| 23 Август 2008 г. |
| Louella O. Parsons Movie Reviews, 1930-1934 |
8/24/1933 HCN James Francis Crow
Frank Craven, nonpareil American playwright in domestic comedy themes, was called by Paramount studio today to begin preparation of a picture story which will serve Charlie Ruggles and Mary Boland as their next co-starring vehicle.
Craven's assignment results from the heartening box office success of that neat little comedy, Mama Loves Papa, which was itself the result of their previous success in one of the domestic comedy sequences of If I Had a Million.
Douglas MacLean, one-time romantic leading man of such comedies as The Hottentot, will be associate producer on the forthcoming Ruggles-Boland opus. He was story collaborator on Mama Loves Papa.
Ruggles and Miss Boland both have much work ahead of them before the Craven story goes before the camera. Both are cast for Alice In Wonderland, and also for Republicans and Sinners. Furthermore, Miss Boland has been assigned to DeMille's Four Frightened People, and must sail tomorrow for the Honolulu location of that picture.
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Helen Westley, distinguished New York stage actress and one of the founders of the Theater Guild, has yielded to the importunities of the picture makers.
Miss Westley has been signed by Joseph Schenck and Darryl Zanuck of the Twentieth Century Company to appear in one of the leading roles of Moulin Rouge, which Zanuck will produce with Constance Bennett, Robert Montgomery and Tullio Carminati in leading roles.
Permitted by Schenck and Zanuck to stipulate the time duration of her contract up to a period of five years, Miss Westley chose to sign for one picture only. If she has become enamored of Hollywood by the time that one is completed, she will be willing to talk of longer term contract, she told the Twentieth Century chiefs.
The actress is back from a tour of Europe. Her last Gotham appearance was in "Reunion In Vienna."
Sidney Lanfield is the director of Moulin Rouge.
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Dorothy Jordan's next at RKO-Radio will be Trigger, a story by Lulu Bolmer, who came here from New York to work on the screen play.
The tale is one of the Tennessee mountains, with "heavy love and abundant humor."
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In pursuance of his regularly constituted duties at Paramount, Johnny Engstead supervises the still photographing of love scenes between the movie stars. At odd times, he acts a little, and he is so good at it that Mae West herself has written a part for him into her current I'm No Angel.
Miss West decided she wanted Engstead in her company after she saw him parade his wares in a Pasadena Playhouse piece called "Dialogue With Gestures."
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By Candlelight is definitely slated to go into production next week with Robert Wyler directing at Universal.
Universal completed a deal yesterday with MGM by which the former studio comes into first for Universal since he came back from Paris with a long-term director's contract.
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Mimi Jordan, who bobbed her hair and her name at the same time (she used to call herself Miriam, you know), has drawn another assignment to appear with Warner Baxter, with whom she was cast in Dangerously Yours and I Loved You Wednesday.
She will be one of Baxter's numerous girl friends in Odd Thursday, a kind of mystery comedy in which the hero is unable to explain satisfactorily what he does with his time on the first and third Thursdays of the month. One of his girls is murdered, and because of his frequent prevarication, Baxter comes under suspicion.
The murdered girl has not yet been selected. But one of the others will be Rochelle Hudson, who comes from Will Rogers' hometown of Claremore, Okla., and who did good work with the humorist in his Dr. Bull.
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Vivien Tobin started work yesterday in a leading role of Behold We Live! Radio picture for Irene Dunne and Richard Dix.
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Young Tommy Conlon, who gave a sterling performance of the boy Stephanus in The Sign of the Cross, contemplates with his father, Bill Conlon, a trip to England with the possibility of signing up with Gaumont British. The present cycle of youth pictures, however, may delay their departure.
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Ted Eshbaugh, touted as the first worthy competitor to Walt Disney, has completed the first color cartoon of The Wizard of Oz series, and it will be released soon by a major studio, this column hears.
Another of Eshbaugh's creations, called The Snow Man, in an Arctic locale, applies the Frankenstein theme to cartoon comics. The snow man builded by the little Eskimo hero and his animal pals comes to life and spreads havoc in the north country. But our hero runs to the North Pole Power Plant, turns on the Aurora Borealis, and melts Mr. Snow Man.
A fish the icy Frankenstein has swallowed is found swimming in the placid lake formed at his demise.
