Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1929)

O ctob, 19 29 1259 Opinions On Picture The Very Idea Successful Funfesl From RKO (Reviewed bv Ravmond Ganly) (100% Dialogue) \\T ILLIAM LE BARON'S play comes to » ' tlie screen loaded with laughs, with bright repartee and good work from a capable cast of troupers. The "idea" of the title refers to a couple's action in authorizing their chauffeur and maid to have a "eugenic baby," the couple to adopt the child whose parents will be rewarded with a fat check. Some really funny situations develop in the course of the yarn. And if you fear that it is one of those risque things that you couldn't afford to play without loss of prestige, drop the thought at once because this comedy obtains laughs not by the risque route but through the humor in its situations, the performances and dialog contributed by the players. It is fine fun and the censors couldn't afford to slice it, for it offers very little naughtiness throughout its length. It can be played as a comedy that's just the thing for adult audiences. They will relish the predicament in which the couple find themselves. The chauffeur and maid wed and carry out their part of the contract, but when the time comes to part with the baby they find that parental love is greater than they thought. The couple who were to have received the infant as their own had already told their friends of a stranger in the family, and you can imagine their plight when they have no baby to show. However, as the end draws nigh the idea is conveyed that a baby is on its way, and not a eugenic one, either. Though it may sound a trifle naughty in the telling, don't have any qualms about playing this one for it's an unusually good dialogue comedy. The cast, particularly Frank Craven, are quite adept in their roles and LeBaron's conversations are really funny. A tine big laugh occurs when the husband who invited his friends over to see his ( ?) child finds it mighty embarrassing when its parents refuse to give it up, so much so that he has an orphan from a nearby asylum sent to his house, not realizing that he had told his friends about a year ago while he was enjoying a California vacation and that the orphan, therefore, is about a year too old for him to get away with his deception. Produced and distributed by Radio Pictures. Story and dialog by William Le Baron. Supervised by Myles Connolly. Stage Director, Frank Craven. Screen Director, Richard Rosson. Art Director, Max Ree. Released Sept. 1. Footage, 0,139 feet. THE CAST Nora Sally Blane Dorothy Green Jeanne De Bard Gilbert Goodhue Allen Kearns Edith Goodhue Doris Eaton George Green Theodore Von Eltz Marion Green Olive Tell Joe Garvin Hugh Trevor Alan Camp Frank Craven Miss Duncan Adele Watson Chester Morris has been signed by First National to appear opposite Alice White in "Playing Around," which Mervyn Le Roy will direct. Skin Deep A Different Underworld Picture (Reviewed by Freddie Schader) (All Dialogue) MONTE BLUE comes through in talkies and qualifies to stand up with any of the male talking stars. In this production he is starred in a somewhat different underworld story and in the earlier scenes he manages to out-Chaney Chaney in the matter of a repulsive make-up. For the picture houses you can average this somewhat above the average program picture and if you are in a neighborhood house located three or four blocks off the main drag where you get a little of the rougher element that like the underworld stuff you will have a surefire attraction in this one. For the first run de luxe houses the picture isn't up to standard, but the big town B houses and the subsequent runs should find it worth while. It is the eternal triangle with a couple of gang leaders rivals for the hand of a cabaret queen. She is a hardboiled little gold digger who is after the crook that can endow her with the greatest amount of material wealth. Therefore she picks the searfaced one, only to discover that his love for her is so great that he wants to turn straight and tries to. This enrages the wife who turns to the other leader and frames her husband and while he is "away" for five years she becomes the mistress of his former rival. The husband in the meantime thinks that he was framed by the district attorney and when he is released from prison tries to kill the man he believes responsible for his arrest. When he finally becomes aware of the true state of affairs he tracks down his wife and her lover, and when the lights are again turned up after a little gun play the wife is found dying on the floor and the lover is shot trying to escape from the scene of the gun light. It was he that fired the fatal shot that caused the death of the former cabaret star. A happy ending has been tacked onto this. For the crook on escaping from prison was in an auto smash-up and his face was remade in the hospital where he was taken, there he met and fell in love with the daughter of the surgeon who attended him and it is to her that he turns after the death of his wife frees him from his alliance with the underworld. Betty Compson plays the unfaithful wife and John Davidson the rival gangster. Both give excellent performances. Miss Compson is fine. Georgie Stone and Bob Perry as a couple of gangsters give a good account of themselves. Produced and distributed by the Warner Brothers. Story by Mark Edmund Jones, adapted by Qordon Rigby. Directed by Ray Enright. Length, 5,490 feet. Running time, an hour and seven minutes. Released, Sept. 7, 1929. THE CAST Joe Daley Monte Blue Son of District Attorney Davey Lee Sadie Rogers Betty Compson Elsa Langdon Alice Day Blackie Culver. . . .■ John Davidson District Attorney Carlson John Bowers Dippy Georgie Stone Dr. Bruce Langdon Tutly Marshall Tim Robert Perry Hard To Get Very Modern Comedy Drama (Reviewed by Freddie Schader) (All Dialogue) r I ^ HIS is one of those pictures of which *■ it might be asked "Which came first the chicken or the egg?", only in this case it would be ' ' When came first the picture or the theme song?" The reason for this being that the theme song is a natural as far as the hit class is concerned. It is one of those sob ballad affairs that is bound to get over with the picture audiences and it is fitted perfectly in the picture. For the regular picture house audiences this picture will do more than just get by. It has a very well worked out comedy angle that will get laughs anywhere and Dorothy Mackaill has worked up a box office following by this time and that following will he more than delighted with her Cinderella characterization in the picture. The story theme is that of Edna Ferber's "Classified" and the direction was in the hands of William Beaudine. Corinne Griffith played the silent screen version of this yarn and there is very little to choose between her and Miss Mackaill in the principal role. As a matter of fact the reviewer favors Miss Mackaill in it. You know the story. It is that of the Sip flapper daughter of a middle class family who works as a model in a smart Fifth Aveune modiste's, but who has aspirations to grab off a wealthy society youth in marriage, yet when she has the chance she turns one down to marry a young automobile mechanic. But this tale is told in a manner that will get to the picture fans. The best moments of the picture are the dialogue duels between Miss Mackaill and Jack Oakie, playing brother and sister. Jack Oakie is proving himself a greater comedy bet with each picture that he has been doing in the last six months since he got his chance in front of the "mike." Miss Mackaill and he slip over a couple of comedy scenes that are wows. Charles Delaney plays the juvenile lad and manages to handle it very well indeed. Edmund Burns as the young millionaire is likewise very good indeed. Louise Fazenda, however, does not register the full worth of the role bcause of the fact that the low comedy was stressed Ear too much. Jimmie Finlayson as the father gave a much better performance. Tlie theme song is entitled "Things We Want Most In Life Are Hard To Get." Rather lengthy as a title, but a corking number with a catchy melody that will hit. Produced and distributed by First National Pictures. From the story by Edna Ferber, directed by William Beaudine. Length, 7,324 feet. Running time, an hour and twenty-one minutes. Released Sept. s, L929. THE CAST Bobby Martin Dorothy Mackaill Pa Martin Jimmie Finlayson Ma Martin Louise Fazenda Marty Martin Jack Oakie Dexter Courtland Edmund Burns Mrs. Courtland Clarissa Selwynne Jerry Dillon Charles Delaney Olive Borden has been signed by R-K-O for a prominent part in "Dance Hall," a musical and dancing special.