Picturegoer (Jan-Apr 1935)

PICTUREGOER Weekly Victoria Hopper interprets the heroine of R. D. Blackmore's novel, " Loma Doone." Lin HAD hoped to see Ginger E«] Rogers and Fred Astaire fci|| teamed again and Radio Km has more than gratified that wish in one of the best musicals of the screen. The Gay Divorce. I hope that this, too, will be followed by another happy association of the two excellently matched stars. It is good to see Guy Kibbee getting a break. He is always a sound stand-by in any picture in which he appears, but here at last in Big Hearted Herbert he has a role which provides him with a well-earned personal triumph. There is a lot to be said for giving famous character actors a chance now and then to star in their own right. •♦♦♦THE GAY DIVORCE Radio. American. "A" certificate. Musical comedy. Runs 104 minutes. Fred Astaire Guy Holden GiNCER Rogers Mimi Alice Brady Aunt Hortense Edward Everett Horton Egbert Erik Rhodes Tonetti Eric Blore The Waiter Lillian Miles, Art Jarrett, Charles Coleman, Williah Austin, and Betty Grable Directed by Mark Sandrick. Screen play by George Marion, jun., and Dorothy Yost. Musical adaptation by Kenneth Webb and Samuel Hoffenstein. Pre-mewed December 22, 1934. Piquant farce, tastefully served with song and dance, in which the same team — Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers — which made Flying Devon to Rio a success, once again prove what a wonderfully effective pair they are. The plot, which is smoothly told and well seasoned with humoor, deals with Guy Holden, a young dancer, who helps Mimi, an attractive girl, when she finds herself in an embarrassing difficulty, but he cannot get her name. Tired of trying to trace her, he accompanies his friend, Egbert, a bungling lawyer, when he goes to Brighton to arrange a divorce for the niece of Aunt Hortense, an old flame of his. The niece turns out to be Mimi. and Guy is mistaken by her for Tonetti, the professional co-respondent engaged by Egbert. This forms the pivot of the romance, which is aided and abetted by deUghtfully tuneful music and brilliant dancing. Fred Astaire, who plajrs the role of Guy, which he made so successful on the stage, is excellent. He is as good a comedian as he is a dancer, which is as high praise as one could give him. 34 On the Screens Now by Lionel Collier April 6, 1935 The PICTUREGOER'S quick reference Index to films just released ♦♦♦♦THE GAY DIVORCE ***BIG HEARTED HERBERT **THERE'S ALWAYS TO-MORROW <**TH£ BAND PLAYS ON ♦LIMEHOUSE BLUES *365 NIGHTS IN HOLLYWOOD ♦OPEN ALL NIGHT ♦LORNA DOONE c^RANDY RIDES ALONE ♦FUGITIVE ROAD A GLIMPSE OF PARADISE What the asterishs mean — •••• An outstanding feature. ♦♦♦ Very good. ♦♦ Good. ♦ Average entertainment. c Also suitable for children. Ginger Rogers rivals Astaire in his dancing ability, and also gives a most attractive characterisation as Mimi. Edward Everett Horton is extremely well cast as Egbert and Alice Brady is immense as Aunt Hortense. Two more of the original Palace Theatre cast also add to the general atmosphere of gaiety — Eric Blore as a waiter and Erik Rhodes as Tonetti. The dialogue is bright and the director has avoided stage restrictions; he puts over the big dance finale, "The Continental," with brilliant screen showmanship. While the settings of London, Southampton, Paris, and Brighton are not conspicuous for their conviction, they are, nevertheless, excellently devised for the sparkling, gay humour and light-hearted romance. •••BIG HEARTED HERBERT Firsi Natiortal. Amtrican. "U" certificate. Domestic comedy. Runs 59 minutes. Guy Kibbee Herbert Aline MacMahon Elizabeth Patricia Ellis Alice Phillip Reed .Andre Helen Lowell Martha Trent Durkin Junior Jay Ward Robert Marjorie Gateson Amy Lawrence Henry O'Neill Goodrich, Senior Robert Barrat Jim Lawrence Directed by William KeigUey, from a play by Sophie Kerr. Pre-viemal Novembfr 3, 1934. Penetrating but kindly satire at the expense of the American suburban family is the basis of this cleverly written and exceedingly well acted comedy, which has been directed with an excellent eye to character and detail. As Herbert, a self-made married man, who is never tired of telling his family about his own achievements, but who conveniently scoffs at show when it comes to spending money on the home, Guy Kibbee excels himself. Time and time again he has g[iven notable characterisations in bit parts, but here he has a chance to spread himself, and he makes the utmost of it. While caricaturing the role, he never renders it artificial by excessive exaggeration. His daughter, Alice, is well presented by Patricia Ellis. It is when Herbert insults his guests at a party given to celebrate her engagement to Andrew, a young lawyer, that trouble starts. His wife — briUiantly played by Aline MacMahon — plots with other members of the family to turn the house upside down when he asks an important cUent and his wife to dinner. They pose as very plain people and Herbert sees himself for the first time as others see him. The pictare displeases him so much that he mends his ways. The action is commendably rapid and the witticisms keep the entertainment going with zest from beginning to end. ♦•THERE'S ALWAYS TO-MORROW I'niversal. American. "A" certificate Domestic drama. Rtms 88 minutes. Jean Parker, George Raft, and Anna May Wong are the leads in house Blues." Lime i Betty Fwness supplies the love interest in the new collegiate picture, " The Band Plays On." BiNNiE Barnes Alice Vaile Frank Morgan Joseph White Lois Wilson Sophie White Louise Latimer Janet Elizabeth Young Helen Robert Taylor Arthur Maurice Murphy Fred> Twmc Dick Winslow Dick/ Helen Paskish Maijode Margaret Hamilton Ella Dean Benton Aim Darling » Directed by Edward SlomarL. Pre-viewed 7 January 19, 1935. For story fredy based on the film by Marjory Williams see page 30. A triangle drama that is different. It is not so much in the presentation of the love interest as in that of the normal, middle-class American family and the way they take the head of the household for granted that the entertainment Ues. There are one or two sermonising sequences, which strike an artificial note and are unduly prolonged, and the attitude of the children to their father's "affair" with a woman who had loved him before he married is frankly forced and artificial, but the domestic detail is excellent. Frank Morgan — I seem to be writing nothing but eulc^es about him lately — is very good as the father who allows hunself to be treated as a sort of universal provider until another woman tries to give him those little attentions and comforts he has missed. As his wife, whose love for her husband is temporarily echpsed by her solicitude for her children, Lois Wilson is also well in character, while Binnie Barnes is sincere and effective — except for one or two scenes which are frankly artificial in their conception. The picttu^ just misses being really excellent by failing to be whoUy convincing, but has its fair share of humour and poignant sentimental situations. Jta c^^THE BAND PLAYS ON ' M.-G.-M. American. "U" certificate. Collegiate eomedy-dramM. Runt 85 unimtfs. Robert Young Tooy sjj Stvart Erwim Stulff Leo Carrillo An^do Betty Furmess Kitty Ted Healy , Joe Preston Foster Howdy ^ Rvssell Hardib HilN ^ William Tanneh Rosy ^ Robert I.ivi:<gston Bob Stone Norman Phillips, Jun Stuffy as a Child David Durand Tony as a Child Sidney Miller Kcsy as a Child ^ Braudine Anderson. Mike as a Child J|| Betty Jane Graham Kitty as a Child ^ Directed by Russell Mack. Story of four American college youths and how they were taught to play the game both on and off the football field. It is not just the conventional ( Continued on page 36 )