The Snow Man, all in color, will open at Tally's Criterion tomorrow.
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Ted Healy and his stooges cast for Going Hollywood. They'll play a director and his yes men.
Muriel Evans, Sarah Padden, Paul Hurst, Edward Gargan (Bill's brother) and Tiny Sanford (he played the fat Hercules in The Warrior's Husband) have all been cast in Garbo's Queen Christina.
Katharine Hepburn to leave Sunday night by plane for New York. She'll be gone three weeks, returning to play with John Barrymore in Break of Heart, with John Cromwell directing.
George Baxter, the Charles Darnay of Philip Merivale's "A Tale of Two Cities" at the Hollywood Playhouse, will leave the Playhouse Thursday to take a part in the Anna Sten picture, Nana, for Goldwyn. Colin Craig will take his Playhouse role.
Phil Stong, the Iowa writing man made famous by State Fair, is due tomorrow at Paramount to work on Woman of the Earth, the story of a farm wife. A.J. Cronin is the original author.
Louella O. Parsons Movie Reviews, 1930-1934
1/7/1930 LAX The Show of Shows
By Louella O. Parsons
The Show of Shows, the ultimate and final word in super-revues, the biggest and most elaborate of its kind, made its bow last night at Warner Brothers' Downtown theater. It is without a doubt the most extravagant of the many musical shows which have been produced since the talkies came in and it offers the largest number of stars, the biggest stages and the most enormous trained chorus yet seen.
The mammoth scale of the thing made me dizzy, the huge sets, the gorgeous technicolor, the miraculous way in which mobs of people were shifted from place to place without anyone stepping on anyone else's foot. And above all, the bewildering manner in which one internationally known face after another would flash before the camera, sometimes just for a split second. I found myself nudging my neighbor and saying, "Look, that's Lila Lee, the third from the end," or "Isn't that Monte Blue in the uniform?" Now, if a hardened movie critic gets a thrill out of seeing all these celebrities at once, think how the folks in Medicine Hat will react!
A few of the famous ones who are featured are John Barrymore, whose rendition of the soliloquy of the malignant Duke of Gloucester is the highlight of the entire show; Frank Fay, "Broadway's Favorite Son,", who as master of ceremonies, continually tires to get a chance to perform and gets a big hand when his own solo number finally comes along; Georges Carpentier, who reveals an engagingly accented voice; Beatrice Lillie, who has a chance in her own inimitable fashion; Winnie Lightner, the girl with the iron-clad vocal chords, and dozens of other shining lights of stage and screen.
John Adolfi, who directed the mammoth affair, deserves much credit for the skillful manner in which he has shaded the production, alternating elaborate and colorful tableaux and intimate comedy bits. Larry Ceballos and Jack Haskell are responsible for the splendid chorus work, which is the best I have ever seen. Ceballos has contributed some eye-filling numbers, among them the spectacular Black and White ballet, which has since been incorporated into one of the most successful musical comedies now playing in New York. The tremendous chorus, trained by Haskell, is a marvel of perfection and, photographed in technicolor, presents some breath-taking pictures.
There is an abundance of comedy to lighten the picture and bring it closer to the audience, something which is most essential in a large-scale musical spectacle of this type, to keep it from being merely a succession of gorgeous pictures. There are good tunes which stick to the memory afterward. "Singing in the Bathtub," burlesquing the phenomenally popular "Singing in the Rain," is a corking song, in addition to being an amusing parody. "Lady Luck," introduced by Ted Lewis and put over with a typical Lewis wallop, is later made the keynote for the tremendously effective finale number.
I must not forget to mention the fact that the revue is done almost entirely in technicolor which, needless to say, adds immeasurably to its brilliance. The colors are rich and striking, but not hectic. They are so natural and pleasing to the eye that when a sequence in black and white was inserted it seemed dull and lifeless by contrast.
There are 77 stars in the super-revue. Even Rin Tin Tin has a chance to do a turn or two. I cannot possibly mention everyone. You will just have to go and see for yourself. You will have an evening of delightful entertainment and I think you will agree that Warner Brothers were justified in naming this picture Show of Shows. A Pathe Newsreel completes the program.
1/9/1930 LAX The Man Who Came Back
By Louella O. Parsons
There may be a difference of opinion as to why The Man Who Came back broke all records in New York. Is it the reunion of Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell whom the fans still choose to believe are in love? Is it the able direction of Raoul Walsh, or is it the return of a play that enjoyed unprecedented popularity when it was produced twelve or more years ago? Any of these is a logical reason. Take your choice.
