Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1938)

0 :'" £ "Wt • DOWN ON THE FARM-20th Century-Fox IhESE Jones Family pictures have now attained the eminence of A cinema rating, as well as box office. For here is a definite, sincere attempt at catching Americana on celluloid; and it suceeds admirably. The family remains the same, of course, with Spring Byington as Mother Jones, Jed Prouty as Pa, Florence Roberts as Grandma and the usual children. This time Pa, helping son with a chemical experiment, blows the house up, and the Jones flee to Aunt Ida's farm. Ida is Louise Fazenda, buxom, coy with a field hand; and she has a hog-calling voice. A corn-husking contest is coming up and Pa Jones is cajoled into entering it, but his victory becomes the issue of an election and scheming politicians enter the fray to complicate things. • STABLEMATES-M-G-M nS a workout for your tear ducts this is another in the four-handkerchief class. It is hysterically sad, with Wallace Beery, once again in his "Champ" role, as the discredited horse doctor wanted by the law for doping racing animals. Mickey Rooney, tough as always, but with a heart of gold, gets a discarded racehorse and picks Beery as a friend when the latter saves the horse. There follows an idyllic period on a farm which is rudely shattered by the film's climax, in which the law catches up with Beery and Mickey's nag goes buckety-buckety into a race, to win. Margaret Hamilton, as owner of the farm, delivers a delightful sequence at a community sing, Marjorie Gateson looks beautiful, and the horse is in stride. The Rooney is quite at home. PRAIRIE MOON-Republic HERE again is Gene Autry, singing Western ballads as he rides along the trails, roping, shooting, and outwitting villains all over the place. The West may now be quiet and peaceful, but not when Gene is around — then you can't even take a scenic ride without cattle rustlers and assorted badmen taking pot shots here and there. In this Autry special, Gene becomes guardian to three East Side boys who are almost as tough as the "Dead End" kids. He brings them back to a ranch which is being used as a hide-out by cattle rustlers; the kids don't like either Gene or the western life, but they finally help him round up the crooks. It's hard to explain the charm of Autry 's pictures; they're all pure hokum, but they do give you real entertainment. A V E S YOUR PICTURE TIME AND MONEY THE BEST PICTURES OF THE MONTH The Sisters That Certain Age If I Were King Too Hot to Handle Room Service The Arkansas Traveler Down on the Farm A Man to Remember Straight, Place and Show Stablemates Parade of Disney Shorts BEST PERFORMANCES OF THE MONTH Myrna Loy in "Too Hot to Handle" Clark Gable in "Too Hot to Handle" Walter Pidgeon in "Too Hot to Handle" Basil Rathbone in "If I Were King" Ronald Colman in "If I Were King" Mickey Rooney in "Stablemates" Wallace Beery in "Stablemates" Bob Burns in "The Arkansas Traveler" Joel McCrea in "Youth Takes a Fling" Errol Flynn in "The Sisters" Bette Davis in "The Sisters" Deanna Durbin in "That Certain Age" Melvyn Douglas in "That Certain Age" Jackie Cooper in "That Certain Age" Juanita Quigley in "That Certain Age" Walt Disney in "Parade of Disney Shorts" * PARADE OF DISNEY SHORTS— RKO-Radio The Ugly DllCkHng — In this series of eight shorts, to be released in the next months, Mickey Mouse's father proves again — eight times again — that animated cartoons comprise an ineffable medium for entertainment. "The Ugly Duckling" is the best. You will choke with laughter and tears at the same time; gasp at the lovely color and settings. The Hans Christian Andersen story is followed closely, except Disney improves on Andersen's very funny implication that the swan's egg in the duck's nest might lead Papa Duck to suspect his mate. Mother Goose Goes Hollywood — caricature of living personalities reaches a new high here. In keeping with the Disney policy of friendly banter without offense, the stars with whom liberties are taken need have no fear; yet the pictures are sharp. Katie Hepburn runs along throughout as Bo-Peep; W. C. Fields is Humpty-Dumpty; Charles Laughton is the Captain Bligh who rides in a tub, rub-a-dub-dub; Laurel and Hardy are the Simple Simon-Pieman combination. Hugh Herbert, as Old King Cole, is perhaps the best delineation of character. Donald'S LUCky Day Donald Duck is a messenger boy this time, and anarchists give him a time bomb to deliver. He gets into trouble with a black cat. Again you may shriek against frustration vicariously with the hysterical Donald, whose luck is so bad. The Practical Pig You saw it in the funny papers. It's much like the famous "Three Little Pigs" except action is centered around a lie-detector. Awfully good, anyway. Ferdinand the Bull — For the first time Disney has bought a literary property for use, a fabulously successful best-seller made for children but snapped up by adults. In this the drawings come to life, while a narrator reads the simple story of gentle Ferdinand— the pacifist bull — who just wants to sit quietly and smell the flowers. You will remember that sitting on a bumblebee brought him to the bull-fight arena, and to grief. The animators have made much of Ferdie's mother. It's one of the finest Disneys. GOOfy and WilbUr A new character joins the ranks of cartoon people. He is Wilbur, a grasshopper, who goes fishing with his pal Goojy and lures fish into the net by insulting them. You may find a parallel between this and the leading characters from "Of Mice and Men," but it's done innocently and without tragedy. Wilbur is quite wonderful; he gets eaten by a frog, who in turn is swallowed by a heron, who lays an egg. And guess where Wilbur is? The Brave Little Tailor — rhis was in the funnies, too. Mickey Mouse is a tailor who catches flies and by mistake is sent out to capture a giant. His methods are startling, but ingenious. It's a better than usual vehicle for star-of-the-lot Mickey. Bamyard Symphony — The animals all get together and make a terrific racket, which after a while reassembles itself in your ears as a kind of music. Best scene is a flirtation between a pullet and the barnyard cock. (Continued oil page 92) 53