Showmen's Trade Review (1939)

Page 14 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW July 8, 1939 Hell s Kitchen WB Drama 81 mins. Grant Mitchell's Performance Stands Out In Exciting Drama Geared for the Masses (National Release Date, July 8) Cast: Dead End Kids, Margaret Lindsay, Ronald Reagan, Stanley Fields, Frankie Burke, Grant Mitchell, Fred Tozere, Arthur Loft, Vera Lewis, Robert Homans, Charley Foy, others. Screenplay by Crane Wilbur, Fred Niblo, Jr. Original story by Crane Wilbur. Directed by Lewis Seiler and E. A. DuPont. Plot: Fields, an ex-gangster with a suspended sentence hanging over his head, decides to become a good citizen by running the Hudson Shelter for Boys. Arriving there, he learns that Mitchell, head of the home, brutally mistreats the boys and pockets the contributed funds. He starts to reform the place, but he is framed into a fight, thus violating his parole, and he is forced to flee. The boys take matters into their own hands, trying Mitchell for the murder of one of the inmates. To help them, Fields comes out of hiding, and takes his jail sentence; but not before he sees the shelter made over into a self governed boys' town. SUMMARY: Vivid, exciting entertainment for the masses, "Hell's Kitchen" should register with the majority. It's great stuff for the small towns and grind run situations where audiences take their entertainment without asking too many questions. The story moves along at a comfortable clip, gaining in suspense and action as it does so. There are several moments of comedy to offset the drabness of the plot. As the case-hardened old racketeer who wants to reform, Stanley Fields contributes a good performance and is responsible for many of the laughs; but it is the sterling work of Grant Mitchell, who hides a brutal heart behind an exterior of patriarchal kindliness, that stands out above all others. Margaret Lindsay handles her role capably, while the Dead End Kids do as well as audiences have learned to expect from them. In view of the film's theme, sponsor a local boys' week, in which boys are assigned to regular city officials who are responsible for their handling of the reins of civic government. Get a gang of boys to ride an old jaloppy around town announcing the showing of the picture at your theatre. OUTSTANDING: Grant Mitchell. Catchline: "The devil is their playmate . . . sudden death is the game . . ." (FAMILY) Stunt Pilot (Hollywood Preview) Mono. Drama 61 mins. Continuous Action With Thrilling Air Circus Marks Second Tailspin Tommy (National Release Date, June 29) Cast: John Trent, Marjorie Reynolds, Milburn Stone, Jason Robards, George Meeker and others. Screenplay by Scott Darling and Joseph West based on the cartoon strip, "Tailspin Tommy" by Hal Forrest. Directed by George Waggner. Produced by Scott Malvern. LEGION OF DECENCY RATINGS: (For Week Ending July 8) SUITABLE FOR GENERAL PATRONAGE Mickey the Kid Second Fiddle They Asked For It Wyoming Outlaw SUITABLE FOR ADULTS ONLY On Borrow Time Second Bureau Two's Company Plot: Trent (Tailspin Tommy) hired to pilot a stunt plane for a thriller being directed by Pat O'Malley, quits when he finds the director puts thrills ahead of safety. George Meeker, involved in a long time feud with O'Malley replaces him. When Trent learns his pal, Stone, is flying a dangerous scene, he forcibly substitutes himself, and stands accused of murder when real bullets instead of blanks in his gun kill Meeker. Clever thinking and a beating make O'Malley admit his responsibility for the death, and Stone's nephew cinches this with snap shots he unknowingly made. SUMMARY: Continuous action with the same four featured players as were seen in the first of this series make this an entirely acceptable program picture, although the dialogue is stilted in spots that adult persons are likely to lose interest for the time being. The air circus is surprisingly good for a film in this class and the trio of thrilling crackups is sure to raise juvenile enthusiasm. Trent and O'Malley carry the acting load, with the latter registering strong enough to insure continued interest in