The Film Daily (1939)

luesday, April 25, 1939 IKE DAILY V REVIEWS OF TH€ n€UJ fILmSff "Calling Dr. Kildare" with Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, Laraine Day G-M 86 Mins (HOLLYWOOD PREVIEW) SWELL KILDAIRE PIX WITH HUMOR NOL. NDERNESS WILL DO BIZ FOR ALL HE/mERS. This "Dr. Kildare" need never have been sequel, it can well stand on its own merits, has all the humor and tenderness that any cture would require. Lew Ayres, as young r. Kildare, and Lionel Barrymore, as Dr. illespie, did excellent jobs in their respecve parts. Harold S. Bucquet did a fine job : directing, with a good piece of story aterial in the original by Max Brand and reenplay by Harry Ruskin and Willis Gold?ck. Lew Ayres, as the young doctor, has s ins-and-outs with Lionel Barrymore, yres, a young stubborn interne, and Barmore an old soft-hearted but hard-crusted tysician go to work again, the older man to ach the younger man the tricks and imnrance of human nature and the diagnosis a patient's ills. Samuel Hinds and Emma tnn are very likeable in the roles of ' yres' parents. This particular picture deals ; ' ith a suspected murderer, whom the young • jctor patches up and makes no report of, :cause he has a feeling that the kid is nocent. Ayres gets involved with the '■< d's sister (Lana Turner) and with the aid -•'■ : Nat Pendleton, the ambulance driver, ^ets the real murderer and finds out through , ,ie manipulations of Barrymore that the Mister of the kid was using him. The picl|i ire closes with an easy opening for the *ext in the series. Lynne Carver, George fferman, Jr., and Bobs Watson, Walter ingsford, Alma Kruger, Harlan Briggs and hers in the cast contributed excellent supi jrt. The photography by Alfred Gilks and 3ster White was good. This picture will ease all who see it and there is no doubt B lat the theaters that book it will do busies. M-G-M has a good piece of property "Dr. Kildare." CAST: Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, araine Day, Nat Pendleton, Lana Turner, jmuel S. Hinds, Lynne Carver, Emma Dunn, /alter Kingsford, Alma Kruger, Bobs Wat' in, Harlan Briggs, Henry Hunter, Marie ' lake, Phillip Terry, Roger Converse, Donald arry, Reed Hadley, Nell Craig, George fferman, Jr., Clinton Rosemond, Johnny /alsh. CREDITS: Director, Harold S. Bucquet; uthor, Max Brand; Screenplay, Harry Rusn, Willis Goldbeck; Cameramen, Alfred ilks, Lester White; Art Director, Cedric ibbons; Associate, Gabriel Scognamillo; ditor, Robert J. Kern; Musical Score, David " nell. PHOTOGRAPHY, 'Stolen Life' hell. DIRECTION, -ood. Fine. Arthur Block Dead u Arthur Block, treasurer of the J! Vindsor Theater and producer of '■ he Yiddish film, "Cantor's Son," ied Sunday. He is survived by his 'idow, a son, two sisters, and a rother, Jesse Block. Syracuse Falls in Line Syracuse, N. Y.— This city, a oldout for years, joins the daylight avers Sunday as a result of an nofficial referendum. with Elisabeth Bergner and Michael Redgrave Para. -Orion 90 Mins. (HOLLYWOOD PREVIEW) FINE PIX EXCELLENTLY ACTED WILL CLICK BEST WITH FEMMES AND SOPHISTICATES. There is but one word to use that will cover the production and acting in "Stolen Life" and that is excellent. The production and direction by Paul Czinner are fine. The original by K. J. Benes and the adaptation by Margaret Kennedy are good pieces of work, and the acting by Elisabeth Bergner is exceptional. Michael Redgrave does a grand job as the male lead. Pix will score heaviest with a sophisticated audience. It should do a big business with the women who enjoy this type of entertainment. Elisabeth Bergner plays a dual role, that of twin sisters. One sister is very sympathetic, while the other one is hard and grabbing. Martina, the sympathetic one, meets Redgrave on the side of a Swiss Mountain, and he is immediately enamored of her. She finds out all about him but she discloses nothing of herself. Later he meets Sylvina at the postoffice in the Alpine village and thinks she is Martina. Sylvina invites him to the hotel for lunch and the identity of the twins is disclosed. Redgrave marries Sylvina. Martina is in love with Redgrave but does nothing about it. He goes on a mountain climbing expedition, and Martina goes to visit Sylvina. The girls go out in a sail boat and a storm comes up, Sylvina is drowned, and Martina decides to take her place with Redgrave. It turns out that Sylvina was not a faithful wife and Martina has some difficulties. It also happens that Redgrave knows about the actions of his wife and when hS returns from the expedition tells her that he is going to divorce her. He feels that she is different and not the girl he married and in the end she discloses her identity to him in a very lovely love scene. The photography in the picture is an excellent job. The supporting cast all played their parts very well. Paramount has a fine piece of property in