Harrison's Reports (1932)

HARRISON’S REPORTS 19 January 30, 1932 “Charlie Chan’s Chance” with Warner Oland {Fox, Jan. ^4; running time, 71 min.j The most entertaining detective and murder mystery produced in a long time ; it holds one in tense suspense. The identity of the murderer comes as a surprise for at no time is he suspected. There are several exciting situations. One of such situations is where Charlie Chan is trapped in the room of a Chinese accomplice of the murderer. This accomplice planned to murder Charlie but this plan is upset and, instead, he is killed by the trap he had set for Charlie. There is sympathy felt for both the hero and the heroine, who are in love with each other, and who innocently become involved in the murder mystery. The manner in which Charlie Chan discovers the real murderer is ingenious and the plot at all times is logical. Most of the humor is caused by the quaint proverbs uttered by Charlie Chan. The story revolves around the murder of a Scotland Yard detective who had come to America to search for a man who was wanted for murder in England. When his body is found it is thought at first that he had died from heart trouble, but Charlie notices a dead cat in the same room and that gives him the clue to the murder, which had been committed by gas. The mystery deepens and many people are involved, but Qiarlie finally unravels it by finding the Englishman who was wanted and proving that he had killed the detective. This frees the hero and the heroine from suspicion and they are united. Charlie is happy to leave New York to go back to Honolulu where a new son awaited him. The plot was adapted from the story by Earl Derr Diggers, and directed by John Blystone. In the cast are Alexander Kirkland, H. B. Warner, Marion Nixon, Ralph Morgan, Linda Watkins, James Kirkwood and others. The talk is clear. Not a substitution. Suitable for children and for Sunday showing. “Cock of the Air” with Chester Morris and Billie Dove {United Artists, Jan. 23; running time, 70 min.) A fair comedy. The humor is rowdyish and occasionally vulgar. There is little to the story, and at times it becomes silly and at other times tiresome. It depends for its most humorous effect on a situation similar to that in “Private Lives,’’ in which the lovers engage in a terrific battle. But this one is not so amusing. There is not much human interest. But the action is quite fast, and there is one situation that is quite thrilling ; it is where two aeroplanes, bound from Italy to France, one being driven by a novice, come periously close to each other, and to mountain tops : — The heroine, a fascinating actress, is requested by France to leave the country so that the officers might become interested once more in war and not in her. She consents to go to Italy where she is given a villa and every luxury. There she meets the hero, an aviator, and she determines to win him. He is wild and impetuous and is accustomed to having women fall for him. He is amazed when the heroine does not react as he expects her to. They quarrel but he realizes that he really loves her. The heroine learns that her rival is creating a hit in Paris. This is more than she can stand and so' she determines to go back. The only way to get there quickly is by aeroplane. And so she plays a trick on the hero by telling him that if he loves her he will indulge a whim of hers, — that is to have a cocktail at the Ritz bar in Paris. He is off leave and risks everything to do this for her. She tries to escape from him once they arrive in Paris but she finds this difficult. They both drink many cocktails and are slightly dizzy. She finally eludes him and goes to the theatre, back again in her famous role of Joan of Arc. The hero at first is angry when he hears how she trapped him, but he loves her and forgives her. She procures forgiveness for the hero from his superior officers. She accepts the hero’s proposal of marriage. The plot was adapted from a story by Robert E. Sherwood and Qiarles Lederer. It was directed by Tom Buckingham. In the cast are Matt Moore, Walter Catlett, Louis Alberni, Katya Sergeiva, and others. The talk is clear. Hardly suitable for children or for Sunday showing. “Panama Flo” with Helen Twelvetrees {RKO Pathe, Jan. 29; running time, 71 min.) A fair melodrama. It has some fast action, but the characters are so unsympathetic that there is little human interest in the story. The heroine at times arouses some sympathy, but not enough to hold one’s interest at all times. In addition, it is demoralizing, for the theme is sexy and the characters indulge in