Harrison's Reports (1931)

Entered as second-class matter January 4, 1921, at the post office at New York, New York, under the act of March 3, 1879. Harrison’s Reports Yearly Subscription Rates: United States $3 5.00 U. S. Insular Possessions. . 16.00 Canada, Alaska . 16.00 Mexico, Spain, Cuba 16.00 Great Britain, New Zealand 16.00 Other Foreign Countries.. 17.50 35c a Copy 1440 BROADWAY New York, N. Y. A Motion Picture Reviewing Service by a Former Exhibitor Devoted Exclusively to the Interests of Exhibitors Its Editorial Policy: No Problem Too Big for Its Editorial Columns, if It is to Benefit the Exhibitor. Published Weekly by P. S. HARRISON Editor and Publisher Established Julyl,1919 Tel. : Pennsylvania 7649 Cable Address : Harreports (Bentley Code) A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE INFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. XIII SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 1931 No. 5 “SUICIDE” PICTURES Unless the producers abandon the morbid type of story they have used in most pictures in the last few months, there will be more suicides in 1931 than there have been in any other year in the history of the country. And no doubt more insanity cases. It seems as if those who are responsible for the ultimate adoption of stories are suffering from morbidity complex ; they are aspiring to make the picture theatre take the place of the old museums, those chambers of horror, where the latest crimes and other horror inspiring acts and sights were represented by wax figures. Last week there were in first run theatres on Broadway ten pictures. Seven of them were either crook or sex stories. Of these, at least five were of a nature that would make many overworked, or highly troubled, or griefloaded brains crack. They were the following : “Damaged Love,” Sono-Art: The husband becomes infatuated with a young woman, in whose apartment he spends most of his time. One morning he leaves her and returns home, and finds his baby dead. The conversation between them at that time and for days afterwards makes one feel as if one attended ten funerals. A baby’s death is an occurrence so heart-rending, not only to parents and to close relatives of the baby, but to all human beings with a heart, that it should never be shown in pictures. “Little Caesar,” First National : It is a brutal gangster story, produced with realism. Parents who permit their children to go to picture theatres might not have objected to it if pictures of this type were rare ; but the matter differs now when almost two out of each three are founded on gangster or racketeer stories. Though adults may not be affected by it, they will be left in an unhappy frame of mind. “Reducing,” MGM, with Marie Dressier and Polly Moran : This picture makes one laugh, well enough, but at the same time it leaves one in an unhappy frame of mind by reason of the fact that the comedy is founded on quarrels between two sisters, and that the daughter of one of them is seduced by a young man she had been keeping associating with, 't his young man had no intention of marrying her. And to make matters worse, when he sees the daughter of the other sister, he drops his “sweetheart” and plans to do to the new one what he did to the old one. In the end he is forced by Marie Dressier to marry the wronged girl, who is her niece. From the time the spectator learns that the daughter of Polly Moran had been wronged, the action revolves around this problem. It is not cheerful, to say the least. “Illicit,” Warner Bros. : The heroine is shown living with the man she loved without marriage ; she feared that marriage would bring unhappiness to them. She is eventually induced to marry him. From this point on, the action is very unhappy. The picture may make money, but it is of a demoralizing nature. If there had been fewer pictures of this type produced, it might have passed unnoticed ; but not now ; it will just furnish additional ammunition to those who are fighting for national censorship, even though such censorship is not the cure, as the New York State Censorship Act has conclusively proved. "Once A Sinner,” Fox : The hero, a country boy, goes to New York. There he meets the heroine, a kept woman, and falls in love with her. She, too, falls in love with him, to such an extent that she cheerfully gives up her life of luxury to marry him and to live in his country town. She tries to tell him of her past but he will not listen. Soon he is called to New York on business and takes her along. The familiarity with which she had been greeted by some persons arouses the young husband’s suspicion and he demands to know the truth. She tells him, but withholds the name of the man. He insists upon her giving him the man’s name. From this point on the action becomes depressive and leaves one in an extremely unhappy frame of mind. “The Man From Chicago,” British International : A depressing gangster story. “No Limit,” With Clara Bow; Paramount: This is not a depressive picture ; and it is entertaining. But it does not set high standards for young people. To begin with, there is a gambling hall the like of which has not even bpen dreamed of let alone seen. On top of this there is a hold-up which is put over so smoothly that it makes crime attractive to young men. Standing by itself, a story of this nature might have passed unnoticed ; but when one bears in mind the number of gangster and racketeer pictures that have been produced in the last five or six months the matter differs. These are pictures that were shown on Broadway, this city, in one week. Let me mention a few more of this sort that have been released recently : “The Right to Love,” Paramount : Morbid. “The Man Who Came Back,” Fox : A dope and drink story ; depressing, even though it draws well. “The Criminal Code,” Columbia : a prison picture ; although there is a great deal of human interest, it is not a cheerful subject. “Paid,” with Joan Crawford ; MGM : founded on the crook play, “Within the Law,” it is not a cheerful picture. “Captain Thunder,” Warner Bros. : A bandit picture. "Divorce Among Friends,” Warner Bros.: A comedy of domestic troubles. “The Blue Angel,” Paramount : Extremely depressing. “Madonna of ihe Streets,” a semi-crook play : depressing. “Two Worlds,” British : too sordid. “Mother’s Cry,” First National : depressing. “Min and Bill,” MGM : depressing. “The Flame of Love,” British : unpleasant. “Scarlet Pages,” Warner Bros. : a sex theme, unsuitable for children. “Way For a Sailor,” MGM : sordid. “The Widow from Chicago,” First National : an unpleasant gangster play. “The Doorway to Hell,” Warner Bros.: a well produced gangster story, but demoralizing. “The Virtuous Sin,” Paramount : an unpleasant sex play. “The Love Trader,” Tiffany: unpleasant. “War Nurse,” MGM: gruesome, morbid, and harrowing, with many unhappy sex situations. These pictures have been reviewed in Harrison’s Reports since November 1. Any wonder that people stopped going to theatres in the same numbers they used to go? Is there not enough grief m life without adding to it? Common sense should have made the producers realize that the market crash, which ruined tens of thousands of persons and caused financial losses more or less to nine out of every ten adults, has created a state of mind that has put none in a mood to enjoy pictures of this nature ; they should have made cheerful pictures, comedies mostly, so as to put every one in a better frame of mind. This would have helped business recovery. But the morbid mind of those who produce pictures could not reason out such a simple thing, with the result that even good pictures are now showing to empty seats. Conditions have, in fact, become so bad that some of those among the producers who own theatres are compelled to resort to pornographic advertising, often lying as to the nature of the picture they advertise, so as to draw the public into the theatres. Warner Bros, has brought this sort of advertising to a “scientific” point ; they have gone so far as to desecrate memories the American people hold most sacred so as to draw dollars to their box offices. The producers are dreading censorship and yet they are doing everything to bring it about. The only sad part about it is the fact that it will add a financial burden without a corresponding benefit ; for censorship is not the cure — we ( Continued on last page)