Variety (Dec 1931)

Tuesday, Decettiber 8, 1931 FILM REVIEWS VARIETY 15 CUBAN LOVE SONG (With Songs) Mot'ro produoUbn and rolease. OrlRlnal ■tory t>y Q- Gardiner Sullivan and *)Bess Meredythi BtarrlnR Lawronce TIbbett. FeaturInK Lupe Velez, Ernest Torrence, Karen Morloy. Jimmy 'Schnozzola' Durante, Band muBlc by Emeato Lecuona and Palau Brothers' Orchestra, pirected by Vf,. a. Van Dyke, Musical score by Herbert Stot- iiart. Bongs by Herbert Stothart, Dorothy Fields and James McHURh, Adaptation by John Lynch. Additional dIaloR by John Colton: Gilbert Bnier7> nobert B. Hopkins and Paul Hervey . For. PhotoKitiphar. Harold Ilosson. At Boxy. New Tork, week Dec. *: BunnlDK time, 80 nilns. Terry .'• I^iwrence TIbbett "Nenlta ............••••••k......Lupe Veioz Bomance Ernest Torrence O O. Jones....Jimmy 'Schnozzia' Durante Crystal Karen Uorley Blvira .'.Hale Hamilton Aunt Bosd .i .....Mathilda Comont Terry Jr.^...........Phillip Cooper. ■Lawrence TIbbett may be a sen- satloti on the concert stage, but It's adversely In pictures; Thus while JlmnVy 'Schnozzola'. Durante and Velez may attract, neither their roles nor the- way the. picture has been built allow the. two to .fully '.pvei-cbme the TIbbett drawback. This nipture .will need better than averaBft.support. The Roxy can hope only for a sagging week despite Its advertising splurges which' had to be, as it was a condition Imposed with the rbooking; ot the first Metro fllm into that hoiise and away from Loew's acer, the. Cnpttol. It Ihdl- cates how sufCerable must , be the Boxy management, In the face of lack of .product. from Its' afWlated Fox. sources. ' A song is the basts, of this pic- ture.: It's an old isong that's, only tolerated currently as the fad -for It died Bt>hie time ago. That's 'The Peanut . Vendor,' which .supposedly had a Cuban birth years back, even If only ;c9mihg to the U, S. around 18 months' ago,. Baalcaliy the song is folk piece; If BO,. but translated It becomes a ■ comic. Trying to make it dramatic -has'obvious pitfalls. Picture's yarn Is about a society boy ,-who leaves his blonde to Join- the marines. 'Goofy, to begin' with. She's ever loving though, and keeps waiting and gets him Anally. The marine TIbbett, and his bud- dies, Durante and Torrence, And themselves In Cuba. There TIbbett ..fttll?- fpr Velez, the peanut vendor. k-T^e 'W'ot'id War and then the arm- •.Istice. : .. And, then, comes , the 10th ..finiilversary of the blonde. ': Bumba'music In'a Now -York-cafe .t;cAwakens -dreams and the marlnp. -.irhPvlHras shoves off for Cuba again, .and-'with Durante whom he meets acciaentnlly. - Everything's accidental. In. Cuba the former marine finds that the peanut vendor had died but left him |i son, apparently born out of wed- loclc and without audience suspi- Blon. So he takes the boy back to -the blonde and everything's happy. Durante Is the laugh of the pic- ture und Its highlight, even though forced. It's apparent the film must have been completed originally Bome months back. That Durointe . was Interjected Into the feature af- ter tliat seems llliely. Louise Fa- zenda teams with him for a slight hoke moment that betrays this as likely. Miss Velez also looks forced thvoughout- the plet-uve -^i-c*-;* wUim:' listening to TIbbett singing. But then anybody could do that listen- ing to Tibbett'B magnificent voice that should have appeal anywhere but somehow not on the screen. Among numbers TIbbett sings are the omclal marine tune, 'Prom the Halls of Montezuma"; 'The Peanut Vendor,' an4 In which Velez helps him nt times; also 'Cuban Love Song.'' May be another tune, about Bailors. Picture suffers uncndurably from forced action while otherwise strict- ly narrativ« or singing, and hiay be too much singing. The action Isn't fluent nor coherent to the continuity Whpn- any does occur. There is a trick, spot of showing TIbbett Irt - double exposure singing a duet, by himself^ Unnecessary ond unrealis- tic. :. -Ernest Torrence looks, to. have been deliberately shoved . back. His .per,rormance Is off . but mostly due If not ,entirely to'his unnatural role Shan. straight Original yarn by Kubec Glasman and John Bright, who wrote 'Smart Money' for Bobinsoh, gives Cagney plenty of room for his cus- tomary fresh, punk characterization. Naughty cracks galore and one says; 'Nuts.