The Film Daily (1931)

10 "Women of all Nations" with V irior McLaglen, Edmund Lowe a nd Greta Nissen Time, 72 mins, GREAT LAUGH NUMBER WITH FLAGG AND QUIRT UP TO THEIR OLD TRICKS— AND MANY NEW ONES. FINE CAST AND RACY DIALOGUE. Raoul Walsh has handled this laugh-maker with all the snap and dash shown in other McLaglenLowe features. This time the men are in the Marines, seeing the world and particularly Creta Nissen, whom they meet in Sweden. Both fall for Iter glances and the usual fray between Flagg and Quirt is on. The Marines move on to Nicaragua, where they assist in aiding earthquake victims and at the same time bring as much discomfort to each other as is impossible. They finally land in Egypt, trailed by Greta, who meanwhile has become one of a Prince's many wives. The situations are ludicrous and the dialogue at times bordering on the risque, is snappy and extremely funny. El Brendel and Jesse De Vorska contribute much of the merriment. Cast: Victor McLaglen, Edmund Lowe, Greta Nissen, El Brendel, Fifi Dorsay, Marjorie White, T. Roy Barnes, Bela Lugosi, Humphrey Bogart, Joyce Compton, Jesse DeVoraka, Charles Judels. Director, Raoul Walsh ; Author, Barry Connors; Adaptor, same; Dialoguer, same; Editor, Jack Dennis; Cameraman, Lucien Andriot ; Recording Engineer, George Leverett. Direction, Excellent. Photography, Fine. THE "The Maltese Falcon" with Bebe Daniels and Rieardo Cortez Warner Bros. Time, 75 mins. MODERATELY INTERESTING MYSTERY MELODRAMA HELPED BY BREEZY PERFORMANCE BY RICARDO CORTEZ. Although crammed with unconvincing situations and weak dialogue, this adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's novel carries enough suspense to get by without any serious kick-backs. Rieardo Cortez works hard to put the story across but Bebe Daniels' appeal is confined to wearing a number of gorgeous gowns and displaying what appears to be advanced fashions. The story concerns the chase for a missing "maltese falcon," a statuette of great worth, which Cortez, a private detective, is tracing. Cortez has been engaged by Bebe Daniels for the search, and after many involved situations, in which sinister characters pull guns and jump out of windows, the mystery is solved. Dudley Digges gives a convincing reading of a master crook, and the rest of the cast is suitable. Cast: Bebe Daniels, Rieardo Cortez, Dudley Digges, Robert Elliott, Thelma Todd, Otto Matiesen, Oscar Apfel, Walter Long Dwight Frye, J. Farrell MacDonald, Augostino Borgato, Una Merkel. Director, Roy Del Ruth; Author, Dashiell Hammett; Adaptors, Maude Felton, Lucien Hubbard. Brown Holmes; Dialoguers, same • Editor, George Marks; Cameraman, William Kees; Recording Engineer, not credited. Direction, Fair. Photography, Good. Ramon Novarro in "Daybreak" M-G-M Time, 75 mins. FAIRLY ENTERTAINING COMEDY DRAMA. STAR FINE IN FAMILIAR STORY AGAINST VIENNA BACKGROUND. Ramon Novarro and Helen Chandler combine their efforts to keep this one out of the so-so class. They make an agreeable team, with Novarro especially displaying a keen sense of comedy. The story material is trite, and loosely constructed, but the dialogue is bright and merry. The yarn has a young lieutenant in the King's Guards falling in love with a piano teacher. He tells her that he must wed a girl in his own class and she starts out to go to the bow-wows with the aid of a wealthy chap, played by Jean Hersholt. After some other business not strikingly important to the main theme of the story, the girl abandons her life as a kept woman and a happy ending with the lieutenant ensues. The players all contributed good performances. Cast: Ramon Novarro, Helen Chandler, Jean Hersholt, C. Aubrey Smith, William Bakewell, Karen Morley, Ken Douglas, Glenn Tryon, Clyde Cook, Sumner Gretchell, Clara Blandick, Edwin Maxwell, Jackie Searle. Director, Jacques Feyder ; Author, Arthur Schnitzler; Adaptors, Ruth Cummings, Zelda S«ars; Dialoguer, Cyril Hume; Editor, Tom Held; Cameraman, Merritt B. Gerstad; Recording Engineer, Douglas Shearer. Direction, High Grade. Photegraphy, Good. "The Sky Raiders" with Lloyd Hughes, Marceline Day Columbia Time, 59 mins. MODERN AIRPLANE STUFF, WITH AIR RACKETEERS FURNISHING PLENTY OF EXCITEMENT AND ACTION. This is the modern version of the western pursuit picture, with the actum transferred to the sky instead of the plains. And zooming airplanes take the place of the dashing broncs. The airplane stuff is well handled, and some good action in the skies is developed. Story deals with a pilot who loses his license after crashing a plane when drunk, and works his way back to the service by tracking down the air bandits who rob the air express. The big climax is well built up to hold the suspense. The air express takes off, with the hero who is hep to the racket, bound and gagged by the gang. He breaks away in time to go in pursuit, followed by an army pursuit plane of the border patrol. There is a girl kidnaped, of course, by the gang leader, and everything works out according to schedule a la the old time western. But the kick is certainly there in the exciting pursuit, and parachute jumps. ,x?is} : f?yd Hughes, Marceline Day Wheeler Oakman. Walter Miller. Emerson Treacy, Ed Le Saint. Kit Guard. Ashley Buck. Jerome J. Jerome, William H O Bnen, Jay Eaton, Dick Rush. Director, Christy Cabanne ; Author Harvey Gates; Dia'oguer. same; Adaptor, sametditor Gene Havelick ; Recording Engineer, toward Bcrnds ; Cameraman, not listed. Direction, Fast. Photography, Good. "The Lawyer's Secret" with Clive Brook, Richard Arlen, Charles Rogers