Picture-Play Magazine (1936)

5 'J REVIEWS BY NORBERT LUSK "Private Number." dormant in every average man. Spencer Tracy, an honest garage man, is arrested as a kidnaping suspect, jailed on flimsy evidence and supposedly burned to death when the infuriated townspeople fire the prison. How he escapes isn't explained, but he appears at the trial of the mob leaders and his evidence condemns them to die. However, he relents and his conscience is clear for a happy fade-out with Sylvia Sidney. "Private Number." — 20th Century-Fox. Remember Constance Bennett and baby in "Common Clay"? It was hugely successful with the mob and deplored by the few. Rewritten and redecorated, it is remade for the benefit of Robert Taylor and Loretta Young and is still the story of a housemaid and a millionaire's son. Except that the new crop of censors see to it that Mr. Taylor marries the girl in the first place, which should cheer servant girls no end. They will also be cheered by Miss Young's extensive wardrobe of pretty clothes. Even her uniforms have that "special" look, and her mistress gives her an elaborate evening gown in time for her big scene in Mr. Taylor's arms. It isn't a cast-off, either, but was designed for Miss Young's lissom figure and starry-eyed type. With such a set-up as this, it is no wonder there's a happy ending. Basil Rathbone, as a vengeful, frustrated butler, is impressive, and Patsy Kelly's comedy is a godsend. "Secret Agent." — Gaumont-British. The odd attractiveness of "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and "The Thirty-nine Steps" is recaptured in this spy melodrama by the same director. Not quite so fully, but enough to make the new picture important. It begins when a supposedly dead novelist is given a new name by the British Secret Service and sent to Switzerland to kill a German spy. He is accompanied by a mocking fiend known as "Sins of Man." "Secret Agent." "The General," superbly played by Peter Lorre. A "wife" is provided for him, too, the lovely Madeleine Carroll whose flirtation with Robert Young not only brings out the best performance the American actor has given, but recalls Miss Carroll's sparkling performance in "The Thirty-nine Steps." A horrifying moment comes when an innocent tourist is killed in place of the spy. The climax is original and exciting, and the Swiss scenes are varied and beautiful. Another important factor is the first screen appearance of John Gielgud as the novelist pressed into governmental service. One of England's important actors, he is to play "Hamlet" on Broadway next season and looms large as Leslie Howard's rival. "Sins of Man." — 20th Century-Fox. Heavy, lugubrious, disjointed, this is more a vehicle for that popular character acter, Jean Hersholt, and the unnamed make-up man than a forthright picture. It recalls the mood of Emil Jannings in "The Betrayal" and "Sins of the Fathers" without, however, the art of a Jannings to sustain it. Here we have Mr. Hersholt runnng the gamut of tears. An Alpine sexton and bell ringer, he is doomed to a raw deal in life as soon as you see him. He is too naive and quaint to escape a lot of grief from his sons, one of them a deaf mute, the other breaking his heart because he is air-minded. War, the death of one son and a journey to New York further the plot until Mr. Hersholt is seen as a feeble, mournful Bowery derelict and dishwasher. Then he hears a symphony conducted by the great "Mario Singarelli" and recognizes the bells of his native village in the music. Speaking of coincidence, the world-famous maestro is his son. Don Ameche plays one son as a boy and the other as a grown-up. I think we shall be talking about Don Ameche in a year. Allen Jenkins is excellent and much needed comedy relief. "Dancing Pirate."