The Film Daily (1930)

THE Sunday, November 30, 1930 ■22H DAILV 11 REVIEWS OF SOUND SHORTS "Dangerous Youth" Pa the Time, 21 mins. Good Slapstick Daphne Pollard keeps the fun moving at a lively pace in a good old fashioned slapstick comedy. It opens with a riot as Daphne is mobbed by oil promoters trying to buy her oil lands. With the jack, she tries to crash society by throwing a ritzy party for her niece. Then the fun really begins, with Daphne getting into a mess of bad breaks and mishaps on the dance floor. There is the usual mixup with the hero trying to win the girl, and Daphne opposing him. But he proves to be a real hero by rescuing her from kidnappers, and all is hotsy totsy at the end, with a pillow fight done in the regulation slapstick manner. Has plenty of hearty guffaws to send it over. "The Dutchmen's Paradise" Columbia Time, 9 mins. Good Travelogue Crammed full of interesting material, this Bray release will hold the interest of any audience. Malcome La Prade, the Rambling Reporter, breezily takes us to the island of Java in the Dutch East Indies and cleverly describes the natives and their customs which are so peculiar to the average American theatergoer. The punch in the picture is the sequence showing the wedding of two sons of the sultan and the gorgeous pageant and parade held as a celebration. La Prade is an excellent reader and puts over his message forcefully without resorting to the always obvious studio sets. Franklin Pangborn in "The Doctor's Wife" Vitaphone 4260 Time, 8 mins. Fast Slapstick This comedy, of the good old slapstick variety, is the kind of stuff that exhibitors and their audiences are hollering for. It's a fast-moving affair, in which Pangborn, as a doctor, does some heavy flirting with Gertrude Astor, the vampire wife of his athletic client. The siren phones the doc to come over, and his wife, Geneva Mitchell, who has listened in, follows with the husky hubby of vamp. The marital melee that follows is a pip. "Giuseppe Verdi" FitzPatrick Time, 10 mins. Class Music Novelty Sympathetically staged excerpts from the life of the noted composer. This short belongs to FitzPatrick'g Famous Music Masters series and follows the same general idea as those that have gone before it. Several highlights in the career of the musician are shown, together with bits of music in the context of their inspiration, giving the subject something of a dramatic as well as a musical interest, not forgetting its educational aspects. Eddie Buzzell in "The Crystal Gazer" Columbia Time, 10 mins. Swell Gag Comedy One of the best shorts Eddie Buzzell has made so far in his series for Columbia. This time Eddie comes in as an Oriental crystal gazer, with the ball revealing him in various gags, including a hilarious divorce trial, a salesman bit and others. A real number for laughs. "Japan in Cherry Blossom Time" FitzPatrick Time, 9 mins. Charming One of the most charming of the FitzPatrick Traveltalks to date. This is due, of course, to the exceptional opportunities offered by the locale, the Japan of cherry blossom fame. In addition to shots of these sparkling trees, the reel includes some famous landmarks, sacred temples and religious idols, making it altogether an unusually absorbing subject of its kind. "In Again, Out Again" Paramount Time, 10 mins. Fine Comedy Lillian Bond and Aileen Cook are the principal performers in this highly amusing comedy about the girls walking back from auto rides. Having been kicked out of individual cars, they meet on the highway and start roller-skating home. On the way they run into another "ride," but are dumped again in quick order, after which they get aboard a farmer's wagon, which is loaded with girls who also are walking back. Lots of nifty dialogue that will produce the laughs anywhere. "Gypped in Egypt" Pathe Time, 8 mins. Good Aesop Fable This Aesop Fable has the cartoon cat and dog on an adventure in Egypt. They fall into an ancient town, and find themselves surrounded by mummies and skeletons that come to life. There is a funny fire sequence, with all the skeleton riding pell-mell to the fire in chariots. It finishes with a wild ride in an elevator to the