Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1938)

Brief Reviews • LORD JEFF-M-G-M An appealing story of young regeneration and the growth of friendship between two lads in a British marine training school, with Freddie Bartholomew and Mickey Rooney battling each other for acting honors the whole way. Take the family. {Aug.) MERIDIAN 7-1212— 20th Century-Fox The title is taken from the New York telephone exchange which gives the correct time. It all fits in with a newsman's idea of who committed what murder when. Michael Whalen is nicely competent as the journalist; Gloria Stuart plays hob with his heart (Sept.) MY BILL-Warners The big idea in this business of motherhood and sacrifice is that Kay Francis (of all people) is the doting mama of four kidlets ranging from adolescent, bratty Bonita Granville to little Dickie Moore. Dickie is O.K., saves the family fortune and the picture, too. (Sept.) MYSTERIOUS MR. MOTO-20th Century-Fox Beginning with an escape from Devil's Island and concluding with an attempted assassination of steel king Henry Wilcoxon, this mystery is handled by suave Peter Lorre, Oriental detective, in top style. Mary Maguire is the love angle. If you like Moto films. (Aug.) NURSE FROM BROOKLYN-Universal A meekly diverting variation ot the old theme of virtue triumphant. Bad boy Larry Blake and good boy (New York policeman) Paul Kelly vie for the hand of pretty nursie Sally Eilers. Kelly convinces Sally that Larry is a murderer and the fade-out is what you expected all the time. (July) ONE WILD NIGHT-20th Century-Fox This will bore you with its Grade B-ish antics. June Lang is the society reporter who solves the mystery of the disappearance of the town's leading citizens. Dick Baldwin, son of the police chief, helps in the fracas. J. Edward Bromberg is villainsh. (Aug.) OVER THE WALL-Warners Based on a story by Warden Lawes of Sing Sing, this is solid entertainment if you like social themes with your after-dinner coffee. Dick Foran is the bully who lands in the hoosegow; John Litel the patient chaplain; June Travis, Veda Ann Borg and Dick Purcell help in supporting roles. (July) PASSPORT HUSBAND-2Qth Century-Fox If you enjoy suspense well seasoned with slapstick, here you have it. Stuart Irwin plans his usual dopey-dope r61e as the husband of a Latin dancer, Joan Woodbury, who marries him to escape deportation. Gangsters step in to complicate the sit-yee-ashun. (Sept.) PROFESSOR BEWARE-Harold Lloyd-Paramount After all this time, Harold Lloyd brings forth another of his comedies, and, amazingly enough, its gags seem a little bewhiskered with age. He plays a professor of Egyptology, decides he's the reincarnation of Nefaris, gets mixed up with the police, has a light romance with pretty newcomer Phyllis Welch. You'll see it because it is Lloyd's. (Sept.) # PORT OF SEVEN SEAS— M-G-M An appealing and honest picture beautifully directed by James Whale (of "The Road Back"). Maureen O'Sullivan, daughter of a French grocer, has a child by John Beal without benefit of clergy. When he attempts to break up her happiness with Frank Morgan, Beal's father, Wallace Beery, takes charge of the situation. Morgan and Beery have never been better. (June) PRISON NURSE-Republic Another Big House story dealing with a convict doctor (Henry Wilcoxon) who wins a pardon for stemming an epidemic, only to become involved in a prison break and get popped back in the hoosegow. Marian Marsh and John Arledge are around. Pointless. (Aug.) PRIVATE LIFE OF MUSSOLINI, THE-Hullinger Prod. A highly interesting pictorial summary of the life of Mussolini. Whether you are for or against Fascism, you will like Edwin Ware Hullinger's unusual shots of the dictator at home with his family, at work and at play. Good current history. (Aug.) * RAGE OF PARIS, THE-Universal To introduce Danielle Darrieux, their new French star, Universal has chosen a gay modern comedy of mistaken identity. Doug Fairbanks, Jr. and Louis Hayward are the protagonists for Danielle's favor, and Helen Broderick the friend in need who sets out to get her protege a rich husband. Mile. Darrieux' charm surpasses the ballyhoo. See for yourself. (Aug.) RASCALS— 20th Century-Fox This is Jane Withers' picnic, and Jane comes through dancing, singing and clowning with flying colors. The plot has to do with Rochelle Hudson's amnesia and her kidnapping by gypsies. Robert Wilcox is her beau. Borrah Minnevitch furnishes the music with his harmonica band. (July) (Continued from page 6) ROMANCE OF THE LI MBERLOST— Monogram SINNERS IN PARADISE— Universal Sincerity and simplicity give charm to this Gene StrattonPorter story of