The Film Daily (1931)

10 DAILY Sunday, January 4, 1931 "Man to Man" With Grant Mitchell and Phillips Holmes Warner Time, 1 hr., 8 mins. EXCELLENT DRAMA WITH PLENTY OF COMEDY TO LIGHTEN THE HEAVY SITUATIONS. FINE CAST. This is a good audience picture that should hold the interest of all. Grant Mitchell's characterization ot the man who comes back from prison to the forgiving populace of a small town is convincing as is Phillips Holmes' portrayal of the nervous and emotional son who cannot forget that his father is an exconvict. Money is stolen from the local bank and b<4th father and son confess the theft to save the other. Everything ends well and the boy wins as his life mate, the charming and beautiful Lucile Powers who plays the part of the bank president's stenographer. As the town banker, George Marion turns out a fine piece of work. It's a pleasing picture. Cast: Phillips Holmes, Grant Mitchell, Lucile Powers, Barbara Weeks, Charles Sellon, Dwight Frye, Russell Simpson, Paul Nicholson, Robert Emmett O'Connor, George Marion, Otis Harlan, James Hall, Johnny Larkins. Director, Alan Dwan; Author, Ben Ames Williams; Adaptor, Joseph Jackson; Dialoguer, same ; Editor, George Marks ; Cameraman, Ira Morgan. Direction, Very Good. Photography, Fine. Richard Barthelmess in "The Lash" with Mary Astor, Marian Nixon, James Rennie First Nat'l Time, 1 hr., 15 mins. FAIR STORY OF WESTERN TYPE. GOOD WORK BY STAR AND SUPPORTING CAST UNABLE TO OVERCOME WEAK MATERIAL, As a glorified western, this is an acceptable program offering, but as a vehicle for the talents of Richard Barthelmess and his excellent supporting players it falls down rather badly. Story concerns the early days of California. Dick, after four years in Mexico City, returns to his California home and finds the "gringos" treating his people badly. So he becomes a bandit, pulls off several big jobs", does some killing, saves the deed to his uncle's ranch and then decides to beat it back to Mexico when he learns his sister (Marian Nixon) has fallen in love with the sheriff (James Rennie) who is out to get him. A romance between Dick and Mary Astor also is worked in, and there is the happy finale. Fred Kohler, as the menace, gives his usual robust performance, and there is good work by Robert Edeson, Arthur Stone and others. Cast: Richard Barthelmess, Mary Astor, Fred Kohler, Marian Nixon, James Rennie, Robert Edeson, Arthur Stone, Barbara Bedford, Mathilde Comfort, Erville Alderson. Director, Frank Lloyd ; Authors, Lanier Bartlett, Virginia Stivers Bartlett; Adaptor, Bradley King; Dialoguer, same; Editor, Harold Young ; Cameraman, Ernest Haller. Direction, slow. Photography, fair. "Caught Cheating" with Charlie Murray, George Sidney Tiffany Time, 1 hr., 5 mins. BROAD FARCE COMEDY CARRIES PLENTY OF LAUGHS IN SOPHISTICATED STORY THAT RUNS PRETTY RISQUE. NOT FOR THE KIDDIES. The team of Charlie Murray and George Sidney do about their best work so far in this one. The story has a plot that is a natural for laughs. But it is for very sophisticated audiences, and for the kids it is absolutely taboo. Several scenes and some dialogue will probably be cut plenty by the censors. Sidney as a respectable business man gets mixed up with the wife of a gangster through no fault of his own, and the gangster is out with his crowd to get him at a masque ball. Murray as a wealthy contractor and a client of Sidney's takes him out with two girls to the ball. One of the\<girls is the wife of the gangster, but the two cronies do not know that. Meanwhile the gangster and his men dressed as policemen are at the ball looking for Sidney. This situation builds into a series of laughs that keep the fun popping. It has been very well directed and mounted. It would have been just as funny without off-color lines that occasionally creep in. Cast: Charlie Murray, George Sidney, Nita Martan, Robert Ellis, Dorothy Christy, Bertha Mann, Fred Malatesta, George Regas. Director, Frank Strayer ; Author, W. Scott Darling ; Adaptor, the same ; Dialoguers, W. Scott Darling, Frances Hyland ; Editor, Edgar D. Adams ; Cameraman, Max Dupont. Direction, very good. Photography, okay. "The Criminal Code" with Walter Huston Columbia Time, 1 hr., 37 mins. INTENSE PRISON DRAMA WITH STRONG SITUATIONS AND A GRIPPING ROMANCE. HUSTON IS POWERFUL. With a punch that is a knockout, this talkie version of the stage success is a heart gripper of the first class. The director has presented a thoroughly fine piece of dramatic work and the characterizations ol Huston and Phillips Holmes are powerful and sturdy. As the district attorney who sends Holmes to prison only to later find himself warden and faced by Holmes and thousands of other convicts whom he has prosecuted, Huston handles his part with all the strength of his talents. The prison scenes are realistic and thrilling and the romance between Holmes and the warden's daughter is beautifully done. It's a picture for strong men and women who don't mind crying a bit. Cast: Walter Huston, Phillips Holmes, Constance Cummings, Mary Doran, DeWitt Jennings, John Sheehan, Boris Karloff, Otto Hoffman, Clark Marshall, Arthur Hoyt, Ethel Wales, Nicolas Soussanin, Paul Porcasi, James Guilfoyle, Lee Phelps, Hugh Walker, Jack Vance. Director, Howard Hawks ; Author, Martin Flavin ; Adaptor, Fred Niblo, Jr. ; Dialoguer, same ; Editor, Edward Curtis ; Cameraman, James Howe ; Recording Engineer, Glenn Rominger. Direction, masterful. Photography excellent. Douglas Fairbanks