Inside facts of stage and screen (January 3, 1931)

Hollywood Store 7 1637 North Las Palmas “If It's Worn On / Human Foot We Make It ! Saturday, January 3, 1931 INSIDE FACTS OF STAGE AND SCREEN Page Seventeen \ Sittin’ With the Public (Continued from Page Five) for reasons as deep as how far is down the identity of six pic- tures out of ten—somewhere be- tween conception and presentation —is so completely garbled or lost that upon appearance they look like the offspring of a grudge against icemen or the findings of a convention assembled to prove that the fourth dimension has nothing to do with bigger and better parsnips. To he a hit more coherent, tiie average picture crashing the 2S sheets as a musical comedy turns out to be a musical drama or a melodrama interrupted by songs, or something left over from last Sunday’s dinner. Not so “One Heavenly Night.” This offering .s a musical—COMEDY and a MUS- ICAL—comedy which definitely marks it as a MUSICAL-COMEDY. Subsequently one is prompted to remark that whoever won out in the determination to preserve this picture’s identity was surely a powerful man physically ana men- tally. After the conference the drugstore around the corner from the United Artist’s lot no doubt had to suddenly re-stock their shelves with arnica and bandages. The demand for first aid must have been teriffio. In the last two months the exact outcome of United Artists production has been a very un- certain quantity. One surmise was as good as another. The “why?” of this was a tough one to ans- THE CUPBOARD BROADWAY AT SALMON Portland, Ore. Merry Xmas to All Our Good Friends On the Road and Off AL KE KUME and LEI ALOHA Isle of Aloha Company Greet you over KFQW Borromeo School of Piano 202 Fischer Studios 1519 3rd Ave. El-1700 Popular Piano Playing Greetings from FRANCES HUNTLY ORGANIST StaHinsr Sixth Year Publix Theatres, San Francisco GREETINGS EULALA DEAN “Blues Specializer” for KJR wer. That things suddenly took a turn for the better is strikingly noticeable in this weeks assembly of talent and material. Some may crack that John Bole’s acting is not so hot and Evelyn Laye’s singing doesn’t compare to so-and-so’s and why do they inject such crude comedy business into such an exquisitely delicate atmosphere. This review- er closely observing audience re- action wishes to report that none of the performers so criticized gave the audience a chance to ask such questions. I also wish to report that everyone in that audience went forth into the night air smiling and happy and it wasn’t induced by the coffee gratuitously served on the mezza- nine floor. They were entertained, brothers and sisters, they were— entertained. The audience laughed at tlio antics of Leon Errol so strenu- ously that only the merciful in- tervention of a lighter form of humorous conflict between Laye and Boles saved them from a per- manent cramp in the backs of their necks. And vocalizing by Laye and Boles was so naturally incidental to the sex conflict I don’t believe anyone was in the least interested in technique de voce, or however they say it in Hollywood. I also wish to note that Laye handled her assignment with an exquisite comedy sense and a lot of that IT stuff in a style that puts the professional IT gals on the shade. Boles was he-man to the extent that he re- moved any doubt whether or not he could command a woman’s love, no matter how fiery. To the exhibitor I wish to- say that “One Heavenly Night” will not make the dough it deserves to'. Also to inquire if he has ever played a sophisticated production that could ? TOL’BLE DAVID REVIEWED RKO Los Angeles It is evident that the producer of this picture did not realize the gravity of the job when he took it upon himself to give the world a faithful pieturization of “Tol’ble David.” He did not appreciate his task or else was ill advised in the matter. Like Penrod and Tom Sawyer, “Tol’ble David’ is famil- iar, to millions. He is almost leg- endary to the great American audience and anything short of a flawless reproduction of his strug- gle to take on the responsibilities of manhood is, of course, inexcus- able. This production is by no means flawless. If ever there existed a paradox we have it in this production of “Tol’ble David.” A story so pow- erfully compelling in the viciously morbid drama of its conflicts that it pervades to the very hone and marrow of the audience, yet it is a sorrowful example of miscast- ing. Noticeable and felt at every appearance of the hero, his sweet- heart, his brother, his sister-in-law, his mother, and father was this error of easting. Their personal- ities did not belong in a hill town a backwoods area. This was emphasized every- time the three terrible Hatburns appeared. The stamp of the larger city environment was on every mem- ber of the cast with the excep- tion of the Hatburns. The others could not drop their film of world- liness. There was that of sophis- tication about them that permeaf ed every cubic inch of the atmo- sphere they created. The brother’s mar.celle, his wife’s manner, the father’s makeup, the mother’s personality simply could not meas- ure to the standard set by the Hatburns. “Tol'ble David” will make mon- ey because of its story, its direc- tion, conflicts and the admirable characterizations of the Hatburns: Noah Beery, Harland Knight and Peter Richmond. I have never seen an audience so completely subdued, attention so breathlessly fixed as that of the RKO audi- ence upon every entrance of these three gentlemen. “Tol’ble David” is going on the shelf as an “also ran” because its characterization throughout did not measure up to that of tlio Hatburns. No such carelessness or indif- ference was noted in the casting of Tom Sawyer, yet fidelity was to the same degree warranted. Of course error here is easily traced to failure to penetate a littrie deeper for value in casting. Tt is another example of the prac- tice of appraising personality und- er political pressure. Beery, Knight and Richmond win special recognition for their work. Richard Cromwell measured up to ms height as an experienc- ed actor, hut ho is not of the stuff of which siars are made. He does not reveal the substance (Continued on Page Twenty) Greetings from— Bob “Always Witn a Smile” KJR Seattle Season’s Greetings S. L. Cross Music Cerp. SAN FRANCISCO New Hits for 1931 “Everybody Wish"—Fox Trot; “Capt. Dobbsie’s” Sensational Feature Sung on “Ship of Joy Hour” over KPO. “It’s Gone (That Wonderful Feeling)”—Fox Trot. A hot riot of rythm and melody. STILL GOING STRONG “Tonight”—Fox Trot, and “Rock-A-Bye to Sleep in Dixie” Waltz:. 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