Motion Picture Reviews (1938)

Six MOTION PICTURE REVIEWS of Josette’s little understudy. There is much confusion as to identity, a few tears are shed, hut in the end it all works out to everyone’s satisfaction. It is a flippantly gay musical comedy of the “No, No, Nanette" type, embellished by clever dialogue, diverting situations, and delightful settings, marred by too much drinking. Don Ameche and Robert Young are excellent as the two brothers. Simone Simon is charming and her voice is sweet, if somewhat lacking in volume. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children. 8 to 12 Too sophisticated No © KEEP SMILING O O Jane Withers, Gloria Stuart, Henry Wilcoxon, Helen Westley, Jed Prouty. From an original idea by Frank Fenton and Lynn Root. Screen play by Frances Hyland and Albert Ray. Direction by Herbert I. Leeds. 20th Century-Fox. This is a more suitable film for Jane Withers than many she has played in recently, for while she is the same irrepressible, quickwitted child, her pranks are those of a girl of her age, never worldly-wise or malicious. When the story opens she is in the midst of a rehearsal of “Julius Ciesar" in a fashionable girls’ school. Soon the scene shifts to Hollywood where she discovers that her only living relative, a famous director, has fallen upon evil days through drink and extravagance, and it becomes the mission of Jane and his adoring secretary to reclaim him. Good atmosphere pervades the episodes in the “guest home" and behind the scenes in the big studio. The most affecting part is that of the veteran actor (Pedro de Cordoba), whose opportunity comes too late. Adolescents, 1 2 to 16 Children, 8 to 1 2 Amusing Yes © LORD JEFF O O Freddie Bartholomew, Mickey Rooney, Chas. Coburn, Herbert Mundin, Terry Kilburn, Gale Sondergaard, Peter Ellis. Screen play by James Kevin, McGuinness. From a story by Bradford Ropes, Val Burton and Endre Bohem. Direction by Sam Wood. M-G-M. “Lord Jeff,” in addition to being good entertainment, presents a social problem in a constructive way. Freddie Bartholomew is seen in the role of an English boy who has been the willing accomplice of jewel thieves. He is apprehended by the police, and the Court sends him — not to a reform school — but to the Russel-Cotes Nautical School, Southampton, England, which is one of the Barnado Homes instituted for the care, training and rehabilitation of destitute orphaned children. The boy finds adjustment difficult, for he is slow to adapt himself to discipline and rules and to recognize the possibilities open to him, until the humane and wise approach of the faculty and the reactions of the boys themselves arouse the latent fineness of his character. The story is excellent, with stimulating and entertaining sequences, humor, and real thrills. The boys, with their English and Irish accents, are well cast, Mickey Rooney and Freddie Bartholomew giving their usual fine performances, and a newcomer to the screen, Terry Kilburn, almost stealing the picture with his fresh and delightful charm. Herbert Mundin essays a new type of role for him, and is splendid, as is Charles Coburn as Captain Briggs. The picture is worth seeing for its entertaining qualities and also because it treats a serious problem sincerely and effectively. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Yes; fine Yes © MY BILL O O Kay Francis, Bonita Granville, Anita Louise, Bobby Jordan, John Litel, Dickie Moore, Maurice Murphy, Elisabeth Risdon. From the play "Courage," by Tom Barry. Screen play by Vincent Sherman and Robertson White. Direction by John Farrow. Warner Bros. Kay Francis in the role of the widowed and impoverished mother of four children will be a surprise to movie fans. In “My Bill” she plays the part of Mary Colbrook, who, with admirable but misguided courage, has shielded her children from knowledge of their dwindling finances until they happen upon the facts and all but the youngest desert her for a rich aunt. Bill, sympathetically played by Dickie Moore, stays by his mother and is the instrument of her eventual good fortune. The plot includes a number of stock situations (such as a crochety old woman whose heart is softened by Bill’s engaging personality), and some of the action seems overdrawn, particularly the odious behavior of the three selfish children. However, the picture is technically a nicely finished product and the story has considerable appeal, although the allusions to the irregular love affair of the mother and possibly doubtful parentage of the small boy are unnecessary to the plot and out of place in this type of entertainment. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 1 2 Perhaps Mature problem © MYSTERIOUS MR. MOTO O O Peter Lorre, Mary Maguire, Henry Wilcoxon, Erik Rhodes. Based on the J. P. Marquand character Screen play by Philip MacDonald and Norman Foster. Direction by Norman Foster. 20th Century-Fox. In this story Mr. Moto endeavors to thwart the grim League of Assassins which is using every means in its power to obtain a new and valuable formula for manufac