Motion Picture Herald (Jul-Sep 1931)

July 18, 1931 MOTION PICTURE HERALD 41 time proves that the young diplomat was murdered, not a suicide. With unquestioned logic and fine deductions, Holmes discovers that the murder was a counterfeit plot, whereby money in the bank vault was exchanged for manufactured money. The young man, who had taken to cheating at cards, was to be used by Moriarty to transport the money to Paris under diplomatic passport under threat of exposure, but had refused at the last moment and had as a result been murdered, with an unusual noiseless weapon. Adding greatly to the effect of the film, as noted Dy the close attention of the audience, was the expert use of light thrown sharply into a darkened room in several sequences. Suspicion, during much of the film, points to various of the people involved, with a very clever deception steering away from the guilty party. Several strange mechanical devices serve their purpose in creating a weird impression. Produced at Twickenham Studios, England. First Division Pictures, American distribution rights. Adapted from "The Final Problem" and "The Empty House" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Directed by Leslie S. Hiscott. Adaptation by Cyril Twyford. Assistant director and editor. Jack Harris. Photography, Sidney Blythe. CAST Sherlock Holmes Arthur Wontner Doctor Watson Jan Fleming Mrs. Hudson Minnie Raynor Ronald Adair Leslie Perrins Kathleen Adair Jane Welsh Colonel Henslowe Norman McKinnell Thomas Fisher William Frazer Tony Rutherford Sidney King Inspector Lestrade Phillip Hewland Marston Gordon Begg Colonel Moran Louis Goodrich No. 16 Harry Terry J. J. Godfrey Charles Paton Enemies of the Law C Capitol) Gang War And there were gang wars and rumors of gang wars, though company announcements indicate a lessening of the volume of this kind of production for next season. "Enemies of the Law," seen at the Strand theatre, on Broadway, is a breed of the same strain and was produced by Sherman S. Krellberg for Regal Pictures, with Lawrence C. Windom directing. This picture brings back the familiar role of the girl (Operative 99) in the Secret Service who falls in love with the handsome gang leader. And the finale runs true to the course of the "shock" pictures with the mortallywounded gangster tumbling down the stairs to die in the arms of the girl, while the rival. Big Tony, the criminal out of the West who but for obvious physical dissimilarity might have been intended for Al Capone, grunts his last in the arms of the law. The third of the gang chiefs already has been picked ofif in a nickel-in-the-slot dancehall. While the program billing headlines Mary Nolan and Lou Tellegen, Johnny Walker crowds Tellegen for such honors as there are in the story. Florence Vinton or Operative 99 (Mary Nolan) gets a job as entertainer in the night club of Larry Marsh (Johnny Walker) and from the start tries to persuade him to quit the life of crime, to which he replies that it can't be done whatever his wishes in the matter. Eddie Swan (Lou Tellegen) plots to doublecross Larry and one of the first acts of the plotted series is the bumping ofif of Joey Regan (Danny Hardin) whom Larry is sending through school in order to give him a clearer idea of life. Then follows a warehouse raid with complications which involve a "muscling in" by Big Tony and the shooting of a policeman. Larry is on the trail of Eddie, who is portrayed in the double role of a suave gentleman of the world and a raving demon who spouts limitless foreign oaths when he is crossed. Larry personally attends to Blackie, who took of? Joey, the schoolboy, and his henchmen "get" Eddie Swan. Tony goes to Larry's night club, decides that Florence is to be his "moll" henceforth, and so lets himself in for the big trap. Her plans go awry while Larry is waiting upstairs with "The Big Shot" (John Dunsmuir), and Larry and Tony shoot it out, with results partly satisfactory to each, and obviously to the censors, as both die. Comedy is inserted in the picture by a lavish use of ejaculations of "Yeah" in sundry shadings and by "Booker T," colored assistant played by Doe Doe Green, in a role in which the makers of the production permit him to know all the inner secrets of the Eddie Swan ring. Running time is 69 minutes, release date July 21, 1931. Produced and distributed by Regal Pictures. Cameraman Frank Zukor. Film editor, Russell Sheilds. Sound Engineers, Bob Oshman and John Dolan, RCA recording. Dialogue, continuity and story by Charles Reed Jones. CAST Florence Vin'ton Mary Nolan Larry Marsh Johnny Walker Eddie Swan Lou Tellegcn Jack Harold Healy Lefty Alan Brooks Tony Catello Dewey Robinson The Big Shot John Dunsmuir Joey Regan Danny Hardin Babe Ricavdo Bert West Blackie Gordon Westcott Booker T Doe Doe Green Guilty Hands (MGM) Drama This original from the pen of Bayard Veiller was accorded a most favorable reception by an audience at a Santa Monica, California, house. Heartily applauded was the work of Lionel Barrymore, who not only assisted in the direction