Harrison's Reports (1928-1928)

146 “Power” — with William Boyd, Allan Hale and Jacqueline Logan ( Pathe , Sept. 23; 6,092 ft.; 70 to 87 min.) It is apparent that Pathe tried to duplicate that successful picture, “The Skyscraper,” in which the same pair of man stars appeared ; but its efforts seem to have proved unsuccessful, for, with the exception of two or three short spots, the picture is uninteresting. It lacks the suspensive qualities of “The Skyscraper,” its comedy, and its love interest. In addition, it is too sexy — the two heroes are presented as lady killers, fighting (friendly) between themselves when the one steals the "girl” of the other. In places the implication is too strong, and the picture becomes unsuitable for the family circle. The spot where the film holds one’s interest the most is where one of the friends (Allan Hale) slips and is seen hanging in midair, the end of his trousers having caught in the hook of the chain of the winch used for lifting things for the construction of a dam. The other interesting part of the film is the scenes showing the huge dam. Most of the action revolves around the efforts of one friend to steal the “dame” of the other friend. The girl in the case is a crook, and she had befriended them for the purpose of “digging” into their pockets. By promising each that she would marry him, she succeeds in cleaning up their bank accounts. There is practically no heroine in the story, for Miss Logan is given a villainous part ; it is she who is the crook, and the closing of the story shows her on board a train with her confederate, a man, who helped her rob the two heroes, going away with their money in her pocket. The story is, in fact, demoralizing, for the thieves are not shown punished. In this way crookedness is rewarded instead of being punished. The story was written by Tay Garnett. The picture was directed by Howard Higgin. Jerry Drew, Joan Bennet, Carol Lombard and Pauline Curley are in the cast. William Boyd and Allan Hale make a good pair, but they were wasted on an unsympathetic and demoralizing story. “Celebrity” — with Robert Armstrong, Clyde Cook, and Lina Basquette (Pathe, Oct. 7; 6,145 ft.; 71 to 87 min.) It is manifest that “Celebrity” was written chiefly to ridicule Gene Tunney, for its chief character, a puglist, has Shakesperean aspirations. The plot has been founded on the stage play of the same name, which ran at the Lyceum last year only for two weeks, having failed to draw. And the picture is no better than the play. It is an uninteresting story, and in bad taste ; ridiculing a person that is loved by the people, as Gene Tunney is, is always in poor taste; it is a personal affront, and those that respect the person that is ridiculed no doubt resent it. The hero of the picture is an illiterate person. His manager sees an opportunity to make him a drawing card and puts out stories that he is studying Shakespeare. His manager hires a “mother” and a “sister” for him; they are just as illiterate and ill-mannered as the hero himself. The hero falls in love with a girl (not the “daughter” of the family). He makes an attempt to write poetry and makes a mess of it. A fight is arranged with a supposed world champion. The manager of his opponent, in order to break the morale of the hero, has a man of his steal the hero’s “poetry” and has it published in the newspapers on the day of the fight. A copy of the paper is purposely given the hero. The trick works ; the hero, thinking that the heroine and his manager gave out a copy of his poetry for the purpose of humiliating him, feels humiliated and angered; he avoids the one and upbraids the other. During the fight the hero is incensed at the presence of his manager. The rival finds it easy to give the demoralized hero hard blows. The hero is knocked down several times but the gong always saves him. Once, however, the rival is so careless that he leaves himself unprotected. The hero grasps the opportunity to give him a hard blow and to knock him out. In the dressing room the hero knocks his manager down then regrets it, particularly when he is convinced that his friend manager had not double-crossed him. The manager tells him that the heroine is in the auditorium, waiting for him. He rushes there and they embrace. The plot has been founded on the stage play by William Keele. It was directed by Tay Garnett. September 15, 1928 “Waterfront” — with Dorothy Mackaill and Jack Mulhall (First National, Sept. 16; 5,976 ft.; 69 to 85 min.).. A nice little comedy, with action fast enough to hold the interest pretty alive all the way through. The comedy is caused chiefly by the good acting of this pair of fine comedians. The action gathers speed when the hero attempts to avoid the heroine’s father, who does not want him around his daughter. The story takes place on and near the waterfront and on board a tug, of which the heroine’s father is the captain. Hero and heroine become acquainted when the heroine’s father, forgetting himself when in sight of his home, nearly rams a tramp steamer. The hero and his pal, an oiler and an assistant oiler, respectively, on the tramp steamer, “razz” the captain for his supposed ignorance of his work, but the hero is struck by the beauty of the heroine. He follows her and decides to call on her, but the father discovers him and throws him into the water. The hero, however, is persistent, his persistency being caused also by the fact that the heroine appeared to like him. The father, in order to “save” his daughter from the impudent sailor, tells the heroine that they will move to the country, to some farm. The heroine doesn’t want to go on a farm. When he overhears the hero proposing to the heroine marriage and a home in the country on the farm, the father changes his opinion of the hero. But so does also the heroine ; she did not want to leave the city. Hero and father conspire and have the heroine shanghaied so as to cure her of her desire to go to sea. The trick succeeds ; the heroine decides to follow the hero to the country and to live on a farm. The plot has been founded on a story by Will Chattell and Gertrude Orr. The picture has been directed by William A. Seiter, and supervised by Ned Marin, that live wire young producer. James Bradbury, Sr., Knute Erickson, Ben Hendricks, Jr., William Norton Bailey, and Pat Harmon are in the supporting cast. “The Air Circus” — with Arthur Lake, David Rollins, Louise Dresser, Sue Carol, and Charles Delaney (Fox, Sept. 30; 7,177 ft.; 83 to 102 min.) If the talk were left out from the few scenes where the players are made to talk, The Air Circus” would not be a bad picture, for its players are youthful and pleasant, its human interest is tender, it is thrilling, and the action keeps the spectator comfortably interested in what is unfolded. The youthfulness of the characters imparts to the picture a cheerfulness that no other feature could have imparted. The talk between mother and son (Louise Dresser and David Rollins) in the airfield where the mother went after a premonition that something had happened to her boy has made people at the Gaiety, where the picture is playing, laugh deridingly ; it is too much “sob stuff” with the talk, and has a deterrent effect. The background of the story is an aviation school, and the action shows in a precise manner what a young man must go through with to become a full-fledged aviator. The action is realistic in the extreme. The scenes where the young chum of the hero is shown crashing on the ground in his first attempt to fly alone and losing his nerve are so realistic that one feels as if present in a real accident. The scenes that show the young man, who had a yellow streak on his back, entering an aeroplane and flying to warn the hero and his sweetheart (Arthur Lake and Sue Carol) of the fact that their landing gear had been stripped off while taking off are thrilling in the extreme. His desire to save the lives of his friends, which cures him of his fear, touches the spectator. The plot has been founded on a story by Graham Raker and Andrew Bennison. It was directed by Howard Hawks well. Arthur Lake, Sue Carol, David Rollins, Louise Dresser and every one in the cast does good work. Heinie Conklin contributes some comedy. There is, in fact, considerable comedy provoked by the good acting of the principals. Louise Dresser furnishes most of the human interest. The love affair between Arthur Lake and Sue Carol is charming; it is not free of clouds. And this is what makes it more interesting, because of its fidelity to life. While a good picture, it is not a $2 or even a $1.50 picture ; regular prices should be charged for it. HARRISON’S REPORTS