Motion Picture Reviews (1933)

Four Motion Picture Reviews versities. Their detailed scientific reports are to be published shortly. The popular summary of the work is now available and may be had through any book store. It is titled “Our Movie Made Children” (the Macmillan Company, 1933) and is an interpretation of the studies, compiled by Henry James Forman. These scientists understand the motion picture, its appeal and its great significance to mankind. They have approached the subject free from prejudice, and the results of their study are open for inspection and discussion. To get a perspective of the problem, theatre audiences were surveyed and the product was then analyzed and classified. These two studies answered the questions “Who Goes to the Movies?” and “What do They See?” The results are not guesswork and they will answer questions which always arise at any forum on the subject. Then follow simple and understandable interpretations of the experiments which we believe prove conclusively that children are influenced physically and moulded spiritually by what they are exposed to on the screen. We believe that no one reading the book can fail to accept the fact that “The picture of today helps to mould the citizen of tomorrow” (Dr. W. W. Charters, Ohio State University), and if this is true, the work of better films committees is only beginning. With definite data with which to work, circulation of these findings must be one of the next steps — parental education — carried on and developed into suggestions of policies for meeting the situation in some definite way. Every woman active in this work realizes also the necessity for constant vigilance and the constant expenditure of effort to try to safeguard youth against the selfish aggrandisements of some of the producers and exhibitors. Double billing has done more to nullify the work of better films committees than any recent exhibiting practice. In the past few days organized women have, through representatives in Washington, and by means of wires and letters, registered their hope that in the compiling of the new Producers-Distributors code, emphasis on wages and hours of labor will not overshadow the social side of the exhibition of pictures. We are counting on the NRA to safeguard our children spiritually as well as physically. FEATURE FILMS THE AVENGER » » Ralph Forbes, Adrienne Ames. Monogram. Ralph Forbes as an honest and diligent prosecuting attorney is framed and sentenced to twenty years in the penitentiary. How he revenges himself on the unscrupulous gang who sent him up is told in a rather confused manner. Technically the picture leaves much to be desired, but may prove entertaining to those interested in the whys and wherefores of political corruption. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Harmless No interest -w BEAUTY FOR SALE » » Madge Evans, Alice Brady, Otto Kruger, May Robson, Una Merkel, Phillips Holmes, Florine McKinney. From the novel by Faith Baldwin. Direction by Richard Boleslavsky. M-C-M. The title is honest, for the picture follows the same old formula of beautiful working girls whose love affairs are strictly unconventional. But an exceptional cast and subtle direction lend sophisticated interest to the comedy in spite of its frankly sexy story. It has a hard brilliance, undoubtedly clever characterizations, and absurdly amusing lines. Only afterwards does the spectator rouse to wish that it had been more worth while. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 No No V BIC EXECUTIVE » » Ricardo Cortez, Elizabeth Young, Richard Bennett, Sharon Lynne. From a story by Alice Duer Miller. Direction by Erie Kenton. Paramount. An excellent character study by Richard Bennett is the chief interest in this rather tedious story which pictures selfish and unhappy men and women who create their own ethical standards and make money their chief concern. Because of its sordid atmosphere it offers little diversion. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 No No v BUREAU OF MISSING PERSONS » » Bette Davis, Pat O’Brien, Lewis Stone, Glenda Farrell. Direction by Roy Del Ruth. Warner Bros. A weakness of the average person, known as curiosity, is utilized to gain the attention of the audience in this group of stories based on records of the New York Bureau of Missing Persons. In the midst of routine investigations there is tragedy, pathos and sometimes pure comedy; one story follows an