Harrison's Reports (1931)

HARRISON’S REPORTS May 16, 1931 78 “The Good Bad Girl” ( Columbia ; release date not yet set; 71 min.) Very good! It is a mixture of gang stuff and mother love, with a “touch” of sex. The heroine is shown in the beginning living with a gangster, but she meets a young man, falls in love with him, and marries him. The gangster atmosphere prevails mainly in the beginning, where this gangster, for characterizaton purposes, is shown committing a cold-blooded murder. W hen the heroine marries the young man, giving up the gangster, the spectator feels fear for her safety; he expects the gangster to show up any minute and harm her and her husband. The husband (hero) shows good character; although the fact that his wife had had improper relations with the gangster became known, having been printed in the newspapers, he still stands by his wife, against the efforts of his father to make him forget her. .... , , ,, , In the development of the plot, it is shown that the hero is sent by his father to Paris, there to establish his residence and then obtain a divorce. In the meantime the heroine, just to show his parents that it was love and not his money that induced her to marry him, goes to work to support her baby. The husband returns and seeks her. 1 he gangster, who had been convicted and sentenced to a life term, escapes from jail, and orders his friends to drive him to the heroine’s, intending to harm her, because he thought that it was she who had given his hiding place away. But the -police are there, and shoot him dead. The heroine takes her baby son to her husband s mother, to leave him there, because she felt that he could have a better home with them. There, however, she meets her husband, still in love with her. A reconciliation takes place. The story is by Winifred Van Duzer; the direction, by R. William Neil. The direction is skillful and the acting artistic. Mae Clarke is the heroine, James Hall the hero, Marie Prevost the heroine’s gold-digger friend. The talk is clear. Hardly for children, or for a Sunday show in small towns. “Virtuous Husband'* ( Universal , April 12; running time, 75 min.) Very good. It should keep audiences laughing almost continuously. The laughs are caused by the old fashioned ideas of the young hero, and by the shock the heroine feels because of them. The action intimates things about private married life, but the director has handled it with care ; it goes so far and then it stops, leaving a great deal, to the imagination. In other words, the picture is “spicy” without being vulgar. There are some farcical situations toward the end of the story ; these, too, should make spectators laugh. They depict the hero’s father, and mother, maid, a friend of the heroine, and the hero’s uncle, going to the hero’s home in three groups, one group not being aware of the presence of the other groups, all inspired with the same motive — to find the trunk that contained the hero’s dead mother’s letters, which had inspired the hero’s old-fashioned ideas, and to destroy them. Each takes a trunk and throws it into the river. One trunk contained the letters, but one of the others had the heor’s negro servant in it; he had taken refuge there when he was aroused by “prowlers,” and was frightened by a “ghost.” The plot has been founded on the play “Apron Strings.” by Dorrance Davis. It was directed by Van Moore skillfully. Elliot Nugent is the hero, Jean Arthur the heroine. Betty Compson the heroine’s friend, J. C. Nugent the heroine’s father, Allison Skipworth her mother, and Tully Marshall the hero’s butler. Although every one does good work, Allison Skipworth certainly deserves special mention ; she is an artist. The talk is clear. Children should enjoy it ; the smart ones among them will, no doubt, understand a great deal of what is implied, however delicately the situations have been handled. Whether the picture may be considered a good Sunday show for small towns, therefore, depends on the exhibitor’s taste. Excellent for sophisticated audiences. Note : It is a substitution. But it is worth accepting. “Young Sinners” with Thomas Meighan (Fox, May 17; running time, 80 min.) This picture ought to draw big crowds, and it no doubt will, for it combines sex appeal with human interest. It is not expected, of course, that the injection of the sex element will meet with approval by all the picture-goers, because, even though the situations have been handled cleverly, it is at times too bold. In the cabin, for example, where the young hero is compelled, because of the snow storm, to let the heroine spend the