Variety (April 1932)

Tuesday, April 26, 1932 FILM REVIEWS VARIETY 13 FRANK McHUGH <PETE BURKE, REPORTER' Cortiey--- ■ 20 Mins, , . : AKO^athe This series ;qf -McHueh's newspa- per yarns Is fast getting to be the funniest running around. PYoni al- nibst any standpoint. It's excellent, laugh material,, well thought out, handled and acted. Mbiiugh Is his usual character again. Stew newspaperma:n, cleans put the office at a crap game, for-; gets to go. home, tries to clear up si .marital complication betweeiii stran- gers and gets badly involved per- sonally. .Ends by'evferything beliig straightened out, with him still un- der the Influence. It's newspaper etiif)^'handled the only possible way—for laughs. And It puts the point over, without of-' fending anyone. And what a iswell stew this guy MpHugh is! Kmf. <BEYOND THE BL.UE HORIZON' Vincent Lppez and Orchestra . 5 Mins. Rivoli, N. Y. , Parampuht, Nice flve-mlhute filler short by Vincent Lopez and his orchestra of •Beyond the Blue 'Horizon,' which revives scenic shots from the Lti- bltsch prodtictlpn of 'Monte Carlo.' Naturally, these clips include that effective scene showing the peasants In the field waving the train passen- gers on. The clips are cut In every so often against Lopez's band instrumenta- tion, which Is clnematlcally well grouped. The staging of' a. band ensemble, as with a ohbrus, has al- ways been somewhat of a, problem, but it is deftly handled in this short. A vocia.1 trio supplements the ihstru- mentatloh. . Abel. 'SAMPANS AND SHADOWS' Magic Carpet Series 8 Mins] Embassy, N. Y...: Fox Movietone ' Although certain travelogs aiid some newsreel clips' have suggested it, no one piece of film so thoroughly absorbe the out-of-the-way spots; details, and the real oriental atmos- phere of, In and around Shanghai as 'Sampans arid Shadows.' . Camera work ahd editorial Judg- ment in virtually all. of these .cari»et episbdies are exceptional. Special mention of the same should b'' mAdc for 'Sampans,' however. :. Waly. ■ CURIOSITIES . 8 Mine. Transliix, N. Y. v Columbia; ' A number of clips seen before }n the newsreels. are Incorporated In this Waiter Futter . effort. • At that such a grouping Is Inter- esting to the average fan who tan- not be expected to be familiar wltn much of this material. The trout po6l in Los Angeles, Ari2oha;'s electric mountain, a Cali- fornia love nest, making tappa cloth in Borneo, and selling- turkeys in Mexico are featured. . Waly. CHARUES (CHIC) SALE 'A SLIP OF THE SWITCH' Comedy; 17 Mine, Cameo,. N. Y. .''Radio .". Excellent slapstick entertainment, plenty of laughs, and several new eags. Telegrapher's code, with Sale as n student of the Morse system, pro-, yldes gist of the ldea» Around this are worked- a couple of thievihe bums, deaf sheriff and a locomotive engi- neer who is dizzy starting and stop- pinp. his train because a fight in the station agent's oflnce Is changing the lights every time a body falls against levers. ' Comedy throughout is fast iAov- log. ' Waly. Miniatore Reviews THE MOUTHPIECE . Wanner Bros, prdduetlon and raloase, fea- turing "Warren William; directed by James Flood and BlUott Nugent. From an orielnai play' by Frank J. Collins; adaptation by Earl Baldwin. Assistant aireotor, Bill Cannoii. At .the Winter Oar- den, New York. April 20,'. Bunnlng time,' 90 mins. Vincent .....-'.Warren. William Cella ;^Cella Fox .Miss 'Hlckey^........,.Aline-^acMahon John - .i.'.Wlllla'm Janney Barton ,......'...;'.......John Wray ■ T. B Ralph 'Incc Blaine. i.......'... .Mae Madl&on Smith ...............Moi^an Wallace- BartPnder ...