Variety (Oct 1931)

^ue»day, October 20, 1931 FILM REVIEWS VARIETY 21 Talking Shorts EDDIE BUZZEL 'Cheek and Rubber Cheek' Comedy • 9 Mine. ' '. AcadiBmyi New York Columbia pisht but amusing filler based on A comedy skit by Harry Saiiber, who once wrote and produced lor vaude la New York. For secondary A Jioiises will do. No. more Is to be expeoted than that short should'Just set by. Eddie Buzzel Is a mugg In a busi- ness that's going, the wr'oing way, with his checks Jumping back at him' In flocks. He and the sec whoni he expects to marry are panicky when the boss gets a. proposition from one. of his creditors, unknown to said' sec, who offers IIO.OOO and ' his daughter's hand to poQt. That 'boot' term, repeated frequently, means something, since at the. end* after the marriage, Buzzel finds the father reneging, showing the bene- dict the $10,000 check Is a. rubber one. 'All you get-la the daughter to boot,' chuckles the dad, so Buzzel as the negative begins fading gives her a healthy kick to the reverse, Ijaughs ore spotty, mostly from . Bcenes lh'which tfie bilked mugg has to mailie love to the oversized girl Wished on-him. Char, •DONNEB. BLITZ UNDREGEN' ('Thunder, Lightnlnd ana Rain') 10 M.i'na.' Eduoatio'naf '• Ufa-Gosmopelitan, N. Y. Ufa An ilhtferestlng-Idto here, although the actual subject-matter doesn't quite li^t over.: £tda!to 4<> with the various weather elenlehts.as photo- erraptfSd and analyzed' in' the usual Ufa ^aiicaflonal'serleSi'but a human touctf :(e added .in :thls one, with the Idea .of' making it more adaptable tor theatre consumption. Starts with several guest.B coming Into an apartment to privately ylew a moving picture. Picture was sup posedly made b/ the host, who pro- ceeds Q.to ' project and explain. ThroiUthdut, his lecture Is Inter tupt^'.by'the guests,>what clown and gag about what they are seeing on the scr^n. Trovble iis that it's slightly over- done,: wtfh the result the actual au- thentic/.value of the subject Is lost Toneji-dawn and handled-raore care- fully I'lt ntlght be a useful Idea for changing off from the usual tire- some! lecture. Kauf, ROSCOEATES The Gland Parade' Comedy - .. .19 Mins.. ... Hippodrome, New York Radio Piotures Class B shorts material with Bddlo's stuttering Iloscoe Ates as a window washer who to escape the wrath of his femme boss unwitting- ly changes places with a mugg whose pituitary gland, sold for $300, Is to be removed. It's dragged out to 19 minutes with all laughs mild and most of them quite far apart. Ates Is supported by 'Bud Jame- son, Eddie Dunn, Monte Collins, Catherine Hayes and others. lidst mentioned Is the big girl, who until recently, was In Broadway musicals and vaude. Here she does the tough landlord on a chase for the window washer. Meanwhile, doctors ready to take out another mugg's gland, are chasing him, nearly entire cast eventually, becoming involved In the runaround. Not .much: that Is original has crept into the nuiterlai but the di- rection of Harold Schwartz is com- mendable. . Ates' :'6tutterlng digs, out the best laughsr tfheii he doubles aa a woman and In tiding to eludd his pursuers, hops Into a beauty parlor chair for a^ermanent;- Phetograiphy and recording tip to standard. < Char. Zapfenstrelch d«r Relehswer- - (Masied'-Retreat of the .German Guards) 10 Mins. Military Band Muaie- Ufa-Cosmopolitan, New-York - Ufa Not miiich entertainment value in this one., although as {i neWsreel clip would prove, quite Interesting. .Military band playS the • retreat music,' then a prayer and 'finally the German national anthem. That last naturally gets ' over - in German houses. Pretty colorless,. because a con- stant view of the drummer and buglers. Kattf. Porzellan (Poroelain)' Educational 10 Mins. Ufa-Cosmopolitan,. New York Ufa Interesting short of the method ht manufacturing porcelain dishes. Itone In the usual fashion with a lecture in German. Takes a plate . and a vase from the earliest period to completion plus the breaking for a laugh finish. Photography Is good, with one or two trick touches to help. Kauf, D0NA1.D MEEK CO. Sketch : 9 Mlhs. Warnersi N. Y. ...'