Harrison's Reports (1930)

195 HARRISON’S REPORTS Decmber 6, 1930 "Oh, for a Man!” — with Jeannette MacDonald and Reginald Denny (,tox, Uec. 14; running time, /6 inin.) This story bears somewhat a cio»e resemblance to the story oi uie jVi-ij-ivl picture, “A Laay s Morals ; it has to do with a prima donna ; only that m tins story also tne hero nas an operatic voice, i he picture nas been proauceu wen ; theretore it should hold tne interest ot cuicurea picturegoers. liut it IS doubtiul it those ot the rank and me will enjoy it. there is some pathos, and excellent singing, ana the interest is held lairly tight all the way through A burglar enters the apartment ot the heroine, a lamous prima donna, tor the purpose ot robbing her. Just as he is aoout to chtorotorm her she, in resisting him, calls out her name and the hero, changing his intentions, tells her he has heard her sing in the theatre, and that he liked her voice. Ue tells her that he, too, has a good voice, the heroine, attracted by his good appearance, asks him to sing lor her. lie does so and she discovers that he has a strong voice, which may be cultivated. She makes an appointment wiUi him tor the following day. She assures him that she does not intend to deliver him to the police. The hero calls. The heroine is able to convince her impressario that he is a good bet. He engages him at a small salary. The heroine is so madly in love with him that she marries him. Hut he does not relish the idea ot being a prima donna’s husband. Consequently, the heroine glauly gives up the stage. They visit Italy, but he is rude to her friends. She, however, bears it all with forbearance, because she loves him. Soon the hero IS tired of his life of inactivity and leaves her. She returns to America and to the stage. She makes a successful re-entry but she IS heart-broken because the hero is not there to share her success with her. Soon, however, the hero returns to her. The plot has been founded on Mary F. Watkins’s magazine story, “Stolen Thunder.’’ It was directed by Hamilton MacFadden. Marjorie White and Warren Hymer support Miss MacDonald and Mr. Denny. The sound is good. C’She’s My Girl’’ was the original title. Charles Farrell and Joyce Compton were to appear in it; therefore, it is a star substitution, even though Jeannette MacDonald and Reginald Denny fit in the parts much better.) ‘Little Caesar” {First National, released in February ; 81 min.) A well produced gangster story, depicting realistically the rise and lall of a gunman. There is plentiiul gun play, and the action is swift all the way through. But it is unsuitable for the youth and for children, because of its demoralizing nature ; it glorifies a crook. Many devout church-goers may be offended also by the sight of a murder committed at the doorsteps of a church. Other picture-goers may feel gloomy because of the unhappy ending ; the gunman-hero is shot and killed in the end : — The hero, nicknamed Little Caesar, aspires to become a gang leader. With his pal, formerly a ballroom dancer but now a gangster, he goes to a big city. There the hero joins a gang. His pal gets a job as a dancer in a rival gangster’s cabaret. The hero earns a reputation for bravery and recklessness and becomes an egotist. The Crime Commission orders the city cleaned up of gangsters. During a job the hero shoots and kills the head of the Crime Commission, who had interrupted the holdup. The gangsters escape and the hero takes charge because the gang leader had lost his nerve. The pal learns oi a plan to murder the hero. He tries to reach him in order to warn him but is too late ; the hero is wounded when the rival gang try to trap him. One of the members of the gang loses his nerve and tries to hide away from the gang. The hero is notified that he was seen entering a church to confess and he decides to make an example of him ; he shoots and kills him at the doorsteps of the church. The hero becomes an assistant to the biggest racketeer in the city. He asks his pal to become his righthand man but the latter refuses, because of his love for a girl, which love had aroused a desire in him to quit the racket. The hero, enraged, follows him to the girl’s apartment and wounds him. The pal’s sweetheart notifies the police, and the gang is broken up. His glory gone, the hero learns that he had been accused of being a coward. To show that he was brave, he telephones a detective. The telephone call is traced and he is surrounded ; he is shot and killed during the gun battle that ensued. The plot was taken from the well known book by W. R. Burnett ; it was directed by Mervyn Le Roy. Edward