Hollywood Spectator (Apr-May 1939)

tail to his judgment. It is excellent entertainment. The cast has done a noble job — showing the advantage of previous working together in parts individually contrasting, clear-cut and well comprehended: and this seventh of the Hardy scries has story value, however familiar its main situations, for the play moves without dull moments and provides as fine a vehicle for that talented youngster, Mickey Rooney, as can well be conceived. New Player Does Well •J It deals primarily with the adolescent susceptibility of the sixteen-year-old for his new dramatic teacher, some years older: in balance being the business worries of Judge Hardy, who has induced friends to invest in a deal which proves crooked. The teacher is portrayed by Helen Gilbert, recently a cello player in the MGM orchestra. It is her first picture, and the role, difficult as it is, reveals Miss Gilbert as a promising actress. Seldom does one see a bit of nuance so well handled, for example, as in the opening school scene where, while addressing her class, the teacher becomes conscious of the amorous regard of Mickey. Throughout the play, Miss Gilbert acts with a refinement and restraint that relieve the main situation of that which could easily become repellent and cheap. Andy (Mickey) is studying Romeo and Juliet, and barely over his rebuff by Polly Benedict (Ann Rutherford), he remarks, "I used to think that kissing Polly Benedict was more important than Shakespeare” — providing one of the heartiest laughs of the show. He confides his affliction to his father (Lewis Stone) , who is expressively tolerant. The presentation of Mickey’s play, where the jilted Tahitian lass (Ann Rutherford) jumps into a volcano as a climax, and Mickey in an admiral’s uniform forgets his lines upon discovering that his adored teacher has a lover, is a rollicking sequence near the end of the play. Takes Farcical Turn Throughout are pardonable exaggerations of realism, verging close to farce comedy at times. But dialogue cleverness and an established sympathy for the characters compensate. The most avid patron of costumed historical romance can scarcely fail to enter into the spirit of this type of domestic comedy, which cannot be judged by drab, artificial offerings of the past. It vindicates the long appeal of radio family stories, adding that brilliancy and intimacy which only visualized scenes can supply. Its acting requirements in many phases seem actually greater than in more grandiloquent portrayals. Kay Van Riper’s dialogue habitually meets the situation and sparkles. Lewis Stone, as Judge Hardy, is all that can be desired, and Ann Rutherford, as Polly Benedict, is archly expressive at all times. She is to appear as Scarlet O’Hara’s younger sister in Gone With the Wind. Universal appeal, and particularly gratifying to women and youngsters, end all who enjoy domestic situations. From a study angle there is much to observe in build-up, contrast, movement and balance. Forty Years of Film Dash by in Review Reviewed by George Turner fORE than forty years of motion picture history is briefly sketched in this interestingly reminiscent showing, which, for those who did not see the first crude beginnings, provides many a chuckle. But it is worth bearing in mind that the early flickers had as much thrill in one way as our super-spectacles have in another, and there were change and progress and many a big surprise to keep them popular. From the famous kissing couple of 1896, recognizable as May Irwin and John C. Rice, to an actual cinema play, The Great Train Robbery, of 1903, is a stupendous stride. The hurling of the dummy from the speeding train after the death-dealing struggle was not a laugh thirty-six years ago, despite its unlifelike appearance. Youngsters today will find it hard to believe it was not intended as burlesque. The same is true of much else in the sagas of filmdom. Among the glimpsed milestones are Tillie's Punctured Romance with Marie Dressier and Chaplin; on to The Birth of a Nation. 1913, which introduces Lillian Gish in this first feature-length picture and immortalizes D. W. Griffith, producer. Then the birth of western serials, showing Bill Hart gaming and shooting; the Mack Sennett and Theda Bara era, Mary Garden in Thais', then the ’20s — Rudolph Valentino in The Sheik, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., in Robin Hood, where vast scenic interiors loomed upon an astonished public; The Big Parade. Good-bye to silent pictures. A1 Jolson appears in I he Jazz Singer; another jump to All Quiet on the Western Front, and we leap to Paul Muni in Emile Zola. In this panorama of years we have caught sight of other familiars: Ben Turpin, Renee Adoree, John Gilbert, Karl Dane, Will Rogers, Diana Wynward, Greta Garbo — some of these never to be seen again, and the March of Time sets us thinking in a different mood than usual. Potentates of the industry are viewed in their offices: Hays, Joe Green, censor: de Mille, the Schencks, Zanuck, Harry Warner, and the famed inventor, de Forest. Would that there might have been a shot of Edison at work on the first “moving picture” at Orange, New Jersey. Some twenty-five principal scenes are given throughout the program, and they come from the New York Museum of Modern Art, which is said to house the only complete collection of productions. The historical review looks forward in the mention of Chaplin’s The Dictator and Gone With the Wind, both long in preparation, and John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, for which Zanuck has paid $75,000. With such rations time indeed marches on. G lea sou Family in JVell Directed One SHOULD HUSBANDS WORK. Republic Associate producer Sol C. Siegel Director Gus Meins Original screen play: Jack Townley, Taylor Caven. Photographer Jack Marta Film editor William Morgan Art director John Victor Mackay Musical director Cy Feuer Cast: James Gleason, Lucile Gleason, Rus sell Gleason, Harry Davenport, Marie Wilson, Mary Hart, Tommy Ryan, Berton Churchill, Henrv Kolker, Arthur Hoyt, Barry Norton, Mary Forbes, William Brisbane, Harry Bradley. Reviewed by Tom Miranda HE laugh-provoking Gleason family take us through another series of hilarious episodes in the lives of a scenarist’s idea of a typical midwest home, in this well-directed and most capably acted film from Republic studios. Harry Davenport, as “Dad” scores heavily in an exaggerated portrayal of Mr. and Mrs. Midwest’s average grandpa, and keeps the audience highly amused by his moronic antics. A Tip to Ambitious Wives €fl The highlights of the film are too numerous to mention. One, however, which should cause all ambitious wives who see the film to hesitate and ponder well the situation before attempting to solve their husbands' problems, is where Lucille Gleason takes a hand. Her husband has been summoned before a board of directors to qualify for the managership of a new cosmetic manufacturing plant. Through the insane habits of “Dad,” said husband awakes from his night's sleep in the family trailer on the shore of a lake in the mountains the morning of his appointment. His wife, hoping to save his face, forces herself into the presence of the assembled board of directors, and ( Continued on page 11) PAGE TEN HOLLYWOOD SPECTATOR