Whatever your own personal reaction may be, you must admit the audience at the Criterion Theater yesterday proved it is the old-fashioned melodrama that wins their complete interest. The play by Jules Eckert Goodman and John Fleming Wilson is one of regeneration. Two souls, a boy and a girl, go to the very depths--he through drink and she through the use of drugs. Together they fight their way back to respectability.
At first it is a shock to see little Gaynor with unkempt hair, drinking, smoking and taking drugs. Excellently as she plays the emotional scene in the dive in Shanghai, where the boy finds her, you feel it is all a mistake and she will say "I was only fooling."
I have never seen Charlie Farrell do as well as he does as the boy. From the time he is thrown out of his millionaire father's home, shanghaied and sent to China, up to the moment of his complete regeneration, he is splendidly real and convincing. Raoul Walsh's direction has done much for Charlie, who seems to have found himself.
The suspense in The Man Who Came back is all worked out as Raoul Walsh knows how to build these dramatic situations. In your heart you know the boy and girl must be reunited in his father's house, but the final denouement is so slow in coming and so complete in its emotional reaction it tears at the heartstrings.
I doubt, with less skillful direction, and with a less popular pair of players, if The Man Who came back would have been such satisfying such satisfying entertainment. The story, as it is directed and adapted by Edwin Burke, has everything that makes for popular interest. Thanks to the Fox Company's production, any conventionality of plot and action is overlooked.
Kenneth Mackenna gives a very satisfactory performance of the amorous Captain Trevelyan, the detective who masquerades as a villain. William Holden, as the boy's father, is, as usual, a convincingly irate parent. Mary Forbes is lovely as the boy's aunt. Others in the cast are Ulrich Haupt, William Worthington and peter Gawthorne.
In addition to The Man Who Came Back the Criterion program contains a Grantland Rice Sportlight and a Fox Movietone Newsreel.
1/17/1930 LAX 7 Days Leave
By Louella O. Parsons
The delicate Barrie touches, light as thistledown and beautifully subtle, dominate Seven Days Leave and make of it one of the most artistically perfect pictures of the year. It's not a big picture, is this Sir James Barrie story, originally called "The Old Lady Shows Her Medals," but it is a most satisfactory one from the standpoint of direction, acting and continuity.
It took courage galore for the Paramount Company to produce a picture in which there is no love story nor yet any love interest outside of the maternal affection of an elderly woman for her adopted son. Yet that courage seems well inspired, for every bit of the pathos in Seven Days Leave was rewarded yesterday at the Paramount Theater with audible sniffles and every comedy scene greeted with appreciative laughter. No one, it seems, can correctly gauge the public mind when it comes to entertainment.
Beryl Mercer picks the picture right up, puts it under her arm and walks away with it. She is delightful as Mrs. Dowey, the little old English charwoman who pretends she has a son in the war. She never once overacts and never for a moment fails to give the impression of immense lower class respectability.
The pathos of the lonely little figure, unable to do her part in the war and finally writing letters to herself from an imaginary son in the Black Watch Regiment, is beyond description. Then the gayety of the seven days spent celebrating with the pseudo son are scenes that border closely on the thin line that divides humor from sadness.
The materialization of that son in the person of Gary Cooper, six feet two, gangling and yet attractive in his Scotch kilts, is a lovely piece of sentiment. The boy's slow reaction to her starving maternal instincts is well played. The role of the soldier who was never much of a man until the charwoman made a hero of him is fraught with difficulties, because the character of the old woman is so dominating. Yet young Cooper is very convincing as Kenney Dowey.
And nowhere in a long time have I seen three such excellent pieces of character acting as those of Daisy Belmore, Nora Cecil and Tempe Pigott, three cronies of Mrs. Dowey. Tempe Pigott, as the drunken fisherwoman, gives a portrayal that is a classic. She never once forgets her Cockney accent, nor her garrulous love of idle gossip.
Richard Wallace's direction, deft, careful and considerate of Barrie's sentiment is worthy a special hand. Also the adaptation and dialogue by Dan Totheroh and John Farrow. Milton Charles at the organ, a Paramount sound news and a comedy called At the Gate complete the program.
