The Film Daily (1930)

THE ■awn DAILY Sunday, July 20, 1930 Latest Reviews of New Short Subjects SOUND "Mind Your Business" Pathe Time, 17 mins. Good Musical Number In this comedy Robert Agnew impersonates a femme in order to get even with a pal who has tried tc steal his girl. So Agnew arrives at the party and has all the males running after him and raises the devil generally till finally the misunderstanding is straightened out. Some good musical numbers are employed, with a bevy of cuties doing their routines. It is bright and peppy, and carries a fair amount of laughs. Monte Carter directed, and also wrote the story and dialogue. "The Golden Kimono" with Mme. Tamaki Muiia Paramount Time, 10 mins. Japanese Operatic Bit All-Japanese singing and talking. Mme. Muiia, Japanese opera singer with a good voice is the principal performer and her singing consumes most of the footage. The story concerns Hana-San, who is about to be married. Her friends bring her the Golden Kimono, which every bride must wear for the ceremony. Just then her brother rushes in and says he must have 500 yen or go to prison. Hana-San gives him the valuable kimono, at the same time sacrificing her future happiness. Apparently made solely for the Japanese trade. "Evolution of the Dance" Vitaphone 3895-6 Time, 12 mins. Snappy Revue Presenting a cycle of dance variations and taking the patrons to various climes and showing them the native dances, this short revue_ in color proves an interesting subject which should go over well. Lupino Lane, who is somewhat of a dance headliner, comes through with a few numbers, and there are pleasing specialties by various other performers and ensembles. Musical accompaniment is very good. "Blind Youth" Capital Exchange Time, 17 mins. Weak Sketch A very tedious offering that looks as if it might have been made 10 years ago, for the technique is certainly far from up-to-date. Lou Tellegen does his old histrionics, consisting chiefly of talking in a heavy tragic voice and striding across the stage in a very agitated manner. It seems Lou was a painter in a Paris studio and his gal leaves him for another, then conies back repentant, and Lou is all broken hearted but will have nothing to do with her. Eddie Lambert in "The Body Slam" Vitaphone 4123 Time, 9 mins. Fair Comedy Eddie Lambert can be funny at times, but in this one he falls short. The supposedly humorous spots lack the punch to get the laughs. Lambert and his partner are on a train, evidently bound nowhere, when a wrestler informs the partner of the scheme behind offering a man $500 to stay in the ring with him for one round. They walk off with the wrestler's valise and stage a contest in a hick town, with Lambert impersonating the wrestler, who turns up as his opponent. The comic gets a good lacing to the tune of a few guffaws. "Carnival Revue" pathe Time, 19 mins. Goofy Fun This one is done in the kidding spirit, and scores the laughs. T. Roy Barnes is the comedian, who is in love with the daughter of the tent show owner. When the mystic mindreader walks out on his act, the comedian volunteers to do his stuff. As the manager goes through the audience capping for the mind-reading act, the comic gives the goofy answers, which creates a lot of fun. He makes good and saves the show from going on the rocks. Wallace Fox directed. Ruth Hiatt is the very attractive lead. "Voice of Hollywood" Tiffany Time, 14 mins. Good Star .Assortment With George K. Arthur as announcer and a good assortment of stars doing a little something before the camera, this number of the Voice series gets over nicely for an enjoyable 14 minutes. Barbara Stanwyck and Frank Fay lead off the list of principals, followed bv Eddie Quillan and his band, Edmund Breese and Marie Dressier, Montagu Love and Carmel Myers, Jimmy Finlayson and Vera Gordon, Ruth Roland and Ben Bard appear in duo scenes with Eddie Lambert doing a single at the piano. Arthur's daughter does a short recital and also gives the signing off signal. "Temples of Silence" Pathe Time, 10 mins. Travel Treat Another journey with tliat Interesting companion, Tom Terris, who takes us on a Vagabond Adventure to the ancient and mvsterious "phantom city" of Angkor, the lost citv of Asia buried in mvstery of the ages. Terris conducts us through the awe-inspiring ruins standing almost as they did thousands of vears ago when millions of inhabitants lived their strange lives there. The traveller talks entertainingly in his inimitable