Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1935)

72 MOTION PICTURE HERALD April 6 , 1935 LITTLE FRIEND: Nova Pilbeam— The child actress was good. Picture did not do average business. — W. H. Hardman, Royal Theatre, Frankfort, Kansas. Small town patronage. Mascot CRIMSON ROMANCE: Ben Lyon, Sari Maritza— Did a nice two day business for me. Though rated as for adults it seemed to me OK for the family. — Sam A. Kimballj^ Cornish Theatres, Inc., Limerick, Maine. General patronage. LITTLE MEN: lialph Morgan, Erin O'Brien-Moore, Junior Durkin, Cora Sue Collins, Frankie Darro-;Should be played in every theatre. We played this picture one week to a capacity business. Pleased our patrons 100 per cent. — Ned Tweeden, Princess Theatre, Fargo, N. D. Family patronage. YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL: William Haines, Judith Allen — One nice little show. Netted more than any of the big musicals. Second night filled the house. — Sam A. Kimball, Cornish Theatres, Inc., Limerick. Maine. General patronage. MGM DEATH ON THE DIAMOND: Robert Young. Madge Evans, Ted Healy— Best baseball story we remember. Suited our Saturday night crowd. Running time, 72 minutes. — G. Carey, Strand Theatre, Parisj Ark. Family patronage. FORSAKING ALL OJHERS: Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Robert Montgomery — A-1. First rate in every respect and fine entertainment for all classes. An audience picture. Played January 20-22. — Chas. Born, Elks Theatre, Prescott, Ariz. General patronage. FORSAKING ALL OTHERS: Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Robert Montgomery — Excellent. Plenty of comedy and my patrons ate it up. Personally, I thought it just a trifle silly in spots but it was good just the same and had what it takes to bring them in. Running time, 74 minutes. Played March 6-7. — A. E. Christian, Wayne Theatre, Monticello, Ky. Small town patronage. HAVE A HEART: Jean Parker, James Dunn, Una Merkel, Stuart Erwin — Nothing but a program. Second night flopped. Running time, 82 minutes. — G. Carey, Strand Theatre, Paris, Ark. Family patronage. NIGHT IS YOUNG, THE: Ramon Novarro, Evelyn Laye — A pleasing musical with the usual Metro exactness for detail; plenty of comedy for diversion. Running time, 82 minutes. Played March 13-14. — Roy C. Irvine, Ritz Theatre, Ritzville, Wash. Genera! patronage. PAINTED VEIL, THE: Greta Garbo— In this the great Garbo acts Uke a real flesh and blood woman who is subject to human emotions even as you and I. The first half of the picture is real pleasing entertainment. The second half is given over to a cholera epidemic, showing the funerals and death of the victims. It is not a very pleasant subject to be dealt with in such lengthy footage. A happy ending helps considerable. No special drawing power to this. — J. E. Stocker, Myrtle Theatre, Detroit, Mich. Neighborhood patronage. SEQUOIA: Jean Parker — One of the most remarkable pictures ever produced. "Sequoia" is unique in story substance, interest holding and appealing entertainment qualities as well as the most beautiful photography ever presented in an "out-door" picture. Give it a longer run than the other "stufif" — it advertises itself. Played March 22-23. — Chas. Born, Elks Theatre, Prescott, Ariz. General patronage. SEQUOIA: Jean Parker — An excellent picture. Did better than average business and all cornments were favorable. This picture is mostly concerned with the friendship of a puma and deer and the human love angle is merely incidental. It is refreshingly new and novel in theme but it is of the type that audiences would very soon tire of due to the preponderance of animal shots. About one or two a year of this type is okay. Running time, 71 minutes. Played March 16. — B. HoUenbeck, Rose Theatre, Sumas, Wash. Small town patronage. SEQUOIA: Jean Parker — Beautifully photographed and cleverly produced picture dealing with the friendship between a puma and a deer. Pleased ninety per cent. Ideal for the family. Clean, wholesome and very suitable for Lent. — John A. Milligan, Broadway Theatre, Schuylerville, N. Y. Small town patronage. STUDENT TOUR: Charles Butterworth, Maxine Doyle, Jimmy Durante — Our patronage found this to be an entertaining program picture. The young people especially enjoyed it. — J. W. Noah, New Liberty and Ideal Theatres, Fort Worth, Texas. General patronage. WHAT EVERY WOMAN KNOWS: Helen Hayes, Brian Aherne — A beautiful picture and a flop with almost a record low at the box office. I have a hunch that the Scotch accent is partly the cause of its lack of drawing power, as the trailer shown a week in advance gives a very liberal sample of the Scotch dialogue to most of our patrons. It is my opinion that this picture should have been made with clear American English. I know that it is a story with its locale CONTRIBUTES TO AID OTHERS "For some time I have been using this Department and as a whole find the Herald indispensable," writes Sam Kimball, manager of the Cornish Theatres, Limerick, Me. "I felt that as I was getting so much from the columns that perhaps my contributions might aid someone else." in Scotland, but that is no reason why the characters could not speak English as we know it. When the characters are French or Italian we have them speak English instead of French or Italian except for one who is definitely a foreigner among English speaking people.