The Film Daily (1940)

9 '^''5Juesday, June 18, 1940 IHI' DAILY "New Moon" th Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy pro|)}(etro 105 Mins. (HOLLYWOOD PREVIEW) "1 4lDEAL MacDONALD EDDY VEHICLE I0ULD4,-"^CK EASILY AND HEAVILY mg iratiti )■ at ii 6, id sit wk lajoi 11 an ^ i^ REVIEWS OF THE REU) FlimS i^ <i FTHE" I [With the picturization of "New Moon," .over Come Back To Me," "Wanting You," )ne Kiss" and "Stout Hearted Men" are ain heard to advantage. "New Moon" }an ideal vehicle for Jeanette MacDonald |d Nelson Eddy, and the stars, furnishing los and duets, have never sung better, any bows are due Robert Z. Leonard, 10 guided the picture as producer and •ector. Mary Boland, George Zucco, H. B. Warner, 'aniey Fields and Grant Mitchell are among e principals. Jacques Deval and Robert thur fashioned the screenplay, based on 'e operetta. Herbert Stothart handled the usical direction very effectively. Eddy a French nobleman, who rebels against °e methods used by the Government in aling with the masses. Using another me, he comes to New Orleans as one a number of Frenchmen who are to i auctioned off as slaves. On board, Jean!te, a spoiled French aristocrat, meets Eddy id does not realize he is in trouble. In New Orleans, where Jeanette is to ake her home, one of her representatives lys Eddy and he becomes her valet. Eddy lid his fellow Frenchmen overpower the Jew of a boat, which had been sent in arch of Eddy. To her surprise, Jeanette, rj\o had planned a short and quick return aris, finds herself on the boat comIjanded by Eddy. The boat encounters a Jlil ^vere storm, gets off the course and lands i human cargo on an uncharted island. Jere, Jeanette is forced to drop her (iistocratic manners and work hard along i|th her fellow passengers. She tries to eep from falling in love with Eddy — [it this is very difficult. Of course, the jcture ends happily, with Eddy and Jean(|j he in each other's arms. ;B (CAST: Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, yl; Jary Boland, George Zucco, H. B. Warner, rant Mitchell, Stanley Fields, Richard Purell, John Mijjan, Ivan Simpson, William iannen, Bunty Cutler, Claude King, Cecil ?|-unningham, Joe Yule, George Irving, Ed'[in Maxwell, Paul E. Burns, Rafael Storm, Vinifred Harris, Robert Warwick. CREDITS: Producer-Director, Robert Z. sonard; Based on operetta "New Moon"; ook and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, rank Mandel and Laurence Schwab; Music, igmund Romberg; Screenplay, Jacques Deval id Robert Arthur; Cameraman, William aniels; Art Director, Cedric Gibbons; Assoiate, Eddie Imazu; Musical Director, Herert Stothart, Dances, Val Raset; Editor, arold F. Kress. DIRECTION, Excellent. PHOTOGRAPHY, ery Good. |4rs. L. Jacqueline Dead Brownsville, Pa. — Mrs. L. Jacqueine, mother of Mrs. George Moody, yho is a partner oin the ownership }{ the Plaza, Bison and Strand TheJters, died after a lingering illness, uneral services were held in Char2roi. "Pop Always Pays" with Leon Errol, Dennis O'Keefe, Adele Pearce RKO Radio 66 Mins. (HOLLYWOOD PREVIEW) FAST-MOVING COMEDY WINS LAUGHS IN ABUNDANCE. ERROL WAS NEVER FUNNIER. This offering is built solely for laughs — and wins them in abundance. Director Leslie Goodwins has turned in an expert job, keeping the comedy moving fast and getting full value from all the situations. To Bert Gilroy goes important credit as producer. Leon Errol has never been funnier and provokes merriment, ranging from titters to belly laughs. Two other veteran comedians, Walter Catlett and Tom Kennedy, also score with their antics and capers. Dennis O'Keefe is excellent in a breezy role, while Adele Pearce is decorative and capable as the love interest opposite him. Marjorie Gateson gives a fine performance as Errol's wife, knowing and tolerating his tendencies to boast and get into jams. Robert Middlemass, Effie Anderson and Erskine Sanford round out a splendid cast. Charles E. Roberts concocted a very amusing screenplay, based on an original story by Arthur J. Beckhard. In a boastful, reckless moment, Errol promises his prospective son-in-law, O'Keefe, that the moment O'Keefe saves $1,000, he will give him an equal sum. Then Errol's troubles start. O'Keefe manages, by various methods, to save the specified sum, but Errol finds that his own bank account is much less than $1,000. He issues a "rubber" check, but his wife, Marjorie, manages to retrieve it, and with some maneuvering causes everything to end happily. CAST: Leon Errol, Dennis O'Keefe, Adele Pearce. Walter Catlett, Marjorie Gateson, Tom Kennedy, Robert Middlemass, Effie Anderson, Erskine Sanford. CREDITS: Executive Producer, Lee Marcus; Producer, Bert Gilroy; Director, Leslie Goodwins; Author, Arthur J. Beckhard; Screenplay, Charles E. Roberts; Cameraman, Jack Mackenzie; Art Director, Van Nest Polglase; Associate, Albert D'Agostino; Editor, Desmond Marquette; Musical Director, Paul Sawtell. DIRECTION, Expert. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. V. C. Fetes "Duke" Clark Cleveland — Variey Club sponsored a farewell testimonial dinner last night in honor of H. R. "Duke" Clark who leaves the local Paramount managerial post the end of the month to take over the Paramount exchange in Los Angeles. Nat Wolf, Warner zone manager and Bert Stearn, UA district manager were in charge of arrangements. DuBose Heyward Dead Tryon, N. C. — DuBose Heyward, 54, author of "Porgy," died of a heart attack. Funeral services will be held today. "Passport To Alcatraz" with Jack Holt, Noah Beery, Jr., Cecilia Callejo Columbia 60 Mins. SABOTEURS AND PASSPORT FAKERS PROVIDE ACTION AND SUSPENSE IN TIMELY RELEASE. With the country conscious of spies, saboteurs and passport fakers due to numerous headlines on the subjects, this new Columbia release should get a good audience reception. Picture has quite a bit of suspense and moves along at a brisk pace. Jack Holt ably portrays a crack police investigator. He is abetted by a good cast which includes, Noah Beery, Jr., Cecilia Callejo, Maxie Rosenbloom, C. Henry Gordon and Guy Usher. Lewis D. Collins directed from an original screenplay by Albert DeMond. Holt is assigned to track down a ring faking passports to bring in undesirable aliens. He works his way into the ring, can't find out who the higher assigned to a job, with Gordon, one of the heads, believing him to be an agent recently arrived in this country. Holt, however, despite his success with the ring, can't find out who the higher up is that gives orders to Gordon. With the aid of Beery and Miss Callejo, one of Gordons' workers who agrees to assist the Government, Holt learns of a sabotage plot. He and his men clean out the gang and at the same time uncover the identity of the ring's mastermind in a fast-moving climax. CAST: Jack Holt, Noah Beery, Jr., Cecilia Callejo, C. Henry Gordon, Guy Usher, Clay Clement, Ivan Lebedeff, Ben Welden, Robert Fiske, Harry Cording. CREDITS: Produced by Columbia; Director, L. D. Collins; Original Screenplay, Albert DeMond; Cameraman, James S. Brown; Editor, Dwight Caldwell. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. "The Lone Wolf Meets A Lady" with Warren William, Jean Muir, Eric Blore Columbia 7] Mins. MYSTERY MELLER HAS ABLE CAST AND BRISK ACTION WITH PLENTY OF SUSPENSE. Better than the average run of mystery mellers, this release should please audiences generally. It has a good plot, well worked out continuity and plenty of suspense up to the ultimate disclosure of the murderer and thief who causes all the trouble. Naturally, the plausibilities of the story must be overlooked to some extent, but audiences will surely do this as the picture will hold their interest. Warren William suavely and effciently portrays the "retired" Lone Wolf, and Eric Blore gives a good account of himself as William's butler, chauffeur, confidant and handy man. Jean Muir, Roger Pryor, Warren Hull, Victor Jory and Thurston Hall supplement the principals convincingly. Sidney Salkow does a nice directorial job. Miss Muir, a working girl engaged to millionaire Warren Hull, is robbed of a necklace she is to wear to a party by her husband, Roger Pryor, whom "Wild Horse Range" with Jack Randall, Frank Yaconelli, Tom London Monogram 58 Mins. ROUTINE WESTERN HAS SUFFICIENT ACTION TO MAKE IT OKAY WITH COWBOY FANS. There is a sufficient amount of action, riding and gun play in this release to make it okay with the western fans. The story revolves around the racket of selling stolen horses. Jack Randall and his sidekick, Frank Yaconelli, head the cast. A goodly crew of bad men are in the film, headed by Tom London. Female roles are handled by Phyllis Ruth and Marion Sais. Randall and Yaconelli are consistently being undersold by another horse trader, London. Randall suspects the horses are stolen, but can't prove it. During his investigations he comes to a ranch owned by Miss Sais, who has her young niece, Pnyllis Ruth, living with her. Randall offers to investigate a wild stallion that is supposedly stealing the horses and eventually uncovers the whole ring of rustlers, with the rustlers headed for jail and Randall headed for matrimony as the picture winds UPCAST: Jack Randall, Frank Yaconelli, Phyllis Ruth, Marion Sais, Ralph Hoopes, Forrest Taylor, Charles King, Tom London, George Chesebro, Carl Mathews, Steve Clark. CREDITS: Producer, Harry S. Webb; Director, Raymond K. Johnson; Screenplay, Carl Krusada; Cameramen, E. A. Kull and William Hyer; Editor, Robert Golden. DIRECTION, OK. PHOTOGRAPHY, O.K. James, Syracuse, Gives Schines Another Nabe Syracuse, N. Y. — Schine circuit now has its second nabe house here, acquiring the James, Eastwood, from James Constantino. House is now closed for the summer. For the last year or so, Schine has had the Palace, also serving Eastwood. Understood neither of the nabes is involved in the Schine-RKO pool here, she believed dead. However, Pryor is murdered in her apartment and she runs out in the street not knowing what to do. William almost knocks her down in his car and takes up the cudgel for her. A carefully rehearsed explanation of the crime goes astray and William has to track down the killer himself, which he does, with considerable excitement ensuing until the killer is caught. CAST: Warren William, Eric Blore, Jean Muir, Warren Hull, Thurston Hall, Victor Jory, Roger Pryor, Fred A. Kelsey, Robert Emmet Keane, Georgia Caine, William Forrest, Maria Shelton, Bruce Bennett. CREDITS: Producer, Ralph Cohn; Director, Sidney Salkow; Screenplay, John Larkin; Based upon a novel by Louis Joseph Vance; Cameraman, Henry Freulich; Editor, Al Clark. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good.