Harrison's Reports (1932)

118 HARRISON’S REPORTS July 23, 1932 “By Whose Hand?” with Ben Lyon {Columbia, July 6; running time, 65 min.) This is an exciting murder melodrama, with all the action taking place on a train. It is fast-moving, holding the spectator in suspense to the very end. There is some comedy, most of it being caused by the pestiness of a drunkard who insists on attaching himself to the hero. The closing scene is the most exciting ; it shows the hero pursuing a criminal on the top of a fast-moving train, then stopping the train in time to avoid a wreck. There is a pleasant romance between the hero and the heroine : — A criminal had escaped from prison and it was thought he had boarded a train for San Francisco. The hero a newspaper reporter, is ordered by the editor to board the train for any news that might pop up. He meets the heroine, a passenger, and they fall in love with each other. There is considerable excitement during the trip. A jewelry merchant is killed and a valuable diamond bracelet he had been carrying was missing. A prisoner, who was being taken to jail by a detective, makes his escape and is later found dead. The criminal, who had been hiding in a coffin in the baggage car, escapes and kills the engineer of the train. The train rushes on at wild speed. The hero captures the criminal, hands him over to the detective, and then dashes to the engine and stops it in time to avoid a wreck. The various murders are solved. Hero and heroine marry at the end of the trip. The plot was adapted from a story by Harry Adler, and directed by Ben Stoloff. In the cast are Barbara Weeks, William V. Mong, Kenneth Thomson, Tom Dugan, Ethel Kenyon, and others. Sensitive children may be frightened; otherwise suitable for children and for Sunday showing. Substitution Facts : This picture is replacing 2020 on the contract which is listed as an Edgar Wallace production. It is a story substitution and you are not obligated to accept it. “The Man Called Back” with Conrad Nagel, Doris Kenyon, and John Holliday {Tiffany-W orld Wide, July 17; 74 min.) Take the name “Tiffany Productions” out and insert “Paramount,” or “MGAl,” or “RKO,” and none will know that the picture was not made by one of these concerns, and that it cost anywhere from three to four hundred thousand dollars for the negative. And yet is cost Tiffany only sixtyeight thousand dollars. It is richly mounted and the acting is all that one desires. And so is the direction. As to the story material, though it will not knock any one silly it is, nevertheless, a good entertainment, far better than the average picture put out by the big concerns. There is considerable human interest, and one is kept in pretty tense suspense throughout. The closing scenes are the most suspensive; they show the heroine’s liberty in danger as a result of the finding of her husband dead by poisoning ; she is suspected of the crime. In the development of the plot, however, it comes to light that the dead man had brought about his own death by mistaking deadly poison for heart tablets. The story opens in the South Sea Islands, where the heroine had gone to forget her brutal husband and to take her life. There she meets the hero, formerly a famous surgeon in London ; because of drink, he had caused the death of a boy, and went there to forget. The two fall in love. The heroine does not tell him of her being married but goes back to her husband, to face life. The doctor is sent for posthaste to perform an operation for appendicitis on a wealthy man, in his yacht. It is a dangerous operation but, after having been reclaimed by the heroine, "his hand had steadied and the old skill had come back. The operation is successful and the wealthy man, in gratitude, takes the hero back to London and sets him up in an office, publicizing him in a proper and effective manner. This man turns out to be the husband of the heroine. Their friendship and love nearly proves their undoing when the husband dies. The plot has been founded on the book “Silent Thunder,” by Andrew' Soutar. Robert Florey directed it. Though it has been handled delicately, because of the fact that John Halliday is shown as being a ladies’ man it will be hardly thought a suitable entertainment for children or for Sunday showing. Book it and encourage an independent producer. “Unashamed” with Helen Twelvetrees and Lewis Stone {MGM., July 2 ; running time, 75 min.) There is little to recommend this as entertainment. The atmosphere is sordid and the characters do not arouse sympathy, the heroine especially being the most unsympathetic character seen in a long time. In addition, the story is thin, it lacks suspense, and the outcome is obvious. Several situations are ugly ; as for instance the one in which the heroine confronts her father with her lover telling him she had spent the night with him. Another of such situations is w'here the heroine testifies against her brother, knowing that he will go to the chair for it : — The heroine and her brother are very much attached to each other. They come from a fine wealthy family. She falls in love with a scoundrel and refuses to listen to the pleas of her father and brother to give the man up. The father receives a visit from a man who claims to be the father of the young man the heroine had been going around with. He discloses the fact that the boy had changed his name because he was ashamed of him and of the delicatessen store w’hich he conducted. He begs the heroine’s father to induce the girl to give his boy up for the money would ruin him. The heroine refuses to listen to her father. Instead she, in order to induce her father to give his consent, spends the night with her lover at a hotel. Her brother is so enraged when he hears this that he shoots and kills the lover. During his trial the heroine maintains an antagonistic attitude towards her brother and gives the most damaging testimony against him. She finally comes to her senses w'hen she realizes she is sending him to the chair and sacrifices her reputation to give testimony that w’ould favor her brother. He is freed and the family is reconciled. The plot was adapted from a story by Bayard Veiller. It was directed by Harry Beaumont. In the cast are Jean Hersholt. Robert Young, John Miljan and others. Unsuitable for children or for Sunday showing. (Not a substitution). “The Purchase Price” with Barbara Stanwyck and George Brent {Warner Bros., July 23; running time, (fj min.) Dull and tiresome; it wastes the good talents of Miss Stanwyck. The surroundings are drab, the atmosphere sordid, and the talk and insinuations at times vulgar. In addition, the story is thin and implausible, for it is hard to believe that a girl who had been living in comfort would subject herself to the tiring life of being a farmer’s wife. There is no comedy in it at all : — The heroine, a night club entertainer, had been living with the owner of the club. Tired of the life, she had determined to marry a wealthy young man. but he throws her over. Not wanting to go back to her former lover, she runs away and goes to Montreal. The hotel maid tells her she had sent the heroine’s picture to a matrimonial bureau and was leaving to marrj’ a farmer out west. The heroine gives her one hundred dollars to allow her to go in the maid’s place. The farmer, hero, turns out to a good looking man, but without manners. She resents his advances the first night they are together and he is insulted. After that night he never comes near her even though she learns to love him and tries to tell him so. Many complications arise. The villain wants both the heroine and the hero’s farm, and tries to induce the bank to foreclose on the hero’s mortgage. The heroine is able to borrow money from her former lover who had followed her to bring her back; thus she is able to hold the bank off. The hero plants his wheat and the crop is excellent. It means they are successful. The villain attempts to burn the crop but the heroine and the hero are just in time to save it. The hero realizes how much he loves the heroine and they are reconciled. The plot was adapted from a story by Arthur Stringer and directed by William A. Wellman. In the cast are Lyle Talbot. Hardie Albright, David Landau, Murray Kinnell. and others. Not suitable for children or for Sunday showing. Substitution Facts : This is taking the place of No. 35S which is listed on the contract as “Betrayed.” adapted from the play “Top of the Hill” by Oiarles Kenyon. With Barbara Stanwyck as star. It is a stor> substitution and you are not obligated to accept it.