manner, explaining and re constructing the life of this ancient people. Finally he reaches the Sacred Temple where reigned the Goddess of Lust, whose immense likeness is sculptured on the wall. Here the dancers performed before the high priests, and we see the sacrificial stone where human offerings were made to the goddess. One lone human remains in this ghost city, the Mad King, who claims to be the only living descendant of this departed race. Something different in travel pictures, with Tom Terris' descriptive remarks making every minute interesting. "For Love or Money" with Lois Wilson, Bert Roach Paramount Time, 19 mins. Good Domestic Comedy Good work by Lois Wilson, Bert Roach and Ernie Woods are among the chief merits of this domestic skit about a chap who wants to prove to his friend that the latter's wife married him for his money. To put the matter to a test, the husband agrees to go away and wire his wife that he has lost all his money. If the wife deserts him, the friend is to win a bet of 10 grand. As it turns out, wifie proves she married her husband for love and all is jake. A bit padded, considering the value of the idea, but manages to entertain at a fairly good gait. "She Who Gets Slapped" with Tom Dugan Vitaphone 3900 Time, 8 mins Fast Comedy Comedy, with plenty of action, about an oppressed husband who takes lessons in how to dominate his browbeating wife. On his wav home from a late card session he falls for a straneer's offer to show him the wav to bring the ball and chain to time. The stranger taxes him $50 for the dope, and to prove that it works the specialist even takes the husband along to the former's home to see the svstem applied there. It turns out to be a frame-up proposition, however, and when the husband attempts to pull the stuff on his wife he winds up in the hospital. Dufan erives a swell performance as the husband, and the skit generally is above the average in entertainment merits. Ann Seymour in "Song Paintings" Vitaphone 1011 Time, 7 mins. Good Singing Act It's too bad thev had to limit Miss Seymour to two numbers, for she has a personality and charm that carrv her right into hearts of the audience. The melodies of both numbers are very tuneful and catchy, chiefly because of the songbird who produces them. An ace in any deck of cards. Pathe Audio Review No. 27 Time, 9 mins, First you are taken for what might be termed a hop-ride, as Frank Blackwell, the Audio camera-hound, conducts the screen sightseers through the poppy fields in China, while appropriately enough the inci dental music is Tschaikowsky' "Meditation." Then comes a ride through Wales on the smallest railroad in the world, that reminds you of those choo-choo cars for the kiddies at Coney Island. Then follows a pathetic interlude, being "The Song of the Dying Cowboy," with the Audio Male Quartette under Tom Hogan furnishing the melody. The reel finishes with photographic studies of historic spots associated with the Spanish-American war, showing where the American volunteers went into action, the exact spot of the surrender of the Spanish General Toral, San Juan Hill and the ridge over which the Rough Riders galloped with "Teddy," and last but not least, the hangout of Senor Bacardi who invented that drink from sugar-cane. A nicely diversified review from all angles, with appropriate music skilfully rendered. i J S ; "Jungle Jazz" Pathe Time, 8 mins. Usual Cartoon Another in the Van Beuren cartoon series, showing Waffles Cat and his pal, Don Dog, facing adventures in the wilds of Africa. Thrilling experiences with gorillas, apes and a python are recorded. Finally the cannibals get the adventurers and are stewing them in the pot when Don Dog pulls a fast one and saves their lives. The incidental music emphasizes the funny situations. The usual line of cartoon comics made for the delight of the kids. SILENT Ted Carson in "The Lightning Rider" Universal Time, 17 mins. Slow Western Unconvincing in theme, and a deal slower in action than the usual run of the Ted Carson series of Westerns, there is little to recommend in this short. The story, which embraces the Northwest Mounted and the familiar outlaw chase, has been worked out in jumpy continuity and the efforts of the star and players are entirely too forced. Where other films offering Carson have been saved by some realistic outdoor action, including fast riding and a fairly good "rough-and-tumble" scrap, this one fails to register. The kids will probably be its only rooters.