Picturegoer (Jan-Apr 1935)

PICTUREGOER Weekly April 13. 1935 ON THE SCREENS NOW— Continued George Hrent does well as the weak husband while Ann Dvorak gives an appealing and well balanced performance as the wife. liette Davis is true to type as the mercenary and seductive charmer who nearly ruins her happiness. Detail work is good and the construction workmanlike. c*BABES IN TOYLAND M.-(i.-.\f. Amcriran. ••(•• certificate. Pantomime, kutts 77 minutes. •Stan I.ai rei Stanley Diim Olivkr Hardy Oliver Dee Charlotte Henry Uo-Peep Fn.i.v K.NiCHT Tom-Totn HvNRY Klkinbach Bamaby I'LORF.NCt Roberts Widow Peep l't'ki>ENAKi> Mi'NiER Santa Claus Wii.i.iAM Bi RREss Toymaker Virginia Kahns Mother Goose IMrecteil bv Gus Meins and Charles RogersBased on the operetta by ytctor Herbert ami the book bv (Hen .XlacDonottgh. Previewed Januarv 12, I!)35. A disappointing excursion into the realms of screen pantomime which will probably please the younger children but which has not taken advantage of the scope of the screen for the presentation of what is basically a fairy tale. There is one particularly good .spectacular incident of toy soldiers attacking bogeymen but otherwise it is not remarkable in scenic effect. Laurel and Hardy rely on very obvious slapstick fooling and are virtually starved of material. •JEALOUSY Columbia. American. "A" certificate. Triangle drama. Runs R6 minutes. Nancy Carroll Jo Douglas George .Murphy Larry O'Roark Donald Cook Mark Lambert Raymond WiU.B(;RN Phil Arthur Hohl Mike Inez Covrtney Penny Robert Allen Jim Clara Blandick Mis. Douglas Arthur Hoyt Smith Josephine Whittell Laura Arthi^r Vinton Tony Ray Mayer Hook Ray Cooke Line HuEY White Sinker Directed by Roy William Neill. Triangle melodrama put over with f)opular punch which relies more on the way it is told rather than on its material which is not too convincing. It is told in the form of a dream. A boxer, knocked out in the ring, imagines, while unconscious, that he has shot his wife's employer, that he loses his memory and only gains it in time to save his wife, who has been accused of the crime, from the chair. Nancy Carroll is sound as the wife and George Murphy puts in a virile performance as the husband. Boxing sequences are well handled and there is a sufficiency of humorous relief to balance the somewhat fantastic theme. ♦ROMANCE IN THE RAIN I'niversal. American. "(/" certificate. Romantic comedy with music. Runs 77 minutes. Roger Pbyor Charlie Heather Anoel Cynthia Victor Moore J. Franklyn Blank Esther Ralston Gwen Ruth Donnelly Sparks Paul Kave Rex Christian Kub Slotnick GuiNN Williams Panya David Worth Hedgwick Yellow Horse...... The Eskimo Directed ty Stuart Wuiittr from a story by Sig Heriiz and Jay Gorne)': adafrted bv Barry Trivers. Music, .singing and dancing in the story of a publicity agent who conceives the idea of staging a "Cinderella" contest for his magazine which is won by Cynthia, a poor girl, who is in love with him. She suggests the idea of running a "Prince Charming" contest with the idea that the winner of it shall marry "Cinderella" in public. Love, of course, finds a way and there is quite a good deal of amusement in the presentation of circulation "ballyhoo" as practised by -American magazines. Heather Angel is attractively wistful as Cynthia and Roger Pryor is agreeably aggressive as the publicity expert. *YOU BELONG TO ME Paramount. American. " U " certificate. Backstage drama. Runs 67 minutes. Lee Tracy Bud Hannigan Helen Mack Floreete Faxon Helen Morgan Bonnie Kay David Holt Jimmy Faxon Arthur Pierson Hap Stanley Lynne Overman Mr. Brown Edwin Stanley School Principal Irene Ware Lita Lacey Directed by Alfred Werker from a story by Elizabeth Alexander, adapted by Graver Jones and WUliam Slavens McNeill. Previewed November 3, 1934. Very conventional back stage plot chiefly devised to exploit a new juvenile, David Holt, who shows promise but whose voice production at the moment is very poor. He is cast as the son of a vaudeville artiste whose husband is killed in a trapeze act and whose mother remarries unhappily and is also killed while doing a trapeze performance. The chief character is the comic played by Lee Tracy who helps both mother and son. He is A typically English scene from Vi Lorraine's new picture " Roadhouse.' Heather Angel gives an attractive performance in " Romance in the Rain." 36 good but starved of material. Helen Mack is fair as the mother and Arthur