Motion Picture Reviews (1934)

Eight Motion Picture Reviews QUATORZE JUILLET (July 14) » » Annabella, Ceorges Rigaud, Pola I Mery, Paul Olivier, Raymond Cordy. Story and direction by Rene Clair. The charm of the whole picture lies in its living pictures of life and characters in the poorer quarters of Paris. The story itself is slight — a pleasant little romance of two young people who love and quarrel and make up again; but the humor, gaiety and beauty may be appreciated by anyone whether familiar with the language or not because of the directorial skill of Rene Clair. To those who understand French or who have lived in France, the film is a gem of portraiture. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 If it interests No interest ROAD TO RUIN » » Helen Foster. All talking version of old picture. Willis Kent Production. First Division. However great may be the necessity for impressing parents with their responsibility for more careful supervision of their adolescent children, we believe that sensational films such as this are the last resort. This is a horrid compound of salaciousness and clinical details that is neither entertaining nor scientific. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Impossible Impossible SEARCH FOR BEAUTY » » Buster Crabbe, Ida Lupino, Robert Armstrong, James Cleason. Based on the play by Schuyler E. Grey and Paul Milton. Direction by Erie Kenton. Paramount. If you enjoy seeing pretty girls by the score, and handsome, well-formed athletes, and if you hold to the theory of exercise as a guide to beauty, you may be momentarily entertained by this picture. It tells the story of two Olympic winners made editors of a “Beauty and Health Magazine.” When they discover that it is in reality one of the cheap “confession” periodicals they work to cancel their editorial contract and clear their names by other health activities. It is needlessly vulgar and suggestive at times, but on the other hand it stresses its moral. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Not recommended No SHADOWS OF SINC SING » » Mary Brian, Bruce Cabot, Grant Mitchell. Direction by Phil Rosen. Columbia. The son of a police official falls in love with a college girl whom he then learns is the sister of a notorious gangster. The consequences of his involvement are serious and unhappy, resulting in a murder and the young man's near conviction of the crime. The only novelty in the picture is the method by which the real criminal is found and this is not sufficiently important or interesting to offset the triteness of the whole or its unpleasantly sinister suggestions of the power and luxury of gangland and the ease with which a young man of good standing might have been wrongly convicted of murder. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 No No rp SON OF A SAILOR » * Joe E. Brown, Thelma Todd, Johnny Mack Brown. Direction by Lloyd Bacon. Warner Bros. As an egotistical and blundering “gob” Joe E. Brown gives an amusing characterization. It is fantastic, absurd and wholesomely laughable. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Yes Yes ■y TWO ALONE » » (Formerly Titled “WILD BIRDS”) Jean Parker, Tom Brown, Zasu Pitts, Arthur Byron, Beulah Bordi. Direction by E. Nugent. From play by Don Totheron. R-K-O. This is a stark, vividly acted drama of cruelty and its tragic consequences, the too realistic study of a brutish, domineering farmer and the suffering he inflicts upon a boy and girl who are in his power. Though dramatically presented, it depicts an abnormal side of life, the moral situations are questionable, and it is too depressingly sombre in tone to please many audiences. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Harmful in effect Certainly not v WALTZ TIME » » Evelyn Laye, Fritz Schultz. Direction by William Thiele. Adapted from opera by Johann Strauss. British-Gaumont Production. Romantic operetta with pleasing music, some excellent characterizations, and a gay inconsequential story. Lightly entertaining. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Passable Little interest