Harrison's Reports (1937)

February 27, 1937 HARRISON'S REPORTS 35 "The Man Who Could Work Miracles" with Roland Young {London Film-United Artists, Feb. 26, time, 80j/^ min.) This fantastic comedy-melodrama is, as far as American audiences are concerned, extremely limited in its appeal. The fault lies mainly in the fact the story is fantastic. It takes one viewpoint on how the ills of the world could be cured, and then another ; but it does so in a somewhat ponderous and unconvincing fashion, and never seems to get anywhere. Several of the situations are laugh-provoking; they portray the fright and incredulity of the simple hero, who had been endowed by a heavenly lord with the ability to work miracles. The romantic interest is not so appealing. In the development of the plot, Roland Young, a simple clerk in a London department store, is chosen by a heavenly lord as the man upon whom he had decided to endow the ability to work miracles, his purpose being to test a human being with such power at his command. Young is naturally confounded by his ability to work miracles, and does not know what to do with it. He is given advice on all sides, first by greedy business men, who wanted him to turn his miracles to their advantage, and finally by a fanatic, who suggested that he change the world into a moral, law-abiding place. This disturbs many who were satisfied with the world as it is and did not want any fanatic to show them how to live. Young, tired of the bickering, decides to take matters into his own hands : he summons the leaders of the different nations of the world at a special meeting, and orders them to change their methods of dealing with worldly problems and to consider the masses, threatening them with death if they disobeyed. But he is unable to cope with the situation. Finally he works a miracle on himself ; he changes himself back to a simple clerk with no supernatural abilities. He is content to be just an ordinary man. The heavenly lord expresses his opinion that mankind will eventually become a nobler race. H. G. Wells wrote the story and screen play; Lothar Mendes directed it, and Alexander Korda produced it. In the cast are Ralph Richardson, Edward Chapman, Sophie Stewart, Ernest Thesiger, and others. Morally suitable for all. Class A. "Clarence" with Roscoe Karris and Charlotte Wynters {Paramount, Feb. 26; time, 76 min.) When Paramount first produced this in 1922, it made it into entertainment people enjoyed. But standards of entertainment have changed since then, and the new version of "Clarence" is hardly acceptable fare today ; it is distinctly a mediocre program picture. By considerable padding, the thin plot was stretched out to feature length, but the action drags. The players are not popular enough to attract picture-goers ; nor do they enact their roles with any particular skill. None of the situations provokes more than a grin : — Roscoe Karns, a timid professor mistaken for a downand-out soldier, accidentally becomes part of the household of Eugene Pallette and his family. He finds everything in a hectic state : Spring Byington, Pallette's second wife, is jealous of Charlotte Wynters, guardian to Eleanore Whitney, Pallette's daughter. Miss Whitney imagines herself to be in love with Theodore VonEltz, a fortune hunter old enough to be her father. Johnny Downs, the son, professes to be in love with Miss Wynters, but is pestered by Inez Courtney, the housemaid, who was trying to blackmail him because he had once kissed her. Without knowing anything about Karns, the whole family accepts him and finds him a very useful and comforting person ; he could fix anything, play the piano and saxophone, and say nice things. He sets everyone straight. Eventually they learn who he is and regret that he has to leave them to continue his own work. He proposes to and is accepted by Miss Wynters, who is glad to leave the Pallette family. The plot was adapted from the play by Booth Tarkington. Seena Owen and Grant Garrett wrote the screen play. George Archainbaud directed it. Morally suitable for all. Gass A. "Sea Devils" with Victor McLaglen, Preston Foster and Ida Lupino (RKO, March 5 ; time, 87 min.) A good melodrama. It has fast and exciting action, a breezy romance, and enjoyable comedy, which is of the boisterous type, for it is provoked mostly by the quarreling between two hot-heads, Victor McLaglen and Preston Foster. McLaglen's romantic clashes with Helen Flint are laugh-provoking. The closing scenes, which show the Coast Guard men, headed by McLaglen, rescuing passengers from a stranded yacht during a