Variety (Aug 1932)

Tuesday. Auguet 30>, 19^2 LM REVIEWS VARIETY 21 BACK STREET jCCoiitlixueii from page 14)-: Jliave been fully translated Into eel-, lulold. For the story, with Its life's span cycle, calls for much detail, yet none of It Is permitted to evien slightly eclipse the .basic romance of Bay Schmidt and Walter Saxel. It's all painted on the screen with boldly made strokes yet not too broad daubs by the combination of cine- matic talents which has done so well by the Hurst novel. The other 'characters are nevbr more than contributory to the main. . George Meeker as the visionary me- chanic who grows up and prospers iWlth the horseless carriage has about the fullest of the supporting cast's opportunities. True, the ever- effective ZaSu Pitts oan always make a bit stand out; and June Clyde in an Ingenue part also does well, but the picture is all Miss Dunne and Boles. The climatic scenes aboard the irans-Atantic liner bound for Paris with the 'back street' woman,, now generally recognized as the Saxel family's 'shadow,'butlds. tip hutnanly and nolturally into the 'tt>agic fltiale with the paralytic-stricken Boles', last thoughts being of-Ray Schmidt. 'Back Street' Is a money .releAse for .Universal. "It-this and the re- cently previewed 'Once' in a Life- time' are. samples" of U'9' '32-'33 product, It lobki like a big year for U. Abel. I THE LAST MILE KBS .Film - do. production On Tlftany California'Studios) tot World Wide release; directed by Sam BlscftoKi Preston Foster and Howard PhllIIpa"featur£d.' Screen play by Seton I. Miller, from the .stage drama oi same name by John Weiley,- which was a memorable success on Broadway. At the Capitol. New York, Augr. 20. Banning time, 78 .mld^, Blehard Walters ; .Howard Phillips. Hears......;., .Preston S. Foster Ber^. .George B. Stone D'Amoro t Nool Madison Xlrby ,i ...Alan Roscoe Werner .Paul Fix Mayer.,..;.....; . Al HUl Jackson ...Daniel L. Haynes "Warden. Lewis ,...... .Frank Sheridan Father O'Connor...Aleo B. Francis BabbI. ;. i Edward Van Sloan Mrs. waiters.Louise Carter Keeper' Callahan .Ralph Theadore Drake.......Albert J. Smith the .playwright. In mUer*. MeA'cs, who. garrots the contemptible- turnr key; getS'possession of his keys and gun and commaTids the Jail for a long sequence of extreme ^horror find violence, until, ■ defeated, he walks deliberately into a stream of nuichlne gun bullets from the prison guards besieging the mutineers. Acting is excellent, especially commendable; being the restraint with which this cast manages many episodes that might have been Spoiled by too hectic histrionics. Indeed, there are times when the acting is, too good for comfort^ as these players make a living reality of the doom thalt .lies behind the steel portal through which one or the other of them is soon to walk. Direction has. been Intelligently done In a delicate job, being aimed at achieving a maximum of sensa- tion that still will be within the limits of endurance. Preston Foster, who had a similar role in 'Two Sec- onds,' gives a strong performance; Howard Phillips plays with careful, effectiveness. T^jro . outstanding roles are cdntrlbuted by the Negro, '■Dantel L. Haynes (Adam in 'Green Pastures') and George B. Stone, creator ot a long series of screen character parts. Attsh. NIGHT CLUB LADY Columbia production and release. Direct' -ed by Irving. Cummlnga. Based on Anthony Abbott novel. Adaptation by Bobert Rts- kln. Features Adolphe ■ Menjou. Photog- raphy by Teddy Tetzlaft. At Paramount, New. Tork. (or week starting Aug. 20, Running time,. 00 minutes.' Thatcher Colt. Adolpfae Henjon Lcia Carewe.................. .Mayo Ucthot Tony .'Skeets Oallagher Kelly Ruthelma Stevens Mrs. Carewe. Blanche Frlederlcl Bverett ...Oerald Fielding Mike... ..Nat Pendleton. Vincent Rowland....