* But he doesn't push a grapefruit In'the girl friend's face, although tliey expect It any. time. Bulk-of the slapping Is on the re- verse end this.trip, the.girl deliver- ing. She^slaps Cagney's face'a^oz-. en times or so. After a-while the smacks are, used in place of tag lines on most of t^c gags. Possibly the most Important .Item in either performance or production Is .the a'ppcaral'nce of Joan Blondell. This Ingenue, with p. perfect name for her type, looks better .here than ■evier before and In her'first lead femme role is -liermltted to depart from the Jane class and grab herself a little sympathy. Miss Blondcll is Cagney's business partner—and wliat d business—wbo loves him in other ways besides biz hut doesn't fliid that out until her marriage to a comparative nice boy proves a flop. ' .Caghey- is a rackte.ering bellhop at the start. One of his first schemes is- getting Ann a Job' in the linen room via "the con system.' TJysy branch out together in a polite bad- ger project, taking tiieir first chump for enough to get to a bigger town. Sucker Nq. 1 is taken over by 'ar-' rdngcments - wl^h a motorcycle cop when found spooning . with Miss Blondell in a parked auto. A bottle ot boOze on the back seat helps a lot. Cagney drives up Jiist in time to square things.. In the next town, Chicago by sugr ge'stipn, Cagney loses Aim's $5,000 to another cheater who frames him in a phoney counterfeit scheme. To get the girl's five dcres back Bert pulls his first outslde-the-law Job. This later gets him Into the prison hospital. Everything depends on the dialog c^nd playing both come through sat- isfactorily. Cagney and Miss Blon- dell make a natural pair for these situations and developments. Louis Calhern uses his long experience to good effect in d class cheater part Bits by the- others Including Guy Kibbee, Noel Francis and Polly Walters, are excellent. Original tile of,this,was "Larceny Lane/ A section of a hotel lobby, with flashes at characters to set the idea, gets brief mention in the dialog under that name. Bige. BLONDE CRAZY 'Warner Bros.' product Ion and rtleose Jiimcs CoKney ond'Joan Ulondell fealurert. Directed by Roy Del lluth. Story ond dlnloR by Kulvee Clnsnmn and John Urlitht. At Ihc Sitrnnd.. N. T., Avcek Doc. 3. .Hun- nlnf; lime. 7S' mlns. Bert James Canney Ann Jonn niondcU Dan Barker ....Louis Calhern Helen >Cocl Fmncis Rupert Johnson Guy Kibbee ReynoUlu ; Raymond Mllland Pegiy Polly -Walters Wise remarks,' a fresh guy and dame »luff. Quick pace and d per formance by Jamefs Cagney typically Cngncy. These give 'Blonde Crazy' a Inst start and keep it going most of the way. Finish Is weak but not enough to kill off the early impres- sion. Picture should rate as a mod ■6pate'. grosser. ■ Slrioily a petty. larceny . guy Is . C.igrtoy and all the way to the finish when stretched out on a pri.son hos- pital cot, he hints he might go X MARKS THE SPOT Tiffany production and.-releaqei Directed by Erie C. Kenton. ' Produced by- Samuel Blechoff. .Story by Warren Duft and Gor- don Kahn. Continuity by J. Hu^h Herbert. At the Broadway. New York, week of Dec. (i. Running time, 68 minutes. George Howe.... ., Lew Cody %uo .... .Sally Diane niKfpi. '. .Fred Kobler T<d Lloyd.:,'.. ....Wallace Ford Vlvyan Parker Mary Nolan Hortense. Virginia Lee Corbln Gloria (child).... Helen ParHsh Gloria .: Joyce Coad HIS WOMAN Paramount production and releaao. Stars Gary Cooper and Claudette Colbert. Di- rected by Edward Slonaa. Based on novel by Dale Collins; screen play by Adelaide Hellbron and Melville Baker; cameraman, Wro. Stelner. At .'the Paramount, N, T., week Dec. 4. Runnlns time, .'6 mlns. Actlontess picture unfolding too many barnacles which cling