Inside facts of stage and screen (Aug 16, 1930)

PAGE FOUR INSIDE FACTS OF STAGE AND SCREEN Picture Kevtews^'and Views of Lesit in THE SAP FROM SYRA CUSE" PARAMOUNT PICTURE (Reviewed at Paramount) Jack Oakie got a big break the story handed him for his lat- est starring film. It's a smartly- contrived farcical yarn, having a brightly gagged handling of a well-built plot, with Ginger Rogers clicking in the fern. lead. Oakie plays Littleton Looney, operator of a construction com- pany's steam-shovel, who is pos- sessed of no little admiration for himself and Napoleon. Inheriting several thousand dollars, Looney realizes a life-long ambition to travel to Europe and the scenes of history's "great moments." On the boat he is mistaken for the "world's greatest engineer" and falls in with Ginger Rogers, who will lose her mines in Meso- potamia if they aren't operating within a certain time limit, etc.; the pair meet and Oakie, unaware of the important personage he is supposed to be, promises the girl to help her against her conspir- ing guardian, with the usual com- plications and a final happy end- ing winding up with Oakie at the helm of a steam-shovel, clad in the quaint Mesopotamian costume, while Ginger sits besides him, reading the latest book on Na- poleon. EXHIBITORS' VIEWPOINT: Oakie clicks again with an un- usually bright selection in vehicle and treatment and direction that in the field of farcical yarns will give patrons something to laugh at and enjoy. Not highbrow, but smart and showmanly, particularly for warm weather audiences. Plenty of chance for exploitation tieups on vacation travel. PRODUCERS' VIEWPOINT: Taken from the play by John Wray, Jack O'Donnell and John Haygen, the screen play has been smartly handled by Gertrude Pur- cell with tasty direction by Ed- die Sutherland, whose knowledge of comedy treatment is evident throughout the action. Oakie turns in another good piece of work as the egotistic but naively appealing youngster with Ginger Rogers an attractive femi- nine foil. Granville Bates was a restrainedly effective menace while George Barbier passed amusingly in and out of the action as "Sen- ator Powell.' As two ship gold- diggers, Betty Starbuck and Veree Teasdale got in some good bits. Minor support roles were all well handled. "HELL'S ISLAND" COLUMBIA PICTURE (Reviewed at RKO Theatre) Take your imagination with you to this one, and figure out all the unexplained angles, then forgive their their debts, for it's only a little programmer, trying to amuse the public. Jack Holt and Ralph Graves are two nasty men in the Foreign Legion, presumably stationed in Africa as there is a battle with the Riffs and orders are given in French. The boys are hard char- acters, with no redeeming traits, and both are on the make for Dorothy Sebastian, a li'l American gal who somehow has become headline attraction in one of those North African desert amusement palaces the Legionnaires would love to see imported from Holly- wood. Thank heaven Dorothy is not depicted as one of those saintly dames who works in brothers but remains sweetly pure, although it is hinted at in one scene. This shot, however, is just a quaint Hollywood plant to give excuse for the fight that follows, and Dorothy (in the character, of course) later makes it plain any guy can maul her if there is dough in it. But she falls for Ralph and is willing to make marry. In battle. Holt is shot in the CAMERON CROSBIE At the Console WARNER'S DOWNTOWN THEATRE Los Angeles MOSCONI BROTHERS Special routines, stage and screen. Tap, too, ballet, musical comedy, acrobatic, new 'Heel-It' !MIIV.'/.!.'