Motion Picture Reviews (1941)

Four MOTION PICTURE REVIEWS sanctum for bachelors. The film is marred by a terrifying sequence at the end, but since Sandy’s life is not threatened, this is less hair-raising than her exploits in former pictures. Is it too much to hope for a Sandy picture without these dangerous predicaments ? Adolescent!, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Yes No; needs older point of view to understand situations ♦ BARNACLE BILL O O Wallace Berry, Virginia Weidler, Marjorie Main, Leo Carrillo, Donald Meek, Barton MacLane, Connie Gilchrist, Sara Haden, William Edmunds, Don Terry, Alec Craig. Screen play by Jack Jevne and Hugo Butler based on original by Jack Jevne. Direction by Richard Thorpe. M-G-M. Wallace Beery does not vary his performances. His vehicles always allow him to be the slovenly bum whether he is a Civil War renegade or a brawling, drunken fisherman, as he is in this film. The plot is woven around unethical practices which lead to violent fights and bitter enmity among the tuna fishermen at San Pedro. Marjory Main is seen as a hard-boiled spinster who is usually the victim of Barnacle Bill’s oily tongue, but has a soft spot in her heart for him nevertheless. Virginia Weidler plays his thirteenvear-old daughter, who appears on the scene after years of separation, and again she gives a sterling performance. Together, the two women reform the old reprobate, but not without a struggle and many discouragements. Running true to form, Wallace Beery will not disappoint his admirers. The film is pictorially interesting. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 No value No ❖ BLONDIE IN SOCIETY O O Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, Larry Sims, Daisy, Jonathan Hale, Danny Mummert, Edgar Kennedy, Irving Bacon, Chick Chandler. Screen play by Karen DeWolf based on comic strip created by Chic Young. Direction by Frank R. Strayer. Columbia Pictures. Poor Dogwood literally gets into the doghouse in this very diverting episode in the lives of Dogwood, Blondie and Baby Dumpling, and Daisy is called upon to be hospitable to a great Dane. It all comes about because Dogwood is generous to an old friend who owns a kennel, but Blondie looks coldly upon Chin-U p-W hite-Tie-for-Dinner, who, although a champion and capable of winning prizes, is unpopular with dog fanciers because of his reluctance to exhibit his good points at dog shows. To say that ChinUp disturbes the Bumpstead household is putting it mildly, but Blondie learns the trick of handling him and all ends well and hilariously. Although the title is somewhat of an enigma, actually the Bumpsteads are back in their normal environment and their delicious problems will afford spontaneous laughter. Baby Dumpling is now old enough to join the Boy Rangers, who through the medium of the Robert Mitchell Boy Choir, entertain with Blondie. Miss Singleton sings pleasantly. Chin-Up and Daisy are real troupers who deserve applause. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Good fun Suitable and entertaining ♦ BLOSSOMS IN THE DUST O O Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Felix Bressart, Marsha Hunt, Fay Holden, Samuel S. Hinds, Kathleen Howard, George Lessey, William Henry, Henry O'Neill, John Eldrege, Clinton Rosemond, Theresa Harris, Charlie Arnt, Cecil Cunningham, Ann Morriss, Richard Nichols, Pat Barker, Mary Taylor, Marc Lawrence. Story by Ralph Wheelwright. Screen play by Anita Loos. Directed by Mervyn Le Roy. A Mervyn Le Roy Production. M-G-M. Edna Gladney, who founded the Texas Children’s Home and Aid Society, and who is still carrying on her work, pioneered in a branch of social service that has much appeal to the public, for her life has been dedicated to the helping of little children. Like most pioneers, she encountered and overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles, and the story of her accomplishment is truly dramatic. Especially so was her successful fight in the Texas legislature to have the word, “illegitimate” removed from the birth certificates of children born out of wedlock. Greer Garson in the part of Edna Gladney, creates a lovely character who should win more new converts to Mrs. Gladney’s splendid cause. The well written script will undoubtedly spread a more understanding interest in the work of home finding societies everywhere. The treatment of the subject is popular rather than scientific, and due to the several tragic events in Mrs. Gladney’s life, the film is sometimes extremely emotional, but it is never mawkish. Walter Pidgeon as Mrs. Gladney’s husband is most sympathetic in an appealing role. The period costumes and settings of the earlier sequences add interest, and Technicolor makes the film more vivid. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Emotional, but No interesting