Variety (Jul 1930)

XtTednesday, July 30, 1930 n l-M REVIEWS 17 IdenUty, at any rate la a well mean- •"flJw* his *lone a number of ex- £?.iM irtfan esteem, strictly on his SS^y kna4 BmU6 printflpally, and "^X^S^Bogen. is here In a new flrfd^for hel. playing a straight hiSlne and brlnelng to the part all vital energy she has succeesf ully SpUed in singing and dancing roles. ?Sio does extremely^ well in thla ftrictly dramatic role, thanks to an liren'eacent style that Is entirely ^nSvaSng. She and Oaklo have SS wng number, rather dragged fnta^he action In the musical com- idy manner, but It gets by on the fart that the whole picture Is built on the comedy technique. Betty Starbuck and Veree Teas as a couple of gold diggers ^veling abroad and strictly on the m^e, tumlsh an amusing pair of chwacterlzaaons wlth^ plenty of brightly cynical lines, George Dar- Ser likewise contributes axfunny bit M Ihe^garrul^ "Senatoi?" who In the end turns out to be a disguised engineer on the trail of the plotters. Romantic side Is elemental and luvenile at times, but It supplies ex- cellent contrast to the low comedy and the blend, while it may not be especially high class art, neverthe lesa w u rtcs-out-lnto-^ efrful en tfir talnmentk Technical production Is first'class and the picture rounds out to first rate program material, mainly be- cause of Oakle. Rush. RAFFLES Samuel Ooldwyn production, released throogtai United Artists. . Directed by Harry D'Arraat and George Fltzmaurlce. Screen veralon of B. W. Hornunff's "Amateur Cracksmaii" by Sidney Howard. Ronald Colman Atarred. Photography,- Qoorge Banes and Oreger. Toland. At Rlalto, New YotK on grind, Indef., July 24. Run' sing time, 70 minutes. „ , Raffled..... Ronald Colman Owen.... ....Kay Francis Bunny Bramwell Fletcher Ethel Frances Dade UcKenzle David Torrence lady Melrose Alison Skipworth Iiord Melrose.. Frederick Keri- Orawshaw John Rogers Bsrraclcugh Wilson Bengc and the audience gave- every evi- dence of absorbed interest, even when the gifted Raffles com- mitted so crude, a dramatic es- cape as ducking through a secret panel to avoid the pursuing Mc- Kenzle. All of which might suggest the argument that because a story is 20 years old, it needn't necessarily be "old fashioned." Conan Doyle's VSherlock Holmes" is older than that, and it's still probably among the best detective stories in the language and was recently made into a first rate commercial picture. Rualt. GOLDEN DAWN (All Color, With Song*) Warner Bros, production and release. Adapted by Walter Anthony from the stage operetta of same title that had limited run on Broadway couple of seasons ago. Em- merlob Kalman and Hubert Stotfaart writers of songs in picture. Directed by Ray En- rlght. Walter Woolf, Vivlenne Segal, Alice Gentle, Noah Beery and Luplno Lane fea- tured. All in Technicolor. At Strand, New York, week July 25. Running time, 81 minutes. Tom Allen Walter Woolf pawn.. Vivlenne Segal Sbep Keyes Noah Beery Mpoda Alice OenUe Pigeon , I,upino I^ne Johaiina Marlon .E^rdn t*""'^ ' • — • Lea M gHHi HasmaJI Nigel De Bruller Capt. Eric Otto Matieson Duke Diok Henderson Mald-ln-WaltIng Nina Quartaro Piper SoJIn Slater Hedwig Julanne Johnston Napoll Nick De Ruiz Col. Judson Edward Martindel It Is true that some of the dra- matic devices employed in the film- ing /at "The Amateur Cracksman," a best seller of 20 years ago, give it an old fashioned flavor, as the revlewiers insisted, but ' there are other things that far outweigh that consideration. Th9 B. W. Homung creation has been copied many times and has furnliBhed the Inspiration tor any nujbber of, newer writers, but "Raf- fles", still remains the biest roman- tic, crook character to. date, surviv- ing all lis subsequent ghosts. That, with the draw of Ronfild Colman place3""Rattle8" in the taoriey class. Uoreov.er. in the .bands of the. blaiid ,Colman. It gets ^ persuasive, reading that makes It fresh, even