Motion Picture Magazine (Aug 1928-Jan 1929)

News, Views and Pre-views Of The Talking Pictures Edited by HERBERT CRUIKSHANK ON TRIAL WARNER BROTHERS' " On Trial " proves more thoroughly than any talking picture I have seen to date just what a talking picture can do. For it is not so much a picture as it is a cross-section of life, the complete understanding of a highly dramatic situation heretofore seen only in angles and phases. It's quite a tremendous experience, this complete living in the lives of other people. And it's the more tremendous because the entire cast of Pauline Frederick, Lois Wilson, Bert Lytell, Holmes Herbert, Edmund Breese, Jason Robards, Franklin Pangborn, Richard Tucker and all the bits are utterly sincere, convincing and in earnest. And of these the performance of Franklin Pangborn must be given time for very honorable mention. If you miss "On Trial," you'll be the loser. MANHATTAN COCKTAIL ONE of those hybrid pictures which breaks disconcertingly into sound just as you have settled down for a comfortable doze. There is one scene wherein Nancy Carroll, as the Main Street girl with Broadway ambitions, stops singing a very clever jazz song and instantly is shown talking with the producer without a sound issuing from her lips. The picture introduces several very clever new songs, by the way, all written by Victor Shertsinger, who directs movies when he isn't composing music; and Nancy sings them in a pleasing voice. As the title suggests, the plot is not substantial picture fare. A small town cutie runs away from home to become a chorus girl. Her sweetie, a young playwright — Richard Arlen — prefers life under the elms. There is a rival played by Dennis O'Shea and a menace played by Paul Lucas, and the poor little country girl is tempted. But does she fall? If you've ever seen a motion picture, you know. ^% m 1 ;: ' ^^^^ •:: w* ^ f. ■ WW W "r^A B^HHMJ NOAH'S ARK TOO many miracles are invoked to caulk, the leaky timbers of "Noah's Ark." Neither Jove nor Jehovah has hurled so many thunderbolts as director Michael Curtiz. Indeed, only divine interference has saved the film-story from foundering in a flood of impossibility. The continuity lacks clarity, and the chain of circumstance connecting the ancient with the modern sequences is conspicuous in its missing links. In the Biblical portions there is an odd admixture of the Old and New Testaments. Such, for instance, as words from the Lord's Prayer issuing from the lips of Noah. On the other hand, the effort is notable for its lavishness of production, for its "stupendous" sets, for its massed humanity. There is spectacular quality in the flood scenes. The very volume of the waters is impressive. The most interesting characterization is that of Gwynn Williams. The voices of Noah Beery and George O'Brien vitaphone best. Dolores Costello still experiences difficulty with the recording device. More, much more, of Louise Fazenda would have helped measurably. THE MELODY OF LOVE UNIVERSAL'S first audible picture may be set down as a very creditable experiment. Perhaps the most interesting item in connection with the film is that the slender story has been treated in an operetta technic. There is a deal of singing contributed by Walter Pidgeon, Mildred Harris and a quartette. At the slightest provocation some one bursts into song, just as in a musical stage show. The picture has been shot in scenes or episodes, so that an entire episode may be lifted bodily from the production if deemed wise. The plot concerns a piano-playing song-writer who loses his mercenary sweetie when his money-making fingers are injured in the war. Of course, there is another girl to compensate him. And a happy ending. All voices reproduce remarkably well. That of Jane Winton which rings clear and true as the proverbial bell. Walter Pidgeon's baritone proves effective; and the quartette numbers provide a surfeit of harmony. Mildred Harris sings pleasingly. Tom Dugan is a comedy doughboy with a propensity for the galloping dominoes. A very interesting and creditable experiment. One upon which Universal should be congratulated. 68