The Film Daily (1933)

THE 'c&Ok DAILY Wednesday, Mar. 1,1933 "THERE GOES THE BRIDE" Gaumont British 75 mins. MISSES ON ATTEMPTED COMEDY WITH A RAMBLING AND FAR-FETCHED PLOT INDIFFERENTLY DIRECTED AND ACTED. A very peculiar and unbelievable theme is contained in this British production. First we have a British cast posing in a French setting with their English accents, which is rather confusing, to say the least. It is intended as a comedy, but in a projection room showing to the newspaper and trade critics it didn't get a laugh. The proceedings are too silly and far fetched. The heroine runs away as the wedding bells ring, as she doesn't like the man her father picked for her. She meets a man in the train compartment on the way to Paris, and he believes her to be a thief when she tries to take his brief case from under his coat thinking it is her lost hand bag. On this artificial situation he forces her to go to his home to clear herself of suspicion, but she won't tell who she is. Then a lot of strange and unbelievable mixups involving the man's fiancee, whom she displaces in his affections, and so the happy ending. Flat. Cast' Owen Nares. Jessie Matthews. Carol Goodner, Charles Carson, Barbara Everest. Basil Radford, Winifred Oughton, Jerry Verno, Roland Culver. Jack Morrison, Max Kirby, Gordon McLeod, Mignon O'Doherfy, Lawrence Hanray, George Zucco Director, Albert de Courville, Authors, Fred Raymond. Noel Gay; Adaptors, same; Dialoguers, same. Direction, Poor Photography, Okay "SUCKER MONEY" Willis Kent 70 mins. ENTERTAINING PROGRAM MELO DRAMA EXPOSING SPIRITUALISTIC RACKET. HAS EXCELLENT EXPLOITATION POSSIBILITIES. There's plenty of action, suspense, thrills and good old-fashioned melodrama in this story showing up the mystic seance fakery, and the subject is one that can be exploited to good advantage. A newspaper reporter, assigned to dig out a human interest yarn from a classified ad for an actor, runs into the fortune-telling troupe, headed by a menacing Hindu who plans to bump off even his loyal accomplices after he has used them to shake down a banker. The reporter is found out when one of the troupe catches him romancing with the banker's daughter, and he is marked for a one-way ride. At the same time the Hindu kidnaps the rirl and plans to mesmerize her into bein his new "princess." After petting $20,000 ransom money from the banker and double-crossing him on the promise to return his daughter, the Hindu starts to bump off his aides as he makes his getaway, with things looking pretty black for hero and heroine. But the newspaper editor, to whom the reporter succeeds in getting a message, sends police to the rescue in the nick of time. Cast: Mischa Auer, Phyllis Barrington, Ralph Lewis, Mae Busch, Mona Lisa, Earl McCarthy, Al Bridge, Anita Faye, Fletcher Norton. Directors, Dorothy Reid, Melville Shyer; Author, Willis Kent; Editor, S Roy Luby. Direction, Good Photography, Good Ken Maynard in "FARGO EXPRESS" World Wide 61 mins. PLENTY OF FAST ACTION AND TOUGH FIGHTING WITH KEN MAYNARD DELIVERING HIS USUALL BRAND OF THRILLS. This one starts off rather slow for the first quarter, but snaps into some breezy action and keeps that way till the final stanza. Ken befriends a young stranger out at his fold digging shack, who turns cut to be the long lost brother of a girl he knows back East. He sends for the pirl, and meanwhile the boy gets in a jam with the leader of the gang who runs a gambling joint in town. He is framed to hold up the stage coach in order to square himself for his gambling losses. When Ken hears of it, he senses that it is a frame-up, and pretends another holdup to exonerate his friend who has been captured. Then he maneuvers a situation where he has the sheriff on hand when the pan" leader and his men come to lift the cached express box, thus exonerating the youthful prisoner. Mayna.-d's horse "Tarzan" plays an important part in the proceedings, which hit a lively pace and provide plenty of thrills and suspense. Cast: Ken Maynard. Helen Mack, Roy Stewart, Paul Fix Bill Desmond, Jack Rockwell. Claude Payton, Joe Rickson. Director, Alan James: Author, Earle Snell; Adaptor, same; Dialoguer. same Di-eeticn. Smooth Photography, I "BLONDIE JOHNSON" with Joan Blondell and Chester Morris First National 75 mins ENTERTAINING RACKETEER DRAMA WITH FEMININE MASTER. MIND. GOOD PRODUCTION OF ITS KIND. A fresh twist is given here to the gangster melodrama by having a girl as the brains behind the works. Joan Blondell. made bitter against the world when her mother dies following eviction from their squalid small-town home, comes to the city with the sole idea of getting all she can and giving as little as possible. Meeting a slick young gangster, Chester Morris who is right-hand to the big shot in con trol of all the city's rackets, she encourages and promotes him into dethroning the boss and taking his place. Then when the new dictator goes high-hat, she forces him out and takes charge herself. Eventually the gang is busted up by the police. with Joan and Chester pledging to go straight together after they finish their jail terms. Miss Blondell does some of her best work and shows dramatic ability in some of the scenes. Cast: Joan Blondell, Chester Morris, Claire Dodd, Arthur Vinton, Allen Jenkins, Olin Howland, Earle Foxe, Mae Busch, Joe Cawthorn, Sterling Holloway, Sam Godfrey, Toshia