Motion Picture Reviews (1938)

MOTION PICTURE REVIEWS Five HOLD THAT CO-ED O O John Barrymore, George Murphy, Marjory Weaver, Joan Davis, Jack Haley, George Barbier, Donald Meek. Original story by Karl Tunberg and Don Ettlinger. Screen play by Karl Tunberg, Don Ettlinger and Jack Yellen. Direction by George Marshall. Twentieth Century-Fox. Always with the Fall season comes football in college stadiums and on motion picture screens, but the novelty is to see John Barrymore waving a pennant and even dashing onto the field. We almost expect to have him don the conventional garb and carry the ball, but he is forcefully restrained from the latter gestures. The picture is an amusing satire on crooked politics and college games, in which a run-down state university is revamped to compete with a rival private institution, the alma mater of the opposing candidate for the Senate. John Barrymore, as the absurdly unethical Governor running for the United States Senate, is hilariously disreputable. George Murphy coaches, and the co-eds follow his lead in a new tap swing step called the "Limpy Dimp.” When Lizzie Olsen (Joan Davis) carries the ball in a wind storm, the scene is guaranteed to leave the audience hysterical. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Highly entertaining Yes © IF I WERE KING O O Ronald Colman, Basil Rathbone, Frances Dee, Ellen Drew, C. V. France, Alma Lloyd, Heather Thatcher, Henry Wilcoxon. From the play by Justin Huntly McCarthy. Screen play by William Tummel and Henry Scott. Musical score by Richard Hageman. Direction by Frank Lloyd. Paramount. Hilaire Belloc has said that Francois Villon’s verse is “the living voice of a man right out of 15th century Paris,” and this awareness makes his legend a provocative subject for stories of romantic adventure. “If I Were King” idealizes Villon and Katherine de Vaucelles: Villon — University student and poet but a rascal consorting with thieves and blackguards, is led to assist Louis XI in the defence of Paris against the Burgundians; and Katherine, metamorphosed into a lovely lady-in-waiting to the Queen, follows him into exile. In settings and action we are thrust into the fascinating Paris of the Middle Ages with all its beauty and its social insecurity. While it is an entertaining enough picture, full of action and excitement, the skilfully etched portrait of the crafty, amusing Louis, given by Basil Rathbone will remain long in our memory. Among the women Ellen Drew as Hugette is by far the best. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 1 2 Good Exciting, perhaps mature for most A MAN TO REMEMBER O O Anne Shirley, Edward Ellis, Lee Bowman, William Henry, John Wray, Granville Bates, Harlan Briggs, Frank M. Thomas, Dickie Jones, Carole Leets, Gilbert Emery, Charles Halton. Screen play by Dalton Trumbo. From the story "Failure" by Katharine Haviland-Taylor. Direction by Garson Kanin. R. K. 0. -Radio. Doctor Abbott was a man who walked alone — misunderstood both by business men and the members of his own profession. His life was dedicated to caring for the sick. The picture opens with his funeral procession through the main street of the small town where he practiced medicine. With only a few exceptions, the whole town looks on with grief and respect. Three of the leading business men, however, sit in an office overlooking the scene. They have hastened to demand payment from Doctor Abbott's estate. The impressive tribute to his memory is incomprehensible to them because they value everything in money. In his box of valuables are found receipted bills, promissory notes, and other papers, and as these are examined one by one, flash-backs on the screen reveal the incidents that made up the highlights of his life. The story is a simple, moving one of altruism and perseverance, and it is told with a genuine depth of feeling. Edward Ellis as Doctor Abbott is very fine. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Depressing in parts No, too mature © THE MISSING GUEST O O Paul Kelly, Constance Moore, William Lundigan, Edwin Stanley. Based on a story by Erich Philippi. Screen play by Charles Martin and Paul Perez. Direction by John Rawlins. Universal. Commonplace murder mystery in which a reporter goes to a haunted house to investigate a crime committed twenty years before. Old devices are used, such as secret passages and a room from which people mysteriously disappear. The photography is unusually good. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Passable No © MR. DOODLE KICKS OFF O O Joe Penner, June Travis, Richard Lane, Ben Alexander, Billy Gilbert. Story by Mark Kelly. Screen paly by Bert Granet. Direction by Leslie Goodwins. R. K. 0. -Radio. There are those who think a full length picture is too long for Joe Penner; certainly there is enough Penner in this one to satisfy his most ebullient fans. The plot is stale, all