The Film Daily (1931)

THE 16 ■a^Hk DAILV Sunday, June 14, 1931 Fairbanks, Jr., in "(nances" •Kil Tims, 81 n WAR PICTURE STACKS UP AS GOOD ENTERTAINMENT OF THE SENTIMENTAL ORDER, WITH INTERESTING LOVE TRIANGLE AND GOOD ACTING. drama of the war from the lint Is based on the novel In A. Hamilton GlDDS. It 9 two brothers in love with same girl, the elder being mortally wounded in combat, and before hi death, with the younger brother at his »ide, they adjust their differer the girl in a satisfactory manner. Of course the girl, Ros'e Hobart, is in love with the younger brother. Doug Fairbanks. Jr. Anthony Bushel] plays the part of the elder brother. These three handle their roles competently, and it results in an hour of pleasing an'd sentimental entertainment of the the flappers should go for. Allan Dwan in his direction has caught the serious spirit of the British author's writing, and the war stuff has been delicately and intelligently handled. The photography is typically of the Dwan school, with some very fine atmospheric shots. Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.. Rose Ho t'irt. Anthony Bushell, Mary Forties. Holmes Herbert, William Austin, Edmund Breon, . Allan. Edward Morgan. Mae Madi Director, Allan Dwan : Author. A. Hamillon Gibbs; Adaptor. W'aldemar Young; Dialogues same; Editor. Ray Curtiss; Cameraman. Ernest Hallcr. Direction, satisfactory. Photography, good. "Big Business Girl" with Loretta Young, Frank Alb<,t smi, Ricardo Cortcz Firxt National Time, 79 im'ns. FAIR STORY HITTING THE OLD MATERIAL OF THE BUSINESS GIRL PURSUED BY THE BOSS. This one doesn't register very heavy, with the material too thin and lacking any real dramatic punch to put it over. It is done in the Fairy Story manner, with the girl fresh from college coining straight to New York and in two months jumping from stenog to expert ad copy writer at a handsome salary. Of course, the boss is in the offing, with designs on the young lady, but she has already tied herself up to a young college pal who is an orchestra leader. Then one night the doss sees her home, and kisses her as the boy friend walks out of the bedroom and discloses himself as the lady's hubby. Then follows a lot of high school action, with the young couple pouting at each other, separating, and eventually framing a divorce by collusion. The best part of the pix is the sequence covering the break-in at the hotel room, with Joan Blondell as the paid co-respondent. She's a riot, and steals the picture hands down in one sequence. Cast: Loretta Young. Frank Albertson, Ricardo Cortez. Joan Blondell. Frank Darien, Dorothy Christy. Mickey Bennett. Bobby Gordon, Nancy Dover. Virginia Sale, Oscar Apfel. Director, William A. Setter; Authors, Patricia Reilly, Harold N. Swanson ; Adaptor, Robert Lord ; Dialoguer, same ; Editor, Peter Frisch : Cameraman, Sol Polito. Direction, handicapped. Photography, okay. William Haines in "Just A Gigolo" M-C-M Time, 66 mins. FIRST CLASS ENTERTAINMENT IN SOPHISTICATED AND CLEVER HAINES FARCE. ADULT STUFF. WELL ENACTED. Put this one down on the records as a better-than-good Haines picture in which his dialogue is smooth and clever rather than wisecracking. It deals with a ticklish subject, but handles it delicately. Haines does a ladies' man whose uncle wants him to settle down and marry a nice girl. Bill, suspicious of the morals of all women, sets out to test this one, agreeing to marry her if she proves honorable. He poses as a gigolo and the situations which result are decidedly humorous. When the girl learns his real identity she pretends she is going to give all, and then Haines, who is really in love witTi her, is crestfallen. But everything ends okay. Haines is excellent and Irene Purcell, who plays opposite him, is certainly a different and