after an over-supply . of stories of . similar. Import. Another element that enters into, weighing the box office of "Raffles" Is .the. ,|iovelty of. ah audacious treatment of the "you can't win", crook , formula. WJien Homung brought'his gentleman crook to the end of the story triumphant over the forces of law and order, he was two decades before his time. Since then we have had prohibition and prohibition snoopers and cor- ruption In high places and the pub- lic mind.,Isn't so terribly Intrigued by the, ultimate victory of John Law as it once .was. For this reason "Raffles" in 1930 probably Is- more in tune with the public conscience, now touched with cynicism in such matters, than it was in, say 1912. Fact Is that the old fashioned artifices of the story are Incidental, While thk essence of its Interest is the creation of a thoroughly charm- ing romantic rascal—a rascal so entirely captivating that you are Pleased to see him emerge triumph- ant though guilty, from his brush with Scotland Yard. Picture version capitalizes some such Instinctive feeling, by actually **wig the defeated Inspector K. McKenzle (beautiful piece of high comedy by David Torrence) take his nnai trimming with a philosophical erln. confessing in his rich Scotch "rogue that the escaped "Raffles" wa3_ a fascinating rogue after all: T tJ^^ bit of literary device, this. Kay Francis the caster has wifK * happy choice—an actress wun that suggestion of reserve vitauty that makes her stand out Brn«n^'^ a part that is intrin- sically pale. BoH,"']'.. counting the picture's as- ^^that outweigh its defects, it niilj \r^^ comedy sequences sup- Wrf^ Alison Skipworth and Kpf^^u'^'^ Kerr, the sentimental HivA., <*«»wager and her absurd ' 1?*^® a good deal of fresh- th« reality. In like manner, ine picture's atmosphere Impresses ^f.^i'fTouehly authentic, for It was It P^tl*? * British novelist and wo^,r !u special conviction to a fan atmna..i*'^' has taken . its British BvnfhfM®'"® *3 manufactured In a o» "T^y Hollywood. th« r^i °' which reasons It seems tlM «♦ ^® excellent posslblll- by the box office, a-n estimate fact fK«J"®?"^ discouraged by the ^t-thatLat-thia-per f or iiianc e ( e a rly h6rm~^^**"'^***y evening when tthc lie eolng hysterical) «»auo was ailed to capacity With "Golden Dawn" a screen operetta as it was on the Broadway stage for a short run two seasons ago, ft goes up against the apathetic feeling of film fans for this sort of talluif entertainment. There's noth- ing in this picture to change the public's expressed attitude. At the best it has biit some names, mostly from the legit stage. They will not help. The all-colored and seemingly expensively produced sounded sing- er appears overloaded with songs. There are five within the first 15 minutes. That ratio seems to be lived up to If not exceeded for the remalni^er of the running. Every- body seems to sing, even Noah Beery In blackface. His song is something about while his whip Is in his grip he'll still be king .Though he sings it twice, no one cares, al- though Beery's basso must have made the mike' tremble. A jab at the cutting of this pic- ture can easily be taken. It may have be^n the extremity of getting In all of the songs that were written for it. Can't'be comprehended that iiny might have been held out.' Anfl the direction goes along. Those nat- urally carry the acting, which has no standout. While the song num- 'bers are thrust in with such rapidity ,that they becothe merely a 'volumi- nous mass, smothering any indi- viduality. V. Story is trite or tripe of the Jungle mob In black'held in check by the ! English regimeht, with Dawn; who's going to marry the blacks' god, turning out to be white after all. - The tale runs like that, without comedy offset, as much as any oper- etta needs comedy relief. Luplno Lane and the second juve team were expected to be funny, at least by the caster. The team may have been in any other plcturCi