Motion Picture Review Digest (Jan-Dec 1936)

40 MOTION PICTURE REVIEW DIGEST EAST MEETS WEST. Gaumont British 72min S 1 '36 Cast: George Arliss. Lucie Mannheim. Godfrey Tearle. Romney Brent Director: Herbert Mason Dialogue film made in England. "Arliss plays the sultan of a small oriental country which has a harbor coveted by both England and Japan. The wily potentate realizes this and plays one against the other with such cunning that he secures a treaty with both countries, plus a sum of money from both, and with both concluding it was an excellent deal for their respective governments." (Variety) Audience Suitability Ratings "Characterization now offered by Arliss recalls the wily Oriental he created in 'The Green Goddess' just clearly enough for one to make unfavorable comparisons. . . Romney Brent, Lucy Mannheim, and Godfrey Tearle assist Mr. Arliss in making the creaky intrigue credible, but for the public at large it will remain merely another finely etched portrait in that actor's varied gallery. The story has a distinctly adult flavor." -\ America pl20 N 7 '36 'Mediocre. Mature & 14-18. DAR "Small scale pageantry is introduced to color a shabby story of the romantic variety. The characters are over-dramatized and weakly portrayed, with the exception of the polished work of George Arliss. . . The story lacks novelty and the direction is weakly handled. Adults & young people." E Coast Preview Committee Fox W Coast Bui O 3 '36 "In this colorful, English-made picture of intrigue, George Arliss excellently portrays a clever Sultan of the far East. . . The plot is slight, but the direction and cast are good. Exciting. Mature." Calif Fed of Business & Professional Women's Clubs "A pretentious melodrama centered about an unpleasant triangle story which a large cast and exotic settings fail to make other than labored and unreal. Mature." Nat Soc of New England Women Fox W Coast Bui O 10 '36 "This British made picture, featuring George Arliss, fails to give this fine actor opportunity to demonstrate his dramatic ability and for that reason will disappoint many, tho it is well photographed and pretentiously produced. Family." f Gen Fed of Women's Clubs (W Coast) S 28 '36 "This is not one of George Arliss' better vehicles. . . The unsavory marital relations of an English scoundrel and his wife are a prominent part of the plot, and smuggling of liquor to the natives brings about the unpleasant and unconvincing denouement. Adolescents, 12-16: not recommended; children, 8-12: no." — Motion Pict R p6 N '36 "An ideal vehicle for George Arliss. Adults." + Nat Legion of Decency O 1 '36 "A & Y: colorful oriental drama; C: little interest." Parents' M p32 D '36 "Colorful and full of movement, with Arliss in the crafty sort of part he does so well. The cast is good. Family." + Wkly Guide S 26 '36 Newspaper and Magazine Revieivs Reviewed by Laura Elston Canadian M p37 N '36 "[It is a] slight but pleasantly ornate pageant picture. . . Written, directed and acted with care. Adults & young people." + Christian Science Monitor pl5 N 28 '36 "The results sadly lack success, chiefly because of shabby story, over-dramatization and unpolished direction. We doubt if even Mr. Arliss was deeply impressed as he set about to express his rare talents in the portrayal of the suave, oriental potentate." J. P. Cunningham — Commonweal pl04 N 20 '36 "This British made picture offers an interesting study for members of motion picture appreciation classes. It defies every cinematic law, rule, practice — whatever you wish to call it. It does not reflect knowledge by its producers of the first principles of screen entertainment. Yet it is honestly and ambitiously made, well directed, photographed acceptably and acted in a thoroughly satisfactory manner. . . As a motion picture it merely is an enlightening demonstration of what not to do on the screen." Hollywood Spec pl5 O 10 '36 "Mr. Arliss gives a misleading vitality to the plot's mechanical motivations, for he makes the rajah an inscrutable, shrewd student of Western weaknesses. . . The rest of the acting is just passable. But who cares? There's Mr. Arliss." (2 stars) Beverly Hills Liberty p44 O 31 '36 Manchester Guardian pl3 D 1 '36 "[Arliss] misses no chance to be pompous, flawlessly finished, and not a little boring, though for his fans his mannered performance and familiarly impressive presence may be a treat. It is his misfortune that he has been supplied here with a wheezy vehicle which does not seem altogether sensible, or at any rate very important, as it unravels its tangled skeins across the screen. . . The direction, despite efforts to be fascinating, results too often in yawns, not because of lethargy, as happens in English pictures betimes, for it is frantically active, but rather because of a dull conception of what constitutes entertainment." Marguerite Tazelaar — NY Herald Tribune pl4 O 31 '36 "What remains to be discussed is whether it was worth Gaumont British's while, after all, to record on film the absurd hodgepodge of love triangles, rum-running, diplomatic intrigue and mob hysteria. . . Had the producers achieved, in telling their story, some of the imperial sweep of 'Lives of a Bengal Lancer,' the answer might be in the affirm r ative, but 'East Meets West' seems to be a parochial affair, centering about a river of the size of the Gowanus Canal. . . A sizable cast plays the thing rather badly, for the most part, with a deal of posturing and salaaming and far too much bandying of diplomatic obliquities." J. T. M. — NY Times p24 O 31 '36 " 'East Meets West' is a minor Arliss affair. . . He is overwhelmingly polite throughout, and, in fact, the film is a little weighed down with those Eastern ceremonials. There isn't much to be weighed down, either." John Mosher — New Yorker p90 N 7 '36 "George Arliss goes back to his favorite role — the smirking diplomat. . . Arliss makes the best of a shoddy story. His supporting cast is weak in the knees." r News-Wk p28 S 26 '36 "Mr. George Arliss again appears as host of a fancy-dress party and does his standard performance of the wily Disraeli, this time in turban and oriental robes. . . Eagerly attempting to repeat the success achieved by William Archer's 'Green Goddess,' the current excursion into the hoko-political machinations of an eastern potentate lacks the raw melodrama and vivid spleen of the earlier piece. . . Lucie Mannheim explodes the theory that all European-trained actresses are expert technicians and amply discloses that ill-treated wives, east of Suez, suffer not so much from hubby's wickedness as from St. Vitus' dance of the eyebrows." Herb Sterne h Script plO O 10 '36 -f + Exceptionally Good; + Good; -j Fair; H Mediocre; —Poor; Exceptionally Poor