Motion Picture Review Digest (Jan-Dec 1937)

MOTION PICTURE REVIEW DIGEST 51 GIRLS' CLUB. See Club de femmes GOD'S COUNTRY AND THE MAN. Monogram 53"min S 2 '37 Cast: Tom Keene. Betty Compson. Charlotte Henry. Charles King, Jr Director: R. N. Bradbury Screen writer: Robert Emmett A western melodrama. Trade Paper Reviews + Motion Pict Daily p9 D 2 '37 "With Betty Compson and Charlotte Henry backing up Tom Keene, this swiftly moving outdoor opus is okay fare for Western fans. Several nice acting bits by these two feminine principals serve to break up the action neatly, but it's the larruping riders, lead-throwing gunmen and realistic hand-to-hand encounters that dominate. . . Satisfactory for dual corrals or where they like oats operas." + Variety pl4 N 3 '37 THE GREAT GARRICK. Warner 82min O 30 '37 Cast: Brian Aherne. Olivia De Havilland. Edward Everett Horton. Melville Cooper. Lionel Atwill Director: James Whale Music: Adolph Deutsch Music director: Leo F. Forbstein Screen writer: Ernst Vajda "[It is] a gay story about a prank played on Garrick, the noted English actor who held sway in the 18th Century. . . Garrick is invited to be a guest star with the noted Comedie Francaise company, and when the French actors gain the impression that he has stated he will teach them how to act, they decide to play a joke on him." Film Daily Audience Suitability Ratings "It is a skilful and vastly amusing paraphrase of a particular flamboyance into general terms. . . What has been recaptured, and that admirably, is the general outline of an eighteenth century swashbuckling actor." T. J. Fitzmorris -f America p96 O 30 '37 "A & Y: excellent; C: good if it interests." Christian Century pl510 D 1 '37 "[It] is handled in a light and whimsical manner with rare touches of humor and comedy that will charm old and young alike. . . The whole cast deserves the highest praise." Am Legion Auxiliary "The comedy is delightful, the acting of the entire cast is excellent, and the direction is fine and understanding. Mature-family." Calif Cong of Par & Teachers "Excellent. Mature." DAR "This is a charmingly staged comedy, enacted with spontaniety, revealing a well constructed plot and a jubilant spirit of fun throughout. Family." Nat Soc of New England Women "This unusually entertaining and well-balanced photoplay is a study of drama within drama, and so keen are the reactions with sustained suspense, that every phase is a surprise. Wholesome entertainment for the family." S Calif Council of Fed Church Women Fox W Coast Bui O 23 '37 "The production reflects the skill and artistry of the director and is highly commended to all audiences for its sheer beauty and rare entertainment value. Family." + Gen Fed of Women's Clubs (W Coast) O 13 '37 "Whether or not the character of David Garrick as here presented is true to life, it makes rare entertainment and leaves a vivid impression of a temperamental but very likable individual. Adolescents, 12-16: excellent; children, 8-12: yes." + Motion Pict R p6 O '37 "General patronage." Nat Legion of Decency O 21 '37 "[It] has the flourish of eighteenth century acting with the sparkle of twentieth century dialogue. It is a rare combination and makes entertainment of the first order." + + Scholastic p37 O 23 '37 "Best of the month. Outstanding. Family — mature." -4 + Sel Motion Pict p4 N 1 '37 "The whole thing is essentially a huge practical joke of an amusing kind, handled picturesquely. Family." -f Wkly Guide O 23 '37 Newspaper and Magazine Reviews "[It is] an amusing fiction. Adults and young people." + Christian Science Monitor pl7 D 4 *37 "[It] is a smart, mid-eighteenth-century satire that will easily be recognized as one of those excursions — all too infrequently fruitful— taken by Hollywood into the field of pure artistic expression." J. P. Cunningham + Commonweal p20 O 29 '37 "For all its breathless photographic beauty and 18th Century charm . . . 'The Great Garrick' is still much ado about too little. The episodic and farcical unfolding of a tiny interlude in the romantic adventures of England's great actor, was tenuous to begin with. In its new luxurious settings it stretches almost to the breaking point, its slow motion bordering on boredom." h Cue p38 O 30 '37 "It comes as another fine film attraction in this season of many fine ones. . . [It is] a picture which you really must see." + + Hollywood Spec p6 O 2 '37 "Overstuffed period acting. . . Altogether a pretty dull and labored costume drama." (2 stars) Beverly Hills Liberty p50 N 20 '37 "It is a sparkling way to treat history — a new idea that, sad to relate, doesn't come off. It should have the pep and brilliance of a story unhampered by biographical fact. On the contrary, it is about as stilted, mannered, and pretentious an hour-and-a-half as Warner Brothers ever have unreeled." h Lit Digest p34 N 27 '37 "[It] is a bewigged and lacy period piece, pretty to look at but somewhat ponderous in exposition. . . The conceit is less entertaining in execution than one might have anticipated." Howard Barnes H NY Herald Tribune p8 O 25 '37 "Another comedy has arrived on Broadway, and this time a gay and amusing piece. [It] is as light an entertainment as any one could wish, a bit of decorative fluff that will give you a merry hour and a half." Eileen Creelman + + N Y Sun pl4 O 25 '37 "Of the many legends about David Garrick . . . count as one of the most amusing 'The Great Garrick.' . . The romantic note is lightly struck by Mr. Aherne and Miss de Havilland in a few deft scenes, and — above all — it is + + Exceptionally Good; -f Good; -\ Fair; h Mediocre; — Poor; Exceptionally Poor