Motion Picture Review Digest (Jan-Dec 1937)

MOTION PICTURE REVIEW DIGEST APRIL ROMANCE— Continued Audience Suitability Ratings "[It] achieves more than a moderate success thanks to the excellent singing of Richard Tauber, and the story is fluent and delicately turned if somewhat leisurely. . . While tasteful in the main, there are some few lapses in treatment which render the picture unsuitable for the young people." T. J. Fitzmorris -f America pl20 N 7 '36 "A: delightful; Y: mostly good; C: little interest." Christian Century p62 Ja 13 '37 "Episodes in the life of the famous composer are presented with great understanding and sympathy, and fine taste has been shown in the selection of the musical accompaniment as well as the songs. The assisting cast is admirable but the direction is a bit ponderous and somewhat too repetitious. Adults & young people." E Coast Preview Committee Fox W Coast Bui N 7 '36 "Adults." Nat Legion of Decency O 29 '36 "Franz Schubert's beautiful music and sad history form the background of a romantic drama, greatly enhanced by the beautiful singing of Richard Tauber. Adults & young people." + Sel Motion Pict p8 N 1 '36 "The mixture of German and British accents detracts from its naturalness and the story is trite, but the singing of Schubert songs by Richard Tauber is thoroughly worth while. Family." -\ Wkly Guide O 24 '36 Neivspaper and Magazine Reviews Reviewed by J. P. Cunningham Commonweal p502 F 26 '37 "Tauber sings various Schubert melodies charmingly, but the romance is slow-paced, studied, and in spots a little dull. Paul Stein's direction lacks distinction; the camera work is none too inspired." (2y2 stars) Beverly Hills Liberty p61 Mr 6 '37 "Its appeal will be for a specialized audience— for those who love the Schubert songs. . . But as popular screen entertainment, the piece undoubtedly has its defects, for it seems too long, its story is not told very engagingly and the camera work is unimaginative. Yet, it is not really dull, because of the deep-felt quality of Mr. Tauber' s performance, and its complete conviction." Marguerite Tazelaar -1 NY Herald Tribune pl4 Ja 27 '37 "With the best intentions in the world, movie biographies of Franz Schubert invariably tend to show that [he] . . . was not so much a person as a kind of sentimental monstrosity, and though Richard Tauber' s portrait is a good likeness and discovers more backbone than is usual in such characterizations, April Romance' is still within that unfortunate tradition. . . The film story is a not unpleasant excuse for Mr. Tauber to present, with almost concert leisureliness, a representative group of the famous melodies. . . It is a pretty theme which lends itself more readily to music, perhaps, than to history." B. R. C. H NY Times pl7 Ja 27 '37 "No matter how many times you may have heard and seen this same nostalgic romance on stage and screen, Mr. Tauber will completely make you forget your old impressions of its familiar theme. . . [The cast is] first rate in a colorful, charming, melodious and entertaining film." William Boehnel + NY World-Telegram pl7 Ja 28 '37 "[It's] an apocryphal but romantic slice of Franz Schubert's life." News-Wk p20 Ja 30 '37 Trade Paper Reviews "[It is] recreated on the screen in the typical leisurely and detailed manner of the British studio formula. Tauber proves himself a competent actor, and of course his rich voice in the rendition of the classic Schubert melodies is superb." Film Daily p7 F 2 '37 "There should be room for this picture on the uppers and lowers. Stands little chance to gait the box office even along the artie highways. No punch. Richard Tauber' s rich, tenor voice is its chief asset but that isn't enough. The story is episodic. . . Tauber sings best in German. All of his songs except one are sung by him in English." -| Variety pl4 F 3 '37 ARIZONA DAYS. Grand national 52min Ja 30 '37 Cast: Tex Ritter. Ethelind Terry. Syd Saylor. William Faversham Director: Jack English A western melodrama. Audience Suitability Ratings "General patronage." Nat Legion of Decency F 4 '37 Trade Paper Reviews "Tex Ritter goes another rung upward in his climb to prominence in the Western field by the ease and genuine ability he displays in his latest starring vehicle, a romantic outdoor drama of early Arizona. Family." + Box Office p23 F 6 '37 "Plenty of action, a straight-forward story and Tex Ritter' s singing and heroics conspire to make this Western good, substantial entertainment that will appeal to enthusiasts of outdoor dramas." + Film Daily p7 F 2 '37 -| Motion Pict Daily p3 Ja 25 '37 "This series remains on dead level. This is no improvement. Considering Ritter's voice and looks, it is a bit of a shame. He sings here, but not too well and the songs are not particularly tuneful or numerous. There is the usual number of fights, gunplay, but the picture is just another Western." \ Phila Exhibitor p38 F 1 '37 ARIZONA MAHONEY. Paramount 58min D 4 '36 Cast: Joe Cook. Robert Cummings. June Martel. Larry Crabbe Director: James Hogan Based on the novel, Stairs of Sand, by Zane Grey. A western melodrama. Audience Suitability Ratings "Nothing new in the plot, but would have been good entertainment for children had some of the shooting and killing been omitted. The ending is not in keeping with the generally amusing atmosphere of the picture. Family, but not for excitable children." Am Legion Auxiliary "Mediocre but harmless. Family." Calif Cong of Par & Teachers "Those who like horsemanship, fighting and nonsense all in one picture may find it entertaining; at least it has one novelty — the rescue of the besieged ranch by a galloping elephant with a goose on her head. Family." Calif Fed of Business & Professional Women's Clubs 4+ Exceptionally Good; + Good; -J Fair; f Mediocre; — Poor; Exceptionally Poor