Motion Picture Review Digest (Jan-Dec 1936)

118 MOTION PICTURE REVIEW DIGEST ROSE BOWL— Continued " 'Rose Bowl's' games are not composed of matched stock-shots in the accepted current technique, but were played partly on U. S. C.'s fields, partly in the Rose Bowl, partly on a gridiron built on the Paramount tank stage. The resulting action shots are the clearest of the current football picture cycle, a verisimilitude unfortunately not shared by the plot." H Time p46 N 9 '36 Trade Paper Reviews "Producer A. M. Botsford's contribution to the annual cycle of pigskin pictures turns out to be a highly pleasing comedy with just enough gridiron activity to make it seasonable. Family." + Box Office p27 O 24 '36 "The lighter side of intercollegiate football, of minor college life and of smalltown puppylove affairs is the chief ingredient of this mild addition to the 1936 crop of football pictures. Though it gets away from formula on some counts and is frequently funny, it is somehow lacking in the mounting excitement and the exuberant vouthfulness that is to be expected in these seasonal offerings, but it will serve its purpose in neighborhood tandems with undoubted satisfaction to the more youthful devotees." . ■ _| Hollywood Reporter p3 O 13 36 + Motion Pict Daily p7 O 14 '36 "Not all football, but with a collegiate background, this is highly exploitable at this season of the vear. . . In small towns it should do best, as' lack of name strength will handicap it unless exploitation makes up for it." _| Phila Exhibitor p33 N 1 '36 "The celluloid it's printed on is about the newest thing to 'Rose Bowl,' a routine footballcollegiate romance picture that's just fairly entertaining. But on its own it isn't box office, nor is the cast likely to help it along much on the business end." _| Variety pl3 E> 9 '36 "The 'Rose Bowl' presumably (and its civic promoters certainly hope so!) is widely enough known as the spot where one of the annual post-season grid gigantics is played to have marquee value in selling the picture. . . It flashes enough football in the drive of a mythical freshwater college team toward intersectional glory to invite the pigskin addicts, but it is primarilv a neat and entertaining college comedy contrived to amuse the mob. By, of and for vouth, it will give the laugh-seekers a diverting hour on the better dual programs. + Variety (Hollywood) p3 O 13 '36 SEA SPOILERS. Universal 62min S 27 '36 Cast: John Wayne. Nan Grey. William Bakewell. 'Fuzzy' Knight Director: Frank Strayer A western adventure tale of the Coast Guard's fight against seal poaching. Audience Suitability Ratings "A: hardly; Y: fair; C: no." Christian Century pl542 N 18 '36 "This [is an] exciting picture which will prove entertaining for the family. Too exciting for children." Am Legion Auxiliary "Family." Calif Cong of Par & Teachers "Interesting photography. Family, exclusive of young children." Nat Soc of New England Women "[It is] a good entertainment for the family." S Calif Council of Fed Church Women + Fox W Coast Bui S 12 '36 "Family. The film creates admiration for the Coast Guard and gives a clear understanding of their hazardous life. Pleasing background of land and sea, adequate direction and natural, convincing acting gives this picture unusual entertainment value." + Gen Fed of Women's Clubs (W Coast) S 2 '36 "Fair entertainment of its kind. Familymature." H Motion Pict Guide D '36 "It is a program picture of no great value but fairly entertaining of its class; adolescents, 12-16: fair; children, 8-12: no value." -i Motion Pict R p8 O '36 "Beautiful Alaskan scenery well photographed, forms an interesting background for an otherwise ordinary picture. . . Fair direction. Adults." -j Nat Council of Jewish Women S 2 '36 "[It is a] fine portrayal of the adventures of the Coast Guard. General patronage." -f Nat Legion of Decency S 17 '36 "A, Y and C: exciting and good." Parents' M p44 N '36 "Family, except for young children." Sel Motion Pict p6 O 1 '36 "A good adventure story with many excellent twists and situations, and of course exciting. Familyjuvenile." + Wkly Guide S 12 '36 Newspaper and Magazine Reviews "Routine story receives novelty from Alaskan setting and the fact that it gives the Marines and G-men the go-by in favor of the Coast Guard patrol. Adults & young people." H Christian Science Monitor pl5 N 7 '36 Trade Paper Reviews "Outdoor adventure in a new setting will provide good entertainment for all who like their film fare packed with action and thrills. Family." + Box Office p35 N 7 '36 "Using colorful equipment of Coast Guard, and the traditional romance of the service to lend glamour, Universal had succeeded in turning out a fairly entertaining feature." H Film Daily p7 O 24 '36 "An exciting action melodrama of the coast guard has been very nicely brought to the screen by Trem Carr for Universal, the production having what it takes for an hour of family entertainment. In the neighborhood houses and on twin bills it will rate above what is generally offered for that class of trade." + Hollywood Reporter p3 S 25 '36 + Motion Pict Daily p3 S 12 '36 "Estimate: okey action." + Phila Exhibitor p38 O 1 '36 "Although the U. S. Coast Guard was enrolled to turn this picture out, it is by no means a flagwaver for anybody or anything. . . Okay for the neighborhoods, and fine for the adventure circuit wThen coupled with another film." H Variety pl5 O 28 '36 "A swiftmoving melodrama that whips to a swell finish, 'Sea Spoilers' is favorable fare for the family trade and can be spotted nicely on any double-bill. Picture has action from fadein to fadeout, sustaining audience interest without being too blood and thunderish. . . While story and dialog are nothing to write home about, the picture nevertheless is loaded with good old-fashioned box office hokem that has that certain something that makes the neighborhood trade sit on the seat edges. This + + Exceptionally Good; + Good; -| Fair; h Mediocre; —Poor; Exceptionally Poor