The Film Daily (1931)

THE Sunday, January 11, 1931 -z&* DAILY 11 Giovanni Martinelh ifitaphone Time, 8 mins. Class Singing In his latest appearance for VitaDhone, the noted Metropolitan Dpera star delivers a brace of semipopular numbers. One is "Love's Garden of Roses," and the other ^Because." Martinelli's resonant tenor voice puts over the selections in an impressive way, more to the taste of real music lovers than from the angle of popular song fans. An attractive background and several ingenious camera angles add interest to the offering. Marion Harris in "Two's Company" Paramount Time, 9 mins. Good Song Number Two songs by Marion Harris, who knows how to put over a popular I number for the full count, are the highlights of this skit. The songs are "I'm Yours" and "If I Could Be With You." In the background is something of a plot dealing with a jealous sweetie, but this incidental feature is not on a par with the vocal work of Miss Harris. "Help Wanted— Female" Pathe Time, 18 mins. Flat Comedy Daphne Pollard is featured in a very flat comedy. She goes to a doctor's office to get a job as a cook, but two yeggs have preceded her and imprisoned the doctor. They pretend to be the doctor and his assistant when Daphne enters, and the comedy .is supposed to arise from the amusing incidents — but it doesn't. The list of title credits is very imposing, and you naturally expect something to compare with it. Daphne works hard, but they just didn't give her the material to be funny. Smith and Dale in "Anything But Ham" Paramount Time, 11 mins. Amusing Comedy Another laugh fest, though not as strong as some of the previous skits by this team, is provided by Joe Smith and Charles Dale. One is a butcher and the other conies along as a solicitor of accounts for a bank. The butcher hands over a wad of dough to open an account, then his wife gets a suspicion that the solicitor might have been a phony. There follows the business of getting the money back and other back and forth comedy with a punch finish. Gertrude Mudge and Betty Blythe are in tlie supporting cast. "The Love Bargain" Educational Time, 20 mins. Has the Pep A mixup between a young married couple and an unmarried pair, centering around the penchant of the married dame for continually searching for bargains, furnishes a fair supply of mirth in this one. There is also an irate father trying to protect his young daughter who doesn't want to be protected. Featuring Alberta Vaughn, Tyler Brooks, Bobby Agnew and Margaret Clarke. It is peppy and well directed. A Mermaid comedy. "Marriage Rows" Educational Time, 19 mins. Neat Comedy Here is a nifty Lloyd Hamilton comedy handled expertly and getting the laughs without straining at them. An old sweetheart of Hamilton's wife (Addie McPhail) visits them, and the hero hubby decided he better stay home from business and watch developments. Hamilton arranges with the other man (Al St. John) to make violent love to his wife, so he can find out who she really loves. Wifie overhears the conspiracy, and acts up to the part. The comedy is handled deftly, and none of the gags are overplayed. The comedian is in fine form in this one. and his host of fans will like it. TEN YEARS AGO TO-DAY IN :the IM MfrSUKk Of IllMIOM Reports from Coast of possible merger between Associated Productions and United Artists continue to reach New York. * * * Al Lichtman resigns as general manager of distribution for Famous Players. Sidney R. Kent succeeds him. « * * Federal Trade Commission investigating Eskay Harris version of "Black Beauty." "The Lady Killer" Universal Time, 21 mins. Another "Leather Pusher" This series of the Leather Pushers ;s suffering from poor material. The irst two or three held up, but now the boys seem to be running out of ideas. So they keep repeating the ame old situations with slight variations. The situations in many instances border on the ridiculous, with a girl of a fine family cutting up with a tough pug to get her sweetie, the millionaire fighter, jealous. It all builds up to the usual fight scene, which is pretty amateurish. As usual, the hero is almost knocked out, but rallies when his girl appears at the ringside to encourage him, and scores a knockout over his rival. "A Toytown Tale" Pathe Time, 8 mins. Good Kid Stuff An Aesop Fable with a different slant, gotten out evidently for the Christmas trade. Shows the old toymaker leaving his shop, and then the various toys come to life, and go through a little love drama, with comedy highlights. Little Boy Blue is the hero, rescuing the girl from the gorilla when the brave captain falls down on the job. Will interest the kids, although the holiday atmosphere is not so timely now. "Dance Hall Marge" Educational Time, 21 mins. Classy Comedy A Mack Sennett comedy, with Harry Gribbon and Marjorie Beebe supplying the main hilarity. This is one of Marjorie's best, and she proves herself a comedienne with a real flair for getting the laughs. Marge is a taxi dancer, and Harry her sweetie, whom she thinks a rich gent because he's always giving her presents. Margie later meets a rich youth and joins his family on their yacht, posing as .a blueblood herself. But Harry proves to be the butler on board, and then the fireworks commence when he sees her making love to his rival and boss. Some unique trick photography in ocean chase sequences, with a taxi riding on the waves and on the ocean bottom give this an additional kick. Well directed, and plenty of merriment. "Run-away Boys" Paramount Time, 10 mins. Scenic With Moral This Robert Bruce scenic is unusual in that it carries a neat little moral for boys who want to run away from home. Two brothers, planning the skip act, run into a stranger, who relates his own adventures as a home deserter. The wanderings are depicted in the accompanying scenes, with the stranger stressing his hardships, loneliness and other disadvantages of being far from home and friends. The brothers thereupon give up their plans for leaving home. Will interest the kids and make a big hit with parents. "Popcorn" Educational Time, 7 mins. Nice Cartoon A Paul Terry-Toon with the cartoon animals making merry at the fair grounds. The heroine gets herself in difficulties but the hero is always on hand to help her out. The cartoon work is clever and gagged originally, with the incidental music helping a lot. One of the best of this series. Frank Orth in "The Painter" Vitaphone Time, 7 mins. Fair Gag This is the old insane asylum gag of the visitor obeying the directions of a patient who appears to be sane. Orth as the visitor listens to how the patient was railroaded into the asylum by jealous relatives who hid the family fortune in the mountains. Orth heads the expedition which, after five months of climbing and dirt, returns without the m Orth tells the nut that he has carried out th instructions and the patient suggests that they change Orth. although a good comedian, isn't given much opportunity t stuff. Pathe Audio Review No. 52 A series of views of high buildings, starting with one of the pyramids built by King Cheops, and then getting down to the modern variety with shots of Washington Monument, the Woolworth Building, the Chrysler structure, and finally the tallest of them all, the new Empire State. The next sequence is in the Mojave Desert, with views of the Yucca Palm, known as Joshua trees, which are peculiar to this region. The final offering presents Mine. Schumann-Heink, who gives a talk about her class of aspiring young singers that she is training for operatic singing. Her best pupil sings, and then Schumann-Heink herself contributes Brahms' "Wiegenlied." The great singer's voice is not what it used to be, but her many admirers will no doubt be glad to hear her interesting and characteristic talk. Congratulates: ADOLPH ZUKOR for the constructive leadership displayed in his New Year message to the industry. No. 3 of 1931 "Good Deeds" Series