The Film Daily (1939)

Wednesday, July 19, 1939 alfffW DAILY 19 :< R€Vi€UI5 Of THC H6UI flLflS -V V "Mr. Wong in Chinatown" with Boris Karloff, Grant Withers, Marjorie Reynolds v1qfi,~7aram 68 Mins. » (HOLLYWOOD PREVIEW) RATES AS BEST OF THE "WONG" SERIES AND SHOULD CLICK WITH POP AUDIENCES, This "Mr. Wong" picture is the best of !he series put out by Monogram. The production shows careful preparation under the supervision of William T. Lackey, and good direction by William Nigh. The screenplay jy Scott Darling, based on the Collier's Magazine "James Lee Wong" stories by Hugh Wiley, was well written and moves at a nice pace. Boris Karloff, as the Chinese 'jetective, does a fine job, and is given ex:ellent support by Grant Withers as the 3olice captain, and Marjorie Reynolds as a lews reporter with a knack of getting in Srant Withers' way, Peter Lynn as the nenace, can always be depended on to give ) good performance, and Huntley Gordon as the bank president and the actual murderer, Jid well in his part. Lotus Long, Princess i.in Hwa, comes to Mr. Wong (Boris Karoff) for his help and is found murdered h n his house. Lotus has come to America to buy planes for her brother, a Chinese Seneral who is the commander of five Chinese Province armies. She has brought [with her a letter of credit for a million dolars, and through investigation by Wong, it: is discovered that the money has been with-i drawn from the bank by forged checks. After a couple of killings, and the work of Marjorie Reynolds, who saves Wong's life, ianother Chinatown mystery is cleared up. [ CAST: Boris Karloff, Grant Withers, Mar-: jorie Reynolds, William Royle, Peter Lynn,; Huntley Gordon, James Flavin, Lotus Long,! {Bessie Lee, Lee Tong Foo, Little Angelo.i Richard Loo, Guy Usher. CREDITS: Scott R. Diinlap in Charge of Production; Supervisor, William T.| Lackey; Director, William Nigh; Based on! the Collier's Magazine "James Lee Wong" stories by Hugh Wiley; Screenplay, Scott Darling; Cameraman, Harry Neumann; Editor, Russell Schoengarth; Production Manager, Charles J. Bigelow; Sound, Karl Zint. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY,^ Good. "Gone With the Wind" Will Debut in Atlanta: Atlanta — Atlanta and not New York gets the world premiere of Selznick's "Gone With the Wind"; which Metro will distribute. Decision results from Southern protests; against a Northern debut for thej pix. Atlanta's Junior League will] toss a costume ball on the night of the premiere. Chaloner to be Town The Chaloner Theater on 9th Ave., New York, which recently was taken over by the Brandt Circuit, will reopen in the Fall under the name of the Town. "The Saint in London" with George Sanders, Sally Gray RKO Radio 72 Mins. LIVELY ADVENTURE OF THE SAINT RUNNING DOWN AN INTERNATIONAL GANG IN LONDON. A very intriguing and suspenseful adventure of the celebrated Saint, who devotes his criminal talents to running down a master criminal. George Sanders in the role of the Saint has a smooth way about him that is very pleasing. A friend in the intelligence service tips him off that there is foul work under way in the matter of a representative of a foreign government who is over in London arranging for the printing of paper currency for his country. The scheme of the conspirators is to force the agent to give an additional order of millions in bank notes which are to be turned over to them. A girl named Sally Gray injects herself into the proceedings, and insists on accompanying the Saint on his dangerous mission. There is also a typical American crook character played by David Burns, who is very effective and quite comical. The conspirators are being pressed too hard by their adversary, so they kidnap fhe girl and hold her for ransom till the Saint turns over an incriminating document stolen from the home of the master mind. The manner in which the hero rescues the girl and turns the tables on the gang when all seems hopelessly lost makes for fine suspense and plenty of thrills. Selling angles: the adventures of the celebrated Saint in his latest crime-uncovering. CAST: George Sanders, Sally Gray, David Burns, Gordon McLeod, Henry Oscar, Ralph Truman, Carl Jaffee, Norah Howard, Baillard Barkeley. CREDITS: Producer, William Sistrom; Director, John Paddy Carstairs; Author, Leslie Charteris; Screenplay, Lynn Root, Frank Fenton; Cameraman, Claude Friese-Greene. DIRECTION, Very Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Okay. "The Mikado" With Encores Slated for Two First-Runs Following the success of the experimental encore shows of "The Mikado" at the Palace Theater, Broadway, last week, the Riviera, Scranton, and the Irving, WilkesBarre, will present the picture for a week's run, starting Saturday, with encores available to the audiences at