promising screen bet. Cast: William Haines, Irene Purcell. C. Aubrey Smith. Charlotte Granville. Lilian Bond. Albert Conti, Maria Alba. Ray Milland. Lenore Bushman, Gerald Fielding and Yola D'Avril. Director, Jack Conway ; Authors, Alexander Engle, Alfred Grunwald ; Adaptors, Richard Schayer, Claudine West. Hans Kraly ; Dialoguers, same ; Editor, Frank Sullivan ; Cameraman, Oliver T. Marsh ; Recording Engineer. Douglas Shearer. Direction, grand. Phootgraphy, fine. "I Take This Woman" with Gary Cooper and Carole Lombard Paramount Time, 72 mins. FAIR LOVE DRAMA OF THE WEST WITH FAMILIAR THEME AND OBVIOUS SITUATIONS. This story offers no new angles or situations to bring it up-to-date. It is about a big city society girl (Carole Lombard) who leaves wealth and position to marry a cow-hand (Giry Cooper) whom she has met while on a holiday from home. Immediately after the ceremony she is faced w;th lack of comfort, hard work and privations. Meantime she is receiving letters from her home in which trips abroad and "whoopee" parties are pictured. Carole finally leaves Gary and returns to her home. Gary follows, and after a series of anti-climaxes, she returns to Gary, who renounces cow-hand existence, promising "something better." Cooper is easy in the part and Miss Lombard gives a satisfactory reading. Cast: Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard, Helen Ware. Lester Vail, Charles Trowbridge, Clara Blandick. Gerald Fielding, Albert Hart, Guy Oliver. Syd Saylor, Mildred Van Dorn, Leslie Palmer, Ara Haswell, Frank Darien, David Landau. Director, Marion Gering ; Author, Mary Roberts Rinehart ; Adaptor, Vincent Lawrence; Dialoguer, not credited ; Editor, not credited ; Cameraman, Victor Milner. Direction, fair. Photography, excellent. Charles Ruggles in "The Girl Habit" I'n rn mount Time, not set EXCELLENT FARCE ENTERTAINMENT. ROWDY AND FAST, FOR THE CROWD. RUGGLES SHINES ALL THE WAY. Here's a family trade picture packed with hokum and laughs. Nothing excitingly new in the story, but the gags and the work of Ruggles ibine to make it humor-provoking stuff. Charlie has a pronounced weakness for beauteous ladies. On the eve of his marriage, he swears off philandering. In trying to recover incriminating love letters from a modiste shop siren, he gets into a iam when her gangster-hubbv walks in. The mob tries to take him for a ride and Charlie, alter much tough luck, gets himself iailed as a protective measure. Unfortunately the gangster lands in the same jug. but after many amusing and rollicking sequences, it all ends happily. The picture is out and out farce, unpretentious but decidedly amusing. Ruggles is the whole show and doesn't overlook a laugh. Cast: Charlie Ruggles, Donald Meek, Sue Dumont, Allen Jenkins ■ \ i. Douglas Gilmore, lerome Daley. Betty Garde. Director. Edward Cline; Authors. A. E. Thomas, Clayton Hamilton. Adaptors, Owen Gertrude Purcell; Dialoguer, same; Editor, Barney Rogan : Cameraman. Larry William; Recording Engineer, Ernest Za sky. Direction, snappy. Photography, fine. Jack Perrin in "The Sheriff's Secret" Cosmo Time, 58 mins. WESTERN WITH A BABY ANGLE AND THE OUTLAW HERO PLAYING WET NURSE MAKES A NOVEL STORY. This one was done in a very sentimental mood, with the entire story centering around the outlaw hero's adoption of an orphan baby. It is really an educational newsreel on how to properly care for a baby, designed for bachelors. You see many views of the bold hero nursing the voungster, and learning how to manipulate diapers properly. After many unsuccessful attempts, he at last masters the intricate secret, and the fans get a tremendous thrill. It lacks the usual western thrills, but • he baby stuff is a novelty and should please the femmes. The regular western fans are liable to walk out on