Harrison's Reports (1930)

HARRISON’S REPORTS 39 March 8, 1930 “Vengeance” (100% T-F&D) (Columbia, Feb. 22; synchronized time, 76 minutes) An excellent program picture, well directed and acted. What holds the interest in what is unfolded is the fact that the hero is shown to be a he-man ; altliough he is in love with the heroine, who is married to the villain, 3^et he will not take even the least advantage of the situation. On the contrary, he does everything he can to make the villain realize the folly of his conduct. There is suspense in many of the situations, the most suspensive one being that which shows tlie Atrican natives in revolt and preparing to attack the villain to kill him for having killed one of their members unprovokedly, and the hero rushing to his rescue. The sound has been well recorded ; as a result of it the lines are clear. The story shows the villain taking his wife (heroine) and going to Congo to represent his company there in collecting ivory. The hero, who was to be relieved by the villain, tells the villain that he had made a mistake to bring a white woman there. But the villain resents his advice and suspects him of being in love with his wife. The heat and the monotony of life soon tell on the nerves of the heroine. The hero offers to the villain to remain there until another man was sent to relieve him of his duties if he would take the heroine and leave the country. But he is unsuccessful. On the day of his departure the heroine begs him to take her along to civilization. The hero once more begs the villain, who had taken to drink, to leave and when he is unsuccessful he takes the heroine along. Soon, however, ’.he two post men overtake the hero and inform him that the natives were in revolt, threatening the life of the villain for having killed a native. The hero rushes back but too late ; the natives had killed the villain with a poisoned arrow. The hero sends the heroine back promising to join her soon. E-tch was in love with the other by this time. The story is by Ralph Graves. Archie Mayo directed it. Jack Holt is the hero. Dorothy Revier the heroine, and Philip Strange the villain. George Pearce and Hayden Stevenson are in the cast. ( .Silent values, good.) Xote: For substitution facts see editorial, this issue. “Undertow” (100% T-F&D) — with Mary Nolan ! I'nkrrsal, Feb. 23; synchronized time, 55 minutes) .Mthough it is well directed and acted, “Undertow” is not very pleasing for the reason that the action revolves mainly around the unhappiness the heroine feels as a result of her having niar^^'ed the hero, a lighthouse keeper, and around the villains efforts to possess her. The hero awakens some sympathy but not enough of it to offset the unpleasant feeling. The heroine is shown keeping company with the villain, a Government lighthouse inspector. While she is spending her Sunday on a beach with the villain, she sees the hero, a lighthouse keeper, acting as a lifeguard temporarily, saving the life of a youngster from the undertow. She is so fascinated by his manliness that she seeks his acquaintance. Soon they fall in love with each other and marry. The villain, feeling a resentment against the hero for having taken the heroine away from him. has the hero transferred to a lighthouse far away. The monotony of life soon tells on the heroine. She feels unhappy and craves for life. The hero goes blind. The villain makes his monthly visit and, however hard the hero, helped by the heroine, tries to conceal his blindness, the villain becomes aware of it. He embraces the heroine forciblj’. At a weak moment, she consents to follow him ashore. When they reach a hotel and they enter a room, the heroine regrets her step and, while the villain is out, she leaves and goes back to the lighthouse. The villain goes there, too; he felt that the heroine had double-crossed him and wanted to get even with her. In the meantime the hero regains his sight. There is a fight between the two men but the hero worsts the villain. The heroine is able to convince the hero that she had been faithful to him. and that she loved him always. Daniel Steele wrote the stor\ and Harry Pollard directed it. Mary Xolan does good work. John Mack Brown is tolerable. Robert Ellis is the villain. The words are clear. ( Silent values, fair.) “The Woman Racket” (100% T-F&D) (MGM, Jan. 24; synchronized time, 70 minutes) This is another racket picture, with boozing and woman chasing. It is not very pleasant for some people, but those that enjoy strong melotlramas maj find