The Film Daily (1929)

Tom Tyler in "Neath Western Skies" (Silent) Syndicate Time, 54 mins. FAIR WESTERN CARRIES SOME GOOD THRILL STUFF WITH TYLER A LIKABLE HERO. NICE LOVE STORY. OKAY FOR THE WESTERN FANS. Western. The story follows the routine lines, and is made interesting by the skilled direction of the veteran director, J. P. McGowan, who knows how to feed the fans the good old hoke they like. Tom Tyler is the owner of oil property and of course the gang is out to spoil his chances of getting the drilling under way. So they steal his drills, and through a mixup the drills get into possession of the gal. Along comes Tom, and the girl and himself work out the plot to the point where they have the game properly licked and recover the drills eventually. The action is there, with sufficient fight stuff to satisfy the regular crowd. There is a good amount of plot that is plausibly worked out, and this one will satisfy 'em. Cast: Tom Tyler, Hank Bell, Harry Woods, J. P. McGowan, Bobby Dunn, Lotus Thompson, Al Huston, Barney Fury. Director, J. P. McGowan; Author, Sally Winters ; Adaptor, Not listed ; Editor, Not listed ; Titler, Not listed ; Cameraman, Frank Gottner. Direction, smooth. Photography, okay. Harrower DAILV Sunday, December IS, 1929 "The Sky Hawk" with John Garrick, Helen Chandler (All-Talker) Fox Time, 1 hr., 20 mins. AVIATION DRAMA WITH LOOSE STORY INTERESTINGLY WOVEN TOGETHER. GOOD DIALOGUE AND CAPABLE CAST. GOOD ALL AROUND ENTERTAINMENT. With the success of other productions dealing with aviation, it seemed no more than fair for the Fox outfit to jump in .with one. Here it is, "The Sky Hawk." It boasts some good action, fine dialogue and a capable cast. While the story is a bit outdated, the picture manages to hold one's interest largely on the strength of the splendid acting by Garrick, Chandler and Emery. The picture vividly portrays the struggle of a young aviator before leaving for the front. He crashes, and is branded a quitter. Due to injuries he leaves the service, but secretly prepares a plane of his own to combat the enemy during an air raid. The climax of the film is a battle between the German Zeppelin and the young aviator. For the kids, especially, this picture is aces. Cast: Helen Chandler, John Garrick, Gilbert Emery, Lennox Pawle, Lumsden Hare, Billy Bevan, Daphne Pollard, Joyce Compton, Percy Challenger. Director, John Blystone; Author, Llewelyn Hughes ; Adaptor, From the Magazine Story "Chap Called Bardell" ; Dialoguer, Llewelyn Hughes; Cameraman, Conrad Wells; Monitor Man, W .W. Lindsay ; Editor, Ralph Dietrich. Direction, fine. Photography, fair. Berg Bob Custer in "The Oklahoma Kid" (Silent) Syndicate Time, 57 mins. GOOD THRILL WESTERN OF THE CATTLE COUNTRY WITH CUSTER DOING SOME GOOD FIGHTING AND RIDING. Western. Bob Custer does the heroing in his usual snappy form, and the fans will get a kick out of his work as the genfl who saves the cattle from the hands of the crooked cattle brokers. Of course the heroine's dad is the one who owns the cattle. Bob has been sent from Oklahoma to New Mexico to buy the cattle, and soon finds himself in the midst of some lively rows. The direction by J. P. McGowan is up to his standard, and the story has some good twists and surprise developments that hold the suspense. Of course it all works out lovely at the end, by the hero exposing the member of the gang who posed as the buyer's agent from Oklahoma. This one carries the elements the fans like, and will hold 'em interested in the neighborhood houses. Cast: Bob Custer, Henry Roquemore, Vivian Bay, Tommy Bay, J. P. McGowan, Walter Patterson. Director, J. P. McGowan; Author, Sally Winters; Adaptor, Walter Sterret; Editor, Not listed; Titler, William Stratton; Cameraman, Hap Depew. Direction, satisfactory. Photography, clear. Harrower "Dark Skies" with Shirley Mason (All-Talker) Capitol Film Exchange Time, 1 hr., 7 mins. MELODRAMA OF RUM-RUNNING MIXED IN WITH A CINDERELLA FAIRY TALE. PRETTY WEAK IN ALL DEPARTMENTS BUT MAY GET BY IN THE PROVINCES. Simple and obvious melodrama of a sea-coast Cinderella who finds her fairy prince in the person of a romantic Spanish-dialect rum-runner. The girl, a slavey in the feed joint conducted by her mean uncle, is saved by the marine caballero from the clutches of a local villain, and she in turn frames a stunt to save her hero from being caught by the 12-mile limit patrol. Not much to the story while the acting is stiff and stagey. With the major incidents all happening by convenient coincidence and the hero turning up abruptly from nowhere at every psychological moment, the picture is likely to get some rough treatment from wise film fans, but it m^ht get by in provincial neighborhoods. Cast: Shirley Mason, Wallace MacDonald, William V. Mong, Tom O'Brien, Josef Swickard, Larry Steers. Director, Harry H. Webb; Author, John Francis Natteford ; Adaptor, Not listed ; Dialoguer, Not listed ; Editor, Not listed ; Cameramen, Ray Reis, Harry Fowler ; Monitor Man, Ralph M. Like. Direction, bad. Photography, fair. Gillette Edmund Lowe, Constance Bennett in "This Thing Called Love" (All-Talker) Pathe Time, 1 hr., 14 mins. CONSISTENTLY ENTERTAINING COMEDY ABOUT A MODERN 50-50 MARRIAGE. FROM BROADWAY STAGE HIT OF SAME