Variety (Aug 1932)

Tuesd^ay, August 30, 1932 FILM REVIEWS VARIETY 23 h FLAMES t (Continued from page 21) tailored clothes and roadster. On the fire truck and ladder he steps ^Ight into character, however. Noel Francis is cute as the pertinent Pat. Director used poor Judgment in exposing her to a aemi- closeup durlr.g crying scenes be- cause Miss Francis does not cry prettily. George Cooper and Marjorie Cooper did what was expected of them in the comedy parts,, although most pt the con>edy was painfully SNIPER (RUSSIAN made! Sdyuzkino production and'. Amktno re- lease. Direction . and scenario S. . Time- Bhehko; photography. V. Ddnishevsky; seta, Bvsenl Bnevi At the Cameo, N. T., on grind, week Aug. 25. Bunnlns time, 70 Balna. Now the. Russians tell about the terror of war. iaere is one time when the-particular type- of propa- ganda they want to spread has air ready been spread by others. And ibetter. Unlversal's 'All Quiet,' Nero'3 *We.3t Front 1918,' Nata,n's •Crols de iBois' and BIP's 'Battle of Oallipoir are all oh the same sub* ject. 'And all more impressive, bet- jter handled and more worthy Alms. Attempt is made In this one to 'specialize on the particular typp of l)rutality connected with sniping. A Kussiin sniper in the French army and a Russian sniper in the German. For a finish, of course, all the Bus- elans on both sides realize that they're fighting for somebody else and not accomplishing anything, so they throw away their guns and de- camp for Petrograd and freedom. Part of the film Is synced silent and pirt talker, with the Russians^ again terribly worried by sound. IThey don't know what to do with 'dialog and, unless they can improve, might be better off-.to stick to silent jroutine. ; \ , • , Even the photography la oft, in this one. KaMj. Is substitution df poisoned cattle fot changed'brands. Gang inject rattle-, snake venom Instead of a serum in the hope of depleting th<> stock of the heroine's father and fusing him to sell. > ' ■" - Tyler ti)rqs In a nice perforjuCiiance and is well backed by paryi .Lin-, coin, as the heroine, who can act In- telligently and rides like a trpoper. "W^estern heroines who can dd-jsoine- thlng besides looking fooIIshT are pretty scarce these .days, aiid: Miss Lincoln in welcome. Another de- parture is a lightening of the vil- lany. The men are not permitted to overact^ nor does the script oTecvte;,,9ltMatlQM ..encQli'ragln^. them to; trsaarsturflghta^na^ Ri^ Ing, but Juat-for once thd h^tp gets licked. Photography generally good and sometime? better, than that, sound even iand productlbn well ma,de. Schoen: Die Manbie- verzcii; • ('Beautiful Maneuver Tim*') (GERMAN MADE) (With 8ono«) FettOIm prodoctloo.' - World'Traile releam' In U. 8. Directed-bir Brie Sehoenfelder; manuBorlpt, I>r. JohaAfiM Brandt'^4 Dr. Josef Tiianj vniuBte,' If wc Koland. At tbq- HlndenbtirK. K. Y.i' on grind run begUinlaff Aug. 14. Runnlae tlm0,:.W ndna... Baroness voo 'WlttQiiau;.i'.Id»-WneM- Lola....i.'t• V.• it. .iOretl: TOelmw Frltzl...■.. ...> ;.i .UUlaa Bills Vera. ^'i. i «•••'«••.•••••••••• t> • 'i a. Qiut vjtiilph BIse.. U • 4 > i > •': * ^Olflia". BaVratr Colonel V(>n.'K<>ppeii^.....-...B><tete Ifenteld Major von Blebersteln.... ^ .v.; AHiert OPaallg, Sergeant Scbroeder../:Oscar a»lio' Klapiyer:'^'.»\v'.vi>'.'>.>«.«i'.F)aal Ifddeinanit Marie.;:. ....:..'. i.... Vlckj^>(ferkinielst»r' Anna. >• • »«• .-Mi^cipst. "W^ter-*- GHOST VALLEY RKO-Pathe producilori and release, star- ring Tom Kcene. Directed by Fred Allen. iStory and screen play by.Adele Bufllngton. Asst. Dir.. David Lewis, Ted McCord, camera. Carroll Clark, art. Earl . Wol- °cott, sound. Wm. Clemens, editor. Cast; Mema Kennedy, Mitchell Harris. Billy Franejr, Harry Bowen. Kate Campbell. Ted Adams. At Loew's' New .York theatre one Say as one-halt of a double bill. Another attempt to be a little dif- ferent from the usual horse libretto, but not too far away to lose the rough riding and the fist fight and. not enough story to get in the hair of fast action. 