Hollywood Spectator (1937-39)

Hollywood Spectator Page Seven Helena Grant, Bonita Granville, Clifford Severn, Sherwood Bailey, Roland Varno, Joan Fontaine, William Baltewell. Running time, 85 minutes. /. M. BARRIE dipped his pen in ink of a century and a quarter ago and sketched a group of characters which Radio presents in a series of animated Old English prints. Quality Street is a delightful picture, a dainty, delicate thing, gentle in its humor and revealing vast respect for the customs and manners of its times. Visually beautiful, rich in literary value, leisurely in pace, it comes to the screen as a bit of old lace with a suggestion of lavender. Quality Street is a gossipy thoroughfare with much subdued chattering about neighbors and spying between stealthily parted curtains. Barrie’s humor courses up and down it and none of it has been overlooked in the excellently written screen play of Mortimer Offner and Allan Scott. Reflecting the psychology of a bygone era, it will require of its audience a mental readjustment which may limit its appeal to those who can be entertained by a mixture of three parts atmosphere to two parts action. To George Stevens, director, goes the major credit for the satisfaction the picture will give. Not in a long time have I seen another production in which the director’s contribution plays such a dominant part. Nor has any other production so vividly demonstrated the value of intelligent direction of dialogue. I have written a great deal about the harm done pictures by loud dialogue. It is the most potent mood-destroying agency the microphone has injected in screen entertainment, robbing scenes of the element of intimacy from which they draw all their strength. What all my arguments have aimed at is exemplified in Steven’s direction of this picture. QlJALITY STREET has little action and no great moments. It is a placid recital of trivialities affecting a generation whose only bequest to ours is in the form of traditions which interest us solely because we deem them as manifestations of people who lived in a narrow age. In themselves the manifestations have little entertainment value for us, therefore, when depicted on the screen, it must be the manner of their presentation which catches and holds our attention. We must not have the feeling that we are witnessing from a distance something that happened long ago to people in whom we have no interest. We must be drawn into the midst of the happenings so completely we feel we are participating in them and not having them explained to us. By his direction of the dialogue Stevens gives us this essential feeling of intimacy. Not a voice is raised throughout the entire length of the picture ; the characters speak only to oneanother, never at any time conveying the impression they are endeavoring to project their voices to an audience. This has more significance than merely a lack of unnecessary noise would have. Its cinematic value has no relation to a volume of sound as such. What gives it its cinematic value is the feeling of intimacy it creates. When such trivialities are being discussed by people in whom we are not interested, it entertains us solely by virtue of putting us in the postion of being eavesdroppers listening to conversations not in tended for our ears. Barrie’s stage play, of course, had to create something of the same impression, but the limitations of the stage did not permit it to develop the feeling of intimacy possible only to the screen. The picture pleases us by making us feel superior to the people on the screen ; we are getting an intimate view of their private affairs and they are unaware of it. All screen scenes in which dialogue is directed intelligently will create the same feeling. Another result of conversationally delivered dialogue must always be a collection of practically perfect performances. Loud dialogue, on the other hand, always suggests the actor. A case in point is Gregory Ratoff’s performance in Seventh Heaven, also reviewed in this Spectator. As he has done in every picture in which I have seen him, in this otherwise perfect Century production Ratoff shouts his lines in his harsh, unpleasant voice, thus introducing an alien element which disturbs the unity of his scenes. To the initiated it looks like an effort to steal each scene instead of being a sympathetic contribution toward assuring it complete harmony. None of the Quality Street players disturbs the harmony of scenes by attracting individual attention. Katharine Hepburn is delightful in her dual role as herself and her spurious niece. Franchot Tone is graceful and easy in a part which fits him neatly. Fay Bainter also stands out, as does Eric Blore in another of his capital comedy characterizations. Hobe Erwin is to be credited with doing an artistic job in bringing the period of the story to us in such an attractive visual form. Robert DeGrasse’s photography also is one of the big assets of the production. Here again the direction comes in for mention. The background inspired grouping of people to attain highly artistic effects. In too many pictures artistic compositions are broken too promptly into shorter shots, thus denying us the full effect of their beauty as a whole. Stevens does not commit this mistake. He gives us frequent shots in which the whole composition is retained even if there are but two people in the scenes. In fact, he makes Quality Street easy on both the ears and the eyes of the audience. Much to Recommend It WAIKIKI WEDDING, Paramount. Produced by Arthur Hornblow, Jr.; director, Frank Tuttle; assistant director, Richard Harlan; screen play, Frank Butler and Don Hartman, Walter DeLeon and Francis Martin; based on a story by Frank Butler and Don Hartman; sound, Gene Merritt and Louis Mesenkop; film editor, Paul Weatherwax; art directors, Hans Dreier and Robert Usher; photographer, Karl Struss, A.S.C.; special photographic effects, Farciot Edouart, A.S.C.; Hawaiian exteriors by Robert C. Bruce; dance director, Leroy Prinz; costumes, Edith Head; interior decorations by A. E. Freudeman; musical direction, Boris Morros; words and music, Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger; orchestrations by Victor Young; arrangements by Al Siegel and Arthur Franklin; SWEET LEI LA N I , by Harry Owens; Hawaiian lyrics by Jimmy Lowell. Cast: Bing Crosby, Bob Burns, Martha Raye, Shirley Ross, George Barbier, Leif Erikson, Grady Sutton, Granville Bates, Anthony Quinn, Mitchell Lewis, George Regas, Nick Lukats, Prince Lei Lani, Maurice Liu, Raquel Echeverria. ON the whole, worthwhile. Its visual beauty alone is „ worth the price of admission. The langorous Hawaiian atmosphere envelopes it and accentuates the haunting quality of the native music. The wizard Paramount