Variety (Nov 1928)

30 VARIETY FILM REVIEWS Wednesday, November 21, 1928 JIMMY VALENTINE (Continued from page 13.) between the reformed crook deter- mined to fight for the chance to go Btraight, and the hardrboilcd detec- tive equally determined to bring him to justice for old crimes. It's a tricky stage scene, pretty far-fetched in Its implausibillty, but tremendously appealing on the sen- timental side. • JBarrymoro plays it •to the last inch, ilaines is inclined to overdo, at this point, but his charming, youthiful pei-nonality car- rips him through, helped vastly by the sentimehtai strength ol the un- derlying situation. Picture has strong values, in its human appeal, a;dmirably set off by a shrewd undercurrent of sua,vo comedy. It is perhaps thi.f elcihunt of often, tender humor that makes one of the production's rhpst valu- able a.ssets. Picture is full of sur- . prise in amusing twists, the. hight touch rianning through the entire action like a golden thread, in swift flashes of wit arid against a ..senti-. mental .background. Joe. .Farnham, has contributed to thi.s with the fine quality of his • titles, terse, bright arid never gaggy. There i.s the irtcident where the BmaU town kid, freSh from raids on an apple orchard, confronts the crook, on , his way from" a bank rhlla. ."Record," October .30, 1928: "His serloua play- ing had pathos ■ind c h a r m, etc., clc." P h 11 O. "Inquirer," October 80, 192S "Charley Althofr Quite delighted the audience with' his comedy Addling as a rube violinist and Inserted many OBIG' ISAXj DETADLS Into hid offerlhs." AddrMi C«r« Jerry Cwolll, 1560 Broadway, N. Y. AL LYONS AND NEAL CASTA6N0LI Featured In FANCHON and MARCO IDEAS LOmV'S STAT£ THEATRE LOS ANGEIJCS INDEFINITELY FRANK JENKS . M. C. and Orchestra Leader. Now in 21st Week Appearing with Publix Units METEOPOUTAN THEATRE LOS ANGELES VINCE SILK MASTER OF CEREMONIES Golden Gate Theatre Los Angeles Says "I heard what you said, pa\" HERNIE KING Musical Master of Ceremonies Direction Fatachon and Uorco :==,.Oakland. IEIieatre, =-Oaklaiid_,-= cracking expedition. The young yof'g in wiioso mind is working- the si'od of dosire for reform delivers a:- lecture on the evil of lnrceny. There is a hilarious scene wliero the three crooks are maneuvered into church. Dip.sy (dandy bit by TuUy Mar- shall), scarcely can be restrained from frisking the devout, worship- pers. Another l;iugh when the par- son opens his soriinon with the quo- tation, "Saith the. Ix)rd, a thief hath entered My- hou.se." . There is■ a. wealth of.comedy also in the dumb Swede (Karl Dane in a rich, role) mixed With sentimental appeal in his dog-iike loyalty to Jimmy;. Cap- ital touch of pathos'is the. death of Dipsy, breaking, away from the trio, trying to do a job on his own and. getting shot. Never for an instant does the fine rimood of any situation get away. The whole picture is paced and toned to just the right casual blandness. .Quality of humor and texture of sentiment are • evenly spontaneous; And it is this very guileless artless- ness that saves the .sonietimes .far- fetched situations. This is Ltula Hyams' first, impor- tant talker assignment.and she does herself credit. Her girlish charm fits perfectly, and she plays with an altogether captivating artlessness that goes perfectly with her young beauty. Sound is admirably employed In many earlier scenes before the he'^ ginning of dialpg. The ppeuing has Jimmy cracking an express office safe, with the Swede and Dipsy acting as lookouts. Signals are passed in the form of whistled tunes, the relay being reproduced. Nicely Woveirlnto the action; and also-used for good comedy point, when police emergency wagori clangs past and the lookout's are so paralyzed for the moment their. whistling tech- nique is badly crippled; Again sing- ing of the choir and of the congre- gation is part of the scene in church. Themie song' is "Xiove Dreams" in waltz tempo and a fascinating melody. For the love scenes a. musical backgrbund is provided in the solo singing ot the theme song, reprised vocally and by brchestral accom- paniment as a setting for all the ro- mantic passages, after the style of the theatre of a few years ago, when musical accompaniment suggested the mood of the stage scene. Highly effective here. Altogether as suc- cessful use of the new sound tech- nique as has come out. picture ought to do better than merely l%st its exploitation term at the $2 scale It scarcely measures up to a road show cleanup, but It has promise of attracting profit at the $2 scale he sides Setting itself for general re lease. That Is to say it is better than a program picture forced for ward for advertlising purposes, but still not in the $2 big lead road staying class. Ruah. ON TRIAL (DIALOG) "Warner Bros, production and release, Vitaphone all-talker based on stage play of 'same title by Elmer Rice.- Directed -by Archie Mayo. Byron Haeklns, camera man. Pauline Frederick, Bert. Lytell and IjoIs Wllabn featured. T)pened Nov, 18 at Warner'a,. New York, Indefinite run at, $2 top. . Kunnlns tlme,^ 01 minutes. Joan Tyask Pauline Frederick Robert Strickland.. Bert Lytell May Strlckl.md Lola Wllsoii Ceroid Trn.sk.. Holmes Herbert Proeecutlng Attorney..... .Richard Tucker Defense A ttorney , Jason Robards Stanley. Glover Johnny Arthur .Deris Strlfckland -..;.. Vondell Darr Turnbull Franklyn Pangrborn Clerk 1.... Fred Kclsey Judge Edmund Breese Dr. Morgan Edward Martindol Exhibitors with Western Elec- tric equipment will do well with "On Trial." For them, despite cer- tain marked defects in recording, this production can be classed as a semi-special. It is not a $2 top- per. If a silent version Is forth- coming theatre owners camiot ex^ pect it to be, at its best, better than a fair program picture, and this will require drastic changes In the talker version, which adheres very closely to the stage play. More than any other exhibition of Warner dialog, "On Trial" proves that talkers, to an amUzIng degree, are a dry-cleaning medium for older Hollywood ma,teria,l. In this respect Bert Lytell, especially, comes out like a new piece of goods Voice lends him a personality even greater than his silent heyday. Richard Tucker, Jason Robards, Lois Wilson- are others who are contnastlpgly more convincing and salable in sound. 'J lif^.artvth'V'-is of these is Paulino Frederick. . Recording can hardly be blamed because In the same positions on the -various sets the majority of the cast enlinclated throughout the greater footage In a way that made practically every word distinct and apart to those In the fai-thest rows. Miss Frederick .was.t:so^throaty.=^aiid= her.^ stalking, efforts vere so obvious that seldom mdre than muffled sounds, almost Indistinct in their entirety, emitted with the movement of her lips. Careful observers also detected tliat these sounds were imperfectly syn- chronized with the movement of her lips, especially- the recording shots made while she wsis- conspicuously [..ao'il on l.:G wiinc-.ss s.. • Frederick is far from meriting fea- tured billing. Which she gets at the Warner theatre. Essayed as It Is, her role is the least convincing In the cast and relegates to minor im- portance on the screen the part which \vas of stellar prominence in the original stage show. , Ground noise, or the scratching of records, is decidedly audible, even to the point of. experts in. the Warner home ofllce admitting that the recording job in many Instances does not shape , up to previous :re- leases. But-^-— Irrespective of recording and Miss Frederick's imperfect speaking performance, the stuff that pulls in the masses Is in the story, which lets those masses in oh the Inside of a murder case. And the bulk of the cast Is as close to beihg 100 per cent' as the production is titleless. While, like in the play, consid- erable courtrooni activities are used, yet "well-spoken parts, man- nerisms ^i.nd sidelines sustain inter- est each time until the flash-back to the scene of occurrence In the testimony. Comedy relief Is In- jected In the court scenes, without impalripent to predominating melo- dramatic qualities, by the brusque- ness of Edmund Breese, as the Judge; ^ore, however, by Fred Kelsey, who, _as the_ pugnacious clerk, and by using the same tonal- ity every time he swears In a wit- ness, works up laughs from a cackle to a roar. Richard Tucker, as the sarcastic dlsti-ict attorney, exacts some mirth in his handling of legal machinery with the enthusiastic and inexperienced defense counsel, Jason Robards. The"' performances of tiny Vondell Darr, as the sweiet but precocious daughter of the nian on .trial, and lha.t of Lois Wilson, wife of the ac- cused, are outstanding, Little Miss Darr's voice rings with an appealing quality, so childishly sincere that, with her silent talent,, emotionalism Is at Its peak during, her testimony, which changes the tide