The Film Daily (1932)

10 I "GRAND HOTEL" M-G-M 105 mins. SURE-FIRE WINNER, HIGHPOWERED BOX-OFFICE NAMES PERFORM EXPERTLY IN ENGROSSING DRAMA. With this lineup of Metro's marquee names any picture would draw. But in this particular case of "Grand Hotel," additionally there's absorbing story material, expert performances, understanding direction and a swank production. Altogether it's one of the classiest moving picture aifairs you've seen in a long time. Perhaps of all the elements in the picture the performance part stands out more distinctly than the others. Gai'bo, Crawford, the Barrymores Beery, Stone and the others have come through with smooth, sincere pieces of work. The story they appear in pries dramatically and humorously into the lives of the clientele of Grand Hotel. It never lags, never loses its color. Its screen treatment has closely followed its stage original by Vicki Baum. Edmund Goulding ha." directed with a knowing and sympathetic touch. Cast: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore. Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Jean Hersholt, Tully Marshall, Purnell B. Pratt, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Rafaela Ottiano, Morgan Wallace, Roliert McWade, Frank Conroy, Murray Kiiinell, Edwin Maxwell. Director, Edmund Goulding; Author, Vicki Baum; American play version, William A. Drake; Cameraman, William Daniels; Editor, Blanche Sewell. Direction, splendid. Photography, fine. Sunday, April 17, 1932 "SCARFACE" with Paul Muni United Artists 90 mins. WHOLESALE KILLINGS MAKE THIS TENSE GANGSTER DRAMA AN UNPLEASANT AFFAIR DESPITE FINE PERFORMANCES AND DIRECTION. After giving this Howard Hughes production all the credit it deserves for gripping characterizations, fine direction and other unusual production values, it still remains a most unpleasant affair, not to be recommended for family trade or for anyone with anything but a stout heart and hard-boiled aspect toward human life. The story, obviously patterned after the career of a notorious gangster and the ruthless manner in which he promoted himself from a gang chief's bodyguard to the most relentless strong-arm racketeer of them all, is largely a succession of brutal killings that will send the average movie patron home with a sick feeling in his stomach. Although its controversial nature makes it a strong box-office draw for certain classes, it will put audiences through such a harrowing that the after effects are bound to be felt by the theater for a long time. Cast: Paul Muni, Osgood Perkins, Karen Morley, George Raft, Ann Dvorak, Vincent Barnett, Inez Palange, C. Henry Gordon, Boris Karlofif, Tully Marshall, Edwin Maxwell. Director, Howard Hawks; Author, Ben Hecht; Adaptors, Seton I. Miller, John Lee Mahin, W. R. Burnett; Dialoguers, same; Editor, not credited; Cameramen, Lee Garmes, L. W. O'Connell. Direction, A-1. Photography, fii>e. "CARELESS LADY" with Joan Bennett, John Boles Fox 74 mins. AIMLESS STORY RAMBLES MECHANICALLY AND LACKS ANY DEFINITE PUNCH OR INTEREST. The carelessness in the title seems to have drifted into the story construction, for it is weak and arouses no definite interest in any of the characters. The plot starts in a small American town, wanders to New York, drifts listlessly to Paris, and back to the American town again. Joan Bennett, a simple lass, determined to get sophisticated, acquires the name of a chance acquaintance in New York, played by John Boles, and adopts it as her married name. Later he meets her in Paris using his name, and there follows the business of his falling in love and trying to make her his wife in a real sense. But she pouts and stalls, so back to the little American town for the final romance. It's pretty far fetched, unconvincing, mechanical, and that goes for the acting of the principals. Cast: Joan Bennett, John Boles, Minna Gombell, Weldon Heyburn, Nora Lane, Raul Koulien, Fortunio Bonanova, John Arledge, Josephine Hull, Martha Mattox, Maude Turner Gordon, J. M. Kerrigan, James Kirkwood, William Fawley, Richard Tucker, James Todd, Howard Phillips. Director, Kenneth MacKenna; Author, Reita Lambert; Adaptor, Guy Bolton; Dialoguer, not listed; Editor, Alex TrofTey; Cameraman. John Seitz; Recording Engineer, Albert Protzman. Direction, weak. Photography, okay. Robert Montgomery in "BUT THE FLESH IS WEAK" M-G-M 77 mins. ENJOYABLE LIGHT COMEDY ROMANCE WITH FINE CAST AND SNAPPY DIALOGUE. This is an adaptation of the stage success, "The Truth Game," and in the hands of Robert Montgomery, Nora Gregor, Heather Thatcher and C. Aubrey Smith, it turns out to be thoroughly good screen fare. It concerns Montgomery and his father. Smith, two English gentlemen of no financial standing, but who travel with the highest society, on their nerve. Montgomery strikes up an acquaintance with a noble lady, to whom he makes immediate love. His fancy is soon turned to Nora Gregor, who portrays a young attractive widow, but who also is without funds. Their path is strewn with a few thorns, but it all ends up happily. Montgomery and Smith work very well together and are responsible for the bulk of laughter. Nora Gregor is entrancing and unusually convincing in her part. The film packs plenty of love-making, a few heart-throbs and a strong suspenseful situation. Cast: Robert Montgomery, Nora Gregor, Heather Thatcher, Edward Everett Horton, C. Aubrey Smith. Nils Asther, Frederick Kerr, Eva Moore, Forrester Harvey, Esmond Roberts. Director, Jack