G. Robinson. Douglas Fairbanks. Jr., Glenda Farrell. William Collier, Jr., George Stone, Sidney Blackmer, and Ralph ince are in the ca^i. The sound is clear. (.Not a road show picture. Out-of-town review.) “The Lottery Bride” {United Artists, (Jet. J.3; ntnniny time, 81 min.) A mediocre entertainment, it it were not for the fact that there were certain scenes in which Joe E. Brown and Zasu Pitts appear, which are usually amusing, the picture would be boresome. The story is siiiy, has very little suspense, and is too long drawn out. None of the characters seem to arouse much sympathy. And there is too much singing. At the least provocation the characters burst into song, whether it be to express joy or sorrow. There is one scene in which a chngibie is supposed to crash into an ice peak, fins looks so theatrical ana unreal that instead of arousing sympathy one is apt to burst into laughter. The action takes place in Norway : — The hero, who had been in love with the heroine, leaves town where he had been studying at the University, because of a misunderstanding with the heroine. The heroine, in despair, offers herseli as a picture bride, to be sent north, where men won women as wives by drawing numbers in a lottery. The hero wins her number but without even looking at the picture or realizing that it was the heroine he had won he turns his winning number over to his brother, who is overj oyed at winning so beautiful a bride. When tlie heroine arrives the hero is shocked to find that she is the girl his brother is to marry. He warns her not to tell his brother about them because he wants to see him happy. She abides by his wishes. Not until the hero leaves with a group of explorers in a dirigible to go to the Pole, and the heroine expresses her emotions, does his brother realize that the two love each other. The dirigible crashes into an ice peak and the hero’s brother starts out in a dog sled to find his brother. He is successful. The heroine collects a group of men who leave in a ship, break through the ice, and find the hero and his brother just as they were about to freeze. Everything is explained and the hero and the heroine are reconciled. The story was written by Herbert Stonhart, with music by Rudolph Friml. It was directed by Paul L. Stein. In the cast are Jeanette MacDonald, John Garrick, Robert Chisholm, Joseph Macaulay, Harry Gribbon and Carroll Nye. The talk is clear. “Viennese Nights” {Warner Bros., January 3; running time, 97 min.) A very good operetta. The plot has more substance than have most of such type of pictures. There is a great deal of pathos, particularly toward the closing scenes, where the heroine, then an old woman, hears the opera which was composed by the man she loved but did not marry, played by an orchestra that was led by his grandson. The music is melodious but it lacks in high and low frequences, because the recording has been done on disc. The picture is entirely in colors; although the effect is beautiful for the average person, many of the primary colors are missing by reason of the fact that no two-color process can reproduce all the primary colors. The long shots are blurry. The story unfolds in Austria and deals with a young woman (heroine) who is in love with a student of music. But her father forces her marry an officer of the Emperor’s guard, a Baron. The hero is heart-broken and in time leaves for America. In America he fails to gain recognition as a composer. He plays with an orchestra at a theatre, and works on an opera in his spare time. He marries a common woman and his life is full of misery. The heroine, while on a visit to America with her husband, visits the theatre. They recognize each other. They have many talks but the heroine returns to her husband in Vienna. Years later the heroine, now old and broken dow'n in health, hears the grandson of the hero lead an orchestra at a concert in which the opera composed by him (her dead sweetheart) was played. This young man was in love with her grand-daughter. She requests that the young man be presented to her. They visit the places w'here she had visited with his grand-father and, sitting on a bench, she expires. Oscar Hammerstein 2nd and Sigmund Romberg wmote the romantic tale; Allan Crossland directed it. Alexander Gray and Vivienne Segal take the leading parts. Jean Hersholt, Walter Pid,geon, Louise Fazenda, Alice Day, Bert Roach, and others are in the cast. Not a picture for the masses. (It has not yet been shown in Chicago, and therefore it cannot be classified. But I am sure it will not be a road show picture for those who hold franchise with the original road show clause.)