Hollywood Spectator (Apr-May 1939)

brings out all the values of the artistic settings designed by Hans Dreier and Ernst Fegte, as well as the beautiful costumes contributed by Edith Head and the interior decorations by A. E. Freudeman. The staging of the musical numbers by LeRoy Prinz played a large part in making the production so visually attractive, and credit is due James Smith for film editing which produces such smooth progression of scenes. Entertainment for everyone, particularly for one who enjoys a rare combination of music and drama. Motion picappreciation classes should note the adroit manner in which the musical numbers are woven into the whole fabric without breaking the continuity of audience interest in the story. Lacking in outstanding star names, exhibitors will find it necessary to get behind it energetically, but it will more than make good all the advance exploitation given it. Too Many Wives , Too Much Footage FOUR WIVES, Warner Bros. -First National Executive producer Hal B. Wallis Associate producer Henry Blanke Director Michael Curtiz Screen play: Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein, and Maurice Hanline. Suggested by the book, "Sister Act," by Fannie Hurst. Musical director Leo F. Forbstein Director of photography Sol Polito, A.S.C. Art director John Hughes Film editor Ralph Dawson Orchestral arrangements: Hugo Friedhofer, Ray Heindorf. Cast: Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn, Eddie Albert, May Robson, Frank McHugh, Dick Foran, Henry O'Nei'L Vera Lewis, John Qualen, Priscilla Lane, Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane, Gale Page. rOO many wives. Driving four abreast from one end of a picture to the other and keeping the pace even, seems to have been a job too tough for a talented bunch of drivers even when under the guidance of Hal Wallis and one of filmdom’s really great associate producers, Henry Blanke. The picture is not a total loss. It will hold your attention in a mild sort of way, but it is stretched out too far for what is in it. A picture gets pretty thin when about sixty minutes of real story value is stretched out to cover 110 minutes of running time. This one becomes somewhat confusing. As a reviewer, I do not strain my attention to keep abreast of what is happening on the screen. I feel it is the duty of the picture to tell its story so clearly no straining is necessary to follow it. This picture tries to keep our interest divided evenly between four couples and the spirit of the deceased husband of one of the eight people. As I review it mentally to determine what to say about it, I find myself rather muddled. To follow closely the sequence of complications required more mental concentration than I think one should be asked to exert when viewing something which he seeks as mental relaxation. Direction Could Be Better <]J While my general impression is that the picture is pleasant entertainment but somewhat too long, it is not as good as it would have been if Mike Curtiz had given it the high quality direction of which he long since has proven himself capable. In one scene, for instance, the four daughters wake up to the fact that Father s Day has passed and not one of them remembered it. They rush to their father with words of contrite endearment. The father stands in the middle of the room with his face to the camera; the four daughters stand in a row behind him, their faces to the camera, while they tell his back how sorry they are. It beats me how such absurdly distorted grouping can get into a major studio production. However, there are a number of excellent performances in Four Wives. The old standbys repeat the successes achieved when they appeared together previously. Eddie Albert reveals talent which should carry him a long way. And the four girls, of course, are charming. The production, photography, sound, and film editing are of high standard. Not up to the standard set by Four Daughters, but it has its points. Of little interest to children, but all right for the rest of the family. Opens With Drink, Ends With Death THE NIGHT OF NIGHTS, Paramount Producer George Arthur Director Lewis Milestone Original screen play Donald Ogden Stewart Photography Leo Tover, A.S.C. Art direction Flans Dreier, Ernst Fegte Editor Doane Harrison Costumes Edith Flead Music score Victor Young Sound recording Gene Merritt, Don Johnson Interior decorations A. E. Freudeman Cast: Pat O'Brien, Olympe Bradna, Roland Young, Reginald Gardiner, George E. Stone, Murray Alper. ANDICAPPED by fundamental story weakness in that its success depends upon its ability to make us interested in a wholly uninteresting character. We first see Pat O’Brien beginning a drunken spree before the opening of a Broadway show in which he stars with Roland Young. The two are plastered to the eyebrows as they make their first entrance when the show begins, and they behave so outrageously the curtain is rung down, the show is closed, the careers of the two brought to an abrupt end. Pat’s wife, whom we do not see but who was to have her big chance in the show, leaves him, and there follows a time lapse of twenty years. We next see Pat, morose, silent, sitting at a table in the Lambs Club, and a line of dialogue informs us that for the first five of the score of years he searched diligently but unsuccessfully for his wife, and for the remaining fifteen apparently had been sitting at the table, a dead thing which still breathed and could mutter sentences. For the greater part of the footage he is that way, and he does not come to life even upon the arrival of his daughter, of whose existence he had been unaware until she was twenty years of age, when he learned also that his wife had died when the child was born. Technically a Good Job <J Donald Ogden Stewart had an idea buried in his original screen play, but it was not an idea upon which a satisfactory motion picture could be based. Everyone connected with its production is to be commended for his honest, sincere effort to turn out a thoughtful, entertaining bit of screen entertainment, but the attempt to keep us interested in a most uninteresting central character proves unsuccessful. In the first sequence we become disgusted with the man O'Brien plays, and during the remainder of the footage we become weary of him and indifferent to what the fates still may have in store for him. His death at the end leaves us unmoved. No fault can be found with Pat's enactment of the role. His performance is really a brilliant one, but has to carry too much weight. Roland Young, always the capable actor, also is excellent. A charming and talented young miss Olympe Bradna proves to be, one who soon should have a great screen following. George E. Stone, one of Hollywood’s finest actors whom we do not see often enough: Reginald Gardiner, always capable, and Murray Alper, also talented, round out the small but completely competent cast. Lewis Milestone's direction is excellent, and none of the picture's weaknesses can be charged to him. Artistic settings are provided by Hans Dreier and Ernest Fegte, fine quality photography by Leo Tover, expert film editing bv Doane Harrison. Printing Mimeographing Multigra phing lypeing JEANNE EDWARDS 1655 North Cherokee (at Hollywood Blvd.) HEmpstead 1969 DECEMBER 9, 1939 PAGE SEVEN