Motion Picture Reviews (1933)

Six Motion Picture Reviews BELOW THE SEA » » Ralph Bellamy, Fay Wray, Frederick Vogeding. Direction by Al Rogell. Columbia. With hidden treasure as the lure, this gripping and romantic adventure unfolds against a background of vivid, colorful marine life. The quest takes the fortune hunters to the ocean’s floor where a thrilling fight with a giant octopus further heightens suspense. It is an absorbing melodrama of treachery and greed in which evil is destroyed and an impossible love story ends happily. The picture is very entertaining, will appeal to all ages, and more than justifies itself because of the really remarkable photography of submarine life. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Fascinating and Good, instructive though exciting •v CENTRAL AIRPORT » » Richard Barthelmess, Sally Eilers, Tom Brown. Direction by William A. Wellman. First National-Warner Bros. Very dramatic and beautifully photographed, this is an exciting melodrama concerning a stunt flyer and his partner, a girl parachute jumper. The plot involves a threecornered love story that leads in its denouement to a thrilling rescue in a dense fog. The acting is sincere and the play has a very human quality which makes it better than just a chronicle of stunt flying. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Passable Too exciting •v DIPLOMANIACS » » Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Marjory White, Louis Calhern. Direction by William Seiter. RKO. Wheeler and Woolsey have amused many audiences with their rough antics, but for their kind of humor we question the tact of burlesquing the Geneva Peace Conference. To deal quite so ruthlessly and vulgarly with this subject seems a clumsy breach of taste. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 No No HIGH GEAR » » James Murray, Joan Marsh. Direction by Leigh Jason. Co-Operative Film Corp. A great auto racer loses his nerve after a serious accident and resorts to driving a taxi to make a living. Adversity follows him affecting a young boy he has adopted and the girl he loves, but a fortunate accident restores his self-confidence and everybody is happy again. It is a nice human story with its proper share of humor and pathos and should appeal to family audiences. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Good Good •v THE CIRCUS QUEEN MURDER » » Adolphe Menjou, Greta Nissen, Flandrin. From the story by Anthony Abbott. Direction by Roy William Neill. Columbia. A Circus Queen possessed of a fanatical husband and a romantic lover is the center of an exciting murder plot and the eternal triangle derives new interest from the novelty of a circus background. Although a murder and suicide are portrayed in a rather horrible manner, the multiplicity of thrilling events will please audiences who like to be harrowed. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Not recommended No JUSTICE TAKES A HOLIDAY » » H. B. Warner, Huntley Gordon, William Frazier, Mat Kemp, Audrey Ferris, Patricia O’Brien. Direction by Spencer Gordon Bennet. Mayfair Picture. The plot of this picture reads very like a cheap novel of the early nineties. An expert safe opener being penniless and about to become a father, meets a burglar and in desperation decides to turn his talent to dishonest ends. We spare the reader further details. The picture is too poorly done to overcome the handicap of its plot. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 No No THE KEYHOLE » » Kay Francis, George Brent. Direction by Michael Curtiz. Warner Bros. Lovely Kay Francis who brings glamor to almost any production, is almost wasted in this pale reflection of “One Way Passage.” Though moonlight nights aboard an ocean liner, hotel balconies in tropical settings and discrete drinking at fashionable bars all have their appeal to routine bored audiences, one can’t help wishing that the suave hero of this tale were not a professional detective hired to “frame” wives for suspicious husbands. This picture will delight the eye but not the intellect. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Unsuitable No interest