< ., .....Quy KIbbee Pondapolls Stanley Fields This is the first of what promises to be. a cycle of underworld-lawyer type pictures, hurried In ahead of several others that are about to go Into release. In - the Impending group are Columbia's 'For the. De- fense' and BKO's 'State's Attorney.' This one makes a good start.. It "heis plenty, of high moments of ef- fective melodra.ma. and Its story Is of sustained Interest. A release that will hold for week stands and promises much better than average feature returns.. In the print run off here the story has been allowed to run into too much fpotage. and needs closer cutting, but eyen In extended fprm it has strpng elements. Offsetting somewhat its trickily managed melodrama, the picture has a sappy iromantic thread and Is permitted to go overboard on talk; but the latter flaw can easily be remedied with a , determined pair tt shears.. Weak- ness of the love interest probably .Is beyond mending, but the production is superior to this minor defect. Story has a brisk opening, with Vincent Bay (Warren William) as the prosecutor summing up In ;a murder case, a trial which ends in the conviction of a, boy, later sent to the chair Just a minute before he Is proved innocent. Tragic mis- carriage of. justice turns Day sour on the prosecutor job and he goes to the gutter for. a time In grief over his piart in the affair.., All this is a brief prolog, ecoriphiically de- veloped: ■ Making a new start, the brilliant pleader becomes tlie 'mouthpiece' for criminals In the tolls. First dra- matic punch has to do with a flee- ing embezzler who appeals for help. He still has $4Q,000.of his thefts x)f twice as much,, and Day gets him out of the jam" .by settling with the bank for • $30,000 and taking "the other ten G's for his fee, turning the tables later on the victimized bank bead in a neat'coinedy scene. Mtlo kick No. 2 has to do with the handling of a tough witness against a murderer on trial. Witness testi- inea. he saw the actual killing, and attorney for the defense tries to get him to admit that he himself had. iJecn knocked out in a general fight before the fatal blow was: struck. WItnesSi a. prize fighter, indignantr ly denies he was ever knocked out ahd thereupon Is excused. As he leaves the stand. Day socks him on the button arid he goes out cold, thus! breaking down the whole case against the defendant. ' . Feaic of the career of sensational lawyer is his trick of spiking' the prosecution's case against a mur- derer by drinking the. poison. Ex- hibit. A, before the jury and th'eri, wheii his man is freed, rushing to an improvised hospital to submit to the stomach pump, the pois<in taking 45 miriutes to -.vork; . Day is as sensational In his play as he Is in his work, hip diversions involving many flamboyant, ladies of Informal habits. A new stenog- rapher In his ofllce catches his eye and he promptly goes on the. make, only to find himself rebuffed, the girl (Sidney Fox) being In love with a. youngster front her honie tewn. It^.ls here that the excellent tales bt'eaks dpwri. The hometown boy innocently bccorhes involved in a Jam arid in getting him free the lawyer has tp double cross his cropk clients. That a' hard-bpiled legal fixer, entirely surrounded by flam- ing blondes should go to pieces 6ver a tepid, . mousey country girl, as Miss Fox plays the role, isn't so reasonable. Also it weakens the central character, whose Interest lies in his cynical audacity and daring. in the end the double-crossed gangsters put him on. the spot, for a telling trick dramatic finish in which he is machine-gunned from an automobile abross the street as he stands reading a newspaper, a shrewdly managed bit . of under- world hoke, resourcefully staged. Bbniantlc angle Involving the ste- nographer is subordinated by a fas- cinating bit of. character wbrk played by Aline MacMih'oh, re membered for her. fine bit in 'Three Star Final.' Here she is a blase secfetary to this lawyer. She sar- dbi|ically orders- fl.owera and cosy corner luncheon tables for h6r boss' lights o' love, razzes him for his foibles irid takes care of him with great expertness when he goes off on a bender and has to be brought back to life in a hurry to attend to his intricate law business. Through- out the story it is half suggested that she is in love with the 'mouth- piece,' but their relations: are subtly left undefined. Punch of the tag end comes when the girl, rushing to warn hlrh of the gangster menace, Just too late, gets into the taxi he has stumbled tp, and, supporting, him, directs the driver to hurry to the ho.spltaI,,for the fadeout, presumably seeing the 'mouthpiece' to his finish. , Flaws and all, It miakes an ab- isprbing bit bf entertainment, filled with tension and movement. Pro- duction is expert and acting thrpughout uniformly oxcellont,'par- ticularly William's vigprous per- fprmancp, just .xufTlolpntly ♦'xag- geralod. Rush. 