Their one song and dance was about the only worthwhile moment of 81 min- utes. Except some big sets and a strong singing ensemble. "Golden Dawn" may have been made some time ago In Hollywood. It has been playing around for awhile. iSime. YOUNG DESIRE TJnIversal production and release. Direct- ed by Lew Collins. Adapted by Matt Tay- lor from the play- "Carnival,f by William Doyle. Featuring Mary Nolan, William Jarnly, Ralf Harolde and Mae Musch. At Tlvoll. New York. July 2S-2a as half double bill. Running time, 00 minutes. Adapted from the play "Carnival" which was produced on Broadway last year and lived a short while, this picture sticks close to the plot. It tells a straightforward story about the carny kooch dancer who kills herself because she Is not con- sidered fit to marry the man she loves. Interest lies mainly In the story with the camera falling to scatter over the entire earn lot to Introduce side dishes of Interest. Lew Collins did the right thing in building Interest up solely through the plot as carnival rackets have been shown numerous times In pre- ceding releases and are now some- what stilted. Suitable only for the neighborhoods. Finish Is a surprise and doubtful whether It will please. It was ex- pected the girl and boy would find a way out of their dlfflculties in- stead of the girl committing suicide. Production oke and story holds In- terest, although the Juve, William Jarnly, somewhat miscast. Looked and acted too adolescent opposlti, the hard-boiled acting of Mai / liToIan. ' Latter plea.<3es as the calloused carny torso twister who turn.s soft ly-|-f|ar- ^ e boy , but In hor a ttcropt to put over sopliistlcation she spoke too slowly and'slurrlngiy, giving the Impression of a stew delivery, MANSLAUGHTER Paramount Publlz production and release. Directed by George Abbott, who also Bjdapled from Alice Duer Millet's "Saturday Evening Post" story. Clauletce Ctltcrt and iFrederic-March co-featured. At Ilivoll, New York, on grind, opening July sa. Run- ning time, 62 minutes. Lydia Thorne..., Claudetts CoHort Dan O'Bannon Frrferls Al«rch MISS Bennett Emma Dunn Eleanor Natal'e Muorhead Albee Rictinrd Tucker Evans Hll-la Vauglin Drummond G. I'at Col;ms Bobby Gaylord Pen.llelon Peters Stanley Fields Piers Arnold Lucy Moraon Ivun Simpsion Foster Irving MilckeU One Is always a bit suspicious of those courtroom mellers where the uncompromising d.a. must prosecute his amour and send her to Jail, but George Abbott carried it out i-ather well in "Manslaughter," although never wholly maintaining a consLst- ent pace. Family trade will like this talker revival. That the theme will be vagruely familiar Is explained by this being a re-make of a 1922 sUen: with Thomas Meighan—then at his heights—doing' the d^a^^ rol^ whloh Frederic March nOw ^hasI Lea trice Joy in the silent version of the Alice Duer Miller "Satevepost" stoiy (which Cecil B. de Mllle dirocleu for P&ramount eight years ago) h.Ts given way to Claudette Colbert In dialog. Abbott, in adapting and directing;, has endeavored to overcome some of the banaltles which, in 1922, were standard. Instead of following the original h'oke situation of the candi date-for-GovernorThero previously re-encountering, on a breadline, the girl he sent to prison, March, Is shown doing a mild stooge bum, but coming back Into private law prac tice without the old hokum bucket trimmings. Another modification Is the ele^nl nation of the maid's sick boy and blaming It on a heavy boy friend as the cause for her theft of Miss Col- bert's jewels. The aftermath of maid and mistress meeting on equal terms In jail is retained and rather convincingly carried through, but In between, before and after, there's much that's boloney. Miss Colbert follows through the original Idea of a snobbish charac- terization, re-made by her prison experience, although the same goes as with the original review of Mi.