to hold attention and the performances are more than adequate. Murder mystery fans will like it plenty, but it needs strong feature support to mean anything at the b.o. The yarn concerns the exploits of private detectives Kent Taylor and Don Brodie, who are called in by the district attorney when he uncovers connivance between politicians and gangdom. The dicks are assigned the job of recovering a batch of official papers stolen from City Hall files. They encounter a couple of murders and are constantly in danger of being nabbed by the mobsters, as well as by the city police. However, after the special prosecutor himself is murdered, the detectives recover the papers in an abandoned old subway station. Taylor does a capable job as the intrepid flatfoot. Dorothea Kent is a routine romantic interest. Shaw and Lee, veteran vaudeville duo, are spotted as dumb detectives for laughs. They are only slightly successful. Director Otis Garrett handled the action and mystery sequences cleverly, but he allowed the plot to get loose in too many spots by injection of extraneous material. BARTON MORE REVIEWS ON PAGE 18