poor white trash of 1905. Jean Parker is lovely as the swamp girl whose aunt forces her into a brutal marriage. Eric Linden, Marjorie Main and Betty Blythe, the silent queen, do nicely. (Sept.) TOMANCE ON THE RUN-Republic Here's another of those $100,000 diamond necklaces that float around in the movies. It's stolen, believe it or not, and Donald Woods keeps trying to get it back. Pat Ellis manages to get Donald's mind off his work. Turn your head the other way. (July) * SAINT IN NEW YORK, THE-RKO-Radio The hero of Leslie Charteris' popular mystery thriller comes to life in the person of Louis Hayward, and a fine job he does too — wiping out a major crime wave with the help of Kay Sutton. Calculated to set your spine tingling. (July) if SHOPWORN ANGEL, THE-M-G-M For the second time this year Margaret Sullavan and soldiers make a marvelous combination. Jimmy Stewart is the gangling, idealistic cowboy whom Maggie, a hard-shelled chorine, marries when he's sent overseas because she wishes his dream of her to remain unbroken. Walter Pidgeon is her jealous manager. Fine drama definitely worth seeing. (Sept.) Now John Boles is a fugitive living on a tropical isle. A planeful of passengers descends on him — Bruce Cabot, Madge Evans and others, and there is a Grand Hotel type of sequence cluttered with racketeers. Dopey and dull. (July) • SOUTH RIDING-Korda-United Artists England expected every man to do his (acting) duty and they certainly did! The story concerns the members of a county council and the reaction of their personal loves on their public acts during a political battle. Ralph Richardson, John Clements, Edna Best (Herbert Marshall's wife) are all excellent. Don't miss this. (Sept.) SPEED TO BURN-20th Century-Fox Rowdy fun with the race tracks and the gents who pick the ponies. Marvin Stephens plays the jockey whose pet is sold to the mounted police; Lynn Bar: struggles along as the innocent foil of a bunch of crooks. Surprise, surprise, the horsey winsl (Sept.) SWISS MISS-Hal Roach-M-G-M Laurel and Hardy return to the screen in a picture very reminiscent of ye old Mack Sennett days. The boys are mousetrap salesmen who journey to Switzerland, meet Delia Lind who is in love with HOW WELL DO Y00 KNOW YOOR HOLLYWOOD? UlVE yourself ten points for every one you guess right. If you get sixty or less, you don't keep up with Hollywood. If your score is eighty, you're doing quite well; and if you have a score of one hundred, you know as much as Photoplay. Check up on page 96. I . She's been off the screen for several years, but she's making her comeback in "There Goes My Heart" with Fredric March: Nancy Carroll Peggy Shannon Gloria Swanson Colleen Moore 2. Movies generally aren't filmed in their regular sequence. Scenes taking place on a certain set are usually shot first, regardless of their position in the picture. The only movie that was ever filmed in regular sequence was: Lights of New York Street Scene Dead End Tropic Holiday 3. This actress will make her debut as a singer in "Ziegfeld Girl": Isa Miranda Claire Trevor llona Massey Joan Crawford 4. Because she acted as publicity head at Selznick's for a week, this star was named honorary mayor of Culver City: Ginger Rogers Mary Astor Carole Lombard Dorothy Lamour 5. He's a fine director now, but he used to be rated as one of the best light comedians on the stage and screen: W. S. Van Dyke Frank Capra Gregory La Cava Elliott Nugent Is Gloria Swanson, young and lovely as ever, the answer to question No. I ? 6. This actress has been borrowed from Columbia by Hal Roach to do "Water Gypsies": Margo Jean Arthur Margaret Sullavan Olivia de Havilland 7. Dual roles are difficult to play and to photograph, but they've been done on the screen for a long time. The first actor to talk to himself was: Jack Mulhall Clive Brook Ronald Colman John Barrymore 3. This actor sailed for England recently to play on the London stage in "Idiot's Delight" and was married to a non-professional before he left: Ralph Forbes Lee Tracy Leif Erikson Humphrey Bogart . It : ' *> — or is redheaded Nancy Carroll the answer to that debatable first question? 