The Film Daily (1939)

12 V*A DAILY Monday, July 17, 1939 .V REVIEWS Of THE REUI f ILfllS :< "Unexpected Father" with Baby Sandy, Shirley Ross, Dennis O'Keefe, Mischa Auer Universal 73 Mins. (HOLLYWOOD PREVIEW) SWELL COMEDY CERTAIN TO SCORE AT THE B. 0. INTRODUCES NEW BABY "FIND." Cute little Baby Sandy and Mischa Auer share acting honors in this offering, which has been expertly directed by Charles Lamont, who is a veteran in guiding the screen performances of youngsters. Sandy is the central figure in several amusing situations and with the always amusing Auer piles up a heavy total of laughs. Sandy's capers and antics will win the femme fans and children, and will also get a good reaction from the males. Dennis O'Keefe, Shirley Ross, Donald Briggs, Richard Lane, Paul Guilfoyle, Mayo Methot, Anne Nagle and Spencer Charters are among the principals who do good work. Ken Goldsmith functioned as associate producer. Leonard Spigelgass and Charles Grayson wrote an amusing original screenplay. Jack Otterson designed some attractive sets. O'Keefe's former dancing partner and her husband are killed in an accident, leaving their youngster, Sandy, an orphan. O'Keefe, his roommate, Auer, and O'Keefe's sweetheart, Shirley Ross, take charge of Sandy. 0 Keefe, Auer and Shirley work at a theater, where one night, 0 Keefe hides Sandy on a chair, which turns out to be a throne for one of the musical acts. When the curtains open revealing Sandy sitting there, the audience goes mad. Reading of Sandy's tremendous hit, the baby's cruel uncle, Guilfoyle, and aunt, Mayo Methot, determine to get Sandy back, since there is a chance to make a lot of money. The court rules against the relatives and Sandy is committed to an orphanage. There is a fast and exciting finish when O'Keefe rushes to Greenwich, Conn., to stop the marriage of Briggs and Shirley. 0 Keefe is successful and Shirley agrees to marry him. They are also awarded the custody of Sandy. CAST: Baby Sandy, Shirley Ross, Dennis 0 Keefe, Mischa Auer, Joy Hodges, Dorothy Arnold, Anne Gwynne, Anne Nagel, Donald Briggs, Richard Lane, Paul Guilfoyle, Mayo Methot, Jane Darwell, Spencer Charters, Ygor and Tanya. CREDITS: Associate Producer, Ken Goldsmith; Director, Charles Lamont; Authors, Leonard Spigelgass and Charles Grayson; Screenplay, Same; Cameraman, George Robinson; Art Director, Jack Orterson; Associate, Ralph M. DeLacey; Editor, Ted Kent; Musical Director, Charles Previn. DIRECTION, Expert. PHOTOGRAPHY, Very Good. Rocky Mt. Screen Club Sets Picnic for Aug. 16 Denver — Annual picnic and dinner dance of the Rocky Mountain Screen club has been set for Aug. 16, and will be held at the mountain spot of Eddie Ott at Evergreen. The day's activities include a golf touri naraent on the Evergreen mountain course, bridge, picnic sports, with numerous and appropriate prizes being offered. Manager E. E. Edwards says he expects about 250 to attend. "News is Made at . Night" with Preston Foster, Lynn Bart 20th Century Fox 71 Mins. NICELY HANDLED BUDGET PIC FACES STRONG ENTERTAINMENT WITH THRILLS AND LAUGHS. Lively comedy-meller done on a modest budget, but the picture rates high because of the fine acting and directing, and laughs and thrills that are popping together all the time. The story itself is one of those farfetched newspaper reporter things, but the interest aroused, and the suspense and laughs overcome the improbabilities of the plot. Foster is the newspaper editor plagued by Lynn Bari to give her a job as reporter. But he has no use for girl reporters. But she persists, and because of her uncanny ability to hit on clews in a gang murder story, Foster is forced to hire her. The editor is trying to save an innocent man from going to the chair. It becomes a question of hours, then minutes. By a ruse, he forces the governor to delay execution. Then he is on the spot to make good on the affidavit he claims exists that will prove the gangster chief ordered the killing for which the innocent man awaits death. Works up to some great last-minute suspense, and a load of laughs, with Eddie Collins as a butler scoring with the funny material. Bari is a swell looker, and Foster handles his role with great competence. Selling angles: the last-minute thrills in the death house; the strong comedy-thrills combination of entertainment. CAST: Preston Foster, Lynn Bari, Russell Gleason, George Barbier, Eddie Collins, Minor Watson, Charles Halton, Paul Harvey, Richard Lane, Charles Lane, Betty Compson, Paul Fix, Paul Guilfoyle. CREDITS: Producer, Edward Kaufman; Director, Alfred Werker; Author, John Larkin; Cameraman, Ernest Palmer; Editor, Nick De Maggio. DIRECTION, Very Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. Ross and Dragonette Will Sing "Gulliver" Numbers Miami, Fla. — Lanny Ross and Jessica Dragonette will supply the singing voices for the Prince and Princess in "Gulliver's Travels," being made in the Fleischer studios. Lilliputian Gabby, the town crier, who is expected to steal the picture, will be voiced by Calvin Howard, a Fleischer story writer. Levey Warren, producer of floor shows at the Royal Palm Club, will be the speaking voice of the Princess. Sam Parker, Miami radio announcer, will be the voice of Gulliver himself. "Western Caravans" with Charles Starrett Columbia 59 Mins. STRONG ACTION FILM HAS SWELL PITCHED