Harrison's Reports (1931)

34 HARRISON’S REPORTS “The Naughty Flirt” ( First National; release date, Jan. 1 1 ; running time, 56 m.) Mediocre program fare! The players are generally of average calibre and the whole picture shapes up as material of little value. Alice White shows very little ability, and .the supporting cast is more or less handicapped by a poor story. In a few spots the direction improves but generally it laspes into an unimaginative rut : — The heroine (Alice White) pursues a young law clerk (Paul Page), in her father’s employ. In the past she had been successful in her flirting conquests, but this time she runs up against a stone wall. Finally, the hero succumbs and admits his love for her, but he is led to believe that it is a trick on her part. He leaves her, disappointed. The heroine, undeterred, continues her conquest by working as a clerk in the same office as the hero. Still the latter refuses to fall for her wiles, although he really loves her. When he sees that she is honest in her love for him, however, he does admit his love and the engagement is announceed. Meanwhile, another suitor for her hand, because of her wealth, conspires to break up the romance. Through a ruse, the hero is found in the bedroom of the other suitor’s sister. The heroine, disillusioned, is unhappy to see this, and returns to her former irresponsible mode of living, trying to forget her former love. This continues for quite some time until the hero, thinking the heroine is entering into a hasty match with his rival, interrupts the marriage. The hero again realizes that the heroine loves him, and all is well. Edward Cline directed the story. Alice White, Paul Page and Myrna Loy head the cast. Sound is average. Suitable for children and adults. Good for Sunday nights. But on the whole, mediocre. (Out-of-town review. Not a roadshow. Not a substitution.) “Father’s Son” ( First National, March 7; running time, 75 min.) Powerfully human 1 There are, in fact, situations where it will be hard for most picture-goers to suppress their emotions. Many of such situations portray the strong attachment between the family doctor and the heroines young son, who was misunderstood by his father, a man full of business and of form, but of very little sympathy for his son. Another such situation is where the father, unable to bear lonesomeness any longer, calls on his wife and his son and, telling them that he needs them, asks them to go back to him. I he emotional feast reaches its highest point where the father, when his young son informs him that the doctor and he were going fishing the following day, asks that he be taken along ; the boy’s eyes open wide, and almost glisten : — The lather, a successful big business man, adhering to form strictly, is impatient with his son, about ten, and frequently injures his feelings. The mother is entirely in sympathy with her boy, whom she understands, and although she loves her husband, too, she takes her son and leaves him rather than allow him to hamper the natural growth of her boy by too many restrictions. The boy becomes attached to the family doctor, who understands and sympathizes with him ; the two become inseparable friends. The father, left alone, misses the little annoyances ot his son and calls on them to beg them to go back to him. They go back. The plot has been founded on the novel, "Old Fathers and Young Sons,” by Booth Tarkington. It was directed by William Beaudine. Lewis Stone is the father, Irene Rich the mother, Leon Janney the inimitable young son and John Halliday, the doctor. Mickey Bennett, Gertrude Howard and others are in the cast. The talk is clear. Suitable for children of all ages, and for adults, too. Excellent Sunday show. A good lesson for parents. (Not a road show. Not a substitution.) “My Past” ( Warner Bros.; release date, March 14; time, 68 min.) Mediocre ! The players are capable, and the direction is skillful, but the story is poor. It seeks to border on the risque and sensational, but does nothing except handicap the players. Bebe Daniels, Lewis Stone and Ben Lyon are intelligent, but with material of this kind they can do little. Neither can the director, although he tried hard to do something with it : — The heroine, an actress with a past, returns to a friendly relationship with the elderly member of a prosperous steel company. The latter wants to marry the actress. His intentions are honorable. The hero, junior partner in the firm, can see nothing but business, but when the actress sets out to interest him he succumbs, though married. He tells February 28, 1931 her that his wife is seeking a divorce. Actually, he just wants to play around. The actress falls in love with him. Just when their happiness is increasing, the wife returns, and the affair ends, with the hero going back to his wife. Meanwhile, the senior partner, dutiful, tries to make the actress forget. Because of her gratitude toward him, she intimates that eventually she will marry him. The hero’s wife decides to divorce him. When the hero goes to tell the actress the news, she spurns him. But because she can hide her heart’s desire no longer, and for the reason that the hero says he knows everything about her life, she accepts. The hero, however, when he understands that this will prove a great disappointment to his partner and friend, leaves the country. Weeks later the actress, travelling for her health on the senior partner’s yacht, with friends, arrives at the Riviera, where, unknown to her, the hero had been residing. She is taken ashore, and meets the hero. Again they tell each other of their love, but because the actress had promised her love to his partner, and friend, they decide not to do anything to hurt him. While they are preparing to say goodbye, they see the boat sailing. They realize that the elderly partner had arranged the meeting to bring them their real happiness even at the cost of his. The plot has been based on the novel “Ex-Mistress” ; Roy Del Ruth directed it. Bebe Daniels is the actress, Lewis Stone the elderly partner, and Ben Lyon, the hero. Joan Blondell, Albert Gran, and others are in the cast. Sound is good. (Out-of-town review. Not a roadshow.) Not suitable for children. Not a Sunday show ; it might prove offensive to many people. (Not a substitution.) “It Pays to Advertise” ( Paramount , Feb. 28; running time 64 minutes) Ordinarily, “It Pays to Advertise” might have been tolerated by picture-goers as a fair evening’s entertainment of the program grade, for it deals with the unexciting adventures of a wealthy man’s young son, who sets out to make a success in life without his father’s help ; but one hardly hopes that it will be accepted as such now because it is filled with advertisements. On the contrary, it may irritate people. For the number of nationally advertised articles in it, the reader is directed to the editorial printed in this issue. It may be added that Simmons’ beds, and Beyer’s aspirin are additional articles advertised. The story deals with the hero, who decides to become a rival of his father in the soap business. Even though he does not own even a single cake of soap, he starts advertising his brand, “13 Soap, Unlucky For Dirt.” He creates a demand for this brand of soap and eventually forces his father to pay him a big price for it. The plot was taken from the stage play by Roi Cooper and Walter Hackett. It was directed by Frank Tutle. Norman Foster is the hero, and Carole Lombard the heroine. Skeets Gallagher, Eugene Pallette, Lucien Littlefield, and Louise Brooks are in the cast. (Not a substitution.) Nothing shown in it will harm the morals of children. Note: Because of the advertisements, it is my belief that an exhibitor may reject it. At any rate, this is a proof of how dangerous it is for an exhibitor to buy from a distributor “unmarked”, pictures ; he does not know what he is going to get. “Desert Vengeance” (Columbia. Jan. 25; running time. 63 min.) A slow-moving Western. There is only one suspensive scene ; it is where the hero and his gang are surrounded by their enemy gang and shoot it out to the finish. Neither the hero nor the heroine arouse much sympathy because he is presented as an outlaw and she as a clever crook, and even though at the end they both see the error of their ways their actions before that point make the spectator unsympathetic towards them : — The hero, after learning that he had been duped by the heroine and her confederate, takes them to his supposed “mine,” without letting them know he is aware of their game. They arrive at his town only to discover that he is an outlaw and that they are stranded. The distance to the railroad station was forty miles across a desert, and as the hero’s horses were bein^ watched they could not steal a horse to enable them to get away. The hero and the heroine eventually realize that they love each other, and after a terrific gang fight in which all the hero’s friends are killed they remain together. The story was written by Stuart Anthony. It was directed by Louis King. In the cast are Barbara Bedford, Douglas Gilmore, A1 Smith, Ed Brady and others. The talk is clear. Not quite suitable for children.