for her father. . Miss Wilson's recital of how she was transgressed by the man whom, her husband was accused of slaying is one of the sf^veral nnti-oUli in the production. Missing since her husband disappeared and dra matlcally introduced In the court room on the final day of the trial, she controls her voice with such perfection that the audience is so concentrated in Its tensity that the flash-back' to .the hotel scenf* where she was betrayed ia barely ap parent, . The shooing of (Serald . Trask, played rather coldly by Holmes Herbert, as revealed in his widow's (Miss Frederick) testimony. Is chilling until the revolver Is ex ploded. The explosion Is so re corded that it sounds like snapping a peanut. Johnny Arthur does a .good piece of work when recalled by the de- fense to give further testimony concerning the tearing of the card bearing' the Trask safe combina- tion. The audience knows that the doctor has just testified that the card could not be torii by Robert Strickland, the accused, because of a inalmed hand, but Trask's'secre- tary, out of the room at the time, joyfully reiterates his testimony. Arthur's ability to turn from comedian to tragedian when he finds he Is tricked adds the final dramatic touch with his confession of stealing the money, which swings the Jury for a complete exonera- tion of Strlckl:inf1, In the courtroom scenes only dialog prevails. The flash-backs prbVfde c6nV6r9atl<jn8~ With low and pleasing orchestral accompani- ment. . Waly. his reporters the fireworks for their failure to get dope on thj gang wars then raging in the city. Boys head for the underworld with a do or die determination. They have spotted a cafe singer as being chunimy with girl. friend' of big bootlegger. One of the reporters trying to sheik the cafe singer geta himself thrown out. The other reporter, cute shrimp, uses persuasion. ^ As the singer starts to tell the low- down the fa:de in picks up. the story proper. . .. . . . Severa.1 good laughs in the talk- ing part with the two reporters, Lofin Raker and Jack McKee, looking like a, team that could be signed up safely for development. Miss Albertson is also nifty. and peddles a couple of songs in bahg up fashion. Edgar Allan Wolff. authored the prolog. , ^ "Gang War" ia Jack Pickford's first «5reen appearance in a season or two. He is co-featured with Olive Borden, Story holds strong sequences, a Chinese New Year celebration' In San Francisco, sev- eral machine gun epiaodes between rival beer runners, and some dance hail stuff. Heroine is a taxi dancer In a twlnkletoe ernporium where young Pickford toots the sax. They love, but are menaced by Blackjack Connell (Eddie Grlb- boh) who loves the gaLand doesn't fool when peeved. Blackjack turns out to be okay. Apart from' shooting a half dozen mugs, he has a heart of gold. He marriea the gal, but before con- sumatlng walks into the rival mob, plugs the dirty dbg (Walter Long), saves the sax . player, and gets plugged himself. ■ __- Synchronization by RCA Photo- phone is very good. Sound and dialog both made In FBQ's New York studio. Bright, lively music* not stressed, but pleasant and helpful. The RCA method appears to have the edge previously re- ported but not heretofore demonr strated. In the talk its elasticity seemed especially prorhinent. The talk never was slow or "tirried" as with other talkers but adhered to an approximation of normial con versationial tempo. . It Is a great help to the nerves. "Gang War*' will be liked isind particularly in wired houses. Land. Ally poetry written about .thi.s pic- ture could rhyme phoney,, bait.ney, hooey, blooey and foply. It is takeu- bodily from "True Story" msagazine and asks a land with public schools to accept as gp.spel truth a Cake world with fake sinners, fake morals and a mUrder fading into a dream- world happiness for the good little sap that committed the murder. Just so many, feet of wasted cellu- loid. The minute the character played by. Ernest W^ood was introduced it was appai'ent that his sole reason for being on the screen was to make a felonious attack oh Olive Borden. At one point the virtuous proprietor of a fixed roulette game tells Ernest: "You diirty dope fiend, can't you tell a good girl when you sue one?" The picture abuses Hollywood's privileged manhandling of roalityw It is a type of bilge that may appeal to molls with sawdust, for-brains, but will meet nierited disdain from everyone grading