The Motion Picture and the Family (Oct 1934 - May 1937)

6 THE MOTION PICTURE AND THE FAMILY April 15, 1937 STUDY AND DISCUSSION GUIDES Study or group discussion guides have been produced for the following feature pictures: Alice in Wonderland, Anna Karenina, Anne of Green Gables, Anthony Adverse, As You Like It, Captains Courageous, Charge of the Light Brigade, Cleopatra, The Crusades, Daniel Boone, David Copperfield, Dog of Flanders, Emperor Jones, Fang and Claw, Give Us This Night, The Good Earth, Great Expectations, Green Pastures, In His Steps, Last Days of Pompeii, Last of the Mohicans, Les Miserables, Little Lord Fauntleroy, Little Minister, Little Women, Maid of Salem, Mary of Scotland, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Mutiny on the Bounty, Nine Days a Queen, The Perfect Tribute, Peter Ibbetson, The Plough and the Stars, Prisoner of Shark Island, Quality Street, Romeo and Juliet, Scrooge, Sequoia, Servant of the People, Seven Keys to Baldpate, The Soldier and the Lady, A Tale of Two Cities, Things to Come, The Three Musketeers, Treasure Island, Winterset. FILMS FOR THE PUPIL AND TEACHER -(Continued from Page 2) A Clubwoman Chats On Family Films (Continued from Page 5) facturing weapons of war, and many complicated and inter-related social questions will have to be settled before the motion picture will find its audience receptive to its message of peace and its substitute for war, when the main motive for going to the motion picture house is to seek entertainment and relaxation," she said in conclusion. Miss Mary Beattie Brady of the Harmon Foundation agreed with Mrs. Lilly that the first function of the motion picture was to entertain but felt that the non-theatrical motion picture constituted a great modern medium of peace education. Miss Grant, in closing the symposium, pointed out that there was another way in which the motion picture exercised a profound international influence upon which none of the previous speakers had touched. In presenting to theatre patrons in America a large number of travel, newsreel and other films with a locale in foreign countries the American film industry was educating the film public to become internationally minded, she said. Also, by disseminating American standards of music, art and technical perfection throughout the world it was creating a better understanding among peoples. The Latest Family Films But now to turn our attention from such weighty subjects as world peace to the congenial topic of what is new this month in the line of family film entertainment. First and foremost, for its title if for no other reason, one calls attention to A Family Affair, MetroGoldwyn-Mayer. While this film offers plenty of entertainment for lievable pastel of the period of Napoleon. Quality Street is a romantic whimsy, based on happenings of no importance, concerning people of no importance, and is located on a secluded little street where nothing of importance ever happens. It is a delightful, animated projection of the persons of Godey's Lady's Book. There is no great climax; there is no great suspense. The charm lies in the characterizations. It is a comedy of manners, producing a remarkable effect of intimacy. Gossipy maiden ladies arrayed in bonnets and caps, with lives barren of any natural excitement, provide their own entertainment in the satisfaction of their curiosity regarding the activities of others — in this case, an old maid of thirty, who regains her youth and lover. Film Must Seem Sincere Regardless of the care in technical details, there sometimes occur slip-ups so slight as to pass unnoticed at the time of production, which later in the showing become irritants to the audience. As film-reviewers of judgment, while we may, of course, note obvious mistakes in costume, speech, or properties, we should not let ourselves be disturbed by unimportant slips in technical details. Motivation in plot, characterization, and filmic flow, which brings scene after scene as if in a perfectly fitted pattern, are much more important. We should develop an appreciation of the various points of production that bring about an impression of unity and harmony, and feel properly resentful of anything of importance in action, dialogue, characterization, settings or mood that makes the screen story seem insincere. A good picture is one based on a unified story, worked out to a logical conclusion, showing people reacting consistently at critical moments, against a background correct in details indicative of time, place and manners. Just a few requirements, but how difficult to carry out! The true actor must not exploit his own personality, no matter how unique and appealing. He must lose himself in his part, and in voice, in gesture, rhythm of action and in speech