..IJ!M.' MB. back by a Riff but believes Graves did it out of jealousy. Graves as- sults an officer who would pro- vent his rescuing Holt, and gets 10 years on Hell's Island. When Holt recovers, Dorothy marries him and persuades him to take guard duty at the island, this be- ing the only way she can get there herself. Here it becomes clear to Holt that Graves did not shoot him and he helps the lovers' escape from the island, poetically being shot in the back by other guards who mistake him for the escaping prisoner, and dying con- veniently, thus obviating the need for a divorce. EXHIBITORS' VIEWPOINT: Better look at it. Would go great in the lumber camps, but the la- de-das may not like the smell of sweat. PRODUCERS' VIEWPOINT: Some nice photography. Ed Slo- man's direction is fair enough. Jo Swerling's dialogue doesn't ex- actly scintillate, but it gets the ideas over, and nets a few laughs. Tom Buckingham is credited with the story. CASTING VIEWPOINT: Holt and Graves have teamed up often enough before, and they are up to their average. Neither has a "sympathetic" part. Dorothy Se- bastian does a neat job of work. Character bits are contributed by Richard Cramer, hardboiled ser- geant; Harry Allen, cockney sol- dier; Lionel Belmore, innkeeper of course; Otto Lang, a Legion- naire, and Carl Stockdale, com- manding officer, and are all right. "HOLIDAY" PATHE PICTURE (Reviewed at Carthay Circle) This picture eclipses everything that Pathe has done up to date and we are not so certain that it will not be rated among the rank- ing ten for the 3'ear. Director Ed Griffith is to be congratulated, it was his finest chance and he rose magnificently to it. While "Holi- day" sticks closely to the text of the stage play of Philip Barry, Griffith showed wisdom in taking but few liberties with the already successful drama. He leaves the trik stage version only to add ad- ditional production value but in no wise has the theme been tampered with. The adaptation of Horace Jackson is also commendable for nothing has been either lost nor added to ,an already finely con- structed play. The story is very modern, placed in the home of a millionaire who glories in the power of his wealth. One of his daughters, while on a vacation, meets a young man of no means, social aspirations nor desire for extreme wealth. | They fall in love and she brings him to her home. He is overwhelmed by its palatial appointments. A younger sister, who would sacrifice all her wealth and posi- tion in order to just be herself falls in love with her sister's befu. On New Year's night, when the engagement is to be announced, the young lady's father insists that the financee accept a nosition that will eventually bring him wealth and position. He refuses and the engagement is seemingly broken. An attempt at reconciliation is made, but the young man finally determines to live his life and be master of his house. His fiance is equally determined to be a social leader and so they split, he em- barking to Europe. The "younger sister, on being assured that the match is definitely off, rushes to take the same boat. The plot is one that takes place every dav and always has—the sophisticared triangle which is al- ways interesting in a yarn. In this case, superb acting raises it high above the commonplace. EXHIBITOR'S VIEWPOINT: This is one that will have a strong pull on the young sophisticates. It is essentially a girl's picture and can be exploited from the stand- point of the ethical points involved. It is magnetic box-office from many angles. PRODUCER'S VIEWPOINT: The excellent" photography of Nor- bert Brodine adds a nice distinc- tion to a well told tale. Edward H. Griffith's direction marks him as possessing fine discriminating taste and suggests something al- ways in reserve. He does not milk a situation to its utmost but allows something to the intelli- gence of the audience. Ann Hard- ing, the star of "Holiday," is by virtue of this performance entitled to rank among the greatest of the cinema luminaries. Here is easily re- the best performance of the year, and if properly nursed, she can be built into as big a draw as the great Greta. CASTING DIRECTOR'S VIEWPOINT: Without excep- tion, this play has been cast with a perception worthy of genius. It is difficult to imagine anyone playing their parts with finer ar- tistry although, to this reviewer, a younger man might have been cast in the lead, but the performance of Robert Ames is without proach in any particular. Mary