The Film Daily (1931)

THE 10 ■Z2H DAILY Sunday, February 8, 1931 "Scandal Sheet" with George Bancroft, Kmj Francis and Clive Brook Paramount Time, 1 hr., 17 mins. JUST FAIR NEWSPAPER DRAMA. CAST UNABLE TO OVERCOME ARTIFICIAL AND IMPLAUSIBLE STORY. Three name players go to waste in this yarn which has been treated and dialogued generally in inadequate manner. None of the principals attracts audience sympathy and Bancroft as the managing editor, is portrayed as a relentless, cruel individual. Clive Brook does the heavy in the story, which is thrown around a tabloid editor who prints all the news, regardless of whom it hurts. When he finds out that his wife has a lover jK the person of a bank presidcnt.jtfe kills him, returns to his office «nd dictates the story and then gives himself up to the police. Too much footage is wasted in telling what a tough guy Bancroft is before the story proper gets started. Another weakness lies in the lack of a love story. This picture ought to perform best in the pop price houses. Cast: George Bancroft, Clive Brook, Kay Francis, Gilbert Emery, Lucien Littlefield, Regis Toomey, Mary Foy, Jackie Searl, James Kelscy, Harry Bercsford. Director, John Cromwell ; Author, Oliver 11. 1'. Garrett; Adaptors, Vincent Lawrence, Max Marcin; Dialoguers, not credited; Editor, George Nichols; Cameraman, David Abel. Direction, Pretty good. Photography, Fine. "Kept Husbands" with Dorothy Mackaili RKO Time, 1 hr., 15 mins. FAIR DOMESTIC DRAMA WITH OBVIOUS STORY FINE CAST AND GOOD COMEDY RELIEF BY NED SPARKS. The marriage of a rich man's daughter to an "overall" worker in his employ forms the theme of this production. Although inconsistent in spots, it makes satisfactory program material. The fact that the rich girl proposes to the poor working man and he, against his better judgment, accepts, works up an anticipation of What follows. The conscientious I husband revolts against being "kept* by his wife and fatherin-law and, although usually overruled by the pleadings of his wife, he finally "breaks with her and returns to his old mother and un-pretentious home. Joel McCrea, as the "overall" hero, carries on admirably. Miss Mackaili is well cast. The other parts are satisfactory, with honors going to Ned Sparks for his characterization of the sarcastic brother. Cast : Dorothy Mackaili, Joel McCrea, Robert McWade, Florence Roberts, Clara Kimball Young, Mary Carr, Lita Chevret, Xed Sparks, Bryant Washburn, Freeman Wood. Director, Lloyd Bacon; AuthorJ, Louis Sarecky ; Adaptors, Alfred Jackson, Forrest Halse> ; Dialoguers, same; Editor, not credited ; Cameraman, Jack MacKenzie ; Recording Engineer, Bailey Fesler. Direction, good. Photography, good. Greta Garbo in "Inspiration" M-G-M Time, 1 hr., 14 mins. FINE LOVE-DRAMA WITH GRETA GARBO WELL CAST AND CARRYING THE PICTURE, CAST IS EXCELLENT. Clarence Brown has turned out a fine production and in it has created an atmosphere of romance that should make this a real box-office attraction. Greta Garbo dominates every situation and is the Garbo the tans want. As Yvonne, a French model of many loves who finally finds her true mate, Miss Garbo brings to the screen all the great possibilities of hen talents with a combination of heart-gripping emotion and care-free indilierence. Ivonne's lover, Robert Montgomery, is blind to her past until he is brought face to face with the naked truth. For a time it appears that there will be a break but the lovers are brought together only to have Yvonne go back to her former lover in the end. Cast is excellent and ihe settings filled with the true Latin Quarter atmosphere. Cast : Greta Garbo, Robert Montgomery, Lewis Stone, Marjorie Rambeau, Judith Vosselli, Beryl Mercer, John, Miljan, Edwin Maxwell, Oscar Apfel, Joan Marsh, Zelda Sears, Karen Morley, Gwen Lee, Paul McAllister, Arthur Hoyt, Richard Tucker. Director, Clarence Brown ; Author, Gene Markey ; Adaptor, same; Dialoguer, same; Editor, Conrad A. Nervig ; Cameraman, William Darnels; Recording Engineer, Douglas Shearer. Direction, Excellent. Photography, Fine. "Girls Demand Excitement" Fox Time, 1 hr., 19 mins COLLEGE YARN OF RO MANCE IN CO-ED PLAY GROUND PEPPED UP WITE MODERN TOUCHES. FOR THI FLAPPER TRADE. A light and inconsequential van that will have most of its appeal foi the flappers, showing the "war" be tween the girls and boys at a co-ec institution, with the male contingen endeavoring to oust the femmes John Wayne as the leader of th< hard-boiled males is constantly a' cross-purposes with Virginia Cher rill, who uses all! her feminine wile; to win him over. She doesn't succeec till the very end), irfnen he relents or learning that sne is really in lovt with him, and is not merely playing him like the rest of her admirers The offering is pepped up with some lively comedy touches and some peppy action, but won't register mucr of an impression on intelligent audiences with its callow youth atmos phere. Chalk it up as just another hey-hey college feature done with class and fairly interesting. Cast: Virginia Cherrill, John Wayne Marguerite Churchill, Helen Jerome Eddy. Ralph Welles, George Irving, William Janney, Eddie Nugent, Winter Hall, Terranct Ray, Marion Byron, Emerson Treacy, Mar tha Sleeper, Addie McPhail, Jerry Mandy Ray Cooke. Director, Seymour Felix; Author, Harlan