The Film Daily (1938)

1OT DAILY Tuesday, October 4, 1938 -V .V RCVI6UIS Of TH6 Mill FILfllS ■'< t< "That Certain Age" with Deanna Durbin, Melvyn Douglas, Jackie Cooper Universal 95 mins. (HOLLYWOOD PREVIEW) SHOULD PILE UP HEAVY GROSSES AND WIN NEW FOLLOWERS FOR THE STAR. This is a highly pleasing offering that should pile up heavy grosses at the .nation's box-offices and new followers for Deanna Durbin. The star is delightful and makes a step from childhood to adolescence as a talented actress-singer. Edward Ludwig's warm, sympathetic direction injects many human touches, while his long comedy training is an important factor in the guidance of its lighter moments. The picture has been ideally cast, and Joe Pasternak, who has produced all of Deanna's pictures, rates many bows as producer. Melvyn Douglas gives a flawless performance as a noted foreign correspondent, who unknowingly creates the hero worship in Deanna. Jackie Cooper is grand as the youngster, who believes Douglas is in love with Deanna and will take her from him. John Halliday and Irene Rich are a happy choice for the roles of Deanna's parents. Little Juanita Quigley, as Jackie's sister, is a scene-stealer, while Jack Searle, Peggy Stewart, Grant Mitchell and Nancy Carroll round out an excellent cast. Bruce Manning has turned out a very human screenplay based on F. Hugh Herbert's original story. "You're As Pretty as a Picture" is the best of the four songs by Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson. Joseph Valentine's photography is high-grade, while Jack Otterson's settings are worthy of much mention. Douglas comes to the country estate of Halliday, his newspaper employer, for quiet, to write an interesting article on his foreign trip, but his experiences only awaken Deanna's romantic interest in him. She is determined to win him and it is not until Nancy Carroll arrives and gives the impression that she is Douglas' wife that Deanna's infatuation cools. With her crush cold, Jackie Cooper is again the number one "man" in her life. CAST: Deanna Durbin, Melvyn Douglas, Jackie Cooper, Irene Rich, Nancy Carroll, John Halliday, Jack Searle, Juanita Quigley, Peggy Stewart, Charles Coleman, Grant Mitchell. CREDITS: A Joe Pasternak Production. Director, Edward Ludwig; Author, F. Hugh Herbert; Screenplay, Bruce Manning; Cameraman, Joseph Valentine, ASC; Art Director, Jack Otterson, Associate, John Ewing; Editor, Bernard W. Burton; Musical Director, Charles Previn; Music by Jimmy McHugh and Lyrics by Harold Adamson; Vocal Supervisor, Charles Henderson; Orchestrations, Frank Skinner; Sound, Bernard B. Brown. DIRECTION, Swell. PHOTOGRAPHY, Fine. Tearle Funeral Held West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Funeral services for Conway Tearle, 60, stage and screen star, were held privately yesterday. He is survived by his widow, the former Adele Rowland. "The Arkansas Traveler" with Bob Burns, Fay Bainter, John Beal, Irvin S. Cobb Paramount 83 mins. (HOLLYWOOD PREVIEW) VERY GOOD DOWN-TO-EARTH ENTERTAINMENT ON SMALL TOWN LIFE SHOULD CLICK BIG AT B.O. When Bob Burns hops off the freight train to become the printer on the small town newspaper that Fay Bainter is operating, a picture opens that develops into some very good down-to-earth entertainment on small town life. Its humor, drama, and interesting characters should make it the sort of fare that is well liked, and its box-office returns should be gratifying. This is especially true among the Bob Burns fans for his homely philosophies fit into this sort of thing in fine style and Bob proves himself a first rate dramatic actor in a role that requires plenty of ability. This picture should do a lot in building up his following. John Beai carries a very important assignment and turns in a splendid performance in another part that demanded a very good actor. Fay Bainter, who has achieved a high standing as one of the best of character actresses, maintains that position with her fine work, and Jean Parker makes the most of a few emotional scenes to prove her value. The cast is not a large one but every player has a worthwhile role, all of them very well handled. Irvin S. Cobb makes the sheriff a most likeable person, the heavies, and well played, are Lyle Talbot and Porter Hall, and the kid, a grand little actor, is Dickie Moore. Jack Cunningham authored this very enjoyable story. His characters are well drawn and the plot development is highly interesting. Viola Brothers Shore and George Sessions Perry wrote the screenplay which has some well worked out situations and very appropriate dialogue. Alfred Santell, the director, conveyed the material to the screen for the excellent results obtained. His pacing is very good, and in a production where characterizations are all important, his handling of the players is noteworthy. George Arthur produced. When Bob Burns hops off the freight train to assist as printer on Fay Bainter's paper, because he knew of the high standards for which her husband stood, he quickly manages to lose a lot of business for the paper. He also gets John Beal to help him on the paper and also in the civic trouble which he stirs up. Lyle Talbot seems to be mixed up in every business in the town and he wants the paper to further his interests, especially a dam proposition which Beal knows will cost the people a lot of money with no benefits. Miss Bainter loses the paper but in the meantime, Bob has been able to build a radio station which