create the character of the play so that the audience believes in him. Let him overdo his part, the result is a caricature; let him under-play it and he loses the essential characteri zation and the plot emphasis. He must live the part. We are fortunate this month in having some excellent examples of this quality of sincerity as it is developed in persons and places and things. SEVENTH HEAVEN (2Qth Century-Fox) Seventh Heaven succeeds not alone in making us visualize the world of sewers and attics of the Paris underworld fringe, the gay Montmarte, and the crowded church transformed into a hospital of the World War times, but it reveals the inner feelings that motivate the relationship between Chico and his sweetheart, Diane. The picture deals adequately with the objective world, but its great charm lies in the manner in which the director handles the subjective material. He has carefully maintained the sensitiveness, the tenderness and the delicacy of this ripening love and given it the dignity due a great passion. Most of the best scenes are developed not through dialogue, but through pantomime, in silence which the lovers seek in vain to overcome. The casting is especially happy and results in giving reality to the roles. CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS (MGM) No better example of sincerity of interpretation could be offered than that of Spencer Tracy as the Portugese fisherman, Manuel, in Kipling's Captains Courageous. We 'forget to remember' this talented player in his former successful roles. We believe in him as Manuel. If we didn't, we could not so thoroughly understand the regeneration he works in the spoiled boy of the story, played convincingly by Freddie Bartholomew. Here is a great photoplay, a story with a fine message to children and grown-ups alike, a story of idealism built upon faith and love. Had Tracy been less sincere, we should have resented or laughed at his idea of Heaven and the Christ. We accept his principles of living and we cry with the boy when his hero inevitably dies. Played against a background of actual scenes of fishing off the Grand Banks, simple incidents of everyday life of these unconsciously dramatic figures take on new meaning in their relationships. The whole production is an excellent example of harmony, unity and sincerity. young and old it also conveys a very wholesome lesson. The story is that of a group of crooked contractors who attempt to force an honest judge to further their plans by bringing to light a scandal in his family and who are completely foiled by his integrity. Not a tremendously important film, perhaps, but a very enjoyable one. Two family films of the month may be said to possess unusual interest. These are May lime, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, a completely delightful screen version of the romantic operetta by Sigmund Romberg, featuring that well-liked pair, Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, and offering perhaps in Miss MacDonald's songs and arias the most perfect example of voice recording that has ever been done for the screen. The other, a high spot in the "THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER" Henry the Eighth's son, the Prince of Wales, changes places with his double, a lad from the London slums. Some Stirring Books for Young People Selected by the CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY STORIES OF YOUNG PRINCES The Prince and the Pauper, by Mark Twain Boy Knighfi of Reims, by Lownsbery The Prince and the Page, by Yonge Book of Princes and Princesses, edited by Lang "BOYS AND GIRLS OF HISTORY" Boy Kings and Girl Queens, by Marshall The Mediaeval Boy, in "Boy Through the Ages," by Stuart Boys and Girls of History, by Power History of Everyday Things in England, by Quennell A GREAT STORY WRITER Boys' Life of Mark Twain, by Paine A Lifetime with Mark Twain, by Lawton Printed through the courtesy of the (Name of Theatre) Presenting 'THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER" month's production schedule, is RKO Radio's engaging film version of Sir James M. Barrie's delightful and, as always, whimsical Quality Street. There is little of action in this story of the maiden lady who counterfeited youth to regain the heart of the man she wished to wed, but there is delicacy, charm and the elfin Barrie humor at its best. Time Out for Romance, from 20th Century-Fox, is also good family entertainment and introduces romance and intrigue in the novel and exciting setting of an automobile caravan. Bill Cracks Down, Republic, sounds a bit like a Western but as a matter of fact it is a tale of modern industry in the stirringly realistic background of a steel mill. There is real educational value in the scenes of the making of steel.