Motion Picture Review Digest (Jan-Dec 1936)

MOTION PICTURE REVIEW DIGEST 37 "The laugh sequences follow one another at a fast clip. . . 'Early to Bed' ought to keep any audience in rare good humor. Will fit in nicely in any situation." + Film Curb pl2 My 30 '36 "Mary Boland and Charlie Ruggles' latest comedy riot brings forth seventy-five minutes of laughter in every form possible with most of [the] time being spent on howls. There is hardly a minute for relaxation with hilarious situations following each other in rapid succession. The picture should click with every type of audience, for the comedy is wholesome as well as funny." + Film Daily p9 My 25 '36 "This is surely a tonic for every depressive ailment. As an effective laugh-getter it surpasses all the Mary Boland-Charlie Ruggles farce comedies thus far. The situations and the supporting dialogue are aimed carefully and craftily at the solar plexus and succeed hilariously in hitting the mark. . . The film is top notch for any box office in all spots." + Motion Pict Daily p6 My 22 '36 "A field day for the Ruggles-Boland combination, this will depend on their draw for its grosses. The picture, otherwise, is a farce that ought to be plentifully pleasing, especially to family audiences." Phila Exhibitor p23 Je 1 '36 "There is one sure test for good comedy: does it make folks laugh? By that token 'Early to Bed' is one of the best. It is filled with solid guffaws, projected by those expert comedians, Mary Boland and Charles Ruggles . . . Picture has every prospect of doing fat business, both in the solo spots and as duals topper from the most exclusive zones to the general run of subsequents." + Variety (Hollywood) p3 My 21 '36 EDUCATING FATHER. Jl 10 '36 58min 20th century-Fox Players: Jed Prouty. Shirley Deane. Dixie Dunbar. Spring Byington. Kenneth Howell Director: James Tinling "The action starts when Jed Prouty, head of the tribe, insists that his eldest son, Kenneth Howell, follow him in the drug business and abandon his own ideas to become a flier. When the boy disobeys and gets into trouble while flying the matter is made a serious issue. Howell promises to remain on the ground, but breaks his pledge to get Prouty back from a fishing trip in time to save the drug store lease." Motion Pict Daily Audience Suitability Ratings "Family & junior matinee. The picture is replete with humor, suspense and interest and the well chosen cast under sympathetic direction give very human and appealing characterizations." + Gen Fed of Women's Clubs (W Coast) Je 1 '36 "A sequel to 'Every Saturday Night,' this picture in spite of its juvenile and 'Babbitish' flavor proves pleasant and wholesome entertainment. . . Suitable for the family & junior matinees." -| Nat Council of Jewish Women Je 3 '36 "General patronage." Nat Legion of Decency Je 18 '36 Trade Paper Reviews "This picture comes under the heading of good clean fun. with lots of laughs and comedy, plenty of thrills and a marquee full of good performances." + Box Office p33 Je 13 '36 "[It] will have to be content with the twin bills and the neighborhoods." -| Film Curb pl4 My 30 '36 "The Jones family is again presented in an entertaining picture of small town family life. For the family and neighborhood trade, it should please well. . . Except for a flying scene which is overlong and in spots too slapsticky, the piece holds true to form as an episode in the life of a regular family." + Film Daily p7 My 23 '36 "It is good family fare for the small towns and the less discerning neighborhoods, at which it is aimed. . . The development of this made-to-order narrative ... is safely in character, capturing the small-town flavor with success, and it would have seemed quite real if the direction by James Tinling had not raised its key to a somewhat forced and strident note. Over-emphasis of emotional elements throughout is the chief fault of an amusing and human little opus that is told with spirit and enacted by a cast that seems to have stepped right out of your own home town." H Hollywood Reporter p3 My 20 '36 "This second offering in the Jones family series is a pleasing comedy and should sustain interest despite its slight plot. . . [It] is entirely suitable for smaller communities and neighborhoods at which the picture is aimed." + Motion Pict Daily p2 My 21 '36 "A wholesome combination of domestic comedy drama and thrill action, this, number two in the American family series looms as desirable entertainment for audiences for which its trade name intends it." -1 Motion Pict Herald p37 My 30 '36 "Undeterred by the fact that no cheering greeted the Jones family in the first in this series, 20th Century-Fox has now made the second, which also emerges as neighborhood, twin bill material." -j Phila Exhibitor p26 Je 1 '36 "It should find a welcome program spot wherever home folk seek wholesome entertainment based on the commonplaces of everyday life. . . More of the thin youthful romance, however, would have been acceptable, and a little less of the sky stunting, which is held too long for anticipated comedy." -f Variety (Hollywood) p3 My 20 '36 EVERYBODY'S OLD MAN. Mr 20 '36 84min 20th century-Fox Players: Irvin S. Cobb. Rochelle Hudson. Johnny Downs. Norman Foster Director: James Flood "[The] story deals with a manufacturer who loses interest in business upon the death of his life-long competitor. He takes a vacation and returns to find that his nephew has set himself up as a little Napoleon who regards his uncle as a has-been. So the old man takes over the affairs of the heirs of the rival factory, forcing his nephew to say 'Uncle.' " Hollywood Reporter Audience Suitability Ratings "A: rather good; Y: amusing; C: little interest." Christian Century p646 Ap 29 '36 "Family." Am Legion Auxiliary "The story-pattern is not new, but the cast comes to life in pleasant fashion. Family." Calif Cong of Par & Teachers "Good. Amusing; fine direction. Maturefamily." DAR "The cast is generally capable and the direction intelligent, but the production suffers from lack of plot novelty and story plausibility. Family." E Coast Preview Committee + + Exceptionally Good; + Good; H Fair; f Mediocre; —Poor; Exceptionally Poor