to the script to give it other than ordinary box office rating-. And that's not enough - right now. One ot' those films which if it breaks even ought to isatisfy everybody concerned. The Cooper-Colbert -names. may help It reach that mbdcist .niche. ..Story moves sloitfly in the hands of Edward Siomian who has packed most of the feature's amusement Into the-footage given, a tliiy baby. It's a walk-through part for Cooper and Miss. Colbert never gets out from beh'ind.tbe eight ball in here being, typed as a girl of wharf front dives. American film audiences have never been able to-work up much sympdthy for heroines who . have taken a tossing - around from the masculine, population In .'general. iSven though the story makes the girl reform, as far as they're con- cerned out front, the-re's no thrill left. They'd rather see how she got that wdy than catch her on the re- bound and on her good behavior. In this instance Miss Colbert ts well nigh oh her way to a halo In. nursing the foiindllng which has. been an'onyrhously left ln charge of- the freighter's captain (Mr. Cooper). Circumstances' aided by a couple of white lies, get her aboard ship, after which the first mat* recognizes her enrotite, makes a . stateroom play for her and is knocked' overboard by Cooper, who is Sb sure she's decent- Investigation into the; supposed drowning back In New York re-^ veals the mate very much alive and Instigating disillusionment for the young mariner regarding the girl, he'd make his wiifo. Illness of the. baby brings the couple together again. Story starts in one oi: those Sadie. Thompson spots- and sets a conventional course for port. Noth- ing much, other than the infant to enliven tho trlp.- Wlth moist of the ladles of the theatre agreeing thi^t to portray a harlot Is one of the. easiest ot char- acterizations, and most liUrsing a desire to get their hands - on such role, it remains to' be said that Miss Colbert doesn't do .much wlth.tnis assignment. She's a better actress than this film permits her to be while, as previously mentioned, for Cooper it's one of those things.''Hi% Woman' won't mean anything to either of the principals. The-long cast which goes with this picture holds no important- personalities and the majority con- tribute, but routine continuity bits. There Is - some comedy, however, from the Negro' stewards aa por- trayed by Hamtree Harrington, fa- miliar In Broadway colored revues, and Sidney Easton. . Made in the east, the picture looks Inexpensive but fulfills production demands. . Sid. . 'The Battle of Gailipoll.' In England it was ■ known as 'Tell England,' which Is a better title because It suggests so many things. Only thing that can be said for it Is that it's better than most -British films seen on this side. Ko attempt to do anything very mubh different In a film way -than has been seen. All the usuar stuff is here again^ the bayonets driving Into tlicir objectives, the barbed wire, tiie bursting shell'^, the ragged nerves and the two sclipol boys, who fight through till one sees tlvo other die. Alay' be the stuff Is no longer effective because so repetitious, but the suspicion creeps through ' that' the British failed to Instill the film with, .that- little something that makes it^'convlncingi ■ For war films tiiero's probably no' nicer way of saying that 'Battle of Gailipoll lacks guts. Chief.acting is done by Carl Har- bord and Tony Bruce, botli good looking youngsters,' who convince as school kids. mixed Into something they can't figure- out. Only femme part, a small one, is handled by Fay COmptoh .'Qs the mother of one of the .boys. Let that rest- That the film was -made—so says the program—with the. assistance, of the British Admiralty may help it sell somewlidt in Britain. In New York It's not likely to mean .very niuch.. ' Bad sounding makes It worse. Anthony Asqulth, -\yho -directed, seems to have some Imagination and ability.. May be away from war stuff he will turtl out Something worth -n-hlie for his country. Kauf. EL AMOR SOLFEANDO ('Love to Muaie') (SPANISH .MADE) (With Songs) CInaes-Renaclmlento production; Spanish Film Exchange release. Featuring Ini- perfo Argentina, with cast. Including La- lentln- Parera, Ortiz de Zarate and Alady. Direction -Robert Florey. 