'Will score. Keene Is part heir to a property In a ghost town. The chief heir is Jane Worth, Keene being merely the adopted son of the deceased owner. The administrator , finds gold In the supposedly worked out mine and plans to buy. He gets Jane to the place, but is unable to locate the boy, so he hires Keene, not know- ing that he is in reality the man he Is employed to. impersonate. UsuaJ Jumble of clutching hands and other claptrap to scare th6 girl into sell- ing, all of which Keene frustrates :whlle not revealing his Identity. Nothing particularly new In clutching hands, but it's'newer than most of the components of nag nar- ratives, and gets more oiit of the Idea. Gives Keene a good chance to do his stuff and a playup for Merna Kennedy. Billy Franey, set for the comedy, does not get much chance, which Is perhaps as. well for- the fitory, If tough on him, and Mitchell Harris does' well with the menace. Photography not as good as usual In. these Pathe westerns, but excel- lent In some spots, sound good and edited to keep things moving at a smart clip. The kids will love it. Man Erom New Mexicb ' Monogram production ' and' release, etarrlng. Tom Tyler.: .Directed by J. P. McQowan from a magazine story, 'E^ng Branded,' by Fodk. Rytcr. Continuity and dialog by : Harry Hoyt, Edward Kull, camera. Cast: Caryl Lincoln, Jack Richardson. .Bobt. Walker, Frank Hall, Lewis Sar- gent, Blackle Whitetord, Chas, "Whit- taker,. Lafe McKee, Frederick • Ryter, Jack Long, Win.. Noltc, C; V. Uusscy,'Lee .TInn. 'At Loew'3 New York theatre one day, Aug. 23, as one-half of a double blU. Running time', C4 mlus; - LAW OF THE NORTH A Trein Carr production and Uonognun release atarriog Bill Gt>dy and Andy. Bbu- ford."; Directed by ^Harry. Praxer. ' Story by Harry Ftawr. Archie Stout and WIU Cllne; camera. C<«t: Nadlne Dore. "W. Xt. Tbem'e; .A. St. John. Heinle ConkUn, all Pratt, l«w Short. At Loew's New York theatre one day. Aug. 10, as one halt ot a; dd^ible bllL Bunnlog tlnAe, SI intns.' Stock Market For a . while Genaa,n>^lm-«iustoin-> ers showed ah lnterest-4n' Jiiilitaiy comedies.;' That was a,: d^j^h^roits. thing to do.'. Bvery ftl(n.pr<KLuc'eP^lit the emplfd InimetdlateJ'y'.duat^ ofTa stack of uniforms and got'ifiusy.'- The avalanche haa contlntied 'for over a year .how and still going. Maybe in the early stage this one cotdd have stood Mt>; . ■ At present It'qi ; pretty .weak. .- (': •■• ". •■ .-. - ■ '. It's one of those farce things with a lot of soldiers and a lot of young girls and ■ spring maneuvers and love, sweet love. ' At the end there are 14 or 16 marriage announce- ments. Most of the. funny situations have been ion^ too often previously to seem funny; all the music Is remin- iscent and none of the acting is good. Ida 'Wuest la her usual old- maid role la about the best. -Gretl Theipier. Albert Paullgy. Pa^l Heide^ mann, .Vlckjr 'Werlunelster; and Os- car Sab6 may . mealn a couple of nickels In the. box offices of strictly Teutoitfc iiabes; ,' ' Ea^t^ KYRITZ4»YRITZ (QERMAN MADE) •(With Songa) ; - :, Carl Hefns' UTolff prodnctlon and iW'orld Trade Bzchange release for XI.