Motion Picture Reviews (1933)

Motion Picture Reviews Seven another sentimental melodrama, but the combined talents of its two directors and Miss Colbert have made it a picture which will appeal to many audiences. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Not recommended No yr THE WAY TO LOVE » * Maurice Chevalier, Edward E. Horton, Ann Dvorak. Direction by Norman Taurog. Paramount. “The Way to Love” is a box-office title for an unbelievable, fairly humorous but ineffectual vehicle for Maurice Chevalier. The interpolated songs are of the type which permit the star the use of his complete repertoire of musical comedy gestures, but they are not tuneful enough to be remembered afterwards. The plot is thin, depending on gags and good humored clowning for most of its interest. It follows the pattern of other Chevalier pictures but is more wholesome in general trend. It is light, gay and pleasant entertainment. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Amusing Perhaps •w WILD BOYS OF THE ROAD » » Frankie Darro, Edwin Phillips, Dorothy Coonan, Rochelle Hudson. Direction by William Wellman. First National-Warner Bros. Dramatizing the plight of boys thrown on their own resources and drifting from city to city in search of actual livelihood, the film has timely interest and stirring action to hold one’s undivided attention. The boys around whom the story centers are sympathetically pictured as normal enough lads who lead a reckless, careless life until poverty brings out their latent generosity and kindness, but it entirely overlooks the other class who make these gangs the breeding place of crime. It sentimentalizes the groups and romanticizes the nomadic life they lead in such a way as to underestimate the hardships and dangers and make it all an alluring adventure. What seems a happy ending is in reality no suggestion for the solution of the problem. The film is evidently not a preachment but is thought provoking for adults. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Not advised No THE WORLD CHANCES » » Paul Muni, Aline MacMahon. Direction by Mervyn Le Roy. Warner Bros.-First National. Seen in studio preview and subject to change. There is a vast amount of interesting material in this ambitious panorama of the years from 1856 to 1929. Commencing with the birth of a child on a Dakota prairie, it follows the fortunes of that child through his youth as pioneer farmer boy, his migration back to Chicago where he becomes a power in the meat-packing business, and his old age when he is a lonely and saddened onlooker at the domestic unhappiness and financial ruin of his unsatisfactory sons and their pampered children. The first half of the picture has tremendous vigor. It is a chronicle of gigantic accomplishments in a rugged age. Though this vitality unfortunately is partially lost and the story suffers from a change of mood when towards the end it becomes a petty narrative of family disputes, the final impression is one of validity. Paul Muni’s remarkably consistent portrayal of the leading character gives unity and dignity to the whole production. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Interesting No interest SERIALS THE THREE MUSKETEERS » » (A Modern Version) Jack Mulhall, Raymond Hatten, Francis X. Bushman, John Wayne, Ruth Hall, Creighton Chaney, Wallace Beery, Jr. Direction by Armand Schaffer and Collbert Clark. Mascot serial. Three swashbuckling members of the French Foreign Legion have thrilling adventures fighting with Arab bandits on the Sahara Desert. It is colorful in setting and action and has an unusually good cast, while the latter chapters fall down somewhat in interest, it is on the whole very good of its type. The title alone suggests Dumas’ tale. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Entertaining to many Exciting CORDON OF GHOST CITY » » Buck Jones, William Desmond, Madge Bellamy. Direction by Henry McRae and Henry Taylor. Story by Peter B. Kyne. Universial serial. An exciting serial which has the advantage of having been better written and more logically treated than usual. It is Western in locale, the riding is excellent and the settings beautiful. It contains the usual thrilling chapter endings but these are less harrowing and more possible than the usual run of these stories. It is a good production of its type. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Probably entertaining Exciting