Kid from Kokomo (Warner Bros.) (1939)

Gloom Takes Beating From ‘Kid from Kokomo’ PEELE CCE (Opening Day) AT STRAND TODAY IS ALL FOR LAUGHS Some of the racketeering that goes on behind the scenes of the prizefight game is hilariously exposed in ‘‘The Kid from Kokomo,’’ the Warner Bros. comedy featuring Pat O’Brien, Wayne Morris and Joan Blondell which opens today at the Strand Theatre. Exposing evils of the boxing game is, however, merely incidental te the main purpose of the picture, which is to garner laughs. Nothing is taken serious!y, and even the most dishonest of the film’s characters are rather engaging rascals. In the new picture every character and every twist of the plot is humorous, laughter being directed even at the virtuous hero, who is altogether admirable in every respect except that he does seem to be just a bit dense, even for a country bumpkin who has been slickered by a crooked fight manager into leaving his native heath to become a_ professional fighter. The husky farm boy, it ceems, has only one great desire in life, and that is to find the mother who left him as a baby on the doorstep of the farmer who brought him up. So, the scheminz fight manager, played by Pat, provides a mother for Wayne in the person of a raffish old k'eptomaniae who in her distant youth had been an actress. The boy is taken in by the deception, and gratefully proceeds to travel fast up the ladder of fistic success. With the money rolling in, his ‘‘mother’’ takes advantage of the situation to wrest control of Wayne from his manager, who thus sees his clever scheme laying an egg right in his lap. From there on, there’s a succession of rapid-fire, uproarious complications that lead finally to a climactic brawl which is one of the funniest scenes of roughhouse ever filmed. Supporting the featured trio, is a cast rich with accomplished comedians, including May Robson, Jane Wyman, Stanley Fields, Maxie Rosenbloom, Sidney Toler, Ed Brophy, Paul Hurst, Morgan Conway and many others. OC Cast of Uproarious C Kid Laughter won an easy decision over Old Man Gloom when somheKad “trom: Wwokomo; the Warner Bros. prize ring comedy featuring Pat O’Brien, Wayne Morris and Joan Blondell, opened yesterday at the Strand Theatre. Blocking everything with his funnybone, Kid Laughter swarmed to the attack with jabbing ribticklers, snappy quips and joltin? wisecracks, with the result that not only was Mr. Gloom draped neatly over the canvas at the end of the uneven contest but the audience also was left limp and gasping — just from laughing so long and so hard. Tossing aside the metaphor, it is a fact that the new Warner Bros. comedy is just about the funniest motion picture that has come along so far this year and compares favorably with the best of any year. It is an unusual picture, for it takes the elements out of which scenario writers have always before concocted adequate enough melodrama and, merely shifting the pont of view, uses them all to hilariously comic effect. Against what has heretofore always been depicted as the sinister background of the prize ring racket, it traces the build-up of a big, husky, hard-punching country lad who is none too bright into the heavyweight champion of the world. Only this time all the wicked people are more funny than sinister, and the swiftly moving complications, while exciting enough, are all geared for laughs rather than menace. Most of the humor revolves about the strategem employed by Pat, as a fight manager entirely without scruple, to get the promising looking country youth, played by Wayne, to consent to leave the farm and become a_ professional boxer. The youth, it seems, was as a baby left by his mother on the doorstep of the farmer who brought him up, and his only real desire in life is to find his mother again. So Pat provides the mother, in the person of a raffish old drunk and petty thief who had been an actress in her youth. Wayne is taken in by the trick; in fact, he is taken in much too Mat 211—30c Love enters the prize ring and gets the decision when Wayne Morris and Jane Wyman get together in the Strand’s current laugh hit, "The Kid From Kokomo." (Review ) ‘ID FROM KOKOMO’ ~Wayne Morris and Pat O’Brien Head omedy at Strand Mat 205—30c Every day is Mother's day with Wayne Morris, in the title role of "The Kid From Kokomo." May Robson is the mother, alias "Shop-lifting Sadie." much for Pat’s peace of mind. For the old girl, seeing herself the object of the blind adoration of a boy who is earning huge money as a rapidly climbing heavyweight contender, takes over the management of his affairs — in her own interest. That’s enough to tell here, for it would be robbing the prospective spectator of many a _ hearty laugh to reveal here just how the contending racketeers plot and counter plot to grab the wealth that is being piled up by the country boy’s hard fists. It should suffice to say that Wayne eventually wins the championship on his own merits and also comes in for his rightful share of the spoils. It should be obvious that both Pat and Wayne have roles virtually tailored to their measure, and all that need be said about their handling of their assignments is that neither has ever exhibited his talents on the screen to better advantage. Miss Blondell, as a retired bubble dancer who is Pat’s shrewd girl friend, is responsible on