Harrison's Reports (1933)

April 22, 1933 HARRISON’S REPORTS 63 “Under the Tonto Rim” with Stuart Erwin {Paramount, April 7; running time, 59 min.') The presence of Stuart Erwin lifts it somewhat from the ordinary class of westerns. There is some comedy, considerable action, and in the closing scenes there are some thrills. The mild laughs are caused by Erwin’s characterization ; he impersonates the role of a simple-minded cowboy. The thrills are caused when Erwin discovers where the villain had hidden the stolen cattle and when the fight follows. There is also a charming love affair : — Fred Kohler, foreman of a ranch, kept stealing his boss’ cattle ; he was in league with the fiance of his boss’ daughter (Verna Hillie). Kohler puts Erwin to watch the cattle that night knowing fully well that he would go to sleep. So more cattle disappear. Kohler upbraids Erwin and makes him believe that, unless he skipped the country and went to Mexico, he would be put in jail and might possibly be lynched. So Erwin bids Verna goodbye, and, in company with Raymond Hatton and Fuzzy Knight, they go to another state and start a pig ranch. Erwin dislikes being mixed up with pigs and after a while his two pals take him across the border to Mexico to give him a good time. There he again meets Verna, who thinks that he is a bad man and regrets it. He beat’s Verna’s fiance, and abducts Verna. A posse follows him and corners him in an abandoned shack. As chance would have it the shack proves the very hiding place for the cattle stolen by Kohler. When he proves this to Verna and to her father, the posse arrests Kohler and his gang. By this time Verna had fallen in love with Erwin. The story is by Zane Grey. It was produced by Paramount once before — in 1928 ; the direction, by Henry Hathaway. Good for children, adolescents and for Sundays, if you are in the habit of using westerns for the purpose. “Daring Daughters” with Marian Marsh {Toiver Productions ; running time, 60 min.) Mediocre ! It is slow-moving and fails to hold the interest ; the story is trite, the photography and sound poor, and the characters do not arouse any sympathy. It becomes tiresome watching the heroine and her sister ward off the attentions of men ; the situation in which the villain attempts to seduce the young sister, first getting her drunk, is ugly. The actions on the part of the heroine in obtaining money falsely from the hero makes one lose all sympathy for her : — The heroine, cynical and hard-boiled, has no faith in men. She guards her younger sister against attentions from men, and refuses to permit her to marry because the young man did not earn enough money. She meets the hero, nephew of a wealthy stock broker, w'ho had his office in the hotel where she works, and at first thinks he is like all the rest of the men ; but she soon finds out he is different. One night the sister joins a group of people going to a party at the villain’s home. He insists on her drinking and when she becomes into.xicated he tells the girls to put her to bed in his room. He then tells everybody that the party is over. But his plans are upset when he finds that one of the girls had remained over to protect the young sister. The heroine, realizing that her sister would be better off married, consents. The young man needs money to go into business. The heroine, by lying to the hero about a sick grandmother, obtains one thousand dollars from him which he had taken from his uncle’s firm. He replaces the money but the heroine feels that it is for the best that they part. But explanations follow’ and they are reconciled. The plot was adapted from a story by Sam Mintz. It was directed by Christy Cabanne. In the cast are Kenneth Thomson, Joan Marsh, Bert Roach, Allen Vincent, Lita Chevret, Richard Tucker, and others. Not suitable for children, adolescents or for Sundays. “Zoo in Budapest” with Loretta Young and Gene Raymond {Fox, April 28; running time, 83 min.) Excellent ! The production is artistic, the background novel, the love affair tender and romantic, and the photography, particularly the close-up shots of the animals, showing them in their different moods — hungry, playful and sleepy — exceptionally fine. Although the story is slow in getting started, the interest is held because of the charm of the surroundings ; after the first half, however, it picks up speed, and the closing scenes, showing the various wild animals released from their cages by an elephant that had gone wild, are the most exciting yet shown in this sort of pictures. In addition, human interest is injected into these scenes by the presence of a child whose life