this serial. Distribution of cardboard model planes to youngsters will help remind them you have this feature coming. OUTSTANDING: John Trent's acting and George Waggner's speedy direction. Catchline: "Tailspin Tommy dodges one of death's old grudges." ' (FAMILY) The Forgotten Woman (Hollywood Preview) Univ. Drama 65 mins. Sigrid Curie Makes Bid For Success In Heavy, Dramatic, Mother-Love Role (National Release Date, July 7) Cast: Sigrid Gurie, Donald Briggs, Donnie Dunagan, Eve Arden, William Lundigan, Paul Harvey and others. Screenplay by Lionel Houser and Harold Buchman from John Kobler's original. Directed by Harold Young. Associate producer, Edmund Grainger. Plot: Sigrid Gurie, whose husband was killed in an accident as two gun-men forced them to aid in escape (after contacting the young pair through an ad to share traveling expenses). Briggs, ambitious young district attorney, forces a conviction despite her continued assertion of innocence. Her son, Donnie Dunagan, is born in prison and released to an orphanage. One of the gunmen makes a deathbed confession clearing the girl, but Harvey, political boss, suppresses it to save Briggs' reputation. After her release, Sigrid is refused her son until she has a responsible job. When Harvey asks Briggs to forego prosecution of some crooked bankers and is refused, he threatens to expose Briggs through the confession. Both sides need the girl's testimony. Donnie is injured and when Sigrid sees how much he loves Briggs, she sides with him, which leads to a romantic ending. SUMMARY: Despite several spots in the story where too much dialog slows it up, this vehicle demonstrates that Sigrid Gurie can handle a heavy dramatic role well enough to hope for popular acceptance. Briggs has almost a dual role — prosecutor and lover — and turns in his best picture to date, while the Dunagan youngster meets every requirement. Standing out in supporting roles are Paul Harvey as the political boss, Elizabeth Risdon as the hero's sister and Eve Arden as the heroine's loyal, slangy friend and backer. Stage a preview for social service groups interested in establishing surer relations between mother and son. If your newspaper carries a daily sob-sister column, try and plant several controversial letters re the ex-prisoner mother's right to her child. OUTSTANDING: Donald Briggs and Sigrid Gurie. Catchline: "Should the state ever step between a mother and child?" (ADULT) They Asked For It Univ. Mystery-Comedy 61 mins. Program Offering Generally Satisfactory for Second Spot Booking on Double Bill (National Release Date, May 26) Cast: William Lundigan, Joy Hodges, Michael Whalen, Isabel Jewell, Lyle Talbot, Spencer Charters, Thomas Beck, others. Screenplay by Arthur T. Horman from an original story by James B. Lowell. Directed by Frank McDonald. Associate Producer, Max Golden. Plot: Things are tough for Lundigan, publisher of a small town newspaper. So, when a penniless farmer dies, he prints a big news story hinting at murder. His friends, Whalen, an attorney, and Beck, a doctor, plant phony evidence; but the coroner exposes the hoax. Isabel Jewell, daughter of the demised farmer, signs a "confession" that she killed her father. Whalen defends her at the trial, but her boy friend, Talbot, gets drunk and reveals the "confession" was a fake. An autopsy, however, reveals that the farmer really was murdered, and it is Joy Hodges, Lundigan's sweetheart, who uncovers clues revealing the real killers. SUMMARY: Comedy spun around a mystery angle with generally fair if entirely unimpressive results. The picture is straight program in story handling and production values and figures as satisfactory filler for double-bill presentation. Michael Whalen, Joy Hodges, Isabel Jewell, Lyle Talbot and other members of the cast do all they can with purely mechanical characters and dialogue, but not enough to lift the film above its unpretentious efforts to be more than a pastime for the patrons brought into the theatre on the strength of a more For Additional Exploitation Ideas on These Pictures Consult the Encyclopedia of Exploitation — (See Page 12)