— J. E. Stocker, Myrtle Theatre, Detroit, Mich. Neighborhood patronage. Monogram GIRL OF THE LIMBERLOST: Marian Marsh, ^ialph Morgan — Play it, if it is a bit late. Through Maine it has done business wlierever played. — Sam A. Kimballj. Cornish Theatres, Inc., Limerick, Maine. General patronage. SING SING NIGHTS: Conway Tearle, Mary Doran — Quite an original theme that held interest all the way. Good sound and well photographed. Business average. — J. E. Stocker, Myrtle Theatre, Detroit, Alich. Neighborhood patronage. Paramount ALL THE KING'S HORSES: Carl Brisson, Mary Ellis — Picture patterned after the "Guardsman." Only redeeming part of the picture was last 10 minute sequence, "Dancing the Vieimese." Not a small town picture. Running time, 85 minutes. Played March 1214.— E. A. Reynolds, Strand Theatre, Princeton, Minn. Small town and country patronage. COLLEGE RHYTHM: Joe Penner, Launy RossStep on this one plenty. It has everything: snappymusic, good dancing, and plenty of comedy. Joe Penner is a riot. Jack Oakie is excellent in his part, and the balance of the cast is good. It's just the right kind of a musical for small towns. It did excellent business for us and everybody came out smiling. Running time, 83 minutes. Played March 18-19. — A. E. Christian, Wayne Theatre, Monticello, Ky. Small town patronage. FATHER BROWN, DETECTIVE: Paul Lukas, Walter Connolly, Gertrude Michael — Average program picture. Was afraid of this due to adverse reports but in my opinion, it is a fairly good picture. The cash customers all seemed to like it and it did average business. Played March 13. — B. HoUenbeck, Rose Theatre, Sumas, Wash. Small town patronage. GILDED LILY, THE: Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray — A pleasant romantic comedy; Colbert successfully upholds her reputation as a great star. However, the studios should keep an eye on this chap MacMurray. The best new screen possibility for a long time. He should go a long way. Picture and story pleasant and entertaining. Running time, 82 minutes. Played March 3-5. — E. A. Reynolds, Strand Theatre, Princeton, Minn. Small town and country patronage. HOME ON THE RANGE: Randolph Scott, Jackie Coogan — Good business on this one. My patrons like the Zane Grey stories and I get some customers on these that usually do not come to see westerns. Running time, 55 minutes. Played February 22-23. — A. E. Christian, Wayne Theatre, Monticello, Ky. Small town patronage. IT'S A GIFT: W. C. Fields, Baby LeRoy— The best W. C. Fields has made to date. Everyone liked this one and business was above average. Running time^ 65 minutes. Played March 21-22.— J. T. Justice, Jr., Fickfair Theatre, Kernersville, N. C. Small town patronage. IT'S A GIFT: W. C. Fields, Baby LeRoy— Very funny feature comedy. Majority liked it. In the pantomime scenes, Fields was just as good as Charlie Chaplin ever was. — L. G. Tewksbury, Opera House, Stonington, Maine. Small town patronage. LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER: Gary Cooper, Franchot Tone. — It's the tops. While this picture lacks a feminine star, the picture still has an appeal for the audience. A great story, marvelously produced by a perfect cast makes this an outstanding picture. Cooper's acting absolutely flawless. I repeat it's the tops. Running time, 108 minutes. Played March 2426. — E. A. Reynolds, Strand Theatre, Princeton, Minn. Small town and country patronage. LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER: Gary Cooper, Franchot Tone — Nothing but words of praise for this one from my patrons. Lavishly produced. Great cast. Plenty of action, etc, etc. Step on it. — L. (j. Tewksbury, Opera House, Stonington, Maine. Small town patronage. MANY HAPPY RETURNS: Gracie Allen, George Burns, Joan Marsh, Veloz and Yolanda, Guy Lombardo and The Royal Canadians — I made the mistake of using this in place of a newer show. Most people like comedy, but this has comedy that does not go oyer as it is too silly. While it is not really a poor picture, it