The Hollywood Reporter (Jan-Jun 1934)

Jan. 9. 1934 THg 'EARTH TURNS LOVE RIRDS Cast and Direction Fine in Heavy Yarn MfP>©f^fi[P. Page Three "AS THE EARTH TURNS" (Warners-First National) Directed by Alfred E. Green Novel by Gladys Hasty Carroll Screen Play by Ernest Pascal Photography by Byron Haskins Associate Producer Robert Lord Cast: Jean Muir, Donald Woods, David Landau, William Janney, Dorothy Appleby, Dorothy Peterson, Emily Lowry, Sarah Padden, Clara Blandick, Egon Brecher, David Durand, Wally Albright, George Billings, Marilyn Knowlden, Gloria Fisher, C>orothy Gray, Cora Sue Collins, Joyce Kay, Arthur Hohl, Russell Hardie, Javir Gibson. Last year thousands of people, sitting around comfortable firesides, read Gladys Hasty Carroll's book, "As the Earth Turns," and thought fondly, romantically of going back to the land. This year hundreds of thousands of people will see the screen play, and thank their lucky stars that they are not down on the farm. While the tale is not materially changed in Ernest Pascal's screen play the joy in the good earth which permeated every page is gone. This is due, partially, to the lack of weight in the performance of Jean Muir, who carries the central role. Make no mistake about this girl, however, and watch for her next pictures. She is certain star material. She has warmth, beauty, intelligence. There is no doubt that she has everything it takes to be a box office sensation within a short time. She plays Jen, oldest daughter of the large brood of a Maine farmer. Though she is not out of her teens she is the real head of the farmhouse. It is Jen who stays up through freezing nights when the children have croup. It is Jen who stands over the stove in the blistering summer when fruit must be preserved. She loves it. A farm is her career, just as it is her father's. She also loves Stan, son of a Polish tailor. He has persuaded his parents to sell the shop and go back to the land. Allied against these three simple souls is the stubbornness of the seasons, grilling round of work and a rabble of relatives who are temperamentally unsuited to farm life, but who are trapped by poverty to their acres. The cast is large and fine. A magnificent piece of work is done by Dorothy Peterson as the worn, hysterically rebellious wife of a shiftless idler, played beyond reproach by Arthur Hohl. David Landau is exactly right as the matter-of-fact farmer. Clara Blandick as the resentful stepmother of his children engages plenty of sympathy for her unpleasant character. Dorothy Appleby as the girl who is wild to get to the city draws laughs and praise for the elementary allures she uses to cajol "her way off the farm. Donald Woods is another to watch. He plays Stan with a fine restraint. Sarah Padden is satisfyingly emotional as the Polish mamma who No Longer Nudists Members of the vice squad of the Los Angeles police department visited the Marcal Theatre in Hollywod yesterday, where Bryan Foy's nudist picture "Elysia" shows Sunday, and applied strips of adhesive tape to the principal points of interest in the lobby photos. MISSES MARK: NOT SO HOT Overplayed Gags Hurt Good Work 'Sleepers East' Is Sleepy and Dreary 'SLEEPERS EAST" (Fox) Director Kenneth MacKenna Story Frederick Nobel Screen Play Lester Cole Photography Ernest Palmer Producer Sol M. Wurtzel Cast; Wynne Gibson, Harvey Stephens, Roger Imhof, Preston Foster, Mona Barrie, Howard Lally, Suzanne Kaaren. Something should be done about dreary pictures like this one. It is a jumbled up mixture so far as the hoary old story is concerned. Wynne Gibson reluctantly becomes a call girl in order to help out her girl friend who has a hungry child crying for food. There is a stag party which proves too rough for the little girl Wynne, who starts to walk home, only to be picked up by the disorderly son of the Mayor. There is a visit to a gambling house, some losses by the son, a squawk of a crooked game and of the rapid removal of the loser. A shooting brings the police into the situation, but the innocent Wynne manages to elude capture. Preston Foster espies his one time girl Wynne on a train, hops aboard and finds the young woman more or less cock-eyed, but the ardent lover minds it not. Right about this point a train wreck enters the story. No one escapes. There is a trial at which the heroine is about to tell all when the Mayor's son in open court shoots himself to the entire satisfaction of all within gunshot includng the audence and brings the tale to an end. No fault is laid at the door of the cast. regards the farm as an enemy. Egon Brecher is funny and tragic as the tailor. Russell Hardie, William Janney and Emily Lowry make smaller parts count. And the swarm of children is marvelous. Dorothy Cray, especially, David Durand, Wally Albright, Marilyn Knowlden, Cora Sue Collins, George Billings, Javir Gibson, Gloria Fisher and Joyce Kay all deservp enthusiastic praise. Photography is mediocre except for one good scene of a windy night which has a real out-of-doors feel, and that is one reason the film leaves a feeling of defeat. Never is the peace, which Jen, her father and Stan feel in growing acres, made a reality That, and lack of star names, makes this one a bit difficult to sell to city dwellers. And the farmers have enough grief already. So that's your problem, Mr. Exhibitor "LOVE