Photoplay (Jul - Dec 1931)

Brief Reviews of Current Pictures Photoplays not otherwise designated are All Talkie ■^Indicates that photoplay was named as one of the best upon its month of review AFFAIRS OF ANNABELLE, THE— Fox — Jeanettc MacDonald and Victor McLaglen in a laughworthy farce. (Juh) • ALEXANDER HAMILTON — WarnersGeorge Arliss, need we say more? Another superb characterization of an historic figure. (Aug.) ALMOST A HONEYMOON— British International.— A light bedroom farce. The gags would have been funny ten years ago. Very mild. (March) ALOHA— Rogell-Tiffany Production.— The old "Bird of Paradise" plot made over for the talkies. Some quite-good comedy and a lot of surefire sob sluff. Ben Lyon and Raquel Torres work hard. (March) ALWAYS GOODBYE— Fox.— Elissa Landi gives a charming performance in a rather ordinary piece. Lewis Stone and Paul Cavanagh support her. See la Landi. (July) • AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY— Paramount.— Dreiser's great tragedy becomes one of the month's best pictures. Phillips Holmes and Sylvia Sidney head a glorious cast. Not for the children. (Aug.) BACHELOR APARTMENT— Radio Pictures — The superb direction and acting of Lowell Sherman make this sophisticated story interesting from start to finish. Mae Murray returns as a modern vamp, a restless married woman. Splendid cast. (May) BAD SISTER— Universal.— Sidney Fox, talented little newcomer, plays the title role in this entirely natural story based on Booth Tarkington's "The Flirt." Conrad Nagel is the hero. (May) BEHIND OFFICE DOORS— Radio Pictures.— Mary Astor fine as the clever secretary who helps her boss (Robert Ames) to rise to importance in the industrial world. Interesting story. (April) BEYOND VICTORY— RKO-Pathe.— Poor war film, starring Bill Boyd. ZaSu Pitts, Lew Cody and Jimmy Gleason make the effort but can't do much for this one. (May) BIG BUSINESS GIRL— First National.— Lively comedy of 1931 styles in business and love. Plenty of laughs, some thrills, Ricardo Cortez, Frank Albertson and Loretta Young in pretty clothes. A good movie. (May) BODY AND SOUL— Fox.— See this one. Great entertainment. Charlie Farrell and Elissa Landi (from the stage). You'll like her. Myrna Loy is the mean one. (April) BORN TO LOVE— RKO-Pathe.— Ancient plot of the war nurse. Two officers and whose-baby-is-it fails to be highly entertaining in spite of the efforts of Constance Bennett. (June) BROAD MINDED— First National.— Joe E. Brown tries hard to bring a lot of moribund jokes and gags back to life, but there's scarcely a giggle. (June) BY ROCKET TO THE MOON— UFA.— The Germans present an interesting lesson in astronomy, if you like astronomy. (April) CAPTAIN THUNDER— Warners.— A dull story about a Robin-Hoodish captain whose lawless deeds are all for a good end. Victor Varconi and Fay Wray. (July) CAUGHT CHEATING— Tiffany Productions.— George Sidney and Charlie Murray get tangled with a Chicago gangster's wife and are taken for a ride. Fast-moving and pretty good fun. (March) CHANCES— First National.— Young Doug's first starring picture is a war thriller. The lad is good but the story is so-so. (July) CHARLIE CHAN CARRIES ON— Fox.— Grand mystery with lots of thrills and romance. Warner Oland marvelous as Chan. John Garrick and Marguerite Churchill are the love interest. (April) G CHILDREN OF DREAMS— Warners— A musical which you can miss and think nothing of it. (April) • CITY LIGHTS— Chaplin-United Artists.— The one and only Chaplin makes another masterpiece. Magnificent comedy and heartbreaking pathos intermingled. You can see it again and again. (March) • CITY STREETS — Paramount. — Absorbing, fast-moving gang melodrama, well directed. Gary Cooper and Sylvia Sidney (from the New York stage) give grand performances. Don't miss it. (June) CLEARING THE RANGE— Allied.— Hoot Gibson and the wife. Sally Eilers.in a fine Western with thrills, laughs and plenty of action. (June) COMMON LAW, THE— RKO-Pathe.— A poor adaptation of an old favorite but Constance Bennett is worth seeing. Sophisticated fare. (Aug.) WOW I How that new lad, Clark Gable, is clicking with the public all over the United States. Look at that picture of him in Photoplay's portrait gal' lery. Next month Harry Lang will give you one of his clever pen portraits of Clark and his career from oil driller at fourteen to Garbo's leading man at thirty. Dont miss the October issue of Photoplay COMRADES OF 1918— Forenfilms.