<is Joy by Con that It's a grand excuse for a fashion-parade. Miss Colbert strives for a hinterland Mayfair type, and while the Park avenue bunch In New York, as well as the small-town smart set, is represen tatlve of a certain class of poseurs, the character never really rings true up until her entrance into prJcon routine.' (Original situation is re talned con.'iernlng the fatal auto mobile accident of which the pnr suing motorcycle cop was the vie tim.) No average audience can ration- ally accept Miss Colbert's careless ness with expensive Jewels on her nonchalant distrlbuptton of diamond bracelets as bribes to motorcycle cops. The entire structure, so far as Abbott readapted it along these lines, doesn't ring the bell. " As a completed product It will stand tip for the average fans be- cause It holds a competent admix ture of acting, production "and action. It is also susceptible to the usual ballyhoo of "sending his own sweetheart to prison lor man slaughter" and that routine. Aheh SHOOTING STRAIGHT Radio production and release. An orig- inal by Barney Serecky. adapteu by Wal- lace Smith. Richard DIx stan sd. Mary Lawlor featured, end also George Archaln- baud, director. Dialog by J. Walter Ruben. Eddie Cronjager, cameraman. At Globe, New York, on grind, opening July 26, Indef. Running time, 72 minuter. Larry Sheldon Richard Dlx Doris Powell Mary Lawlor Rev. Powell James Neill Martin Matthew Betz Chick George Cooper Tommy PowUI William Janney Hagen Robert E. O'Connor Stevens Clarence Wurtz Rpike Eddie Sturgis Butch Richard Curtis Another underworld ard good enough while the ganguter and crook picture Is on the c/est. Be- sides this has Richard DIx and in a gangster role himself, a new line of screen work for D)/t, but he's still made heroic here, even If he Is the best crap shooter In the country, according to fhls film, and the part suits him. LrfV/ks as though Powell and Lowe have a competi- tor. Plenty of action, particularly at the start, with murder, fight and a train wreck, with the wreck done very well. Ic happens head on' for the audlen'^. Another flst fight toward the finish Is a peach, be- tween DIx and Matthew Betz, with Bet:^ second only to Dlx here in everything, as a gambling hou.oe operator also wanted by the cops. Dlx's new stunt here Is beatinf; a gun draw by a knock-out sock. He does it twice. Very . fancy and catchy. Each sock heard In the sound recording. T.llklnf> tn a woll Ifnnwn reform or ' In the pullman .timoker .lust before the wreck. Dix i.s removed to a mln-' islot's home In a tough western town with the reformer's card case in his hand. Ho is mistaken for the reformer and the minister, with a full beard, is tickled to death the reformer Is there to help him clean vp. Instead the reforming Dix cleans Betz's crap joint through his system of smelling a erardenia in the lapel of his coat each time Just before throwing the dice. It's a great idea tox fiopping Friars. But Dix didn't break the bank for himself; It w]as for the son of the minister in the second place, and of >.courS0 for the minister's daughter in the first place. Mary Lawlor is the daughter and as long as she looked sweet, couldn't go wrong. When Betz was cleaned, even los- ing his title to the Joint in the last throw to Dlx, like a good gambler, he squealed to that perpetual aim dick, Robert E. O'Connor. Dix and the audience thought he was want- ed for murder. But DIx hadn't really killed his man, the man who bumped off his pal, Marty Flynn (unseen). Dlx had stopped choking him to death Just In time for an- other pal to finish the Job, after Dlx and left to take the train some- where west. So the minister's daughter was happy to hear he wasn^t^s^-mucderec arter an, ana wouia stay In town, to help' papa take up collections. Which made Mr. DIx heroic. These underworlds! But the neighbs like 'em. Give them to 'em. Sime. GOOD INTENTIONS Fox production and release. .Based on a story by Wlllam K. Howard and