Motion Picture Review Digest (Jan-Dec 1937)

MOTION PICTURE REVIEW DIGEST 75 Newspaper and Magazine Reviews Digest p34 S 25 '37 " 'The Lower Depths' does have its good points. But it is not a first-rate film, nor is it a successful translation of Gorki's original achievement. The two negatives are, of course, related." Mark Van Doren H Nation p330 S 25 '37 "The quality of the print, development, camera equipment and lighting will still take you back ten years or so, but the main power of this film makes it one of the grand ones. . . In the conception and building of sets I can't think of a picture more successful than this." Otis Ferguson + -4 New Repub pl59 S 15 '37 "Unimaginative direction is chiefly the reason why, in this writer's opinion, 'The Lower Depths' may be termed a strike-out. The material for a bitter, compelling tragedy of futility is everywhere present in Gorki's powerful theme, and the acting is everything that even the most hypercritical director could ask for, but the manner in which Jean Renoir has managed his narrative and handled his players shows an appalling poverty of invention." William Boehnel h N Y World-Telegram p27 S 24 '37 "For the casual filmgoer there are excellent performances by Louis Jouvet and Jean Gabin, but this French transcription of a grim Russian classic spares nothing in bringing Maxim Gorky's drab underworld to the screen." Newsweek p24 S 20 '37 "Voted the best picture of the year by the French critics, this film is — to say the least — out of the ordinary. . . The film is a courageous one and certainly a worthwhile one, intensified by many exciting scenes and many fine performances." + Stage plO O '37 Time p30 S 20 '37 Trade Paper Reviews "Strong social drama excellent in all departments. Made to order for discriminating fans. . . 'The Lower Depths' is a 'must see' picture for foreign picture devotees, as well as those who demand heavyweight film fare to satisfy their cravings." + Film Daily p9 S 10 '37 + Motion Pict Daily p3 S 13 '37 "It is strictly art house; its realism, preoccupation with the unhealthy of our Civilization make it adult fare only." Phila Exhibitor p24 O 1 '37 " 'The Lower Depths' isn't likely to ignite box offices in America. It is a well-made production of a compassionate human drama. It will probably win critical praise and do well in the art houses. But it has little chance in first runs. Even on duals and in the neighborhoods it's a doubtful prospect. Film isn't even a bet for dubbing and seems hardly suited for remake." 1 Variety pl5 S 15 '37 Alexander the Sixth, father of the Borgias. . . The story recounts the plots of Cezar Borgia to become ruler of Italy. He uses his beautiful sister in forming an alliance to strengthen his own position, and when it becomes convenient he murders her husband, preparatory to another alliance." (Motion Pict R) Audience Suitability Ratings "Both cast and direction areexcellent, and photography is good except for awkward camera angles and bad lighting in a few sequences. . . The picture is a fascinating history of the drama of the Borgias. Adolescents, 12-16 & children, 8-12: no." + Motion Pict R p7 My '37 "Objectionable in part." Nat Legion of Decency O 21 '37 Newspaper and Magazine Reviews "[It] is a slow, but handsomely mounted and pictorially interesting episodic tale of that fantastic family of Renaissance Italy." Jesse Zunser H Cue p45 O 23 *37 "It is an eloquent spectacle. Abel Gance has directed segments of the offering with power and excitement. The trouble is that unless you are particularly interested in the home life of the Borgias and their various problems of seduction and murder, you can go out and take a smoke during the show without missing anything of importance in the tale. . . It is a handsome show, but a badly confused film." Howard Barnes H NY Herald Tribune pl8 O 13 '37 "[It is] a lively if not a completely credible picture. . . This film is handsomely mounted, directed with gusto if not with skill. This is true also of the acting." Eileen Creelman H NY Sun p32 O 13 '37 "The bloody bones of the Borgias are being rattled thoroughly, if not too accurately, in 'Lucrezia Borgia,' but when the echoes die away there is only the memory of gore and grease paint, of brilliant settings and costumery, of gifted mummers in a gorgeous piece of mummery. For the film, with all its physical richness, is two-dimensional at best, long on incident, broad of dialogue and scene, but woefullv lacking in dramatic highs and lows." F. S. Nugent 1 N Y Times p27 O 13 '37 "Done lavishly enough, but in a generally slip-shod and stilted manner and acted floridly by the entire cast, this latest cinema importation from France is dreary and unsatisfactory entertainment." William Boehnel — NY World-Telegram pl7 O 14 '37 "[It] is a colorfully produced — but otherwise undistinguished — pageant of brutality and intrigue." H Newsweek p26 O 25 '37 "It will seem to American audiences a rough and unpaced drama. . .The dialogue has been effectively translated and the music is brilliantly adapted to a film of mountainous malevolence. No history-lover should miss it." + Stage pl6 Mr '37 LUCREZIA BORGIA. European 78min O 12 '37 Cast: Edwige Feuillere. Gabriel Gabrio. Aime Clariond. Roger Karl Director: Abel Gance Music: Marcel Lattes Screen writers: Leopold Marchand. Henri Vendresse French dialogue with English titles produced several years ago. Banned in most European countries, it comes to America uncensored. "The scene is in Rome during the papacy of Trade Paper Reviews 1 Motion Pict Daily pll O 22 '37 "[It is] the story of the Borgias, done in a manner that should please the art house patron. This French importation equipped with English titles is okay for the sure-seaters or for the class house which has an appreciative audience." + Phila Exhibitor p38 Mr 1 '37 "Limited American market for this French import. . . The fact that the scenario is based on history gives it educational value and picture will undoubtedly have a substantial draw from those who like the foreign product." Variety pl2 O 20 '37 + + Exceptionally Good; + Good; -\ Fair; [• Mediocre; — Poor; Exceptionally Poor