her own for many a hearty guffaw. Heading the supporting cast is the ever-dependable May Robson — only this time she is much more than dependable. In fact, her portrayal of the disreputable old fake mother, makes her a sure contender for an Academy award next spring. Others among the supporting players who shine with more than usual lustre include Maxie Rosenbloom, in a characteristic role of a dumb ‘‘pug’’?; Jane Wyman, as Wayne’s girl friend; and Stanley Fields, as Miss Robson’s gentleman friend. Helping to contribute uproariously funny moments are Sidney Toler, Ed Brophy, Ward Bond and Paul Hurst, and whatever sleek menace is fleetingly required is well supplied by Morgan Conway. The screen play, a witty and well paced job, was written by Jerry Wald and Richard Macaulay, based on a story by Dalton Trumbo. Lewis Seiler directed. Jane Wyman knows all of the answers and most of the questions. She is a ‘‘show ’em’’ girl from Missouri, more particularly from St. Joseph, Mo., where she was born during the World War. She is familiar to picture fans -for a number of sprightly per formances and for her delivery of the biggest laugh line in the picture, ‘‘Brother Rat,’’ when she suddenly appeared from under the couch cover and saved the situation for the cadets in trouble by warning the officer of the day with a wagging finger and the words, &’Pana won't like.?? ‘*Papa’’ in that instance, was the commanding officer of the school. ‘‘Papa’’ in Jane’s real life held various official offices in Missouri and was well used to the persuasive ways of young ladies because Jane has two sisters. Life has been a continual round of activity and excitement for Jane Wyman. Restless and energetic, she played tennis, soccer, volley-ball and basketball in school. Just recently she has taken up ice skating where she left off several years ago. She still manages to fall as gracefully as the average [ 16 ] She’s From Missouri: / and to get black and blue in the same places. To her intimates Jane is known as ‘‘ Just Folks.’’ That is her own name, Sarah Jane Folks, but she has a big supply of names and is apt to tell anyone who asks that her real name is Jane Durrell or Jane Pechelle. ‘‘Pechelle’’ was her mother’s theatrical name in Paris. ‘Durrell’? was just a happy inspiration when she needed a name for radio work some years ago. ‘‘Wyman’’ is the name she took when she started in pictures. Following her work in her latest picture, ‘‘The Kid from Kokomo,’’ which is now showing at the Strand Theatre, Warner Bros. decided that after her three year probationary period Jane should be groomed for real stardom. The provinces were reporting about the little blonde beauty who delivered that now-famous line in ‘‘ Brother Rat.’’? Perhaps, when she heard that good news, Jane remembered the line she wrote on her original studio questionnaire, after the question: ‘‘What is your present ambition?’’ To that her answer was: ‘‘Not to be just an actress, but the actress of Warner Bros.’’ CREUUDODNADAUEONUTOREDARLONSOOROOEEUONCOUEESEUEUOUOODOEEEUAEEAUEYOEGOEEEAAUEOECUOECEOOOCOS EOEEETC TTT ETEEED DYMAMIC? Wri, NO IM JUST RESTLESS’ SAYS PAT O'BRIEN Pat O’Brien’s dynamic activities in film characterizations aren’t without foundation in the Irishman’s real-life doings. Restlessness, he calls it. While working in ‘‘The Kid from Kokomo,’’ the Warner Bros. picture with Joan Blondell and Wayne Morris also in the east, which is now showing at the Strand Theatre, O’Brien told on the set one day how he spent an Eastern ‘‘vacation’’ which had immediately preceded the picture. ““T saw eighteen stage plays, four big football games, and made expenses for the trip betting on Seabiscuit at Pimlico,’’ O’Brien explained. ‘‘Saw all my old New York friends who were around town, of course, and some in other towns. Then hopped over to Bermuda. And before I knew it, I was back in Hollywood, starting this picture.’’ O’Brien can sit ina canvas chair beside a set or an easy chair at his home with an air as restful as anyone in the world with the possible exception of Stepinfetchit. But to be content doing those things, he must be in ¢onversation with someone, or watching something interesting, or be silent partner to some practical joke. Probably one of the most sen timental Irishmen that ever walked, he keeps his weakness for all PAT O'BRIEN Mat 102—15c things Hibernian pretty well to himself. Too often, in Hollywood, shamrock-waving Irishmen are accused of being ‘‘ professional Irishmen.’’ If anyone called Pat that, and meant it, it would break his heart. That is, his heart would break immediately after he got through breaking the other fellow’s nose! ‘“The Kid from Kokomo’? is the sort of picture Pat likes. He plays a fight manager who’d doublecross his own grandmother. Joan Blondell and Ed Brophy are fellow conspirators on his side, May Robson, Stanley Fields and others are arrayed against him. Jane Wyman is heroine, and the hero, Wayne Morris, is a big, dumb hayseed—playing comedy straightfaced and seriously. Pat thinks this was a good role for him as follow-up to his work in ‘‘Angels with Dirty Faces.’? ‘“From that good father to this crooked and scheming manager of fighters is a far enough ery to remind people that I can do more than one kind of part,’’ he points out. ‘‘Funny, extreme roles like those are the sort I like best.’’