Harrison's Reports (1932)

November 5, 1932 HARRISON’S REPORTS 179 “Wild Girl” with Charles Farrell and Joan Bennett (Fox, Oct. 2; running time, 77 min.) A fair entertainment for second rate theatres and down the line. The trouble with it is the fact that it is too long, and the acts of the characters are either unpleasant or demoralizing. Unpleasant, for example, is the incident of the villain’s making an insulting remark to the heroine. Demoralizing is the incident of the heroine’s promising the man who wanted her as his wife but whom she did not love, that she will marry him provided he kills the man who had insulted her. Another such scene is the hero’s shooting the villain and killing him in cold blood. The fact that the villain had disgraced his sister is no justification for the murder. There are other acts in the film that appeal to the crude emotions and to the primitive passions. The story has been taken from Paul Armstrong’s dramatization of Brete Hart’s story “Salomy Jane’s Kiss.” The action unfolds in the days immediately after the Civil War, and shows the characters dressed in the costumes of the period. Though the locale is Redwood City, in the High Sierras, which is a Northern climate, the atmosphere is Southern. Even though this may be historically true, it gives the spectator a mild shock, for he is accustomed to associate Southern atmosphere only with the South. Miss Bennett is no wild girl of the woods at all, for her skin is as white as snow and her hair Broadway blonde. Charles Farrell is fair as the avenger of his sister’s honor. Ralph Bellamy, Eugene Pallette, Irving Pichel, Sarah Padden, Morgan Wallace, James Durkin, and other actors appear. Unsuitable for children or adolescents ; not a proper picture for a Sunday. “That’s My Boy” with Richard Cromwell {Columbia, Oct. 6; running time, 71 min.) This review has been written from the press-sheet. The picture does not seem to be a good entertainment by virtue of the fact that the hero is shown as an egotistical jackass. The only touching as well as thrilling part of the action is toward the end, where Cromwell sends to the District Attorney the check for one hundred thousand dollars he had been able to exact from the father of the girl he loved to give up that girl, his idea being to protect those who had invested in an investment fund of his, but whose money had been gambled away by the broker. The crowd cheers him. The story is by Francis Wallace; the direction, by Roy William Neil. In the cast are Dorothy Jordan, Mae Marsh, Arthur Stone, Lucien Littlefield, Otis Harlan, Leon Waycoff and others. Even though the hero does not set a good example to children and adolescents by his swellheadedness, it doesn’t seem to be so harmful as others. Not bad for Sunday showing. (There will be a review of the picture later on, if the facts warrant it.) “They Call It Sin” with Loretta Young, George Brent and David Manners {First Xat'l, Nov. 12; running time, 80 min.) A mildly entertaining picture ; some of the characters are unpleasant, especially the hero, who is weak and spineless. The heroine is a sympathetic character but that is not enough to hold the interest throughout since there is little suspense and the story presents nothing novel : — The hero stops over in a small town to transact business. He meets the heroine and they become friends. She tells him of her musical aspirations and how she hates the small town. He leaves after making her believe he is fond of her. She (luarrels with her “mother” and then learns she is not her "mother” but that she had adopted her. The heroine goes to New York and calls on the hero at an inopportune time — he was expecting his fiancee and her parents for dinner. A doctor, friend of the hero, takes her away. The heroine learns about the hero’s engagement and is heartbroken. After the hero’s marriage she takes a position as piano player for a theatrical producer. She composes good music. When she refuses to live with the producer she is discharged. She discovers that he had stolen her compositions. The hero, who had called on the heroine and wanted to help her, goes to the producer’s apartment. A quarrel ensues and the producer falls from the terrace to the street below. The heroine, in order to save the hero, assumes the blame, but the producer, before his death, tells them it was an accident. The heroine realizes it is the doctor and not the hero she loves. The plot was adapted from the novel by Alberta Stedman Eagan. It was directed by Thornton Freeland. In the cast are Una Merkel, Helen Vinson, Louis Calhern, Joe