BKRDS" (Universal) Directed by William Seiter Story by; DaleJ^gn Every. hL-M'alker, Henr^Jvl^:grs and Qarence Marks, . ' / Adaptation by Doris Andei^jyj. Photography by Norbert "Br'odine Cast: Zasu Pitts, Slim Summerville, Mickey Rooney, Dorothy Christy and Clarence Hummel Wilson. The new Slim Summerville-Zasu Pitts comedy, "Love Birds," is swarming with swell gags and grand farcical moments. But the trouble is that the gags are overdone and the moments dragged out to where the laughter becomes pretty thin. With a good deal of cutting this picture could be one of the best of the Summerville-Pitts comedies. The material is there, but it needs concentrating. Every episode that starts to put the audience in the aisles peters out like a piece of taffy that is pulled out too long. Through a crooked real estate man Pitts and Summerville find themselves the owners of a few adobe ruins in the middle of the desert — El Mirage Rancho. Their argument over which one of them really owns the place is interrupted by the appearance of an old prospector, who, in a fight with Summerville, knocks out his gold inlay. The next day the country's newspapers herald the new gold strike at El Mirage, and in a very few hours the place resembles a booming mining town. All this is essentially fine, funny farce, and when the picture is cut audiences will be entertained plenty. Zasu Pitts and Slim Summerville never did better work, and little Mickey Rooney is a grand trouper. His recitation of the poem in the schoolroom scene is a masterpiece. Dorothy Christy and Clarence Hummel Wilson do well in smaller roles. Four authors wrote the very amusing screen play. Dale Van Every, H. M. Walker, Henry Myers and Clarence Marks, and Doris Anderson made a swell adaptation. William Seiter. except for the occasional lengthiness of scenes, directed with full comedy flavor. Norbert Brodine's photography is of the best. When this picture is cut and pulled together don't miss it. The PittsSummerville fans will eat it up, and a lot of those who aren't fans will be won over. John Zanft Inc. Formed John Zanft Inc. has been formed to conduct a general agency business. Offices will be located in Beverly Hills with formal opening slated for middle of next week. Claire Myers at Radio Claire Myers has been added to the cast of "Finishing School" at Radio. Wanda Tuchock and George Nicholls are co-directing. Production starts today. " ■ ' " By JERRY WALD Rudy Vallee is looking high and low for another girl vocalist, which would indicate that Alice Faye is certainly staying on the coast until all the shooting (not the movie shooting) is over. . . . Howard Lindsay, who adapfj ed the present stage smash hit "She ( Loves Me Not." earns some $750 weekly as his end. but he's cuh-razy to be an actor, so he's gone and accepted a part in the new Dorothy Gish play which will shortly hit the boards. . This duo strikes our fancy. Imagine Heywood Broun, who writes columns, too, and Russell Grouse, the Theatre Guild's Ambassador to the Press, are toiling together on a musical satire with a backstage setting that will rip the hides off too many Broadway biggies, according to the talk • ■ . The laugh of the week goes to ^f^u^"^ actress-producer who insisted that the house-manager rip out the last four rows of theatre seats the opening night, 'cause they remained T r, ■ • • ■ '^^g'"^ Crewe, who pilots the flicker column for the American |S going Coast-ing around May 1 to look over the movie situation. • Leah Ray. who sings sweet songs with Phil Harris' music making crew at the St. Regis, and Marty Lewis, who edits Radio Guide, might do a June Jaunt to the Justice if Mr. Lewis can have his way. . . . "The Storm Blows Over." which Lowell Bretanno penned (he's the author of "I'm No Angel"), will give the censors plenty of headaches. . . . Fred Waring is "no-going" all picture offers, preferring to stick to showing his stuff via the stage and radio. . . . The march of the songwriters to the Coast has by no means halted. Harold Spinna and Johnny Burke, who scribbled the hit tune "Annie Doesn't Live Here Anymore," are keeping their ears wide open while RKO talks business to them. Shsmp Howard, who formerly was Ted He?lv's ace stooge, is now doing a single and doing plenty all right. . . . While his son is taking care of the acting end of the family, Art Jarrett Sr. is having his hands full scribbling shorts for a trio of producing firms here. . . . And despite all that chatter about motion picture production going full blast here, everybody's trying to find out where it is. • Chester Erskine has converted the entire upper stage of the new Biograph studio into a street set of the early '90's for his "Frankie and Johnnie" opus. . . . One of the most sought after radio artists for pictures these days is Kate Smith, who still means plenty to the box office, and is still a sure fire bet for musicals. . . . The Meyer Davis-Van Beuren unit of RKO is readying its first feature, which will be a musical. . . . Star and story are still in the air, as the saying goes. . . . With the majority of major producers on the lookout for another Crosby or Lanny Ross among the microphoners. the microphone men have suddenly become picture conscious and refuse to make shorts unless they get the right lighting, direction and make up. . . . Warner office here in (Continued on Page 7)