Harrison's Reports (1933)

54 HARRISON’S REPORTS “The Outsider” {MGM, January 27; running time, 72 min.) This is an English production, with an all English cast ; it is suitable for high class audiences, but much too slow for the masses. As it is the picture derives its greatest entertainment value from the tender and sensitive performance of Joan Barry (heroine), as the beautiful and talented crippled girl, who yearns to be able to live like other girls. Several situations in which she is made aware of her defect are so heart-rending that they will bring tears to the eyes. Harold Huth (hero) at first does not arouse sympathy because of his presumptuous manner and crudeness in trying to bring his invention to cure crippled people to the front page of newspapers, but as the story develops one feels great sympathy for him because of his treatment of the heroine, with whom he had fallen in love and for whom he was willing to take the chance of sacrificing his life’s work and honor in order to cure her. Suspense is sustained throughout because one does not know whether his machine will or will not cure the heroine. The closing scenes are pathetic ; they show the heroine, when removed from the machine, being unable to walk. The hero is denounced as a quack, and the heroine is hysterical. It is not until the very last scene, when she hears her father denouncing the hero, that she stands up and walks. It is her love for the hero and her desire to protect him that works as a cure. The plot was adapted from the play by Dorothy Brandon ; it was directed by Harry Lachman. In the cast are Frank Lawton, Norman McKinnell, Annie Esmond, Mary Clare, Glen Pointing, and others. Suitable for children, adolescents and for Sundays. (MGM gives 78)^ minutes as the running time.) “Hello Sister” with James Dunn {Fox, April 14; running time, 59 min.) Terrible! In addition to several dirty situations and remarks, the plot is weak and inane, and the dialogue ordinary. The characters arouse little sympathy throughout, except in the closing scenes where one sympathizes with the heroine ; she is deserted by the hero, who is about to marry her, because he was told she was unfaithful. The implications in several of the situations are filthy, as for instance when the heroine is advised by a girl neighbor “to give a little” in order to have men friends ; also when the hero’s friend tells the heroine : “No one has the right to hoard I Give freely !” Another dirty implication is w'here the neighbor becomes intimate with a man who gives her a diamond ring. One ugly situation is where this man enters the heroine’s room to seduce her. There is an air of cheapness about the whole picture that leaves one with an ugly taste. Many of you will not be able to show it : — The heroine and her girl friend pick up the hero and his pal. The hero and the heroine fall in love at first sight and when he takes her home that evening they become lovers. After the hero leaves her room his pal enters and attempts to seduce the heroine, but she is saved by a woman-neighbor, living on the floor below, who beats up the pal for having fooled her into believing that a ring he had given her for her surrender was a real diamond when it was glass. In a short time the heroine learns she is to have a baby and the hero is overjoyed when he hears that. They arrange to marry the next day. His pal, jealous, tells him the heroine is not good, that he had been with her. Furious, the hero tells the heroine he wants nothing more to do with her. He finds out the truth and beats up his pal. He then rushes to the heroine’s rooming house to find it in flames. He enters the burning building and rescues the heroine. After apologies they are reconciled. The story is by Dawn Powell. No directorial credit is given. In the cast are Boots Mallory, and Zasu Pitts. Not suitable for children, adolescents, or for Sundays. “Out All Night” with Zasu Pitts and Slim Summerville {Universal, April 13 ; running time, 66K’ min.) There are plentiful laughs in this comedy, but for the most part they are brought about by suggestive remarks that border on vulgarity. The comedy is risque and is more suitable for mature male audiences. In the opening scenes the laughs are aroused by the way in which the hero's mother pampers him ; she does not permit him to make decisions for himself. It is after he meets the heroine that the comedy becomes rough ; particularly in the situations that deal with their honeymoon. The closing scenes are fast and funny, without a suggestion of sex. But then the April 8, 1933 picture ends with a remark that has dirty implications; — The hero’s mother coddles him, making him believe he is a sick man. One day, when she takes him to a department store to buy a coat, he meets the heroine, who is in charge of the nursery department. They become friends and eventually marry. But his mother follows them to Niagara Falls where they had gone to spend their honeymoon; she never leaves them alone. This disgusts the heroine and she leaves. A friend of the family, knowing they love each other, is determined to bring them together. He plans to have the heroine kidnapped, and arranges for the hero to witness it. And the plan works for the hero rushes after the captors and finally rescues the heroine. This makes him manly and he tells his mother she is not to order him around any more. After that he leaves on a real honeymoon with the heroine, warning his mother not to follow. The plot was adapted from a story by Tim Whelan. It was directed by Sam Taylor. In the cast are Laura Hope Crewes, Shirley Grey, Rollo Lloyd, Gene Lewis, and others. Not suitable for children, adolescents or for Sundays. “Destination Unknown” with Pat O’Brien and Ralph Bellamy {Universal, March 16; running time, 65 min.) Poor ! The producers have attempted to inject a religious note into the picture by presenting a mysterious Christ-like figure as one of the characters. This man’s attempts to save the lives of the different characters and to reform them stir one’s emotions but mildly. One feels contempt for most of the characters, who are of the lowest type. One is a brutal bootlegger, one a woman of the streets, one a sadistically inclined ambitious sailor, and others of equal calibre. The action is slow and the theme depressing ; — Pat O’Brien and some of his men are aboard their rumrunning schooner which had been disabled by a storm. There is only a little water left on board, which he guards with a gun for himself, refusing to give any to the parched sailors. A fight ensues and it looks as if they will all die for all the water is gone. To add to his troubles O’Brien discovers that Betty Compson, his former mistress, was aboard the ship, having been taken there by one of his men who was helping her to escape from O’Brien. Everything looked hopeless and one of the sailors died. Suddenly they discover a man aboard who says he had been a stowaway. Everyone feels at peace when talking to him and they all feel as if they knew him. He shows them barrels filled with water and tells them how to go about getting the ship in order. There is another storm and the ship is thrown upon the rocks. They are near shore and he helps them to land safely on the island. The next morning all is calm, but they notice that the stowaway is not with them. Betty Compson suddenly realizes who the man was. (The implication is that he was Christ.) The plot was adapted from a story by Tom Buckingham. It was directed by Tay Garnett. In the cast are .Alan Hale. Russel Hopton, Tom Brown, Noel Madison, Stanley Fields and others. Since there are no sex situations it is not unsuitable for children, adolescents and for Sundays. Substitution Facts : This is replacing No. 5013 listed on the contract as “S.S. San Pedro,” from the storj' by James Gould Cozzen. It is, therefore, a story substitution, and subject to arbitration. “West of Singapore” with Betty Compson {Monogram, January 30; running time, 64 mfii.) Dull program fare ; it is slow-moving and the characters are unsympathetic. The hero is of the he-man type ; he beats his workers (at one time hits a woman), and his greatest virtue is that of being able to break a whiskey bottle to get a drink instead of opening it in the usual way. The story is rather puzzling, and the conclusion showing; the hero’s change of heart comes as a startling surprise. The heroine’s actions are contemptible, particularly in the situation where she attempts to have the hero’s fiancee believe that she had spent the night with the hero. The story unfolds in the tropics, where the hero is an employee of an oil concern, and the heroine, former mistress of the hero, a singer in a cafe. The plot was adapted from a storj’ by Houston Branch. It was directed by A1 Ray. In the cast are Weldon Heyburn, ^Margaret Lindsay, Noel Madison, Thomas Douglas, Gvde Cook, and others. Not suitable for children, adolescents or for Sundays.