directed by him. Edmund Lowe featured. Music and 'lyrics by Cliff Friend and Jlmmle Monaco. Photography by. George Schnclder- man. Sound-recording by Al Platzman. At Rosy, New Ybrk, week July 2S. Running time, TO minutes. David Crie3son..i ....Edmund Lowe Helen Rankin..Marguerite Churchill Richard. Holt ..Regis Toomey Flash ' Norton Earle Foxe Liberty Red Eddie Gribbon Cyrus Holt Robert McWade Mies . Huntington Georgia Calne Bud Finney Owen Davis, Jr. Babe Gray Pat Somerset Charlie Hatrick C. Carol Nalsh Butler Henry' Kolker Franklin Graham Hale Hamilton On paper "Good Intentions" prob- ably looked like just another under world story with little more than a complexity of plot in its favor What the author, William K. How- ard, has achieved in transteirlng his story to the screen is a totally different matter. Possessing most all of the time-proven essentials as Ingredients, it's a class upper-under world.'romance with a glittering polish and sufficient action and sus pense to Insure it results, A safe bet for a week anywhere. While a programer, it's still a programer that will or should click as strong as any of Its contempo- raries. . ■That director Is a vet. Through this Lowe talker, he proves he's also a writer with a great mind for plot construction and continuity. There's so much happening in "Good Inten- tions" most of the time, that alone keeps the onlooker on edge, but without situations overlapping. Cutting job has 5een Judicious and clever with obvious Idea How- ard's desire to retain as much of the plot complexity as possible for a 70- minute stretch of celluloid. In do- ing that a sequence here and there comes to a sudden fade, but seldom does that throw the picture out of its smooth path with any degree of seriousness. Lone exception may be a car accident, with the cut at the minute tree Is struck and allowing It to go at that. Story Is one revolving around a gang of high-class crooks generated by a swanky man-about-town type whose suavity, sartorial finish, etc., permits him to move in the best circles, that Including a bank presi- dent's daughter with whom a ro- mance Is intercepted by spilling of some beans. Lowe completely fills the assign- ment as the gentleman crook chief. Some of the strongest sequences are Scenes in which smooth dialog, fiercely threatening to crack, Is ex- changed. That smooth, wellTwrltten dialog Is a large part of the beauty of "Good Intentions." Regis Toomey. as 'he banker's son, gives a steady, clean-cut per- formance but Marguerite Churchill, the girl, hasn't much of a part, even less than has Earle Foxe, Lowe's double-crossing lleut.. who's aces. . There Isn't much comedy relief but what Is there counts, with Eddie Gribbon, as the erstwhile gang henchman left In France to get back In a cattle boat, ladling out the laugh.s. Near riot In a sleep-walk- ing bit. Owen Davis, Jr., turns in a fair account In a not too hopeful role. Photography and recording are at all times good. Music In the picture Is Injected as Incidental, that including "Slave to Love," announced twice and played by an orchestra and over the radio. Fairly pleasing melod.v. Char. Billy Oaxton dopnrt.s from New York for the count Aug, 4 for War- ners' "Fifty Million Frenchmen." Dumb-bells in Ermine Warner Bros, production and release. Directed by John Adolphl. Adapted by Harvey Thew from I..ynn Starlings play, "Weak BIstcra." Dialog by James Glea- son at Beacon, New York, week July 25. Running time, 57 minutes. Jerry Malone Robert Armstrong Faith Corey Barbara Kent' Grandma Corey Beryl Mercer Mike .Tomes Oleason Uncle Roger Claude Gilllngwater Mrs. Corey Julia Swayne Gordon Siegfried Strong Arthur Hoyt Mrs. Strong Mary For Camilla Charlotte Herriom Good comedy picture for the neighborhoods, not quite strong enough tor the better key first runs, but satisfactory anywhere else. It's a prizefight story In as much as the male lead is a pug. but prob- ably the first