Inside facts of stage and screen (May 2, 1931)

Page Four Saturday, May 2, 1931 SITTIN' WITH THE PUBLIC Pictures •By Vi Hegyi. ''THE LAST PARADE'* COLUMBIA PICTURE Orpheum Theatre And the gangsters continue to hold the screen spotlight. Some- for better, sometimes for uui.^e, but always, the machine gun men and their maneuvers get a reaction. No audience sits back in chilly indifference when the bad boys go through their gun- firing hitch-kicks; and that's aiething in this era of blase Lfuredom. Erie C. Kenton has directed a very lively bad-man-opry in *'The Last Parade." There's plenty of kick to it and novelty angles for good measure. Casey Robinson wrote the story, and it lives up to its claim of originality, con- taining nifty dramatics and one of those gripping climaxes that really does grip. Certainly no greater justification is needed for the making of a gangster talkie than the above. Director Kenton has gathered his material into creditable and coherent form, es- tablished his tempo with deft de- cisiveness and put his characters through their paces in a forceful manner with no let-down or lag- ging till the job is over. Dorothy Howell's dialogue rates a line of commendation, too. The principal characters are a newspaper reporter, a policeman and the girl they both love. The two men are brought together during the war, and after the armistice is signed the reporter goes into the rackets, while the cop gets back into his old job. The ex-reporter goes to the elec- tric chair for trying to put over a *'last job" after he gets the girl. His policeman pal is dra- matically instrumental in sending him to his death. Quite a collec- tion of heroics all around. The picture takes its title from the last few steps leading from the death cell to the chair, and it is this last parade that brings on the tears and sobs. Everything in the film is worked to highlight these few moments and they are played with dramatic feeling by the characters involved. The ex-reporter g.ne gangster is played by Jack Holt. Pie cre- ates a plausible person out of the character, A hard man who tries —and fails—to go straight and win happiness and honorable po- sition in society. Just the kind of moralizing that fans are prone to swallow hook, line and sinker. Tom Moore is cast as the police- man. His natural handling of the part makes it forceful and effective. Constance Cummings continues to impress with her at- tractive charm and ability in each succeeding picture. Here she shows development as an actress that speaks well for her intelli- gence and ability to take direc- tion. Gaylord Pendleton is another comer. His young reporter part is outstanding. Robert Ellis, Earle D. Bunn, Edmund Breese, Clar- ence Muse, G i n o Corrado and Robert Graham complete the okay cast. '*MEET THE WIFE" COLUMBIA PICTURE RKO HilUtreet Theatre Just lukewarm amusement in this Christie production of Lynn Starling's stage play. A situa- tional farce that is funny enough to bring smiles, but not suffici- ently well done to click big. A. Leslie Pearce, former stage direc- tor, was at the megaphone. He has kept his actors moving through their parts at a fairly rapid pace, too rapid for perfect talking timing. With all the fast moving action the picture drags, due to the fact that none of it is clearly accented. One piece of excitement merges into the next unemphasized by the necessary punch of a definitely spotted high-light. There are no currently big names for hot box office, but nearly all the performers have well established reputations for dependability. The screen play and dialogue are by McGrew Wil- lis and Walter de Leon. And they have delivered on their end. A wife who remarries, thinking that her husband was killed in an earthquake, finds herself con- fronted by Husband No. 1—in the guise of a famous novelist, whom she has invited to her home. Hus- band No. 2 is informed of the predicament, and by dint of mu h scheming works a similar gag to disentangle himself from the all too binding bonds of matrimony. In fact. Husband No. 1, glad to return to his wife is the motivat- ing power behind the gag. There is also an incidental he and she flapper love story involved. Laura La Plante overplays the wife, with much fluttering of hands and of hankies. Her re- sponse to direction in this in- stance is of febrile intensity re- sulting in mugging her part. Lew Cody as the author-husband (No. 1) is suavely ingratiating and more than adequate to the re- quirements of his role. Harry Myers as the other husband, makes a fine impression with his natural simplicity and easy man- ner. Joan Marshal is the wide-eyed blonde sister of the first husband, and William Janney is a young reporter who falls in love with her wide-eyed blondeness. Claud Allister does one of his silly-ass Englishmen. Aggie Herring and Edgar Norton get neat results with servant parts, making them stand out very creditably. "DAYBREAK" MOM PICTURE Loew's State Theatre Gay young officers, gilded gam- bling staking all against nothing and nicely handled maudlin mor- alizing are presented in ''Day- break" taken from the Arthur Schnitzler play. The presence of Ramon Novarro and Helen Chan- dler mean much to the picturiza- tion. Direction, by Jacques Fey- der, is also a notable asset to this talker. He keeps his story roll- ing right along and manages his actors in such a way that he gets the best possible returns from them. Cyril Hume has written good dialogue; smart, and at the same time atmosphericaHy appro- priate, and Ruth Cummings has turned out okay continuity. The story deals with the busi- ness of a handsome young lieu- tenant with a proclivity for breaking hearts doing his stuff with a poor but proud little music teacher. After spending a night with her he leaves a 100 gulden note behind. She, deeply hurt, is thus started on a career of gay and glamorous living. The lieu- tenant in his turn is hurt by her attitude. One night she invites him to come to her apartment, and in the morning has her re- venge by presenting him with 100 gulden. All of which leads the pair to discover that they care only for each other, and so they start a new life together. Ramon Novarro plays the lieu- tenant with devil-may-care, way- of-all-flesh charm. The delight- fully wicked, and yet innocent gleam in his eyes, his polished grand manner and youthful ap- peal continue to stand him in good stead in this portrayal. And the feminine sighs of wistful ap- preciation of his charms breathed testimony to his popularity. Helen Chandler does one of her best chai'acterizations since her appearance as a talkie actress. As the little music teacher she is piquant and delicately appealing. She does a drunk scene that rates high, and the rest of her per- formance is on a par with this bit. She is a distinctive and individ- ual personality whose ability as a screen actress has not yet been exploited to its fullest possibili- ties. Jean Hersholt, in a small part, gets a lot of attention. His men- ace role could have been played up advantageously to cover more footage. He deserves it. Glenn Tryon, C. Aubrey Smith, William Bakewell, Kent Douglas, Summer Getchell and Karen Morley, at- tractive in a bit, complete the cast. A too varied assortment of accents is a slightly discon- certing note in the general at- mosphere of the picture. "GOD*S GIFT TO WOMEN'* WARNER BROS. PICTURE Warners* Hollywood Theatre Musical comedy plot and situa- tions arc in themselves hardly sufficient to make a completely amusing flicker without the ac- tual musical comedy background and trimmings to make up for the story deliciencies; and War- ner Brothers' attempt to make a music-less musical comedy cannot be called a hot success. The pres- ence of Frank Fay, however, does much to add interest to the pro- ceedings. Michael Curtiz' direc- tion is far ahead of the material he had to work with. He haS managed to keep the film moving along at a snappy and well ac- cented tempo, getting the most out of his actors and their antics. The Frank Fay type of humor is attractive in its apparent spon- taneity and easy style of delivery. His demeanor throughout is a clever combination that hits be- tween personal realism and ut- terly unreal fantasic and silly farce which he puts across with a personality that is appealing and sympathetic in any set of situa- tions. In ''God's Gift to Women" he is, in a manner of speaking, a highly modernistic Don Juan who is finally attacked by a serious case of deep and burning love. He is given strict instructions by his medical advisor to lay off the ladies just when he finds the one- and only. A tough spot for the philandering Fay. His former lights o' love flock to him in droves, each one anxious to be the lucky girl to nurse him back to health. There is plenty of opportunity for unrestrained com- edy in this sequence and every- one concerned takes advantage of the situation to the utmost. As a comedienne Laura La Plante can step up and take all kinds of bows and credit this time. She bubbles over with pep and vital- ity, timing her points with expert showmanship and showing intelli- gece and alertness in her reading of lines and handling of her end of the farce. She shows again her usual flair for wearing smart- looking clothes so that the ferns in the audience can be counted on to get additional pleasure out of her appearance. In her scenes with Frank Fay she has no diffi- culty in holding up her end of the combination. It's a matter of give and take between the two, and they both garner their laughs with the ease and speed of a couple of wise comics. The supporting cast is long and strong on beauty, class and abil- ity. The women have been se- lected with nice optical discern- ment. Type is set against type, and each one gets her break. Joan Blondell is beautiful and blonde, Louise Brooks is beauti- ful and brunette. Yola D'Avril effervesces with her own super- Parisian eclat and Ethlyne Clair and the Sisters G stand out as worthy feminine menaces. Charles Winninger, Charles Judels and Arthur Edmund Carewe give good performances in their parts. Raymond Griflith and Joseph Jackson, working with slight story material, have put in a number of amusing lines that help out considerably. While ••God's Gift to Women" i.sn't go- ing to have 'em rolling in the aisles it manages to provide mod- erately hilarious entertainment of a kind. "MISBEHAVING LADIES'' FIRST NATIONAL PICTURE Warner** Downtown Theatre Just good, clean, old fashioned comedy (the kind m.ost often refer- red to as "wholesome") is the main attraction in this opus. How the film came to be titled "Misbehav- ing Ladies" is just another of those little mysteries reflecting the esoteric workings of the minds of powers-that-be. With a handle like "Misbehaving Ladies" many of the natural pa- trons for this class of talkie will stay home and listen to the radio, and on the other hand, those who flock to the theatre in the vain hope of seeing the ladies misbe- have will feel cheated—and justi- fiably, too. Because after all it's just a nice enough little story without a single sex angle, gang- ster expose or low-down on any variety of vice. While William Beaudine's di- rection is more than adequate to the requirements of the f i 1 m, there is an unnecessary and dis- turbing lack of smoothness and coherence in transitions from scene to scene. There is also present, and open to critical com- ment a noticeable over-emphasis and exaggeration of comedy points tending to cut in on the natural development and easy rid- ing expected in this class of pic- ture. The mechanism of the dia- logue fairly squeaks with the ob- viousness of its intended con- struction. It adds little or noth- ing to the picture's natural ap- peal. The frail skeleton of the story is well padded out with incidental action capably portrayed by a very satisfactory cast headed by Lila Lee and Ben Lyon. An American born princess comes home to "get away from it all." Home being a typical small town of middle west characteristics. She arrives on an earlier train than the one scheduled to bring her imposing presence into the humble and anticipatory scene, and is mistaken for a mere dress- maker. She is pleased to carry out the innocent deception and is treated accordingly until such time as it is necessary to straighten things out in order that the picture may come to an end. Nothing new or startling or original, but pleasant and mild- ly amusing withal. Lila Lee is gracious and charm- ing at all times. She gives the right touch of humor and dignity to the part of the princess play- ing dressmaker for the benefit of the small town celebrity seekers, and for her own amusement as well. Ben Lyon does a home- town boy with an inferiority com- plex. Just another inventor who hasn't faith in himself but re- sponds beautifully to the encour- agement and sympathy of "a good woman." Louise Fazenda and Lucian Littlefield are aunt and uncle of the princess. Both show up to advantage in their comic country characterizatons. Emily Fitzroy does one of her sharp and biting bits as the town gossip. Virginia Gray, Martha Mattox and Oscar Apfel give suit- able performances in smaller parts. Previews TAKE THIS WOMAN'' RADIO PICTURES PICTURE (Previewed at Belmont) With quick humorous twists sprinkled throughout its length in staccato procession, "Take This Woman" (shot under the title of ''Waiting at the Church") moves along a most pleasing way to the final conclusion of being a darn good picture. All in technicolor, and with a cast headed by Mary Brian, Marie Prevost, Geoffrey Kerr, Johnny Hines and Joseph Cawthorne, it is nevertheless in the deft directoral touches that *'Take This Woman" comes in for its biggest hand— and it is a big one in the difficult lists of comedy. The story and adaptation, done by Alfred Jackson and Barney Sarecky, is not per se anything to write home about. It is one of those semi-farcical alTairs where proposed marital plans become tangled and those involved look at one another aghast, etc., etc., etc. Good enough, you understand, for those who wish to spend a non- consequential evening of amuse- ment for amusement's sake, but that is all. Given such a plot, and a director is very much on the spot. If his work is poor, the pic- ture is plain rotten; if his work is good, the picture is excellent. For such a plot is nothing but a skeleton which the director must furnish with flesh and habiliments. As above remarked, palms (and in profusion) are to be awarded William J. Craft in this instance. For his directorial handiwork has made of "Take This Woman" a picture which is of that real hu mor whieh gets beneath the skin and lingers there; the kind you tell your friends about; and the kind that has its echo in the pleas- ant music of a tinkling box office. All the more remarkable when one learns around the RKO lot that Craft finished the job under schedule despite the fact that it was all shot in technicolor, the bete noir of some of onr ablest and speediest directors. The story has to do with a cou- ple of Broadway gold-diggers. One, desiring to marry her boy friend, calls in an actor to portray her uncle whose machinations are designed to bring about the Lo- hengrin. But the boy friend has a boy friend, who suspects the plot and counters with a plot of his own. Upon this are built the sit- uations which made the previeW audience laugh in continuous fash- ion, and—and herein again goes credit to Director Craft—become absorbed in the eventual denoue- ment of the tangled skeins. Marie Prevost and Joseph Caw- thorne walk off with the acting honors of the picture. Marie brings her piquant and always most interesting personality to the role of the girl friend of the would-be bride. Marie has that most delectable habit of making every moment of her presence on the screen interesting. She holds to her habit in ''Take This Woman." Joe Cawthorne is another who can be counted upon for 60 sec- onds of rare good entertainment for every minute he is present. In this picture he is cast as the character actor \vJ310 does the un- cle, a Dutch gentleman. Enough said. He romps to comedy glory easily. Mary Brian is again Mary Brian, meaning she is demurely sweet, and Geoffrey Kerr and Johnny Hines are quite adequate to all demands made upon them. Photography by Ray Rennahan is of the highest order; he having failed in no instance in the diffi- cult task of catching the full glories of the color on film. All in all, a picture which an exhib would do well to line up, and CHARLES SARGENT -in- "Introducing the Madam" Assisted by JOAN LEWIS R-K-0 p ATRICK A N Agency D M ARS H Orchestras - Vaudeville - Clubs - 607-8 Majestic Theatre Bldg. Established 15 Years — Radio Talent TU. 2140