Harrison's Reports (1929)

46 HARRISON’S REPORTS “Noah’s Ark” (PT) (Warner Bros.; sii, 7,752 ft.; syn., 7,401 ft.) It seems as if one-half million dollars were spent in the production of this picture. Despite this great expenditure of money, however, as a two-dollar admission entertainment, it is an imposition on the public. The story never rises above the intelligence of seven-year-old children, and the characters most of the time act as if they were infants. The action is incoherent. Not a single character awakens even the slightest sympathy; they seem to roam around without any idea of what they want to do ; they have been cast into the story, and are dragged around by the author by the ear. The story is a mixture of the Flood from the Bible, and of the World War. Two American boys are found in Paris when the War breaks out. The hero’s chum wants to enlist, but the hero does not see any reason why he should enlist. Accidentally they meet a German girl (heroine). The one (hero) falls in love with her. He saves her from harm at the hands of a former Czarist spy (villain), who is in the employ of the French. They marry. The hero is eventually shamed by his pal into enlisting. The heroine remains in Paris while the hero is fighting at the front. She is in mortal fear lest the fact that she is a German become known, and shot as a spy. The heroine works in a cabaret for a living. The villain happens to visit that cabaret and recognizes her. He threatens to give her away unless she “submit” to him. She refuses to submit and he has her arrested. She is tried, convicted and sentenced to be shot. Among the soldiers of the firing squad is the hero. When he sees that the person to be shot is his wife, he drops his gun and rushes to her. At that time a shell, fired (conveniently) by a German long-range gun, strikes the building in which the heroine was about to be shot as a spy and buries the heroine, the hero, and others. By the time they are extricated peace comes. The shooting is shown as being done by American soldiers. This is one of the inconsistencies of the construction of the plot. The outstanding part of the picture is the flood, which represents the flood mentioned in the Bible. It is spectacular, but hardly gives the producers the right to charge a two-dollar admission price for it. The sets representing the king’s palace are impressive. The cast includes Dolores Costello, George O’Brien, Noah Beery, Louise Fazenda, Guinn Williams, Paul McAllister, Nigel de Brulier, Anders Randolph, Armand Kalitz, Myrna Loy, William V. Mong, and others. The plot has been founded on a story by Darryl Francis Zanuck. Michael Curtiz directed it. Note: One other interesting feature was an electric sign in front of the Winter Garden, where the picture is shown ; it was made by Mr. John Manheimer, an old exhibitor and active in organization matters, when there was an organization in this city. It is the most beautiful ever seen on Broadway. If the picture were as good as the sign, it might have been worth the admission price now charged for it. As it is, fifty cents would be enough for it, despite the great sum of money spent in its making. The Warner Brothers are entitled to the graitude of every one connected with the motion picture industry for having saved it from bankruptcy but not when they make such a picture as “Noah’s Ark.” “The Sin Sister” (S) — with Nancy Carroll and Lawrence Gray (Fox, Feb. 10; jy». 6,072 ft.; sil. 6,053 ft.) Although the material is of program grade, it has been handled pretty well ; but the theme is not of the pleasant sort. It is of the “Mona Vanna” type, in that the heroine is placed into a position where she is required to sacrifice her honor in order to save the lives of others. Of course, nothing happens to her, for she had shot and killed the villain. But the “sting” is there, and exhibitors that cater to strictly family patronage will have a hard time justifying themselves if they should show it. The story shows the heroine, a former trooper, the hero, secretary to a millionaire, the millionaire himself and his daughter ice bound in the arctic in a ship owned by the millionaire. A trader passes with dog teams and the millionaire offers him a large sum of money if he would take him. his daughter, and his secretary (hero) to the nearest place March 23, 1929 from where they could embark for Seattle. The trader agrees to take them. The hero induces the millionaire to take the heroine along. The heroine induces him to take a pal of hers, a young man, along. And the millionaire takes along the only woman left, a would-be missionary. The trader abandons them all in a cabin half way. The party is starving and cold ; they almost give up hope of being saved. Suddenly an Esquimo appears and informs them that the trader will send them food if they would send him one of the young women. He stated that the old woman would not do. The millionaire’s daughter would not go and urged, snobbishly, the heroine to go. The hero, incensed, grapples with the Esquimo, but he is shot and wounded by him in the arm. The heroine, in order to save the life of the hero, who needed medical attention, agrees to go to the villain. When she arrives in the villain’s quarters, the villain makes insulting proposals to her. She finds an opportunity to shoot and kill him. She then orders the two Esquimoes to take food and medicine along and to drive her to the marooned party. Eventually they all reach civilization. The story is by Frederick H. Brennan and Becky Gardiner. Charles Klein directed it. Josephine Dunn, Myrtle Stedman, Anders Randolph, Richard Alexander, and others are in the cast. Note: "Broadway Sally” (No. 22) is supposed to be the original title of this picture, which to some exhibitors was sold as “White Fury.” But it is not the same story for the reason that “Broadway Sally” was to have been written by Howard McKent Barnes. You don’t have to take it. “Queen of the Night Clubs” (AT) — with Texas Guinan (Warner Bros., March 16; syn. 5,424 ft.; 60 min.) In silent pictures, the story upon which this all-talking picture has been founded would have been considered program material, of the genus of melodrama. But the talk has upset conditions in exhibition to the extent that it will, if past performances of talking pictures are to be taken as a criterion, be received well. The production end of the picture is lavish. And the action is fast from the beginning to the end. There is not an idle moment, to be exact. It is manifest that the story was written to exploit the notoriety of Miss Guinan, who has had no little publicity as a hostess in a Night Club she conducted in this city. Yet the picture is not founded entirely on her notoriety ; there is good acting and the night club life is presented in an entertaining way. The scenes, for example, that show Miss Guinan making introductory speeches and coaxing the patrons to give “a good hand” to those she introduced are full of comedy. The murder and the consequent effort of the police to solve it; the court-room scenes during the cross-examination of the witnesses ; the scenes that show the attorney for the accused young hero discovering a clue in the form of a flashlight picture printed in a new'spaper by which he is enabled to detect the real murderer — all these hold the interest well. Suspensive values are added by the last minute murder ; the murderer shoots and kills the squealer, who had squealed to save his own neck. The story, by Murray Roth and Addison Burkhard, tells about the fights between two night clubs, and the efforts of Tex ^lalone’s (Texas Guinan’s) disreputable partner to keep the rival night club under padlock and to “get” the young heroine, a new star attraction in Tex Malone’s Night Club. The rival enters the heroine’s dressing room for the purpose of doing some mischief, but before he had a chance to get away the heroine enters. He is thus compelled to hide in the closet. The villain boldly enters the heroine’s dressing room for the purpose of making insulting proposals to her. During his stay there he tells the heroine how he was able to have the rival Night Club padlocked. The rival hears it all, and when the heroine demands of the villain to give her a gowm so that she might be able to come out from behind the screen, he is shot and killed by the rival just as he reached to take the gown. The rival escapes. The young hero is suspected of the murder and is arrested. But he is cleared. Eddie Foy, Jr., Lila Lee and others are in the cast. It should give good satisfaction. There is nothing in it that could be considered “raw.” There is a silent version of this picture, but the footage has not yet been determined.