Motion Picture Review Digest (Jan-Dec 1936)

MOTION PICTURE REVIEW DIGEST 67 "If it's action you want, this picture has its share of punches — an under-water fight with a devil fish and a lot of dirty conniving by native pearl-divers. It has other things to recommend it, too — another chance to glimpse the work of Humphrey Bogart. . . E. E. Clive carves out another brilliant job." Molly Lewin Script plO O 24 '36 Trade Paper Reviews "This nicely produced feature vibrates with both the drama and enchanting atmosphere of the South Seas. . . Audiences in general will like this attraction for its vigorous entertainment elements. Frank McDonald's direction is thorough, while Frank Good's photography is even better than that name implies. Location shots are skillfully chosen, and natural beauties of settings ingeniously captured." + Film Daily p7 D 2 '36 "Estimate: program." H Phila Exhibitor p35 S 15 '36 "[It] represents a melodrama that ambles with fair steadiness through South Sea intrigue, perils of pearl diving, and a triangular love affair. It's okay as one end of a dual bill when teamed with a feature film, and it franklv aspires to no more." + — Variety p29 N 18 '36 IT COULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED. Chesterfield 67min Ag 1 '36 Cast: Reginald Denny. Evelyn Brent. Jack LaRue. Inez Courtney. Hugh Marlowe Director: Phil Rosen See issue of September 28, 1936 for other reviews of this film Audience Suitability Ratings "A: fair; Y: doubtful; C: no." Parents' M p42 N '36 to abandon his life's ambition through lack of funds. Suddenly the wealth he has longed for is offered to him by the philandering Lady Clifford, provided he will assist her in removing from existence her fabulously wealthy husband." (Hollywood Reporter) Audience Suitability Ratings "The story is improbable and the thrills sometimes touch absurdity but there is plenty of action and the acting is well suited to the story. . . The direction is competent, the photography uneven, the sound good. Suitability: adults & adolescents." -1 Mo Film Bui pl48 S 30 '36 Trade Paper Reviews "With over-stressing, heavily labored direction, and acting pitched an octave too high even for the wildest of melodrama, this vehicle for the sinister Boris Karloff slips right off the map as a candidate for the horror category. . . Boris Karloff makes heavy going of the halfcrazed doctor, and with much rolling of eyeballs and over-stressing of emphasis, fails to put across any suggestion of reality. Mona Goya, as the wicked countess, is equally unconvincing and theatrical." — Hollywood Reporter p7 S 17 '36 "An uninspired melodrama, this one stands or falls on Karloff' s name, for there is little else about it to help sell it. . . Directness of its far-fetched story is in the picture's favor, but at best its value would be confined to bargain nights, one night stands and other spots where you can fool 'em easy. . . Main part of the footage is dull, but the final reel tries to make up the speed with disastrous results. Intended to bring the tale to a suspenseful climax, it "will instead probably bring titters. By re-shooting these sequences in a less frenzied manner, film might be saved, although doubtful whether it's worth the trouble." — Variety pl7 S 23 '36 Newspaper and Magazine Reviews "Adults only." Christian Science Monitor pl3 S 19 36 " 'It Couldn't Have Happened' is a mildly humorous murder mystery. In the slightly facetious vein which is the current cinema fashion in mystery plays, the picture is seldom a lucid account of detective work: but because it moves along in a happy way, it is as easy to take as it is to forget." (2 stars) Beverly Hills Liberty p52 O 3 '36 Trade Paper Reviews "Full title of this opus is 'It Couldn't Have Happened — But It Did.' Many customers may add the interrogation. 'Why?' unless they copped a bank night prize. It's an afterthought to a double program set-up. Several highly capable folks are shoved around, misdirected and manhandled for about forty minutes before this backstage thriller finally gets down to solid ground. . . The biggest mystery about this film is how it could have been done so poorly." — Variety p31 S 16 '36 JUNGLE PRINCESS. Paramount S5min N 27 '36 Cast: Dorothy Lamour. Ray Milland. Akim Tamiroff. Lynne Overman. Molly Lamont. Mala Director: William Thiele "This is a Tarzan-type picture with the sexes reversed. It has a little native girl who finds herself alone in the Malay jungle and grows up to lovely and lonely young womanhood among the big game, and it has a handsome young American who gets lost there and is rescued by her." Hollywood Reporter Audience Suitability Ratings "General patronage." Nat Legion of Decency D 10 '36 "A fantastic tale in which romance, tragedy, comedy, animal devotion and the problems of a female Tarzan are combined in entertaining fashion. . . The social and moral problems of modern civilization are worked out in a highly improbable but nevertheless interesting way. The Hollywood jungle scenes, beautifully photographed, are fascinating and the acting and direction are admirable. Miss Lamour, a newcomer to the screen, has both personality and abilitv. Familv." + Sel Motion Pict plO D 1 '36 JUGGERNAUT. Twickenham 70min Cast: Boris Karloff. Joan Wyndham. Arthur Mar gets on. Mona Goya Director: Henry Edwards Filmed in England. "The story tells how a fanatical, experiment-crazed doctor is forced Newspaper and Magazine Reviews "When I see a picture of this sort, I have a thoroughly good time. . . It is a blessed relief to see something of the 'Jungle Princess' sort, to see new people in new surroundings, doing things totally unlike anything we ever have done. And parents, who like their children occasionally to find something completely to + + Exceptionally Good; + Good; -j Fair; 1 Mediocre; —Poor; Exceptionally Poor