6uper\'lslOn Xavler ; Gill. From a story by J. Bous- qUet and -H. Folk. At San Jose. New -Vork, -week Not', 27. Running tiroo S3 minutes. v .- ■ RECKLESS LIVING T'nlverpol proluctron and releas**.' DU receted by Cyril Gardiner. Cn.Hl: Rlcarila Cortez. Mao Clark, Norman Forster. Ma> rle. Prevost. Slim Summrrvllle. .\t tha Warner theatre. N. '!'..' week Hoc. 4. Run* nlng (line, about. CO minutes. . Lukewdnn entertainment for th» class B's and under. Story- Is to blame.'being loosely knit, with an inclluatloiT to. go. completely off the tracji on Irrelevant detail. It's Olio of thoiie horse race yarns which talks about betting without showing' the track. It may have been' fairly good reading, but the endless repetition of telonhone'calls on the .screen falls to sustain In- terost.. There's a speakeasy back- ground. ' ' In -between - the ringing bells there's something .about a silccess- (ul head bookie who Is. trying to. make a manicurist forget her mar- riage vows. Cortez makes a gentle- manly bboklc. and Norman Foster suffices ds tlie dunib but knowing- husband. Mae Clark fits as the wife. If It. weren't for-. careful perusal of the oast few would know, that the part ot.a female drunk is played by Marie Prevost. Little chance for' the director as . weir £is the players. .' ^V'a^|/^. RANGE LAW I'llTany proiluctlon' and release. Directed by I'lril Rosen. Story by Rarle Snell. Ken Moynard featured.'- Cast: Frances Dade,.. Frank'Mayo. Jack Rockwell. Late McKee and Charles King. At-Loow's Xew ITork. One day.' Dec. 1. -as hall double feature.' Rxanning time. 63 -minutes. Combination newspaper-gunman- murder mystery yarn that tries to tackle too many subjects at once. A popular phrase that might have made a good title with the right picture behind it is wasted. 'X .^f9x!f^'i.^h<^. Spij.t' ha.s. .nothing Xs.rec- ommend it for important playing or favorable returns in the key. first runs. The atmosphere of 'Front Page' was sought, but hot captured in this yarn by Warren Duff ond Gordon Kahn, latter a former New York newspaperman, although they spill a lot of inside stuff along the way. The kaleidcscopic, helter-skelter tempo ot a typical daily editorial office is again borrou'ed for picture usage. : Film has the dapper type managing editor, after the Adolph Menjou .fashion, by I/ew Cody this tlmb. Again a star reporter calls the . boss a gorilla and other such names, again the two are old pals; but this time the star reporter Is iii the modern version—a Broadway' columnist. They wanted Walter Wlnchell to take the part. Ills paper wouldn't let him go to Hollywood. - Wallace Ford got it and. did a good Job. The - writing forced Ford to carry out considerable implausible action, so he-doesn't shine as he might have under better conditions. He's a competent Juve and his Icglt ex-i perlence helps him In the talker work. A show girl is murdered shortly after the columnist calls at her apartment. She was suing his paper Cor libel. He a.sks her to sign a re- lease. She refuses. Then she's found murdered and the reporter is held. He solves the mystery pretty fast, and who is the guilty party but a rough giiy who befrierfdcd the same reporter back in the home town. An unintentional double'- cross drags In a court room scene and the reporter mops up in the finale by walking Into a locked room to shoot it out with the killer. There's been too much siipi.