Motion Picture Review Digest (Jan-Dec 1937)

MOTION PICTURE REVIEW DIGEST 103 SERGEANT MURPHY. Warner 58min Ja 1 '38 Cast: Ronald Reagan. Mary Maguire. Donald Crisp. Ben Hendricks Director: B. Reeves Eason Original story: Cy Bartlett Screen writer: William Jacobs "Sergeant Murphy is a horse. A class horse and an excellent jumper which has found its way into the artillery service, evidently due to financial straits of the owner. The son, Ronald Reagan, is a member of the troop and is the only one who can handle this high spirited and noble animal." Variety (Hollywood) Trade Paper Reviews H Motion Pict Daily p6 D 10 '37 "Strictly an average program offering, 'Sergeant Murphy' is mediocre screen fare. Picture lacks the wallop which obviously is missed in transference from the original story to the screen in that latent possibilities are neglected and situations appear which do not hold water." r Variety (Hollywood) p3 D 6 '37 SH! THE OCTOPUS. Warner 54min D 11 '37 Cast: Hugh Herbert. Allen Jenkins. Marcia Ralston. John Eldredge Director: William McGann Screen writer: George Bricker Hugh Herbert and Allen Jenkins, a couple of dumb comedy detectives, are sent to a sinister lighthouse to find the Octopus. They discover crowTds of people who are also sent on the same search. After excitement caused by mysterious tentacles of the monster, the mystery is solved and the whole story revealed as a hallucination of Herbert's who is waiting at the hospital for his wife to give birth to a child. Based on the play The Gorilla by Ralph Murphy, Donald Gallagher and Ralph Spence. This is the third filmization by Warner of the Play. Audience Suitability Ratings "General patronage." Nat Legion of Decency D 2 '37 Newspaper and Magazine Reviews "It is undoubtedly the screwiest concoction of plot and character behavior yet presented. The film is supposed to be screwy, I should hastily add. Its frank purpose is to scare you and make you laugh." Bert Harlen Hollywood Spec pll N 20 '37 + Trade Paper Reviews Motion Pict Daily p2 N 10 '37 "A hokum detective yarn with an eerie background, this is a good comedy for top billing on a dual bill." + Phila Exhibitor p49 D 1 '37 "This bit of grist for the double-feature bills is so feeble even the actors seem embarrassed. Picture will bring up the tag end of the program, if at all. . . Even the studio should be willing to call it quits after this." Variety pl6 D 8 '37 "Designed to spotlight Hugh Herbert and Allen Jenkins as a new screen comedy pair, 'Sh! The Octopus' provides a novel vehicle for the comics which possesses audience value. . . They keep the audience on the edges of their seats throughout." + Variety (Hollywood) p3 N 8 '37 THE SHADOW. Columbia 57min D 9 '37 Cast: Rita Hayworth. Charles Quigley. Marc La/wrence Director: C. C. Coleman, Jr Music director: Morris Stolon* Original story: Milton Raison Screen writer: Arthur T. Horman A mystery story. Audience Suitability Ratings "Fair for its type. Mature." Am Legion Auxiliary "Will be enjoyed by murder mystery addicts, but a trifle stimulating to the youthful mind. Matter of taste. Adults." Calif Fed of Business & Professional Women's Clubs "Mediocre. An unconvincing circus mystery melodrama. No redeeming features. Adults." DAR "Search for the murderer makes a well acted mystery thriller which excells the average program film in its well-rounded characterizations and carefully maintained suspense. Mature." Nat Soc of New England Women "Mature." S Calif Council of Fed Church Women Fox W Coast Bui D 4 '37 "The picture is well done and has intriguing interest for those who enjoy the type. Familymature." + Gen Fed of Women's Clubs (W Coast) N 17 '37 "No more utterly absurd melodrama could be imagined than this wild tale of murder by poison darts. Adolescents, 12-16: no; children, 8-12: impossible." — Motion Pict R pi D '37 "General patronage." Nat Legion of Decency D 16 '37 Trade Paper Reviews + Motion Pict Daily p5 N 24 »37 "Nicely tempoed [mystery], 'The Shadow' will hold up its end of a double bill for slightly less than an hour's pastime. Carefully concealing the guilty party until final sequence, production manages to give a little more than was figured in its budget." + Variety (Hollywood) p3 N 20 '37 SHADOWS OF THE ORIENT. Monogram 65min Ag 18 '37 Cast: Regis Toomey. Esther Ralston. J. Farrell MacDonald. Oscar Apfel Director: Burt Lynwood Original story: L. E. Heifetz Screen writer: Charles Francis Royal It tells a story of Chinese smugglers who carry members of their race across the Mexican border. A young immigration official bares the plot after a young girl is involved with the leader of the band. See issue of March 30, 1936 for other reviews of this film Newspaper and Magazine Reviews "Just as a well-meaning tip to folks who may be misled by the title, this is solemnly to inform that 'Shadows of the Orient' . . . has absolutely nothing to do with the present Far Eastern confusion. No sir, brother; [it] goes a whole lot farther back than that. It goes all the way back, indeed, to the old reliable 'yellow peril.' " B. C. N Y Times p26 O 11 '37 + + Exceptionally Good; + Good; H Fair; f Mediocre; —Poor; Exceptionally Poor