Motion Picture Magazine (Aug 1928-Jan 1929)

•ja( itgviefr JUST MARRIED ONE of those boisterous farces in which everyone gets in the wrong bed has been made from the famous stage play. It takes place on shipboard. The passenger list includes one honeymoon couple, one engaged couple, one swarthy vampire who is out to get the engaged man, and one intoxicated gentleman who has designs on the engaged girl. This combination of the sexes could obviously lead to nothing but a double wedding in the captain's cabin. But not before many mistakes have been made, many embarrassing moments lived through, and the screams of the audience have become louder and longer. James Hall, who ultimately gets the girl, goes through most of the scenes with his trousers missing. It's that sort of thing. Ruth Taylor is, of course, the blonde ingenue. Lila Lee is the determined vampire. Harrison Ford and somebody else whose name I didn't catch are the honeymoon couple. And William Austin is, as usual, the goat. They all play with the required hilarity. Now you can look into your own hearts and decide whether you're likely to be amused by this or not. If not, you'll be a lonely minority. THE PERFECT CRIME 7\/fR BENSON, a great detective, is bored with crime because ■L VM. all criminals are such bunglers. He retires from the police department, and muses in his library on a possible perfect crime. The next step is to commit this crime himself, which he does, neatly, expertly, leaving no possible clues. Imagine his embarrassment when another man is convicted for his crime. This is a wellmade and smoothly acted picture. Clive Brook is the only man I know of who could play this cold-blooded murderer and yet capture your sympathy as completely as he does. I had an uneasy feeling that one or two points needed explaining, but it is a shame to approach such a very good picture with too critical an eye. The denouement is bound up with the detective's own romance and that of the man on whom the guilt has fallen. Irene Rich, Carroll Nye, Gladys McConnell, and Tully Marshall are all good. The real ending is interesting though unhappy. But another ending has been tacked on which explains that it was all a dream — for the benefit of those who would rather go home happy. This is unworthy of the picture, and should be ignored. CRAIG'S WIFE A FAITHFUL reproduction of George Kelly's prize play. Irene ■*J Rich gives her best performance as Mrs. Craig, the woman whose fanatical worship of her house finally drives everybody out of it. She does this remarkably well, making you feel exactly the right balance of hatred and compassion. It is impossible to watch this spectacle of a woman trying to control the lives of everyone about her for her own selfish end without having some violent reaction. The audience practically stands up and cheers when the worm turns at last, yet they weep, if I am a good example, in the tragic moment when she is left to live her empty life alone, which shows that this must be a pretty good picture. Virginia Bradford and Carroll Nye are attractive as the young lovers. Warner Baxter, as the patient husband, and Lilyan Tashman inject the necessary dash of melodrama. This is one of the few examples to come recently to notice of the successful and intelligent and effective translation to the screen of a stage play genuinely human and finely drawn. Even at the risk of domestic duplicity, we suggest your seeing "Craig's Wife." And taking yours with you. WOMEN THEY TALK ABOUT //NOTHER Vitaphone picture that is good in spite of rather yl than because of its audible moments. William Collier, Jr., and Audrey Ferris are an engaging pair of youngsters who persist in their romance in spite of the feud between his father and her grandpa. These irascible fellows are Claude Gillingwater and Anders Randolf. They call each other names on the Vitaphone, and both their voices register very well, but the action furnishes most of the amusement. It's all about the indignation of everyone else in the cast over the childish behavior of the Mayor, who is an old meanie, in spite of the fact that he's the hero's father and the heroine's stepfather-to-be. Irene Rich further complicates the plot by running for Mayor, and a lot of things happen. You will like this because it is good-natured and plausible comedy, because Claude Gillingwater gives a fine performance, and because Buster Collier and Audrey Ferris are so young and appealing. It may be that "Women They Talk About" will not be one of those movies or talkies that everyone will be talking about. But it nevertheless serves as fair-to-middling and pleasant diversion. 63