The Hollywood Reporter (Jan-Jun 1933)

Ian. 24. 1933 MBB3 Page Three IILOI\DIE JOHI\M>i\ FAIR: ACTIXCl BETTER THAIV STORY Blondell, Morris And Jenkins Score ■BLONDIE lOHNSON" Warner-Firsf Uat. Direction Ray Enright Screen Play Earl Baldwin Photography Tony Caudro Cast: Joan BlondeH, Chester Morns. Allen Jenkins. Claire Dodd. Earle Foxe. Mae Busch. Joe Cawthorn. Sterling Holloway, Olin Howland, Arthur Vinton, Donald Kirke. Tom Kennedy, Sam Godfrey, Tom Wilson. Toshia Mori. In this Joan Btondell plays the role of a female racketeer, a gal who becomes a "big shot" mobster. Actuated by a desire to revenge herself upon society for the maltreatment of her ow^n youth, she goes onward and upward until her gang has swanky offices, machine guns and penthouse apartments. Climactically, she is called upon to put her sweetheart on the spot in loyalty to her mob. Inherently there would seem to be considerable power in this situation, but. as developed, the piece turns out to be an intermediate programmer, bright in spots, due to hard work by Miss Blondell, downright dull in many feet and only mildly entertaining in rrKJSt. Chester Morris plays the Lady Capone's sweetheart, and is the big shot of the mob himself until he tries to double-cross Joan and the gang unseats him. Chester manages to make himself interesting and convincing in the great majority of his scenes, Allen Jenkins, who registers better and better in each picture, gives the customary dumb-oaf characterization of a gangster, t hereby contributing some needed laughs. Others in the Blondell-Morris 'mob' are Mae Busch, Olin Howland. Donald Kirke. Arthur Vinton, Tom Kennedy. Sterling Holloway and Toshia Mori, Vinton and Kirke do well for themselves, but nearly all of the gangster stuff seems like a page from yesterday. The only difference is that Joan Blondell is m the shoes of Eddie Robinson or Jimmy Cagney. but all the touches of the old gangster pictures are there. Tony Gaudio has done his usually capable |ob of photography, and the production is adequately mounted. You exhibs will have to depend on Joan Blondell and Chester Morris to get the clients in. It is not the kind of picture that will get a word of mouth build-up. in our judgment, because there's nothing in it outstanding enough to be enthusiastic about. English Boy Freed Dick Henderson. English youngster used by Fox in "Cavalcade." returns to London this week. Company did not sign the boy to a term ticket, mainly due to present economy drive of signing only those players that can be used in several pictures during the year. Isadora Duncan's Life To Be Screened Phil Goldstone has purchased -tfie screen rights to "My Life," by Isadora Duncan, and will make it as a Majestic release. Adele Commandini has been engaged to do the adaptation and screen play. 'Pleasure Cruise' In Work At Fox Today Signing Theodor von Eltz for a featured role. Fox today places 'Pleasure Cruise" in production, with Frank Tuttle, returning after a siege of the flu, directing. Genevieve Tobin, Roland Young, Herbert Mundin. Frank Atkinson. Minna Gombell, Arthur Hoyt and Robert Creig are in the cast. Guy Bolton wrote the screen play from the stage play by Austin Allen Ernest Palmer is on the camera. Frank Cambria Quits New York— Frank Cambria has resigned as managing director of the Seventh Avenue Roxy now that the stage presentations have been abandoned. Radio Will Finish Kong' This Week Radio expects to finish production within the next week on "King Kong." the Menan Cooper special that has been in work for several months. Max Steiner is writing a special musical score, with 75 per cent of the picture carrying a music background, while less than 25 per cent of the footage will contain dialogue and sound effects Ann Harding On Way New York. — Ann Harding left here Sunday, bound for the Radio studios to prepare for her next picture. "Declassee." Benn Levy Returns Benn W, Levy returned from his trip to England, and resumed his writing contract with Paramount yesterday Esther Howard At Col. Esther Howard has been added to the cast of :*Beneath the Sea," which At Rogell is directing for Columbia. New Plant Starts Boom In Czech Production Prague.