Motion Picture Reviews (1938)

Eight MOTION PICTURE REVIEWS hero who remains vital to this day. Rudolph Valentino, the first of the glamorous young men of the screen, is still the spirit of romantic youth. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children. 8 to 12 Amusing Unsuitable © SPEED TO BURN O O Michael Whalen, Lynn Bari, Marvin Stephens, Henry Armetta, Chick Chandler. Screen play by Robert Ellis and Helen Logan. Based on an original story by Edwin Dial Torquerson. Direction by Otto Brewer. 20th Century-Fox. The scenario of this picture uses the familiar ingredients of a race track melodrama: devious schemes to put the favorite out of the running, all sorts of foul play at the track, and, of course, a thrilling scene when the hero and his mount make a victorious finish. It departs from the usual routine in that the motivating theme is the heart-warming devotion of a jockey to his horse. Pleasing comedy is introduced in the person of Henry Armetta, cast as the genial Italian who befriends the young jockey. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Entertaining Little interest © THE TOY WIFE O O Luise Rainer, Melvyn Douglas, Robert Young, Barbara O'Neil, H. B. Warner, Alma Kruger, Libby Taylor, Theresa Harris. Screen play by Zoe Atkins. Direction by Richard Thorpe. M.G.M. “Toy Wife’’ will be called a woman’s picture. It may also be called “dated,” picturing a woman and a problem of another era. True, it is set in the time of crinolines, slaves, and huge plantations, when men fought duels to salve their “honor," but there are always decorative and impractical women, and some men -will always seek them and marry them to lighten the weight of serious living, and believe themselves cheated when the “toy wife” is incapable of meeting the issues involved in home-making. Thus, the problem is not entirely one of another day, although women then were convention-bound and had fewer outside resources on which to call for help. Luise Rainer plays the role of a childlike beauty, raised in Paris, who returns to the plantation near New Orleans with her elder sister and her father, imbued with the desire to marry as soon as possible, because “married women have so much more fun.” She unwittingly captivates the man her sister loves, and, ignorant of Louise’s sentiments, marries him when the latter urges it. Marriage brings her supreme happiness. But after a few years Louise comes into the household to bring domestic order out of chaos, and gradually, but relentlessly, she usurps the place Frou-Frou should have held. The child-wife realizes the situation and makes the only sacrifice she thinks she can. It is a tragic and conventional story which would have become maudlin with less restrained direction and less competent acting. It is not Miss Rainer’s best role. Her mannerisms are apparent, but she is convincing for the most part. The climax is her weakest scene. Barbara O’Neil and Alma Kruger are good. Libby Taylor and Theresa Harris are outstanding among the colored supporters. The men’s parts are unsympathetic and less interesting. The production is exquisitely costumed and lavishly set, with beautiful details of historic and romantic New Orleans as it was in the middle of the 18th century. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 No: tragic No interest © THREE BLIND MICE O O Loretta Young, Joel McCrea, David Niven, Stuart Erwin, Marjorie Weaver, Pauline Moore, Binnie Barnes. Based on a play by Stephen Powys. Screen play by Brown Holmes and Lynn Starling. Direction by William A. Seiter. 20th Century-Fox. Three sisters from a midwestern chicken farm decide to take a $5,000 legacy on the quest for a millionaire husband. Registering at the Santa Barbara Biltmore. the most beautiful sister poses as. an heiress with the other two as maid and secretary, and many amusing adventures befall the rural gold-diggers before they reach the goal of fortune and romance. To be sure, the motive is mercenary and a bit sordid, but it is such an absurd plot that it can be taken only as a modern fairy tale. The cast is attractive, the dialogue is sparkling, and farcical situations are cleverly handled. There is more drinking than is necessary for characterization. Those who object to slap-stick will wish the latter part had been subjected to the rigors of the cutting room, but others will enjoy it. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children. 8 to 1 2 Rather sophisticated No © TROPIC HOLIDAY O O Dorothy Lamour, Bob Burns, Martha Raye, Ray Milland, Binnie Barnes, Tito Guizar, Pepito. Original by Don Hartman and Frank Butler. Screen play by Don Hartman and Frank Butler, John C. Moffitt and Duke Atteberry. Direction by Theodore Reed. Paramount. Anyone who likes the performers in this picture will enjoy seeing them going through their fun-making antics in the romantic setting of a Mexican village. Highlights of the picture are good songs, Martha Raye and Bob Burns in the arena with a ferocious bull, a Mexican wedding party, and a marimba band. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Entertaining Little interest