Motion Picture Reviews (1934)

Motion Picture Reviews Five debatable because many individuals frankly confess to a horror of snakes, but it is undoubtedly fascinating and exciting and contains a great amount of very interesting natural lore for those who would learn about desert life without the discomforts and perhaps the dangers of exploration. The photography is excellent. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Strong but instructive No — too strong •w EICHT GIRLS IN A BOAT » » Douglass Montgomery, Dorothy Wilson, Kay Johnson, Jean Rouverol. Direction by William Walker. Paramount. The heroine of this story is a tender, wistful young girl, a boarding student in a school on Lake Geneva. At a dance she meets and falls in love with a student at a neighboring college. The story of her betrayal by her lover and its effect upon herself, her family and her school associates is told with sympathetic brilliance and understanding of the various points of view. The technique of the picture closely resembles that of “Maedchen in Uniform” in its rising climax and its background, but the story is one which perhaps has more general interest. The cast is exceptionally good, and beautiful photography accentuates the charm of the drama. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Not recommended No ■w FOG » » Mary Brian, Donald Cook, Reginald Denny. Direction by Albert Rogell. Columbia. When an eccentric old millionaire is strangled on an ocean liner, the tell-tale finger of suspicion points in turn at each surviving member of the company, all according to the best traditions of mystery films. Plot and acting are not exceptional, and there are several episodes too gruesome for anyone who is at all squeamish, but what lends distinction to the production is the fogdrenched atmosphere which is tremendously effective in creating fear and suspense. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Perhaps Not at all ■v FOUR FRIGHTENED PEOPLE » » Claudette Colbert, Herbert Marshall, Mary Boland, William Cargan, Leo Carrillo. From novel by E. Arnot Robertson. Direction by Cecil B. DeMille. Paramount. This is the story of four individuals who are suddenly thrown upon their own resources in an ' almost impenetrable jungle. Life and return to civilization depend upon their strength and ingenuity and the film is concerned with the physical experience of the four. Because the setting is authentic, the photography excellent and the cast human and satisfactory, it provides a measure of entertainment. But it isn’t very deep and it offers no real character studies. The fact that it also lacks emotional melodrama is, after all, a little surprising and disappointing in a DeMille production. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Not recommended No •w HOLD THE PRESS » » Tim McCoy, Shirley Crey. Direction by Phil Rosen. Columbia. Perhaps to movie audiences the selling of paroles is a new angle of our much publicized war against crime. Tim, as an ambitious young reporter with a “nose for news,” brings a crooked parole board and a gang of racketeers to justice. It is banal melodrama of slight interest. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Better not No ~w HIPS HIPS HOORAY » » Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Dorothy Lee, Thelma Todd, Ruth Etting. Direction by Mark Sandrich. R-K-O. Two competing beauty establishments employing numerous semi-nude operators form the backdrop for the antics of Wheeler and Woolsey. The music and banana eating continue at the same level as in other productions by these artists, and there is the usual large dose of suggestive dialogue. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Not recommended No T FUGITIVE LOVERS » » Robert Montgomery, Madge Evans, Ted Healy. Direction by Richard Boleslavsky. M-C-M. The cross country bus comes into its own now as setting for romance and adventure, and certainly timid souls will not be inspired to confidence in their fellow travellers if the stories are accepted seriously. In this, an escaped convict, a chorus girl and a gangster create the excitement, and a happy ending is achieved by a noble rescue of children in a blizzard. It is tiresome, unwholesome sentimentality which is recommended to no one’s attention. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 No No