■. Vitaphone AnbitiiehdetecttVe:tablold :by S. S. -'Van\I>lhe,~. whp 'specializes . In crime stories.'-' Playlet puts a lot over in a brief time and' holds -interest -fairly. Meek plays, the crime specialist with a. slant of humor that does not esp>ecla1ly serve the pur- pose of such'tales. Opens with finding a rich man's body by servant. Police and super- detective. go to.. work. Suspicion points to four characters .in ^ turn and surprise climax, comes .when Meek protres man had committed suicide in such a way as to. throw suspicion on his -wife, of 'whom Jie was Jealous, to the 'point of mad- ness. ■'''. ;■ Filler for light. comedy feature, program. Here put into bill with a spy. story where it didn^t belong. Feature here had two separate murders and a carnival of battle- field killing. Audience would have compromised for a tap dancer-short. Rush, MAGIC CARPET SERIES 'Spreewald Folk' 10 Mins; . Embassy, New York Fox Movietone ' In that part of Germany where the Spree River flows, all natives must be singers or able to play some kind of an Instrument if the lesson attempted by 'Spreewald Folk' is accurate. . There's so ihuch singing and con slderable of the action is so repetl tlous and stagey that the ayerage follower of the Carpet, may find this the most monotonous of the series. Trying to make a lot but of com paratlvely little seems to be the chief fault 'with this subject There's too much of a marriage'and the storks, while Interesting, also are allowed too much tlm6 for promen- ading. There should have been plenty of Interesting and unusual material in the Spree region. But the way the Carpet presents it the same might pass for th^ average musical com edy setting with a trip to. 'West Chester thrcv.-n In. Waly. The Woman ^8 Angle 'Oas Lied Vom Leben' ('Song of Life') (Tobis).. Futuristic Impres Blons of litatlng that stress its animal aspects, with a clinical description of the preparations for a Caesarian operation that is strong stuff, suit able only for femme Intielllgentzla. 'Honor of the Family' (FN).—A talkative bedroom embroglto denied Its ambition to be naughty by its clumsy over-eniphasls. Bcbe pariiels cast iinsympathetlcaily, and "W'arron 'Wililams' lack of charm will shat ter Its hopes for sizeable femnie attendance. 'Susan Lenox' (MGM).—A natural. Pash comblnash of Garbo-Gable In a sex appeal picture will draw femmes of all ages. 'Un fioiir de Rafle' (Osao).—The rise and then the Inevitable fall, on account of women, of a French prizefighter. Old ana tiresome story even to the French women. 'Heartbreak' (Fox).—For all its plays for their tear.*, this lavishly set war time story Is tpo full (pt artificiality and inconsistency to convince enough dames. Miniahire Reviews 'The Beloved Bachelor' fPar) —Sort or pleasantly acted sentiment that woos women audiences Into a. iiyqipatlietlc mood and then entertains iliem. 'The Song of Life' ("Das Lieb vom tieben') (Tobis). (German Made). Impossible playing picture, for any house. Actual subject and dependence o. vividly suggested Caesarean operation. Picture playing this ' week at RKO Cameo theatre. New Tork; with Tobis having its own New Tork house in Vanderbllt on iSth street This, picture .was barred. In Germany- where it was made. In ,the Cameo on the' opening •day (17) a . young woman fainted in the aisle while try- ing to leave the theatre as the Caesarean scene . was on the . screen. 'Honor of the Family' (FN). Xlghtwelght. 'iSebe . Daniels: mliscast and 'Warren William too lit-erally imitative of other .film players. 'Stisan ' Lenox' . (M-O-M). Garbo in a typical Garbo.rdle, not unlike 'Anna Christie'. Clark Gable In support Pic- ture a natural holdover for anywhere. Story a torrid'ro- mance that -will fascinate'the femmes. 'The Flying Fool' (B. I.). British made . film with a chance Xor -minor house double bill spotting; Distinct re- tnliider of the . old melodrama- tic aerials but has action and background'' of commercial aviation on the Continent tor interest And, as a' surprise, only 66 mlniites. 'Un Soir de Rafle' (Osso). Good ' French programmer though not for American au- ' dlences. Hackneyed - story well done.. 