it. The only action consists of a few weak chase scenes, with the sheriff's posse trying to capture the outlaw hero who has gone sentimental and kidnapped a babe from the orphan asylum collection. There is no special point to the story, and it gets nowhere. Except to prove that the independent producers are trying hard to get a new* theme for their westerns. Cast: Jack Perrin. Dorothy Bauer. Fred Hargreves. Joe Marba, Jimmie Aubrey, Bill Franey, Monte Jones, George Chesebro, Starlight. Director, James P. Hogan ; Author, same; Adaptor, same; Dialoguer, same: Editor, Henry Adams: Cameraman, Jules Cronjager; Recording Engineer, Ralph M. Like. Direction, poor. Photography, the same. "Cherie" Paramount Time, 80 mins. FRENCH VERSION OF OLD STAGE PLAY UNIMPORTANT WITH WEAK STORY, DIRECTION AND ACTING. HAS NO SNAP. This offering from the Paris studios is a very weak sister. It is an adaptation of the American stage play, "Come Out of the Kitchen,1" and under the title of "Honey" Paramount made an entertaining film of it. But this French conception is woefully weak in all departments. The acting at times is good, on the part of the two principals, but the direction licks them. The story tells of a brother and sister financially embarrassed, who rent their mansion to a rich lady, her daughter and the latter's fiancee. The two young owners pose as the cook and the butler. They fall in love with the daughter and fiancee, so it resolves itself into a love mixup, with all four parties satisfied with the new turn of affairs. The old lady, however, is shocked at the idea of her daughter and her fiancee falling in love with servants, as she believes them to be. Pretty weak, and doubtful if French audiences will go for it strong. Cast : Saint-Granier. Marguerite Moreno, Mona Goya, Janine Guise, Sunshine Woodward. Jeanne Fusler-Gir, Marc Hely, Fernand Gravey. Director, Louis Mercanton ; Authors. Alice Duer Miller, A. E. Thomas ; Adaptor, Saint-Granier; Dialoguer, not credited; Editor, not credited ; Cameraman, not credited. Direction, poor. Photography, fair. "Night Angel" with Nancy Carroll, Fredric March, Alan Hale, Phoebe Foster Paramount Time, 86 mins. MELODRAMATIC THRILLER, DONE WITH OLD-FASHIONED TECHNIQUE, MISSES DESPITE EXCELLENT CAST. The locale is Prague, but unless you are fortunate enough to grasp that fact firmly, it might just as well be London, Berlin or some other world center. Most of the time it appears like Moscow in the days of the Czar, for the atmosphere is preponderantly Russian. It is all very confusing. The cops are dressed like London bobbies, and the detectives look like New York dicks in the old Bowery days, wearing their derbies on the sides of their heads. The story is emotional, weepy and meller. Fredric March, the young district attorney. gets mixed up with the wild daughter of a Russian woman running a notorious 1 jails the mother and falls in love with daughter. Meanwhile he is sincerely in love with an aristocratic girl of his own class. He kills a man to save the Russian girl, is tried for murder, acquitted, and then the two girls play a game of passing the boy friend back and forth to each other in the big sacrifice act. It's all slightly confusing. Fine photographic effects and occasional directorial touches that sparkle. The actors are all awayahead of the story. Cast: Nancy Carroll. Fredric March, Phoebe Foster, Alison Skipworth, Alan Hale. Hubert Druce, Catherine Emmett, Otis Sheridan, Francis Dowd, Tod Waller, Clarence Derwent, Cora Witherspoon. Francis Pierlot, Charles Howard, Estelle Winwood. Director, Edmund Goulding; Author, same ; Adaptor, not credited ; Dialoguer, not credited ; Editor, Emma Hill ; Cameraman, William Steiner ; Recording Engineer, C. V. Tuthill. Direction, misses. Photography, good.