Harrison's Reports (1929)

3 HARRISON’S REPORTS January 5, 1929 “West of Zanzibar” (S) — with Lon Chaney {M-G-M, Kov. 24; Synchronized,. 6, 1^0 ft.) A horrible picture, not only because of its theme, ■but also because of Jts background. Several shots are shown of alligators, spiders and of other poisonous insects, as well as poisonous bugs, for the purpose of representing realistically the swampy nature of the locale where the action is supposed to unfold, so as to convey the idea how impossible it was for the heroine to escape the horribe death that the main character was preparing for her as a part of his plan for revenge for the wrong her supposed father had done him. The theme is, as explained in the editorial, printed in this issue, a man’s planning a horrible ending for tlie villain and his supposed daughter for wrongs he had done to him, and his finding out, after he had put part of that plan into execution, that the girl was not his enemy’s daughter but his own. It is implied that he had put the girl into one of the worst dives in an African city, his object being to see the girl come out syphiletic. And she did. The plot has been founded on the play “Kongo,” by Chester Devonde and Kilbourn Gordon. The picture has been directed by Tod Browning. Others in the cast are, Lionel Barrymore, Warner Baxter, Mary Nolan, Jane Daly, Kalla Pasha, Roscoe Quard, and Curtis Nero. “The Awakening” (S) — with Vilma Banky and Walter Bryon (6'. A., Nov. release; Synchr., 8,081 ft.) This picture is “spotty that is, it is good, in fact very good, in spots ; on the other hand, in spots it is slow, and even poor. The first two reels or so are very pleasing. That part is a romance, showing the heroine and the hero becoming acquainted. In about the middle of the picture, the family picturegoer receives a shock, in that the hero, whose character he expected to be above reproach, is shown inviting the heroine to his room with sinister intentions. This makes him lose the sympathy of such spectator. Later on he reawakens sympathy, because he, instead of harming the heroine, realizing how innocent she was, he promises to marry her. The scenes of the heroine’s sufferings are pathetic. The situations that show her as a nun in a monastery, caring for the wounded, particularly the scenes of the hero’s meeting again with the heroine, whom he had thought dead, are deeply pathetic. The heroine’s frantic efforts to save the life of the hero, who liad been wounded dangerously, too, are pathetic. There is strong drama in those situations. The plot has been founded on a story by Frances Marion. It deals with a young hero, a German officer, who, while his regiment is camping in Alsace, meets the heroine and becomes charmed with her beauty. Because he was a handsome man, all the young girls were “crazy” about him. The hero boasts that he will make the wild heroine fall in love wfith him. He succeeds. She falls so deeply in love with him that, when he is about ready to leave for the war front, he asks her to visit him in liis room if she really cared for him. While in his room the hero tries to make her surrender to him, but a look into her eyes _nakes him realize how innocent she is and he desists. The town folk think that she had surrended to him and paint her home with pitch, a sign of disgface. Feeling disgraced, the heroine goes away and becomes a nurse. But all think she’s a suicide. During the world war the* hero meets the heroine again. He is heartbroken to see her in a monastery ready to take the vows. The French army is attacking the town and nuns are ordered to evacuate the place. The hero, in seeking the heroine, is wounded, and the heroine stays behind to nurse him. The rich landowner, a Frenchman, who loved the heroine and hated the liero because of having, as he thought, disgraced her, finds the hero and decides to shoot and kill him when the unconscious heroine regains consciousness and begs him to spare his life. When he finds out how much the heroine loved the hero he not only spares his life but also puts him on a hay wagon and rushes him through the lines to the German side. He is shot by a sniper, and dies after delivering the hero to the Germans. The picture has been directed by Victor Fleming well. Miss Banky does good work. Walter Byron, as the hero, does good work. He is a recent British importation and his handsome appearance should make him a screen idol. Louis Wolheim, George Davis, William A. Orlamond, and Carl von Hartman, are in the cast. “Blindfold” — with George O’Brien and Lois Moran (fo.r, Dec. 9; 5,598 ft.; 65 to 80 min.) The first reel of this crook melodrama is not so pleasant ; it shows a young man being shot in cold blood by crooks, who were robbing a jewelry store, because they feared that the young man, who had entered the store to inquire about the price of a jewel, which was displayed at the window, might give information to the police. Nor is the sight of the crooks robbing the store very edifying, particularly the use by the crooks of sticky plaster on the mouth of the victim, to prevent him from crying out aloud for help; it teaches the crooks how to use the sticky plaster in stick-ups. But as the story unfolds, one becomes interested in the fate of the characters and follows them with interest, hoping that the hero would be successful in detecting the murderers of the boy and in arresting them. The last two reels are suspensive in the extreme ; they show the hero in the lair of the crooks, where he had found the heroine, who had weeks before lost her memory from the shock when the crooks had hit the hero on the head and made him unconscious, and who had disappeared. The sight of the hero’s helping the heroine regain her memory and then holding up the crooks at the point of his gun until help arrive dmakes the spectator hold his breath. The plot has been founded on the story by Charles Francis Coe. The picture has been directed by Charles Klein with skill. George O’Brien does excellent work ; being the son of the chief of police of San Francisco, he knows how to handle the role of a policeman, which is his part in the picture. Lois Moran, too, does good work ; but it would have been much better had the director refrained from making Miss Moran smoke ; she is so young that one hates to see her do it, even thougfi she may have pretended to smoke for the sake of the part. Others in the cast are; Earle Fox, Don Terry, Maria Alba, Fritz Feld, Andy Clyde, Crauford Kent, Robert E. Homans, and Phillip Smalley.