The Film Daily (1930)

SOUND "Reno or Bust" with Franklin Pangborn and Bernice Elliott /Itaphone 3942-3 Time, 12 mins. Enjoyable Domestic Comedy A scrappily married couple, hav ng decided on divorce, go to Reno nd plan a frameup to obtain grounds •t cruelty against the husband. But he plan goes merrily wrong and a iappy reconciliation is the windup. he satire is good, well within the mits of any audience, and the laughs re plentiful enough to place the ketch in the high entertainment lass. Billy Lytell and Tom Fant in "Two of a Kind" /itaphone 945 Time, 8 mins. Fair Variety Number With a repertoire including comdy magic, musical novelties and audeville patter, this team puts over ome fairly satisfying amusement. should prove acceptable enough to he general run. "A Desert Dilemma" iudio Cinema Time, 5 mins. Amusing Industrial This cartoon comedy is one of a lenes prepared for Aetna Insurance ,'o. It deals with the experiences of 1 family who set out to cross the ontinent in a flivver. In the midle of the desert they collide with nnther car in fantastic fashion, with he result that the sheriff of a neary town attaches the car. Just when he family is bemoaning their in abilty to complete the journey, father emembers that he is covered by inurance and produces card which imnediately releases the car so that he party may proceed in high spirits. Mickey Mouse in "Fiddling Around" Columbia Time, 7 mins. Good Cartoon I As a violin virtuoso, Mickey Mouse |as plenty of trouble with broken trings and a tough audience that includes one guy who keeps giving him he horse laugh. But Mickey's acro|atic manipulation of his instrument, krith which he promotes plenty of lomedy as well as music, puts him >ver for an encore. A very good lomedy of its kind. "The Wedding of Jack and Jill" jfitaphone 3826 Time, 8 mins. Swell Kiddie Number Here is an item to gladden the hearts of youngsters. Older folks, jtao, will get plenty of delight from t. Done in Technicolor, with 30 yitaphone Kiddies singing, dancing ;nd trotting around while the Mother fjoose yarn is unfolded to the tune >n some lullaby songs. A nicely con eived fantasy, directed with good !»ste. "Sporting Brothers" Pathe Time, 5 mins. Grantland Rice Sportlight Followers of the gridiron games will find a certain treat in this. It is in the nature of a study of such red-blooded games as soccer, Rugby and football. Some of the action is recorded in slow motion. The part of the picture devoted to soccer was filmed at the Polo Grounds, New York; the Rugby shots were made during a game between U. S. Mamines in the Philadelphia Stadium; while scenes from this year's contest between California and Pennsylvania are used in explaining the intricacies of football. The picture boasts some effective camera shots. "Lair of Chang-How" Pathe Time, 10 mins. Interesting Travel Shorts "Lair of Chang-How" is a short travel film possessing considerable interest. One of the Vagabond Series being filmed by Tom Terriss for Van Beuren, it presents certain aspects of life among the Chinese. The picture catches some of the mystery that is China, and succeeds pretty well in holding your attention. Of particular note are scenes of life among the boat dwellers of China. Here is a filler worth booking. "The Musical Beauty Shop" Pathe Time, 23 mins. Nice Musical Short Produced at the British International studios in England, "The Musical Beauty Shop," an Andre Charlot production, is a tabloid musical revue satisfying in more ways than one. To begin with it has some nice tunes by Philip Braham, Raie de Costa, Edward Cooper, Jack Strachey and Reg Casson. Then there is no end of snappy dancing, to which add snatches of breezy comedy. The highlights of the production, which was directed by Monte Banks, are a sensational act put on by a rollerskating team and the work of Sammy Lewis in blackface. Featured players include Barrie Oliver, Leonard Henry and Ethel Baird. A short crammed full with entertainment. "Noah Knew His Ark" Pathe Time, 7 mins. Aesop Fable Credit tin's Aesop sound Fable with possessing much entertainment value. It shows some clever touches, is musically all right, and is vastly amusing. A sort of travesty on the tale of the Ark. this animated cartoon gives you Noah in the person of an old sea captain. When the deluge conies, the animals board the bark to the strain of music. All goes well until two skunks come into their