Motion Picture Review Digest (Jan-Dec 1936)

126 MOTION PICTURE REVIEW DIGEST SWING TIME — Continued "Well cast and admirably directed, this outstanding picture should provide fine entertainment for the mature audience." S Calif Council of Fed Church Women "The production sets a swift pace and is excellent entertainment. 12-16: excellent; children; excellent." Women's Univ Club, Los Angeles Fox W Coast Bui O 3 '36 "Excellent for all." + + Gen Fed of Women's Clubs (W Coast) S 23 '36 "Well cast and admirably directed, this outstanding picture should provide fine entertainment for the whole family. (The P. T. A. and the Federated Church Women object to the overemphasis on gambling. Best of the month. Outstanding." + + Jt Estimates S 15 '36 "It provides ample entertainment. . . Those who stress ethical values might object to the gambling element, and the stress put upon the glorification of always taking a dare. Family." + Nat Council of Jewish Women S 21 '36 "A, Y and C: excellent." Parents' M p41 N '36 "The jubilation that always greets the joint appearance of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers breaks loose anew at 'Swing Time.' . . Since Victor Moore is irreparably lost to Broadway for all time, it is some consolation to see him at his futile best in 'Swing Time.' . . He supplies most of the bewitching fun of the picture. The Astaire-Rogers dancing is as magnificent as ever, only more so, but there's nothing spectacularly new in the terpsichorean antics they indulge in so delightfully. . . Before we forget it, as if we could, the Bo jangles of Harlem number is something out of a book of magic. You won't believe your eyes. Believe us, though, and go." + + Stage p26 O '36 Trade Paper Reviews " 'Swing Time' has been rolling up such large grosses around the country that even the producers are surprised. . . Astaire and Rogers are still the biggest box-office draw in pictures. The Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers pictures are Entertainment Plus, and after all entertainment is what the public wants. Their pictures teach no great moral lesson, nor are they arty, but they do entertain, and this is supposed to be the entertainment world." + Canadian Moving Pict Digest p8 S 19 '36 Newspaper and Magazine Reviews "Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire are still swinging up new box office records with their latest song and dance act. Family." Christian Science Monitor pl3 S 19 '36 "It is smart, sophisticated, and suave, and it steps along at a lively rhythm. Maybe it isn't the best of the Astaire-Rogers operas. Who am I to judge? They're my weakness and sane judgment fails me. . . The co-stars never danced better together. In fact, 'Swing Time' is a decidedly happy event." (3 stars) Beverly Hills Liberty p35 O 10 '36 "There are two reasons I am glad I happen to be alive right now, and they are: Mickey Mouse and Fred Astaire. I think every new Fred Astaire picture might well be the occasion for dancing in the streets. . . There is even a little more fun in 'Swing Time' than in the usual Astaire picture, because this one has the advantage of a book by Howard Lindsay and Allan Scott, and of the presence of those two stellar old foolers, Helen Broderick and Victor Moore." Don Herold + Life p30 N '36 " 'Swing Time' is an advance on anything this team has done before, the plot better constructed, and the 'book' wonderfully witty. The only falling off is in t'he music. . . Mr. Astaire is a better comedian than ever, dancing more marvelously, and, Miss Rogers . . . swirls on his wing almost as perfectly as Adele Astaire did in the old, old days. In addition to all these virtues, this is almost the funniest film we have seen." + + New Statesman & Nation p628 O 24 '36 "Next to 'Anthony Adverse', 'Swing Time' is the most publicized and over-rated film of the new season. Excellent principals, capable comedians and absolutely no click. Negligible story and paceless direction to blame. . . The Bojangles number discloses new dance possibilities in the free counterpointing of person and shadow, and makes for considerable interest." Robert Stebbins 1 New Theatre pl7 O '36 "The grace and rhythm Fred Astaire commands his body to express has raised the lowly tap dance into a Terpsichorean triumph. I thought the story exceptionally amusing, the comedy hilarious, and the direction spirited and lively. . . Altogether a corking show with Fred Astaire at his best." Rob Wagner + Script plO S 19 '36 SWORN ENEMY. MGM 78min S 11 '36 Cast: Robert Young. Florence Rice. Joseph Calleia. Lewis Stone. Nat Pendleton Director: Edwin L. Marin See issue of September 28, 1936 for other reviews of this film Audience Suitability Ratings "A: good of kind; Y: doubtful; C: no." Christian Century pl303 S 30 '36 Newspaper and Magazine Reviews "Adults." Christian Science Monitor plo O 17 '36 "This is a minor underworld sketch. . . There's nothing very novel in this bit . . . except, perhaps, the performance of Joseph Calleia. . . Mr. Calleia is more and more turning out to be one of the expert_ interpreters of the sinister and villainous." John Mosher New Yorker p99 S 19 '36 "A first-rate screen play by Wells Root and a first-rate performance by Joseph Calleia make this otherwise ordinary Gangster v. Government film agreeably nerve-racking." Time p25 S 21 '36 Trade Paper Reviews "The time-worn racket theme and a [bad] title militate against this Lucien Hubbard melodrama, though it should prove entertainment for most audiences once they're inside. . . If overlooking the now rather trite theme of the story and its title, film has much in its favor — good acting, good direction, good production and a well-conceived script." -| Variety pl6 S 16 '36 TARZAN ESCAPES. MGM 95min N 6 '36 Cast: Johnny Weissmuller. Maureen O' Sullivan. John Buckler. Benita Hume. Herbert Mundin Director: Richard Thorpe Based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. This is the third of the series. Tarzan is trapped by an unethical big -f + Exceptionally Good; + Good; + + Mediocre; — Poor; — Exceptionally Poor