Astor as the aspiring sis- ter was fine, her appearance and dignity had just the right touch for the character. Edward Everett Horton added a star's finish to a role of lesser importance. Monroe Owsley left nothing to be desired in the role of the understanding brother who, too, would like to break away from the ties of wealth. William Holden played his usual millionaire as though to the manner born. Others of the cast were Hedda Hopper, Audrey Forrester, Hallam Cooley, Creigh- ton Hale and Mabel Forrest. JACOBS. SCARLET PAGES" WARNER BROS. PICTURE (Reviewed at W. B. Downtown) Elsie Ferguson and John Halli- day bring two polished and ma- tured performances to this very well produced story of the court room tj'pe. Taken from the stage play by Samuel Shipman and John B. Hymer, under Ray nright's di- rection, the story, deviating in a number of points from the fa- miliar court scene material so as to be a osrt of reverse "Madame X" has been done pictorially and for dialogue in an effective fash- ion except for the occasional in- terpolation of action-halding se- quences, particularly in a cabaret scene. The film has been nicely mounted and edited to a view to a tensely building suspense. An outstandingly absurd item was the makeup use on supposedly metropolitan newspaper, which flashed in and out of the action with their headlines indicating the narrative highlights. They looked like small town weeklies. EXHIBITORS' VIEWPOINT: A good booking with plenty of appeal in the work of Miss Fer- guson and John Halliday with Grant Withers and Marion Nixon exploitable names in the cast. PRODUCERS' VIEWPOINT: Miss Ferguson makes an auspici- ous return to the films, while Hal- liday, who has already marked himself as a real bet in mature and siophisticaded roles, further advances his standing as a film personality worth capitalizing on. Direction and adaptation have translated instead of lifted this play to the screen in a fairly satisfactory fashion. CASTING DIRECTORS' VIEWPOINT: The work of Miss Ferguson and Halliday completely Overshadows the playing of Grant Withers and Miss Nixon, though the latter handled a tough young- night club dancer role (in which she was miscast) passably well. De Witt Jennings in a restrained version of a trial judge had the other important role, with Helen Ferguson, Charlotte Walker and Wilbur Mack in minor parts. "FORTY-FIVE MINUTES FROM BROADWAY" FULTON OAKLAND (Reviewed Aug. 6) George Ebey and Ed Hogarty brought this one down from the shelf, dusted it off and presented it to an enthusiastic crowd of Oaklanders as part of their lim- ited policy of presenting musical comedies under a weekly change. Although most smaller productions skimp on the cast of "45 Min- utes," this one had every charac- ter George M. Cohan called for. All parts were played in a broad vein. Fulton has one of the very few revolving stages in the entire West. It was used for each of the three scenic changes, speeding up the entre' act waits and elim- inating much of the usual back stage franticism that accompanies all legit shows. Jane Fooshee took the lead as Mary Jane Jenkins, the maid. Ruth Saville did the part of Mrs. David Dean, while Norman Field digressed from his usual juvenile and leading parts to do Kid Burns, the ex-pug and secretary. a was Howard Russell was cast as Tom Bennett, while J. Raymond North- cutt did Daniel Cronin, the villain, and Bruce Payne did Andy Gray, the butler. Claire Sinclair drew many laughs with her character- ization of Mrs. Purdy and Robert Adams handled the part of James Blake. Helen Audiffred as Flora Dean and Russell Gushing as the chauffeur completed the principal roles, all of which were well done. Skeeter Hartwell offered an ex- cellent comic song and dance. The four policemen were done by the Sequoians, male quartet—Ray Parfler, Cliff Lockwood, Med Anderson and Don Libby. Gen- tlemen of the press included Don Jennings, Ray Justus, Ronald Fitch and Ernest Gibbs. Girls were Edna Lokke, Helen Peter- son, Vera Knight, Lillian Loris, Reta Kinyon, Sally