Motion Picture Review Digest (Jan-Dec 1937)

MOTION PICTURE REVIEW DIGEST 49 Audience Suitability Ratings "A: fair; Y: probably entertaining; C: exciting." Christian Century pl342 O 27 '37 "The picture will be found entertaining and amusing. Family." Am Legion Auxiliary "Suspenseful, it will hold audience interest until the final solution of the dual shooting. Mature." Calif Cong of Par & Teachers "Mature." DAR "Lively tempo and farcical treatment with ZaSu Pitts and James Gleason an amusing comedy team, make this film diverting light entertainment for mature audiences." Nat Soc of New England Women "Excellent cast and direction of an absorbing picture (with no objectionable features). The family will enjoy [it]." S Calif Council of Fed Church Women Fox W Coast Bui S 11 '37 "Mature audience." Gen Fed of Women's Clubs (W Coast) S 1 '37 "The action is slow, and subtleties are sacrificed to farce. Suitability: adults and adolescents." I. C. Mo Film Bui p220 O '37 "While many amusing moments are afforded by the team of James Gleason and ZaSu Pitts, much of the dialogue is dull and often the actors are making such an obvious effort to be funny that they fail to hit the mark. Adolescents, 12-16: mildly entertaining; children, 812: no." h Motion Pict R p6 O '37 "Adults." Nat Legion of Decency S 30 '37 "A & Y: fair; C: no." Parents' M p74 D '37 "Mature." Sel Motion Pict p8 O 1 '37 "Plenty of hilarious incidents. Family." + Wkly Guide S 25 '37 Newspaper and Magazine Reviews "Adults and young people." Christian Science Monitor pl5 S 18 '37 " 'Forty Naughty Girls' is not up to some of the earlier Stuart Palmer film stories in this series . . . but it manages to be entertaining, nevertheless, and the back-stage background is both authentic and exciting. . . [It] will probably divert you, while not making many demands upon you." Marguerite Tazelaar -1 NY Herald Tribune plO S 18 '37 N Y Times pl5 S 18 '37 "Although the plot of 'Forty Naughty Girls' . . . leaves much to be desired, it is a sound, workmanlike and on the whole enjoyable piece of 'Who dunnit?' entertainment. . . Even if it is long on comedy it is extremely short on ingenuity, suspense and excitement. However, it has enough good qualities in it to make it passable murder entertainment." William Boehnel _j_ _ N y World-Telegram pl3 S 20 '37 " 'Forty Naughty Girls' would be a sad affair." John Mosher — New Yorker p93 S 25 '37 Trade Paper Reviews 'Estimate: fair program." -\ Phila Exhibitor pl4 S 15 '37 GAME THAT KILLS. Columbia 55min S 21 '37 Cast: Charles Quigley. Rita May worth. John Gallaudet. J. Farrell MacDonald Director: D. Ross Lederman Original story: J. Benton Cheney Screen writers: Grace Neville. Fred Niblo, Jr "Quigley plays a skating fool, who comes into professional hockey to find out what kind of a racket it is. His brother was killed in a phoney rink accident previous to his entry." Variety Audience Suitability Ratings "The plot is unfolded in the manner of serial pictures, but the action is brisk and exciting enough to hold average attention. . . [It is] a film evidently aimed at young audiences." T. J. Fitzmorris H America p48 O 16 '37 "General patronage." Nat Legion of Decency O 7 '37 "A & Y: fair; C: possible." Parents' M. p74 D '37 "Good story material, capable acting, speedy direction and exciting professional hockey games are combined in a fast-moving production. Family." + Sel Motion Pict pll O 1 '37 Trade Paper Reviews "This programmer which takes the robust game of hockey and weaves around it a story that is partially a romance and partially a tale of racketeering, is just fair. Quite paradoxically it is neither the love nor the gangster motif that fails to stand up, but the portrayal of hockey." + — Film Daily plO S 30 '37 + Motion Pict Daily p7 S 21 '37 "Once again Columbia clicks with a peppy little actioneer. Estimate: best for neighborhoods." + Phila Exhibitor p21 O 1 '37 "Hockey comes in for another dido in Columbia's 'Game That Kills,' a picture with a lot of action, but not strong enough to carry any box office weight. Title may bog it a little, too, because of close similarity to 'Pace That Kills.' . . For the action houses and the neighborhoods, mostly." r Variety pl8 S 22 "37 THE GIRL SAID NO. Grand national 72min S 2 '37 Cast: Irene Hervey. Robert Armstrong. Paula Stone. William Danforth. Vera Ross. Frank Moulan Director: Andrew L. Stone Music director: Arthur Kay Original story: Andrew L. Stone Screen writers: Betty Laidlaw. Robert Lively "Robert Armstrong, wiseguy bookie, has been taken for a merry ride by a hard-boiled and mercenary hostess in a dime-a-dance joint. Plotting a low revenge he persuades her that she has talent for the stage and ties her up to a contract to drain her savings for training. Then he tricks a singing troupe into a revival of 'The Mikado' in a borrowed theatre with a dead-head audience and his victim in a small part." Due to copyright restrictions, Gilbert and Sullivan scores are not available for export. Fans outside the U.S. will see the same + + Exceptionally Good; -f Good; -| Fair; —+ Mediocre; —Poor; Exceptionally Poor