Screenland (May-Oct 1930)

86 SCREENLAND Critical Comment Free and Easy HERE is Buster Keaton's first talking comedy. I wish I could report that it is a knockout, because I have always rated Buster as one of the leading screen comics. But "Free and Easy," despite its elaborate mounting and lustrous cast, is only a fairly entertaining film. To begin with, the addition of a voice detracts from the Keaton pantomime, this frozen-faced actor's chief talent. Not that Buster is a vocal flop ; he has a good voice, but it doesn't fit in with the character he has built up. He becomes a different Keaton and with the exception of some hilarious scenes in which he has an opportunity to perform acrobatically, he is hampered by the new technique. Anita Page and Robert Montgomery are the lovers of the piece, with Buster doing a "Laugh Clown Laugh" for the finish. A Hollywood setting gives glimpses of several other stars, including William Haines. Mammy THE question is, how much do you like Al Jolson? If you are a rabid Jolson admirer, don't miss "Mammy." On the other hand, if you are onjy Iuke-warm about Al, don't expect too much of "Mammy." It's all Jolson. I know that all Jolson pictures are all Jolson; but this new one is even more so. You have to be all excited about him to get the most out of "Mammy." The best of the scenes show Al as a minstrel man, with his famous black-face. Don't worry too much about the Mammy business; there's surprisingly little sob stuff with Jolson's Alma Mammy, Louise Dresser. Of course you know that, being a Jolson opus, the star will have to be arrested for a crime he didn't commit. But never mind; there's always a way out. Lois Moran is the girl who's waiting. Can it be that the Jolson charm is wearing a little thin? Or maybe he only needs snappier songs. High Society Blues DID you like "Sunnyside Up?" Then don't miss its successor, also directed by David Butler, and again starring Charles Farrell and Janet Gaynor. "High Society Blues" is a much more charming film than "Sunnyside Up"; it is not so smarty, just as funny, and the popular stars have found themselves in the talkie medium so that they turn in perfectly delightful performances. Miss Gaynor deserves every credit for being able to make the jump from her wistful characterizations to the rollicking zestful musical comedy type of thing she does so sweetly here. Farrell, too, comes through nobly. Their voices are improving all the time. The story, as if it matters, is just a nice little romance, but songs and comedy situations are so cleverly interwoven that "High Society Blues" becomes the perfect picture for the majority of fans. For the whole family. Captain of the Guard THE French Revolution is fought again to make a Universal holiday. John Boles profits by the occasion to establish himself even more securely as a star with a voice and a profile. John is not a particularly proficient actor yet, but it doesn't seem to matter, as long as he can warble his way into audience favor. He plays a young royalist who is won over to the revolutionists and writes the Marseillaise by way of expressing his patriotism. The musical score, with strains of the famous French anthem, was composed for this picture by Charles Wakefield Cadman. Laura La Plante, wearing a black wig, does the best she can with the role of The Torch, a flaming leader of the revolutionists. Imagine our cuddlesome, dimpled Laura as a fire-brand! Her few comedy moments are charming. This film ran two weeks at the Roxy Theater, in New York, so that's your answer.