Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1935)

14 MOTION PICTURE DAILY Wednesday, July 31, 1935 MOTION PICTURE DAILY* HOLLYWOOD PREVIEW "Without Regret" (Paramount) Hollywood, July 30. — A sophisticated drama of tangled romance, this, when properly edited, should result in satisfactory entertainment for specialized audiences. Basically it is serious in character with comedy contrast filling a meager function. Yet certain situations, the intent of which are evidently to heighten dramatic tenseness, were so obvious that they moved a preview audience to levity rather than impressing it with the desired objective. In content the story concerns the marital experiences of Elissa Landi. To escape the threatened ravages of Chinese banditry she marries Soldier of Fortune Kent Taylor. He is reported dead and years later Miss Landi is the wife of Paul Cavanagh, an eminent British surgeon. As resultant publicity makes Miss Landi a public figure it is discovered that Taylor is still alive. Simultaneously, Frances Drake, Taylor's erstwhile paramour, starts to blackmail Miss Landi. As the situation is complicated, Kent gets wind of what is going on and kills Miss Drake, making it appear that either Cavanagh or Miss Landi is guilty. In the climax, as the pair is about to be arrested, Taylor, knowing that he has but a few months to live, confesses. The story content, which makes available wide showmanship latitude, seems to be the best selling medium. Miss Landi, Cavanagh, Taylor and Miss Drake are convincing in their roles. Harold Young's direction from the stage play "Interference," with the screen play by Doris Anderson and Charles Brackett, strives to retain the full, emotion-stirring sock. A drive to interest adult feminine patronage should keynote the publicity campaign. Reviewed without production code seal. Running time, 75 minutes. "A." "Pursuit" (M-G-M) Hollywood, July 30. — This is just one hilarious, breath-taking chase fiom start to finish through unexpected situations with no letdowns except for plenty of laughs. Sally Eilers, private girl detective, hires down-and-out Chester Morris to fly child Scotty Beckett across the Mexican border to his mother, Dorothy Peterson, who stands to lose the child through no fault of her own to her dead husband's family. Morris suspects a kidnapping and, while he and Miss Eilers argue, little Beckett pushes the throttle and the plane careens over the field with Morris clinging on the fuselage. The ship is wrecked as the cops arrive and chases follow with some of the wildest driving seen on any screen. There is plenty of distrust between Morris and Miss Eilers with double-crossing on all sides for the huge reward and lots of threatened death and disaster. Young Beckett ranks among the best child actors with this performance and Henry Travers gets howls of delight as a dim-wit hick who steals the child. Miss Eilers and Morris give good accounts, as do C. Henry Gordon, Granville Bates, Minor Watson, Harold Huber, Dewey Robinson and Erville Alderson. Edwin Marin directed for speed and thrills. Lucien Hubbard and Ned Marin produced from an excellent screen play by Wells Root from the story by Lawrence Blochman. Bill this one for tense chases and clever comedy. Reviewed without production code seal. Running time, 62 minutes. "G." St. Louis Negroes Row Over Operators St. Louis, July 30. — A new kind of labor controversy has developed here. Led by the Urban League, a negro organization, negroes are boycotting three theatres patronized by them and also have picketed en masse because white projectionists are employed. The theatres are the Star, Strand and Criterion. The Central Trades and Labor Union is studying the problem. In the meantime the theatres have notified their white operators that they are no longer needed. Copyright Publicity Sought in Wisconsin Madison, July 30. — The Graass bill to place operation of music copyright agencies under a statewide system, has been introduced in the state legislature. The measure would have the Secretary of State collect from any organization which charges a fee for the use of its copyrighted music an annual license equal to five per cent of its gross receipts in Wisconsin. The bill would require licensed organizations to file a schedule of charges and the basis for them, salaries and names of officers, a copy of agreements with original composers, a list of copyrighted music pieces and other information. It was drafted at the request of the American Society for the Advancement of Public Music, a Milwaukee civic, non-profit organization, and is aimed at ASCAP. Indianans Urged to Seek Theatre Limit Indianapolis, July 30. — Associated Theatre Owners of Indiana is recommending to its members that they seek passage of ordinances in their towns limiting the number of theatres to