storm, are enacted with realism; they hold one in tense suspense. One's emotions are touched by McLaglen's sacrifice at the end when he sends Foster to shore in the life buoy, and he goes down with the ship : — McLaglen, a Coast Guard petty officer, takes pride in his work and in his daughter (Ida Lupino). His one wish is that she marry Woods, also in the Coast Guard, for he felt that Woods was a sober and intelligent person, the direct opposite to himself. He realized that he had not made his own wife happy and did not want his daughter to go through the same unhappiness her mother did. But Miss Lupino accidentally meets Foster, a sailor of her father's type, tough and quarrelsome, and falls in love with him. This so enrages McLaglen that he warns Foster to stay away from his daughter ; but to no avail. Foster is assigned to McLaglen's ship and is put through all sorts of menial tasks. Their constant quarreling ends in a serious fight while they and several other men were on an iceberg, which they intended to crack up by dynamiting. During their fight, the motor boat in which they were to return to their ship is cast adrift. Woods, in an effort to reach the fuse to prevent the explosion, is injured, and eventually dies from his wounds. This breaks McLaglen's heart, for he had loved him as his own son. Foster is put in jail, from which he escapes when he hears that McLaglen was going out in the storm to rescue passengers on a stranded yacht. A buoy is shot across to the yacht and the passengers and Coast Guard men, who had gone out to their help, are saved. McLaglen, after having knocked out Foster in order to save his life by sending him in the buoy which could hold just one more person, goes down with the ship. This sobers Foster; he marries Miss Lupino and leads the type of life he knew McLaglen had wished for his daughter. Frank Wead, John Twist, and P. J. Wolfson wrote the original screen play. Ben Stoloff directed it, and Edward Small produced it. In the cast are Gordon Jones, Pierre Watkin, and others. Suitable for all. Class A. "When You're in Love" with Grace Moore and Cary Grant (Columbia, Feb. 27; time, 108 min.) This is only fair entertainment ; it may prove disappointing to Miss Moore's followers. For one thing, the music is neither plentiful nor some of it up to the standard expected for a singer of Miss Moore's talents ; for another, the story is artificial and trite, and the action slow. Miss Moore and Cary Grant try to put some meaning into their respective parts, but they are handicapped by poor material and the fact that their actions are not sympathy-awakening. The most appealing song is the one which Miss Moore sings surrounded by a group of children, who join in the chorus with her. As a direct contrast to the type of music expected, Miss Moore sings the famous Cab Calloway jazz song "Minnie the Moocher" and does it surprisingly well ; it should be relished by the masses. The romance is routine, but fairly pleasant: — Miss Moore, a well known Australian opera singer, waits in Mexico for her quota number to enter the United States; she had promised her uncle (Henry Stephenson) that she would sing his music in a festival he was to conduct. She is heartbroken when she is told that the quota had been filled and that she could not enter the States. Realizing that her only chance to enter was to marry an American, she picks Cary Grant, a wandering Americanborn artist, who had intrigued her when first she met him. He willingly agrees to the suggestion because he had fallen in love with her, signing an agreement to divorce her within six months. Once in the States, she forgets about Grant until he pays her an unexpected visit. He expresses contempt for the sycophants surrounding her and for the artificial life she led. He takes her to his home in the suburbs and introduces her to simple, honest folk, who lived in a manner entirely different from hers. Happy and madly in love with him, she is ready to abandon everything for him. But a call from her agent reminds her of her duty to her uncle. Instead of telling Grant why she had to return, she lets him believe that her career meant more than her love. Thus they part. He goes to Mexico and obtains a divorce. Eventually he finds out about her sacrifice, and asks for forgiveness ; they are reconciled. The plot was based on an idea by Ethel Hill and Cedric Worth. Robert Riskin wrote the screen play and directed the picture. Everett Riskin produced it. In the cast are Aline MacMahon, Thomas Mitchell. Catherine Doucet, Luis Alberni, and others. Suitable for all. Class A.