Thompson; Adaptor, same; Dialoguer, same ; Editor, Jack Murray ; Cameraman, Charles Clarke; Recording Engineer, Eugent Crossman. Direction, Okay. Photography, Fine. I "Fair Warning" with George O'Brien Fox Time, 1 hr., 14 mins. ACTION WESTERN CONTAINING THE REGULATION MATERIAL TO PUT IT OVER WITH THE OUTDOOR STORY FANS. Plenty of action and high-handed heroics by George O'Brien, plus unusually attractive scenic background, put this western over in top style. The story, adapted from Max Brand's novel, "The Untamed," follows pretty much the well-known but always popular routine of such yarns. O'Brien is the ridin' and shootin' hero, and Louise Huntington, a capable newcomer from the stage, is the heroine who makes a good man out of him. There is dramatic kidnapping and a daring rescue from a building on fire. Action is in evidence almost every minute, and the manner in which George lands a kayo on the villain, and overcomes every obstacle jhetween him and the pretty heroiney furnishes plenty of rejoicing for the western fans. O'Brien's intelligent horse and dog also have their part in the proceedings. Alfred L. Werker's direction makes the most of the material. Cast: George O'Brien, Louise Huntington, Mitchell Harris, George Brent, Nat Pendleton, John Sheehan, Erwin Connelly, Willard Robertson, Alphonz Ethier, Ernest Adams. Director, Alfred L. Wcrkcr ; Author, Max Brand; Adaptor, Ernest L. Pascal; Dialoguer, same ; Editor, Ralph Diejrich ; Cameraman, Ross Fisher ; Recording Engineer, Bernard Freericks. Direction, strong. Photography, excellent. "Le Roi S'Ennuie" ("The Royal Bed") RKO Time, 1 hr., 15 mins. EXCELLENT ALL FRENCH DIALOGUE VERSION OF FINE COMEDY. CAST IS EXCEPTIONALLY WELL SELECTED. The French version of "The Royal Bed," which was adapted from Robert E. Sherwood's play, "The Queen's Husband," fares we.ll in the hands of an excellent French speaking cast and also lends itself exceptionally well to the French translation, ft is the story of a publicity seeking queen whose husband, the king, has more sense of humor than sense, but who marries the princess to the man of her choice rather than to the man chosen for her. All the leading players have sensed the humor of the various situations. Emile Chautard, as the king, knows how to act. Francoise Rozay gives a staunch reading of the queen and Pauline Garon's beauty and freshness as the princess are a delight. Cast: Pauline Garon, Emile Chautard Irancoise Rozay, Jules Raucourt, Jacques Jou-Jerville, Ivan Lebedeff, Frank O'Neil Roland Mara, Robert Harari, Arthur Hurni] Director, Henri de la Falaise et de la Coudraye; Author. Robert E. Sherwood; Adaptor. Robert Harari; Dialoguer, same; Editor. C. D. Milner Kitchen; Cameraman, Leo Tover; Recording Engineer, Paul baulkner.' Direction, fine. Photography, fine. "Swanee River" with Grant Withers, Thelma Todd Sono Art Time, 50 mins. FAIR OLD STYLE MELODRAMA WITH PLENTY OF ACTION AND GOOD "SPIRITUALS" BY JUBILEE SINGERS. This is the first "Thrill-O-Drama" in a series of ten. Two fights during which everything on the set is damaged, one man-hunt by an armed posse and several sniffing and barking bloodhounds, the blowing up of a dam and the resulting flood, comprise the thrills. A cast of gesticulating players furnishes the drama in "old school" style. It's the old story of the Southern colonel, his beautifuij daughter, the villain who steals "t^e, papers" from the colonel, the murder of the colonel by the villain who accuses the hero, and so on. Several negro "spirituals" sung by a fine aggregation of Jubilee Singers help the picture considerably, making it a fair program offering. Grant Withers is good type for the fighting hero and Thelma Todd does well with a comparatively small part Others in the cast are okay. M?rSn Gri,lnt «yi,thers* Thelma Todd. Philo McCulloughh, Walter Miller. Director, Raymond Cannon; Author, Barh!El Ch$?b"s W<*>d; Adaptor, Arthur wrbb-'DoSfa'r"' S3me: Edit°r' Harry Directon, Ordinary. Photography, Fair. "By Rocket to the Moon" (Silent) Ufa Time, 1 hr., 27 mins. ENTERTAINING NOVELTY WITH TRICK SHOTS AND UNUSUAL THEME THAT CARRIES LOTS OF SUSPENSE. This Berlin production has been very cleverly handled to give realism to a trip to the moon, manipulated by a rocket built like an enormous submarine which shoots through space by rocket propulsion. It carries several scientific explorers, the inventor, a girl and a stowaway boy. Suspense and interest is sustained throughout by views of the moon growing larger and larger as the rocket sftoots through space. Then there are the activities of those on board at their various scientific tasks, which are explained in a popular manner to heighten the interest. Then with the final arrival on the surface of the deserted moon, .hey hunt for necessary water, find -Cold, lose two members of the crew. Loss of oxygen allows only two people to make the return trip to earth, and the girl and her sweetheart remain on the moon. Should get by as a distinct novelty. Cast: Klaus Pohl, Willy Fritsch, Gerda Maurus, Fritz Rasp, Gustl Gstettenbaur, Gustav Wangenheim. Director, Fritz Lang; Author, Thea von Harboru ; Adaptor, same ; Editor, Felix Malitz; Titler, same; Cameramen, Curt Courant, Oskar Fischinger, Otto Kanturek, Konstantin Tschetwerikoff. Direction, Satisfactory. Photography, Good.