Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1934)

10 MOTION PICTURE DAILY Thursday, February 15, 193 Looking 9Em Over As the Earth Turns ( Warners) The talker version of Gladys Hasty Carroll's popular novel is almost entirely a picture with a mood, the spirit of which Director Alfred E. Green has captured well. If "As the Earth Turns" were to be judged on the basis of story weight, there would be little to say about it. What there is of narrative never catches up with the effect of the rigors, hot and cold, of the Maine seasons and what they do to the principal players, among whom Jean Muir stands as a tower of strength and womanly understanding. You get a group of families. Among them is Clara Blandwick, wife, and Dorothy Appleby, adopted daughter, of David Landau, valley farmer. They are from nearby the city and in revolt against farm life. Also there are Arthur Hohl, lazy farmer, and Dorothy Peterson, his wife and mother of a flock of his children. Hardship has turned her against the soil. To the valley comes the Janowskis, tailors all, except Donald Woods, the son, who feels he belongs close to Mother Earth and, despite handicaps, eventually stays to marry Miss Muir, Landau's daughter, mother and wife rolled into one sacrificial individual. You get their troubles, most of them concerned with dragging an indifferent livelihood from the ground and a constant battle with the elements which seem pitted against them. There is emotional conflict created largely by Miss Appleby, the awakening of love between Miss Muir and Woods and their final mating. In point of performance and, while the cast is effective with the exception of Miss Appleby, it is Miss Muir who does the best work. Her work is telling and convincing in a quiet, restrained sort of fashion that lends power to her characterization. Next, we would place Sarah Padden and Egon Brecher as the Polish immigrants. "As the Earth Turns" is devoid of villainy, sensationalism and the lurid. It is a quiet, but forceful picture of farm life in Maine and, of its type, ranks high. K A N N "The Cat and the Fiddle" (M-G-M) Excellent entertainment, a trifle long in its present form, that can be sold as a musical or a light drama, as neither element overshadows the other. This picture may be the tip-off on the musical production of the near future. It is different from other musicals up to now, if only from the standpoint of strong story values and a continuity uninterrupted by the music. It can safely be sold as "something new in musicals" and should satisfy exhibitors and critics who have complained of the breaking off of action by the introduction of music that has no place in the story. This picture meets the problem nicely. Ramon Novarro, an impoverished student composer, is a rival of Frank Morgan's for the favors of Jeanette MacDonald. Morgan, a musical producer, popularizes a song composed by Miss MacDonald, which brings her considerable wealth at the same time that she decides she loves Novarro. The latter, convinced by Morgan that he is hampering Miss MacDonald's career with his attentions, leaves Paris for Brussels where he completes an operetta to be produced by an infatuated woman who will also star in it. Her wealthy husband discovers her yen for Novarro on the eve of the opening performance and causes her to leave the cast and withdraw her financial support. Miss MacDonald appears to fill the breach at the final moment and bring success to the operetta and a happy conclusion for the love affair. A final stage sequence is done in Technicolor. The picture is nicely staged and acted, and the music is pleasing. In the cast, in addition to those named, are Charles Butterworth, Jean Hersholt and Henry Armetta. William K. Howard directed. Mandalay (First National) "Mandalay" provides fair entertainment. One of its greatest handicaps is a story that has seen service time and again. It is the one of the woman of the bawdy house who, set on turning over a new leaf, takes up with a chap who is another bit of driftwood on the current of life, falls passionately in love with him (pure love, mind you) and decides to throw in her lot with his in quest of whatever lies beyond the horizon. In this case the man is a doctor with a weakness for liquor who is trying to expiate his past by bringing succor to the fever-stricken yellow race and the locale is — well, you can guess from the title. It must be said for the production that it has been photographed beautifully and enriched with the atmosphere of the Orient. Then, too, the acting is first-rate. Kay Francis and Lyle Talbot, as the two heaclei toward a new tomorrow, are well cast, while Ricardo Cortez, as a W < of the old days, does fine work. Other players are Warner 01a:i<' Lucien Littlefield, Ruth Donnelly and Reginald Owen. The direction i| by Michael Curtiz. "La Frochard et Les Deux Orphelines" (Blue Ribbon Photoplays) "La Frochard et Les Deux Orphelines," a talker version of "Th Two Orphans," made in French by Pathe-Cinema, should be set do as a production of considerable power and intelligence. It brings t the screen again the D'Ennery and Cormon classic familiar already t American cinemagoers, to whom it introduces Yvette Guilbert, note French actress and diseuse of the Comedie Franchise, as a performer c vital force and wide grasp of character, in the part of the cruel begga woman who forces the blind orphan to beg in the streets for her. This is a film that carries an emotional kick and impresses with il fine photography, which does much to sustain the mood of the ston Atmospherically the production leaves little to be desired and it possessed much acting of a high order. The use of English titles and the sin plicity with which the tale has been developed should make it easy fc American audiences to understand. However, it should be shortened bit. f I Among the players are many from the roster of the Comedie Frar chaise. Maurice Tourneur's direction is commendable. "Carolina," this morning's opener at the Music Hall, was reviewed by wi\ from HoUyivood on Jan. 26. MOTION PICTURE DAILY3 HOLLYWOOD PREVIEW "Spitfire?' ( Radio ) Hollywood, Feb. 14. — Katharine Hepburn, as a sort of miracle gii of the backwoods country, is presented as Trigger in "Spitfire," a vivic moody maid who manifests simple faith and the potent power of prayei This Trigger is a provocative wench, as Miss Hepburn plays hervital, human, a strange mixture of storm, sunshine and exuberance. In fashioning the portrait, Miss Hepburn runs the rainbow's rang of emotions from primary feelings to subtle tints, tones and hues. Sh creates an indelible image, spun whole-souled from the fine filament of her spirit. Being essentially a character study, the story revolves around Triggei who lives alone, takes in washing, spurns intruders, reads Biblics quotations, offers prayer and advice to a girl "who wants a feller, falls in love with a married man and runs amuck of the mountain mo when she kidnaps a sick baby and, by faith and love, cures it. The picture is way off the beaten path and will cause talk pro an con, but Miss Hepburn's performance will stir deeply and intrigue b; its superb quality and sincerity. Ralph Bellamy, as an engineer inter ested in Trigger, turns in a performance second to Miss Hepburn'; Robert Young, Martha Sleeper, Louis Mason, Sara Haden and other in the cast are good. Tohn Cromwell directed well. Distinctive shots are Miss Hepburn talking to a toad, and the stai unable to sleep in a soft bed, spending the night on the hard floor. The production is a triumph of Miss Hepburn's personality, whicl <rives the picture the star's box-office rating. Arthur in St. Louis ^ St. Lours. Feb. 14.— Harry C. Arthur and Jack Partington of F. & M. are here from New York discussing operation of the Fox and St. Louis, the latter house playing stage shows and the former featuring twin bills. They leave for the east in a few days. Ritz Boys Delay Short Because the Ritz Brothers have several vaudeville dates to complete, they will not start work on their first Educational short until March 17. They open tomorrow at the Century, Baltimore. Blue for Philadelphia Ben Blue has been booked by tH Leo Morrison office into the Earlf Philadelphia, starting tomorrow an from there he will go to the Earle Washington, both Warner theatres Following the vaudeville dates, he wil sail on the Manhattan for an engage ment at the Palladium and Cafe d Paris. Joe Rivkin handled the deals Clive Starts Work Hollywood, Feb. 14. — Colin Clive who arrived from the east yesterday started work at Warners today ii "The Key."