The Film Daily (1930)

THE Sunday, August 3, 1930 ■z&>* DAILY 11 The Four Marx Bros, in "Animal Crackers" Paramount Time, 1 hr., 40 mins. SWELL MUSICAL COMEDY THAT MAKES FOR CORKING ENTERTAINMENT. FOUR MARX BROTHERS PUT OVER THEIR POPULAR STUFF IN EXCELLENT FASHION. The four Marx Brothers are back main in the talkers, this time doing etter than in their first. Their popuar brand of comedy pervades the >icture, so much in fact that there little footage left for a love plot if any importance. While most of he repartee is nonsense, it gets the aughs and that's what counts. The tory centers about a fashionable louse party in which a famous paintng worth $100,000 is to be unveiled. The daughter of the hostess is in ove with an artist who has drawn a )icture of the famous hunters. They cplace the real picture and this one s later replaced by a third brought )>• an envious\sqCiety woman. Harpo nakes a coll4c/ion of all three and ater gives them up after his little ;ame of fun. The artist's picture is >een by the conniseur who signs up [he youth to do a portrait of him, hus enabling the artist and his sweetneart to get married. Harpo gives a rendition at the harp that is worthy. Cast: Four Marx Bros., Lillian Roth. Margaret Dumont, Lewis Sorin, Margaret Irving, Gerry Goff, Robert Greig, Edward Metcalf. Hal Thompson, Katheryn Rose. Director, Victor Heerman ; Authors. Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby ; Adaptor, Morris Ryskind ; Cameraman, George Folsey. Direction, good. Photography, good. Lane Chandler in "Firebrand Jordan" Big Four Time, 57 mins. OKAY TALKIE WESTERN WITH UNUSUAL AMOUNT OF ACTION AND GOOD STUNT STUFF. HAS THE THRILLS TO PLEASE THE FANS. This one sticks to the old western formula of plenty of action and fighting, and does not attempt to get ritzy with the dialogue craze that has hit so many modern westerns. Therefore it should please the western fans who always want their fare served hot with lots of action and gun play. And it has plenty of both. Hero is a ranger sent into the Sierras to uncover a gang of counterfeiters. Sheldon Lewis is the villain, posing as the big business man of the district, who of course is after the girl the hero falls in love with. Hero soon discovers the villain is the head of the counterfeiters. Meanwhile ttfe father of the girl has been kidnapped and held prisoner by the gang. The hero trails them to an old mine with the sheriff's posse. This is the climax, with a pitched battle between the gang, and the posse shooting it out. Looks like the old style westerns are coming back with this one. Cast: Lane Chandler, Aline Goodwin, Yakima Canutt, Sheldon Lewis, Marguerite Ainslte, Tom London, Lew Meehan, Frank Yaconalli, Alfred Hewston, Fred Harvey, Cliff Lyons. Director, Alvin Neitz ; Author, Carl Krusada : Adaptor, the same ; Dialoguer, the same ; Editor, not listed ; Monitor Man, William Garrity ; Cameraman, William Nobles. Direction, fast. Photography, clear. "Worldly Goods" Continental Pictures Time, 1 hr., 11 mins. FAIR NUMBER FOR NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSES. GOOD FOR FAMILY TRADE WITH SWEET LOVE STORY. CAST AND DIRECTION WEAK. Adapted from novel by Andrew Soutar, this is just a fair indie production shot with evidently a limited bankroll. They started with an entertaining human interest story, but the direction is weak and the cast just so-so. One of those clean little stories designed for the family trade in the smaller neighborhoods. At the opener, the hero is seen as an American aviator in the War. His defective plane crashes, and he loses his sight. Later he is back in his home town where he is befriended by the profiteer who got rich on the bum airplanes the government bought. The profiteer keeps his identity secret till an operation on the hero's eyes restores his sight, and the hero learns who he really is. Meanwhile hero's girl has married the rich benefactor, who conveniently jumps from an irplane into the ocean to bring the sweethearts together. Okay for small stands. Cast: James Kirkwood, Merna Kennedy, Shannon Day, Ferdinand Schumann-Heink, Eddie Featherstone. Director. Phil Rosen; Author, Andrew Soutar; Adaptors, Johnnie Grey, Scott Littleton ; Dialoguers, the same ; Cameraman, Herbert J. Kirkpatrick. Direction, weak. Photography, fair. Ken Maynard in "Sons of the Saddle" Universal Time, 1 hr., 10 mins. CORKING ENTERTAINMENT FOR THE JUVENILE TRADE. MAYNARD COMES THROUGH WITH PLENTY OF ACTION IN THIS WESTERN. Hits the bull's-eye for juvenile entertainment. The kids will go for this one big, especially in the last few reels where there is no dearth of hard and fast riding, gun play and action. While Ken Maynard contributes the principal role, Francis Ford, a hero ot yore, is in the mask of a villain and comes through with a neat performance. The story has to do with Maynard thwarting the plan of Francis Ford to stampede a herd of cattle. Maynard is foreman of Wind River ranch and falls for the boss's daughter and at the same time making an enemy of Carol NyA who is also in love with he\. /Nye joins Ford's gang but whenMie is about to aid in the stampede, Maynard puts him back on the right track. Some fast riding and plenty of shooting save the day. Tarzan, the horse, helps along, too. Picturesque outdoor shots lend color to a nicely balanced action western. Cast: Ken Maynard, Doris Hill, Francis Ford, Caroll Nye, Joseph Girard, Harry Todd. Director, Harry Joe Brown, Author, Bennett R. Cohen ; Adaptor, Bennett R. Cohen ; Dialoguer, Lesley Mason ; Editor, Fred Allen ; Cameraman, Ted McCord. Direction, good. Photography, fine. CLASS OF SERVICE DESIRED TELEGRAM DAY LETTER NIGHT MESSAGE NIGHT LETTER Patrons should mark an X opposite the class of service desired; OTHERWISE THE MESSAGE WILL BE TRANSMITTED AS A FULL-RATE TELEGRAM WESTE UNION AM NEWCOMB CARLTON. PRESIDENT GEORGE W. E. ATKINS, first vice-president NO. CASH OR CHG CHECK TIME FILED AUG. 3, 1930 THE FILM DAILY 1650 BROADWAY NEW YORK NY GENTLEMEN: PLEASE EXTEND MY DEEP APPRECIATION AND SINCERE THANKS TO THE CRITICS WHO HAVE SELECTED ME AS ONE OP THE TEN BEST DIRECTORS. SIDNEY A. FRANKLIN