Motion Picture Reviews (1933)

Motion Picture Reviews Five FEATURE FILMS ♦ BE MINE TONIGHT » » Jan Kiepura. Directed by Anatol Litwak. Universal Pictures. (Seen at theatre preview.) This is one of the most delightful musical productions the screen has ever offered, and all the possibilities of the medium have been utilized to create the perfection. Featuring Jan Kiepura, the Polish tenor, we have a hero with a golden voice and good looks and a charming personality in addition. The story is original and deliciously amusing and the gorgeous settings of the Italian Alps are breath-taking in their beauty. It is in operatic form, the music integrally woven into the action in a natural and most effective manner. One’s attention is held by the plot and fascinated by sound and settings at the same time. Hollywood must look to its laurels in competition with this foreign made production. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Excellent Good, unless too young 'W THE BIG CAGE » » Featuring Clyde Beatty. Direction by Clyde Neuman. Universal. This is one of the most logically thrilling pictures we have seen. Clyde Beatty, a remarkably fearless trainer of wild animals, is seen as a performer ambitious to put on the most stupendous animal act ever shown — twenty lions and tigers in one cage together. Winter quarters of a circus are shown; the arrival of the magnificent untrained creatures, and the trainer’s determined persistence in the face of terrific danger to prove that his ambition can be realized. There is practically no story to divert attention. Interest is centered entirely on the animal act and on the amazing courage and skill of the man who cowes beasts in order to thrill an amusement seeking crowd. Excellent photography enhances the effects. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Very thrilling Too exciting to recommend •w THE BIC DRIVE » » Compiled by E. L. Rule. First Division Release. These authentic scenes of the Great War were gathered from the official records compiled by eight combating countries by cameramen who risked their lives under orders to get the pictorial records. They comprise a very interesting attempt to give a true picture of this great tragedy, for they are actual impersonal newsreels: they do not hide the horrors of the struggle nor the terrible destruction and waste of life involved. The lecturer’s comments are patterned to describe the scenes accurately, and an intelligent adult will get the reaction intended. But for youthful audiences, the last reels are psychologically wrong. They destroy the attitude so painstakingly built up and arouse a definitely nationalistic feeling. America’s entrance into the war is heralded by stirring military music, the Armistice is thrilling, the final argument of Mr. Coolidge for preparedness is a mistake, if the plea is intended solely for international goodwill and perpetual peace. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Very interesting and Pretty strong informative ■sr CHRISTOPHER STRONG » » Katharine Hepburn, Colin Clive. From the novel, “Christopher Strong,” by Cilbert Frankau. Direction by Dorothy Arzner. RKO. Dorothy Arzner’s interpretation of “Christopher Strong” is an unmistakable blunder. Granted that the story is trashy, and that the dialogue is often feeble, certainly the obvious, studied direction and the over acting on the part of the excellent cast must be considered her responsibility. For plot: a good girl and someone else’s good husband meet. Their friendship starts on the grounds of mutual goodness, but it soon digresses, and their subsequent relationship could never be mistaken for platonic. The play longs to be a slice of contemporary life. It fails because it is too ultra, too exaggerated — and too dull. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 No No -V DESTINATION UNKNOWN » » Pat O’Brien, Betty Compson, Ralph Bellamy, Allan Hale. Direction by Jay Carnet. Universal. (Seen at a theatre preview.) A rum runner becomes becalmed, the drinking water supply gives out, and the crew revert to the savagery of beasts and to the code of the survival of the fittest. Into this terrible confusion comes a strange stowaway who saves them from their fate and is