this Orion production. CAST: Elisabeth Bergner, Michael Redgrave, Wilfrid Lawson, Mabel Terry Lewis, Richard Ainlev, Kenneth Buckley, Cyril Horrocks, O. B. Clarence, John Lloyd, Roy Russell, Oliver Johnston, H. Regus, Devina Craid, Dorothy Dewhurst, Fewlass Llewellyn, Paulette Preney, Ernest Ferney, Stella Arbenina, Kaye Seely, Pierre Jouvenet, Dorice Fordred, Cot O'Ordan, Annie Esmond, D. J. Williams, Clement McCallin, Gayenne Micheladze, Cyril Chamberlain. CREDITS: Producer, Paul Czinner; Director, same; Author, K. J. Benes; Screenplay, Margaret Kennedy. DIRECTION, Fine. PHOTOGRAPHY, Excellent. Dies In Auto Accident Richmond, Va. — Katherine Mebane Fridley, cashier, National Theater, was killed in an auto accident near Hanover Courthouse. William Randall Dead Elizabeth, N. J. — William Randall, 62, who appeared in many early movies, radio skits and authored mystery stories, died here. "Streets of Missing Men" with Charles Bickford, Harry Carey Republic 63 Mins. GOOD MELLER OF GANGSTER'S REGENERATION WITH STRONG PERFORMANCE BY BICKFORD. Distinguished by the strong characterization of Charles Bickford as a convict released from prison, coming back to seek revenge against the man whose newspaper sent him to jail as a racketeering gangster. Harry Carey plays the part of the newspaper owner. There is a gang chief (Ralph Graves) who is trying to wreck the newspaper because of its expose of the racketeer's alliance with crooked city officials. Bickford is prevented from killing the publisher by the arrival of the latter's wife. In conversation, Carey makes him a proposition to take charge of his distribution, feeling that he has won the gangster over. But Bickford is just playing along, now determined to ruin his business through an alliance with the gang chief. But events intervene to hold him up from day to day, after he has made a deal with the racket czar. There is also the business of his friendship with a youngster who is a newsboy selling the paper of the man he hates. The climax works up to some metier thrills with Bickford plotting to destroy the newspaper plant as he attaches a bomb that will explode as the switch is thrown on for the power. Meanwhile the gang chief has decided to take matters into his own hands, and sends his men in to start a fire. This brings the publisher to the plant, also the now repentant ex-convict, who has just found out that the man he hates has been his real friend all the time, and he rushes to the burning building and makes a spectacular rescue of his benefactor, sacrificing his own life but redeeming himself. CAST: Charles Bickford, Harry Carey, Tommy Ryan, Mabel Todd, Guinn Williams, Nana Bryant, Ralph Graves, John Gallaudet, Regis Toomey. CREDITS: Producer, Armand Schaefer; Director, Sidney Salkow; Authors, Eleanor Griffen, William Rankin; Screenplay, Frank Dolan, Leonard Lee; Cameraman, Ernest Miller; Editor, Ernest Nims. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. Vitaphone's Brooklyn Studio Shooting Shorts While shorts production has been curtailed at Warners' Vitaphone plant in Brooklyn, in keeping with company's recently announced policy, studio nevertheless is by no means ceasing operations altogether, as has been rumored. Current shorts production will be carried on at least until the middle of May, and perhaps longer, it is learned. Present program there embraces completion of the Floyd Gibbons shorts, "Your True Adventure" series, plus some 10 shorts in the "Color Parade" group, the latter being turned out by Ira Genet's unit. Additionally, two directors are continuing on the lot, as is the cutting room staff. The laboratory as announced, continues operations. TRUE STORIES FROM ALTEC FILES NED (DOC) RAFALSKI, General Manager of Bland Bros. Theatres, Chicago, III. Exhibitor Finds Quick Diagnosis "Plain Miracle" CHICAGO— "We were playing to a good business on a Tuesday matinee in the Olympia Theatre, when for a reason we couldn't find, the sound went dead on our No. 1 machine," said Doc Rafalski, General Manager of Bland Bros. Theatres. "We called Altec, and C. G. Bosworth promptly arrived at the theatre. He immediately discovered there was no voltage in the photo-electric cell, resulting from a broken connection in a coupling unit. "Bosworth had the No. 1 machine functioning normally in a few minutes. It was only necessary to double up on the No. 2 machine twice from the time he got to my theatre. "The uncanny way the Altec man instantly puts his finger on what is wrong may be the result of engineering ability, but it's just a plain miracle to me." Exhibitors whose theatres are protected by an Altec Service inspector's regular visits have greater peace of mind. They can devote their full energies to problems claiming their undistracted attention. Write to THE SERVICE ORGANIZATION OF THE MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY