The Film Daily (1940)

DAILY Friday, August 9, 1! ft REVIEWS Of THE flEUJ f ILfllS ft "Pier 13" with Lynn Bari, Lloyd Nolan, Joan Valerie, Douglas Fowley 20th Century-Fox 66 Mins. HIGHLY ENTERTAINING DRAMA LOADED WITH GOOD COMEDY. WILL HIT THE MARK WITH FANS. Why "Pier 13" scores, as a worth-while screen offering for exhibitors and audiences at large, is due almost entirely to the close dovetailing of all its elements. Its story is plausible and close-knit; its action wellpaced; and its romantic and rousing moments appealingly handled. But what raises it specifically above the vast majority of run-of-the-mine productions, — dealing with crime and Cupid, — is the high humor it contains. There are so many laughs from main title to finale, and such crisp dialogue, too, that it fits just as neatly into the fullfledged comedy classification as it does in the full-fledged dramatic bracket. It packs lots of power to please the patrons. The story is a polygon affair. Lynn Bari and Joan Valerie are sisters, — the former in love with Lloyd Nolan, a New York detective, and the younger girl engaged to wed a seafaring man. This pattern is whirled into a dynamic state via the fact that the blonde Miss Valerie is revealed as having once been engaged to a handsome and slick jewel robber, Douglas Fowley, who, bent upon stealing a $15,000 jade statue from the jewelry store in which Joan now works, blackmails her into aiding him. The blackmailing weapon is the fact that he could readily make it appear to the police that she was implicated in a former robbery with him. To protect her future and the good name of her family, she bows to his threat. After the job is perpetrated, she hides him in the attic of her home, — where Lloyd Nolan ferrets him out and kills him. Fowley's just demise keeps the cloak of scandal and notoriety from enveloping Joan, and paves the way for Nolan and Lynn Bari to marry. The Bari Nolan combo is excellent throughout as is the entire cast. Eugene Forde's direction is velvet smooth. Stanley Rauh and Clark Andrews concocted a surprisingly meritorious screenplay. CAST: Lynn Bari, Lloyd Nolan, Joan Valerie, Douglas Fowley, Chick Chandler, Oscar O'Shea, Michael Morris, Louis Jean Heydt, Frank Orth, Charles D. Brown. CREDITS: Executive Producer, Sol M. Wurtzel; Director, Eugene Forde; Screenplay, Stanley Rauh, Clark Andrews; Based on Story by Barry Connors, Philip Klein; Director of Photography, Virgil Miller; Art Directors, Richard Day, Lewis Creber; Set Decorations, Thomas Little; Film Editor, Fred Allen; Costumes, Herschel; Sound, Bernard Freericks, Harry M. Leonard; Musical Direction, Cyril J. Mockridge. DIRECTION, Fine. PHOTOGRAPHY, Ditto. Rebuild Lyric, Bolivar Rochester — Work has started on a $25,000 reconstruction and enlargement program of the Lyric Theater in Bolivar. The house recently was damaged by fire. Samuel Gandel, owner, announces work will be completed by Sept. 10. A 45-foot extension will lengthen the auditorium and provide a stage. Seating capacity will be increased by about 150. "Son Of Roaring Dan" with Johnny Mack Brown, Fuzzy Knight, Nell O'Day Universal 63 Mins. WESTERN MELLER HAS LIVELY ACTION AND A FAST PACE. Latest of the Johnny Mack Brown series being produced by Universal, this one is up to standard on all counts. It has lively action, an engaging cast, and a fast pace, all of which makes it agreeable fare for the western fans. Johnny Mack Brown ably fills the lead role and gets good support from his ever present sidekick, Fuzzy Knight. Bolstering Brown and Knight are Lafe McKee, Nell O'Day, Jeanne Kelly and John Eldredge, principal villain of the piece. Ford Beebe directed, keeping the action moving at all times. Looking for the man who murdered his father, Brown poses as the long lost son of Robert Homans. He also pretends to be a dude. Shortly after his acceptance as Homans' son he discovers the killer of his father, Eldredge, operating at the head of a gang of rustlers. Jeanne Kelly, an Eastern girl, visits Homans' ranch and witnesses an outlaw killing. Eldredge orders his men to kidnap her and Brown and Knight follow the kidnappers. They rescue her and bring her back to town to testify as the state's star witness against Eldredge and the gang. There is a good roughouse finish with plenty of fast riding, shooting and fist fighting before Brown wraps up the villains for good. CAST: Johnny Mack Brown, Fuzzy Knight, Nell O'Day, Jeanne Kelly, Lafe McKee, Robert Homans, Tom Chatterton, John Eldredge, Ethan Laidlaw, Eddie Polo, Dick Alexander, The Texas Rangers. CREDITS: Associate Producer, Joseph G. Sanford; Director, Ford Beebe; Original Screenplay, Clarence Upson Young; Cameraman, William Sickner. DIRECTION, Fast. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. Para.'s "World Premieres' Must Have Radio Tieups Paramount will restrict world premiere ballyhoos to pix which permit a logical tieup with an air program, thus foregoing past policy of staging openings in conjunction with local municipal fetes. New policy starts with "Comin' 'Round the Mountain," which starts tomorrow night at the Paramount theater, Nashville. Radio tie-ins embrace the "Uncle Ezra" Raleigh cigarette show and the "Grand Old Opry" program, both over NBC. "Rhythm on the River" gets an NBC radio plug Aug. 16, tied in with press preview. Radio tieup with WHN's "Court of Human Relations" program for "I Want a Divorce" is being effected. Liberty. Freehold, Leased Liberty theater at Freehold, N. J., has been leased by Max Snider, who has operated for 20 years, to the Liberty-Freehold Theaters Corp., headed by Dr. Henry Brown, who has two houses in Lakewood, N. J. Deal was handled by Berk & Krumgold, 1501 Broadway. Dr. Brown will improve the property. * SHORTS * "Doing Impossikible Stunts" (Popeye) Paramount 7 mins. Fast Cartoon Trying to get a contract as a film studio stunt man, Popeye shows the director some reels featuring his truely "impossikible" stunts in this swift moving cartoon. His best, however, is topped by LiT Sweetpea who slips in a reel showing himself rescuing Popeye and Oliveoil from a bad situation. The youngsters will go for it. "Pinky Tomlin and His Orchestra" (Headliner) Paramount 11 mins. Poor Musical With evidently more attention paid to montage shots than to entertainment, they just don't do right by the popular Pinky Tomlin in this short featuring his orchestra. The boys illustrate the different types of music popular in various parts of the country between process shots of a bus moving over a map. Pinky sings a couple of his own compositions and then the locale moves to an amusement park where the orchestra essays to play on a ferris wheel and a merry-go-round, amid a melange of more process stuff. It's all very chopped up and confusing. "Fightin' Pals" (Popeye) Paramount 8 mins. Meat For the Popeye Fans Popeye's rescue of his pal and fighting partner, Bluto, from the wilds of Africa will please the sailor's following. Professor Bluto is lost while heading an African expedition and Popeye fights his way through the jungle to rescue the Prof, so that they can continue their brawls. "Snubbed by a Snob" (Color Classic) Paramount 7 mins. Amusing Cartoon Spunky the donkey meets an aristocratic thoroughbred and is thoroughly snubbed until he proves his worth by rescuing the fancy horse from an enraged bull in this amusing reel. Animation and Technicolo rare first rate. "Way Back When a Razzberry Was a Fruit" (Stone Age) Paramount 7 mins. Misses A poor attempt to do a burlesque travelogue of the stone age days. The gags fall flat and the reel is not likely to amuse many people. Alias' RKO Holdings Increased, Says SECJ (.Continued from Page 1) report disclosed that Atlas has : quired 28,800 RKO common and six per cent preferred shares, ly ing the trust's holdings to 564, ' common, 327,812 warrants and 1 881 convertible preferred in ad* tion to 268,230 common held American Co., an affiliate. Coincidentally, according to proxy statement for the annual J las meeting in Wilmington, Dj scheduled for Sept. 5, the invey ment trust paid to its preside' Floyd B. Odium, in 1939 a sak and special compensation amount) to $200,782. This aggregate si: was represented as comprising $1C 782 as salary, and $100,000 as s]| cial compensation. His interest the investment trust was given 15 preferred shares, 106,620 comm< and 280,275% option warrants. Atlas' executive vice-president, Boyd Hatch, drew $56,331 sals and held 5,840 common and 4,531 (j tion warrants. Officials and directors, as a groJ were paid a total of $297,958, fl statement revealed. Rocky Mt. Screen Club Sets Picnic for Aug, 23 Denver — Sixth annual picnic ! the Rocky Mountain Screen club w| be held Aug. 23 at the EvergreL golf course and Eddie Ott's On-tlll Lake at Evergreen, in the mountaiF west of Denver. Activities will g{ under way at 9 with the start ; the golf tournament, to be follow j by the baseball game between M tributors and exhibitors, fly castor; horseback riding, horseshoe tourntl bridge tournament, and bridge a | dancing in the evening. Jack Laj gan, Universal exchange nianagff is general chairman. Fox Intermountain Theaters w hold its annual managers' conventii so the closing date will fall on t. Screen club picnic date. Opening ( Aug. 21 in the Cosmopolitan hot here with both Spyros and Charl Skouras in attendance for the fi time, the convention will be presidi over by Rick Ricketson, divisic manager. Fishman Acquires Site For House In Fairfield Fairfield, Conn. — Fishman Th aters, Inc. has acquired by wa ranty deed from the heirs of A. 1 Jennings a piece of land 355 ft. c Boston Post Road and 465 ft. c South Benson Road, on which, is announced a new theater will 1 constructed for film and stage pre; entations. Erdeky Converts Garage Pittsburgh — Kalman J. Erdeky converting a garage at New Wiln ington into a 300-seat film theate He expects to open the end of Sei tember.