Motion Picture Reviews (1934)

Motion Picture Reviews Nine HAVE A HEART » * Jean Parker, James Dunn. Una Merkel. Stuart Erwin. Story by B. C. De Sylva and David Butler. Direction by David Butler. M-C-M. This is an appealing story with plenty of pathos and rather unusually good comic relief. It recounts the joys and sorrows attendant upon the romance of a crippled maker of dolls and the driver of a confection wagon. It is not designed for the cynical, but will be welcomed by many people of all ages who still enjoy being persuaded that something, if not all, is “right with the world.” Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Excellent Good THE HUMAN SIDE » * Adolphe Menjou, Doris Kenyon, Charlotte Henry. Direction by Eddie Buzzell. Universal. With the revived interest in child actors this film has a certain appeal through the four children who play an important part in the story, but the rest is mediocre due to lack of character development and the triteness of the plot. Besides the children, the characters are a theatrical producer, his divorced wife and a would-be actress whom he is attempting to star in productions which she finances. The children who are ridiculed by their playmates because of unfavorable publicity concerning their father and the actress, finally take a hand in routing the actress, reforming the father and bringing about his reconciliation with their mother. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 No; triangle problem No unsuitable LOVE TIME » » Pat Paterson, Nils Asther, Herbert Mundin, Harry Green. Based on a story by Richard Carroll. Adaptation by Lynn Starling and Sally Sandlin. Direction by James Tinling. Fox. Schubert’s exquisite music, a charming love tale, and the romantic background of Imperial Austria are embodied in this delightful film which tells an idealized story of the courtship of Franz Schubert, the poor young musician, and Valerie, the daughter of the Duke von Hatzfeld. The music alone would make it worth attending, but it is also appealingly enacted by a capable cast. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Excellent Good LADY BY CHOICE » » May Robson, Carol Lombard, Roger Pyror, Walter Connolly. Film adaptation by Joe Swearling from a story by Dwight Taylor. Direction by David Burton. Columbia. May Robson is now our “grande dame” of the screen: always consistently a fine actress, human, lovable, amusing or tragic as the role demands. In this she brings to mind her part in “Lady for a Day.” The character metamorphosis is similar although the stories are not alike. Both are entertaining. In this we find her a gin-soaked derelict constantly picked up by the police for disturbing the peace. She is sent to an “Old Ladies’ Home.” How fate takes her from rhose hated portals to awaken her latent decency and responsibility in saving a young woman from a life similar to her own, makes a really entertaining film. A fairy tale of course, but full of laughs and tears and clever characterizations. The cast is good, the direction swift and always in good taste. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Doubtful No -w MIDNIGHT ALIBI » » Richard Barthelmess. Arthur Alesworth, Ann Dvorak, Helen Lowell, Helen Chandler. Adapted from “The Old Doll’s House” by Damon Runyon. Direction by Alan Crosland. Warner Brothers. Despite its title this is not a murder mystery. It is instead two love stories, one of a gangster whose profession separates him from his sweetheart, and the other of an old lady whose youthful romance was blighted by an unsympathetic father. By telling her story to the gangster the old lady in some subtle way, not made very clear to the audience, manages to reform him and enable him to win his love suit. Although some of the scenes are very well enacted, the picture as a whole lacks reality. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 No; makes underworld No characters attractive ■v OUTCAST LADY * » Constance Bennett, Herbert Marshall, Hugh Williams, Elizabeth Allan, Henry Stephenson, Robert Loraine, Ralph Forbes. From the book “The Creen Hat," by Michael Arlen. Adapted by Zoe Akins. Directed by Robert Z. Leonard. M-C-M. “We Marches are never let off anything.” So runs the legend of this free-drinking, lifeloving, improvident family. Iris, the last daughter of the line, inherits also their high courage and gallantry. Hurting no one but herself, defiant of the world’s opinion, she