'Das Floetenconcert von Sanasouci' (Ufa).. Beautifully made German historical film dealing with the life of Fred- erick, the ■ Great Costly pro- duction that la Impressing, but not likely to do as well in America as . in Germany. - Not for A.merlcan audiences be- cause too much language. 'Women Go On Ferever*. (Tiffany). Gang picture, com- ing dt tall end <ot vogue makes It very mild programer. -Mar- ian Nixon feature^ fair, name in some . spots., Quality and' acting so so: 'The Beloved Baehefer' (Par). Good picture and well madie. Provides Paul Lukas with a sympathetic role and a 'worthy surrounding cast to make good b. o.; more especially In the small towns.' 'Homicide Squad' (U). Pro- gramer mobmen meller that plays up police and thua lends Itself to good exploitation as gross stimulant.. In any event not over strong and not for bigger flrst runs. 'Frida's Visor* (Svensk). Swedish talker with music Nallve, but better than the average ooutput from small countries like that Hard to follow -without knowledge of the language. 'Heartbreak' (Fox). War story with one aviation se- quence that isn't enough to ' 'support frail plot. Charles Farrell and Madge Evans, leads. 'The Love Storm' (Elstree)i Totally inept British made drama. Slow and poorly played with' many. inconsistences. Meaningless for the States. 'Convicted' (Supreme Fea- tures). Miirder mystery aboard an ocean liner. 'Satisfying en- tertainment with a capable cast featuring Aileen Pringle and Jameson Thomas. 'Will please single feature In aver- age neighborhood and lesser houses. 'Homicije Squad' (l'niM>r.<i!il1.--Moro sanpr-police warfare u-IUiuut any n.'w viii'iiiiiou to rfvlve lailies' inlfrcst in a 9iil)J''ot Uii^y ttvw tired or soino time ft?o. FOOTBALL THRILLS 'Nerve Wreckers' 10 Mins. Roxy, New York Columbia This chapter of Columbia's foot ball scries is devoted to gi-idlron heartbreaks on the one-yard line It's a record of plays that have turned the tide. Ip major game.i, generally through a team's failure to score after pushing its way to the doorstep. There's suspense In the goal line plays that Isn't found in the aver age short. Slow motion increases the interest as In preceding views In the series. lloxy udca its big screen, which is advi-Mftlil? for this t\'|)e of brief whTever possible. ftijf. THE SONG OF LIFE ('Oas Lted Vom Leben') (GERMAN MADE) (With Songs) New Tork, Oct. 17. Pllinku'nst-production. Tobia release In U. S. Directed by Alexia Ornnowaky. Pro- duction direction. Wnlicr Merlnir. Camern,- men, Victor Trinklor and Helnrloh Itelasoh. On scenario. Victor. Trlvas and Dr. If. IfCCliner. Dlaloi; 'writers not billed but likely tho scenarists or lyrlclat, Jacob Gart- ner. Four sonRS, two each composed by. Frledrlch Hollander and It. Adams. Press sheet says 'Produced 'with the Co-'operatlon o( Scientific Films.' At RKO-Cameo, New York, week Oct, 17. Running time, no mi'ns. Erlka MarRot Ferra Igor Arlbert Mos Honor of the Family Flnit National produc Based on |>lay by Knill by ItAliae.. Ulrrclcd by lurca Bcbo Uanlela .nnd At Strand. N. Y., week time, 't;0 iDlns.. 'l4tura, ,..' t'api. Uorls.. Tony Kevcre. Mme. Boris.'.......;..... Paul Barony - 'tion ond. releaao. Kalire. f^olu'^tor^ tloyd Dai^n. Kea- Warren William.. Oct. 10. Runnlne ,..:. .Bebc. Daniels .Wnrren William* , ^'.. A Ian Mowbray .Ulanclie Friderlct ...Frederick Kcrc A young wonian fainted In the aisle of the ItKO Cameo tlieatre during the second , show today (17) while, she was trying to escape from further watching the German-made 'Song of Life,* a Tobis talker. The fiaint .was caused as' much If hot more so through RKO having booked this foreign monstrosity for the Cameo than its German maker. Midway In the picture is a scene of a Caesarean operation or tlie- surgical birth of a child. It Is made realistic sufnclently to at least make one young woman faint as she was rushing toward .the exit, of the house to avoid the scene 'on the screen. . It may make other women reel and men avoid it. There is enough of a dread, pliysically aga,lnst an. opera- tion of any kind over here not to have - it so - vividly. suggested in - a film. All of the' surgeons, nurses, at- tendants, equipment, instruments and ether for ah operation are al- ways in' sight. The surgeons go through the motions If nothing else. A baby is seen meantime, a,nd its squeals are heard, "While during all of this after the ether has been ad- ministered to the young mother It is permitted to drip over the facial maalc of white, to keep her under the Influence for. this most dreaded birth performance. This picture was barred by the country It was made In, Germany. It has' never been shown there. 