Motion Picture Review Digest (Jan-Dec 1936)

MOTION PICTURE REVIEW DIGEST 33 "The acting and the singing are good, and the settings create an appropriate atmosphere of unreality. The photography is uninspired. Suitabilitv: family." Mo Film Bui pl03 Je '36 "A: slow-moving tale; Y: objectionable; C: no." Parents' M p44 Ji '36 Trade Paper Reviews "The classic ballad of the dance-hall girl and the gambler who 'done her wrong' has been so thoroughly whitewashed since it was first filmed two years ago that it now emerges as only fair screen entertainment. Adults." -\ Box Office p45 Je 20 '36 FUGITIVE SHERIFF. Columbia 58min Je 1 '36 Players: Ken Maynard. Beth Marion. Walter Miller Director: Spencer Gordon Bennett A western melodrama. Audience Suitability Ratings "Family." E Coast Preview Committee Fox W Coast Bui Jl IS '36 "General patronage." Nat Legion of Decency Je 18 '36 "A, Y and C: mediocre Western with good scenery." Parents' M p47 Ag '36 "[It is] a stereotyped plot. . . Story, direction and acting are second-rate, but the skilled riding and beautiful scenery found in nearly all Westerns will be enjoyed. Family." h Sel Motion Pict Jl 1 '36 Trade Paper Reviews 'Estimate: standard Maynard." Phila Exhibitor p24 Je 15 '36 FURY. MGM 90min My 29 '36 Players: Spencer Tracy. Sylvia Sidney. Walter Abel. Frank Albertson. Bruce Cabot Director: Fritz Lang See issue of June 29, 1936 for other reviews of this film Audience Suitability Ratings "A: strong; Y: too strong; C: no." Christian Century p912 Je 24 '36 "The excellence of the mob scenes and those of the courtroom action with their individual character types attests to the artistry of the director. Thought-provoking entertainment. Adults & young people." + Jt Estimates Je 1 '36 "This fine picture is an indictment of lynch law but it is only propagandist by inference and English audiences will find it a very moving drama. Fritz Lang's direction is ingenious and wholly admirable. . . A picture to see. Suitability: adults & adolescents." + Mo Film Bui pl03 Je '36 "A: gripping indictment of lynch rule; Y: pretty realistic; C: too brutal." Parents' M p47 Ag '36 "Adults & young people. Outstanding." + + Sel Motion Pict Jl 1 '36 "Recommended to the Committee on Exceptional Photoplays." + + Wkly Guide Jl 18 '36 Newspaper and Magazine Reviews "[It] is presented so realistically as to terrify one. . . Not pleasant, but exceedingly strong drama admirably done." Laura Elston + Canadian M p36 Ag '36 Reviewed by J. P. Cunningham Commonweal p246 Je 26 '36 "Those gripping scenes, in which Director Fritz Lang shows how human beings cease to be individuals and become part of a mad mob, display a frightening power. That the film slips off to an ending that loses much of its earlier punch does not prevent this courageously unvarnished document from being a compelling blast against mob rule." (3 stars) Beverly Hills Liberty p44 Je 27 '36 " 'Fury' is a harrowing and stirring picture to see. . . Except for the usual abrupt and sticky ending — the parting shot of idealism triumphant, satisfactory in itself but choked and faltering — the last third of this film is as impressive as the first. But half-way through we settle down to listen in a courtroom to the wrangling of lawyers — and find ourselves watching an ordinary talkie. . . Lang's direction of the mob-scenes is magnificent. . . Spencer Tracy has never done anything better than his work in this film." John Marks + New Statesman & Nation pl4 Jl 4 '36 " 'Fury,' with all its limitations, is among the most honest, forthright films to emerge from a Hollywood cutting-room. . . The second half of the film almost renders invalid its object by shifting the emphasis of guilt from the lynchers to vengeful Spencer Tracy. . . Lynching has an economic and racial background that is necessary to a complete understanding of the problem and the film was faulty for the want of it. . . Apart from these weaknesses, in all probability compromises demanded by the box-office experts and not of Lang's making, 'Fury' is the most forceful indictment of lynch justice ever projected on a screen. . . [It is] a memorable example of film making at its apogee." Robert Stebbins + + New Theatre pll Jl '36 "In making 'Fury' — an eloquent, grim antilynch picture — Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer dropped all the formulas. . . The splendid acting and photography are no small part of the picture's merit. Because of the integrity with which it presents the subject, 'Fury' is one of the most praiseworthy films ever produced. Unmistakably, it shows the effectiveness of the motion picture for educational propaganda." + + News-Wk p39 Je 13 '36 "There is no time or space here to sit down and choose the magnificence of adjective which will justly represent the quality of a great film and at the same time titillate the doubters to rush away and see it. . . I should say that no film of this year will touch it short of a miracle. . . To Hollywood and the American censors must go irrevocable credit for turning out about their own county a movie that in any other part of the civilised world would have been instantly banned as subversive, disorderly, and a subterranean growth from the Communist party. Best film of the quarter." Alistair Cooke + -f Sight & Sound p26 Summer '36 " 'Fury' is astonishing, the only film I know to which I have wanted to attach the epithet of 'great.' . . Any other film this year is likely to be dwarfed by Herr Lang's extraordinary achievement: no other director has got so completely the measure of his medium, is so consistently awake to the counterpoint of ^ound and image. Even 'Louis Pasteur,' an honest, interesting and well-made picture, suffers by comparison, and seems half-way to the stage. . . Lucky the film-goer who has been able to see . . . the work of the greatest director." Graham Greene + + Spec p!5 Jl 3 '36 "This picture is being acclaimed one of the most courageous ever attempted by the American cinema industry. That's going a little far, + + Exceptionally Good; -fGood; -\ Fair; [-Mediocre; — Poor; Exceptionally Poor