Motion Picture Review Digest (Jan-Dec 1936)

24 MOTION PICTURE REVIEW DIGEST DIMMED LIGHTS. See Crooked love DIZZY DAMES. Liberty 65min Jl 16 '36 Players: Marjorie Rambeau. Florine Mc Kinney. Lawrence Gray. Inez Courtney Director: William Nigh Music and lyrics: George Waggner. Howard Jackson Based on the short story, The Watch Dog, by P. G. Wodehouse. The film was produced in 1935 but has just been released in the metropolitan territory. A former actress, now running a theatrical boarding house, tries to keep her daughter who is away at school in ignorance of her career. When the daughter returns for a surprise visit she falls in love with one of the boarders. After complications, the mother allows the young lovers to marry. Trade Paper Reviews "It is a semi-back-stage yarn with nothing out of a more or less routine order, best suited for the minor spots." h Film Daily p7 Jl 18 '36 "One glance at the cast promises a musical of some proportions, but it is all held down. . . Over half of the principals are from the music stage, and are given sparse flings at doing their stuff, but it ends there. Mild story is leisurely told by this group, with none of stellar pull big enough to lift it out of the duller category. Title never quite lives up to its name." h Variety pl7 Jl 22 '36 DON'T TURN 'EM LOOSE. RKO 66min Ag 28 '36 Players: Lewis Stone. James Gleason. Bruce Cabot. Louise Latimer. Betty Grable Director: Ben Stoloff Based on the short story Homecoming by Thomas Walsh. "[The] story . . . deals with [a] ruthless, murderous outlaw son who is liberated by father as member of parole board and is then shot to death by the father as the son is about to commit another killing." Variety (Hollywood) Audience Suitability Ratings "Adults." Am Legion Auxiliary "The acting is uniformly good, the subject timely, and direction vigorous and spirited, which all lends conviction to the story. Mature." Calif Fed of Business & Professional Women's Clubs "Good. Mature." DAR "A tense drama vividly acted, which holds the attention and presents a needed and downright message without mincing matters. Adults & young people." Nat Soc of New England Women "The picture rings true with a potent lesson. Adults & young people." S Calif Council of Fed Church Women + Fox W Coast Bui S 5 '36 "Timely and powerful indictment against the misuse of the parole system, in releasing hardened criminals. . . A thought-provoking and grippingly interesting picture. Adults & young people." + Gen Fed of Women's Clubs (W Coast) Ag 25 '36 "This is a convincing story. . . Thoroughly reliable cast turns in a most satisfactory performance with Lewis Stone, as the father, giving one of his finished portrayals and Bruce Cabot maintaining a sadistic touch throughout. Adults." + Nat Council of Jewish Women S 1 '36 "A terrible indictment of our parole board system. (Too tense for children.) Adults." Nat Legion of Decency S 10 '36 Newspaper and Magazine Reviews " 'Don't Turn 'Em Loose' is one of the most expertly handled class B's it has been my good fortune to see. . . There are not a dozen irrelevant lines of dialogue; it is terse, fluent, and acts solely as a camera support. . . 'Don't Turn 'Em Loose' can be summed up in that one seldom deserved word — excellent." Paul Jacobs + Hollywood Spec pll Ag 29 '36 "It is to be doubted if, for sheer slam-bang heart-trapping, the Hollywood cinema has filmed a more thumping scene than that in which the college executive, newly elected to the Parole Board, confronts his notorious, murderous son. . . It is straining things a little to believe the ending: in which the father, seeing his boy about to kill a detective, shoots the son down. Scenarists Harry Segall and Ferdinand Reyher, the bit in their teeth, raced to this conclusion about two paces in advance of credibility." H Lit Digest p23 S 5 '36 Trade Paper Reviews "As stark and tragic a drama as has ever been filmed in Hollywood. The story builds without wavering to a climax that is terrific. It blasts with stunning force at our much criticised system of paroles, and leaves no doubt as to the punch that can be attained with proper directing and acting." + Box Office p25 Ag 29 '36 "It's strong stuff and very, very fine." L. S. Niemeyer + Canadian Moving Pict Digest plO S '36 "Abuse of the prison parole system here furnishes the subject for a second vigorous melodrama. The first was Universal' s 'Parole,' reviewed a few weeks ago. The two pictures are, however, widely different in plot and this one will stand on its own feet as beefsteak entertainment apart from its preachment and is strong enough to top almost any double bill to box office advantage. . . The production under Robert Sisk is satisfyingly excellent from first to last." + Hollywood Reporter p3 Ag 20 '36 "The most sordid aspect of graft and corruption in its relation to parole boards is heavily emphasized in this unrelenting melodrama which is an impassioned preachment against easy parole. . . Emphasize the problem of easy parole for criminals in selling this one." + Motion Pict Daily pl7 Ag 21 '36 "Another story about parole for criminals, this has the benefit of an action title as well as a fast moving story, though short on names. . . Estimate: program." H Phila Exhibitor p41 S 1 '36 " 'Don't Turn 'Em Loose' presents vigorous, provocative treatment of the dangerous human gamble involved in current parole practices as news headlines and police records relate them. . . Bitter and sombre much of the way, it yet is close enough to big social problems of the day to have positive entertainment value and should prove good program complement in most spots, especially where the customers can stand thoughtful, thematic fare." + Variety (Hollywood) p3 Ag 20 '36 DOOMED CARGO. See Seven sinners DOWN THE STRETCH. Warner-First national 67min S 19 '36 Players: Patricia Ellis. Mickey Rooney. Dennis Moore Director: William Clemens Mickey Rooney, the son of a once-famous jockey, escapes a sentence to the reformatory, but is placed under the custody of the owners of a horse stable. Engaged as a jockey, he 4 + Exceptionally Good; + Good; -{ Fair; + Mediocre; Poor; Exceptionally Poor