-^ ...Albert Contl Ehinlce... ......Greta Granatedt BUI ..Ed Brady Joe ; ,; Lee Phelps Andre OeorKe- Humbart Dr. Baldwin ; Nlles Welch Dr. LeniTle William von Brlncken Mara ....Tern Shimada - production of first-grade tech- hlcal and artistic quality, but one of doubtful commercial returns, par- ticularly in Important stands; where,- certainly for the present, morbid themes are at a discount. At the Capitol It was propped with another (Of those glittering arrays of names pn the stage. Stage smash that doesn't repeat In celluloid Is not unknown aa evlr denced by 'The Guardsman' and' •Able,' both of which came to the new form with enormously more prestige than 'Mile.' Special rea- (Bons for .predicting spotty returns on the picture are that It has a de- pressing background and Is without Unv compensating feminine appeal. Its deiith house locale hasn't even the merit of screen novelty - since there has been u whole series of euch pictures, all of them of a lesser calibre as drama, starting with 'American Tragedy' and ending with ; the recent 'Two Seconds.' Picture compromises with the stage orlgl- »ia: in many ways, toning down its grim realism which furnished the play's Intrinsic grip and suger-coat- Ing the finale with a happy release of a youth unjustly convicted of tnurder. Departure from the stage play suggests the producer recognized ■ the risk of attempting anything so brutal on the screen. He should have gone a step further and realized that even In diluted form it was still a hazard. One Impor- tant element that contributed to the success of the play In 1930 was that recent sensational Jail uprisings, notably one at Auburn' and another et Dannemora In New York State, had aroused the public mind to In- terest in the prison subject. Those grisly Incidents have now paled to a faint memory, which removes the epur of tQpIcal Interiest Difference between play and film appeal Is the vital difference In timeliness. Such - a subject needs ian aroused public consciousness^ to support actly* Interest; Without that background the mere lobby suggestion of a prison death house is repellent to amusement seekers, particularly women, and the picture has nothing to pique their curiosity othierwise. Subject's lure, therefore, is confined to the morbld-mlnded sensation seeker. Picture la de- pressing, prison and : deia.th being two things ■ the mass of normal people put away from their thoughts. The searing earnestness of the i)lay is missing here, the play havliitj been rhanipulated in Its vital points to make It endurable as a picture. Here Mears. the killer, has been reduced to a subordinate place In the dramatic scale. Interest centering on Richard Walters, the youth convicted of murder by mis- carriage of Justice. In the end his Innocence is established and he is reprieved. Sufficient to shpw the variance from the play, on the stage the boy had killed his sweetheart and early in the action goes through the litjtle door to his doom. Change makes the picture more palatable, but dramatically weaker. Interest from first to last centers, despite Adolphe Menjou goes master de tectlve In 'Night Club Dady,' laying off the romantic altogether. It's new shoes for the sartorlally perfect ladles' man of the screen while a F'airamourit star, but he still Is the clothes model to those who want that and a good actorJ There may be quibbling as to whether Menjou should have been cast as a police commissioner who knows- his Sherlock, without any love Interest around the role; - but there can be- no gainsaying that he turns: in a good Job. Menjou occa-^ sionally seems a Uttle out of his metier playing a. master dick and Ignoring the charm of ladles around him, notably his secretary, but he's the plctur > Just the same» Wherever Menjou means pull and favor, he will be accepted In 'Night Club Lady.' Wherever murder mys terles migilntain a hold, regardless of Menjou, the picture also will be accepted. It has its faults, among them that it devotes itself to meticulous and needless detail-at times, but it con- tains enough plot and suspense to make its ocassional slowness a mat ter of lesser concern. Picture runs only 66 minutes, yejb feels much longer than that, due palpably to Its detail and its tension. Following the two murders com- mitted somewhere, around the sec ond reel, it's a matter of cold