midst. The animals, to escape the odiferous fellows, plunge into the waters, leaving the Ark in the possession of the skunks. "Resolutions" with Billy House Paramount Time, 21 mins. Good Comedy Skit Packed with wisecracks and joviality, all put over with a slick touch by Billy House, happy rotund comedian of vaudeville and musical comedy. Plot of the sketch has to do with a New Year's Eve blowout arranged by House while the good wife is away. All is going great when the better half returns unexpectedly and causes a lot of embarrassment. The skit was a big success on the stage and should repeat without trouble in its film version. "The Wizard's Apprentice" United Artists Time, 10 mins. Spooky Novelty Something for those who like the spooky stuff. Concerns a young practitioner of wizardry who performs various mystic wonders and finally precipitates a flood which he is unable to check until his tutor comes to his aid. Trick settings, unusual lighting, photography and a fitting musical score by Hugo Riesenfeld are among the highlights of the short. There is no dialogue. "Screen Snapshots" with Billy Bevan Columbia Time, 9 mins. Better Than Average Because of the long list of film celebrities shown, and the good work of Billy Bevan as "master of ceremonies," this edition of "Screen Snapshots" is better than most of its predecessors. Among the prominent folk who appear in it are Ralph Graves, Dorothy Sebastian. Ted Sloman. Jack Holt, Charles Bickford, Karl Dane, Anita Page, Carmel Myers, Florenz Ziegfeld with Billie Burke and their Daughter Gloria, Samuel Goldwyn, Leon Errol, Duncan Sisters, Bebe Daniels, Ben Lyon, Charles Murray, George Sidney, Edmund Lowe. Lilyan Tashman, Al Tolson, Ruby Keeler and others. Oswald in > "Hell's Heels" Universal Time, 6 mins. Oswald Does a Steal "Hell's Heels" presents Oswald in the role of a musical bandit. With 'wo other bad men he dynamites a bank in a desert town. In his flight from the law he runs into a lost child in the desert. The kid forces ( >swald to take him back to his dad, who turns out to he the sheriff from whom Oswald has been fleeing. The end finds tin' bandit headed across tli. desert. While "Hell's Heels" repeats many of the musical gags that have become favorites with animated cartoon creators, the music it contains is rather pleasing. "Mickey the Romeo" RKO Time, 9 mins. Swell Youngster Comedy One of the funniest of the Mickey (Himself) McGuire comedies to date. First the gang plays amusement park and then they are taken by Mickey's dad to an actual resort of the Coney Island type. A couple of tough eggs are chasing the children to spank them for playing a prank on them, but the youngsters manage not only to elude them but also to yank them into a few more stunts, all to the tune of much merriment. Albert Herman has directed the action so that the laughs come pretty steadily. "Horace Heidt and His Californians" Vitaphone 908 Time, 8 mins. Snappy Orchestra Novelty Four snappily presented numbers of the popular variety, with the tunefulness punctuated by various novelty touches, comprise Heidt's latest short. The numbers are "I'm Crazy for You," "Rose of the Rio Grande," "Old Man River" and "Sleep." Music is of better than average quality. Lobo, the trained police dog, again comes in for a few stunts. SILENT Sid Saylor in "Plane Crazy" Universal Time, 20 mins. Just Fair In "Plane Crazy" Sid Saylor is a plumber's helper who is a failure with the opposite sex. So is his boss. Try as they will, they cannot get a single girl to fall for either of them. Feeling that the lure of a uniform may prove a means of attracting the girls, they decided to take up flying. Through a misunderstanding they take to the air without their instructor. They finally manage to bring the plane to earth, but not without damaging it. Moderately funny. Arthur Lake in "Beauty Parade" Universal Time, 20 mins. Rather Mild "Beauty Parade" is about the same as the other Arthur Lake comedies. Most of its humor misses, although there are a number of gags that arc good for a laugh or two. Arthur appears as a swain who, in order to save himself from being recognized when he is surprised in his sweetie's company by her father, disguises himself in a girl's bathing suit. To carry out the ruse he finds it necessary to take part in a bathing beauty contest. The idea has great possibilities for some real fun, but little is done with it,