Motion Picture Review Digest (Jan-Dec 1936)

MOTION PICTURE REVIEW DIGEST 129 "To come right out with it, 'The Texas Rangers' ... is pretty maudlin stuff. . . Except for a bright characterization by Jack Oakie and an equally pleasing sinister one by Lloyd Nolan, 'The Texas Rangers' is simply a revival of a decadent cinema form, generically referred to as 'cops and robbers.' . . Things happen in accord with one of the screen's most archaic formulas." J. T. M. r N Y Times p29 S 24 '36 " 'The Texas Rangers' gives us some good Indian warfare in the thorough Vidor style, and lasts two hours, but isn't really inspired, first-rate Vidor. Jack Oakie' s comic antics relieve the banditry and tussling." John Mosher -| New Yorker p77 O 3 '36 News-Wk p30 S 19 '36 "[It is] more, I fancy to the taste of the children and adults of to-day than the scalpings and tomahawks of the Mohicans. . . There is plenty of action and plenty of killing which are the two things people go to a Western to see; but I wish that the advent of the talkie had not brought in its train a tendency to shoot off propaganda as well as revolvers." Mark Forrest -\ Sat R p480 O 10 '36 "Mr. Vidor is one of the best of the popular directors; D. W. Griffith, a much finer artist, is his master. . . But in Vidor's 'epics,' just as in Cruze's somewhat overpraised picture, 'The Covered Waggon,' the story gets in the way: they bear about as much relation to epic drama as do the huge, artless, historical novels which have been so popular recently in the United States. The story of 'The Texas Rangers,' I should add, is a great deal better than that of 'The Covered Waggon.' " Grahame Greene Spec p582 O 9 '36 Trade Paper Reviews "What appears to have been intended as an epic of the Southwest is just a fancy hoss opry. It holds more in entertainment than the average Western, but its box office potentialities are not so hot unless the film is accompanied by a vigorous exploitation campaign. For [children], however, this picture is a natural — and this is where most of its gross will probably come from. . . Supposedly a saga of the Texas Rangers and their part in the creation of that vast state, the story is not sufficiently factual and, even more important, is deficient in glorifying the pioneer police force." -| Variety pl7 S 30 '36 THANK YOU, JEEVES. 20th century-Fox 57min O 23 '36 Cast: Arthur Treacher. Virginia Field. David Niven. Lester Matthews Director: Arthur Greville Collins Based on the novel of the same title by P. G. Wodehouse. "Screen tale has Jeeves [gentleman's gentleman] and his master involved in an intrigue for possession of plans for a new type airplane, with Virginia Field popping into the picture as possessor of half the construction blueprint and Lester Matthews holding the other half." [Variety (Hollywood)] Audience Suitability Ratings "That this is not the repeat performance of P. G. Wodehouse, which must certainly have been expected after 'Piccadilly Jim,' becomes painfully apparent before the first reel has run out. The film is only a fair rendition of what was once choice nonsense, lacking finesse almost to the point of being clumsy." h America p24 O 10 '36 "A: good of kind; Y & C: amusing." Christian Century pl407 O 21 '36 "Family." Am Legion Auxiliary "Good acting on the part of Arthur Treacher and some amusing comedy fail to bring alive this improbable story. Adults & 8-18: fair. Family." Calif Cong of Par & Teachers "A mildly entertaining and decidedly confusing English farce with a liberal amount of slapstick. Mature." Calif Fed of Business & Professional Women's Clubs "Mediocre. Mature -family." DAR "Family." Nat Soc of New England Women "Family." S Calif Council of Fed Church Women Fox W Coast Bui S 26 '36 "Family." Gen Fed of Women's Clubs (W Coast) S 16 '36 "Family." Jt Estimates S 15 '36 "The picture is entertaining farce-comedy, well presented. Adolescents, 12-16 & children, 8-12: yes." + Motion Pict R p9 O '36 "This picture gave little opportunity to a cast which deserved a better vehicle." h Nat Council of Jewish Women S 9 '36 "An inferior version of one of P. G. Wodehouse's stories. General patronage." h Nat Legion of Decency O 1 '36 "A, Y & C: entertaining." Parents' M p32 D '36 "[It is] a mildly amusing farce. Family." r Sel Motion Pict p7 O 1 '36 Newspaper and Magazine Reviews 'Family." Christian Science Monitor O 3 '36 "If [Wodehouse] intends to view the picture, I would advise him to take along all his sense of humor. Otherwise he may pull out all bis hair and sue Sol [Wurtzel]. . . The Wodehouse humor would seem to be good screen material. But Sol does not think so. Apparently he feels the Jeeves stories were popular because of the velvety quality of the word 'Jeeves' for that is all of Wodehouse he has put in the picture. And for the Wodehouse humor he has substituted as laugh provokers a colored saxophone player and a boy who squirts buckshot at people's necks through his teeth. You'd just die laughin'! . . Wodehouse's valet is an ideal choice for a series, if he can live down the pitiful thing in which he is presented first." — Hollywood Spec plO S 26 '36 "[It is] mild entertainment at best. . . The youngsters may like it, but we prefer to take our Jeeves in less active doses." F. S. Nugent h N Y Times p25 O 5 '36 "Wodehouse enthusiasts, who begin to chuckle at the mere mention of the name Jeeves, are in for some gay moments if they drop into the Palace this week. . . Although 'Thank You, Jeeves,' lacks the snap and dash and humor of 'Piccadilly Jim' another cinema gem based on a Wodehouse story, it has more than its share of moments that tickle the funny bone. . . 'Thank You, Jeeves' may not be Wodehouse at his most side-splitting, but it is jolly fun." William Boehnel H NY World-Telegram pl7 O 5 '36 "Jeeves . . . has collected a large and rabid following during his years in book form. Those who have followed his hilarious career on the printed page will be disappointed by his screen materialization. If the studio plans to feature this character successfully in a series they'll have to adhere more strictly to the author's — and public's — idea of the Englishman. . . This [is a] tepid farce. . . There's dandy film material in the Wodehouse stories and it is to be hoped that future picture adaptations will be granted more conversant treatment." Herb Sterne — Script plO O 10 '36 + + Exceptionally Good; + Good; -\ Fail + Mediocre; — Poor; Exceptionally Poor