fight film on record without a. battle scene. Wasn't a bad idea to forget about the fight shots, either, as it plays well enough without 'em. Adapted with considerable changes from "Weak Sisters." play of five years or so ago by Lynn Starling. Leading man is now a fighter Instead of a writer, and the romance Is played up In the picture. In the play, quite rough at the time, prosties. a soul-snatcher was attempting to. reform, were the highlights. Firbm James Gleason and Beryl Mercer, as a wise-cracking grand- ma, the picture secures its laugh& Miss Mercer, away from her cus- tomary sympathetic mother charac- ter, gives a good account with a set of actor-proof and audience perfect lines to handle. Robert Armstrong is the pug, resting in a small southern town as preparation for his coming cham- pionship match. He meets the daughter of the Corey family And they fall In love. Her mothn* Is nuts on reform stuff and has a nice blue-nose picked out, but daughter holds out for the fighter. The Joint that's raided is called a speak, but the girls in it suggest it was something else. Barbara Kent is the daughter, Julia Swayne Gordon: her mother, and Claude GlUlrigwater grandma's o.k. chaser, all good. Arthur Hoyt. as the reformer, did a neat job with the picture's toughest role. Bige. THE ITAW OF THE SIBERIAN TAIGA (Silent) (RUSSIAN MADE) Produced In Rassla by KIno-Slbir and released through Amklno. Scenario and di- rection by M. IBolshintzov. A. Azogin, cameraman. American titles, Ivor Montagu. Starring Keverbel Kima. At Cameo, New York, week July 29. Running Ume. 74 minutes. The worst phase of this prodt^c- tlon, and one which dominates 75% of the running time, is found in the sameness of long stretches and their pronounced inactivity. It's another ooglie-lglo affair, but along com- paratively Insignificant lines. What interest there is, is so slight and«x- tended, with amateurish directorial touches abetted by translated sub- titles, that "Siberian Taiga" Is best recommended for one of those mis- hap bookings. While it purpoi-ts to be the life of the wild tribe of the Tungus In the remote Siberian wasteland, the pic- ture really deals with one native and his family.' The handling of the story muffs. countless opportunities for sales points. No wild animals and no action of any kind until the last reel. Then as if to catch up with itself Klma, the native, .and a Rus- sian fur bootlegger, engage In an axe and gun battle. Even the trial of Kima, Jockeyed 'into a defendancy by the wIley Rus- sian, it without commotion or emo- tion. Here the study of Asiatic faces, grouped together for the first and last time, is the most Interest- ing angle. For some reason Kima pleads guilty before the Suglan, as the court Is called, and is saved only when a government official appears In the nick o' time and tells on the Russian. Most of the footage Is devoted to long stretches of fofest and snow, the kind that could pass for almost any northern U. S. suburb In the winter. Propaganda angel is of the philan- thropic class in this one; showing Sovletism's anxiety to al l the himgry Tungus. Walv- Symphony in Two Flats (All Dialog) (ENGLISH MADE) Gaumont Gainsborough production. •Re- leased In England by Gaumont. Adapted and directed by V. Oareth Oundrey from stage play of same name by Ivor No- vello. Starring Ivor Novello. Benltft Hume, Cyril Rltchard, Clifford Heather- ly. featured. Length, 7,762 feet. Run- ning time, one hour 30 minutes. Cen- sor's Certificate "U," Reviewed at Tiv- oil, London, July 18. "Symphony In Two Flats'! was quite succes.<;ful as a stage play here, due largely to the drawing power of its cast. As picture ma- terial It suffers from being drawn out along the same note. The at- mosphere of rather sickly senti- mcntnllty in too su.stained, and cuts could he made to advantage. Picture will bf released in Amer> lea by Tlffjiny. but a different ver- (Continued on page 38)