constant drinking, especially the hero and the heroine. There is one ugly situation in which the heroine attempts to get the hero drunk so that she might be enabled to rob him of his bankroll. There is one exciting and also surprising situation. It is W'here the villain, whom the audience at all times believed to be an honest and upright man, attempts to steal papers belonging to the hero : — The heroine is an entertainer at a cafe in Panama. She is in love with the villain, whom she believes to be a fine and loyal man. Business at the cafe is bad and all the entertainers are fired. But the heroine does not worry since she expects to be married. Her sweetheart tells her he has to take an aeroplane trip to the South American jungles on business, and tells her to wait for him. She waits for several weeks and there is no word from him. Broke and desperate, she joins in a plan to get the hero, a patron of the cafe, drunk and steal his money. He is wise to her and insists that she give back the money. Her accomplice, to whom she had passed the money, runs away with it. She is forced to go to the jungles with him as his housekeeper or else suffer the consequences of jail. He attempts to make love to her but she keeps him away with a gun. She is overjoyed when her sweetheart makes a forced landing in front of the hut. He tells her he know's the whole story and had come to rescue her. They wait until the hero’s absence to make their escape. The heroine is dissillusioned to find that her sweetheart did not come for her but came for valuable papers belonging to the hero. She shoots him. The hero sends her back to New York. Three years later he finds her there and confesses that he was the one who shot the villain and not she, for he had been an onlooker from the outside. At first she is bitter against him but later they are reconciled. The plot was adapted from a story by Garrett Fort and directed by Ralph Murphy. In the cast are Charles Bickford, Robert Armstrong, Marjorie Peterson, and others. The talk is clear. Not a substitution. Not suitable for children or for Sunday showing. FACTS ABOUT PICTURES NOT YET REVIEWED BECAUSE OF RETARDED PLAYING IN THIS TERRITORY In the issue of January 16 a few facts were given to you about “West of Broadway” from the press sheet, because the picture has not yet been shown in this territory. This picture has been announced for showing at Loew’’s Eightythird Street Theatre and some other Loew Theatres tomorrow (January 27). Since the picture has not been shown at the Capitol, or even at Loew’s State, it is manifest that my supposition that it is a poor picture and has been held back so as to avoid criticism of it is correct. It will be reviewed in next week’s issue. Here are some more “paper” reviews : “THE FALSE MADONNA,” Paramount, released nationally December 5 : Kay Francis helps William Boyd to fleece people. She decides to give up her criminal career but she cannot get loose from Boyd’s clutches. He induces her to impersonate a dead woman so as to inherit the son’s fortune, who was fragile and was not expected to live long. The boy warms up to her so much that Kay finds herself developing a motherly feeling toward him. The boy’s business representative (Conway Tearle) suspects the hoax. Boyd gets restless on account of Kay’s slowness to get hold of some money and when he calls on her and learns that, because of the death of the boy, all their plans had gone wrong, he becomes uncontrollably angry. Conway Tearle threatens Boyd to call the police. Boyd becomes frightened and runs away. Kay and Conway marrj’. It is difficult to warm up to a lot of crooks. There is some sympathy for Kay after she begins to love the boy, but the whole story is unpleasant. It does not seem to be suitable for children or for Sunday showing. “WOR'KING GIRLS,” with Paul Lukas ; Paramount, released December 12 : This is a romance between two young men and two young girls, who meet each other in New York. It seems to be a poor gold-digger story. It has been founded on Blind Mice, a play that run a few seasons ago, with an all-woman cast. It does not seem to possess particular merits to make it a good entertainment for Sundays. or for children. “SCARFACE.” United Artists; released Nov. 28: As said in the Forecaster review, this is a gangster story, immoral and demoralizing. Since the vogue for gangster stories is gone because of the agitation against them by every decent person in the United States and in the entire world, not much may be expected from it. Reviews will be given as soon as the pictures are shown in this territory.