defeats Talbot's interests. The John BealJean Parker romance blossoms into a wedding, and Miss Bainter with the help of the sheriff persuades Bob that a man is necessary around the house and the radio station. CAST: Bob Burns, Fay Bainter, John "South of Arizona" with Charles Starrett Columbia 55 mins. ORIGINAL STORY AND SURPRISE CLIMAX PUTS THIS OVER NICELY AS EXCITING WESTERN. The cards are stacked against the hero, Charles Starrett, right from the start, and all through the footage the outlaw gang acting under cover with a fake Ranger and a crooked banker in the town seem to have the best of it. This forces the hero to fight every inch of the way, and keeps the audience properly keyed up rooting for the time when Starrett can come out on top. Because of this story construction favoring the bandit crowd, the film gets considerably away from the routine of the action westerns. Starrett is a ranch owner highly regarded, until the killing of a ranger sent in to run down a rustling crowd is made to appear his work. Meanwhile the undercover gang chief posing as a respectable banker has had the Ranger bumped off so that his killer can pose as the law man and keep the rustling racket still operating profitably. There is some good romance worked in with the arrival of the murdered Ranger's sister who plays an active part in the proceedings as both sides try to keep her in custody. The climax is unusually good, with a very original twist worked in as the hero gets the ranchers to meet in the town hall to take action against the rustlers, and then Starrett and his boys stand guard outside, and tell all hands who are innocent of wrongdoing to come on out, and promising to plug any guilty man who steps over the doorway. This leaves the gang self-exposed, as they dare not move outside the door. Good harmony by quintette in western songs. CAST: Charles Starrett, Iris Meredith, Bob Nolan, Dick Curtis, Robert Fiske, Edward Cobb, Art Mix. CREDITS: Director, Sam Nelson; Author, Bennet R. Cohen; Screenplay, same. DIRECTION, Very Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. Ulsters Resign ITO Posts, Taylor, Walker Fill Gaps Toronto — At the first meeting of the newly-elected directorate of the Independent Theaters' Association of Ontario, S. Ulster, vice-president, and B. Ulster, treasurer, tendered their resignations due to press of business. N. A. Taylor, vice-president last year, was again named, while Thomas Walton was elected treasurer. Beal, Irvin S. Cobb, Jean Parker, Lyle Talbot, Dickie Moore, Porter Hall. CREDITS: Producer, George M. Arthur; Director, Alfred Santell; Author, Jack Cunningham; Screenplay, Viola Brothers Shore and George Sessions Perry; Cameraman, Leo Tover; Editor, Paul Weatherwax; Art Directors, Hans Dreier and Earl Hendrick; Musical Director, Boris Morros. DIRECTION, Excellent. PHY, Very Good. PHOTOGRA "Slander House" with Adrianne Ames, Craig Reynolds Progressive 65 mins. GOOD OLD HOKE FOR THE FAMILY TRADE WILL GO GOOD IN THE NA"ES. This offering is right down the grfjve for the nabe houses, and a pushover for the humble family trade. It is not a Class "A" by any manner of figuring, but with all its amateurishness in story and acting it rates a good Class "B" because it treats of the things that the rank and file of moviegoers in the popular ranks go for — socking the upper classes and showing that the boy and gal from Tenth Avenoo are as good as any on Park Avenue. That is its main appeal. The sets are unusually good, with most of the action taking place in a beauty conditioning plant for the ladies of the idle rich class, run by Adrianne Ames. She is the girl who started over on Tenth Avenue, and she meets a young gambler (Craig Reynolds) who came from there, too. Meanwhile she has got herself engaged to a doctor (George Meeker), who comes from the society crowd. The story and the action are pretty crudely thrown together, and the director has evidently followed this script closely, for the material jumps around episodically from slapstick to near-tragedy without much coherence. But the human interest stuff is there with the society dames in the beauty factory tearing the reputation of other dames to threads and almost causing the suicide of one elderly lady as she sits in a compartment and hears the cats talk about her husband's infidelity. There is some good comedy business thrown in without much reference to the plot. Adrianne Ames lifts the rather cheap play by dignified acting. Craig Reynolds is an obnoxious smart aleck, but that's the way they wrote the part for him. He wins the girl, of course, he being from Tenth Avenue. The Tenth Avenue type of folk will go for it. Intelligent audiences will no doubt walk out on it. CAST: Adrianne Ames, Craig Reynolds, Esther Ralston, George Meeker, Pert Kelton, William Newell, Dorothy Vaughn, Edward Keane, Vivien Oakland, Ruth Gillette. CREDITS: Director, Charles Lamont; Authors, Gertrude Orr, John W. Krafft; Screenplay, same; Cameraman, M. A. Andersen. DIRECTION, Weak. PHOTOGRAPHY, Okay. Providence Film Theaters Recover from Storm, Flood Providence — Houses here that were hit by the recent hurricane reopened over the week-end after being closed 10 days. Following recession of flood waters, theaters were cleaned up, but no power was available until Saturday. Boston — The Orpheum Theater in Somerville, operated by W. M. Peterson, will reopen within six weeks. Extensive repairs have been made necessary by the hurricane.