Harrison's Reports (1930)

December 27, 1930 HARRISON’S REPORTS 207 “The Royal Bed” with Lowell Sherman and Mary Astor {RKO, released January 15; running time, 75 minutes) All excellent light comedy, with a charming love affair, and with some pathos now and then. Mr. Sherman does an excelleni piece ot acting. He takes the part of a King, reigning over a little European Kingdom, but he is a man wiui understanding, a fact which makes his character likeable. The way by which he is shown handling the affairs ox the state, his arrogant dictator, the revolutionists, and his wife, who gives him more trouble than all the others put together, prove Mr. Sherman an actor of great ability. Alary Astor, too, does well as the princess : — The Queen of a little European Kingdom, whose affairs are conducted by a dictator, goes to America to make a state loan. A marriage has been arranged between the princess (heroine) and a foreign prince, but she hates the prince, because she loves her father's secretary. She is encouraged by the King, who loves his daughter and wants to see her happy, but tne Queen, who is the dictator within the household, w'ill have as a son-in-law no other than the prince. A revolution takes place and the Palace is attacked. The dictator wants to put all the revolutionists to the sword. But the King will have no bloodshed ; befriending the revolutionary leader, he torces the dictator by a ruse to resign, with the result that the King brings peace to his Kingdom. The wedding ceremony is being prepared in the church but the King marries his daughter to the man she loves secretly, and then orders them to “exile,” sending them out of the country before the Queen had had an opportunity to learn what had happened. But he determines to be the real ruler in his own household. The plot has been taken from the play by Robert E. Sherwood ; it has been directed by Lowell Sherman himself, with Air. Henry Hobart assisting. Nance O’Neil is the Queen, Alary Astor, the Princess, Anthony Bushell, the lover, Robert Warwick, the dictator, and Hugh Trevor, the foreign prince. “Fighting Through” with Ken Maynard {Tiffany, released Dec. 20; time, 68 minutes) Very good! It is a w'estern melodrama, wdth many thrills, and with ability to hold the spectator in suspense. There is in the end a hglit between the hero and the villain that has not been equaled in pictures for some time. This ought to give followers of western melodramas pleasure to their heart’s content. Though the principal acts of the chief characters are about the same as seen in other pictures of this type, they are presented in a somewhat refreshing way: — The hero and his partner own a gold mine. The villain covets it. The hero finds his partner in the villain’s saloon, intoxicated and gambling heavily, and carries him away, taking him to their cabin. That day the partner's sister arrives. As she had not been met by her brother, she accepts the hypocritical hospitality of tlie villain. The villain’s man goes to rob the hero’s cabin. .As lie is seen by the hero’s partner, the villain shoots and kills him. The villain arrives with the heroine, and when she finds her brother dead she is made by the villain to believe that the hero had shot him. The hero escapes and sets out to prove he was innocent and to capture the murderer. Towards the end, he succeeds; he enters the villain’s saloon unobserved and, hiding himself in the room upstairs, overhears the murderer talk about the murder to the villain; he thus learns the identity not only of the murderer but also of the instigator of the crime. He gives the villain a severe beating and then delivers him to the sheriff. William Nigh directed the picture from a story by John Francis Natteford. Jean Loff plays opposite Maynard. Wallace McDonald, Carmelita Gerahty, Bill Thorne, Fred Burns and Charles L. King are in the cast. “The Lion and the Lamb” (Columbia; released Jan. 1 : time, 74 minutes) Mediocre ! The direction and the acting are uninspired. There are a few high spots but these fail to raise its rating. One of such high spots is Raymond Hatton’s comedy work ; it is the only thing that stands out. Even the mystery tone of the picture falls flat : it fails to mystify : — The hero, an Englishman who had just come into a title, arrives in London with his pal, an American, with vvhom he had roughed it everywhere. After leaving his chum, he is mistaken lor a pickpocket, and, having been struck on the head and rendered unconscious, he finds himself in the den of the Lambs, an organization of gangsters, headed by the Professor and a Russian woman. The Russian woman takes a liking to him. He is asked to jo,n the gang. At first he refuses but because his life is threatened and because he loves adventure he joins them. He goes on a job with them and is stationed as a lookout at the home of a wealthy diplomat while members of the gang are inside the house, searching for the Star of Burma, a valuable jewel. While this is going on, the diplomat’s daughter (heroine) walks in, sees the hero, likes him, and promises to meet him at luncheon. Just then the burglar alarm goes off and foils the burglary. This compels the hero to leave in haste. The heroine is mystified. The hero abandons the gang and takes up his estate; but he does not assume his title, preferring to remain incognito for a while. He meets the heroine next day but because he had spied a member of the gang again he leaves her without explaining his act, except that he is a lord. He takes the crook to his home and through a ruse induces him to sign a paper that proved his innocense of any crime. He then sends a warning to the professor. The heroine calls on the hero determined to find out who he really is. The professor comes, too, and demands the jewel from the heroine. He is ordered out, but the professor, through a scheme, captures the heroine. The hero rushes to the crook headquarters, and, finding there the Russian woman alone, takes her as a hostage. He returns to the castle but is captured by the gang. He and the heroine are bound and “ind put in an upper room. The jewel, which she carried on her person, is taken away from her, but the hero, by working himself loose, starts a fire and attracts the fire brigade. The firemen save the hero, the heroine and the American just as they were to be killed bv the gang. The professor is captured but the Russian woman is let free. George B. Seitz directed the picture from a story by E, Phillips Oppenheim. Walter Byron, is the hero, and Miriam Seegar the heroine. Montague Love, Carmel Myers, Raymond Hatton and others are in the cast. The sound is poor in some places. (Out-of-town review.) “The Middle Watch” (British hit.. Dec. 19; running time, 97 min.) A fairly entertaining comedy. But it is too long drawn out and at times it becomes tiresome. The plot is very thin and has little imagination. The farcical situation in which two girls, having been left over aboard a warship after a party, and being forced to remain there over night, endeavor to avoid being discovered by the Admiral of the Navy, who had come aboard the ship, is amusing at first but because of the repetition it becomes boresome: — The heroine and her chum decide to stay on board a warship for dinner, her chum having just become engaged to one of the officers. This officer promised to see that thev get back to shore after dinner. The last boat to go off is out of repair and the girls are forced to remain on board. The Captain (hero) a woman-hating bachelor, is informed of this and is terribly upset and angry until he meets the heroine, with whom he immediately falls in love. He makes things as comfortable as possible for the two girls giving them his spare room and his own sleeping quarters. Everyone is comfortably settled when the hero receives a message that the Admiral is coming aboard his ship. The girls are warned that they must not be discovered and they promise to keep in hiding. They are, however, finally discovered by the admiral who, in anger, tells the hero that he will be discharged from the navy for the occurance. The heroine in a charming fashion makes the Admiral relent. The Admiral’s wife comes aboard and when she discovers the two girls she demands an investigation. The chaperon of the girls, who had also been left aboard, recognizes the Admiral’.s wife and discloses the fact that many years ago the Admiral’s wife had been in the same position as the girls were in at the present time. Explanations follow after that and all is forgiven. The heroine had fallen in love with the hero and they are united.. The plot was adapted from a musical play by Ian Hay and Stephen King-Hall. It was directed by Norman Walker. In the cast are Owen Nares, Jacqueline Logan, Tack Raine, Dodo Watts, Frederick Volpe and others. The talk is fairly clear.