is endangered. One is held in suspense because of tlie fear for the child’s life. Children will find the zoo scenes entertaining, as will adults who will appreciate also the picture’s artistry : — The hero is permitted to live at the zoo where his father, before his death, had been head keeper. He loves animals, and he understands them. Whenever he sees in the zoo a woman with a fur scarf he, feeling it is cruelty to animals, manages to steal it and afterwards burn it. This brings about trouble for the zoo, but the director understands the hero and will not have him arrested. The heroine, an orphan, comes weekly to the zoo with a group of orphans, and the hero is so attracted by her that he urges her to escape. This he does by addressing his remarks to the animals when she is near. She escapes, and he hides her in an empty bear cave. A young child had escaped from his nurse and was hiding in the zoo. The hero finds him and puts him in the same cave with the heroine. The police are searching for the three of them. The little boy escapes and rushes into the wild animal house. A keeper, who had been locked in one of the cages, asks the boy to lift the handle. The child lifts the wrong one and frees a tiger. He rushes into the basement and closes the barred door. The tiger springs on the elephant and this so enrages the beast that he goes wild and knocks down and opens all the cages. The animals enter into a terrific fight. The police in the meantime had captured the hero and the heroine, but when they hear the noise, they all rush to the animal house. Seeing the child in danger the hero offers to save him. He is lowered into the pit and saves the child but a tiger attacks and wounds him. He is saved. The child’s father, in appreciation, engages the hero and the heroine to live on his estate as caretakers. They marry. The plot was adapted from a story by Melville Baker and Jack Kirkland. It was directed by Rowland V. Lee. In the cast are O. P. Heggie, Wally Albright, Paul Fix, Ruth Warren, and others. Suitable for children, adolescents and for Sundays. Substitution Facts; This is replacing No. 36 which is listed on the contract as “Desert Flame,” from the play by Pierre Frondale entitled “L’Insoumise.” It is a story substitution. But no exhibitor can afford to reject it. “High Gear” with Jackie Searl and Joan Marsh {Goldsmith Prod.; running time, 65 min.) A fair program picture ; it has human interest, and the actions of the characters arouse sympathy for them. One respects the hero who, for the sake of his dead pal’s son, gives up all his savings to put the boy through a good school. The heroine, too, is sympathetic for she does not spurn the hero’s attentions when he falls from the ranks of a crack auto racer to a taxicab driver. There is comedy aroused by a jewish couple who have the interests of the young boy at heart. There is suspense in the closing scenes when the hero races with the boy, who had been injured, in an ambulance to the hospital : — The hero and his mechanic meet with an accident during an automobile race. The mechanic is killed and the hero decides to bring up the man’s son. He sends him to a military academy. He finds that he has lost his nerve and cannot race. Feeling that the heroine, a newspaper reporter, would not care for him if she knew this he gives her up and she docs not know what happened to him. He drives a taxicab and everything he earns goes to the support of the boy. A newspaper columnist makes an announcement over the radio telling the listeners-in about the hero. The young boy hears this and determines not to be a drain on the hero any longer. He sneaks away from school and goes to the hero. In the meantime, the hero, thinking that the heroine had told the colum.nist about him, for she had met him earlier in the day, rushes to the newspaper office and tells the heroine that he wants nothing more to do with her. When he arrives home the young boy enters. The hero is angry at the boy for having run away from school. Just then some taxicab drivers who had a grievance against the hero start to wreck his cab. He, together with the boy, rush downstairs and the boy is injured by one of the men. An ambulance is called and the hero drives it to the hospital. The boy recovers and the hero regains his courage. Once more he becomes a famous racer. He is reconciled with the heroine. The plot has been adapted from a stor>' by Rex Taylor, Leigh Jason and Charles Saxton. It was directed by Leigh Jason. In the cast are James Murray, Eddie Lambert, Theodor von Eltz. Ann Brody, Mike Donlin, Lee Moran. Suitable for children, adolescents, and for Sundays.