Evans, Billie Doyle and Carol Vouve. John G. Fee staged the production in capable fashion. Business good. Chuck Thode conducted the or- chestra in a group of numbers and played the show acceptably. B OCK. "TEA FOR THREE" EL CAPITAN HOLLYWOOD (Reviewed August 3) Tom Moore for the tourists Ernest Glendinning for the lovers of good acting, and Gladys George for benefit of casting directors. These are the principal points of appeal in "Tea for Three." Ed Curtis did not do quite as good a directorial job as usual, impeded no doubt by the charming Irish incompetence of Mr. Moore whose lines were garbled and faultily de- livered. The first act was very draggy, and the first scene of it was a total loss to the many oc- cupants of the side seats, who could barely glimpse a view of Moore and Miss George in the panel, and could hear only Miss George. Nevertheless, act two proved to be sufficiently gripping to rouse the interest and hold it through the third stanza. "Tea for Three," of course, handles the eternal triangle: hus band, other man, and wife. Tom Moore is the other man, former sweetheart of the wife whom he still adores, and Ernest Glendin ning is the husband. Gladys George is the wife. Mr. Moore is not ideally cast as a dilletante doctor blase sophisti- cated, but there is no mistaking the wholeheartedness with which he enters into the work and he quite captivated his feminine audi- ence who, in addition to liking the actor personally, delighted in the ideal devotion he represented. Mr. Glendinning proved his cap- abilities to local audiences in "Nancy's Private Affair" recently, and in this completely different role he demonstrated new talents. He is an actor who is master of every situation. As a hard work- ing husband, in love with his wife but immersed in his business and so, in his anxiety to provide abundantly for her material needs, unable to meet the doctor's com- petition when it cames to amusing her, he was completely satisfying. This was Hollywood's first chance to see Gladys George. She comes modestly from the stock houses of Kansas City Salt Lake and Denver and claims none of the "New York" aura deemed so necessary by some to a Holly- wood success. She is handsome of face and figure, her voice and en- nunciation are clear and devoid of affection, and she handled the role of the wife with due regard for its relative importance. There is no reason why she should not as- sume a prominent place in the Big League. Minor support roles were con- tributed by: Dorothy Cecil as the maid, and Eric Snowden as the valet. Donald Campbell walked on and Yessed once as a waiter. Sets were well done by Ernest Glover, and Paul Einstein's instru- mental trio furnished occasional music from the pit. Behrendt-Levy-Rosen Co., Ltd. General Insurance Insurance Exchange Building VA, 1261 Let us submit our ostl mate on scoring and re cording your versions. SYNCHRONIZINSSIRVICE MtieopaiTiN Studd. Hoilywdoo EARLE WALLACE Always Busy Developing Dancing Stars but Naver Too Busy to Create and Produce Original DANCE ROUTINES and REVUES That SeU Belmont Theatre Bldg^ First and Vermont Phono Exposition 1196 Los Angeles, Calif. HARVEY KARELS VALLIE SCHOOL OF DANCING 7377 Beverly Blvd. OR. 2688 W SCHOOL for STACE & SCREEN^ ^ •'always cool in OURS(HOOL"-20''(OOLERTHAN outside ;PHONE I IdunkirkI 67211 Associates—Gladys Murray, Lafe Page Ballet Dept.—Mary Frances Taylor PRACTICAL DRAMATICS — and — STAGE DANCING Tap, Off-Rhythm, "Modernized Ballet" and Acrobatic "THE ORIGINAL MURRAY SCHOOL" or NEW YORK, CHICAGO AND LOS ANGELES WALTER S. WILLS STUDIO OF STAGE DANCINO 7016 HOLLTWOOD BOITLEVASD OLADSTONB 9808 PROFESSIONALS TAUGHT BY PROFESSIONALS New Autumn Claases for Adults Start September 3—Tap, Acrobatic, Soft Shoe, Eccentric, Waltz Clog, Musical Comedy, Ballet. Also Children's Classes. GEORGE and FLORENCE BALLET MASTER AND MISTRESS Formerly 68 Successful Weeks Producing Weekly Changes in Australia's Largest Theatre THE STATE, SYDNEY Producers Desiring Originality WRITE or WIRE Permanent Address; INSIDE FACTS, Los Angeles