- 8. Starring Max Adalbert. Direction Carl Helns 'WoUT. Ad'aptaUon by Fmns'Banch from the stag* play by 'Wllken and Justlnua Miislo. Aus- tin Bgen and Bert Reiofeld. At the Hln- denburg, N. .Y.. Running time,'85 minutes. Cast ilncluding Henry Bender, X^aiil Hoer; blnger. HansI Amstedt. Uagda BIgen, TiOtte Stein, Harry Halm. Gustl' Stark-Gstetten- matter, OttI Dletze. LIUIan Bills,' Eugen Rex, Paul Westenneler, Paul Heldemann and Herman Plcha. Still anothef German farce built around the business of ah a. k. try ing to. hide the daughter resultant from a youthful escapade. Not only la there ho. plot orlglnaJ- ity, but the pace la even more ele- phantine than uaual In German comedies. And there la nothing— not oven acting—to Justify its ex- istence. Mtuc Adalbert, one of Germany's best actors, is rapidly ruining hia reputation by constant appearance in hopelesa filma of thla aort. In this one he seems to have lost heart completely. He doeSh't even try to redeem things. Others In the cast don't, deserve any more. Kauf. Strictly a formula story and yet gettlnjg above the level in spots throiugh a better development of a standard script. Gan!t get out of its class, but where westerns are liked this will be rejffardod with a little extra favor. This Is the one In which the mys- terious stranger turnig out to be a detective for the Gattlemch's Assn. after he has been under 'suspicion because lie turns a couple of the gangsters loose. But that's only to win their confidence and gain his way to the stronghold of tlie band where the heroine's father Is being held a prisoner. All of that has been done before, but a new angle Criez-Le Sur Les Toito ('Shout It From Housetops') (FRENCH MADE) . Paris, Aug, 18. ' t'araiiiount Joinvllle Production. Para' mount release.' Directed by. Charles Anton. Adapted by Saint Oranier and Paul Schil- ler from the play, by Rol COQper' Uegrue and Walter Hackett, 'ft Pays to Adver- tise.' Starring Saliit Oranler. Featuring Robert Buniler, . . SImone Hellard .' and Pauley. Also' Edltli Mera,' Jacques Ver- eiines. and Hubert Ddis. Running time 00 minuties. Paramount, Paris, Aug. IS. One of the last Saint Granler efforts for Paramount before he left the cbmpany. Obviously a photographed play made by a man minding more stage gags than klne matic action. ' Girls practically non-existent In the story, with Pauley given the real, starring part as the> fat soap manufacturer adverse to publicity at first, but won over to advertising when his rakish son successfuily fioats a rival company by advertis- ing. ■■ ■ Direction, photo, sound and pro- duction all inake this a programmei: which will be accepted by audiences without any (lltticulty, especially in the nabes .and provinces where Saiht Granler's name Is one to con- jure with. It Li 6bvlously made for such an end and makes no pretence at being of International value. Maxi. Authors evidently figured that the card scene' from 'T^6>£UrI of the Golden "Wesf would make a, swell finish, but they lacked Belasco'a knack bt getting It over.' No ten- flitT?,„«r nm^K ^WfltJ;ft'r,,fi«,ita,j5in(j.^ Otbeirwlse this Is ttie'pio't in which the hero,, wrongfully accused of murder, breaks away to prove bis. Innbcehce. 0«ta a little variety in that It la the girl who does the clean-up. . Cody Is supposed to have plugged one oC the nelghbors, but the body cannot be produced because the girl', has taken the man to her cabin ancl revived him. Instead of telling the court about It shis merely warns the crooked Justice to be sure the man Is dead and Cody's friends spring him. A little thought would reveal this yarn as Illogical and Im- plausible, but hankerers after the horse ops don't bother to think, so they're satisfied. Plenty of ridln«r, but not so much of the usual flat fight; though there waa plenty. of rooni, the film running nine minutes short «f the hour. Ca^y and Sbuford abouik as usual. Nadlne Dore la pretty when she gietS: the llghta, which la not very often. . Western, heroines do not rate^ much attention around the studios. W. !