The Film Daily (1931)

Robert L. Ripley in "Believe It or Not, No. 7" Vitaphone 1148 Time, 9 mins. Fair Another collection of unusual incidents, mostly presented by dialogue, winding up with a few that are accompanied by drawings, makes this latest "Believe It or Not" just fairly engrossing. Most of the unique facts, as related orally, have little punch. "Undercover" Pathe Time, 9 mins. Class Sports A nice assortment of indoor sports presented by Sportlight. Billiards is presented with the champ, Willie Hoppe, doing some sensational trick shots that look like miracles. Then comes squash, with two players showing how exciting it can be. Then Norval Baptie and Gladys Lamb, ice champions, show some fancy and dizzy work on the skating rink. Finishes with a fine exhibition of expert bowling by Mort Lindsey, the world's champ fancy bowler, who performs some difficult shots with the utmost ease. A very interesting reel that will appeal to a variety of indoor sport fans. "Oswald In Mars" Universal Time, 6 mins. Good Fantasy An Oswald cartoon wherein the rabbit is kicked up to Mars by his rival for the girl's attentions. On this strange planet the hero encounters many strange creatures, until such time as a monster appears and chases him back to earth again. The conceptions of the strange inhabitants of Mars are well worked out and highly imaginative, this being one of the best of the fantastic cartoons yet produced. "One Yard to Go" Educational Time, 21 mins. Pip Comedy A Mack Sennett comedy featuring Marjorie Beebe, Frank Eastman, Bobby Vernon and Cyril Chadwick in a pip laugh number, with Marjorie carrying most of the gags over with lots to spare. Marjorie's ma is trying to marry her off to the titled Englishman, but she meets a young sport who turns out to be a deliveryman for a bottled water concern. It is a take-off on the Red Grange idea, with the hero proving to be the football star. Marge throws him over when she discovers he is only a laboring man, later to change her mind when they visit the football game and she finds out he is really the big hero. Marjorie gets all tangled in the game, and almost makes the hero lose on his plays, but all works out well, and the laughs are there in abundance. It is handled with snap and plenty of modern technique. Helen Broderick in "Court Plastered" with Lester Crawford Vitaphone 1165 Time, 9 mins. Good Travesty Helen Broderick, on trial for murder, turns the courtroom into a sideshow with her wisecracks and flirtations with the judge. Miss Broderick is accused of killing her husband. She testifies that she did it because he always came home whistling popular tunes and waking her up to ask her the name of the songs. For the climax, the attorneys whistle, the judge whistles and the jury marches out whistling. After the lady is acquitted, the judge proposes to her by whistling. Made strictly to entertain and succeeds nicely. "Red Riding Hood" Pathe Time, 8 mins. Good Cartoon An Aesop Fable with the Red Riding Hood motif, but here grandma gets young and frisky, and elopes with the wolf. Red Riding Hood notifies Missus Wolf, who starts a small war at the altar, leaving grandma sad but safe. The musical effects and funny noises help to keep this one scoring the laughs. "Oswald In China" Universal Time, 6 mins. Good Animated A clever Oswald cartoon, with the hero rabbit getting the laughs in a laundry, while the shirts and iron work together like human beings and perform the various laundry operations. But the laundryman returns in time to see Oswald upsetting his joint, and it winds up with a chase sequence, with all the shirt joining in. Cartune Newsreel Rudolf Mayer Time, 10 mins. Swell Travesty A corking box-office idea is incorporated in this subject, the first of a series, kidding the news weeklies. It is done in cartoon form and shows Al Smith, Cal Coolidge and other nationally-known figures in various amusing antics. Dialogue is occasionally used and the music and sound effects are competently arranged. The subject ought to click with any type audience. Joe Frisco in "The Border Patrol" with Dorothy Knapp, Eddie Graham Vitaphone 4426-7 Time, 12 mins. Fair Burlesque A burlesque on the old western melodramas. An effeminate frontier soldier starts the giggles, and the laughs grow in volume after Joe Frisco, a