every show. As a contrast to the Palace engagements in which the encores were not advertised, except for a lobby display, the Scranton and Wilkes-Barre dates will receive the benefit of complete campaigns. Special ads and exploitation ideas have been devised by Universal's home office staff. Meanwhile, it is reported that another major company is planning to produce a musical with encores available with each print. "Should a Girl Marry" with Anne Nagel, Warren Hull Monogram 61 Mins. STRONG DRAMA OF GIRL'S RIGHT TO MARRY IN FACE OF A MOTHER'S DISGRACE. Good dramatic situations created with the theme of a girl about to marry a young physician learning that she was born in prison and that her mother, a convict, has just died there. From this arises some tense drama that has been competently handled by the director. A blackmailer gains possession of the information, and tries to make the young doctor pay for silence, but he throws the man out of his office. Then the crook goes to the head physician of the hospital where the young hero works, and from this arises a situation where the older doctor tries to make the young medico withdraw his acceptance of a nomination for an important medical appointment. Some strong hospital atmosphere then develops with the necessity for operating on the elder physician who is wounded by a bullet, with the young physician performing the operation and saving the other's life. The result is a straightening out of the entire affair with the girl's secret of prison birth being effectually hushed, for the blackmailer has died with his blackmailing knowledge and the doctor and girl are free to marry. Selling angles: strong dramatic scenes in hospital; a girl's right to marry in the face of a parent's disgrace. CAST: Anne Nagel, Warren Hull, Mayo Methot, Weldon Heyburn, Aileen Pringle, Lester Mathews, Helen Brown, Sarah Padden, Gordon Hart, Edmond Elton. CREDITS: Producer, E. B. Derr; Director, Lambert Hillyer; Authors, Gayl Newbury, David Silverstein; Screenplay, same; Cameraman, Paul Ivano. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Okay. Stradling Option Lifted West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY] Hollywood — Harry Stradling, cam-; eraman, had his option lifted by S-I and will work with director, Alfred; Hitchcock on "Rebecca." "La Inmaculada" with Fortunio Bonanova anl Andrea Palma Atalaya-UA 95 Mins. (HOLLYWOOD PREVIEW) TRIANGLE STORY SHOULD CLICK EASILY IN THE LATIN-AMERICAN MARKET. This Spanish picture produced by Maurice M. Cohen and Fortunio Bonanova should do well in the Latin-American field for which it is intended. Louis Gasnier's direction is smooth, and the singing of Fortunio Bonanova, who also plays the lead in the picture, adds greatly to the entertainment value, for he has an excellent voice. The triangle story has intriguing qualities for Spanish audiences, and as a whole is good film fare. Rene (Fortunio Bonanova), a millionaire playboy, meets and falls in love with Andrea. They are married and for a time very happy, but Rene becomes restless and resumes his liasion with his former mistress, Tana. He finally goes bankrupt and is deserted by his friends, and is cast aside by Tana. Rene suffers a stroke and is unable to walk, and it is up to Andrea to nurse and take care of him. Andrea meets Luis, a violinist, who pleads with her to divorce Rene and marry him but this she refuses to do, although she cares a great deal for him. Luis marries the girl his parents have picked for him, and Andrea, unseen, watches the marriage. Rene overhears the gossiping neighbors talking about Andrea and Luis. He realizes that his life is wasted and that he is only a burden and does not take the pill which would save him when he has another of his attacks. CAST: Fortunio Bonanova, Andrea Palma, Milissa Sierra, Tana, Luis Diaz Flores, Daniel F. Rea, Julia Montoya, Felipe Turich, Raquel Turich, Carlos Villarias. CREDITS: Producers, Maurice M. Cohen and Fortunio Bonanova; Director, Louis Gasnier; Author, Catalina d'Erzell; Screenplay, Paul Perez; Adaptation, Gabriel Navarro; Cameraman, Arthur Martinelli; Art Director, F. Paul Sylos; Editor, Robert B. Warwick; Production Manager, Melville Shyer; Musical Director, Alberto Colombo; Orchestral Arrangements, Nilo Menendez. DIRECTION, Smooth. PHOTOG., Okay. Answer America's Demand for Good Sound with the Best! t ■ ■ '■■ ■ ■ I ^_ install /Wrcaphotophone MAGIC VOICE of the SCREEN with Rotary Stabilizer plus — SHOCK-PROOF DRIVE Yi ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ r Styled and priced for theatres of every size Better sound means better box office. .and RCA tubes mean better sound RCA Manufacturing Company, Inc. CAMDEN, N. J. • A SERVICE OF RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA