The international photographer (Jan-Dec 1931)

November, 1931 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Twenty-nine enormoas national advantages that have been placed in his hands through implicit faith in him by the woman he loves. There are many situations in this absorbing story, situations in ethics, situations that will smash big dents in that wellworn axiom that "All's fair in love and war" which should it have read "All's fair in love or war" would have had an entirely different significance in the present instance. It is this intermingling of love and war and honor which enhances the tension and the drama. Richard Dix is bound to be well liked in "Secret Service." Easily and gracefully he slips into the part, and as smoothly sustains it to the finish. His greatest ally is Shirley Grey, the Edith Varney who falls in love with the man who saves her wounded brother, the girl who on the eve of a battle adds to the embarrassment of the northern telegraph expert by asking for and obtaining for him from the southern president a commission as chief of the headquarters telegraph office. One of the greater of Miss Grey's charms is her facility with that inimitable southern touch to her accent. It is a delight. There is an excellent cast. Fred Warren plays his familiar role of Grant. Clarence Muse interprets the black man as no white man can, plays it with distinction. Then there are William Post, Jr., Gavin Gordon, Nance O'Neil, Florence Lake, Harold Kinney, Eugene Jackson. Frederick Burton, Carl Gerard and Emma Reed. The susceptibilities of the respective sections generally have been well taken care of. There is one slip that will not sound so sweet south of Mason and Dixon's to the older school — that where a Yankee sharpshooter perched in a tre--> remarks as he sees a confederate uniform in the distance "Guess I'll give Johnny Rebel a haircut," and unwittingly plugs a man of his own side. A wiser even if not an older producer would have omitted that word Rebel, for two reasons at least: A Yank of the period would more or less affectionately have referred to his enemy as "Johnnv Reb," while a wise producer even sixty-six years after the close of the war would have been content to say just "Johnny." "'WAY BACK HOME" First cameraman, J. Roy Hunt ; second cameramen, Edwin Pyle, Frank Rodman, Harry Wild ; assistants, Charles Burke, Willard Barth, George Diskant; stills, Gaston Longet. THE followers of radio throughout North America will find in 3eth Parker's "Way Back Home" an RKO picture that will interest them in an unusual manner. It will mean to them more than the visualization of the form and figure of the man with the voice of whom they are so well acquainted as well as with those of Ma and Liz and Cephus and the Captain. They will find furthermore what will be noted by the lesser number of the non-radio addicts or at least the more serious among them — a good picture. Warning is herewith given that what follows may be discounted in a measure, discounted for the reason that seated at the typewriter where the surrounding words are being hatched is one who was raised in that New England rural atmosphere which Seth Parker as the leading actor and Jane Murfin as the writer and William A. Seiter as the director have so faithfully translated to the screen. The tale brings in added characters to the cast as it is known to radio followers. These are recruited from the ranks of players trained to camera work. Among these are Frank Albertson as David Clark, Dorothy Peterson as Runaway Rosie Clark, mother of the foregoing son without benefit of clergy; Betty Davis as Mary Lucy, daughter of the unbending and implacable Wobbling, portrayed by Oscar Apfel; Frankie Darro as Robbie, young son of Rufe Turner, the bad man, played by Stanley Fields. The picture emphasizes the undue importance in rural communities attached to moral slips and the ostracism imposed on the unfortunates who are uncovered. The difference between the seventeenth and the twentieth century lies mainly in the absence in the present day of the outward and visible scarlet "A" that reiterates to the world what it so well knows. "Way Back Home" is a simple story as befits the ordinary placid lives of simple men and women. In that simplicity lie its appeal and its strength, magnified in real measure to the person out front who knows the smaller community and thereby recognizes the fidelity with which its atmosphere has been recorded. Alternating in the course of the tale will be found gentle fun, homely philosophy, genuine benevolence and stern and moving drama. It will stand on its own as a motion picture with those who previouslv knew not the magnetic personality of Seth Parker. I LIKE YOUR NERVE First cameraman. Ernest Hal'er ; second cameramen, William Reinhold, William Schurr ; assistants, Aaron Hower, Ellsworth Fredricks ; stills, Will R. Walling Jr. STARTING with a story the outline of which is not exactly notable for originality First National has done much with "I Like Your Nerve." There is a short but most excellent cast, headed by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. The dramatic and art direction and the photography all contribute to securing the utmost value from Roland Pertwee's tale. By the way, there is a novelty here in that Pertwee's story is adapted by Huston Branch and then turned back to Pertwee for the writing of the dialog. The experiment is a success. Not always, of course, can it be, for dia loguing somehow requires a quality of literacy, of literary ability, not necessarily demanded in the outlining minutely or roughly of a tale with a picture slant. Other things being equal, however, there can be no question that the man who conceives the plot is better equipped to chart the dialogue. William McGann is the director who secures such interesting results from the material human and architectural and otherwise placed before him. John J. Hughes is the art director. The cast is composed of Loretta Young, Henry Kolker, Claude Allister, Edmund Breon and Boris Karloff. The direction is notable for its timing, speaking in the terms of a golfer. The actors are finished — notably so the fortune teller whose brief lines flow as smoothly and as rapidly as if the speaker had been playing the part for many months. The theme has to do with the manner in which a timid young man accepts the advice of a fortune teller and becomes bold. Miss Young has the role of the finance minister's daughter sacrificed to an ancient capitalist who has promised to cover the father's defalcation in return for the hand of the girl. Those who needs must have youth in their screen productions, will be abundantly entertained by "I Like Your Nerve," for it has more than youth; the youngsters have ability in portrayal that brings conviction and illusion. The picture is one well worth seeing. Ernest Holier GIRLS ABOUT TOWN First cameraman, Ernest Haller ; second cameramen, Don Keyes, Frank Titus; assistants, George Bourne, Ellsworth Fredricks ; stills, Frank Bjerring. THERE'S a lot of genuine fun in this "Girls About Town" which Paramount lays before us on a gold digger's platter. There's a little drama, too, but hardly enough to dim the spirit of gayety, of smart chatter, that proceeds from the group surrounding Wanda and Marie, who justifiably may claim in mitigation and extenuation that if really they be gold diggers at least they are benevolent ones and are not entirely mercenary. The two young women named are portrayed by Kay Francis and Lilyan Tashman. Wanda is the more seriously inclined of the two, a statement not to be taken overseriously at that but rather relatively. Marie is the fair-haired child who so easily and deftly separates small town big business men from the small pieces of paper which so notably represent the big comforts of a girl's life. The two entertainers form a great team — of entertainers of the world at large as well as of the casual payas-you-goers. The story, this may be a good place to say, is by Zoe Akin and the screen play is by Raymond Griffith and Brian Marlow. Purely on a hunch, meaning the remark is merely a thought spoken out loud on paper, there is behind the lead nencil setting down these more or less irregular