<. Thome Is ia bit too heavy as the judge. Photography and sound both good. ' Direction fair. A good enough couble. but a weak slnglOi,. AZAIS . .,, (FRENC^ MADE) I Purls. Augr. 4. Uerly -production, kaik releaqa.-' Starring Has . Qearly; Directed by Rene : Herrll. From the play by Otiorgea Berr and X<oula Vemeuil. DIalogt by Maudm. Regrlatered Qaumont Peterson Poulson. . M CoUbee; Paris. Aug. 2.. • ' ■ ' ' Film 'waa made, yrlth Halk financing, from the legit bit It la wholly a Max Dearly film, with the veteran legit star clowning his part In .a legit way and the rest of the cast over' acting. Dialog. la fre- quently too. long, needlessly slowln^r up the action^. wltb > library scenic shots as -filler. HoWiaver,- Pierre Stephen, who does the part of the piano teacher, 'la worth mentioning aa'ajcting more naturally than l^e rest, Alao Paul Clercet. who does the,'A,PrP*: Injection at acts In aupei:fluoua numbera but without Intereat makes It appear that producer, bad to use up bid contrisuBts, None worth men- tioning. Dlrectldn; |>hoto and sound' Indif- ferent, but the story would be worth using and. remaking entirely, as demonstrated by the stage success which had an appeal to the masses on account of its entertaining, quail' ties and subtle psychology. Azals Is the -name of an ancient pbllos opher 'whb contends that happiness and sorrow are balanced In every body's life. This happens to the piano .teacher, who^ after having been alwaya: Unfortunate, auddenly tlea up \p.Xh an eccentric million-' aire, done "by Max Dearly, and finds fortune and love. Maxi. (Continued frona page 7> probably would be a healthy slgrn aia a preparation for a new. move^ nient upward.; In the trade it la be^ lieved Loew's .will encounter xe- sistahce in the area just below 40, but should zoom once it has crossed that. fosTler, -which represents the level of heavy transactions early last year.' . Radio was In the forefront of yes- "l^f^&y'B intermittent tfarge" nBrhich' appeared In a few stocks, going ^o a hew top for the year at 10^. RKO benefited through its relation- ship with RCA. Others were rela- tively quiet and steady. .Amusements Climb Faat '. . 'Amusement group climbed all last week practically without interrup- tion, gains aggregating 35 points; and two issues topping their best prevloua figures for the year.: The two -were Columbia Pictures and Loew's, former at 14% and the lat- ter at 36Vi, both stocks closing, the week at the top. Meanwhile bondS failed - to keep pace with equity shares. Many of the obligations madd .'new tops on the recovery, out they were subject' to several realizing , ^setbacks and the active issues were materially off from their best as the week came to Its close. A good deal of signlflcahcb was a,ttrlbuted to the difference In ac- tion of the two classes of Securities, a difference that applied fn like manner to the whole field of indus- trials, particularly tp.the iiail group. Out of the surprise and puzzle- ment with which the maJss of out- side traders have regarded the amazing t^irnaround .of th.e market, there cam^ a more or le^s crystal- lized conviction that i the entire movement 'waa based bh -expecta- tion In hlgli financial qiiarterS of a coming time of Inflation; encouraged by the national administration for a double end: to aid its iralitlcal for- tunes and because the administra- tion believes it is the only available methbd of getting the country out of Its depression. Probably, the. thing that' cUnched trading views along thls^'llne was the continued buying, from abroad, where ■ the', nations all have been through tho inflationary