The Film Daily (1931)

: unday, July 19, 1931 THE DAILY 11 THE LADY FROM NOWHERE" with Alice Day, John Holland I kesterfield Time, 65 mins. GOOD PROGRAMMER WITH RIGINAL PLOT ABOUT OUNTERFEITING GANG HAT WORKS UP TO STRONG JSPENSE CLIMAX. This one is an indie production well love the average. It has been given tod production values, and the diction is smooth and intelligent. The cry gets awa}' from the routine uff, vvith a very ingenious plot that ■eps building suspense to the climax, ihn Holland takes the part of the cret service operative assigned to ack down the gang of counterfeiters, lice Day is the girl who is being ed as an innocent tool by the head of e counterfeiters to make the opera.'e fall in love with her so she can ■t his plan of operation. The delopments move swiftly, and there e a lot of deft touches, with the rces of the law and the outlaw gang )th employing ingenious tricks to icover each other's hands. One by le the operative disposes of the mg, and finally goes after the masr mind, who proves a very tough [tagonist. A strong climax provides 1 unusual ending. Holland's work is mimendable throughout. Cast : Alice Day, John Holland, Phillips iialley. Barbara Bedford, Mischa Auer, mes Burtis. Director, Richard Thorpe ; Authors, Barney !rard, Adrian Johnson ; Dialoguer, same ; iaptor, same ; Editor, Richard Thoi-pe ; imeraman, M. A. Anderson ; Sound Record g Engineer, L. E. Tope. Direction, smooth. Photography, okay. "CHILDREN OF DREAMS" 'arner Bros. Time, 76 m,ins. MUSICAL ROMANCE, SLOW ND DRAGGY, FAILS TO UILD ANY REAL INTEREST .^ WEAK STORY. jThis concoction from Oscar Hamicrstein and Sigmund Romberg sueicds in developing some rather tune|1 melodies, and that is its biggest j.set. The story itself is very trite, 'lorly told, acted and directed. It ags heavily, and fails to build to ly real climax. Continuity is poor, id no sympathy is created for the JO main characters. The net re;lt is that of something very artiial and entirely stagey. The story lis of a country girl with a voice, 10 leaves her sweetheart to go to ;w York and join the opera. Later e becomes famous, and is heard . over the Continent. But she is >t happy, develops temperament, id finally returns to New York in iumph, to appear in a new opera, nd so on and so on, with nothing any consequence happening. In le finale we have her lured back to je country home by her doctor, who jiows that she is really pining for ;r childhood sweetheart. Then the ■ippy meeting again, while the ;iance from the city arrives too late. 'ates pretty low. )Cast: Maragaret Schilling, Paul Gregory, )m Patricola, Bruce Winston, Charles Win §:er, Marion Byron. Director, Alan Crosland ; Authors, Sigmund .Dmberg, Oscar Hammerstein ; Adaptors, ,me ; Dialoguers, same ; Editor, Harold Mc';rnon ; Cameraman, James Van Trees ; Iscording Engineer, not listed. Direction, weak. Photography, spotty. SOUND SHORTS "Adventures in Africa" (No. 5— Trails of the Hunted) Vitaphone 5105 Time, 18 mins. Good, But Lengthy One of the best in the series of Jungle shorts produced under the supervision of Wynant D. Hubbard. It is rather long, however, for a single issue in a series of this kind. Shows another trip out in the African fields in search of various specimens of animal life. Among those encountered are gnus, baboons, storks, and other rare beasts. The baboon shots are quite amusing, especially one incident where a native climbs a tree and attempts to pull down a simian, which clings stubbornly to the branches. Also of keen interest are scenes showing a couple of Hubbard's little kids playing with small pets of the simian and other variety, and there is a good laugh in connection with a stork trailing after a chubby native youngster. "Battling Silver King" RKO Pathe Time, 11 mins. Swell Sports Reel A Grantland Rice Sportlight that shapes up as about the best fishing reel ever filmed. It's a corker from start to finish, and carries a punch like a big thriller feature. Shows the boys out fishing for tuna. They get several strikes, and each battle is more exciting than the former. The camera work is splendid, and tiie audience gets the thrills the same as if they were right there on the boat helping to land tlie giant fish. A shark is caught incidentally, adding to the entertainment. A swell sports reel for anybody's house. Hilen Broderick in "Cold Turkey" Vitaphone 1215 Time, 8 mins. Passable Helen Broderick hasn't much to work with in this skit, but she manages to wisecrack her way through it in a manner that should prove acceptable in the not too particular stands. It starts out as something about a 'round-the-world tour, although the journey halts in Turkey, where Helen squeezes her way into a sultan's harem in the guise of one of the wives. There she finds that her aged sweetie has bought out the place irom the Turkish ruler, and there is a lively action finale. "Say a Little Prayer for Me" Vitaphone 4888 Time, 6 mins. Nice Organ Novelty A neat little musical