Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1935)

The Shadow Stage [ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 86 Evergreen — GAUMONT BRITISH JESSIE MATTHEWS, darling of the London ^stage, will entrench herself in the hearts of American movie-goers with this film. For she has a sweet voice, and does some of the best individual dancing you've ever seen. The picture tells the story of the daughter (Miss Matthews) of a once-famous comedienne, Harriet Green, who resembles her mother so closely that a publicity man hits upon the idea of billing her as Harriet Green making a sensational stage come-back after years in retirement. The hoax works — for a while. And it makes a merry and interesting story. A good cast includes Sonnie Hale (Jessie Matthew's young husband), Betty Balfour, Barry Mackay and Ivor MacLaren. The Man %!!•«» Reclaimed His Head —UNIVERSAL A S fine and important a picture as has ever ' 'been made, with a performance by Claude Rains that has seldom been touched on the screen. As a profound, intelligent pacifist and brilliant writer, Paul Vcrin (Rains) sells his mind to the unscrupulous publisher of a newspaper (Lionel Atwill) who betrays Verin's trust for munitions money. It is a straightforward revelation of what really makes war, with no temporizing. The man whose wife (Joan Bennett) as well as his brains have been used unscrupulously, has his revenge. Every performance in the large cast is unusually fine, and Claude Rains sets a new high mark for superbly sympathetic acting. The picture is unrelieved by comedy, and is apt to make you do a lot of thinking. ■The Private Life of ■Bon luan —UNITED ARTISTS \ V/HAT happens when the world's champion ^* lover loses his title and the ladies no longer smile upon him? He turns to the security of his wife's waiting arms — if he is lucky enough to have a wife who will wait. That, in substance, is the plot of "Don Juan." Douglas Fairbanks as the gay Lothario of Spanish tradition, but latterly a bit weary of climbing balconies as middle-age overtakes him, retires to the country to restore his waning energies. The death of a pretender to his fame gives him the opportunity. Returning to Seville, he finds he cannot stage a comeback. Even Merle Oberon, playing a dancer who once had thrilled to his lovemaking, repudiates him. He is denounced as an impostor by an entire Seville theater audience. Abashed, he rejoins his long-suffering wife, Benita Hume. It's a less audacious and agile Fairbanks than formerly, but he plays his role with convincing wistfulness. Binnie Barnes does a delicious bit as a bawdy inn wench. Merle Oberon's grace and charm are delightful, and in this made-in-England film. Producer Alexander Korda lias recaptured, in atmosphere and treatment, the glamour of old Spain. The ■ '■■finished §ymphony —GAUMONT BRITISH \V/ITH Franz Schubert's masterpieces, ** superbly played by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, running throughout, the musical score alone puts this film on the "must " list for those who enjoy music. But in addition to being a rare symphonic treat, the picture tells well the tender love story of the young Schubert, and how he was inspired to write "The Unfinished Symphony." Hans Jaray plays the role of Schubert convincingly, and Helen Chandler, as the pawnshop girl who befriends him, is pleasing. But Marta Eggerth — lovely to look upon and with the voice of an angel — is the real delight of the film, in the role of Lady Caroline, Schubert's great love. Interesting to watch and a joy to listen to, this is a film well worth anybody's time. Grand Old Girl — RKO-RADIO THAT grand old trouper, May Robson, in ' another superfine performance, this time as a veteran high school principal, "Old Dynamite." militant and fearless when the morals of her pupils are threatened by a blind tiger sponsored by the town's shady political ring. Her crusade to wipe it out is the story, but it's richly laden with human incident and scenes that will recall your own school-days and the women who were the "second mothers" of your youth. There's sentiment enough and a tear or two in the tender tribute at the ending. Naturally, it's May Robson's picture throughout, but Etienne Girardot, Alan Hale and Mary Carlisle highlight an exceptionally excellent supporting cast. For everybody who ever went to school. Wight Life of the Gods —UNIVERSAL IF you are the type who has tried to take a 'cow home in an elevator in one of your more playful moods, this is your picture. And if you are one of the many admirers of the late Director Low ell Sherman, you should not miss it. The trouble is that while Sherman knew what Thorne Smith's novel was all about, some of the players simply do not savvy the mad whimsey of their lines, or the mad whimsey of the whole business, in which a nut turns people to statues, brings statues to life. Lhe Gilded Lily —PARAMOUNT CO pleased was Paramount studios with the ^results of the efforts of scenarist Claude Binyon and director Wesley Ruggles when this picture was run off that they have decided to make them a permanent producing team, after the fashion of Columbia's ace duo, Frank Capra and Robert Riskin. The enthusiasm is a little premature, if this picture alone prompted the decision. True, there are very human touches throughout, not unlike the Capra-Riskin brand as revealed in "It Happened One Night" and "Broadway Bill." But two very important elements which made both those movies masterpieces are totally lacking here; namely, unexpected but logical story twists and a punch climax. Claudette Colbert is engaging and convincing when she is a romance-hungry Manhattan working girl. But when they make her publicity-glamorous as the "No girl" (in a big mix-up she said "No" to an incognito English lord slumming about in New York) she doesn't register; nor does the story, which goes to pieces when it asks you to switch sympathies from the aristocratic lover (Ray Milland) who has been a perfect gentleman and lover and then for some obscure reason turns into a cad, to her old newspaper pal and exploiter (Fred I MacMurray). However, the lines are often pithy and the general standard of production and acting is high. Ray Milland seems destined to be a big favorite with the women and Fred MacMurray is unusually attractive and smooth in a hardboiled reporter role. Seventy-five per cent of this picture is topnotch entertainment, but it misses the CapraRiskin plane by a sloppy last quarter. Enchanted April —RKO-RADIO IF you like out and out whimsey in your 'movies, you may like this frail little story of two women, one, Ann Harding, the deserted wife of Frank Morgan, a famous author, and the other Katherine Alexander, the "husbandpecked" wife of Reginald Owen. It is during the making of this picture the much publicized "dehydration" of Miss Harding occurred. It seems to also dehydrate her hats, which, along with Charles Judels, furnished the only comedy relief. Princes§ Charming —GAUMONT BRITISH A MOTHER version of the old story of the ' * princess in distress — her country threatened by revolutionists, her advisors forcing her into a loveless marriage with an elderly king. She is, of course, rescued by a stern officer who falls in love with her in spite of himself. The lovely presence of Evelyn Laye and handsome Henry Wilcoxon in the leading roles, make it pleasantly romantic entertainment. But the story is threadbare, and the comedy touches are mostly old jokes to the average American. Lhe Might Ms Young — M-G-M yOU have met this plot before, but the ' music is different — a little different Pleasant music by Romberg, sung agreeably by Ramon Novarro and Evelyn Laye, who is exquisite in some shots, badly photographed in others. It is a small-scale "Merry Widow" with the precious Charles Butterworth at his best. Other characters played by Una Merkel. Eddie Horton and Herman Bing, run true to form. Lhe Best Man Wins —COLUMBIA WITH Jack Holt. Fdmund Lowe and Florence Rice for its romantic triangle, under seas adventures for its excitement, and Beta Lugosi its ever-menacing villain, this film hold? 94