higher than lowest. Land. ■. HOMECOMrNG (GERMAN. MADE) "Ofa production released by Paramount. Directed by Joe May, under , superviaion of Eric Pommer. Based on hovel by Leon- hard Frank. Screen adaptation by Fred Majo and Dr. F. Wendhausen. Featiirlng Dlta Parlo and 'Lars Hansen. At Par- amount, New York, week Nov. 17. Run nlng 'time, over 80 minutes. Richard. . • •.,. .liars Hansen Anna , >. • • , Dita Parlo Karl.. ,..Gustav Froellch SINNERS IN LOVE FBO production featurinp Olivf liM-iion and Huntley Hordon. Others inoluilf Sr pna Owen add Daphne PolUiid. . Ulricu-.l by George Melford, Adapted .from ' "Tiua Story" magazine yarn. At HIppi.dK.me New York, week Nov, 18. Running time' 57 iHlnutes. . ' GANG WAR (Sound P?u8 Talking Prolog) FBO production gynchronlzed by: RCA Pliotophone. Story by James Aahmoi-ie Creelman, adapted by Fred Myton, Titles by .Randolph Bartlett.' Cameraman; Vlr eU Miller. Silent version and talking prolog directed by . Bert Clennon. Prolos written by ESdgrar -Allan 'Woilt. Caat in proIOR, Liorls Raker, Jack Mc- Kee, Mabel Albertson and David Hait man. Cast In rtory, .Olive Borden, Jack Pickford, Walter Long and. Eddie' Orlb bon. At Colony, New York, week Nov. 18, Running time, 70. minutes. This talking prolog has it all over interpolated diaJog. " Both as a means of building up a sales assist and strengthening a story the pro log has definite possibilities. "Gang War" without its prolog is pretty fair melodrama. With the conver- sational preface it makes the good rating. ^-Prolog : i8..=plantcd.Jn=^^new£Tpap£ri office with city ed, giving two of Domestic tragedies of this nature, with the morbid, dismal quirft" peculiar to German made produc- tions, are not wanted in pictures. They have proved a failure sb'often that repetition should be needless, but still they continue to come and to be shown, and under a Par- amount release of all things. It is no longer considered artistic for a wife to betray her husband and the theme Is certainly too old- fashioned to bear reconstruction In picture houses. Especially when the story con- cerns a woman who Is neither old nor young, not prfetty and not ugly, not fascinating or charming or al- luring or interesting" in any way, then is the drama so completely devoid of entertaining qualities as to be boring. This picture does not belong in the Paramount or in any other first run theatre. ^ At best it Is tolerable in second run neighborhoods. There are only three players of any consequence in the cast. Of these, only one, Lars Hansen, dis- plays any ability. The girl, Miss Parlo, photographs . wretchedly in most instances,' wliile Ffoelich is another whose characterization is entirely unconvincing. It is not the kind of a theme which would Interest even a small part of the American film public. It opens amid snows, mountains and war prison camps. The story starts with two friends in a war prison and, after lingering overlong in the Introductory siequences, flows into some slight action. iRlchard tries to escape from his Russian prison to go back to his wife, Anna. He Is caught but Karl gets away and goes home to Anna. A strong friendship grows up.. The girl goes for Karj byt he refuse."? to take advantage of his pal's ab- sence. , Finally Richard returns to his home. He finds a man's clothes there. Then, waiting, he sees Karl kissing Anna. Wlien. Richard Is. finally con- vinced in part that his wife's re- lations with Karl have not passed the bounds of conventionality he half-heartedly wants to accept her. :.But Anna Jio Jongcr_.wants. him,=and he sails away. Mori, SKOUR/VS BROTtlERS flmBfflJ'XADOR ST. l_OtJI.S.->- AAO-. Summer Attraction Film Road Show UNWED MOTHERS Percentage Booking Anywhere—>Send Dates SAMUEL CUMMINS Publix Welfare Pictures Corp. 723 Seventh Ave., New York Michigan Vaude J/Lsrs. Ass'n Charlie MACK "Woofclhg "the ■mSst-, extensive ctyetilt of vaudeville and presentation tbe- aires between New York and Chicago Michigan Theatre BIdg. DETROIT Statndard Acta, Write or Wlr» BE EAST AROUND XMA.S! BABE MORRIS Queen of Tap Dancers IMroctlon FANCIION and MARCO Toarlns West Coast Theutrea Featured in "ARTISTS" Idea BILLY SNYDER The Jnvenile Prince, Doln«r Time for FANCHON and MAUCO with CIIART.KS MVRUAY Jn "HATS IDEA" Week Nov. 24 Senator, Sacramento T)lr :"ira; MORRIS AGENC^^^ and HEADLINED ALL BILLS IN SOUTH AFRICA AND ENGLAND WEEK NOV. 19—MICHIGAN THEATRE, DETROIT NOW HEADLINING PUBLIX UNIT