'The Mouthpiece* (W.B.). A first grade melPdrahia, beat- ing the Pther Impending crim- inal lawyer stcrles to the . screen. Tense story, well man- aged and sustaining gripping interest thrpughout, A bet for • all grades of housies. 'Famous Ferguisori * Case' (F. N.) Dull, trite, talky ex- ppse pf yellow journaliism. For the: minor houses with ; best asset capital performance, by Joan Blondell. 'the. Miracle Man' (Par). Good If hokey talkerizatipn pf film which may rticall the Lcn Chaney - Thpmas Meighan -, Betty Cpmpspn priginal. The '32 transmutatlpn If hot ^ats ef^ fective has all the elienients of sturdy b.o. for the general runs. 'Wet Parade' (M-G), Two hours pf pirppaganda fpr and against prphibltipn ; ■ r a t h e r. . than entertainment. Final Im- . presslpri strpri&ly antltUqupr, but, putslde' pf reactipn that rtiay bring, picture hasn't; much chance. What It lacks as entertainment Isn't cpvered by propaganda possibilities. Large cast of moderate name values. 'Amateur Paddy' (Fox). Warner. Baxter, starring, and a fair irrosser,. 'Are You Usterilnii?' (Metro). Wandering affair whiich re- Qulres all the advantage of be- ing the fore-runner in the new film cycle dealing with radio broadcasting studios. Metro's attempt to take Haines out of the. wlsercrackins. category pnly lets him. dawn' on the dramatic end. . 'Sky . BrideMPar). Lack of romia-ntic Interest is somewhat of a handicap to a cpnventipnal air plot with . a. suspensive Unlsh. Jack Oakle supplies a strong and welcome comedy relief. (jood average pr-o- grariimer. 'Cohens and Kellys in Holly- wppd' (U). Alpng tisual lines pf the series, with practically nc priginality In dialpgue or stpry. Best in the nabs. 'Shop Angel' CTower). Nicely . produced Indie with fluent ac- tion and fair suspense. Above average. ; 'Secret Menace' (Imperlal)i Good title but.draggy story of a dude ranch. Weak. 'Wild Women of Borneo' (First Div) Travelogue of fa- miliar sort with only a few minutes devoted tP the subject pf the title. Famous Ferguson Case FIrist National producttod ctnd releaESf featuring Joan Blondell; directed by Lloyd Bacoii. • From an original story by Cour- tenay Terrett-and Granville Moore; adapta- tion by'Harvey Thew. . Cameraman, Dev. Jennings. At the Stand, New Tork, April 22. Running time, 80 mins. Malzle Dickson..............Joan. Blondell Bruce Foster .Tom Brown Tony Martin.................Adrlehne Dore Cedrlc Works ...Walter Miller Perrlii .LiesUe Fenton Mrs. FerKUSon. ...Vlvlenne Osborne Claude Wright .J. Carroll Nalsh Ferguson Purriell Pratt Bob Parks.... .Kenneth Thomson Martin Collins.... Grant Mitchell Judd Brooks ....Lreon Waycpft County Attorney ; .Clarence Wilson Eddie Klein ........Bert Hanlon Photographer ...Mike Donlln Latest—and dullest—of the yel- Ipw newspaper exppse pictures. Weak fbr the impprtant sppts and even weaker fpr thg minpr grades, in neither of which flelds are tiie fans interested in newspaper rer porter ethics, as involved In tablPid vs. cpnservative Jpurnals. .. Picture just talks itself tp death in one boring hour and 20 minutes. 'Five Star. Final' was the excep- tion tP the rule that newspaper stories start pff with a handicap for the reaspn that. the. storj^Uries tp trick the auditpr iutp thinking the newspaper people are hipre in- teresting than the events they chrenlcle, which isn't true Inside jpumiallsm pr outside. 