Harrison's Reports (1932)

HARRISON’S REPORTS 146 September 10, 1932 “Strange Interlude” with Norma Sheerer and Clark Gable (MGM, release date not yet set; ii2 min.) Despite the adverse criticisms made of it by the critics of the New York dailies, “Strange Interlude” is a highly artictic production; perhaps not as dramatic as the stage play, but dramatic nevertheless. Miss Shearer rises to new dramatic heights ; as Nina Leeds, she is not only convincing but superb ; her make-up in the last half of the picture, where she is supposed to be an aged woman, is so well done that she appears extremely convincing. There are several pathetic moments in the action. Unfortunately the picture does not possess mass appeal; it is only for cultured picturegoers ; the masses may be bored with it, for it is unlikely that they will catch the spirit of Eugene O’Neill, the playwright. It is the story of a woman who, having lost the man she loved, by death, becomes morbid; life no longer holds an attraction for her. She meets a young man and, having fallen in love with him, marries him. The young man’s mother, however, tells her that she must not have a child with him, for there is a strain of insanity in the family and if she would have a child it might inherit that strain. Thus the world again crashes about her. Having been advised by her mother-in-law to have a child with some other person so as to keep her son in ignorance of her secret and thus give no cause to destroy his happiness, the heroine surrenders herself to the doctor who had attended her father before his death. A child is born, and the heroine’s husband thinks it is his. The heroine and the doctor keep him ig;norant of the facts. The child grows up and instinctively hates the doctor. This breaks the heart of the mother and of the doctor. The heroine’s husband dies; he had been overcome by his emotions seeing his son a winner at his college’s regatta. The heroine is left alone when her son married and the doctor had left her forever. Robert Z. Leonard directed it. Prominent in the supporting cast are Alexander Kirkland, Ralph Morgan, Robert Young, May Robson, Maureen O’Sullivan, Henry B. Walthall, Mary Alden, and Tad Alexander. Exhibitors catering to religiously inclined custom cannot show it. And it is not a picture for children ; it is strictly a picture for cultured adults. Like “The Guardsman,” it is a creditable production ; but like that picture, it will, I believe, fail at the box-office. “Tiger Shark” with Edward G. Robinson and Richard Arlen (First National, Sept. 24; time, 78 min.) This is a virile melodrama; it will probably be best enjoyed by men. The story presents nothing novel. But the settings are so unusual and realistic that the interest is held. For instance, actual scenes of tuna fishing, in which the hero and his crew are supposed to participate, have been worked into the picture cleverly. These scenes are intensely interesting because of their authenticity. The audience is held in suspense throughout because of the ever menacing presence of tiger sharks to the lives of the fishermen. There is a strain of comedy throughout caused by the bragging of the hero. One particularly amusing situation is where the hero bedecks himself for his marriage to the heroine. The closing scenes are filled with excitement ; they show the hero lowering his rival into a rowboat in the shark-infested waters. The heroine is an unsympathetic character because of her disloyalty to the hero : — The hero’s fishing vessel is sunk. He and two of his men are the only ones left alive and they, too, are near death for they had been drifting in a row boat, in shark-infested waters, for days, without food. One of the men attempts to kill the hero when he refuses him their last drops of water. His pal warns him just in time. The hero throws the man overboard ; he is eaten by a shark. The hero is weakened, and his hand slips into the water. It is bitten off by a shark. Finally he and his pal are rescued. In place of his hand he wears a steel hook. Out again on a trip one of his men is killed by a shark when he falls into the water. Back on land the hero calls on the man’s daughter. He falls in love with her and .she accepts his proposal of marriage because of his kindness. After the marriage his pa! and the heroine fall in love with each other. On one of the fishing trips in which the hero had taken the heroine he finds his wife and his pal in each other’s arms. He goes out of his mind with jealousy and knocks his pal unconscious. He then lowers him in+o a row boat, digs a hole in it and sets it loose in the shark-infested waters. He himself falls into the sea and is killed by the sharks. The pal is rescued by the crew. The plot was adapted from a story by Houston Branch. It was directed by Howard Hawks. In the cast are Zita Johann, Leila Bennett, J. Carroll Naish, Vinie Barnett, and others. Not suitable for sensitive women, children or for Sunday showing. “The Divorce Racket” with James Rennie (Paradise Piet.; running time, 66 min.) An entertaining murder mystery ; it holds the interest fairly well to the end. The story is logically worked out and the solving of the crime is done in an interesting fashion. The audience is held in suspense, for the discovery of the murderer does not come until the very end. There is a pleasant romance between the hero and the heroine: — The heroine becomes secretary to a divorce lawyer with the hope of getting possession of some forged checks and a confession of guilt signed by her brother, which he kept in his safe. By chance she meets the hero, a detective. He falls in love with her but she refuses to see him. Her employer is found murdered and several persons are under suspicion. The hero is called into the case and finds out that the heroine is working under an assumed name. She returns to the office late that night and takes the forged checks from the safe. The hero catches her but she escapes. She then goes to her late employer’s apartment and she gets hold of the confession. The hero arrives there and places them all under arrest. He finally solves the crime by proving that the murder had been committed by the dead lawyer’s office associate, who employed a window cleaner’s belt to get from one window to the other. This man hated the lawyer because he was the only one who knew he had murdered his wife. After the solving of the mystery the heroine feels free to accept the attentions of the hero. The story was written by James W. Poling, and directed by Aubrey Scotto. In the cast are Judith Wood, Olive Borden, Harry Short, Harry Tyler, and others. Not suitable for children; a matter of choice for Sunday showing. “Life Begins” with Loretta Young and Eric Linden (First National, Oct. i ; time, 70 min.) Although the producers failed to take full advantage of the opportunities for a truly big picture the material offered, they have, nevertheless, produced a powerful drama. There is deep appeal to the emotions almost in every foot of the film. The most powerful situation is that in the end, where the hero is told that his wife had died at the operating table, but that the child had lived; he did not want to see the child until he was told by the doctor that his wife wanted him to have it. Comedy is not lacking either ; there is plentiful of it in the scenes in the maternity hospital, in the ward where the most difficult cases were sent. The entire action unfolds in the hospital, ninety-five per cent of it in one ward. How the picture will be received, however, it is too early to tell, for some of the things shown or spoken of have created a great deal of discussion in the trade. Because of the fact that the heroine dreads the ordeal of child birth, lest she die, it plants thoughts in the minds of expectant mothers that are dreadful. On the other hand, women who have gone through with the experiences of childbirth should enjoy it to their heart’s content ; they will live over again those experiences. They will \veep a great deal but they will, no doubt, like it. Men may not like the picture so well. The story concerns a young wife who is sentenced to twenty years in prison for having killed a policeman (he had framed her). Because she is about to become a mother, she is sent to the maternity hospital. As the day for the birth of her child approaches, the doctor recognizes her case as a difficult one and asks the young husband whether he wants the mother to live or the child. He insists that they save the mother. But the heroine, knowing that she is to spend the best part of her life in prison, orders the doctors to save the child. The young husband is heart-broken when the nurses present him with the child. The picture has been taken from the play hv Mary McDougal Axelson. It was directed by James Flood and Elliot Nuneent. In the cast are Frank McHugh. Aline McMahon, Preston Foster, Glenda Farrell, and others. Not suitable for children, and since it is not a cheerful picture I doubt if it is wise for small town exhibitors to show it on a Sunday.