night, the heroine is shown exciting the young hero’s passions; but the hero shows a high degree of self-control. The high-mindedness of the hero, of course, offsets, in a measure, the effect of the heorine's somewhat bold conduct, in the beginning, too, there are scenes of reckless conduct by young men and women of wealthy parents ; there is drinking, kissing and jazzing. But thre is deep human interest later. This occurs in the scenes where Thomas Meighan, as a trainer, has the young hero under his charge, determined to make a man out of him. The scenes where Mr. Meighan is shown with his wife and his eleven year old boy are deeply moving ; they inspire the young hero to make a better man of himself. The story deals with an extremely wealthy father’s young son, who is in love with a young woman of his set (heroine.) The heroine’s mother does not favor the hero, and forces her daughter to become engaged to a European nobleman, stiff and cold, like an icicle. The heroine determines to break her engagement and to follow the hero, but the hero, when he is informed of the engagement, leaves and continues drinking. His father engages a trainer (Thomas Meighan) to take him out in the woods and make a man of him. Father and son have a quarrel but the trainer takes charge of the young man. The severing of relations with his drinking and jazzing friends, hard training, and the discipline the trainer had imposed upon him, coupled with the trainer’s understanding of human nature, eventually have their effect upon the young man’s mind. The affection shown by the trainer’s wife and child toward the trainer is partly responsible. The young heroine eventually finds the hero and goes to him. She informs him that she had broken her engagement with the nobleman and that she was ready to marry him. The hero’s father and mother call on him, and after a reconciliation the young man obtains his parents’ consent to the marriage. The plot has been founded on the stage play by Elmer Harris. John Blystone directed it skillfully. Hardie Albright is the hero; he shows promise as a coming star. Dorothy Jordan does well as the heroine. Cecilia Loftus, James Kirkwood, Edmund Breese, Lucien Prival, master John Arledge and others are in the cast. The talk is clear. Excellent for sophisticated audiences. As a Sunday show in small towns, it is a matter of choice. But to some theatres it might prove a little too embarrassing. Young men might be inflamed by what they will see in some of the situations. (Not a story substitution.) “Daybreak” with Ramon Novarro (MGM; release date May 2; running time, 75 min.) Only fair. At best it shapes up as an unimportant interlude rather than a story. The hero has an unsympathetic role, in that he is first represented as a gay officer who holds little respect for women, except as playthings, but who later learns the value of true love, and reforms. The story, however, can appeal only to those who like sophisticated stories : — The hero, a young Austrian lieutenant, finds the heroine, a young music teacher, in a cafe and rescues her from the unwelcome attention of another man. He takes her to a wine garden, gives her wine, talks to her of love, and ultimately seduces her. The following morning, the girl, filled with love for him, is disillusioned when he tells her he cannot marry her because a lieutenant cannot support a wife on his salary. He gives her money. After leaving her, the lieutenant now knows he loves her and returns, but finds her gone. Later he meets her in a cafe. She is sophisticated, well dressed, jewelled, and gives evidence of having affairs with men. She does not give him a chance to beg forgiveness. Then he gambles recklessly, and incurs a debt of a great deal of money. He sends her a message that he must see her in the next room. When the girl returns to her apartment that evening, she finds him there, and they spend one last night together. In the morning, again he proclaims his love, and leaves her to pay his debt of honor. But his uncle, not wishing to see him kill himself, gives him the money. He resigns from the service. No longer an officer, he finds the heroine and they are un-’ted, to be married. Jacques Feeder directed the story by Arthur Schnitzler. Helen Chandler, Jean Hersholt. C. Aubrey Smith, William Bakewell, Karen Morley, Kent Douglass, Clyde Cook, Clara Blandick. Jackie Searl are in the cast. Not for children. Only for adults who like sophisticated stories. Not for Sunday nights in small towns. (Not a substitution. Out-of-town review.) Note: There is much that can be cut in states where there is censorship.