Motion Picture Review Digest (Jan-Dec 1937)

MOTION PICTURE REVIEW DIGEST 41 use of 'blind flying' when a large passenger plane is guided to safety by ground instruction. Family." H Nat Council of Jewish Women N 1 '36 "A, Y & C: fair." Parents' M p40 F '37 Neivspaper and Magazine Reviews "A saga built around the young women who minister to your quaking tummy and try to prevail upon you to eat a sandwich during your flight from somewhere to somewhere else. The climax, we regret having to report, may be as hard to swallow as the sandwich. But there is interest and amusement in this presentation of an air hostess's training." (2V2 stars) Beverly Hills Liberty p53 D 26 '36 Trade Paper Reviews "Whether a hostess new to the service is capable of bringing in a big plane at night through a dense fog while the two pilots lie unconscious at her feet is a question we can't answer. But the fact remains that the thrills get you, and the long sequence makes excellent entertainment for those who want to gasp and be held in taut suspense." + Film Daily p8 D 16 '36 "It relies entirely on stock situations to produce its effect. Some of it is wobbly, but the climax — which also [has been] witnessed heretofore — is still rambunctious enough to hold them. Exploitation tie-ins are not lacking, and the item on the whole shapes up as standard dual fare." H Variety pl4 D 16 '36 the box office; but it is substantially put together from a Milne yarn that may or may not be well remembered, and rates as okay dual fare for the family trade. No kicks once they're in the pews. Universal showed good judgment in not stringing out a potentially enticing story into feature length." H Variety p62 D 23 '36 FOUR DAYS' WONDER. Universal 60min Ja 3 '37 Cast: Jeanne Dante. Kenneth Howell. Martha Sleeper. Alan Mowbray Director: Sidney Salkow See issue of December 28, 1936 for other reviews of this film Audience Suitability Ratings "The film makes no pretence at conviction, but will please those who enjoy A. A. Milne's type of humour. Suitability: adults & adolescents." Mo Film Bui pl3 Ja '37 Trade Paper Reviews "This one is intended to be a light comedy of love, with a murder mystery background. But it fails to jell as anything important, managing to score a few light laughs here and there. An attempt was made to put over Jeanne Dante as a new screen And, but the 13-year-old from the stage did not come through very sensationally. She is just another sweet young thing, according to anything she shows in this production." + Film Daily p4 Ja 5 '37 + Motion Pict Daily p8 D 22 '36 "This has no names, photography is fair. Comedy is mostly unfunny; dialogue is wordy; action lags. It is a programmer, interesting only in plot, competent acting by Jeanne Dante. Estimate: best for neighborhoods, twin bills." + — Phila Exhibitor p42 Ja 1 '37 "Pictures of the A. A. Milne semi-fantastic stripe aren't common, and the large amount of gabbing in them makes them best suited as break-ins for ingenues hailing from the legitimate stage. 'Four Days' Wonder' serves as training ground for Jeanne Dante, a 13-year-old lately with the Theatre Guild. . . Mistress Dante's initialer represents no great shakes for FUGITIVE IN THE SKY. Warner 58min N 28 '36 Cast: Jean Muir. Warren Hull. Gordon Oliver. Carlyle Moore, Jr. Director: Nick Grinde See issue of December 28, 1936 for other reviews of this film Audience Suitability Ratings "In spite of its obvious thrills, there is a modest amount of suspenseful interest in the unfolding of the story. Add a dash of comedy and some exciting scuffles and you have a fair piece of entertainment whose appeal will be strongest among the unsophisticated." T. J. Fitzmorris -| America p288 D 26 '36 "A: hardly; Y & C: no." Christian Century p303 Mr 3 '37 "The main theme is supplemented by a subplot and the suspense is well handled, although the beginning is slow. The dust-storm and the flying sequences are well staged. The acting is good. Suitability: adults." + Mo Film Bui p216 D '36 "Fair. Adults & young adults." -| Motion Pict Guide Ja 5 '37 "[It is] an exciting melodrama, which keeps one guessing till the last minute. Family." + Wkly Guide D 12 '36 Newspaper and Magazine Reviews "Without so much as a 'stop us if you've heard this one before,' the Warners are blandly repeating the story of Paramount' s 'Thirteen Hours by Air' under a new title. . . Although Paramount had the advantage of taking the rostrum first, the Warner raconteurs have a sense of melodrama, too, and they have spun the yarn excitedly and well, making it a fairly interesting, if incredible, action picture." F. S. Nugent H NY Times p21 Ja 16 '37 Trade Paper Reviews "One of the best of the present crop of mystery-action-thrillers, this aerial melodrama is the type of entertainment that produces extraordinary wear and tear on fore-edges of theater chairs. It is admirably suited to houses whose clienteles revel in excitement." + Film Daily pl2 Ja 18 '37 GARDEN OF ALLAH. United artists 80min N 20 '36 Cast: Marlene Dietrich. Charles Boyer. Tilly Losch. Basil Rathbone. Joseph Schildkraut. John Carradine. C. Aubrey Smith Director: Richard Boleslawski Music: Max Steiner See issue of December 28, 1936 for other reviews of this film + -f Exceptionally Good; + Good; -\ Fair; J Mediocre; — Poor; Exceptionally Poor