Cawthorne, and others. Not suitable for children or for Sunday showing. “Night After Night” with George Raft and Constance Cummings {Paramount, Oct. 14 ; running time, 72 tnin.) Excellent entertainment. There are many laugh-provoking situations, especially those in which Alison Skipworth and Mae West are together; the contrast between the two women is enough to make one laugh. Skipworth is pictured as an old-fashioned school teacher, who had never tasted of night life, and West as a vulgarian, who takes a liking to Skipworth and decides to show her life. The scene in which the two become drunk is hilarious. The hero is shown as a proprietor of a speakeasy ; nevertheless he is likeable, for he is eager to become cultured, and is shown as being kindly. The closing scenes are exciting as well as laugh provoking : — The hero, owner of a high-class speakeasy, wants to become educated, and so takes lessons from a cultured school-teacher. He is particularly interested in one of his patrons, the heroine. He finally picks up courage to speak to her and learns that she had been born and lived in that very house. He invites her to dinner and begs his instructor to be present and to converse with him as if he knew all about current topics. But to the hero’s horror one of his former sweethearts, a rowdyish woman with a loud voice, comes to the speakeasy and insists on sitting at their table. The hero shows the heroine around the house. He is confronted by his latest flame who attempts to kill him. But he outwits her and throws her out. Thrilled by his courage, the heroine kisses him. He thinks she loves him and calls on her the next night. But she tells him she is marrying a society man for his money. The hero insults her. When he leaves her temper is so aroused by what he had said that she rushes to the speakeasy, goes to his room and breaks up everything in it. When he comes in and takes her in his arms she realizes that she loves him. The plot was adapted from a story by Louis Bromfield. It was directed by Archie Mayo. In the cast are Wynne Gibson, Roscoe Karns, A1 Hill, Louis Calhern, Harry Wallace, and others. Not suitable for children or for Sunday showing. “The Old Dark House” {Universal, Oct. 20; running time, 72 min.) This should certainly please the followers of horror melodramas for it has everything to send chills up one’s spine, — a thunderstorm, a spooky house in a deserted section, candles, half-mad people, and a brutal looking butler. The individual performances are so excellent that the story is believable. The first half gradually leads up to the horror scenes, and has moments of comedy to relieve the tension. The second half is tensely exciting. The situation showing the madman, at first gentle, and then murderous, biding his time to jump at the hero with a large carving knife holds the audience in tense suspense ; also the situation in which the hero fights with the madman who was attempting to set the house on fire All the horrors occur in a lonely house in the woods, where the hero and his two friends, husband and wife, also two other people, had taken refuge from a rainstorm that had washed the roads away. But with all these horrors, there is a ray of sunshine, in the form of a love affair between two of the characters that sought refuge there. The plot has been based on the novel by J. B. Priestly. The direction is by James Whale. Boris Karloff, Charles Laughton, Melvyn Douglas, Lilian Bond, Raymond Massey, Gloria Stuart and others are in the cast. Too horrible for children. Not for Sunday showing. “Hidden Valley” with Bob Steele {Monogram, Oct. 13; running time, 56 min.) This review has been taken from the press-sheet. The picture seems to be very thrilling, and the action is fast. The following is a thumb-nail synopsis : Steele is arrested for the murder of a professor with whom he was to find a hidden valley in the New Mexico mountains. He escapes. The sheriff calls on the Goodyear people to help him locate Bob by means of their blimp. Gertie Messenger, Bob’s sweetheart, manages to conceal herself in the blimp. They locate Bob and take him on but he forces the pilot to help him locate the real murderer. In the meantime, Ray Hallor, Gertie’s brother, who was the unwilling tool of Francis McDonald, the villain, locates the valley but the Indians capture him and are about to burn him at the stake when the villain arrives. From above. Bob sees everything and descending from the ladder re.scues Hallor. The Indians capture the villain. It seems to be a good entertainment, suitable for children and for .Sunday showing.