program. There they, know its temporary stimulating {Effects. They. iKlso know Its probable aftermath. But either fotelgrn buy.ers have 'reas.6h to be- lieve that the United . Spates can control artificial InflatibnV. or they propose to \ take profits ahd retire before theV penalties of financial whoopee get to •work. . . • , Film. Industry's State The amusement business ought to be among those most benefitted by an easy mqney and credit policy by the governihont, since It would en- courage public spending, and the performance of the active shares In the group gave ampl,e evidence that market operators realised their' advantage. .Film stocks in the fore- front of the ticker spot light all week. Paramount reached a total turnover 'approximating: 200,000 shares; Radio exceeded the double century; Loew transactions amount- ed to nearly 100,000 and Warner Bros, about the same. The big elec- trics moved In enormous, volume, 'Westlnghouse, above 40, making a new top since last autumn on vol- ume of 222,000. In Gen.' Klectric 368,000 shares changed hands. Brilliant,performance bf the com- mon stocks as against' the bonds DER HEXER (The Sorcerer') (GERMAN MADE) Berlin, Aug. 4. Ondra-I.amac Film production and Sued- fllm release. After Edgar Wallace's de- tective story. Manuscript. Knut Borrls and a. Water. Direction, Karl Iiamac.' Gen- eral management. Arthur Hohenberg. Pho- tography, otto Heller. Muslo. Jara Benea and Arthur Guttmann. Recorded on TObla- Ktangfllm. Cast:' Maria Solveg, Vera E^ogels, 'Fritz RaSp, Paul Rlchter,' Paul Henkels, liOopold ICramer, Karl BttUnger, Karl Walter Meyer, Karl Forest. Frana Schatheltlln. At Atrium, Berlin.' Running time, 08 tdlns. .The picture la a fight between Bdjgair 'V^allaoe and the director, Karl Iiamac. Director Karl Lamac and Authora Knut Borrla and G. Water have done all they could to make a bad film out of a thrilling crime atory, but they did not suc- ceed entirely. Certainly not much Is left of the criminal story. £plsodes of the story hardly noticed and only used as atmosphere are shown as impor- taint in the picture's development. Work Is without spontaneity, ifrith- out. interest. The audiences here were disposed to Jeer. Each scene seenis to go against thi9 next one. Even as ex- cellent an actor as Fritz Rasp be- comes artificial under Karl Lamac's directing. - Only Kari Bttllnger as Hackitt In. bis smiling humor re- mained more Qi* less untouched by poor direction. He brings needed comedy into the picture. Sound re- production sometimes . uncertain; photography only fair. Magnus. confirms-4he Inflation Ideai, Earii* (ngs of corporations rise durlngr easy money time's and the share- holder's .rewards are in-, proportion, yrhile t^e" return to bond Investors remains fixed regardless of proiits, while the purchasing power oC the ilxed yield declines. Probably part of the market ad- vantage that accrues to the theatre issues arises from the realization that the uicture business is in a position to benefit greatly from freer public spending, since it has put, into force many drastic economies and high and low the old system of drunken sailor financing has been abandoned. It is freely predicted in Wall Street arid on Broadway that under the hew regime, Itis possible, with the' reform that has taken place within the industry and with any kind of break Jn general business revival, several of the large com- panies, recently desperately hard pressed, can end the current year out of the red. This view assumes that the producers Willi'malte good their recent promises;' of releases calculated to bring the-people back to the theia,tro, and an improvement. in the business situation that will encourage everybody