of the film, but as the featured player, was the dominant figure in a good cast, with what was acknowledged to be a superior performance. The story is concerned with murder and strange retaliation. Barrymore's daughter, played by Madge Evans, is engaged to marry Alan Mowbray. When Barrymore discovers that the suitor is not all that he could desire as his daughter's husband, by a long way, he goes to Mowbray's apartment and there kills him. Kay Francis, Mowbray's mistress, accuses Barrymore of the murder, but the latter describes the shooting to the police as a case of suicide. As the body of the murdered man is being removed from the room, the revolver with which the fatal shot was fired, is fired again by the contraction of the muscles of the dead man's hand and Barrymore is killed. The audience was literally stunned by the suddenness and unexpectedness of the unusual climax. Performances which seemed to rate most effectively with the audience were given by William Bakewell, Alan Mowbray, C. Aubrey Smith and Henry Barrow, with the general reaction being that W. S. Van Dyke, who carved a nitch for himself with his direction of "Trader Horn," has done a most noteworthy piece of work with this film. Produced and distributed by M-G-M. Directed by W. S. Van Dyke and Lionel Barrymore. Story and dialogue by Bayard Veiller. Edited by Anne Bauchens. Cameraman, Merritt B. Gerstad. THE CAST Richard Grant Lionel Barrymore Marjorie West Kay Francis Barbara Grant Madge Evans Tommy Osgood William Bakewell Rev. Hastings C. Aubrey Smith Aunt Maggie Polly Moran Gordon Rich Alan Mowbray Spencer Wilson Forrester Harvey H. G. Smith Charles Crockett Harvey Scott Henry Barrows Susan Lenox (MGM) Drama Having sent Miss Shearer to Europe on a well-earned or much needed vacation following her appearance as a gorgeous lady of dubious morals in "Divorcee,' "Strangers May Kiss" and "A Free Soul," M-G-M seems to have continued its "sin and succeed" series with Greta Garbo. Gorgeously mounted, excellently cast, expertly directed, it, nevertheless, is proof sufficient that in its present form, the Hays code is nothing for producers to worry about or that it is all in fun. It is understood M-G-M intends doing considerable re-cutting and re-shooting before "Susan Lennox' is released. Under the circumstances, this writer feels it is unfair at this time to more extensively discuss what appears to be "a delicate subject," to say the least. Produced and distributed by M-G-M. Directed by Robert Z. Leonard. Adaptation and continuity by Wanda Tuchock. Dialogue by Zelda Sears and Edith Fitzgerald. Author, David Graham Phillips. Release date, August 29, 1931. CAST Greta Garbo Cecil Cunningham Clark Gable Alan Hale John Miljan Hale Hamilton Helene Millard Hilda Vaughn Jean Hersholt Russell Simpson Daisy Belmore Leo Meehan Bobby Jones No. 6 "How I Play Golf" (Warner Bros.) Great! Use of the big irons on the fairways is the theme of the sixth of the Bobby Jones shorts. This picture not only ranks with its predecessors in general interest but it takes on added importance as a production because of the spectacular shots by the cameraman. The whiz of the ball to the left and right of the "audience," climaxing with a "buUseye" into the camera itself, has much of the effect of third dimension. One of the secrets of the success of the entire series, in addition to the consummate artistry of the golf wizard in handling the clubs, lies in the ease of the handling of dialogue by the champion, and another is the careful handling of the camera work. — Running time, 10 minutes. Queeriosities No. 10 (Vitaphone) Fairly Interesting Among the more interesting items in this issue of the Believe It Or Not series of Robert L. Ripley are the Chinese with the candle in his head, the 25-link chain carved from a parlor match, the Providence Spring, and the 6-year-old cigar smoker who lifts 200 pounds without apparent effort. The series has a huge following through the newspaper cartoons but this issue was not particularly spectacular. The final scene of the picture, which is based on a lecture to sailors aboard a warship, is obviously studio-made. — Running time, 7 minutes. Battling Silver King (RKO-Pathe) Splendid One of the Grantland Rice Sportlight numbers, and one that is highly interesting and equally packed with action. From the time the boys wake in the morning on the bank of the Florida waters, until they prepare supper that night, we see them fishing for tarpon, big fellows that weigh around 150 pounds, and full of fight. A picture that should put any real fisherman on the edge of his seat, and should give anyone an entertaining bit of action. — Running time, 11 minutes. The Milky Way (Vitaphone) Fairly Amusing Neely Edwards, a bit out of his usual routine, plays the patient, who goes into sudden recitations against milk, and later day-dreams of putting on a show favoring milk. The routine dancing in the show and the other entertainment, provide little in the way of novelty, but the milk idea is amusing enough. — Running time, 11 minutes.