Hollywood Spectator (1931)

July 18, 1931 19 There are almost completely silent scenes, and the quantity of dialogue is more limited than the usual run. It sounds amazingly as though the characters are really talking with each other, discussing problems, thinking as they speak. Amazing, I say, because we are accustomed to facile, tempestuous, glib speeches on the screen — and speeches is the only word to describe them. The usual harsh assault on the ears is completely absent. Helen Ware, Charles Trowbridge and Lester Vail are eminently satisfactory as relatives and fiance of Miss Lombard, and Paramount may compliment itself for having produced a genuine and entertaining picture. Also a Smart Picture VW SMART MONEY will doubtless throw Warner Brothers into ecstasies of joy because it forces a reluctant apology for the nasty remarks made about Gold-Dust Gertie. A duckling and a swan from the same setting may seem a little unreasonable, but both pictures were hatched at the Burbank lot. Here is an entertaining picture, remarkable if for nothing else because it deals with the underworld without firing a single gun. There are no tough mugs slouching around darkened corners. Almost there is a killing at a poker game, but it is nicely avoided, and the accidental death of James Cagney in the final sequence adds a genuine touch of tragedy to a story which has plenty of comedy, enough suspense and a splendid plot. ▼ ▼ Edward G. Robinson captures the sympathy of the audience as a small-town gambler in the city, and I wished him more success in his shady ventures than I did Clark Gable in his conversion of Joan Crawford in Laughing Sinners. Which may prove that I have a mind with criminal tendencies, or that Robinson’s part was more adapted to audience sympathy. At any rate a picture dealing with crooked gamblers and their scorn of the district attorney left me with a more pleasant feeling than a story of religious reform. The picture, as an underworld story, comes a little late in the day. The underworld theme is passing, but if Smart Money had been produced six months ago it would have attracted considerably more attention than it will in the present fade-out of film gangland. Alfred E. Green directed, and Robinson and James Cagney were the rest of the show. Evalyn Knapp, Ralf Harolde and Noel Francis furnished the support. Another Play V V TOO YOUNG TO MARRY. The title of Martin Flavin’s play, Broken Dishes, evidently didn’t have enough sex appeal for First National, so it was changed and now bears no relation to the picture. This is an old Hollywood trick, and one of the reasons, I suppose, for so many smashing boxoffice hits. And another trick just as old is cheating an old, experienced actor such as O. P. Heggie out of the star billing he deserves, and handing the publicity to the lovers. Grant Withers and Loretta Young have very minor parts, and the show belongs entirely to Heggie, Emma Dunn and Richard Tucker. Mr. Withers is unimpressive, and Miss Young contents herself with being beautiful, which is about all the part allows. She does this expertly. It is a matter of comment, I think, that however clever they may be, the newer crop of leading ladies have few beauties among them. It has become my custom in the past few weeks to look first among the credits for the play from which the picture is adapted. They are all plays, and unfortunately plays are FRANK LLOYD Directing For Howard Hughes Caddo Productions # In appreciation of the Hollywood Spectator's earnest endeavor to give the motion picture industry a publication that is honest in its opinions, fearless in expressing them, and dignified in appearance.