Hollywood Spectator (Apr-May 1939)

and this time the sport is crew racing — formula 2d in the little blue book. The one reason, let me hasten to elucidate, is that the offering serves to introduce to picture audiences a certain Peter Hayes, a young man with very unusual gifts as a comedian. We Begin At Beginning €J With your indulgence, however, I shall begin at the beginning of my impression of the chap’s ability. One night some weeks ago I stayed on to see the stage show following a preview at the Paramount theatre. Onto the stage came a young fellow nattily attired in a white Palm Beach suit, loaded with poise, flashing an expansive smile, and generally exuding class with the capital “A.” Following an agreeable turn of song, he went into his principal offering, a series of impersonations of everyone from Rudy Vallee to Lionel Barrymore. Well, the lad wowed ’em, to borrow a figure from the parlance of variety. They clapped and whistled for more; and this in a house where, its stage presentations now on too low a production budget, I have seen eggs laid — to borrow another figure from variety — the size of dinosaurs’. Or did dinosaurs lay eggs? Anyway, the fellow's wit, his salty sense of caricature, his ear for the reproduction of tonal values, and his range of vocal effects and gestures were remarkable. Has Exceptional Potentialities <][ Being a firm believer in the adage about a beaten track to one’s door if he can do anything uncommonly well, I predicted then that we would soon be hearing from the chap in a larger way. And here he is with a fat part in the “moom pichures.” Hayes brings with him his bounteous bag of tricks. There is something fascinating in his constantly and widely varied assaults of vocal effects, gestures, and facial play. That he gives a characterization, I will not vouch for — though his role, of course, was written merely as a gag part. Still, he might have been a little more selective with his tricks. Moreover, much of what he does needs some modification for cinematic purposes; it is a bit too physical and too broad. And yet he takes every scene in which he appears, fills the screen with animation, humor, and warmth. The actor has exceptional potentialities. He needs more sophisticated story material, however. Do Drop Us a Card The others are all right, including Betty Grable, though she screams some of her lines, John Hartley, Donald O’Connor, Jackie Coogan, and others. His directorial assignment called for no subtlety, and Nick Grinde has not bothered to impose any. If you are a college student who wears loud clothes, never even speaks of a book, spends most of the waking hours bouncing about and yelling or stewing over fraternity pins or athletic teams, by all means see the film, as you will convulse over the humor, and work vourself into hysteria at the climax. Only, if you are such a person, do drop me a post card and I shall spend my next vacation looking you up. I have never seen such a creature. Another college yarn, centering this time about crew racing. You know the rest. Except that the picture introduces a clever young comedian who will bear watching, the name, Peter Hayes. About Some One V Killing Somebody NEWS IS MADE AT NIGHT, 20th-Fox Executive producer Sol M. Wurtzel Producer Edward Kaufman Director Alfred Werker Original screen play John Larkin Photography Ernest Palmer Film editor Nick De Maggio Musical direction Samuel Kaylin Cast: Preston Foster, Lynn Bari, Russell Gleason, George Barbier, Eddie Collins, Minor Watson, Charles Halton, Paul Harvey, Richard Lane, Charles Lane, Betty Compson, Paul Fix, Paul Guilfoyle. Running time, 70 minutes. Reviewed by Bert Harlen liJOT a bad B show. The picture is iV slow in gaining our interest, largely because the exposition is rather clumsy, but once under way it presents some suspensive situations and provocative comedy touches. The story is principally about newspaper people, about a managing editor and a comely feminine reporter who suspect that a man facing the lethal gas chamber, convicted of murder, is really innocent, and that someone else shot somebody for some reason or other, a band of gangsters and a mysterious underworld boss figuring in the pernicious enterprise. I am not too sure yet about this primary cir cumstance. Possibly it is explained clearly enough if one is alert, but audience alertness cannot be assumed. In good screen writing the identity of characters and their relationships should be evident however passive the attitude of the spectator. The attention of any audience is something which must be won. It grows along v/ith interest in the story, and interest is dependent on our familiarity with the characters and situations. Screen audiences are more attracted by what they see than what they hear. Has Jaunty Air Cl The saving grace of the film is the humor which Author John Larkin has injected into it. Apparently perceiving the importance of the comedy values, Alfred Werker has played them up capably in his direction, probably improvising a bit, with the result that the piece acquires at times a very jaunty spirit. A scene in which an actor, hired to impersonate a dying gangster, loses his putty nose, though preposterous, is capital buffoonery. Preston Foster plays with his usual vigor and conviction. On reflection, I have not seen him give other than a good show. Lynn Bari is spritely and attractive as the heroine, and Eddie Collins stands out with his clowning. Russell Gleason, George Barbier, and Minor Watson are well cast. Newspaper Office Disagreeable <fl On the production side, Ernest Palmer has provided some dramatic photographic effects, an especially good one being a crane shot, which swoops down on a prisoner isolated in a square cage in the middle of a large room, being under individual guard. Sets and backgrounds are agreeable. Adding no appeal to the picture is the atmosphere it attributes to a newspaper office. Newspaper people, it seems, work in an environment of incessant bickering, rudeness, and authoritative reprehension. Standard B entertainment, but nothing more. A mystery yarn, it is slow to gain interest, but some of the laughs are substantial . Not objectionable for the children. Rooney Coins Laughs in Domestic Comedy ANDY HARDY GETS SPRING FEVER. MGM Director W. S. Van Dyke Screen play Kay Van Riper Characters Aurania Houverol Musical score Edward Ward. David Snell Recording director Doualas Shearer Art director Cedric Gibbons Associate art director Stan Rogers Set decorations Edwin B. Willis Film editor Ben Lewis Cast: Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden, Ann Rutherford, Sara Haden, Helen Gilbert, Terry Kilburn, John T. Murray, George Breakston, Charles Peck, Sidney Miller, Addison Richards, Olaf Hylton, Erville Alderson, Robert Kent. Running time. 87 minutes. Reviewed by George T urner rO THOROUGHLY understand the appeal of domestic comedy, if for no other reason, one should see this picture. The old apothegm, “How true that is! applies to much of the characterization, as one might expect. But in a play packed with laughs, any layman can appreciate the role direction has in paving the way and bringing out to best advantage spoken lines, and this first of the Hardy family series to be directed by W. S. Van Dyke pays tribute in de JULY 22, 1939 PAGE NINE