Motion Picture Review Digest (Jan-Dec 1936)

122 MOTION PICTURE REVIEW DIGEST SINGING COWBOY— Continued a runaway horse lift this production above the mediocre. . . The picture suffers from poor singing and stilted acting and a somewhat loosely constructed plot. Family." E Coast Preview Committee H Fox W Coast Bui Je 6 '36 "A rather ordinary production. General patronage." H Nat Legion of Decency My 28 '36 "Family." Sel Motion Pict Je 1 '36 Trade Paper Reviews "This has been well made and contains plenty of thrills and excitement. . . 'The Singing Cowboy' should have no difficulty in pleasing wherever this type of film is in favor." + Film Curb pl2 My 16 '36 "Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette and gang get together for a superior Western in which there is no lack of action but careful pacing of it." + Film Daily pll My 13 '36 "A pleasant mixture of drama, romance, villainy and song in measured quantities. . . make this an appealing Western for the Gene Autry radio fans and the theatre-seat cowboys." + Motion Pict Daily p8 My 12 '36 "Gene Autry' s singing of western ballads, with which this picture opens and closes and to which approximately half of the screening time is given over in between, is its dominant exploitation factor. Another unusual angle consists of the presentation of television as a realized, commercially practiced and generally accepted medium for the dissemination of entertainment and advertising sales copy." Motion Pict Herald p32 My 16 '36 "Family Western. Strong on song, this has action, romance. Estimate: good." + Phila Exhibitor p47 My 15 '36 SINGING KID. Ap 11 '36 85min Warner Players: Al Jolson. Beverly Roberts. Sybil Jason. Edward Everett Horton. Allen Jenkins. Cab Calloway. Yacht Club Boys Director: William Keighley See issue of March 30, 1936 for other reviews of this film Audience Suitability Ratings "The picture is packed with clean, wholesome fun, good music and dancing. The ensembles make harmonious pictures instead of being the muddled affairs, created to startle rather than to please that prevail in so many spectacle films." + Bks & Films My '36 "A: depends on taste; Y: probably good; C: little value." Christian Century p647 Ap 29 '36 "Family." Am Legion Auxiliary "Family & junior matinee." Calif Cong of Par & Teachers "A most entertaining elaborate and pretentious production. Family." Gen Fed of Women's Clubs (W Coast) "Al Jolson heads a notable cast in this musical revue. Mature. Good." Nat Fed of Business & Professional Women's Clubs "Family." Nat Soc of New England Women "Family." S Calif Council of Fed Church Women Fox W Coast Bui Mr 28 '36 "Clever direction, sparkling music, rhythm, and pep make this picture most entertaining.' Family." Jt Estimates Mr 15 '36 "Suitability: adults & adolescents." Mo Film Bui p88 My '36 "In a loose-jointed, noisy production, Al Jolson revives his old successes and offers new songs which are below past standards. The most spectacular as to setting, 'Save Me, Sister,' is dull and in doubtful taste. . . Many of the jokes are so hoary that they could be eliminated without regret. . . Al Jolson's personality will compensate his admirers for weak points in the film. Others should skip it. Adolescents, 12-16: harmless if it entertains; children, 8-12: tiresome." 1 Motion Pict R Ap '36 "Family." Nat Bd of R M Ap '36 "Family." Nat Council of Jewish Women Mr 18 '36 "General patronage." Nat Legion of Decency Mr 29 '36 "A, Y and C: popular type of musical drama." Par M p50 Je '36 "This is one of Al Jolson's best pictures." S. M. Mullen + Scholastic p28 My 2 '36 "Family." Sel Motion Pict Ap '36 "Family." Wkly Guide Mr 28 '36 Newspaper and Magazine Reviews "Jolson suffers from excessive nobility of character and, intermittently, a nervous ailment that causes him to lose his voice. Consequently he doesn't sing as much as usual and is not as buoyant. . . The picture lacks humor and drags out mouldy gags. The outstanding song, 'I Love to Singa,' though effective on first hearing, is plugged too much. Edward Everett Horton and Allen Jenkins have little to work with and have to depend on sheer personality. Little Miss Jason, though natural enough is unfortunately a very plain child. Nor is Miss Roberts particularly glamorous." M. E. P. \ Boston Transcript p4 Ap 11 '36 "Possibly this latest Al Jolson vehicle will turn out to be his best movie effort to date. It has plenty of the glorified show girls, some back stage atmosphere, not too strong a story, but enough to sustain interest." Laura Elston + Canadian M p60 My '36 " 'The Singing Kid' [is] one of the best bits of entertainment of the sort I ever saw. . . [It] is a picture you should see if you are looking for clean, decent, clever and lively entertainment which does not endeavor to interest you in the working out of domestic and social problems. The picture was designed to amuse you, and you will find it achieves its purpose." + Hollywood Spec p8 Mr 28 '36 "Few American entertainers have stayed at the top of their field as long as mammy-loving Al Jolson. And his latest picture, 'The Singing Kid,' finds him doing, with undiminished energy, the same things he has done in all his other shows. . . Louder than it is funny and more full of jokes than it is of humor, 'The Singing Kid' is a nervous, tuneful trip through Warners' special Broadway." (2y2 stars) Beverly Hills Liberty p57 Ap 25 '36 "Al Jolson's new musical photo-play, a Warner production, is for those who like Jolson, music, and back-stage plots. . . Jolson, plus burnt cork and eight bars of music, is an evening's entertainment to many movie + + Exceptionally Good; + Good; -\ Fair; [-Mediocre; — Poor; Exceptionally Poor