-rlor rough stuff in the recent • past to give this Tire -a chafice at .atten- tion. Besides Ford's there isn't a shining performoncc. Cody and Mary Nolan, who has little to do In the plot, nro the names.. The editor'.s name Is Ilowp. Not close enough loHowlo for oulslilcr.s to notice. • " H>t/e. BROKIGA BLAD (Scattered Pages) (SWEDISH IMADE) (Revue) 'Si'cnslc -FliininduAtrl - 'production and Scandinavian Talking Pictures release. Stars .Gosta Ekman. Directed by Edvln Adalphson; n)uslc -Jules. Sllvaln. Cast: Valderaar DalQulst. -Veru Nllsson, Hakan 'Westergreen and Sigurd -Wallen. At the Fifth Ave.; N. Y., week Nor. 27. Running lime, 83 minus. Easily the best of the Swedish films ever shown on this side. Pic- ture ought to have no trouble get- ting money wherever there Is a Swedish clientele. Too much talk for anyone' not understanding the lan- guage. It's a musical revue with many Swedish, stars inserted. No way of tellllng who is who unless recog-. nizable by the Scandinavians them- selves. Most all the participants handle themselves well and seem to have sufficient personality and ver- sdtlllty to pilease. Starts with a melodramatic bit overemphasized enough for bur- lesque: In the middl^ of It a young man walks In to Interriipt and tell the participants that's not -what the audience -wants. He packs them Into a car and takes them to the capital, where follows a tour ot the- atres, cabarets, beaches, etc., with specialties thrown in e-very place. Music is fair, if reminiscent, and tcchnlcall.v the picture is about par. Kauf. Battle of Gallipoli (BRITISH MADE) British Inntrucllonal production. Capitol Films releasd on this sldo. British title •Tell Rngland." Based on novel 'Tell En)i land' by Ernest Raymond. Direction An Ihony .\snulth and Gooftrey Barkai!; plKx toitraphy .Jack I'arker. Stanley Rogers ami Jalnos Kodwpll: art direction Arthur Woods: found Victor Peers. At the RKO Cameo, ^'ew York, week Doc. -1. . Itunning line. T.'i. mlns. I'MBar )>oo .. . IluiifTt Hay..... The rnilre The C.ilonel rapt. Hardy.... Lieut. I^oun Mrs. Doc .Mr. Rn>' Carl Hnrbord .' Tiin'j Bruce Dennis lloey ,...0. M. ICallird ..Frederick Lloyd .Gerald.-Bawlln.nf>n ....Betty. Complnn ...Hubert Harben By all ordinary .standards .'El Amot' Solfcando' ought to be a smooth money-maker In Spanish- territory, but it . is Impoissible to 'fathon>. 'Spanish - likes and ; dislikes in pictures. So many varying Jar- gons of Spanlish exist It is almost always safe to say most of the Spanish speaking peoples don't un-. derstand pictures In their own- language,: unless It's In tho partic- ular Spanish ot t.he community. This picture is claimed to hav6bcen tnade In Madrid, so' in Spain it ought to be good. What South Americans and Mexicans v>in think of it is.d different story. In fairness to the fllmr it is the first Spanish talker shown In New York that seems to . have gotten an atteml>t at production.- Technically It's well iiiade and It must have cost quite a bit. One item to show this'is the inclusion of the Plaza- Tiller girls from London for a- coujile of mild stage scenes. Maybe the glrla happened to be in Madrid tor a stag6 show at the time, but It's added expense, which most Spanish film makers seem to avoid. Story Is pretty good. A cheating wife is followed by her husband so recruits a . stranger to make be- lieve he's her singing teacher: It works, but the husband engages the same man to' give lessons on the side to his mistress. Gives the fel- low an idea a..d he sets vp a fancy studio as-a singing teacher, getting away with it, although not know- ing one note from another. Piano player who helps him fool his cus- tomers falls in love with him for the complications, - with a wedding finish. Nicely acted most of the. -way. No comment on individual- perform- ances through lack of program or credit sheets. Lead Is dh excep- tionally pretty girl, with the Juve a nice actor looking like- .Tack Gilbert. Music, is Just fair, although one tango-is nice and mav catch. on. Kauf. BALINESE LOVE J. -W. Jackson production and Talking Picture Epics release. Tom Terrlss fea- tured as lecturer. At the Fifth Ave. I'lnyhouHO. N. Y.. as half ot double fea- ture. Running lime. 42 mlns. War' again. Brltl.sh films again That iiboul tells the whole .atory oti iiig bcca'u.s'c of I'-tiKih Sijpp'osed to be made on the Is land of