Harrison's Reports (1938)

October 29, 1938 HARRISON'S REPORTS 175 "Suez" with Tyrone Power, Loretta Young and Annabella (20th Century-Fox, October 28; time, 104 min.) A very good box-office attraction, mainly because of the drawing power of the stars, the lavish production, and the mechanical ingenuity used in filming two thrilling situations — one of a hurricane and the other of the dynamiting of a mountain. But the story is weak in spots and lacks force; this is due mostly to the fact that Tyrone Power is not quite suitable or believable in the part of the serious dreamer, Ferdinand deLesseps. In addition, many liberties were taken with historical facts in order to build up the romantic angle. There is only one situation that touches the spectator's emotions, and that is when Annabella dies: — Ferdinand deLesseps and Eugenie deMontijo (Loretta Young) are in love; but Louis Napoleon (Leon Ames), President of France, had noticed her beauty. He, therefore, has deLesseps sent to Egypt, as secretary to the consulate general. DeLesseps pleads with Eugenie to marry him, but she, flattered by Napoleon's attentions, asks for time to consider. DeLesseps arrives in Egypt, where he is greeted by his father (Henry Stephenson), the French Consul, who advises him to try to make friends with Prince Said (J. Edward Bromberg), and in that way win favors for his country. Ferdinand and Toni Pellerin, the impish granddaughter of Sergeant Pellerin, become good friends; she falls madly in love with him, but he cannot forget Eugenie. Ferdinand conceives the idea of a canal connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Encouraged by Mohammed Ali, he goes to Paris for financial backing. He learns that Eugenie had become Napoleon's mistress. Eugenie induces deLesseps to intercede with his father to adjourn the Assembly; she gives him Napoleon's written promise that he would recall them. But Napoleon goes back on his word and, instead, proclaims himself Emperor; the shocks kills deLesseps' father. Discouraged and ashamed, deLesseps gives up his dreams of the Canal. But Toni reinspires him, and Napoleon signs a proclamation financing the work. Things do not go smoothly, however, and the work lags. Eventually deLesseps wins the support of Disraeli and the work is finally completed. But his joy is overshadowed by the fact that Toni had been killed in a hurricane, and Eugenie had married Napoleon. Sam Duncan wrote the story, and Philip Dunne and Julicn Josephson, the screen play; Allan Dwan directed it, and Gene Markey produced it. In the cast are Joseph Schildkraut, Sidney Blackmer, Sig Rumann, Nigel Bruce, and others. Suitability, Class A. "Swing That Cheer" with Robert Wilcox, Tom Brown and Constance Moore (Universal, October 14 ; time, 62 min.) Just another college football picture. There is nothing in it to distinguish it from other football stories, for it follows the routine plot, even to having the hero step into the important game in the last two minutes to play and winning it. Aside from the football scenes, the rest of the picture is taken up with a great deal of talk about football and with the bickering between two college students. The romance is mildly pleasant: — Robert Wilcox and Tom Brown, roommates, become the two best players on the football team. Wilcox's head is turned by the publicity he receives; he takes all the credit for winning games without realizing that Brown's tackling and guarding were responsible for his making the touchdowns. Constance Moore, Brown's girl friend, writes an editorial in the school paper about it; this annoys Brown and they quarrel and part. Brown changes his room and berates Wilcox for his conceit. They have a quarrel at a cafe one night, and Brown is slightly injured. But, in order to teach Wilcox a lesson, he pretends that his foot hurt him too much to play and so he stays out of the important game. Without Brown, Wilcox is lost. Realizing that his trick would cost his team the game, Brown rushes into the game in the last two minutes to play, and wins it. He and Wilcox forget their enmity, and Miss Moore and Brown are reconciled. Thomas Ahearn and F. M. Grossman wrote the story, and Charles Grayson arid Lee Loeb; -the :scVetrf play; Harold Schuster directed it, and Max H. Golden produced it. In the cast are Andy Devine, Samuel Hinds, Raymond Parker, and others. Suitability, Class A. "Read Demon" with Henry Armetta (20th Century-Fox, December 2 ; time, 70 min.) An ordinary program melodrama, with some comedy; it lacks box-office names of value. The plot is routine, offering just lair entertainment in the automobile racing scenes, which are made up mostly of stock shots of races. Henry Armetta and Inez Palangc, as his wife, provoke laughter by their excitability. The race in the closing scenes holds one in suspense, due to the efforts of two racers to force the hero, one of the racers, off the track. The romance is mildly pleasant:— Henry Arthur, a truck driver, has ambitions to become an automobile racer. He meets Joan Valerie, sister of Thomas Beck, a racer, and falls in love with her. When Beck, who had been out drinking the night before, is unable to make a test run, Arthur takes his place. Something goes wrong with the car and he wrecks it. Miss Valerie, who misunderstood Arthur's efforts to help them, refuses to talk to him. Arthur and Armetta, a grocery dealer, buy the wrecked car and fix it up to race it; Arthur was doing this to give Beck his chance. But the villain frames Beck off the track; Arthur takes his place and wins the race. Armetta, who stood to lose if the car won because he had sold too many shares to his relatives, is overjoyed when he learns that his wife had bought back the shares. Miss Valerie realizes that she had misjudged Arthur and asks for forgiveness; they are reconciled. Robert Ellis and Helen Logan wrote the original screen play; Otto Brower directed it, and Jerry rioitman produced it. In the cast are Bill Robinson, Jonathan Hale, Murray Alper, Lon Chaney, Jr., and others. Suitability, Class A. "Mr. Wong, Detective" with Boris Karloff (Monogram, October 5 ; time, 68 min.) A good program murder mystery melodrama. It is the first of a series of four pictures Monogram has announced, with Boris Karloff as the Chinese detective, Mr. Wong. Karloff is excellent in the title part; he makes the detective a believable and likeable character. The story is interesting; it holds/one^n 'suspense until the very last scene, when the murderer is identified by the detective. The romance and comedy are minimized, which is to the picture's benefit, for in that way the melodramatic action is not interfered with: — Karloff, well-known Chinese detective, promises to help John Hamilton, a chemical manufacturer, ..who feared that his life was in danger; but before he could do anything for him, Hamilton is murdered by what Karloff discovers is poison gas. Hamilton's two partners, whom Karloff had at first suspected, meet with the same fate. Investigation leads Karloff and Grant Withers, the police captain working with him, to a gang of international spies who were interested in obtaining the formula for a poison gas held by the chemical firm. Eventually Karloff proves that the murderer was the inventor of the poison gas; he had placed the gas in a glass bulb which exploded by vibration. He had murdered the three men because he felt they were trying to rob him of his share of the profits in the sale of the gas. Hugh Wiley wrote the story, and Houston Branch, the screen play; William Nigh directed it, and Win. T. Lackey produced it. In the cast are Maxine Jennings, Evelyn Brent, George Lloyd, Lucien Prival, and John St. Polis. Because of the murders, suitability, Class B.