specialty produced by Leon Schlesinger. It is on the class order, with the song. "Say a Little Prayer for Me," played on the organ by Cameron Crosbie and also delivered vocally by Dorothy Vogel while the atmospheric background undergoes various changes. A pleasing filler. Benny Rubin in "The Messenger Boy" RKO Pathe Time, 21 mins. Surefire Here the comedian, Benny Rubin, does about his best work in films. He is a laugh riot all the way. He is hired as a messenger boy to take the young son of a dance hall queen out for an airing. He brings the kid to the night club, and finds himself picked to double for the gal in the adagio troupe, because he has disguised himself as a femme when caught in the lady's dressing room. Out on the floor the two male partners give him an awful ride, all in dead earnest, which makes the laughs all the funnier. The finish is a wow. This one is surefire. "Paramount Pictorial No. 9" Paramount Time, 11 mins. Interesting Three widely separated subjects of fair interest make up this Pictorial. The trio includes a hippopotamus hunt in Abyssinia conducted by Lowell Thomas, a harp demonstration, and a few pointers on golf by Joe Kirkwood, professional. Particularly interesting are the hippo scenes, showing how the natives conduct their chase and finally land the big animals. In the harp number, following a few words about the instrument, a selection is played by a feminine ensemble. The golf stuff is not bad. "Babykins" Vitaphone Time, 17 mins. Good Skit A big husky forces his pal, a midget, to pose as an infant and take part in a baby show. The midget wins the $500 prize, which the big guy pockets. Then along comes a gushing dame who wants to adopt the "baby," whereupon the supposed "father" makes a deal with her, getting another $2,000. But the midget runs away from his would-be guardian and catches up with his doublecrossing pal, who had figured to beat it in a cab, which winds up in front of the police station instead of the railroad station. A rather cute comedy affair, with, plenty of entertainment values for both young and old. "Magic Carpet of Movietone" (Coney Island) Fox Time, 10 mins. Fair Not as good as most of the previous numbers in the Magic Carpet series. Nearly all of the shots are pretty familiar and contain no special angles to differentiate them from similar scenes employed time and again in newsreels as well as in some feature pictures. The main thing, of course, is the sight of the mass of humanity for which Coney is famous. Anyone not having already seen the boardwalk and beach front swarins, personally or in pictures, will get a fair kick out of this. "The Busy Beaver" (Silly Symphony) Columbia Time, 8 mins. Great Cartoon Walt Disney made a "knock-out" when he produced this Silly Symphony. Gags that are really new, animation that is smooth and clever and synchrony that never misses a beat. Disney has taken a theme which shows beavers building a dam as only cartooned beavers can do it. It finishes with a flood and one lone beaver attempting to save the dam from destruction. The reel is fast, funny and fine. Billy Wayne and Thelma White in "Good Pie Forever" Vitaphone 1186 Time, 7 mins. Swell Slapstick Based on a truly clever comedy idea, this skit is one of the best laugh numbers turned out by the Vitaphone plant in some time. Billy is the boy friend of Thelma, whose father owns a pie factory but is unable to find a market for his output. Whereupon Billy hits upon a bright stunt for making the townsfolk conscious of the pies in question. They load up an auto and go on a pie-throwing excursion around the city. Among those who get a pie square in the face are the mayor, some magistrates, policemen, a pair of newlyweds just emerging from the church, a soap box orator, and various others. In this way the tastiness of the pies is impressed upon the public at large and the big "pie trust" immediately makes a lucrative offer to the little fellow. In the happy fadeout, Billy and Thelma take a pie on the chin themselves. "The Unfair Sex" with Dan Healy, Dolly Gilbert Vitaphone 1111 Time, 7 mins. Fair Musical Novelty Opens in a courtroom setting, where a couple is up before the judge on charges of creating a disturbance in a dance hall. The man explains how it happened, his story being enacted by a flashback showing him as a dancing sheik giving the lovesick girl a load of rough treatment. Makes fairly satisfactory entertainment for general audiences. Bobby Jo7ies in "How I Play Golf" (No. 6 — The Big Irons) Vitaphone Time, 10 mins. Okay In the sixth of his golf series, Bobby Jones goes into the ins and outs of long iron play. In hitting the pills past the camera, one of the balls actually hit the machine, and this supplies a touch of something unusual. The whizzing of the balls past the mike is another highlight of the number. Outside of this, the latest Bobby Jones short is a bit under its predecessors, though it maintains interest and should have no trouble satisfying.