The Film Daily (1928)

a \f unday, August 5, 1928 Short Subject Reviews Silent "Wedded Blisters" Tuxedo — Educational Good Gags rpe of production. . . .2 reel comedy Two very good fun sequences are ►rked in this Tuxedo, the first re,se in the new series. If they all ipe up like this one, exhihitors are j'ng to have something to talk iUt to their patrons who like comy shorts. Wallace Lupino goes out buy his wife a car, and picks up specimen at a used car place. hat follows is a series of incidents lich contain many laughs. A niov; day scene carries situations that 1 collect a lot of hearty chuckles jrwhere. Jules White directed. mcnt with a strange dame there is the devil to pay. Wifie discovers the letter, follows hubby, and gets what she considers all the evidence necessary for a divorce. But it turns out to be just an initiation into the Married Men's Protective Club, and Mike has been carrying on his flirtation with a member of the club disguised as a flapper. The comedy moves very mechanically and the gags seem too forced. Directed by Francis Corby. "Outnumbered" — Fables Pathe Cartoonatics [rpe of production..! reel animated Id Al does a dizzy reel with the t of his Cartoonatics, they being in s instance a swarm of mice who se hob and come near destroying old boy's peace of mind for good. s pal Henry Cat tries to subdue the fee. but they run him around in ccles until he is dizzy. It winds I with Old Al getting real mad and (asing the gang clear over the hill sd out into the open spaces. "The Elephant's Elbows" Animal Comedy Fox Animal Stunts lie of production. .2 reel comedy |The kid who is featured, Laon Itimon, is very pleasing and should Dike a lot of friends. Next in imfrtance is Jocko, the monkey, and 1 does some of the cleverest stunts tit have ever been seen in a com<>■ They work in an elepliant, a lar, and a donkey dolled up with ripes like a zebra. The kids run an .to service station, and use the ;iinals to perform the work. It deilops a lot of comedy in connection >th the unique gags and devices Ut are employed with the animals. Irccted by Clyde Carruth. "Troubles Galore" Cameo — Educational Kitchen Fun Type of production. . . .1 reel comedy Monty Collins is given the opportunity to work some new gags in the old business of the comedian who has to prepare a meal for the family. Monty is a barber, and when he visits his girl's house, he is passed ofif by her as a chef as her folks dislike barbers. Monty prepares a turkey by shaving it with a brush and razor, and does other goofy things, all good for laughs. The final shot shows the turkey blowing up at the table, and all the guests are seen with parts of the fowl in their mouths as the picture fades out. Cameo takes a spurt for the better on this one. ! "Skyscrapers" Winkler — Universal Clever rpe of production..! reel animated Oswald gets a chance to show his ill as a construction hand on a W building. Walt Disney has »rked up some exceptionally clever rtoon material with a steam shovel d a donkey engine that are almost man. In fact they look like live iatures, and their expressions and tions are highly amusing. This 5wald cartoon is a good number ituring some fine cartoon ingen y The Lofty Andes — Variety Fox Beautiful Type of production..! reel novelty Some very gorgeous views of the Andes bordering on Ecuador are presented, with the lofty snow-capped peaks buried high in the clouds. The native Indian life is shown, and some interesting views of the ancient city of Quito. Here we see the splendid cathedral and a quiet monastery. Altogether the scenic shots are unusual, and make this an outstanding number of its type. Sound I Husbands Won't Tell"— Mike and Ike — Universal Secret Society 'pe of production. . . .2 reel comedy Mike has a jealous wife, and when Richard Botielli — Movietone Operatic Type of production. . Sound Picture Richard Bonelli of the Chicago Opera Company sings an aria from "The Barber of Seville," and hi;, rendition is admirable and gets over clear and strong. The accompanying orchestration seemed too heavy in spots, and it was only the powerful voice of the singer that enabled him to surmount it. Bonelli can act as well as sing, a rare thing in an operatic star. Where opera is appreciated, this will make a decided hit. "Glorifying the American Song" Vitaphone Song Trio Type of production. .Sound Picture The Three Brox Sisters give a selection of popular songs including "1 Just Roll Along," "Together," and "Sunshine." The girls are dressed in white and their voices le his neighbor gives him a secret sound generally flat and mechanical, ter telling him to keep an appoint I They do their stuff without any evi dence of personality and the glorifynig seems to be all in the picture title. .