— The deal just made between the Elekta Film Company, of this city, and Gaumont Franco-Film Aubert has spurred the work on the new studio neartng completion at Barrandov. It is expected that this plant, which is being built by the A-B Film Company, will be ready for occupancy within a few weeks Heretofore the only studio in Czechoslovakia has been a makeshift one. located in a converted brewery. It is small and inconvenient, but the new Barrandov studio will have stage space 150 by 100 feet. The plant will cost, including land and equipment, about $660,000 Even under the unsatisfactory producing conditions, 18 sound features were made in the old studio during 1932, Some were the output of the A-B Company, the others being made by Elekta and half a dozen smaller concerns, which turned out one each. Practically all these pictures were made from strictly Czechoslovak ian stories, written by local authors. Almost all the players are native talent, although Anny Ondra did star in one feature made by the Kan tor Film Company. The present A-B studio uses Klangfilm-Tobis sound equipment and the new studio probably will be equipped with the same apparatus The processing is done by six laboratories, none of them large No one film has a monopoly of the business, the positive stock coming from Eastman. Agfa, Gevaert and Ferrania. while Eastman and Agfa supply all the negative. New 'Drake* Treatment Edward Kaufman is writing a new treatment for "Story of Temple Drake." and Paramount figures he has a new twist that will result in approval of the Hays office without further difficulty. It is understood the first script was not okayed by the Hays representatives last week. RKO Offices Moved New York — -The headquarters of RKO-Radio are now at Radio City, all offices having been moved over the week-end Weinberg Heads Salesmen New York, — Joseph Weinberg, of Columbia, has been elected president of the motion picture salesmen's organization 306 Receivers Out New York — The Appellate Division yesterday dismissed the three receivers of Local 306 who were appointed by Judge Cotillo Irene Dunne*s Next "No Greater Love," an original by William Rankin, has been set by Radio as the next Irene Dunne starring production Wm. Morris Memorial New York — Memorial services for William Morris will be held next Sunday at the Morosco Theatre, Btiffn Things get funnier and funnier in this most amusing of all amusement businesses. Now a man has been h i red . I and at a deservedly good price.) whose official capacity will be peacemaker between the east and west coast offices of a company. He is going to be located in New York and it's up to him to see that no order from the west is countermanded more than three times before it is finally carried out. We wonder who's paying his salary because it's always the innocent bystander who gets hurt. . , Huey Long paused long enough in his filibustering blustering to refresh himself at the fount of Fatty Arbuckle's wit. He came to New York over the week-end. while the boys in Washington took a rest, just to have a party so's he could mvite Mr. Arbuckle. Must have been a relief to listen to a profesisonal funny man. Sixty thousand words of a ninety thousand word book, plus a complete outlrne of the missing third, were submitted to a picture company. The company refused to take an option on the work because they couldn't tell from the "incomplete" story whether it was good material. And that's amusing, considering the fact that bare synopses submitted by outside readers who know nothing of picture values and often leave out the very things that would make stories good picture buys, form the basis on which most stories are sold to producers. Lupe Velez bounding around town with a tiny Chihuahua, lor whatever they call a Mexican hairless,) pup tucked under one arm of her mmk coat, . . . Meester George Jean Nathan whatever his intentions, and we doubt whether he is ever unintentionally rude, devotes his space in this month's American Spectator to a dissertation on dat ole debbil Censorship, and manages to prove that the movies, with all their censorship boards, are filthier than ever any play attempted to be, , . . He also comments on the fact that the only two really bawdy shows to hit town since the last Minsky raid, promptly died from lack of patronage and were removed, never to be seen again. The implication being that no such procedure is possible with pictures. Hal Home, despite the fact that he IS still groggy from a second attack of the flu. (they split him up two for one on this epidemic,) was very funny in his capacity as master of ceremonies at the weekly AMPA meeting. Sig Spaeth and Jay Corney mentioned the fact that they had once made a short for Paramount, and Hal remarked that he was glad to meet the men responsible for making Paramount a little short. . , Charlie Beahan and S-dney Fox still speechless over being married, took a bow, . , . Marian Nixon spoke briefly, and Richard Halliburton got in a word or two on his first picture effort. "India Speaks.'"