'Final' and 'Fx'Prit Page' turned the diiflcult trick, but befpre and after the twp plays mentlpned there have been a Ipng, Ipng series pf stage, and screen flpps dealing with the. Park Row locale. ■ ' Tills subject is one of the most glarin^ failures of the whole Series, and that despite a' first rate piece of acting by Jban .Blondell, as the hard-boiled and disilliaslpned sob sister, a light part that Is made to stand out by. the legitimate strength of its handling;. rtecltal hasn't even the merit of those shoddy starTrepprter-herp'af- fairs that preceded the tab expose type pf stpry. . It hasq't even the phoney gldmor bf the old style. In- stead a. lot of lather cheap pecple argue and debate a -murder trial which concerns people much more interesting than theniselves even if ■they arc pushed into the back- ground while' the newsi hounds ca- vort in the siiot. light. Picture failis. to make Its point that tabloids are vicious arid has to resort to the crude device of having Grant Mitchell, net the subtlest of stage propagandists, de- liver a long lectur on editpriai: prppriety that weuld have been razzed in the Columbia.. Schcpl pf Jpurnallsrii.' . ' . ' . Herp pf the eplc is a sappy kid on a small town journal, a part that is only intensified in its sappi- ness by the ingenuous playing of Tom ■ Brown,' last person In the world that sh.ouU' have been cast in such a spot,' which, he ; makes twice as naive as'in all reasoriable- ness the situation calls for. The riiurder tria!, even though It is rigorously kept in the back- ground, Is . much more absprbin.ig than the repprter Intrigues, and tp makie it dpubly prpvpking. they have made Its central figure hp less a cpmpelllng perspn than "Vlvienne Osbprne, whp by her very presence declines tP be relegated tp the rear. Effprt to make drama put pf the trivial circumstance that the hard- bpiled girl repprter finds her hus- band-reirprter tryinir . tp 'make' a cheaip little small tpwh flap, dpesn't stand up. Ypu have the feeling that What Is being peddled as an embtipnal sequence pught tp be. cpmedy, arid . the same disturbing sensaticn is inspired by many pther impprtant epispdes. . W'prking up suspense ever . the frlyelpus in- trignes, diesipatlpns and' philander- ings pf the werking press never jells here. • At the flnal count up the schem- ing of the yellow reporters has killed an Innocent woman., whose husband was 'drajsged . Into the .af- fair, ruined her husbaiid and prob- ably spoiled the life of the sus- pected wife whp is vindicated. All that happens tP the repprters is that they Ipse their jpbs, and fpr dramatic purppses that is. utterly inadequate, regardlelss of current city rppm unemplpyment. Disregarding all niceties cf lit- erary mistreatment, it's.all tiresome entertainment. Rush. Cantor Film Colorless Hollywood, April 25^ . Additional ?225,000, which cplpr wculd add tp the cost of Eddie Cantor's 'Kid from Spain,' probably will induce Cantor and Goldwyn to be satisfied with black and white. Bpth favpred cplpr, but npt the ex- pense. For the past few days Canter has been nursing an infected gum caused by a bit of tooth' which re- fused to be yanked. CORRECTION NOTE Review of 'Freighters of Destiny' (Valricty, April 12) referred to Tom Tyler throughput the comtnent. Should hav«' been Tom Keene as in thie credits: THE MIRACLE MAN rnramoim't production n,n.rl release, tea<' turini; S.vlvia .^^Uneyrfind Cheater, Morris. Norman MoLcoJ directed froiii theistory by Frank I.. P.ickard and Robert H. Davis, and th'c piny by Georeo M. CoK.iri. Adapted by Woidonur Youiig; dialoi; by Youhr nnJ 'Snmiiol Hoffcnsteln; camera, Dnvld^Abel. Helen Smith Sylvia Sidney John Madison '... Chester' Morris •Henrj' Holmes................Irvlnf; Piohel. -The Frog...i..t. -..John Wroy Bobble....,.....:... ..Robert Coogan The Patriarch.......J....".Hbbart Bosworth NIkko......., > r ■.... •■■ ,Korls Knrloff Harry Evans.. . ;Ncd .V. Sparks Thornton........... .l.loy.1 llushc*. Margaret Thornton,..... Vireln!a Brucp Betty...,..'.•Florihe -McKlnn«-y ■ Hiram Hlgelns.^............ .Krank Dnileii Parlter;. i ... i\ i .'.-.•.... . .Lew. Kei:y Good 1932 program stuff. Despite eaptlousness of tlie barkers-back to the silent verslen pf 1919, with Lpu Chaney, Thomas aielghan and B^tty Co'mpson, Avhp helped to register 'The Miracle ;Man' in that early post-war year as .a. milestone in cinematic art, the '32 talkerlzation is sturdy box-Ptllce timber, if lack-!, ing the dli>tlnction accorded the silent filmization. ' ■ A vague memory concc^dos that certain elements about tho pileiit production .eclip.ses the cbutcnipb- raneous, but perhaps .thai rested mbre in the advantage pf cinematic muteness. This riiay be an anomaly cpnsiderlrig the stage pppularlty pf George M. Cohan's dramatization in 1914, but pantomimic screen realism had quite a, bit to do with outdis- tancing the present-day version. None the less 'The Miracle Man' of now is a good flicker for all its trend towards exaggeration and, hokum. Had McLeod. the director. 