Ball, 'where nakedness in women is considered a sign . of "purity.' This picture'Is patently a cheap imitation of 'Tabu' (Par). It has not, like 'Tabu,* however, photography or local color to bai'k It up. It's a badly made, and poorl.v faked tale of 'love among savagoH.' That most ot the picture is-faked Is .so evident that it hurts the au- thentic portions. Kuppo.sedly it tells a story ot the chieftain's daughter, who is ordered bilrlo'l with her.father when he dio.i. Jk-r -lover rescues her. I'rotty poorly done throughout. Some of the actual stuff Is prc-lty and cut'down .to ri nvo-rct;l' r as a ti'.-welog it ought t-'» H''ll ea.slly. I'fl'haps okiiy foi' (lunblo-f'-.'iiiir Kauf, An action western above overage. Stoi-y Is simple bu": interesting and worked-out so that It always keeps moving. Class ot fans at which It lS;Pblnted should approve. Maynard escapes froth Jail, where he. lias been' confined for a crime he did not commit. He suspect's the. party framed him and starts oh a pursuit of proof. AVhIle on the trdil, a coach fs robbed' arid the' driver killed. Maynard is also accused of -this act. Aft^r a series of gun. and flst fights Maynard is cleared of all charges.; • ]<>ahces Dade is the girl wiio Is engaged to marry the heavy. May- nard breaks up the marriage, kid- naps the girl and finally wins her. Miss. Dade looks attractive and lias more of a pqrt than customary , for Western' heroines. She handles the role nicely. Maynard is ills usual gun totin^ hard rldl'n', two-fisted self. A snappy knuckle fray is injected toward the end with our hero beatr Ing up two o'-the oiitlaws. CIRCULEZ ('Move On') (FREriQH, MADE) Paris, Nov. 25. . OSBO production and release. Directed by Jean de Limur from a Leopold' Marchand- scenario. .Music by Fred Parly and P.- Chagnon. Made at'Natan studios. R. C. A. sound. Running time. 8fi minutes. At the Olympla, Paris. Stars Dorvllle; features Germalne Aussey, Marcol Carpcntler aai Pierre Brasseur.. Hollywood, experlehce of the di- rector, Jean de 'Llmur., makes this film a possible programmer, to- gether -with some witty dialog. Script takes some pokes at the po- llfce. Story is that of a policeman 'who, when he was a non-com In the army, had under him the son of a cabinet minister, tiatter seduces the cop's, daughter and.'eventually mar- rleis iter, despite his father's objec- tions. Dorvllle, who is In-legit the star of the Bouffes Parislens, films ex- ceedingly - well and is as., good on the screen as stage. Germalne Auis- sey,. as the daughter. Is- fair sup- port The son is played by Pierre Brasseijr, also from the theatre. Sound and photography fair. '. Mttxl. Mary's Start in Die Ehe ('Mary's Sitart Into Matrimony') (GERMAN MADE) Berlin, Nov. 12. - Sctiuiz and -WueUner 'production and re- lease. Direction Johannes Meyer. Menu- scrliiC Ifcrmann Kosierlltz and -Wolfgang Wllhelm. Music Dr. Felix Guenlher. Ar- chitecture Erich Zander. PhotoBmrHy Carl Puth; sound Hans Grimm. Keronled on Tobls-KlanRnim. Casta: Hermann Vnl- lonlln. -Eva Spoyer. Jenny Jugo. Fritz Odema; Hermann Tlilmlg. Evn .Schmldt- Kayser, Hanso Arnstucdt, Kurt Llllen, Maria -Zlegler. W. Roxin. .<!, (>. .<<chocn- Ing. Rlrhnrd LUiIh'h. Max Wllm-sen and Carl S»-lnl,.>rn. Itiinnlng lime. ,2 m n- utei>. At r. T. Kiirfui'P'len.lniijm. Berlin. Charming film comedy full of Ideas - has been made with .small . production rf-.sourfes. One has seen but nilddlft-clfi.fs pictures by the-di- rcolor, Johannes Meyer up to now. All tlie' nicer Is the surprise to spend such an entertaining evening. Tlil.H pli'lure will have a very good box offic/: .iiicccs.-i. Miinii.'o-riiit sl.'iw.s it refre.shlng (.rU'lnalliy. At I'-'Oit In the new. IdfU.^i of ponliiiulty; how the au- thors, JT<-rni«iin Ko.sterlltz and WolftjoiiK Wllliclm, understanding, liring fuiir.:.' iiml If.glcjil gngs with- out losing the tlii'ifad of the storj". A young girl runs a-\vay from homo because ."sho docs not want ' tin; n.llic'P .ir-liTtcd fur ll'cr. In th« j (Continued on page 21).