it ver>’ satisfactorj’. The action is fast all the way through, and the attention is held la.rly tight. The chloroforming (or asphyxiating, whatever is done to the heroine) of the heroine and the locking her in a trunk is not a pleasant sight. But there are manj’ picture-goers who do not dislike gruesomeness in a picture and therefore this feature may not prove objectionable to them. The storj revolves around a policeman (hero) who, during a raid, lets the heroine, an entertainer in the raided Xight Club, escape, because he was convinced she was innocent. Their first acquaintance leads to love and to marriage. After several months of drudger> as the wife of a cop, the heroine becomes dissatisfied and, putting on a new dress the hero had bought for her out of his meagre savings, pays a visit to the Xight Qub she once worked for. The owner is glad to see her. She is introduced to a racketeer (villain). He offers her a position at a good salary to sing at the Club. She accepts it. She returns home and before she had a chance to undress the hero comes home. She goes to bed fully dressed. The hero notices her shoes and after uncovering her he questions her. She then tells him where she was. The\ have a quarrel and she leaves him. The villain tries to be gay with her but she repulses him. He turns his attentions to a j'oung woman, engaged to a \-oimg musician. But the heroine protects the young girl. A man is found murdered in the Club and the hero is assigned to the case. He finds near the body his wife’s purse. He interrogates his wife and is convinced that she had nothing to do with the murder but that she knew something about it. He begs her to tell what she knew. He promises to return that afternoon to get the facts from her. The heroine, during a quarel with the villain, threatens to tell the police what she knew about him. The villain gags her and puts her into a trunk, and then makes readj' to leave town. But the hero, who. not finding his wife there, had .suspected foul play, eventually succeeds in finding her in the trunk and in having the doctor revive her. He arrests the villain and his confederates. He becomes reconciled with his wife. Philip and Francis Dunning wrote the storj-. Robert Ober and Albert Kellej’ directed it. Blanche Sweet is the heroine, Tom Moore the hero, and John Miljan the \nllain. The sound reproduction is good. (Silent values as good as the sound values.) Xote : “Lights and Shadows” was the original title. It is not a substitution. “The Case of Sergeant Grisca” (100% T-F&D) (RKO, Feb. 23; synchronized time, 87 minutes) Most artistically produced, but it will be appreciated only by the intelligencia ; picture-goers of the rank-and-file will hardly find entertainment in a drama which revolves chiefly around the condemning of a hero to death and the futile efforts of some German officers to save his life. It is too gruesome. The action is supposed to unfold in winter time, with the snow on the ground, and although the snow is artificial one can hardly distinguish it from real. So well have the scenes been done. The story shows the hero, a Russian soldier, escaping from the wire enclosure of a German prison camp and hotfooting it for Russia. On his way he meets the heroine ; her father and two brothers had been shot by the Germans and she had joined a band of other Russian refugees, hiding in a forest. Their acquaintance leads to love. The hero again decides to try to reach Russia. The heroine gives him the tag of a dead Russian soldier and induces him to adopt the dead man’s name so that, if he were caught, he might make the Germans believe he was a deserter, and not a spy. He is caught, however, and, having been declared a sp3*. is condemned to death by a court martial. At the last moment he tells the prison officers that the court martial condemned to death the wrong man, revealing his real name. The commandant of that region, a kind-hearted man, tries to save his life, but is unsuccessful, even though he visited staff headquarters and tried to induce the Commander-inChief to reconsider his decision about the innocent Russian. The hero is shot to death by a firing squad. The plot has been founded on the novel by Arnold Zweig. It was directed by Herbert Brenon. Chester Morris is the hero, Betty Compson the heroine, Alec B. Francis the kindhearted Carman officer. Gustave von Se3’ffertitz, Jean Hersholt, Paul McAllister and others are in the cast. The sound reproduction is excellent. (Silent values of the same grade as sound values.)