pleased about as little as a.ny picture we have had for several weeks. — L. V. Bergtold, Opera House, Kasson, Minn. Rural, small town patronage. MRS. WIGGS OF THE CABBAGE PATCH: Pauline Lord, W. C. Fields, Zasu Pitts, Kent Taylor, Evelyn Venable — A mighty nice picture; clean and down to earth. Schools and churches should endorse 100 per cent. Running time, 73 minutes. — G. Carey, Strand Theatre, Paris, Ark. Family patronage. NOW AND FOREVER: Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard, Shirley Temple, Sir Guy Standing— This fell below my expectations. Not half the entertainment that "Little Miss Marker" was. The famous Temple kid isn't on the screen nearly enough in this one. t£ you haven't played it, don't expect too much. We played with road conditions very bad and did normal business, so it should be box office under ordinary conditions.— L. V. Bergtold, Opera House, Kasson, Minn. Rural and small town patronage. OLD-FASHIONED WAY, THE: W. C. Fields, Baby LeRoy — Gave this a return engagement as we were stormed out of most of our business on the first showing. Comments were numerous and gave evidence that the picture went over in a big way. Business was about average in spite of it being a "repeat."— L. V. Bergtold, Opera House, Kasson, Minn. Rural and small town patronage. ROCKY MOUNTAIN MYSTERY: Randolph Scott, "Chic" Sale — Paramount has strayed a long way from the once successful product of these money getting Zane Grey stores. Call them horse operas if you wish but last year's Zane Greys produced by Paramount ojitgrossed in nearly every instance their top pictures. "Rocky Mountain Mystery" is a poorly made picture and, in fact, hardly a western. A couple of these and Zane Grey won't mean a thing to the B. O. Running time, 65 minutes. Played February 17-19.— E. A. Reynolds, Strand Theatre, Princeton, Minn. Small town and country patronage. RUMBA: George Raft, Carole Lombard — George Raft again cast as a partner of famous dance team. It's too bad the studios in casting this possible star don't give him a story like he had in "Scarface" or "The Bowery." Tliat's the type in which he is liked. Why miscast him Running time, 70 minutes. Played February 20-21.— E. A. Reynolds, Strand Theatre, Princeton, Minn. Small town and country patronage. WINGS IN THE DARK: Myrna Loy, Gary Grant — A surprise picture. The picture clicked at the box office and pleased. A novel story with perfect supporting cast. Cary Grant is passable in this one. Running time, 75 minutes. Played March 1-2. — E. A. Reynolds, Strand Theatre, Princeton, Minn. Small to\\'n and country patronage. YOU BELONG TO ME: Lee Tracy, Helen MackJust a program picture played on Bargain Night. Helen Mack terrible in a blond wig. Running time, 66 minutes. Played February 27-28. — A. E. Christian, Wayne Theatre, Monticello, Ky. Small town patronage. RKO Radio GAY DIVORCEE, THE: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers — Is playing my theatre for its third night tonight and its big scenes with its pretty girls m glittering clothes make it an outstanding, gorgeous screen attraction. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers will bring happiness to you. Very good in their great dancing parts they play in this picture. Edward Everett Horton is the same old expression man who gives a good many laughs to your audience. The Baptist minister of our little city is holding protracted meetings and, of course, our crowd is not so big. I had almost given up the pleasure I derived in writing "What the Picture Did for Me" through the kindness of the Motion Picture Herald but when I see a picture like "The Gay Divorcee" and the general pubUc enjoy it so much then I want to come back and tell my story, hoping and honestly hoping that our producers will see it and do their very best to give us pictures that will draw for us a full, running-over cash register at our box office each night, 365 days in the year. Now, Mr. Picture Film Producer, if this is asking more than you can do then we exhibitors will have to make up our minds to string along with you and take what you give till its all over. — George W. Odom and Sons, Dixie Theatre, Durant, Miss. General patronage. GIGOLETTE: Adrienne Ames, Ralph BellamyPlayed this with "La Cucaracha" for an Owl show and pleased. "Gigolette" better than .average program from RKO. Running time, 72 miujutes. Played March 9-10.— G. Carey, Strand Theatre, Paris, Ark. Family patronage. GRAND OLD GIRL: May Robson— Ran this with the Dionne Quintuplets and "La Cucaracha" and did a good business. The picture pleased. — W. H. Hardman, Royal Theatre, Frankfort, Kansas. Small town patronage. KENTUCKY KERNEXS: Wheeler and Woolsey—