NAME. A CLICKER ANY PLACE. Comedy of modern marriage. A millionaire "hires" an ultra-modern girl to function as his wife on a salary basis, with mutual freedom, and without exchange of love and its jealousies, quarrels, etc. Although each pretends to annex another sweetheart, the 50-50 independent arrangement doesn't work out at all, but merely serves to create jealousy on both sides and eventually causes the couple to abandon their ex-sexappeal system. The stage play of the same name was an appreciable hit and the screen version ought to please just as well or better. Though it is one of those foregone conclusion affairs, there is enough love interest, comedy and intriguing action to provide nicely balanced entertainment all along the line. One short cabaret scene, is in Technicolor. Cast: Edmund Lowe, Constance Bennett, Roscoe Karns, Zasu Pitts, Carmelita Geraghty, John Roche, Stuart Erwin, Ruth Taylor, Wilson Benge, Adele Watson. Director, Paul Stein; Author, Edwin Burke ; Adaptor, Horace Packson, Dialoguer, Horace Jackscn; Editor, Doane Harrison; Cameraman, Norhert Brodine; Monitor Men, Charles O'Laughlin, Ben Wingler. Direction, top-notch. Photography, excellent. Gillette "Love At First Sight" (All-Talker) Chesterfield Time, 1 hr., 5 mins. VERY FINE PROGRAM PICTURE WITH STRONG FAMILY APPEAL IN BEAUTIFUL LOVE STORY AND HUMAN INTEREST TOUCHES. Love drama. Here is a refreshing love story simply and beautifully told that should prove very popular with the neighborhood houses, and in fact is a first-rate program picture in any house that appeals to the popular crowds. The direction is clearcut, and moves with a fast tempo throughout. The theme is that of two theatrical partners who put over a stage hit with the help of the leading man and his sweetheart, the femme support. Abe Reynolds, stage comedian, piles up laughs. Good allround cast. The girl's mother steps in, and breaks up the romance, but the young couple are reunited and put the show over with a bang. Has the popular entertainment elements they like, with sweet, wholesome love story. Paul Specht and his orchestra in a beautiful cabaret setting are assisted by the Chester Hale Girls — a corking sequence. Cast: Suzanne Keener, Norman Foster, Doris Rankin, Lester Cole, Abe Reynolds, Hooper L. Atchley, Burt Mathews, Dorothee Adams, Jim Harkins. Director, Edgar Lewis ; Authors, Lester Lee, Charles Levison ; Editor, Russell Shields ; Dialoguers, Lester Lee, Charles Levison; Cameraman, Dal Clawson ; Monitor Man, George Oschman. Direction, very good. Photography, okay. Harrower Morton Downey in "Lucky In Love" (All-Talker) Pathe Time, 1 hr., 16 mins. OLD TALE OF LOVE REFUSING TO BE DOWNED FASHIONED INTO A FILM MILD IN INTEREST. Morton Downey starred in a film with a story so slight and so full of coincidence as to lack almost all sense of reality and made doubly difficult of belief by an atmosphere suggestive of Hollywood and by varying attempts at the Irish lingo, some of them unsuccessful. The tale, laid in America and Ireland, relates how the Irish stable boy overcomes all obstacles to win his lordship's daughter. Only when the scene is transferred to America does the film acquire any semblance of life and verity. Although Downey is no great success as an actor, he manages to convey a simplicity and boyishness in keeping with his role. His singing helps to overcome many ol the film's shortcomings. Possessed of a pleasant, unaffected charm, he ought to have small difficulty in attracting audiences. Cast: Morton Downey, Betty Lawford. Colin Keith-Johnston, Halliwell Hobbes, J M. Kerrigan, Edward McNamara, Richard Taber, Edward O'Connor, Mary Murray. Mackenzie Ward, Louis Sorin, Sonia Kar lov, Tyrrell Davis, Elizabeth Murray. Director, Kenneth Webb; Author, Gene Markey ; Dialoguer, Gene Markey ; Editor, E P. Fitzenmeier ; Adaptor, Gene Markey ; Cameramen, Phillip Tannura, Harry Stradling; Monitor Men, B. S. Ashdown, J. A. Delaney. Direction, fair. Photography, good. Pelegrine "The White Sheik" (Silent) Ufa Time, 1 hr., 3 mins POOR BRITISH PRODUCTION LACKS ACTION AND THE DIRECTION IS OUTDATED. ALL IT HAS IS SOME GOOD CAMERA. Drama. Adapted from "King's Mate," a novel by Rosita Forbes. Produced by British International. The direction goes away off, and savors of what they were doing ten years ago. It is slow, stilted, and fails to develop proper action or a logical story. The acting is universally poor, and only the pretty face of the leading lad}', Lillian Hall-Davis, helps to make it appealing. Jameson Thomas is the White Sheik, an expatriated Englishman who lands in Morocco among the wild Riff tribes and becomes a leader. Thomas is miscast, and gets little chance to show his sterling gifts. The English girl comes to visit the British Army headquarters, wanders off and gets captured by a bandit chief, and the "big punch" scene goes blooey with no actual fight but only a supTsted one in titling. Rates just filler for small stands. Cast: Jameson Thomas, Lillian Hall-Davis, Warwick Ward, Julia Suedo, George McLaughlin. Director, H. Knoles; Author, Rosita Forbes ; Adaptor, Violet Powell ; Editor, Not listed; Titler, Not listed; Cameramen, Rene Guissant, John J Cox. Direction, poor. Photography, okay. Harrower