'Whether It was more vivid in its. clinical portion' In the original, or whetheir it has been cut somewhat for over here, the tact .remains that the liberal-minded Germtms, ceii- sorlally, kept out of Its picture houses wh!^t .RKO booked in oo- 42d street. Tobis in trying to salvage this picture wherever It may be able to outside'of Germany, did not a't- teml;>t to play it in Tobis' owii the- atre, 'Y'anderbllt, on 48th street. New Tork;, six blocks from th.e Cameo, but sold it to an apparently willing buyer, RKO. No valid, objection possibly for the New ITork State censoring boatd^ There is nothing objectionable in content'about tlie talker; It Is in the suggestion of this - very raw and open hospital surgery room scene. Naturally the picture should never play any theatre. Perhaps It may get Into the German communities On this side through the German language and' songs with' German lyres. But ,no exhibitor with any judgment will exhibit this danger- otis picture—dangerous to the taste of any class of patrons. This cannot be said to be the Ger man Idea and way In freak picture making since Germany has barred it The running time Is short, 66 minutes, with the flnal six minutes a dead blank on thei'screen, through a song being sung in an off-screeii voice. It seems to be the theme song of the four sung in all, but the entire six minutes may be cut out of the picture. At the most if this were to be employed as a curi- osity . picture, it should not have gone beyond two reels. Through the picture's shortness in suhject matter, the director, Alexis Granowsky, found spots to let his Imagination run- riot in symbolic styles, and he did. It all acts as padding, but is sightly. This with the photogrnhy -ivill • hold attention and would no doubt have put the picture, over were it not for the Ceasarean operation. :The. Caesarean operation dates back . to. the birth of Julius Caesar. The record says Caesar was brought Into being by this then all-new surgical means. It is much better told about Guesar than illustrated as in 'The Song of Ijlfc,' With Its Ger- man title, IDasi Lied vom Leben.' Main characterH are two, boy and girl, father • and mother of the Caesarean babe, but the film doesn't let you know whether they are mar- ried. They don't count otherwise either In any manner. The girl ran from home. ond for the river %vhen she saw her elderly .flance take false teeth from his mouth and place thorn In a glass of water, Immedi- ately following a Joyful engagement party. - At the river's edge she was Htoppod by a young sailor. There- after they ran together through the water and the woods, with water forever after the destln.v seemingly of the girl as GranowsKy made It; the girl and water symt)ullfl of one another. He does It well, tlil.s Cier- mai director, who does other things equally as well in this picture.' It's a pity that a dlrodor must.be g'^'en credit for anything in connection with such a reprehensible subjeft that lie conMontfil to direct for eom- inorchil iiuriinscs. i'lmc. Chances are tliat this picture will not survive tite .:bigger programs. It may hold up on combo bills, due to the Bebe Daniels name. Laclcs Imagination and In attempting-to be subtle becomes a . poorly dialogued effort. Tale la of a youiig mistress to an aged Budapest resident who is after his money. Girl balks the family from Interfering with the old fool uiitll his nephew, a blustering cap-t tain of the Forisign Legion, arrives to upset everything. He slaps the girl aroundi tosses