Paramount Time, 60 mins. GOOD DRAMATIC OFFERING INVOLVING MURDER WORKS UP TO STRONG CLIMAX WITH HUMAN INTEREST TOUCHES. This one was built up into a good bit of entertainment principally through the work of Clive Brook and Richard Arlen. Charles Rogers has a thankless part in an unsympathetic role, and only at the end when he turns out to be a regular fellow does he get a chance to make his fan following feel comfortable. It's his first serious role, and he made a good job of it. The story deals with the shooting of the proprietor of a cheap gambling joint by another gambler, and Buddy Rogers, son of wealth, is an unwilling accessory to the murder, he having loaned his gun to the criminal. The gun had just been bought from a sailor, played by Richard Arlen, so that circumstantial evidence pins the crime on him, and he is condemned to be hanged. The drama is built around the inability of the lawyer, Clive Brook, to divulge the confidences of his client, Rogers and the situations are very tense. The lawyer stages a showdown, and solves the matter satisfactorily, saving the brother of his fiance and also the sailor. Cast: Clive Brook, Charles Rogers, Richard Arlen, Fay Wray, Jean Arthur, Francis McDonald, Harold Goodwin, Syd Saylor Lawrence La Marr, Robert Perry, Wilbur Mack. Directors, Louis Gasnier, Max Marcin ; Dialoguers, same; Editor, not listed; Cameraman Arthur Todd; Recording Engineer J. A. Goodrich. Direction, Satisfactory. Photography Good. "High Stakes" with Lowell Sherman and Mae Murray RKO Time, 72 mins. LOWELL SHERMAN GIVES THOROUGHLY ENJOYABLE PERFORMANCE IN STRONG COMEDY-DRAMA. This production, adapted from the successful stage play, gives Lowell Sherman unlimited opportunities to show his versatility and worth" as a light comedian. It also provides Mae Murray with an excellent chance to parade around the sets in stunning gowns and entrancing negligees. Sherman, a chronic but good-natured inebriate, objects to his wealthy brother's marriage to Mae Murray, a gold-digger many years his junior, who successfully pulls the wool over her husband's eyes. Sherman, in his own way, gradually collects facts regarding the young wife's past and at the finish confronts her, and her lover, with his findings. Although a bit talkative at first, the picture settles down to an extremely interesting sequence of events for the last five reels. Cast: Lowell Sherman, Mae Murray Edward Martindel, Leyland Hodgson, Karen Morley, Charles Coleman, Philip Smalev. Ethel Levey, Alan Roscoe, Maude Turner ( tordon. Director, Lowel Sherman; Author, Willard Mack; Adaptor. J. Walter Ruben: Dialoguer same ; Editor, not credited; CameraKn"s ' ; Recordin8 Engineer, George Direction, Fine. Photography, Good. Winnie Lightner in "Gold Dust Gertie" Warners Time, 81 mins. FAIR LAUGH NUMBER FOR THE POPULAR CROWDS WITH WINNIE LIGHTNER DOING GOOD WORK IN WEAK STORY. Winnie Lightner, ably assisted by Chic Johnson and Ole Olsen, delivers a fair proportion of laughs in a rather weak story. Winnie is a breezy go-getter who has tried the marriage market several times, having married in turn Olsen and Johnson, who are working in a concern run by an old gentleman. The concern manufactures bathing suits, and the two comedians eventually get married again. Winnie breezes into their life once more, looking for alimony. A series of complications take place, with the boss eventually falling for Winnie and marrying her, and everything is hotsy totsy. Lloyd Bacon did a good directorial job with some rather tough material, and the cast throughout is much better than the story. However, Winnie succeeds in keeping the fun going, and she is her usual riot in several of the high spots. Olsen and Johnson furnish her able comedy support. Cast: Winnie Lightner, Chic Johnson, Ole Olsen. Claude Gillingwater, Arthur Hoyt, George Byron, Vivienne Oakland, Dorothy V. Christy, Virginia Sale, Charles Judels. Director. Lloyd Bacon; Author, Len Hoilister; Adaptors, William K. Wells, Ray Ennght; Dialoguer, Arthur Caesar; Editor not listed ; Cameraman, James Van Trees ; Recording Engineer, not listed. Direction, Good. Photography, O K "Ubangi" William M. Pizor Time, 59 mins AFRICAN TRAVELOGUE COVERING ADVENTURES OF EXPEDITION WITH WILD ANIMALS CARRIES FAIR AMOUNT OF THRILLS. This is the camera recording of the highlights of an expedition in the Belgian Congo, conducted (by Doctors Louis Neuman, Jacques Maus and Daniel Davenport. The two former representing Belgium, and the latter the United States and Canada. Chief interest centers around Dr. Neuman, head of the expedition, who does some shooting of big game and proves that he had plenty of nerve. We say "Had," for he was killed by a charging rhinoceros, and you see everything but the actual mangling of the body of the scientist. Tribal customs of the wild Ubangi tribe are shown in detail, and the action shots cover some good thrills in encounters with lions, rhinoceros, elephants and many other animals in the big game class. An explanatory talk accompanies the incidents of the picture. As a travel subject in the African wilds, it will appeal to those who like their wild animal pictures. Some of the shots are bad, and it looks as if the terrific heat had spoiled parts of the film, for they are very blurred. But the big proportion of the film is good photography, considering all the handicaps. Cast: The three scientists, and a small army of natives accompanying the expedition. Direction and camera work by Doctors Louis Neuman and Jacques Maus. Direction, Satisfactory. Photography, Spotty.