certain percentages of population. The action is the result of an item appearing in Motion Picture Daily which told that Sturgeon Bay, Wis., had adopted an ordinance limiting theatres to one for each 5,000 of population. Rosenblatt Resigns From Buying Job Leon Rosenblatt, New Jersey and Staten Island circuit operator, has resigned as chairman of the New Jersey Cooperative Buying Committee which was formed some time ago for the pooling of independent houses across the Hudson. He will continue on the committee, but without title. No successor has been appointed. Bogus Bills Hit N. H. New Haven, July 30. — Counterfeit one dollar bills have made four appearances in the past week at the Paramount. All were recognized by Marie Hagener, cashier, and turned over to Secret Service men. George Reising, assistant manager, has had trouble with women presenting them for admittance. Counterfeit or no, the customers have protested violently against losing their bills, and want either Reising personally or the government to reimburse them. RKO Set in West Indies RKO has closed a deal for distribution of its entire 1935-36 lineup, including shorts, by the British Colonial Film Exchange, Ltd., for distribution in Trinidad, Barbados, Demerara and surrounding islands in the British West Indies. W. P. Humphreys of British Colonial came to New York to agree on terms at the home office. Hold Show at Capitol For the first time in the history of the Capitol a stage show will be held over Friday without continuing the film attraction. Lou Holtz and Sophie Tucker head the stage bill, while "The Man on the Flying Trapeze" will replace "The Murder Man." Delay March of Time March of Time is to be delayed to the middle of the month by RKO. The first issue under RKO distribution will be Aug. 16, instead of on the 2nd of the month, as in the past, according to Jules Levy. This will maintain a balance in the short subject schedule, Levy says. Walter Green Gaining Walter Green, Ross Federal Service executive, is recuperating from an emergency appendicitis operation at the Park West Hospital. His condition yesterday was reported as fine and he is expected to be discharged in about 10 days. Short Subjects "Basketball Technique'* (M-G-M) This one-reeler shows the basketball stars of Fordham, Iowa State and U. C. L. A. in their trick plays and uses these stars to illustrate the fine points of the game. This short should have particular appeal in the mid-west where the game is so popular, but it will please anywhere. Pete Smith does the off-screen dialogue in his usual competent — and at times humorous — manner. Recommended. Production Code Seal. No. 1011. Running time, 8 mins. "G." "Historic Mexico City" (FitsPatrick-M-G-M) This Traveltalk covers ground that has been gone over many times before, but this time it makes use of Technicolor and the results in many cases are breathtaking. The native music, played by the Mexico City Police Orchestra, accompanies the pictorial scenes and is a great asset to the film. Where this type picture is liked this one should do very well. Production Code Seal, No. 0420. Running time, 9 mins. "G." 'Wings Over Mt. Everesf (Educational) This two-reel short is a pictorial record of flight over Mt. Everest by a group of British aviators and explorers. It is packed with scenes of panoramic beauty, shots of the Himalayan mountains taken from a height of 30,000 feet. The forbidden range is seen probably as never before and its austerity is caught by the camera in all its snowy emptiness. The reel opens with brief views of the preparations, then switches to the flight itself and closes with the return. Lowell Thomas does the narration. Where reels of this type are liked this one should more than click. It should please anywhere, however, because of the scientific nature of the contents. Highly recommended. Reviewed without production code seal. Running time, 20 mins. "G." "The Foxy Fox" (Educational) This Terry-Toon is a burlesque of fox hunting and the general hub-bub that accompanies this sport. In the cartoon manner the preparations and hunting are done with comic relief and, as cartoons go, should be well received. The plot concerns a race between a fox that prepares for the hunt like a boxer and the hunt which ends up with the fox beating the hounds across the finish line, after which he retires to prepare for another race. Production Code Seal No. 0530. Running time, 6 mins. "G." "Dog Days" (Educational) This short should appeal to the great and varied audience who are dog lovers. Wire-haired and fox terriers are shown going through their paces and the accompanying dialogue speaks of their history and breeding, their uses and accomplishments. Many fine specimens including international champions are shown. Production Code Seal No. 0557. Running time, 6V2 min. "G."