Son of a Sailor (Warner Bros.) (1933)

(Review ) “Son of A Sailor’ Proves Riot of Hearty Laughs Joe Buries Seven Original Jokes And Starts From Scratch With Melange Of Brand New Fun picture opened here yesterday Theatre, and if all of HE newest Joe E. Brown i at the <a oan the movie ad men’s ingeniously coined superlatives to infer hilarious comedy were laid end to end, they couldn’t begin to reach around the bubbling mass of howling, mirth-quaking laugh material crowded into that funniest of all feature com edies which we have seen to date,| namely “Son of a Sailor.” First National certainly has “done right by our Joe” and handed him the fattest part of his career. It must have taken a small army of gag-men to think up all of the big laugh situations that crowd upon each other so fast, that one has no Love Among The Sailors |for bombing experiments—and is. |You just can’t picture it, You'll |have to see “Son of a Sailor” to appreciate it all. But take warning and brace yourself well in your seat when this sequence comes on the screen. Despite the fact that Joe E. is Page Six Joe E. Brown is attempting to make progress with lovely Sheila Terry, but we leave it to you how successful he is. Sheila joins with Jean Muir and Thelma Todd in being the objects of Joe’s attention in “Son ofa Sailor,” First National’s laugh riot at the Strand. Mat No. 24, Price 10c. time to recover from each preceding big howl, before another pops up to} floor us. Yes, there is a well knitted story, sane and logical enough to allow for all the utterly absurd, illogical and insane antics of Joe E. Brown as! ‘Handsome’ Callahan. Joe is a sailor in the Navy, a member of the airplane carrier U. S. S. Saratoga erew. To hear him tell it, he hobnobs with the elite, notables, admirals and the like during his spare time. And the funny part of it is that he does, in the end, though most unwillingly. But that is not the important part of it. Joe prevaricates himself in and out of more trouble than a whole regiment of A naniases. He ean lick any man in the world and has to prove it. His hosts of lady admirers—why the line simply forms on the right. And what a lineup of rights he encounters before he gets even a tumble from a single female. There may be only seven original jokes on which to base any comedy, but we failed to recognize any of the familiar icoctions these are supposed to bring about. Hilarious situations, new to the screen at least, kept yesterday’s audience in a constant roar of laughter. Picture for instance a lone sailor finding himself at sea, aboard a discarded cruiser which is about to be used — jentrusted with his greatest laugh getting role, it is withal a genuinely effective performance and a sincere |convinecing characterization that he |portrays. Far more so than the average role falling to the lot of a comedian. Joe’s famous yell, a sort of a compromise between a howl and a gargle, seems funnier than ever. The mannerisms and tricks of the trade all his own, and so uniquely identi fied with this master funmaker, are all with us again. “Son of a Sailor” merely entrenches him atill firmer in the hearts of movie-goers. He is the champion clowner of the screen and his foremost position in his field seems likely to be his for many a moon. Johnny Mack Brown has an im portant assignment as the young petty officer whom ‘Handsome’ re. veres and Frank McHugh is seen us ‘Handsome’s’ own man Friday. Jean Muir, the much discussed screen find imported to Hollywood by First National, has her first leading role opposite Joe, and Thelma Todd appears as the adventuress whose plot is foiled by ‘Handsome.’ Others in the large cast so ably directed by Lloyd Bacon are George Blackwood, Sheila Terry, Kenneth Thomson, Arthur Vinton and Merna Kennedy. A twenty-one gun salute for “Son of a Sailor!” Opening Day Story Joe Brown Film Week Starts Today at_---With Star As a Gob This is fun week at the Theatre, for Joe E. Brown, popular First National comedian will be seen on the screen there beginning today in what is reputed to be his funniest picture, “Son of a Sailor.” As the title indicates this is a picture of naval life. Joe has the role of an over-imaginative sailor whose vanity and boastfulness lead him into more scrapes than you can shake a stick at. Many scenes in the comedy were taken aboard the U. S. S. Saratoga, an airplane carrier of the Pacific fleet, which was loaned to the com pany for the occasion. Eleven hundred gobs, who make up