cal- culation, questioning and detective theories. Up to the murders the air is surcharged with danjger. After them it clears almost entirely, with no hint that the police commish (Menjou) and others are placing their lives in Jeopardy. Such routine as police communica- tion with foreign countries, elabo- rative deductive schemes and chebk- .ing up on suspects and incidents, take up much ot the picture's foot- age. Several times It appears love Interest will creep in between the commish and his sec, but It goes no further than that. Which leaves 'Night Club Lady' strictly a murder mystery. Story deals with threats against a night club hostess and her mys- terious murder while under heavy eniard of police. Numerous suspects look guilty from time to time, but until the nolice commish dopes out iiiat the Ingenious use of a scorpion accomplished the murder. It's any- body's guess. Woman posing as the girl's mother is finally trapped, but eludes arrest by committing suicide. It's a denouement that's pretty well handled save for the detail that's laid on. Menjou has one opportunity to show off his supposedly perfect French. It's in a conversation by phone with French police on one of those checkups. Skeets Gallagher works through- out as Menjou'a pal. They're an odd combination—one a smart de- tective, the other a heavy drinker. As latter, Gallagher'.moves around for comedy relief with moderately successful results. - t Additional laughs would not have overburdened the picture. They could have been easily found by giving Nat Pendleton more footage. He does a dumb cop. A map and manner that's his fortune, if anyone notices it, Pendleton deserves to forge ahead. Mayo Methot. does the night club lady who's bumped off by the scor- pion. She overplays mingled tough- ness and fear badly. Char, PASSPORT TO HELL ' Fox production «nd release. Btarrlng BUssa Landl. Features Paul' Lukas knd Warner OUnd. Story by Harry Hervey; -directed by Frank Lloyd. Continuity. Brad- Icy Rfng. Dialog, Leon Gordon, Camera, John Sella. Sound. A. L. Van Klrbach^ Art, William Darling. Asst. dir.. William Trummel. At the Winter Garden, com- mencing Aug. 29. Running time, 73 .mlns. Myra. .Bllssa Land! Ktirt .Paul' Lukaa Baron. .°. .Warner Oland-' Erich.,, .Alex, Klrkland Sergt. Snyder...... Donald Crisp Purser > ; Earle Foxe Sheba ...>>...../....... Verft Morrison Roslta. .Tola d'Avril Fictorlally Frank LJoyd, working with strictly formula material, has managed to produce a handsome prograni picture which, In spite of its story shortcomings, should give good, though not brilliant, account of itself. In many spots }t should go above the average take, these be- ing mostly in the B locations. For the A houses it will merely get by comfortably. Not a de luxer, but Broadway spotted because of. the product shortage. Story follows familiar lines of the woman who,, tarnished in a London scandal, is driven from place to place, ever falling a bit lower and getting more reckless as she moves downward. As the story opens a British subaltern In Acra has com- mitted suicide, over his gambling losses. Sllssa Landl Is blamed and deported to German territory, ar- riving In Kamerun just as England enters the war. To save herself from Internment In an alien prison camp and P£trtly to get even with the Commandant, she marries his son. His father sends him to an up- country station In the hope of wear- ing the girl iout. There she meets and loves another pfflcer and is once more sent oh her travels. Her husband sells military information to a British spy to provide her with funds and then commits suicide. She burns his letter of confession to save his nam^ wins the respect of the Commandant at last and goes her way, alone, but with the thought that after the war she may be re- united to the man she really loves. Nothing original to the outline and little heW in the treatment, but staged intelligently to produce a series of interesting subtropical scenes against which thie set ac- tions are carried out.. The produc- tion angle is more important than the story phase. ■ Elissa Landi as the woman in the case contributes a nicely timed %nd restrained effort She avoids over- acting and acts as a. gentlewoman would, which is a new touch In this type of story, the heroine generally going on the loose. Paul Lukas Is nominally the male lead, and turns In a strong performance, but Alex- ander Klrkla.nd does so well by the Impulsive son of the Commandant that he wins too much sympathy for the character, and the^ Is a feeling that he wOs given a pretty raw deal, -which does, not make for complete audience satisfaction. Warner Oland gets away from Chinese characters to play the Com- mandant with authority, and the other characters are well sustained under the competent direction which draws some graphic pictures. Not the least of the merits of the production Is the avoidance of over- stress on rain, the solitude, and. the German milttary system. A good touch at the opening Is the presen- tation of a map which reveals the locale and makes for an understand- ing of the movements of thie char- acters. UNHOLY LOVE M. H. Hoffman production and FIrat Division release. Adapted by Frances Hyland from Gustav Flaubert's novel, 'Madame .Bovary.' Direction Albert Ray; associate producer, M. H. Hoffman, Jr.; camera, Harry Neuman and Tom Galll- gan. At Pox, Brooklyn,' week Aug. 10. Running time, 75 mlns. Dr. Gregory...... H. B. Warner Jane Bradford LI la Lee Mrs, Cawley Beryl Mercer Shellla Bailey..... Joyce Compton Jerry Gregory .....Lyle Talbot Aler Stoekmar. ....Ivan Lebedeff SImmlngton .Jason Bobards Mrs. Bradtord.. ..Kathlyn Williams Gall Abbot ; Frances Rich Mr. Bailey. .R|chard Oarlyle but stupid, boy played by Lyle Tal- bot in the only genuine note of the film. And Joyce Compton Is the selfish flirt that young Lyle gets tangled up with. In lesser parts, are Ivan LebedeiC and Kathryn Wil Hams and Beryl Mercer. Seemingly everybody was Im pressed with the Importance of the story and tried to make it very high-class. Warner, as capable an actor OS there is, has never turned in such a poor performance. And Miss Leo is nearly as bad. Some of the sets are very inter- esting and the photography gener- ally is iip to par. Which is all the kindness the picture deserves. ; Kauf. ALIAS MARY SMITH Like. production and Mayfair release featuring John Darrow, .Gwen Lee and Raymond Hatton.: Directed by E. Mason Hopper'from the story by Bdw. T. Lowe. Supervised by Cliff ..Broughton.. . Arthur S. Blade,, asst. dir. Jules Cronjager, camera. Byron Robinson, editor. O. B. Mills, sound. Cast: Henry B. Wathall, Blanche Me- haffey. Myrtle Stedman, Edmund Breese, Alec n. Francis, Matthew Betz, Jack Grey, Ben Hall, Harry Strang. At Loe'w's New York theatre, one day, Aug 23, as half double bill. Running time,. 61 mlns. Fairly ingenious murder mystery, with some well-known names, but lacking those elements qf develop ment and production which raise a story out of the indie ruck. Direc tion rather slovenly at times, which does not help. Should be able to solo on the lower half of the B dlvl slon if given strong support, but not to be counted oh for. a draw. Sev cral of the name players are in only one sequence. Picture is just an average indie with no special claims other than an Ingenious Idea. In the solution. This Is the washing off of thumb prints from a letter with the use of alcohol, but the restoration of the vllllan's prints through reagents be- cause when he handled the paper his hand was moist with lemon juice he had squeezed Into a drink. Out- side of that, strictly standard. John Darrow does tlie lead with Blanche Mehaffey, both turning in acceptable performances. Raymond has a camera reporter role similar to several he has played of late Gwen- Lee, Henry Walthall, Myrtle Stedman, Alec B. Fi^ncls and Ed> mund Breese are added starters Breese is getting very careless In these snap assignments. Fairly hams his role In this. Production Is' In and out, with some good sets, but one newspaper used several times to establish facts through the headlines. Issues are several days apart, but each story runs Into 'With the successful open Ing of the Culver City • Kennel Club ' Very clumsy. Sound good and photography generally up - to the mark.. Fall Des Oberst Redl ('Caae of Colonel Redl') (GERMAN MADE) Sonorfllm production. Capital'Film re.