Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1939)

November 4, 1929 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW Page 13 has bought out the lease for their location and the money she saved goes to fit up a new store. Competition breaks them and Lowe, now a very wealtliy man, tries to help them by offering to adopt one child and educate the others. Thej' plan to send Mary Thomas, the younger daughter to school, but find they cannot break up the family. This loyalty wakes Lowe up, who buys out the chain store, makes Craven manager, and pays for treatment of the crippled boy. Comment: A down-to-earth story, excellent casting and acting and fine direction make this a picture which will please practically any audience which sees it. The work of Fay Bainter and Frank Craven as the parents, Scotty Beckett as the crippled boy and Mary Thomas as the awkward youngest sister, are outstanding, witii Edmund Lowe as the thoughtless millionaire and Genevieve Tobin as his wife, making much of their smaller roles. The Thomas girl does especially well, having been burdened with lines too mature for her supposed years. It will have an especial appeal to smaller town folk, since the humorous side of these has been stressed without going to caricature. Word-of-mouth comment is sure to be favorable, but the lack of marquee names is going to give major first-run managers a selling problem. Here's one picture which can stand a special P.-T.A. preview with quotes, and can also be tied up with Community Chest drives. (FAMILY) Catchline: "A peep into the hearts of the family next door. AUDIENCE SLANT: THERE IS ENOUGH VARIED APPEAL TO MAKE THIS PLEASING TO PRACTICALLY ANY AUDIENCE. BOX OFFICE SLANT: THE ABSENCE OF MARQUEE NAMES MAKES ITS FIRST-RUN SUCCESS DOUBTFUL. CAN TOP BILL IN SMALL TOWN AND NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSES. Dead End Kids On Dress Parade WB DRAMA 62 mins. (Prod. No. not set — Nat'l Release, Nov. 18) Credits: Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell, Leo Gorcey, Bernard Punsley, John Litel, Frankie Tliomas, Cissie Loftus, Selmer Jackson, Aldrich Bowker, others. Original screenplay by Charles Belden and Tom Reed. Directed by William Clemens. Associate Producer, Bryan Foy. Plot: Litel is called to the death-bed of his World War buddy, who asks him to care for his child, Gorcey, a slum hoodlum. Tricked into entering Litel's military school, Gorcey does his best to flout the discipline and tradition. In a fight, he hurls Halop, a major, through a window. He repents and decides to stay, but the other cadets ostracize him. At army camp during the summer he saves the life of Dell, and returns to the school a hero to be presented with his father's medal, the Distinguished Service Cross. Comment: The story in this picture has been told so many times audiences will instantly recognize it, but this time it's an arrogant Dead End Kid who learns to respect tradition and discipline in a military academy. There's a great deal of humor in the first half, while the last 30 minutes or so have been fashioned to pull at the heart strings, and would succeed, perhaps, were it not for the fact that this plot development is all too familiar to theatregoers. Leo Gorcey's performance stands out, while the rest of the Dead End Kids, and John Litel, Frankie Thomas and Aldrich Bowker do creditably in their respective roles. If there is a military school near you, get the headmaster to s€nd the school in a body to attend a special performance. The boys could march to your theatre. Local incorrigibles should be urged or "sentenced" by officials to see the picture. Stills from past films in which the Dead End Kids have appearetl might be used as the basis for an identification contest. (FAMILY) AUDIENCE SLANT: IT SHOULD PROVE SATISFACTORY ENTERTAINMENT FOR NOT-TOOCRITICAL PATRONS. BOX OFFICE SLANT: WHAT THESE KIDS HAVE DONE AT YOUR BOX OFFICE IN THE PAST SHOULD BE A GOOD GAUGE ON WHICH TO ESTIMATE THEIR DRAWING POWER IN THIS LATEST PICTURE, WHICH, IN ANY CASE, WILL PROBABLY NEED STRONGER SUPPORT. Too Busy To Work 65 mins. (Hollywood Preview) 20th-Fox COMEDY (Prod. No. 16— Nat'l Release, Nov. 17) Credits: The Jones Family, Joan Davis, Chick Chandler, Marjorie Gateson, Andrew Toombes and others. Original screenplay by Robert Ellis, Helen Logan and Stanley Rauh based on George Kelly's play, "The Torchbearers" and "Your Uncle Dudley" by Howard Lindsay and Bertrand Robinson. Directed by Otto Brower. Produced by John Stone. Plot: Joan Davis, an orphaned niece of unbelievably destructive awkwardness, arrives to live with the Jones', and becomes a maid. Mayor Jones (Jed Prouty) is spending too much time in politics, so to teach him a lesson Mrs. Jones (Spring Byingtonj takes the lead in a home talent play to be directed by Marjorie Gateson. She neglects her family and house, while he is not too busy with a new hospital drive to become jealous of Toombes, his business rival and the play's leading man. An escaped gunman, Chandler, is mistaken for the author, then captured but has to be released to open the prop safe when Joan puts the hospital funds in it for prop money. The ending sees the play a "howling" success, Alayor Jones even with the committee which has been merely using him to get the hospital contracts and ready to retire from politics. Comment: More than any of the previous Jones Family stories, this one goes the limit on slapstick and farce, highlighted by Joan Davis' falls, the fiasco in the amateurs' play presentation and the chase for the misplaced hospital funds. For those older fans who enjoyed the more dignified stories, it may prove a let-down; for audiences which want nothing but laughs it will rate as a step towards greater popularity. The plot writes Jones out of the mayor's job, indicating that future stories in this series are to be just as much slapstick. The only Jones' family members getting any real chance are Prouty and Spring Byington, with Joan Davis as the niece, Marjorie Gateson's travesty on a little theatre directress and Andrew Toombes' business man-actor adding to the risability. LTsual Jones Family exploitation should be added to stress the fact tiiat this once is comedy throughout. Tie up with groups giving amateur plays. (FAMILY) Catchline: "A new high in laughs for America's favorite family." AUDIENCE SLANT: LIKE ALL FARCE COMEDIES, THIS WILL GO OVER BEST IN CROWDED HOUSES. BOX OFFICE SLANT: WHILE IT WILL LOSE SOME OLDER FANS FOR THE SERIES, IT SHOULD WIN ENOUGH FARCE LOVERS TO MORE THAN COUNTERBALANCE. Jeepers Creepers Republc COMEDY-DRAMA 69 mins. (Prod. No. 914— Nat'l Release, Oct. 27) Credits: Leon Weaver, Frank Weaver, Elviry, Roy Rogers, Maris Wrixon, Billy Lee, Lucien Littlefield, Thurston Hall, (Continued on page 15) * -X M M ■¥■ ■¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ I ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ Mothers on the March! THE GREATEST PATRIOTIC MOVEMENT AMERICA HAS EVER SEEN IS MOVING SWIFTLY TO A TRIUMPHANT VICTORY! CASH IN ON THIS SUDDEN UNPRECEDENTED WAVE OF PUBLIC OPINION with "GOLD STAR MOTHERS" POWERFUL— TIMELY— DRAMATIC ENTERTAINMENT Its dynamic theme is identical with the principles of aroused American motherhood ANTI-BUND ANTI-COMMUNIST PRO-AMERICA! "GOLD STAR MOTHERS" FOUR-STAR SPANGLED Entertainment with millions of mothers waiting to see it. — SO— — RIDE— —THE CREST— —OF THIS GIGANTIC WAVE— OF PUBLIC OPINION WITH "GOLD STAR MOTHERS It's the Second of YOUR FOUR-STAR HIT PARADE Directed by SHERMAN SCOTT, who gave you Hit No. I— "Hitler— Beast of Berlin" Your Entertainment Headquarters Every Picture an Action Picture ■HjiiiiiiiiiiJiia liT»i!llitlhJi:itS 1436 No. Beechwood Dr. * COHPOHATION*. Hollywood, Calif. Exchanges Everywhere