Conway; Author, Ivor Novello; Adaptor, same; Dialoguer same; Editor, Tom Held; Cameraman, Oliver T. Marsh. Direction, very good. Photography, excellent. "THIS IS THE NIGHT" Paramount 78 mins. AMUSING FARCE COMEDY AIDED BY EXCELLENT PERFORMANCES. LIGHTWEIGHT STORY. In this case you find a lightweight farcical story of no particular significance. More important are a few laughable situations and gags, played by such expert funsters as Charlie Ruggles and Roland Young. These two troupers are ably assisted by Lily Damita and Thelma Todd. The story has Young playing around with Thelma Todd. When her hubby returns home unexpectedly. Young invents a yarn about being married and then must furnish a "wife" in order to substantiate the line. This he does with the co-operation of Charlie Ruggles, who produces Lily Damita. All five people go to Venice and much ado about nothing occurs. The outcome is that Thelma breaks with Young and again falls in love with her husband and Young falls in love with Lily. A nicey-made production, much more suitable for stage than screen use. Cast: Lily Damita. Charlie RuckIcs, Roland Young, Thelma Todd, Gary Grant, Irving Bacon, Claire Do<ld, Davison Clark. Director, Frank Tuttle; Authors, Avery Hopwood, Rene Peter. Henri Falk; Adaptor. George Marion, Jr.; Dialoguer, same; Cameraman, Victor Milner. Direction, fine. Photography, excellent. "YOUNG BRIDE" (Shown in N. Y. as "Love Starved") with Helen Twelvetrees, Eric Linden, Arline Judge, CliflF Edwards, Rosco Ates RKO Pathe 80 mons. FAIR ROMANCE OF YOUNG LOVE MAINTAINS MILD INTEREST BUT LACKS ANY OUTSTANDING QUALITIES. Based on the play, "Veneer." Eric Linden, as a conceited fourflusher posing as a big shot, meets Helen Twelvetrees, a lonesome and sentimentally inclined library worker. She falls for his line, marries him, then discovers that he's a big bluffer. Because she loves him, Helen doesn't let on that she has found out, but tries to help him. She keeps on working, while he plays around in pool rooms, dance halls and speakeasies, always bragging about his "big deals." This goes on until the audience is at the point where it is aching to swat the no-account in the pants. In due course the wife is about to have a baby, so the bewildered young husband goes on another tear, allows a dance hall hostess to make a sap out of him, and finally comes to his senses, rushing back home to beg forgiveness and promises to reform. Cast: Helen Twelvetrees, Eric Linden. Arline Judge, Cliff Edwards. Rosco Ates, Polly Walters, Blanche Frederici, Allan Fox. Director, William Seiter; Author, Hugh Stanislaus Stange: Adaptor, Garrett Fort; Dialoguer, same; Editor, Joseph Kane; Cameraman, Arthur Miller; Recording Engineer, John Tribby. Direction, good. Photography, good. Kay Francis in "MAN WANTED" with David Manners, Una Merkel Warner Bros. 63 mins. AMUSING COMEDY OF BUSINESS WITH ROMANCE BETWEEN WOMAN BOSS AND HER HANDSOME YOUNG SECRETARY. An agreeably entertaining story, though it doesn't have anything in the way of a punch. Kay Francis holds the center of the stage in the role of a magazine editor. Her husband, Kenneth Thomson, is a rich playboy who neglects her. So she grabs at the opportunity to take on an ambitious and handsome young secretary, David Manners, and then follows the amusing game of the boss trying to maintain her dignity and keep the employee at his distance, but still have him near her as much as possible. David happens to have another persistent female on his trail. This girl, Una Merkel, and David's pal, Andy Devine, are responsible for a fair sprinkling of comedy. The many-cornered affair eventually terminates with the lady editor's husband going to Paris for a divorce, leaving the lady editor to marry her sec, while Una turns to Andy for consolation. Considering the slimness of the story. Director Dieterle and the players have done exceedingly well with it. Cast: Kay Francis, David Manners. Andy Devine, Guy Kibbee, Kenneth Thomson, Una Merkel, Virginia Sale, Claire Dodd. Director, William Dieterle; Author, Robert Lord; Adaptor, Charles Kenyon; Dialoguer, same; Editor, James Gibbon; Cameraman, Gregg Toland. Direction, lively. Photography, fine. Tom Tyler in "SINGLE-HANDED SANDERS" Monogram 61 mins. FAST-ACTION WESTERN OF OLD STAGECOACH DAYS WILL PLEASE, WITH TOM TYLER IN PLENTY OF FIGHTING AND GUN PLAY. This is one of the old fashioned western thrill mellers, with the homesteaders battling to hold their property against the schemes of the cattlemen to oust them. The latter have a crooked Senator on their side, who connives with the hero's brother, a young judge, to foreclose a mortgage on the homestead sites. Tom Tyler, the village blacksmith no less, uncovers the plot, and goes into single-handed action to help the girl who runs the general store and has executed the mortgage deed. There is a lot of plot and counterplot, finishing with a bang-up fight as the homesteaders, rounded up by Tyler, ride into the town just in time to stop the Senator and his gang from executing the crooked transaction. Tyler is moving fast all the time, and puts over a good quota of scraps, gun-play and some hard riding. It should please the fans. Cast: Tom Tyler, Margaret Morris, Robert Manning, G. D. Woods, John Elliott, Hank Bell. Lois Bridge, Snowball. Director, Charles A. Post; Author, not credited; Adaptor, not credited; Dialoguer, not credited; Cameraman, Archie Stout; Recording Engineers, Balsley & Phillips. Direction, okay. Photography, good.