Motion Picture Reviews (1934)

Six Motion Picture Reviews terest is supplied by activities at police headquarters where methods of crime detection are shown in detail. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Fair No •w GIRL WITHOUT A ROOM » » Charles Farrell, Marguerite Churchill, Charlie Ruggles. From the novel by Jack Lait. Direction by Ralph Murphy. Paramount. Probably intended to burlesque modernistic painters and their work, this picture commences rather propitiously, but it rapidly degenerates to slapstick, and the stage business transcends the bounds of good taste. There are some funny situations but very few clever lines and the story is the old one of the young American who is fleeced by the colony of third-rate artists with whom he associates. Possibly because the Latin quarter background has so often been used as an excuse for almost every sort of eccentricity and unconventionality, only a director as subtle as Lubitsch or Mamoulian could have worked this material into anything worthy of recommendation. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 No No •w GOING HOLLYWOOD » » Bing Crosby, Marion Davies, Fit i D’Orsay, Stuart Erwin. Direction by Raoul Walsh. M-C-M. A pretentious musical comedy characterized by Bing Crosby’s crooning and some unusually tuneful musical scores but lacking in any other outstanding quality. Costliness is apparent in costumes and settings. Miss Davies is conspicuous but unimpressive. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Fair Fair •sr HAVANA WIDOWS » » Joan Blondell, Clenda Farrell, Cuy Kibbe, Frank McHugh. Direction by Ray Enright. First National. This picture shows the most up-to-date methods of blackmailing and gold-digging as practiced by two ex-chorus girls and a drunken lawyer. It is supposed to be light comedy, but the effort to make entertainment of such obnoxious material seems both futile and depressing. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Impossible No •w HER SWEETHEART » » See “Christopher Bean,” this issue. I AM SUSANNE » » Lilian Harvey, Gene Raymond, Marjorie Rambeau, with Podrecca’s Piccoli Marionettes and the Yale Puppeteers. Story by Edwin Justus Mayer and Rowland V. Lee. Direction by Rowland V. Lee. Fox. “I Am Susanne” is delightful. The story is unique and entertaining, the locale new, and the introduction to a puppeteer’s workshop, fascinating. Dainty little Susanne, a pathetic puppet in real life, bitterly resents her lover’s relationship to his exquisitely skilful creations until she understands. Like other productions of Rowland V. Lee, the story is not overbalanced by spectacle, but is smoothly woven into a sensitive and delicate performance. Gene Raymond is excellent and Lilian Harvey, in her gayer scenes, is again the charming comedian of “Congress Dances.” We recommend this to your attention. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Good Children, 8 to 12 If it interests JIMMY AND SALLY » * James Dunn, Claire Trevor. Direction by James Tinling. Fox. The plot is similar to that of other pictures in which James Dunn has played, a human interest story with laughter, and no great heights or depths. Jimmy, a young man with exaggerated self-assurance, believes he can make easy money by spectacular schemes which, however, end in a series of disasters. He finally accepts Sally’s doctrine of hard work and thrift as the means of advancement. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Yes Children, 8 to 12 No interest KING FOR A NIGHT » » Chester Morris, Helen Twelvetrees, Alice White, George Stone. Direction by Kurt Neumann. Universal Pictures Corp. Undoubtedly this picture is supposed to be a study in sincerity. How the son of a small town minister adopts prizefighting as a profession and atheism as a creed, and remains true to his convictions even though he dies in the electric chair protecting his erring sister’s good name, is a theme replete with dramatic possibilities. Unfortunately the motives of his sacrifice, while noble in themselves, are not forcefully enough presented to make the story plausible. The presentation is dull and feeble. Altogether it may be classed as just another poor melodrama. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 No No