the old man and kills - the gigolo lover in a .duel to win everything. • As Capt. Boris. "Warren William looks to have been groomed In too . Imitative a fashion ot other well known actors. Impression doesn't help 'William for the picture. He's new to.screen prominence. "Where bedroom sequences were meant to be light sophistlciitlon they unreel as heavy and crude: May appeal, however, in the! cheaper houses. The'reliable Fredbrlclr Kerr can't save it here and Blanche Frlderici shows only for a moment. Shan. " SUSAN LENOX Metro' production - and. release. Slarrlhff Greta Gartra, reaturlns Clark Gable. Di- rected by ItotMrt Z. I.oonard. Story by "Wanda Tuchock, adapted from the novel or the same name by.David Graham Fhtl- llps,. published aroonSt. lOlS. Dialog by Zelda Sears and X.ettn Gordon. Camera- man, WJUIam Danels. Itunnlns time 7-4 mins. At Capitol, Mew TorK. Oct. 16. Susan Lenox.....'..-i....w..,.Greta Oarbo Rodney i..Clarlc GaMv Ohlln .t...v..........Jean Hersholt Burllngbam .....John Hlljaii Mondstrum Alaa Hals Mtk« Kelly. ;....,Hale BaihIltoD Aetrld , i.^ Hilda Vaughn Doctor .........Russell Simpson Madame Panoiamld...;..Cecil CunnlngbAm Robert Lane .lao' Keith Preisence of Greta Oarbo and Clark Gable, the lattef tor th^ 'mo- ment the point and focus of femme fan .Interest insures prosperity re- gardless of the story. Here the play- Is. strong material, doubly clinching' d-natural that looks set for hold- over dild an exceptional box-ofBco gross.' Prx>ductlon. is sure for all classes' and, allj territories both be- caiise'of 1^ leads and on merit Not the least of . Its assets is the title,' carrying the prestige of .a. novel that was a sensdUoii^upon its.- publlcatlon about 15 yeaxi-ngit and. the object of reylv^, inter<^sl'^hen Its screening was first aiitiOUAced some months since. Thei picture departs widely from the original In print but that does not . affect the title's value. What Phillips wrote as a pro- test against narrow-minded respec- tability has evolved in Its Aiming into a hot romance based on sex antagonisms.. The two themes are far apart, but there are some.super- flclal parallels between book and picture that somewhat preserve the original character. In any case the picture provides Miss Garbo with a role of a des- tiny-hounded woman, not altogether unlike her Anna Christie, and adds to the Garbo gallery another im- pressive portrait. Picture addresses Itself especially to feminine sym- pathy, and It is here that It will exert its powerful pull. The story Itself will satisfy them abundantly, with Its vivid emotional appeal and - the unfailing grip of a torrid ro- mance that has about It a profound quality ot sadness. The Garbo Susan Is a glamorous figure, a vital Swedish Immigrant girl who flees her. Ignorant, self- righteous foster -parents In a raging atoi'm to take refuge with a pre- possessing young engineer. ■ The young pair fall In love. Out of the curious sex antagonisms that seem to be generated by their passion she goes her errant way tO'become a famous courtesan, while he sinks from bad to worse to the finality Of a South Seas beachcomber. Through their separate wanderings—and her vrny leads through sprightly scenes of . glided luxury and stimulating adventures—the old passion tor- tures them both. Thoy meet again, only to fall again into bitter con- flict. In the end the woman r'ecocnlzcs her Inexorable destiny and searches the world for the Joat lover, findlni; him a degraded sailor in a tar off port, where by her contriving tlic-y become linked at length for better or for worse. N.irrAllve unfolds with a great deal ot .spcc'l and absorbing tension. The adaptation wanders far from - tlip Phillip!; book, but alwa.vfl to the advnnla^;^ of the commercial screen product. That in to.sjay, the picture iilay iH iiiferlor to the book as tk (loruinent, but a vastly more valu- able popular work for its present foinmcrol.tl purnose. It al.to Is tru» tli.at much of tli)> best in the novel never roiiM bav* been dbne in pic- tiire form fjr cthiral and other rea- son's. II" i ffdiinh that llie Swedish (Continued on page 2T)