6v the dlaloglcians exercised a little more*restralnt, and eliminated some of the exaggeration In the talk/ the effect of greater realism might have been obtained. These aren't the eple shprtcpm- ings, hpwiever. Althpugh Sylvia Sid- ney arid Chester Mprcis are featured, Jehh Wray as the Frog, deing the Lpn Chaney cpritprtive role,. takes it away frpm them. Miss Sidney is just alright ais the Girl Crpok, while Chester Morris lacks something as the leader of the mob, His stern nalen and his unrelenting skulldug- gery don't ring true. He. lacks the suavity so essential to any leader of men, regardless of rank, with the result that he makes his portrayal totally disagreeable,' especially In view- of the mptlvatipn pf ultimate salvatlpn, . This lack of cpntrast re- sults In. a generally cplprlesa char- acterlzatlpn. Hpbart Bpsworth as the patrlr .archal falth-healer was tetally cpri- vlricing thrpughput. Perspnally well fitted fpr the assignment, he played it to the hilt, but with fitting re- straint. . Perhaps pne element whlcl) might have been everlpoked In this pres^ cnt-day transriiutatlon of 'The Mir- acle Man' la tha.t basically the 'Mlracle^Ian' theme Is grand hokum- It's of a brand pf hpke which, spme- hpw, In the pasisage of mpre than a decade since 1919, makes it much mere, difllcult fpr cinematic palata- blllty than back in '19.' That wheeze abpiit 'the wprld dp mpve'. has seen its answer, time and again In pic- tures which were made froiri stpry (Continued on page 25) The Woman^s Angle 'The Mouthptece' (WB). Because he suddenly goes noble for the un- requited love of a negative slip of a girl. Warren William's roguish playing pf an artful lawyer becpmes less Interesting tp. the ypunger set than if he had reirialried a ccnslstent scpundrel. The matrpns will en- dprse his refermaitipn enthusiastically cripugh tP cpunteract the flaps' temperate. attendance. 'The Famous Ferguson Case' (WB); A modest little programmer de- scribing the methods of city slicker reporters at small town trials and with small town girls. Wili get a modest little audience^ 'The Miracle Man' (!Par)V A stiffly directed tribute to tlie efficacy of prayer, told with, unrestrained religious fervor that alienates the younger and smarter audience element. Spiritual conflict and teary emotion directed toward thp sympathies of unspphisticated matrpns whp wijl be absorbed by the cpme-tP-glpry regeneratlpn pf a gang of cplprful crppks. . 'The Wet. Parade' (MGM). Apparently fearful ef offending either the w^ts pr the drys, tills pver-lpng review pf the liqupr.questipn in America straddles the Issue and sp loses put with both factldns... Tlie ladles ac- cept history as film fare only If the characters are rohiantic. Tliey de« mand entertainment or a cause to follpw; they get neither here. 'Amateur Daddy^ (Fox). Hemesy folksy sweetness, with lily-white Ipve timidly rearing Its shy little head. Flaps want strpnger stuff than this, but It win dp nicely fpr. the dpwagers. ■ 'Are You Listenih'7' (MGM). Cpllects its plot, slowly and. a blt.vaguelisr from the atmosphere about a broadcasting studio, shifting suddenly frpm CPmedy to an unu.sually drariiatic role for the wise-cracking Biill Haines. Film holds attention reasonably well but is too cluttered ■wJth artificially disagreeable characterizations to compel feminine sympathy. 'Sl<y-Bride.' (Par). Richard. Arlcn and Jack. Oakle dbv their best' t» interest matinee gals in a Rover Boys aviation yarn, but this unro« mantle action film will find its most appreciative feminine audience among mothers in search of clean, exciting entertainment for their youngsters. 'Symphony of Six Million' (RKO-Rad.lo). In keeping with Its subject matter, a.lusHly emotional and at t|mes deeply nipvirig accpurit pf a celebrated surgeon's rise from the Ghetto. Attuned to the response ot lnten.yely jewlsh/nelghborhoods and of little hnpyrtance to tlie younger generation Pf fanettes.