Pierson is excellent as the boy's conceited and self-satisfied step-father. The best acting, however, comes from Ljmne Overman as a stage manager. •ROADHOUSE G.B.D. British. "A" certificate. Romantic drama. Runs 75 minims. Violet Lorraine Belle Gordon Harker Sam Emlvn Williams Chester Aileen Marson Kitty Hartley Power d'Arcy Anne Grey Lady Chettwinde Stanley Holloway Donovan Marie Lohr Lady Hamble Edwin Styles Archie Romilly Lunge Romilly And Horace Kenny, Wylie Watson, Frank Atkinson, Geraldo and his Band. Directed by Maurice Elvey, from the stage play by Walter Hackett, adapud by Leslie Arliss and Austin Melford. Previewed March 23, 1935. What might have reasonably been expected to be a very good murder story has evolved into a disjointed and badly balanced mixture of very obvious comedy, banal drama and music hall interludes. The story deals with a barmaid who becomes a famous music-hall star and marries above her station, loses her husband and her voice during the war and later is instrumental, with the help of a publican who has always adored her, in saving her daughter — brought up in ignorance of her mother — from a murder charge. The whole thing is very disjointed and though it is lavishly set it fails to grip one at all effectively. Vi Lorraine is not well cast as the romantic barmaid in the early part, although she later puts over several music-hall songs with her accustomed aplomb. Gordon Harker continues in his "typed" role of Cockney public house proprietor while Emlyn Williams is once again a crook. As the daughter, Aileen Marson is attractive and Ann Grey sound as a feminine variety of crook. ♦REDHEAD Path/'. American. " 1/ " certificate. Romantic comedy drama. Runs 77 minutes. Bruce Cabot Ted Brown Grace Bradley Dale Carter Regis Toomky Scoop Bfrton Churchill Mr. Brown Le Roy Mason Baby Faoe George Humbert Pasqiiale RitaCampacna Mrs. Pasquale Ed Brady Joe Bess Stafford Landlady Addison Pace Ra((«r« Directed by Melville Brown from tht novel by Vera Brou n. Previewed December 8, 1934. The old familiar theme of the bad girl reforming the "ne'er-dowell" is put over in a fairly enter taining manner with Grace Bradley contributing a convincing characterisation as the heroine, a woman who is dogged by unpleasant pubhcity. As the man she reforms Bruce Cabot is well in character too and good support comes from Berton Churchill and Regis Toomey. The picture is rather drawn out in the opening but moves pleasantly enough once it gets into its stride. THE 3RD CLUE Fox. British. " A " certificate. Mystery thriller. Runs 72 minutes. Basil Sidney rReiiihardt \ James Conway Molly Lamont Rosemary Clayton Robert Cochran Peter Kerrigan C. M. Hallard Gabriel Wells Alfred Sanoster Rupert Clayton Raymond Lovell Robinson Adela Mavis Sita Frank Atkinson Lefty Ernest Sefton Newman Ian Fleming Mark Clayton Quinton McPhersoh Reuben Eric Fawcett Jack TuUy Bruce Lister Derek Clayton Mabel Terry-Lewcs Mrs. Fuller Noel Daintor Charapajahi Rani Waller Emily Directed by Albert Parker from the story by Neil Gordon, adapted by Michael Barringer, Lance Sieveking and Frank Atkinson. A frankly improbable and very complicated story dealing with the murders attending the search for some jewels instigated by a young girl who, with the help of the inevitable reporter, is ultimately successful. The continuity is very jerky and the suspense values indi^9^erent. SHE MADE HER BED Paramount. American. " A " certificateMarital drama. Runs 70 minuies Richard Arlen Bill Smith Sally Eilers Lura Gordon Robert Armstrono Duke Gordon Grace Bradley McGillicuddy Roscoe Atxs Sante Fe Charley Grapewin Joe Olsen Richard Arlen, juh The Baby Charles Sellon Mr. McGillcuddy Directed by Ralph Murphy from a story bV James M Cain, adapted by Richard E. Silayerr. Unpleasant and sordid story told in a sensationally clap-trap manner with marital infidelity as the main theme backed up with wild animal stunts. The action takes place in a touring circus in California and the culminating thrill is the saving of the baby's life in a fire — it is put in the ice-box. Four Star Filma for Past TwelTa Weak* Crime Without Passion Forsaking All Others The Gay Divorce Three Star Films for Past Five Wc«ka The Painted Veil Of Human Bondage Badger's Green Evelyn Prentue A Wiehed Woman Over the River Big Hearted Herbert Two Star PIctares tor Past Two Wacks Bachelor Bait Courageous T he Old Curvsity Shop There's Always ToThe Band Plays On morrow