to loosen up In the persorial and fanally budget. . Qroaies Bring 6^eer Already : a number 6t consplcu- busly better grosses in the big Broadway picture houfies have at- tracted Wall Street's ft'ttentlpn as giving evidence that trie usual au-. tumn: revival.of Interesf In the the- atre has beguri'thus earjy to man-: If est itself under* the spur of at- tractive pictures land Stars. First week of the Marx Bros/ film at the Rialto w^s' cited,' one commentator pointing out' that' the film brought |6(]!,000 to the box^offlce Compared to a June slump week of 1ft2,000. The sathe week the E*arambunt showed $60,000 comparedv to a'' July aver- age oiE around $46,000. Besides lower film cpst, reduced salaries and lower theatre rentals for the large chains, there is an- other element of saving in'the fact that already several embarrassed producers have begun to show the results ,of heavy charge offs. Producers geni^rally ;'eharge off film cost within a year of release so that they already have disposed of the heavy negative, cost of 1930- 81 high priced pictures, and from now on these film amortization charges will apply to pictures that cost less and consequently thO (Aiar^e-.offs will be amallcr. A recet survey covers./this phase. Warner inventories welre down to $12,000,000 compared to t26,000,000 a year ago and amortization charges' 'are at the rate of $20,Oi(IO,000 com- pared with $28,000,000 for the pre- vious year. As. .far ba:9k as Dec. 31, Fox inventories were down to. $17,000,000 from $21,000;000 a year before and amortization was $2,000,- 000 below the previous year. In the case of Paramount and lioew Inventories remain unchanged, reflecting the view of the manage- ment that production quality must' be maintained and economies- must be brought about In other direc- tions. • In this connection It Is probably true that Loew's through Its Metro- Goldwyn policy has built itself a vest amount of good will, even at heavy cost In outlay by maintaining high standards of release, through the slump, and this effort undoubt- edly has earned it much prestige with the fan public, a prestige that should bear fruit on the return of the people to the . theatre with bet- ter times. 8ummary\for week ending Aug. 27: STOCK EXCHANGE Issue and rate, American Seat...,....'. Coneol. Film........... Columbia P. vtc ConsoK FIIm ptd. Eastman Kodak (8).... Fox! Class A.......... Gort, dec. (40c.)....;.. Keith pfd. (7)......,.. lioew <8) Do pcef. (Oli)... Madison Sq. Garden... Mot-G-M pref. (l.SO).. Orpheiim rfd........',i High. . Low. Pathe RKO Exchange'. ; Class A.. >......... I i ^ . i . .'. ■ ....... *»....•. Universal pref. 'VVarner Dros.. Do pfd..... (8>.. 14 1% ihi 214 4% 2^ 7% 03 00 B0% 00% C5 104^ 4 40 Bid. 4'A l'*' •a 1 24 . 01 ' 49. 13 1014 BO- I'/i 0<4 Asked. 2 CURB 000 Columbia PIcls. 4,309 De Forest Itadlo;..... .....<■ Fox Theatres* 3,800 Gen. 'Thca. B. pfd..... 5,000 Teqhnlcolor C,700 Trans Luz....... BONDS Jtll.obo Gon. Theat. Bq. '40 , (Note) 21,000 Keith O'e, '40........ 32.000 I.oew O'o, '41... 08,000 Pathe 7's, '37... 77.000 Pur-Fhrn-Lasky O'b, '47..; . 311,000 l»ar-Pqb BVi's, '59.. .- 7,000 RKO debs . O's.,.1 lljOOO Shubcrt O'S; 203,000 Warner Bros. O'e, '30. 3V4. 14%. ■7 •. 02 . 5% .2014 ioH ,70 4 10% 11% 8% 1' 4!i k 14 1 4K 2% 0 61 18 81 72% 8% 10% 'l^ '54 , 3%. 8% D% 85^ ll" 30-y* 12% "« m. .1% Ket cbg. Last, for wk. , 1% bid 3% 14% 20</i 17 bid 30 ■76 4 10% 'it 1 4 0% 6% 85''* 3% 12 38% +2^ + % +814 +1 +2 + % + % - % +1% ■ + % + % + % +1% +1% 14 :'A ■' >/4- 4?4 1% +2% +imI + % + % +0% +5 +1,% +2% ■—ti . Over the Counter, N, Y. Roxy, Class A Note—Gon. Theatre cfs. ■!% high, 3% low, '.Fox Theatres &u»pended from tradlot;. (3.30).. 3% last.