BATTLE BETWEEN SETTLERS AND RANCHERS. A stirring action picture with a pip of a stage battle in the town for a climax, as the ranchers and newly arrived settlers fight it out. In between is the young sheriff, Charles Starrett, who is trying to preserve peace between the warring factions. But the rustler gang has connived to set one camp against the other, and when the big blow-off comes, to rustle the cattle by the wholesale. This plan works right up to the time when the battle starts, but a rider arrives with news that the rustlers have started their work. Realizing that the sheriff was right all the time, and that the rustlers are their real enemies, the two forces combine, and polish off the rustling gang in thrill fashion. It is good action all the way, with plenty of human incidents and a fair share of comedy. The Sons of the Pioneers contribute their western harmonies. Iris Meredith is fine as the leading lady. Dick Curtis as the head rustler is a strong character they will love to hiss. CAST: Charles Starrett, Iris Meredith, Dick Curtis, Russell Simpson, Hal Taliaferro, Hank Bell, Bob Nolan, Sammy McKim, Edmund Cobb, Ethan Laidlaw, Sons of the Pioneers. CREDITS: Director, Sam Nelson; Screenplay, Bennett R. Cohen; Cameraman, George Cooper; Editor, William Lyon. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. Buys RCA Tele. Equipment For St. Paul Station Arrangements for the immediate installation of a television picture system for demonsti'ating television to the public of St. Paul and of the surrounding territory, were completed by Stanley Hubbard, president of station KSTP, with the Engineering Products Division of the RCA Manufacturing Company. Equipment is similar to that now in use at the New York World's Fair and at the Golden Gate Exposition. Several other station owners from other sections of the country who attended the recent NAB convention at Atlantic City, where the RCA television units were on exhibit, will soon purchase similar equipment for their territories, it was said. II Duce Heeding Italian Film Squawks; New Overtures for V. S. Pix Foreseen Hollywood — Premier Mussolini is personally heeding the clamor of Italian pix audiences for a return to screens there ot U. S. product, since pixgoers have been booing the old German and French films, plus criticizing native pictures as uninteresting, it is declared here by Hal B. Wallis, Warners' associate production chief, who has returned to his post from Europe. Wallis also stated that it may not be long before "feelers" from Rome are put out for return to Italy of Hollywood attractions. He added that Warners are to make a pretentious feature based on the life of Alfred Nobel, provider of awards for achievements in peace, literature and science. 9 FEATURES STARTING; 39 CURRENTLY IN WORK {Continued from Page 1) Loder. Nigel Bruce and Matthew Boulton. George Fitzmaurice, di! rector. Story deals with international spys in the diamond mines of South America. At M-G-M: "Another Thin co-starring William Powell \*dH Myrna Loy. Hunt Stromberg, producer, and W. S. Van Dyke, II, director. At RKO: "Three Sons," with Edward Ellis in the leading role, Kent Taylor and Virginia Vale-Robert Stanton, the two youngsters selected in the second of Jesse L. Lasky's "Gateway to Hollywood." Producer, Robert Sisk; director, Jack Hively, with screenplay by John Twist. Story of a man who comes to Chicago immediately after the big fire and starts with a small store and finally builds it up to one of the largest department stores in the world. He has three sons who he hopes will take over the business but they all prove bitter disappointments to him. At Universal: "Missing Evidence," with Preston Foster and Irene Hervey. Phil Rosen, director. "Before Your Eyes," Harold Schuster, director, and George Yohalem, associate producer. At Columbia: "Konga," with Fred Stone and Rcchelle Hudson. Sam Nelson, director. An untitled western with Charles Starrett and Iris Meredith. Norman Deming, director. At Monogram: "Sky Pilot," third in the series of Tailspin Tommy productions which Paul Malvern is producing. Howard Bretherton, director. John Trent, star. At Republic: "Wall Street Cowboy," a Roy Rogers western with George Givot and Raymond Hatton. Jce Kane, producer and director. Currently in production: "Here I Am a Stranger," "Tin Hats," "Hollywood Cavalcade," "City in Darkness," "Drums Along the Mohawk," "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," 20th Century Fox; "The Light That Failed," "Seventeen," "Untamed," "Federal Offense," "Are Husbands Necessary?" "Dr. Gyclops," "Our Neighbors — The Carters," Paramount; "A Day at the Circus," "Henry Goes to Arizona," "Northwest Passage," "Ninotchka," "Balalaika," M-G-M; "The Modern Cinderella," "First Love," "The Underpup," "Rio," Universal; "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," "The Day the Bookies Wept," "Allegheny Frontier," RKO; "We Are Not Alone," "20,000 Years in Sing Sing," "The Roaring Twenties" (new title) for "The World Moves On," "On Your Toes," "Career Man," "Queer Money," Warners: "Five Little Peppers and How They Grew," "Prison Sergeant," Columbia; "Flight at Midnight," Republic; "Intermezzo," "Gone With the Wind," Selznick International; "Eternally Yours," Wanger; "The Road to Glory," Goldwyn; "The Housekeeper's Daughter," Roach.