Hollywood Spectator (1936)

Hollywood Spectator Page Seven glamorous figure in the development of Britain’s South African empire, and the film sticks closely to its business of showing the reason for the glamour. The production is one of great sweep, the camera supplying graphic shots of the African veldt. Interiors are in keeping with the lives of the pioneers, both native and British, no effort being made to provide sets of imposing pictorial impres¬ siveness on their own account. We are introduced to a new screen player, Oscar Homolka, an actor of superior ability whose performance never has been surpassed by that of any Hollywood star. H is Paul Kruger is a cinematic masterpiece which our actors can study to their advantage. Walter Huston is our contribution to the cast, his American reputation no doubt being the reason for his selection. He does not seem to be altogether easy in his part, giving what im¬ presses me as being his most unconvincing screen charac¬ terization. It would have been wiser to have had an Eng¬ lishman play the role. Basil Sydney, Frank Cellier, Peggy Ashcroft and Renee DeVaux give beautiful performances. Berthold Viertel, one of the several directors who came from abroad to Hollywood and had to go back again in search of opportunities to demonstrate their ability, gives the picture outstanding direction, the even quality of the performances being greatly to his credit. Rhodes is one of England’s important pictures and re¬ flects the rapid advance English producers are making in overcoming Hollywood’s lead in the world’s market. Time spent in its study will prove profitable to those who make our pictures. It is one of those rare pictures the most caustic critic will have to record as flawless. And for students of history it is a document of great value. Somewhat Ponderous THE ROBIN HOOD OF EL DORADO, Metro release of John W. Considine, Jr., production. Stars Warner Baxter; features Ann Loring, Bruce Cabot, Margo and J. Carrol Naish; directed by William A. Wellman; screen play by William A. Wellman, Joseph Calleia, Melvin Levy; from book by Walter Noble Burns; musical score by Herbert Stothart; art directors, David Townsend, Gabriel Scognamillo; photographed by Chester Lyons; assistant director, Tom An¬ dre. Supporting cast: Soledad Jimenez, Carlos de Valdez, Eric Lin¬ den, Edgar Kennedy, Charles Trowbridge, Harvey Stephens, Ralph Remley, George Regas, Francis McDonald, Kay Hughes, Paul Hurst, Booth Howard, Harry Woods. The exploits which wrote the name of Joaquin Mur¬ rieta into the history of California were inspired by motives of revenge. Revenge is listed among the un¬ worthy impulses, among the ones we should not indulge. The moral tone of a screen story cannot rise above the source of its inspiration. Revenge cannot be justified by the fact of the establishment of what inspired it. Mur¬ rieta was a bandit, one who took the law into his own hands, preyed alike on the honest and dishonest and lived off the spoils of his plundering. His actions had no sig¬ nificance beyond the territory in which he operated, did not change the history of the state, had only a momentry effect on the social aspect of early California. It would seem that Murrieta was an unfortunate choice as a hero for a motion picture story. Robin Hood of Eldorado is a ponderous production which strives mightily to justify his pillaging, but he remains through¬ out just a bandit whose only motive is revenge. He benefited no one outside the band of his cutthroat follow¬ ers. The title of the picture is a slur on the memory of the original Robin Hood who plundered joyously for the benefit of others, who took from people who had, to give to people who had not. Metro has given the picture a production of sweep and vigor, making it a great outdoor epic in which the camera plays the leading part, but it remains an unsatis¬ factory piece of screen entertainment. There are compe¬ tent performances by Warner Baxter, Ann Loring, Mar¬ go, J. Carrol Naish, Soledad Jiminez, Carlos de Valdez and Paul Hurst, every one of whom dies during the progress of the picture, all but one of violence. The flog¬ ging scene which shocked viewers of Mutiny on the Bounty, is duplicated here with even more brutality. It is a superflous addition to the accumulation of incidents which influence Murrieta in embarking upon his career of banditry. It is the theme of the story, not its fabrication into a motion picture, which is the weakness of the production as screen entertainment. Everyone who had a part in its making is entitled to credit. Baxter’s performance is thoughtful and compelling, ranking well up among the best things he has done. Naish presents a brilliant charac¬ terization of a joyously fiendish outlaw whose only ex¬ cuse for killing Chinamen is that he does not like them. Ann Loring, with enough beauty to adorn any picture, displays talent enough to gain the favor of audiences. Bruce Cabot, the only principal who is alive when the picture ends, is his usual competent self. Bill Wellman’s direction is satisfactory. He is credited also with writing the screen play in collaboration with Joseph Calleia and Melvin Levy. Chester Lyons contrib¬ utes businesslike photography. Apparently he was not encouraged to do full justice to the pictorial possibilities of some of the striking scenes. In spots throughout the film music is used as a back¬ ground. I must run out to the Metro lot and ask John W. Considine, Jr., producer of the picture, what promp¬ ted him in the selection of scenes to be given musical treatment. As I have written a thousand times, all mo¬ tion pictures should have continuous scores, and when I find music used only in spots I am puzzled when I en¬ deavor to figure why this scene is one of the spots and that one is not. I’ll have to ask Johnnie. I don’t think he knows, but I’ll ask him. It Takes Your Breath Away MURDER BY AN ARISTOCRAT, First National. Directed by Frank McDonald; screen play by Luci Ward, Roy Chanslor; story by Mignon G. Eberhart; photography by Arthur Todd; assistant director, Wilbur McGaugh; film editor, Louis Hasse; art director, Hugh Reticker; supervisor, Bryan Foy. Cast: Lyle Talbot, Marguer¬ ite Churchill, Claire Dodd, Virginia Brissac, William Davidson, John Eldredge, Gordon Elliott, Joseph Crehan, Florence Fair, Stuart Holmes, Lottie Williams, Mary Treen, Milton Kibbee, Henry Otho. EE this one, even if you do not care for murder mys¬ teries. It moves so fast all your faculties are employ¬ ed in merely keeping up with it and you have no time to ask yourself if you are enjoying it. It may be that Frank McDonald in his direction of this picture has hit upon the correct formula for murder mystery films. As I