Motion Picture Review Digest (Jan-Dec 1939)

MOTION PICTURE REVIEW DIGEST 51 "Reviewers requested that attention be directed to the fact that the motion picture is not to be considered as uniformly reliable in its historical references. Family." Nat Legion of Decency My 20 '39 "A & Y: excellent; C: beyond most children." + + Parents' M pS6 Je '39 " 'Juarez' is a great film for many reasons: it has something to say and says it without sidestepping a single issue. . . It has the rare combination of fine production, direction, and acting; and, above all, it has Paul Muni, who is every inch, every word, every gesture the character he portrays." + + Scholastic p33 My 13 '39 "Family. Outstanding. Its emphasis is on the conflict between democracy and despotism, embodied in significant historical characters also highly interesting as individuals. A large and excellent cast. Referred to the Committee on Exceptional Photoplays. Recommended for schools and libraries." + + Wkly Guide Ap 29 "39 Newspaper and Magazine Reviews "The picture as a whole is finely acted, and William Dieterle's direction has admirably caught that air of brooding destiny which hung over the whole preposterous adventure — that destiny which gave to Mexico a glimpse of a new day and, to the foolish interlopers, brought death and madness." John K. Hutchens + Boston Transcript pl8 My 26 '39 "Adults and young people." Christian Science Monitor pl7 My 27 '39 "Cinematically, 'Juarez' is a picture of great splendor, but it is not without flaws. William Dieterle has directed some magnificent scenes. . . In between the highlights are countless political orations which, though interesting and vital in themselves, make the picture static. . . Mr. Dieterle's concern for the illfated Maximilian steals his picture's perspective. However, 'Juarez' is for adults who are interested in historical drama and its modern parallel, adults who can appreciate the perfection of Bette Davis's performance." Philip T. Hartung + Commonweal p77 My 12 '39 "Resurrecting long-dead historical figures and bringing them back to life on the screen has developed into a fine, and exciting, art in Hollywood. 'Juarez' is a splendid and thrilling example. With impressive fidelity and stirring dramatic intensity, Warners have recreated the whole series of tragic incidents. . . It is a great and unforgettable picture — stirring drama made all the more thrilling by the magnificent playing of as fine a cast of actors as has yet been assembled upon one screen." Jesse Zunser + + Cue p50 Ap 29 '39 "One which lends great dignity to the screen as a medium of expression; the truest thing the screen has to its credit. It is not just a motion picture. It is something beyond that, an exposition of the ideology of democracy as opposed to other issues and political ideologies. . . It is too great to be classed as just screen entertainment. It is beyond that, too. It makes no concessions to screen formula. . . 'Juarez' is a joy for Hollywood to behold. In all the years of my picture viewing I can recall none that is a nobler example of what the screen can do, none whose cumulative appeal made it such smoothly gripping drama. It will appeal to matured intellects everywhere." -f + Hollywood Spectator p8 My 13 '39 "The Warners have seen to it that the film carries its message of 1939 — of the Americas for Americans, of the menace of overambitious Napoleons, of the perfidy of dictators. Yes, 'Juarez' is surprisingly timely. 4 stars." Beverly Hills + + Liberty p51 Je 3 '39 "It is an immense step forward on a road the milestones of which carry the inscriptions 'Black Fury', 'I'm a Fugitive', 'Black Legion', 'Zola', 'The Story of Louis Pasteur' — films of laudable tendencies but still spoiled by obvious compromises. In 'Juarez' a remarkable clearness of purpose is reached. This fact alone puts the picture in a class by itself. It runs for almost two hours, but one would like it to be twice as long. . . No one of the production departments can justly be held responsible for what has been called the unbalance of this great picture. Its faults are rather the marks of the phase of development reached by the seriously working part of Hollywood. . . Of two outstanding pictures Wuthering Heights' is artistically the more intense and homogeneous, 'Juarez' the more ambitious and important. No one who wants motion pictures which make sense and provide a great experience should miss 'Juarez.' It is the best Hollywood has yet done with a historical theme." Franz Hoellering + + Nation p539 My 6 '39 "There is nothing like a good million-dollar sales campaign to make a million-dollar picture seem like an important picture. But by Thanksgiving, when reviews, page-ads and other fireworks have left the sky, 'Juarez' should begin to tower as one of the really memorable turkeys. The story of Maximilian in Mexico is a tragic story; but they have simply made it look like a million dollars' worth of ballroom sets, regimentals, gauze shots and whiskers. . . Even when the story is not subordinate to the lachrymose affairs of the Maximilian family, it is bogged down in closeups and two-shots and medium shots of people talking at great length. The end is quickly foreseen and forever in coming. . . It could have been a good and true picture. . . As a picture it does not move in any sense of the word: it's a road-company Passion Play." Otis Ferguson — New Repub p20 My 10 '39 " 'Juarez' is every inch a great motion picture. It would be memorable for its pictorial splendor alone; for its unerring revitalizing of the past or for its eloquent relating of romance and high tragedy. Never have I seen vivid portrayals so brilliantly balanced in a film. Rarely have I seen so magical a blend of consummate direction, production and photography. Beyond these components of fine screen craftsmanship, though, the new offering has something to say and says it unflinchingly. . . By this time you may have gathered that I recommend 'Juarez' unqualifiedly. To my mind it is a screen masterpiece, as challenging as it is entertaining — a compound of rare courage and artistry." Howard Barnes + + N Y Herald Tribune pl7 Ap 26 '39 "Ideologically the new Warner film is faultless. What it has to say about the conflict between imperialist, benevolent despot and democrat has been expressed logically and eloquently, with reasonable fidelity to historic fact. . . In the contest between dictator and democrat the Warners have owned their uncompromising allegiance to the latter. With pardonable opportunism, they have written between the lines of Benito Juarez's defy the text of a liberal's scorn for fascism and nazism. But approval of a film's purpose and message cannot blind one altogether to some of the weaknesses of its structure. 'Juarez' has not been smoothly assembled. Its central character has been thrown out of focus by a lesser one. Too much and too little attention has been paid to the subordinate people in the drama. . . It is out of balance, in character and in narrative. Possibly the fault is in its editing, although that would not explain it all. . . It is, in sum, a film whose good so far outweighs its bad that this review, like 'Juarez' itself, must be rated out of balance. . . 'Juarez,' with all its faults, still must be rated a distinguished, memorable and socially valuable film." Frank S. Nugent + NY Times p27 . Ap 26 '39 "It's rather a wonder, really, that the movies have not done more with this purplish patch of Mexican history. . . In the old days such a film would have been called 'Maximilian and Carlotta.' This present title indicates a far more ambitious and a more mature production, which is what it is. The problems that Juarez, President of Mexico, faced in the sixties have their resemblance to those the leaders of small countries in Europe have now, and the similarity has not escaped the director of this film or those connected with its making. I would not want to spread abroad a rumor that there is an idea in the piece, for that might tend to