Hollywood Spectator (1937-39)

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Page Six May 8, 1937 I HERE is not much to the scene I describe. The orchestra leader never saw the old people before, nor they him. He is a young fellow with kind instincts; the old man and his wife are nice people; it is just an act of ordinary courtesy to play a dance for them. But if you can sit in your seat in a film theatre and view that scene dry-eyed; if a lump does not crowd your throat the instant you hear the first bar of the old sweetheart song and realize that here is a strange young man giving the charming old people what their own children deny them — well, if the scene does not affect you that way, you must be some sort of cold fish who should stay away from pictures. A piece of discerning casting was Victor Moore’s selection for the part of the old husband; rather brave, too, for most of his screen appearances have been as a twittery, amusing half-wit whose sole duty was to provoke laughter. In the McCarey picture he gives us a characterization of extraordinary merit, a deeply human portrayal which gives him i^nk as one of the screen’s greatest actors. And as much praise can be given Beulah Bondi, who plays the wife. A tremendously pathetic figure she is, but she is made so by the conditions which surround her. No word of complaint does she utter in the entire picture. Maurice Moscovitch impresses again as a really great artist ; Fay Bainter, of course, gives a splendid performance, and others who contribute greatly to the artistic perfection of the production are Thomas Mitchell, Barbara Read, Elizabeth Risdon, Minna Gombell, Ray Mayer, Louise Beavers. evidence of the thoroughness of McCarey’s preparation for the production, his meticulous attention to detail in building it to assure perfection in all its details, is the presence in the cast of as excellent an actor as Porter Hall to speak but one line. Paul Stanton, another established actor with many sympathetic performances to his credit, also plays a small part. And rounding off the parade of practically perfect performances is that of Louis Jean Heydt, who, in the few moments we see him, presents us with an acting gem. No picture ever has offered a more perfectly directed group of players. And no other picture has demonstrated more vividly the potentialities of the screen as a social force. In essence it is a sermon, its text presented on the screen at the outset: “Honor thy father and mother;” but it is none the less gripping as a piece of screen entertainment which as such will earn close attention and wide acclaim. No other medium of expression could match the strength with which it drives home its lesson, yet throughout its course are sprinkled many chuckles and amusing incidents. It is as if itself were unaware it had any social significance, as if its only foncern had been from the start to acquaint us, for no particular reason, with what was happening within the family circle of the wholly unimportant Mr. and Mrs. Barkley Cooper. And as we watch what is happening and listen to the sentiments which motivate it, we learn a great deal it is good for those who have parents, or are parents, to know. It Is Poor Screen Writing A STAR IS BORN, United Artists release of Selinick-lnternational production. Produced by David O. Selznick. Starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March. Directed by William A. Wellman; original story by William A. Wellman and Robert Carson; screen play by Dorothy Parker, Alan Campbell and Robert Carson; designed in color by Lansing C. Holden; music by Max Steiner; photography by W. Howard Green; art direction by Lyle Wheeler; Edward Boyle, associate; costumes by Omar Kiam; special effects by Jack Cosgrove; Hal C. Kern, supervising film editor; James E. Newcom, film editor; Ray Flynn, production manager; recorded by Oscar Lagerstrom; Eric Stacey, assistant director; Natalie Kalmus, color supervisor for Technicolor. Supporting cast: Adolphe Menjou, May Robson, Andy Devine, Lionel Stander, Peggy Wood, Elizabeth Jenns, Edgar Kennedy, J. C. Nugent, Guinn Williams, Clarence Wilson and Vince Barnett. Running time, I I I minutes. J\AFE SELZNICK did his end of it splendidly, giving AJ A Star Is Born a notable production, which, even with the cheapening effect of color photography, still makes the picture an almost continuous series of pictorially attractive scenes. The technicolor experts also did their end of it well, demonstrating definite progress in subduing the color until it gives little offense to the eye and holds out promise of attaining perfection by further development to the point of the total disappearance of color from the screen. And writers of the screen play are to be commended for their valuable contribution to the screen as a whole. They have left the screen story of Hollywood still to be written, and a great story it can be if written by someone with knowledge of the soul of Hollywood and skill in expressing it in cinematic terms. Physically an artistic and obviously expensive production which reflects Selznicks’s desire to give the public full return for its money, in its other aspects it is cheap in both theme and sentiment. It probably will earn a profit by virtue of its presentation of Hollywood scenes which will interest the world at large, the newsreel quality of the production being its chief asset. Spiritually it is a lame presentation of Hollywood, not even approaching realization of its possibilities as screen material. It tells a story of an unknown country girl’s rise to film stardom without developing fully the tragedy of heartaches with which the path to stardom is strewn. Thus it becomes, not a story of Hollywood, as I presume it was intended to be, but one of an extraordinarily lucky girl whose experience never has been duplicated and probably never will. A HE genuine Hollywood story will be one motivated by experiences peculiar to the film capital and which could be found nowhere else. The Star Is Born is motivated by drunkenness which wrecks the career of a male star just it would wreck the career of a steel worker in a Pennsylvania mill or a physician in Alabama. Made in Hollywood, undoubtedly it will be accepted as a true representation of Hollywood conditions, an authentic document which suggests that alcohol figures largely as a factor in screen affairs. The story weakness of this treatment lies in the narrowness of its application; it affects no one but the person who drinks, making it logical for the public to presume that keeping sober is all one has to do to prolong his career as a star.