The Film Daily (1939)

3$ DAILY Monday, November 20, 1939 # :< REVIEWS Of THE DEW flLfTlS :< .V "That's Right— You're Wrong" with Kay Kyser and Adolphe Menjou RKO Radio 93 Mins. (HOLLYWOOD PREVIEW) HIGHLY ENJOYABLE PIX WITH FRESH SLANT SHOULD CLICK AT THE BOXOFFICE. David Butler set out to produce a Kay Kyser picture and he did it. Except for spotting a few Hollywood players to help carry the story, the affair is all Kay Kyser and his band including Ginny Simms, Harry Babbitt, Sully Mason and Ish Kabibble. As such it is a fresh, highly enjoyable show which should click at the box-office. Laughs are the objective and this it achieves well. The first half of the piece can only be termed pleasing, that is what may be termed the studio period. But then Kyser becomes Kyser, and the affair takes on wow proportions with Kyser doing a terrific slapstick screen test, and a broadcast just as it would be over the air. His millions of fans should certainly want to see just how it's done. The show has five good musical production numbers of which "Chatterbox" and "The Answer Is Love" stand out. Kyser is always Kyser, a most likeable sort of a chap and a splendid entertainer. His band is excellent, as are his featured performers. Ginny Simms sings beautifully and Harry Babbitt's vocalizing is tops. Among the Hollywood contingent, Edward Everett Horton and Hobart Cavanaugh are swell as a couple of writers, as is May Robson, as the grandmother. Adolphe Menjou, Lucille Ball, Dennis O'Keefe and Moroni Olsen have the other roles of note. David Butler directed so that things are always moving. He and William Conselman wrote the story which is novel in that the audience is taken into the plot developments as the situations take place. Conselman and James V. Kern did the screenplay which furnished Kyser and his outfit the layout on which to give the masses the sort of entertainment they should like. The story has Kyser receiving a Hollywood offer. He is reluctant about accepting, but the band wants to go, and finally Kyser agrees. In Hollywood, the gang "goes Hollywood," and to put the fellows in line, Kyser "out-Hollywood's" them. As things develop, the picture isn't made much to Kyser's satisfaction, and when the boys see what "going Hollywood" looks like, they have Kyser kidnaped and returned to his radio job where they all agree they really belong. CAST: Kay Kyser, Adolphe Menjou, May Robson, Lucille Ball, Dennis O'Keefe, Edward Everett Horton, Roscoe Karns, Moroni Olsen, Hobart Cavanaugh, Ginny Simms, Harry Babbitt, Sully Mason, Ish Kabibble, Dorothy Levett, Lillian West, Denis Tankard, Jane Goude, Kathryn Adams, Effie Parnell, Charles Doehrer. CREDITS: Producer, David Butler; Director, David Butler; Authors, David Butler and William Conselman; Screenplay, William Conselman and James V. Kern; Cameraman, Russell Metty, ASC; Special Effects, Vernon L. Walker, ASC; Art Director, Van Nest Polglase; Associate, Carroll Clark; Editor, Irene Morra; Musical Arrangements by George Dunning. DIRECTION. Swell. PHOTOGRAPHY, Very Good. "Rovin' Tumbleweeds" with Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Mary Carlisle Republic 64 Mins. FLOODS, SONGS, POLITICS AND FLYING FISTS IN RAPID ORDER SHOULD PLEASE THE AUTRY FANS. Although this is not the best of the Autry series, his fans will undoubtedly like it. He sings pleasingly, swaps punches and serves as a crusading congressman for the cowpunchers flooded out of their fertile vallev by heavy rains. Autry is supported by Smiley Burnette and a capable cast, with Mary Carlisle attractive as the femme interest. Douglas Dumbrille is a good villain. If for no other reason the picture is notable in bringing William Farnum back to the screen in a small bit which he does handsomely by. Floods lay waste the Green River Valley. Autry and the other ranchers migrate to another country, but low wages and opposition to their incursion cause trouble. Autry gets a job singing over a radio network in an effort to support his friends. Opposition to a congressman who had failed to get a necessary flood control bill passed serves as a springboard for Dumbrille to get him into office, unaware that Dumbrille has secretly been opposing the bill. Autry is stymied in Washington and it is not until he returns home and another flood rages that Dumbrille sees the light and agrees to make restitution and help pass the bill. CAST: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Mary Carlisle, Douglas Dumbrille, William Farnum, Lee White, Ralph Peters, Gordon Hart, Vic Potel, Sammy McKim, Jack Ingram, Reginald Barlow, Eddie Kane Guy Usher. CREDITS: Associate Producer, William Berke; Director, George Sherman; Original Screenplay, Betty Burbridge, Dorrell and Stuart McGowan; Cameraman, William Nobles; Editor, Tony Martinelli. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. Sack Closes "Bad Boy" Deal West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Alfred N. Sack, of the Sack Amusement Enterprises, has closed a deal with Dr. Herbert T. Meyer, of Gateway Productions, for distribution of the picture, "Bad Boy," starring Johnny Downs and Rosalind Keith, for the territories Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas out of their Dallas office, and the eight Southeastern states out of Atlanta, and for the Chicago and St. Louis territories. Peter Gorris Dead Pittsburgh — Peter Gorris, who for many years has operated the Star Theater in Glassport, Pa., is dead after a lingering illness. He is survived by his widow and three children. Joyce Dead in Detroit Detroit — Harry L. Joyce, head of American Amplifying Apparatus, handling theatrical sound installations, is dead. "Heroes In Blue" with Dick Purcell, Charles Quigley, Frank Sheridan Monogram 59 Mins. BROTHER VERSUS BROTHER STORY HAS ENOUGH PUNCH TO BE O.K. IN FOP HOUSES. Using the family divided theme, with one brother a policeman and the other a stooge for gangsters, this release has enough punch to be O. K. for the nabe trade. The cast works hard and the story is plausible, although the sentiment gets a little slushy at times. Dick Purcell is convincing as the policeman and Charles Quigley fits the role as the gangsters' stooge. Frank Sheridan portrays the father of the family ably and the rest of the cast is capable. Bernadene Hayes is good as Quigley's wife. Quigley goes to a race track to place a bet for his boss, fails to lay the bet and the horse wins. He bets the next race and loses, with a fight resulting between himself and one of the gangster chief's gunmen. The other man is killed and Quigley runs. Purcell is assigned to arrest him. Sheridan is fixed by the gang as their price not to kill his son and they commit several robberies on his beat. Bernadene gets enough information to tip off Purcell as to what's what, and when he cleans up the gang he gets a confession that releases his brother from jail. CAST: Dick Purcell, Bernadene Hayes, Charles Quigley, Frank Sheridan, Edward Keane, Julie Warren, Lillian Elliott. CREDITS: Producer. T. R. Williams; Director, William Watson; Screenplay, C. B. Williams; Based on a story by Charles Curran and C. B. Williams; Cameraman, Harry Neumann. DIRECTION, 0. K. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. 310 Contracts Closed by Warner Chi. Branch Chicago — Warners Chicago Exchange report 310 contracts for seasonal product signed to date in this territory. It is expected that "Elizabeth and Essex" will open at the B & K Chicago theater, early in December. Md. Censors Censor "Hitler" Baltimore— The Maryland State Board of Motion Picture Censors, George Mitchell, chairman, has ordered the name Hitler deleted in the title of the film "Hitler: Beast of Berlin," as well as several scenes before it can be shown in Baltimore and the state. Mrs. Ernest Pascal Dead West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Los Angeles — Mrs. Barbara Herriman Pascal, 31, wife of Ernest Pascal, screen writer and playwright, is dead here, following postoperative complications. She was the daughter of Cartoonist George Herriman. She had one daughter, Dinah, five years old. "Smashing The Money Ring" with Ronald Reagan, Margot Stevenson, Eddie Foy, Jr. Warners 57 Mins. STORY OF FEDERAL AGENTS AND COUNTERFEITERS HAS PLENTY Qc ACTION FOR NABE TRADE. Q3/: With the G-Men having already cleaned up everything in sight in a pictorial fashion, this new Warner film introduces the "T" men, better known as treasury agents. The film has plenty of action, enough suspense and a pleasing cast. It should do nicely as second-feature for the average exhibitor's needs. Ronald Reagan plays the role of a treasury agent competently, and Eddie Foy, Jr., his assistant, is equally good and he also provides a number of laughs. Margot Stevenson is the female interest. Reagan and Foy are assigned by their office to discover the source of a flood of counterfeit money that is being passed in a certain district. Reagan picks up enough information to lead him to believe that the brains of the ring are in a prison. He gets himself locked up, acts tough, participates in a prison break and discovers that the money is being made in the prison right under the noses of the authorities. A wild and wooly finale closes out the career of the counterfeiters and Reagan closes his case. CAST: Ronald Reagan, Eddie Foy, Jr., Margot Stevenson, Joe Downing, Charles D. Brown, Elliott Sullivan, Jje King, Charles W Ison, William Davidson, John Hamilton, Sidney Bracy, Jack Wise, Jack Mower, Don Turner. CREDITS: Produced by Warners; Director, Terry Morse; Original Screenplay, Anthony Coldewey and Raymond Schrock; Cameraman, James Van Trees; Editor, Frank Magee. DIRECTION, Snappy PHOTOGRAPHY Good. u. S. Distribs. Handle 322 of 422 Pix Shown in Peru Lima (By Cable) — Statistics covering the fiscal year ended July 31, last, put the number of features released in the Peruvian market at 422, of which 302 were English dialogue productions distributed by the eight branch offices of U. S. companies, which also distributed 20 features with Spanish dialogue. Approximately 60 pictures were of French, British, German and Italian origin. Argentina attractions were the principal competitors of Hollywood product. Most recent figures available, for the period from Sept. 26, to the end of October, show that slightly more than 70 per cent playing time in the Lima-Callao district went to English dialogue features. Essaness Tries Book Night Chicago — The Essaness circuit will introduce Bank Night in the West End, the Broadway Strand and the Buckingham.