lawbreaker, is released from jail and offered his freedom if ht succeeds in rounding up the big bad hombre of those parts. Frisco makes up as a female entertainer, enters the bad man's dance hall and gambling den, engineers the capture and saves the heroine, Dorothy Knapp. Carrie the comedy fairly well. "Parading Pajamas" Pathe Time, 19 mins. Just Fair A Manhattan comedy featuring Johnny Arthur, Eleanor Hunt, Ben Hendricks, Jr., and Margaret Clark. A very mechanical comedy that drags heavily and fails to get over the gags with the proper snap. Too much repetition of the gags seems to be the chief fault, with a labored plot that moves heavily. Johnny Arthur is the traveling salesman hubby on the way home, who meets a young married girl unknown to Johnny, who is also on the way to visit his wife with her hubby. Circumstances put Johnnv in a flirtatious light with the girl, and her hubby gets sore. Here pajamas get into the comedian's suitcase by mistake, and these when disclosed in the home later lead to a series of misunderstandings and frantic efforts by Johnny to explain them. "Hello, Russia" Universal Time, 21 mins. Gets Laughs The fourth of the Slim Summerville comedies that falls below the high average set by the predecessors. Slim is a bugler with the American army unit in Russia, with Eddie Gribbon as the tough sergeant. As usual, their quarrels center around Olga, a native gal, with Slim horning in and trying to take her away from the sergeant. There is one corking gag worked with Slim taking a bath in the girl's home, while she bathes her dog in an adjoining room. The sergeant enters, overhears the conversation, and thinks that his sweetie is giving Slim a bath. It has plenty of laughs, and the fans will like it. "La Preghiera del Mose" ("Moses' Prayer") J. V. Cremonim Time, 9 mins. Italian Musical This subject was turned out by the Cines-Pittaluga of Rome and recorded with RCA Photophone. It is somewhat in the line of a concert number, performed by 30 harps of the Academy of Music of Santa Cecilia of Rome. Alba Novella, soprano, is accompanying soloist. The number is in the unusual class, especially from a musical standpoint, and will elicit its best reaction from the musically appreciative, although it should prove an acceptable short novelty for almost any bill. The Asbury Park Murder Mystery" Educational Time, 18 mins Flat Number A William J. Burns Detective' Mystery, with the famous sleuth describing how his operatives uncovered the murderer of a little girl. As he talks, it goes into a reproduction of the actual events as they transpired, showing the tricking of the criminal into a confession through a supposed pal who turns out to be a detective who framed him into disclosing his guilt. But the'^tory lacks directorial treatment to ^bring out the dramatic highlights. "■' So it resolves itself into a seriel of photographs that fall rather flat and lack the punch necessary for' a mystery presentation on the screen. "It Happened In Hollywood" Universal Time, 19 mins. Misses A Red Star comedy' featuring George Dewitt as the comic. He is a newspaper correspondent from a small town crashing the studio at Hollywood. He manages to get the various sets and actors and directors all scrambled in riotous confusion be4 fore he is finally kicked off tha premises. This film employs all the ... facilities of the UniversaVstudio, and a host of actors, many of them well known. But the comedy is sadly lacking, and it develops into an ordinary number with much excitement but few laughs. Pathe Audio Review No. 1 Pathe Time, 9 mins. A study of the old carfal in Pennsylvania which has be$n discontinued, showing a canal "boat on its last trip. A picturesque camera account of an ancient form of transportation that has survived to the twentieth century, with beautiful photographic work. The remainder of the reel is devoted to a study of Harlem, the home of the colored folks, showing them at work and especially at play. Intimate studies are offered of a gent getting dolled up in a barber shop, the dusky debs on the Avenue, and a parade of the Royal Order of Something in all their glory. But the big kick is a view of the famous Cotton Club, with Duke Ellington and his band jazzing it up with red ho£ rhythm, while the sepia gals do some fancy stepping.