9. Do you remember when Rudolph Valentino made "Monsieur Beaucaire"? Well, it's going to be remade and this actor will play the role Valentino made famous: Robert Taylor Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Dick Powell Tyrone Power 10. She's been in pictures for years, but she announced that she'd retire from the screen when her present contract is up: Glenda Farrell Madge Evans Kay Francis Alice Brady composer Walter Woolf King. The singing pleasant but doesn't save you from the doldrun (Aug.) • TEST PIL0T-M-G-M Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Myrna Loy ai Lionel Barrymore (try and top that combination in the most thrilling picture of the month. Gable a pilot addicted to stunts and the bottle; Myrna his wife; Spencer, his sacrificial pal. The shriekii whine of the motors will hum in your ears for a loi time, but don't even consider missing this. (Jun • THERE'S ALWAYS A WOMAN-Columbi: Built along the streamlines of "The Thin Man this is a delightfully digestible dish. Melvy Douglas, a private detective, and his frau, joa Blondell, are both hired by opposite sides in murder case. There are two fine assassinations an a lot of naughty but screamingly funny scenes i married life. Good workl (June) ■k THREE BLIND MICE-20th Century-Fox Loretta Young, Joel McCrea, David Niver Stuart Erwin and Marjorie Weaver in the priz package of all the recent stories of modern maidem efforts to bag a rich husband. Maybe you don' admire the type, but you'll find the way the; reconcile wealth and love highly amusing. (Aug. •k THREE C0MRADES-M-G-M Robert Taylor, Franchot Tone, Robert Younj arid Maggie Sullavan have plenty of dramatics ant tragedy to contend with here, but it doesn't faa any of them. With unusual social implications, th( picture tells of three youngsters banded together ir business and friendship in a wasted country after the War. Orchids to this one (June) • TOY WIFE, THE-M-G-M Another picture in the "Gone With the Wind' trend, having Academy Winner Luise Rainer play-! ing beautifully one of those frivolous pre-Civil War maidens who brings out the dueling instinct among Southern swains. Melvyn Douglas is her husband, I Bob Young, her lover, Barbara O'Neil her sister. Well done, as M-G-M's things usually are. (7«iyl| • TROPIC HOLIDAY-Paramount Musical Mexico — with not a gun-toting revolutionary in sight. Ray Milland is the screwy Hollywood writer looking for a screen romance; love comes in real life through Dorothy Lamour Tito Guizar's songs, the Ensenada Singers, the | comedy of Bob Burns and Martha Raye — all are elegant. (Aug.) UNDER WESTERN STARS-Republic A smash-bang Western introducing a new cow boy star, Roy Rogers, who sings delightfully. As the son of a Congressman, he goes to Washington, wangles a Federal Water project for ranches in the Dust Bowl. Barrels of fun. (July) ir VIVACIOUS LADY-RKO-Radio Splendidjy written, well directed, romantic and humorous without being sentimental or slapstick this is a picture worth seeing twice I Ginger Rogers lovelier than ever, is a Broadway singer who marries a small-town botany professor (Jimmie Stewart) from an ultra Puritanical family. The cast is perfection and so is the picture! (July) WHEN WERE YOU B0RN?-Warners Anna May Wong manages to solve the murdei of James Stephenson by analysing the horoscopes of the suspects. At this point the action in the picture lies down and dies — but if you want to check on your own astrological character (who doesn't?) you might like this novelty. (Aug.) ir WHITE BANNERS-Warners Lloyd Douglas' story of renunciation, stuffed with preachments, but the fine acting of Fay Bainter and Jackie Cooper will enthrall you. Fay is the good Samaritan who takes over a professor's run-down household, brings Jackie through the pangs of lazy adolescence, eggs Claude Rains on to bigger and better inventions. Worthwhile. (Aug.) WIVES UNDER SUSPICION-Universal Gail Patrick is the wife under fire; Warren William her obstinate district attorney husband who discovers in his own home an exact parallel of a situation which drove Ralph Morgan to murder. The cast is fine, the material stodgy. (Sept.) if WOMAN AGAINST W0MAN-M-G-M Herbert Marshall, Virginia Bruce and Mary Astor form a sophisticated and charming trio in this modern tale of divorce and remarriage. Its setting is a small town, always good opportunity for homely comedy and recognizable happenings Juanita Quigley is the child torn between de votion to both parents (Sept.) • YELLOW JACK-M-G-M A really important picture, intelligently directed and beautifully acted, describing the work done by doctors to fight yellow fever in post-Spanish-War Cuba. Bob Montgomery is the soldier who risks his life for scientific research. Virginia Bruce, Lewis Stone, Alan Curtis and others are admirable support. (Aug.) YOU AND ME-Paramount You have seen both Sylvia Sidney and George Raft hounded by the law too many times tc find any freshness in this story of two paroled convicts who marry each other. George backslides to his old gang, is brought up short by the little woman Peerless photography, but little else. (Aug.) PHOTOPLAY