Motion Picture Reviews (1942)

MOTION PICTURE REVIEWS Seven Elizabeth Bergner is a welcome addition to American films. Her restrained acting carries deep conviction, and her expressive face, the illusion of rare beauty. Basil Rathbone and Randolph Scott are competent as usual. The musical score is very beautiful. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 1 2 Depends on No emotional stability, especially today THE PERFECT SNOB O O Lynn Bari, Cornel Wilde, Charlie Ruggles, Charlotte Greenwood, Anthony Quinn, Alan Mowbray, Chester Clute, LeRoy Mason. Direction by Ray McCarey. 20th CenturyFox. Following a familiar Hollywood film pattern, a socially ambitious mother engineers her daughter's engagement to the season's catch only to have her fall in love with someone who miraculously proves to be a greater prize. The plot is not too important. It gives an excuse for the antics of Charlotte Greenwood and the absent-minded comedy of Charlie Ruggles, which sometimes rise to hilarious pitches. While the film does not rate above B classification, it has its bright moments and is possible for an hour of relaxation. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 1 2 Yes Harmless if they are interested PLAYMATES O O Kay Kyser, John Barrymore, Lupe Velez, Ginny Simms, May Robson, Patsy Kelly, Peter Lind Hayes, George Cleveland, Alice Fleming, Kay Kyser's Band. Direction by David Butler. RKO-Radio. John Barrymore washes his dirty linen in public and emphasizes his failings by a flashback to his days of greatness, a perfect delivery of Hamlet’s soliloquy. Kay Kyser puts his second-best foot forward, while the rest of a noisy cast support these principals in a typical radio plot anent the marriage of Shakespeare and swing. The entertainment level is raised a few notches by several good orchestra numbers and songs, including the timely “Thank Your Lucky Stars and Stripes,” but this is not enough to satisfy anyone but confirmed radio fans. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Matter of taste Not very suitable REMEMBER THE DAY O O Claudette Colbert, John Payne, John Shepperd, Ann Todd, Douglas Croft, Jane Seymour, Anne Revere, Frieda Inescourt, Harry Hayden, Francis Pierlot, Marie Blake. Based on the play by Philo Higley and Philip Dunning. Screen play by Tess Slesinger, Frank Davis and Allan Scott. Direction by Henry King. 20th Century-Fox. Like “Cheers for Miss Bishop,” this is the story of a woman with a genius for teach ing, but it is treated in a different way. When the film opens we meet Nora Trinell, “a gray-haired woman with a beautiful smile,” edging her way into the throng at the Washington headquarters of the presidential nominee, Dewey Roberts. Then the scene fades back to a year of his boyhood to show how the inspiration and the love and guidance of Miss Trinell formed the starting point of his career. She had not planned to dedicate her life to teaching. During the same year she met and loved the handsome young athletic director, and there was a summer and a Christmas vacation filled with high hopes and bright romance before he was called away to the first World War. While Claudette Colbert makes Nora Trinell a lovely, vital person, it is not her picture alone, for John Payne as her lover and Douglas Croft as the impressionable, idealistic boy, give equally fine performances, and minor roles are good. The period of 1917 is fixed by clothes and settings and current social customs. The main criticism of the picture is that the details are so accurate that occasionally, as in the bathing suit scene, the action verges upon caricature. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 1 2 Yes Needs older evaluation ❖ ROAD AGENT O O Dick Foran, Leo Carrillo, Andy Devine, Anne Nagel. Universal. An average, typical Western with the stereotyped plot— Wells Fargo agent, stage coach holdup, riding, shooting and humor provided by Leo Carrillo and Andy Devine. Dick Foran sings pleasingly and western scenery is expertly photographed. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 1 2 Matter of taste No THE ROAD TO HAPPINESS O O John Boles, Mona Barrie, Billy Lee, Roscoe Karns, Lillian Elliot, Paul Porcasi, Sam Flint, Brandon Hurst, Byron Folger, Selmar Jackson, Harlan Tucker, Antonio Filauri. From the American Magazine story “First Performance" by Matt Taylor. Direction by Phil Rosen. Musical direction by Edward Kay. Monogram Pictures. Returning to the screen, John Boles plays in a delightful picture with young Billy Lee. They are very natural and appealing in the relationship of father and son, without becoming oversentimental. When Jeff Carter enters the U. S. after a period of voice study abroad, he finds that his wife has divorced him and is neglecting their child, and then begins his two-fold struggle of earning a living for Danny and finding an opportunity for his introduction as an opera singer. Mona Barrie has a thankless part, a hard, ambitious woman with so little maternal instinct