top of an obelisk, where they step off the platform into space. A nightmare of goofy antics cleverly worked out for the laughs. C Presentations C By JACK H ARROW ER PLEASING SELECTIONS MAKE UP ROXY PROGRAM Several pleasingly contrasting numbers make the current stage bill at the Roxy a highly enjoyable affair. The outstanding selection is "In a Spanish Garden," featuring Patricia Bowman and Leonide Massine, with the Roxeyettes and the whole Roxy Chorus joining in. This number depicts a little romance between a gypsy dancer and a Spanish grandee, who turns down the wandering girl in favor of a lady of rank. An unusually diverting offering is "Clowning," in which the Roxyettes, dressed in clown suits, do an excellent routine and manipulate mechanical wigs for novel effects. Josef Stopak and Florence Wightman are featured with the Roxy Chorus in a musical scene based on Rubinstein's "Melody in F," which goes great with the music lovers. Erno Rapee's compilation of Jerome Kern melodies, played by the Roxy Symphony Orchestra, also is a nice treat. STANLEY SMITH HEADLINES PLEASING PARAMOUNT BILL The opening audience obviously liked "Fountains of Melody," the current stage show at the Paramount with Stanley Smith, Paramount contract player, as its highlight. Smith's personal appearance is along stereotyped lines. He sings a number of songs which he rendered in various Paramount talkers, llivoice gets across better via the microphone than via the footlights. Featured in the main stage show are: Marie Macquarrie Ensembles, Brems. Fitz & Murphy Bros., Darlene Walders, Allan Foster Girls and Gladys St. John. In a preliminary act Leo Reisman and the Paramount orchestra play three numbers: "Three Little Words," "The Peanut Vendor" and "St. James Infirmary Bhi. " They please the customers. "Java, the Fragrant Isle" FitzPatrick Time, 9 mins. Interesting Like the others in this series of traveltalks, FitzPatrick's scenic shots of Java and the synchronized lecture prove interesting and somewhat instructive as well. About the onl> criticism, at this stage, is that there is too much sameness in the style of lecture accompanying these shorts. As far as the picturesque scenes are concerned, they maintain their standard. "Office Boy" Pathe Time, 7 mins. Burlesque Cartoon An Aesop cartoon which is a sort of burlesque on the office wife idea. Milton Mouse is in love with the stenog, but the boss is playing up the cutie, so Milton has to take a back seat. But the boss' wife come.-, in and catches her hubby in a dance with the girl, so this leaves the road clear for Milton and the heroine to elope. The fade-out is a cute idea, with the two on a train singing "Fascinating Baby." Grantland Rice in RKO Broadcast Grantland Rice, the Sportlight man, will appear on the RKO Theater of the Air program next Friday evening. Willie Howard in "The Thirteenth Prisoner" with Lee Kohlmar Vitaphone 1104 Time, 5 mins. Weak Comedy Willie Howard isn't up to his usual standard in this comedy playlet with Lee Kohlmar. Kohlmar is Howard's lawyer in court and is advising his client to spend a day in jail rather than pay a fine of $25. It is practically all talk, in the Hebrew comedy vein, making it of limited interest to general audiences. "The Navy" Universal Time, 6 mins. Neat Cartoon This Oswald cartoon has the animated hero as a gob calling on the girl whom the captain is also courting. Oswald pulls some funny stunts in the course of his serenading, till the captain chases him on board the boat. A swift kick from the captain lands him back on the clothes line outside the window of his love, where he resumes his courting and everything is jake. Oswald is as funny as ever, and the cartoon ideas are cleverly executed. "BackfieltTAces" Pathe Time, 10 mins. Football Technique This is the sixth and final of tin Knute Rockne football series, with the Notre Dame coach putting his champion gridironers through some intricate backfield plays. They are very tricky, and help to explain graphically why the famous team ha> made a cleanup among the other big elevens. Rockne explains the technical plays in his snappy manner. It is well up to the standard of the series.