Screenland (May-Oct 1936)

6 SCREENLAND 13 Hours By Air Paramount Thrills and chills galore, with something happening every second as moments of grand comedy are followed by gripping drama. Fred MacMurray turns in a he-man performance as the devil-may-care pilot who falls in line with his lovely blonde passenger, Joan Bennett. ZaSu Pitts, never funnier; Fred Keating; Brian Donlevy; Alan Baxter; Bcnnie Bartlett, a fine kid actor, and the others are fine too. See this ! Everybody's Old Man 20th Century-Fox Good clean fun for the whole family, with Irvin S. Cobb, humorist, novelist, and now film character actor as an American business man who thrives on competition. Rochelle Hudson supplies the eye-appeal and a performance that gives notable depth to her characterization. Johnny Downs proves a most promising screen juvenile, and Norman Foster adds a good portrayal as Cobb's prudish nephew. Pretty fair show. You'll be giving three big cheers for the Gaynor-Taylor team after you've seen Janet and Robert in this up-to-the-minute Cinderella yarn about the country lass and and the very social young surgeon who fall in love after an after-the-party wedding that joined two total strangers. Nothing new in this story at any point, but it holds and amuses and entertains you, because of Janet Gaynor and Bob Taylor. Sutter's Gold Universal An ambitious production, finely conceived with regard to the pictorial values of the historical episode with which it deals. For the history-minded, this story of the Swiss in California who built a vast fortune, then lost it, is worth seeing. But as entertainment, it falls far short of the necessary story interest. Edward Arnold is excellent in name role. Lee Tracy and Binnie Barnes do their very best. A film worth seeing. "Jagging Talki es Delight Evans' Reviews on Pages 52 and 53 The famous old mystery thriller brought up to date and made into a corking good action melodrama, capitally played by Phillips Holmes, Mae Clarke, Irving Pichel, and Rosita Moreno. It is well directed entertainment, not very convincing as to plot but capable of holding your interest right up to the finish when world war, no less, is averted by defeat of the international spy. Enjoyable, and one of the best of its kind. Brides Are Like That Warners A wholesome little number about young love. Its unpretentious good humor rather brings you around to liking it, but you must go prepared to hear lots of talk and see very little action. Ross Alexander plays the breezy, back-slapping chap who doesn't like work, and Anita Louise the girl who loves him. They marry on other people's money. Joe Cawthorne, Gene and Kathleen Lockhart round out a highly capable cast. Three Little Wolves DisneyUnited Artists It's a pretty safe bet to recommend that you see any Walt Disney cartoon— but this sequel to "The Three Little Pigs" is something you are warned not to miss. For some of the biggest howls you've had in a long time, just sit in front of a screen showing how the industrious Little Pig puts the Big Bad Wolf in his place, after he rescues the two other Pigs from the little wolves. Here's laughing with you, but loud. Paramount Concerning the lives' of several youths at a military academy, with grand acting performances by George Ernest, Billy Lee, Buster Phelps, Sherwood Bailey, and Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer — juveniles whose acting will be refreshing to all those who are beginning to yawn at the precocious million dollar starlets. Some telling jibes at neglectful parents, but good comedy makes it entertaining, especially for youngsters. The Unguarded Hour M-G-M Loretta Young's first film in too long, is something to help you guess the time away as it unfolds a mystery plot involving Loretta, her barrister husband, Franchot Tone, and others. Tone, Roland Young, and Lewis Stone give excellent support to the lovely Loretta, if anything more beautiful than ever. Roland Young's smooth comedy helps matters along immensely. Not exciting, but thoroughly entertaining mystery. Charlie Chan at the Circus 20th Century-Fox If you're a Charlie Chan addict — and one can do worse than that so far as screen pastiming is concerned — you'll find this about average for the series. The circus background puts some glitter in as support for the always interesting work of Warner Oland as the immensely clever Oriental sleuth, and the midgets, George and Olive Brasno, add some amusing novelty to the blend of comedy and melodrama in the film. Petticoat Fever M-G-M Boy, who hasn't seen a beautiful girl for two years, meets a honey when her companion's plane runs out of gas over Labrador. She's engaged to the stuffy pilot chap, but the young radio operator fixes that. With thin material, Bob Montgomery, Myrna Loy, and Reginald Owen manage miraculously to be really entertaining and make this fairly perky and diverting. (Continued on page 11)