Harrison's Reports (1932)

86 HARRISON’S REPORTS “The Silver Lining” with Maureen O’Sullivan (Patrician-United Artists, April i6 ; running time, 57 min.) A fairly good program picture, with human interest. Because of her selfishness, the heroine at first does not win any sympathy, but later she wins some because she repents for having acted as she did and she tries her best to help the people she had hurt. There is not much suspense in the story for the outcome is obvious : — The heroine, an heiress, is selfish and thinks only of her good times. She owns tenement houses in the slums and although her uncle pleads with her to have them repaired she pays no attention to him. A child is hurt in one of the houses and is crippled. Her uncle, at the request of the hero, a lawyer, pleads with her to do something for the child, but again she fails to heed his advice. Her uncle tells her what he thinks of her. She goes out alone at night and walks through the park. She is robbed and hit on the head. A policeman finds her and arrests her for intoxication. He had found her carrying a purse which the thief had put in her hands and so she is booked under another name. When she comes to herself she protests but it does her no good for she is sent to the workhouse. She becomes friendly with a young girl, one of her poor tenants, who tells her that she took the blame for a theft committed by the mother of the young boy who had been injured in the heroine’s broken-up house. The heroine does not reveal her identity. She meets the hero through this girl. She and the hero fall in love. Released from jail, she does things for the girl and other people in her houses without telling them she had done it. She makes the hero manager in charge of all her houses to put in whatever repairs he thinks are necessary. She finally discloses her identity to the hero and to the girl. They forgive her. She and the hero are united. The plot was adapted from a story by Hal Conklin. It was directed by Alan Crosland. In the cast are Betty Compson, John Warburton, Montagu Love and Mary Doran. Because of one situation in which a girl does a vulgar dance it is unsuitable for children or for Sunday showing. “Two Seconds” with Edward G. Robinson (First National, May 28; running time, 68 min.) This is an extremely morbid and depressing picture. The heroine is the most vicious character seen in pictures for a long time. The manner in which she tortures the hero, causing him to lose his mind, is so beastly that it makes the spectator uncomfortable. The surroundings are sordid and the atmosphere throughout is tragic without any comedy relief. There are several ugly situations. One of such situations is where the heroine torments the hero with the fact that she is supporting him with money she was getting from other men : — The hero is being electrocuted for having killed his wife. The doctor explains that for two seconds before death the condemned man visualizes his whole life. And so the story goes back to the time the hero and his pal were riveters. The pal had fixed up a blind date for the hero but when the hero saw the girl he decided he would rather spend the evening alone. He goes to a dance hall and there meets one of the hostesses, the heroine. He knocks out a man who insults her and they become friends. She makes him believe she is a girl with high ideals. His pal warns him against her type of girl but the hero tells him not to worry because he will never marry her. But she thinks dififerently and one night gets him so drunk that he does not know he had married her. He decides to make the best of it when he sobers up. He and his friend are working high up on a steel construction. The friend passes some disparaging remarks about the heroine. The hero attempts to strike him and the pal slips and falls to his death. This makes a nervous wreck of the hero and he cannot work. The heroine tortures him by telling him how she was getting money from other men. He wins some money on a horse and pays back the heroines lover ; he then kills her. The plot was adapted from the stage play by Elliott Lester. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy. In the cast are Preston Foster, Vivienne Osborne, J. Carroll Nai.sh, Guy Kibbcc. and others. Not suitable for children or for Sunday showing. Substitution Facts: This picture replaces “The Hawk.’’ listed on the contract as 6S2, a new story by Chester AI. Bennett. It is a story substitution and you are not obligated to accept it. May 28, 1932 **Radio Patrol” with Robert Armstrong and Lila Lee (Universal, June 2; running time, 67 min.) A good action drama. Although gangsters are involved in the story no sympathy is felt for them for here the policeman’s side of the story is told, showing their bravery and the hardships they are forced to work under. The hero is not a very sympathetic character for he is shown taking bribes from the gangsters, going so far as to take a bribe from them to keep away from a certain district so they might rob a bank. Sympathy is felt for his pal, who was honest and upright. The closing scenes are filled with action and are also pathetic for the hero is killed and the heroine gives birth to a child and calls for the hero : — The hero and his pal are policemen. The pal introduces I'.ini to the heroine, with whom he is in love. The hero and the heroine fall in love and marry, but the pal does not show his unhappiness to them. The hero takes bribes from gangsters and his pal suspects him of it. He begs him to give that up but the hero tells him to mind his own business. The night the heroine is taken to a maternity hospital, the hero and his pal are ordered to patrol a certain district where a bank was located. The hero tries to get his pal away from it because he, the hero, had taken a bribe to keep away. But the pal will not heed him and goes there. Once there they find a policeman killed and realize there is trouble. The hero confesses all and begs his pal to forgive him and to let him help rout the bandits. They do and recover the money. The hero is killed. The pal goes to the hospital to comfort the heroine. She thinks it is the hero who is comforting her. The plot was adapted from a story by Tom Reed. It was directed by Edward Cahn. In the cast are Russell Hopton, June Clyde and Andy Devine. Because of the good moral it conveys, it should be suitable for children and for Sunday showing, even though it shows a policeman accepting bribes. Substitution Facts : This picture is replacing “Marriage Interlude,” which was to have been founded on the play “As Before Better Than Before” by Pirandello. It is a story substitution but you may accept it, for it is a good picture. “Riders of Death Valley” with Tom Mix (Universal, May 26; running time, 87 min.) A good Western ; it holds one’s interest to the very end. The situation in which the hero, the heroine, and two other men are in the desert without any water, is extremely realistic for they are shown as being parched and half mad with a desire for water. Mr. Mix’s horse, Tony again displays fine intelligence. This is so especially in the situation in which he makes the hero’s cowhands realize that he was trying to take them to his master, whose life was in danger. The closing situation in which the hero rescues the heroine from the mine just as it was to be blown up is exciting: — The hero knows that a certain doctor and his pal had killed the heroine’s brother. The heroine’s brother had found gold and the two men were desirous of getting the mine. He leaves a nvap to the doctor, but the hero, at the point of a gun, takes the map and tears it in three parts keeping the most important part for himself and giving the other two parts to the two men. A\Tien the heroine arrives in the town the doctor tries to poison her mind about the hero, and she believes him especially when she finds her young niece in a saloon to which the hero had brought her to buy her a soda. She demands the third part of the map from the hero but he refuses to give it to her telling her he will make the trip with her and the doctor and his pal. WTiile riding in Death Valley the horses go wild and their outfit is smashed. They are left with very little water. The doctor’s pal dies. The hero sends his horse back to his ranch for help. He leaves the heroine with the doctor so that he could look for his men if they were coming to him. The horse finallv makes the men understand that they are to follow him. They find the hero, who had collapsed and he takes them to the heroine He rescues the heroine from the mine just in time for the doctor had planned to dynamite it in the hope of getting water. The doctor is killed. The heroine is sorry for having doubted the hero. They are united. The plot was adapted from a story by Jack Cunningham. It was directed by Albert Rogell. In the cast are Lois Wilson, Fred Kohler and Forrest Stanley. Suitable for children and for Sunday showing.