Mori, Donald Kirke, Tom Kennedy, Tom Wilson. Director, Ray Enright; Author, Earl Baldwin; Adaptor, same, Dialoguer, same; Editor, George Weeks; Cameraman, Tony Gaudio. Direction, Good Photography, Good Bill Boyd in "MEN OF AMERICA" with Chic Sale, Dorothy Wilson, Ralph Ince RKO 57 mins. JUST FAIR MELODRAMA WITH WESTERN ACTION AND GANGSTER KILLINGS GIVING IT SOME LIFE. This looks too much like a routine affair, the story and atmosphere being of familiar strain, while action is in the minority and only a final outburst of gangster activity succeeds in injecting some interest in the proceedings. In a country store and post-office setting, Chic Sale and his customers engage in a lot of banter without the plot getting anywhere until a holdup takes place in the vicinity. Bill Boyd, the hero, is suspected of the crime, and then follows the usual procedure of the innocent man trailing down the guilty culprits, bringing them to justice and doing a happy fadeout with the heroine, Dorothy Wilson. Ralph Ince has the heavy role as leader of a bad gang, and he plays the part to the hilt. Ince also directed the production. Henry Armetta injects a little comedy, but it isn't enough to help matters sufficiently. Short footage of the feature, however, allows it to be amply supported with other material. Cast: Bill Boyd, Charles (Chic) Sale. Dcrothy Wilson, Ralph Ince, Henry Armetta, Inez Palange, Theresa Maxwell Conover, Alphonse Ethier, Ling Director, Ralph Ince; Authors, Humphrey Pearson, Henry McCarthy, Adaptors, Samuel Ornitz, Jack Jungemeyer, Cameraman, J Roy Hunt, Recording Engineer, Earl A Wolcott, Editor, Edward Schroeder Direction, Fair Photography, Good. "'SAILOR BE GOOD" with Jack Oakie and Vivienne Osborne RKO 68 mins. FAIRLY AMUSING BOISTFROUS COMFDY WITH CRUZES DIRECT'ON SOMEWHAT OVERCOMING WEAK STORY. An indifferent story and miscasting in many of the supporting roles relegate thi' production to the so-so class. Jack Oakie is not at his best. Story deals with sailor' on shore leave. Oakie, in training as one of the fleet's boxers, with George E. Stone as his gob manager, is supposed to let women alone But he falls for a charmer, Vivienne Osborne, and nearly loses ! fight. When she takes him in hand and makes him observe training rules. Oakie is taken in by a society playgirl, effectively played by Gertrude Michael, who boozes him into a quick marriage and ditches him shortly thereafter when he no longer amusrs her. Going back to the former sweetheart, he finds her favoring his rival. Max Hoffman, Jr., whom he subsecuently fights and knocks out. Then the happy reconciliation. This is a Joseph I. Schnitzer and B. F. Zeidman picture, produced by Jefferson Pictures Corp. Cast: lacl Oakie, Vivienne Osborne, Lincoln Stedman, Max Hoffman. Ji . C-rrtrude Michael. Huntley iJe Sutton, Charles Col< Marlnlesh Craufurd Kent. Carlos Alvar Director, James Cruze; Authors, Viola Shore. Ethel Doherty; Adaptors, same; Dialoguers. Ralph Spence. Viola Brothers Shore; Cameraman, Charles E. Schoenbaum , Recording Engineer, Lodge Cunni [ditor. ola Lawe; Direction, possible Photography, SHORT SUBJECTS Walter Winchell in "I Know Everybody and Everybody's Racket" Universal 19 mins. Good In this Rowland-Brice production Walter Winchell is shown making his night club rounds for column material. He's feeling out of sorts, but perks> up when approached by a; gushing dame who says she is a columnist from Lancaster visiting New York for the first-hand dirt. Walter i takes her in hand, introduces her to celebs and gangsters, then bids her • goodbye. Surprise comes when it turns out the girl was a dip who lifted a roll from Walter's underworld friend while dancing with him. But they catch her at another night club and recover the dough. In ' the course of the action there is-' music by Paul Whiteman and his ■ band, songs by Irene Taylor, Jack Fulton and the Four Rhythm Boys, and glimpses of Ruth Etting, Arthur Tracy, Nick Kenny and others. "One Step Ahead of My Shadow" (Merrie Melodie) Vitaphone 7 mir Good Cartoon A Chinese locale is the back ground for this animated subjec from the Harman-Ising workshops It provides the usual cartoon com-L edy antics, culminating in a very amusing bit wherein a fierce dragon, who is pursuing the little hero and heroine and spitting forth fire at. them, meets his doom when a stack of fireworks are tossed down his throat and they proceed to explode. Jack Dempsey in "World's Champ" Vitaphone 17 mins. Fair Skit Outside of the interest it holds forth for fans desiring to see Jack Dempsey. this is just an average sketch. Dempsey is shown losing a fight, whereupon he decides to quit boxing and go into something else. He angels a Broadway show, because of sentimental interest in the girl star, one of the Gale Quadruplets, and when the show runs into trouble during rehearsals, requiring more dough, he decides on another fight, which makes him champ. "Nothing Ever Happens" Vitaphone 18 mins. Swell Travesty A very amusing musical burlesque on "Grand Hotel." Jeraldine Dvorak gives a highly comical take-off on Greta Garbo as the dancer, Charles Judels is fine as Kringelein (nicknamed "Waistline"), one of the Gale Quadruplets is a close ringer for Joan Crawford as "Scramchen," and other parts are well imitated. Most of the dialogue is in rhyme, and a chorus troupe serves as bellhops and general dancing background.