-^ lease In U. S. Starring Lil Dagover aAd Theodor Loos, Direction Karl Anton; su- pervision Josef Stein; manuscript. Bdnnoi VIgny; photography, Ed Hoesch and V. VIch. At the Little Carnegie. N. X.; on grind run beginning Aug. IT. Running time, 70 minutes. Countess Vera Nlkolojewna....Lll Dagover Colonel Alfred Redl ...Theodor Loos Ueut. Stephen Dolan Otto Hartmann Franzl, hla sweetheart... .Trude Grossllcht Colonel Martschenko Frledrloh Hoelzlln Daragaleft Alexander Hurskl Here, If you please. Is Gustav FI a u b •. r t' s , immortat classic, 'Madame Bovary.' At first blush it causiee resentment that the title should have been changed to riaad 'Unholy Love.* After viewing the picture, however, anyone having any respect for the book Is grateful the title has been disguised. The great Flaubert must be doing some heavy grave turning over this story ver.slon. Not only have the producers re- written and restaged the entire story beyond recognition, but in an attempt to be Ut'rary and high hat they've allowed everybody on the lot to overact. A fairly heavy cast, from, an Indle standpoint, woh't help It at the b.o. much. It will have to be satisfled with'the lower rung of double feature bills. Adaptors have moved the locale of the story to Rye, N. T., and made all the characters American. That, presumably. Is to get away from costumes. H. B. Warner Is the all- forgiving and all-loving father and Llla Lee the ever-understanding fiancee. Both arc doing all kinds of sacrificing for the sake of the nice, An unsavory subject smirklly hinted at, an elephantine paee and extra-Teutonic heaviness ' don't completely spoil this film. It's an arresting subject despite the many faults, and would probably skate in to a pretty good gate If It weren't for the fact that it's too talky to be understood by anyone not thorough- ly German. That last will, of cour.se, restrict Its U. S. sales pos- sibilities. Allegedly the Aim is based on an actual instance In the Austrian dip- lomatic service. It has to do with the cxperienoe; of tho head of the country's. secret service who, be- cause of homosexual tendencies is brought to a need of money. And from that to turning Russian spy to get the money. With the natural tragic end, of course, of being forced to commit suicide to save what honor he has left. ^ , It's not a pretty Idea for cinema, despite the fact that the Germans manage to skirt the sex angle. In fact, the manner in which they skirt makes it worse.. Also, Instead of treating the thing as the tragedy that it is, the directors attempted to make the yarn mysterious, with- holding until the la.st the fact that Col. J^edl, head of the secret service of Austria, Is also Opera Ball 13, Russian spy. They don't succeed In making it a mystery. They turn It Into a pretty muddled yarn that's almo.st impo.sslble to follow without a knowledge of the language. On the film's credit side, however, are very good though obvldus pho- tography and some fine acting. Lil Dagover as the Russian spy's foil is more beautiful than ever and does handsomely by herself, while Theodor Loos turns in an exception- ally lilce bit of acting in the title role, It's European style acting— heav.v, hammy, but perfect for this typo of film. Where Germans still remember tholr German the film ought to do well. Kl.scwhere it's pretty hopeless In America. Kauf. SIGN OF THE FOUR i (BRITISH-MADE) ABsoclated Radio Plctur«, released through Worldwide. Adainted (rem Sit Arthur Conan Doyle's story by W. P. Plpscomb. Dieted by Graham Cutts. FeaturlnK Arthur Wontner. At the' Cameo.' New Tork, beginning. Aug.- 19. Running time, 05 mlns. ' Sherlock Holmes...........Arthur Wontner Mary Moratan...... i Isia Bovna Dr. Watson .Ian' Hunter Alhclnoy Jones .'