\ total loss where you have to figure an audience that is accustomed lo good vocalizing. Runs about six minutes. It's enough. "The Swell Head" — Vitaphone Comedy Skit Type of production. .Sound Picture This gets over well as a two-reeler of backstage life. It is stronger on atmosphere and business than on actual comedy, but at that the laughs are there. Bessie Love and Eddie Foy Jr. are featured. They both do good work and register strong. Bessie is a natural for these short talkers, and her voice registers nicely. Foy appears as her ham partner in an act, and he has the swell head. When he flops, the old stage doorman brings him to his senses with a very human talk that is one of the best bits of the offering. Then Foy goes out and puts the act over big, with the sentimental stuff with his partner following. Nothing new, only the way that Foy and Bessie handle it. The backstage business will give the small towners a kick. The sound effects are principally those of the audience razzing or applauding the cat. Instrumental background is used for the dialogue. The skit was written by Hugh Herbert. Directed bv Brvan Foy. DUy nDs wmcM lOAn oouabs rjc swtwmen "Finders Keepers" (Universal) Tied up with tiie newspapers lo put over a want ad slogan contest. The newspaper gave 12.3 inch":, of advertising space o t'lj con'.f.st in addition to art work and special publicity. A similarity contest was also planned. The girl most resembling Laura La Plante was given a theater party. The want ad slogan prizes were awarded those who submitted the best slogans for advertising the Want Ad department of the newspaper.— H. A. Addison, Great Lakes, Buffalo, N. Y. "The Song of the Builder" Paramount Noise Symphony Type of production. . . .Sound Picture This is a screen version of one of Edgar Guest's poems, and tells in a sort of symphony of noise the story of the steel worker on the skyscrapers. As the words of the poem are thrown on the screen, they are heard audibly from the disc record. The construction sounds familiar in skyscraper work are heard distinctly and realistically. The steady pound of the drills, hammers, rivets is impressive at first but inclined to get monotonous before the reel is over. As a novelty it will ride. The Paramount-Publix music department handles the synchronization. "The Star Witness"— Movietone Courtroom Sketch Type of ijroduction .. Sound Picture Chic Sale and company jsrescnt a courtroom skit that would be better if it were tightened up and strung through less footage. Chic takes the part of a hick railroad employee who is summoned as a witness in a railroad accident. The comedy comes on Chic's manner of rambling off into personal reminiscences every time the lawyer for the plaintiff asks him a question. Some of the laughs click, but many take a decided nose dive. His testimony succeeds in winning the case for the railroad. A good laugh comes at the end when his attorney congratulates him for sticking to his story about swinging his lantern exactly 24 times, and Chic confides that he was afraid he was going to be asked another question. "What was that?" says the lawyer. And Chic replies: "Was it LIT?" Chic Sale's name, where known, may put it over. "Laugh, Clown, Laugh" (M-G-M) Arranged for a street ballyhoo, a truck, with a piano on it, a song plugger singing the number, the plugger made up as a clown and four kids made up as clowns, distributing heralds among the crowds who gather when the truck stopped at different corners downtown. After the kids finish working with the ballyhoo they made distribution of the balance of the heralds in their clown make-up in the residential districts. — M. H. Garvin, Loew's Rivoli, Hastings. Neb. "Midnight Rose" (Universal) Tied up with 25 Standard Drug stores for window displays of Midnight Rose toilet articles. The manufacturers of these preparations put out 40,000 heralds and the theater distributed an additional 20,000. announcing that these articles could be bought at the Standard Drug stores named in the herald. — Henrv Dykeman, Keith's East 105th St., Cleveland. $1,000,000 Damage Suit Is Echo of Theater Bombing Chicago — Suit for $1,000,000 damage to the property has been filed against .Andrew Karzas, lessee, by Harry A. Moore, trustee of the State, Hammond, Ind.. which was destroyed by a boinh. Karzas had transferred his lease to the property, but still is responsible for the property, the suit contends. William Kleihege and three other defendants recently were convicted of bombing the theater. K-A-0 Dickering for Earle at Washington Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — Keith-A!bee-Orpheum is negotiating a deal with the Stanley-Crandall circuit for taking over the Earle. Musicians, stagehands and other technicians have been given two weeks' notice. However, this is said to be due to a proposed change in stage policy, and not to the K-A-O negotiations. "Kings" Booked by U. A.. Chicago Chicago — "ihe Kin.gs of Kings" has been booked by the L'nited Artists, marking the first outside picture to play the house. Aug. 3 is the date of opening.