the crew of the warship, had the time of their lives in watching Joe at work. They also took part as extras and as at mosphere in some of the sequences. There are also a large number of movie gobs in the picture in addi tion to Joe. Jean Muir, who plays the leading feminine role, is not a gob, but she is the daughter of an admiral and the sweetheart of a sailor. Others in the cast include Thelma Todd, Frank McHugh. Johnny Mack Brown, Sheila Terry, George Blackwood, Merna Kennedy, Samuel Hinds, Noel Francis, Ken neth Thomson, Arthur Vinton and George Irving. Lloyd Bacon directed the picture Ist day of run Joe E. Brown’s Comedy Starts New Croquet Graze in Hollywood Croquet has an excellent chance of becoming Hollywood's hot sport. What started it all seems to be the swanky croquet set, imported from England, where the game has never gone out of fashion, for use in a retired U. S. Admiral’s home in Joe E. Brown’s latest First National comedy, “Son of a Sailor,” now showing at the Theatre. Joe E. Brown took one look at the croquet set and ordered one for Mrs. Brown and the kiddies. Several of the First National junior stars who were among the “guests” on the lawn of Admiral Farnsworth’s palatial estate in “Son of a Sailor” have since gone for the game in a big way. Other Hollywood players, directors and writers soon followed suit until today, a game of eroquet 18 more apt to take the place of a rubber of bridge on the spacious Hollywood lawns. “Son of a Sailor,” whieh was photographed in the main aboard the U. S. S. Saratoga of the Pacific Fleet, details the fortunes of a dumh sailor through a series of exciting and extremely humorous misadven tures. Jean Muir has the leading femi nine role while others in the cast include Thelma Todd, Frank Me Hugh, Johnny Mack Brown, Sheila Terry and George Blackwood. Lloyd Bacon directed. Jean Muir Proficient As Dancer and Actress Jean Muir, the new First National player who has the leading feminine role opposite Joe E. Brown in his latest comedy, “Son of a Sailor,” now showing at the Theatre, is as proficient a dancer as she is an accomplished actress. “ft Lovely Jean Muir, in Joe E. Brown’s new hit, “Son of a Sailor,” now playing at the Strand. Mat No. 17, Price Sc. 2nd day of run Jean Muir, New Film Find, Plays Diverse Roles Equally Well In the first two pictures of her career, Jean Muir, youthful, blonde and rated an important discovery, had assignments as different as the poles. Yet she handled both roles with an equal ease and artistry. First came “The World Changes,’ with Paul Muni. In that picture, she plays a pioneer girl of the Dakota plains, a pathetie child defeated in love — victim of her lover’s am bition. Her costumes are the homespun dresses of a hardy frontier village; her hands are worn with farm work. She is young but well used to hardship and privation, Even before she had finished work with Muni, Jean was selected as the ingenue lead opposite Joe E. Brown, in his latest First National comedy, “Son of a Sailor,” now showing at the Theatre. For several days she worked in both pietures at onee, The only link between her characters was that Jean Muir was cast for both. In “Son of a Sailor’ she is the ’ granddanghter of an Admiral — wealthy, beautifully gowned, petted and spoiled Her hair is metieulously waved, her feet are shod in expensive slippers; attentions are showered upon her. “Son of a Sailor” is a_ riotous comedy in which Joe has the role of an over imaginative sailor whose boastful tongue leads him into innumerable serapes. The major por tion of the seenes were taken aboard tie. th 68 -&. Kleven hundred real gobs attached to the warship took part in the pieture. Others in important roles inelude Thelma Todd, Johnny Mack Brown, Frank MeHugh, Sheila Terry, George Blackwood and Merna Kennedy. Lloyd Bacon directed from a sereen play by Al Cohn and Paul Gerrard Smith. Saratoga. Beauty Contest Landed Thelma Todd Film Role Thelma Todd, who has an impor tant role opposite Joe E. Brown in his latest First National comedy, “Son of a Sailor,” now at the Theatre, is another Hollywood player who won a chance in the movies by the way of a local beauty contest. After graduating from Lowell Normal School she became a teacher in the primary schools of Lawrence, Mass. She entered a local beauty contest just for the fun of it and won. The winner was giveu a small role in 4 picture, but this role led to a long term movie contract, with more and more important roles.