. .Gilbert Davis Jonathan Small... Graham Souttea Captain Marsten..,., ..Edgar Norfolk Ton^o ;.. .Togo Tattoo Artist. ..M. Burnhett For^i^flce .f<Ul„.res?.iapJl-'503ilIl_t.Y:„.,for damaglT.g what otherwise would be a good attraction and money-maker for the average American box oflflco is laid at the door of the technical department. Conspicuously poor lighting, so much so that many of the sequences strain jiormal • eyes, and spotty recording aire the chief offenders. There is also faulty direction, per- mitting principals in-several situa- tions to garble and litfernliy gargle their Jiction by too rapid recitation of lines. - With . these defects considered, •The Sign of the Four* is still tho best of the Doyle series as produced overseas. . Unlike the. others, the 'elementary' of. Holmes and the •marvelous' of Watson do not grate on audience sensibilities. Arthur Wontner makes st excellent Sher- lock, although his disguises fail to cause him tp lose Identity even with non-attentive fans.. Continuity Is especially well knit fo" a detective theme of this kind. There is Uttle that drags through the unreeling. This would have been Improved had the characters not been, delineated In what might be considered a prefaice to < the en- trance of Holmes. There are two murdeirs,' Jewel rob- beries, a dock fight and a good motorboat race at .night. . Waly. I KISS YOUR HAND (GERMAN MADE) (Synced Silent)! ^ Superflim production. Stanley release la y.'^,?V Sta" Marlene Dietrich »nd Harry Lletdke,r Cast Including ICarl Huszai-." Puffy.. DlrecUon Robert Land; baaed on Ralph Erwln's song by the same title. At the Europa, N. Y., on isrrind run, beginning Aug. 27. Running time 7fl mlns, . This Dietrich subject must be.at- least six or seven years old.. It has very Uttle excuse for existence, ex- cept as a relic of the days gone by and as- an Indication of what von Sternberg did for the star,< - It's .a h.-jickncyed story about a waiter and . a damozel, with the waiter turning out to be a real count. Not much action, direction poor, photogmphy fantastically bad. A fair score has been stuck oh la New York. . . 'Interesting Is the fact that Dietrich in this picture! did sur- prisingly good work, Tou can recog- nize the Marlene of today,' despite numerous Thedc jBara-lsh Inter- ludes. Her clothes are terrible and her ihakeup wrong,' but through It she has aUiire and-holds attention. Harry Lledtke. the Berlin matinee Idol, does a nice piece of work as the waiter.- . Oh the strenfirth ot Miss Dietrich's name the film will probably pick up some coin in the liabes ahd twin- housers. . . Kauf. FLAMES Monogram production and release. Di- rected by Karr Brown. Story credited grown and I. S. ChOkdwlek. At Loew's 27. Running time 05 minutes. T Charlift , Johnny Mack Brown Noel Franclu *,'»*>y Qeorge Cooper Marjorio Beeb« uarson t...ii.,.Rlfihard Tucker Ja«o •••• ...<>..RusrfeU Simpson. Fete ..Kit QuSrA . Had some tholight been devoted to the story, Instead of resorting to the easiest w,ay and following stere- otyped lines; 'Flames' could be recommended slk good program ma- terial for the big first runs. It closes with one of the mo$t excit- ing general alarm Hres brought to the screen. But even as Is,, picture will send them out of the subse- quent runs talking. . 'Flames' opens with fire apparatus rescuing a cat; For a good half hour after that,.however; the theme could be taken for most anything. Mistake made by the writer-director wasvto take all of that time to build up love interest between the two girl owners 6f the cat and a couple of firemen. This portion wobbles weakly around until suddenly a lesser fire Is forced in. After that every one knows that Pat's new bona has designs—and 30 he has. Also, even the less acute fans know that the next fire Is go- ing to bo in Pat's building because her fireman friend told her early In the picture It was a Hre trap. Were it not for the ungainly knitting of the story throughout • mo.st of the running time that final fire could exonerate all other pro- duction faults. Johnny Mack Brown, as Charlie, Fireman No. 1, Imnrea.ses more as a wealthy man about town with his (Continued on page 23>