in "Reaching for the Moon" with Bebe Daniels United Artists Time, 1 hr., 30 mins. UNITED ARTISTS' SMART AND SOPHISTICATED ROLLICKING COMEDY. FAIRBANKS GRAND. ADULT STUFF. It's a suave, 1930 model Doug Fairbanks who frolics through this clever piece of entertainment, set against a lavish background of Wall St., Park Ave. and a modernistic ocean liner. Doug plays a wicard of finance who generally ignores the ladies. A pip, Bebe Daniels, makes him fall and he pursues her abroad, letting his business interests go to smash. After getting the impression that the femme has bfeen kidding him along, he finds out differently. The dialogue is swift and sophisticated. With one exception, a chase sequence, there's but little of typical Fairbanks action. There's only one dash of music and this is oke. Edward Everest Horton is swell as Doug's valet and Bebe and the other players are thoroughly competent. Cast : Douglas Fairbanks, Bebe Daniels, Edward Everett Horton, Jack Mulhall, Claude Allister, June MacCloy, Walter Walker and Helen Jerome Eddy. Director, Edmund Goulding ; Authors, Irving Berlin, Edmund Goulding; Adaptor, Edmund Goulding ; Dialoguers, Edmund Goulding, Elsie Janis ; Editors, Lloyd Nosier, Hal C. Kern ; Cameramen, Ray June, Robert Planck; Recording Engineer, Oscar Laegcrstrom. Direction, good. Photography, okay. Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell in "The Man Who Came Back" Fox Time, 1 hr., 14 mins. GOOD MELODRAMA ALTHOUGH JANET GAYNOR IS MISCAST IN PART OF REGENERATED COKE FIEND. Based on the stage play, and formerly done as a silent, this talker version is not exactly a happy vehicle for the reunion of the old team of Janet Gaynor and Charlie Farrell. Aside from the fact that many of the situations appear outdated, the spectacle of Janet Gaynor in a low dive in Shanghai smoking opium and trying to act degenerate may be a shock to most of her admirers, the majority of whom want to see her as a sweet girl. However, there are some very charming romantic scenes between Janet and Charlie, although they somehow fail to establish that close sympathetic'bond they created in such pictures as "Seventh Heaven" and "Street Angel." Janet's voice sounds rather husky, and Farrell moves through many dramatic scenes in a rather mechanical manner. Maybe they picked the wrong director, for this team of all others requires delicate handling. Cast: Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, Ken< neth MacKenna, William Holden, Mary Forbes, Ulrich Haupt, William Worthington, Peter Gawthorne, Leslie Fenton. Director, Raoul Walsh ; Authors, Jules Eckert Goodman, John Fleming Wilson ; Adaptor, Edwin J. Burke; Dialoguer, same; Editor, Harold Schuster ; Cameraman, Arthur Edeson. Direction, Fair. Photography, Good. "Night Birds" British International Time, 1 hr., 16 mins. ENTERTAINING MURDER MYSTERY HOLDS TENSION TO THE CLIMAX WITH SOME SURPRISE TWISTS AND GOOD DIRECTION. This British production handles a clever murder mystery with a lot of class in direction and acting. The story particularly is commendable, for it is full of surprise twists and a lot of baffling clues to mislead and keep the interest as to the eventual outcome always on edge. It is impossible to suspect the real criminal, and the manner in which he is finally uncovered at the end brings a distinct shock. The story takes place mostly in a fashionable London night club, where the various characters gather nightly. The detective is on the trail of a clever criminal who has a tricky of killing his victims by throwing a knife. In one scene it goes verymeller, with the detective hot after one of the gang after a theater robbery and chasing him through the flies backstage and out on the roof in a very hokey manner. Outside of this lapse, it is done with class. Cast: Jameson Thomas, Jack Raine, Muriel Angelus, Eve Gray, Frank Perfitt, Garry Marsh, D. Hay Petrie, Harry Terry, Cyril Butcher. Director, Richard Eichberg; Author, Victor Kendall ; Adaptor, same ; Dialoguer, Miles Malleson ; Editors, S. Simmonds, Emile DeRuelle ; Cameraman, Henry Gartner ; Recording Engineer, Alec Murray. Direction, Good. Photography, Okay. Joan Crawford in "Paid" M-G-M Time, 1 hr., 20 mins. BOX-OFFICE LULU. JOAN CRAWFORD GREAT IN SUREFIRE CROOK DRAMA THAT WILL GO ANYWHERE. Based on the Bayard Veiller stage success, "Within the Law", and made as a silent several years ago. One of the best audience piclures of the season. This one has about everything along the entertainment line, including excellent love interest, drama and comedy, and all these expertly enacted and directed. Story is that of a girl store clerk who, innocent, is convicted of grand larceny and sent to prison. L'he store proprietor refuses to intercede for her and she swears revenge. When her term is finished she becomes a "within the law" crook and eventually lands the merchant's son as her husband. A series of fast-moving episodes which include a murder completed the yarn. The star turns in a splendid, believable performance and receives admirable support. Cast: Joan Crawford, Robert Armstrong, Marie Prevost, Kent Douglas, John Miljan, Purnell B. Pratt, Hale Hamilton, Polly Moran, Robert Emmet O'Connor, Tyrrell Davis, William Bakewell, George Cooper, Gwen Lee, Isabel Withers. Director, Sam Wood ; Author, Bayard Veiller ; Adaptors, Lucien Hubbard, Charles MacArthur ; Dialoguer, Charles MacArthur ; Editor, Hugh Wynn; Cameraman, Charles Rosher; Recording Engineer, Douglas Shearer.