— Gruesome, harrowing German talkie follows the fortunes of four young Teuton soldiers in the last year of the late war. Don't take the children. (May) CONFESSIONS OF A CO-ED— Paramount — Not a very convincing piece with Sylvia Sidney, Phillips Holmes and Norman Foster. College atmosphere. (Aug.) • CONNECTICUT YANKEE, A— Fox— It's better than the silent version and you'll love Will Rogers. William Farnum and Myrna Loy are excellent. Maureen O'Sullivan and Frank Albertson supply the love interest. (April) CONQUERING HORDE, THE— Paramount.— Dick Arlen makes this Western fine entertainment. Fay Wray adorable as the girl. (April) CRACKED NUTS— Radio Pictures.— Wheeler and Woolsey in a rush of dialogue to the screen, and not very good dialogue. Amusing in spots. (April) • DADDY LONG LEGS— Fox.— The beloved classic with Janet Gaynor in a role just suited to her but just a little too saccharine. Warner Baxter as the bachelor. Take the family. (July) DAMAGED LOVE— Sono Art-World Wide.— Pretty mild. June Collyer's charm and dimples save it from being an entire waste of time. (March) DANCE FOOLS, DANCE— M-G-M — Fast and thrilling entertainment. Joan Crawford again proves herself a great dramatic actress. Billy Bakewell fine as the weak young brother who falls in with gangsters. (March) DAYBREAK— M-G-M.— The charming performances of Helen Chandler and Ramon Novarro, as the student prince, make this romantic and wistful love story well worth seeing. (June) DER GROSSE TENOR— UFA.— A slow moving, all-German talkie with Emil Jannings in a typical Jannings role. A song or two. (Aug.) • DIRIGIBLE— Columbia.— Thrilling melodrama of adventure at the South Pole. The Navy helped make it and the airplane and dirigible shots leave you breathless. Ralph Graves, Jack Ho't and Fay Wray take high honors. (May) • DISHONORED— Paramount— Marlene Dietrich exciting as an Austrian spy in a tense story, splendidly directed. Victor McLaglen great as the Russian officer. (May) DOCTORS' WIVES— Fox.— Joan Bennett, Warner Baxter and Victor Varconi in a story of jealousy. Not very convincing. (April) DON'T BET ON WOMEN— Fox.— Husbands, wives and lovers mix-up. Good adult entertainment, with smart dialogue. Roland Young, Edmund Lowe, Jeanette MacDonald and Una Merkel make the most of their parts. (April) DRACULA — Universal. — A mystery story full of creeps and thrills. Helen Chandler grand as the terrified heroine. (March) DRUMS OF JEOPARDY, THE— Tiffany Prod. — Mystery melodrama with enough murders to satisfy the bloodthirsty. Good cast headed by Warner Oland and June Collyer. (April) DUDE RANCH— Paramount.— Jack Oakie woos and wins June Collyer in this hilarious comedy on a dude ranch, locale of many complications. Not a dull moment. (June) EASIEST WAY, THE— M-G-M.— A modern sophisticated story, beautifully directed. Constance Bennett, Adolphe Menjou, Anita Page and Bob Montgomery do some grand acting — and what costumes! (March) • EAST LYNNE— Fox.— Don't miss this one. Beautiful, artistic production of the heartbreaking old melodrama. Ann Harding captivatingly beautiful. Fine support by Conrad Nagel and Clive Brook. (April) EVERYTHING'S ROSIE— Radio Pictures.— One of the talkiest talkies yet released. (July) EX-BAD BOY— Universal. — If you like gagfarce, you'll get a kick out of this. Robert Armstrong and Jean Arthur give fine comedy acting. (Aug.) EXPENSIVE WOMEN— Warners.— A pretty unhappy return to the screen for Dolores Costello. The less said about it the better. (Aug.) • FAME — First National. — Beautifully and humanly told story of everyday people. Nothing spectacular, but full of charm. Doris Kenyon heads a perfect cast. (June) FIFTY MILLION FRENCHMEN— Warners.— American tourists in Paris. Moves so fast it leaves you weak. One good gag after another. Don't miss it. (March) FIGHTING THRU — Tiffany Productions. — Worth the price of admission. Ken Maynard and his horse "Tarzan" do some fine work and the beautiful Jeanette Loff helps considerably. (March) FINGER POINTS, THE— First National.— Dick Barthelmess as a reporter for one of Chicago's biggest newspapers, gets in with gangsters. An intensely absorbing story. Fay Wray and Regis Toomey give splendid support. (May) [ PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 14 ]