1/20/1930 LAX New York Nights
By Louella O. Parsons
Norma Talmadge's dramatic ability and her technique as an emotional actress do not suffer in the talkies. I say this because Norma's first talkie, New York Nights, has been a matter of uncertainty from those who look upon her as one of the screen's greatest artists. I must admit I dreaded seeing this picture at the United Artists Theater for fear that the talkies might have robbed Norma Talmadge of that inherent quality that we have all so greatly admired.
I can assure the public that she can be rated as one of the best actresses in the talkies just as she has been in the silent drama.
New York Nights is different from any picture Norma has made but it is a melodrama that holds the interest from the first chapter to the end of the story. Based as it is on "Tin Pan Alley," a play by Hugh Stanislaus Stange, it deals with the underworld famous in Papa Knickerbacker's village.
Lewis Milestone, who is essentially a man's director, has given us scenes that show the suspense and the interest that any Chicago gang melodrama is sure to arouse. Those scenes that Mr. Milestone did not direct were in the charge of George Fitzmaurice, who was called in after the completion of the picture and asked to put in a little more feminine appeal. His name is not on the screen but we happen to know some of the success of the direction is due to his excellent touches.
The story deals with one Jill Deverne, an actress who is married to a song writer. He drinks and makes her unhappy but she sticks by him until she believes he is disloyal to her. Gilbert Rowland does very well as the song writer. It is also Gilbert's first talkie and he seems at home before the microphone.
One of the most significant characterizations is played by John Wray. He gives a splendid performance as Joe Prividi, ex-gangster and a crook without a conscience. He smiles his way through the picture, gorgeously ungrammatical in his protestations of love for Jill and insidiously appealing in spite of his wickedness.
Lilyan Tashman as Jill's girl friend, is very good, as is Roscoe Karns as Jimmy Dolan. Mary Doran has the thankless role of the wicked vamp, who steals Jill's husband, but she does her part in a most satisfactory manner.
I am convinced that New York Nights will be a box office favorite. Most people love suspense and they adore a glimpse into the underworld. All of this afforded in this picture and in addition there is Norma Talmadge who can make any picture more interesting. Jules Furthman is credited with the screen adaptation and William Cameron Menzies is responsible for the settings.
In addition to New York Nights, there is a Jimmy and Lucile Gleason comedy called Don't Believe It and the Paramount Sound News. Gaylord Carter, the organist, presents a sound novelty and furnishes the music.
1/23/1930 LAX Anna Christie
By Louella O. Parsons
Eugene O'Neill might have written Anna Christie with Greta Garbo in mind, so superbly does the role fit MGM's heretofore silent star Swedish star. Miss Garbo has been the cynosure of all eyes since talkies finally made it necessary for this sphinx-like young woman to open her lips and talk. Would or would not this amazingly popular young actress rise to the exigencies of the microphone?
I can tell those who were in doubt that Miss Garbo does respond, and with an ease that surprised this writer. There was no doubt that the mere mention of Greta Garbo would bring out an appalling number of movie fans. I doubt, however, if they were prepared for the young army that descended upon the theater to hear with their own ears whether or not Garbo could talk.
She speaks, let me say, with a surprising freedom from accent. There is the occasional lapse into her natural tongue. But it so perfectly fits the character of "Anna Christie" we wouldn't have it otherwise.. I have in my time seen some excellent "Anna Christies," so the test given Miss Garbo by MGM proves beyond any shadow of a doubt her real ability as an actress
There was Pauline Lord in the stage version, and Blanche Sweet so perfectly fitted to the silent movie. Miss Garbo had terrific competition. That she meets the situation so gloriously is the greatest single tribute we can give her.
The entire credit for the success of Anna Christie by no means falls into the hands of Miss Garbo. Very few actresses have ever had a finer supporting cast. There are only four principals, but what players! There is George Marion who fears the old "debbil sea" with a mighty hatred and yet cannot resist its fascinating lure. His performance as Miss Garbo's father is just as fine as it was when he created the role on the stage.
There is Marie Dressler in a characterization that is absolutely in a class by itself. As old man Christie's woman, a tramp and a drunk, she is really superb. She knows of Anna Christie's past and her drunken efforts to spare the old man from this knowledge are done with the finesse that bespeaks genuine artistry.
I can guarantee that Charles Bickford will have a new string of feminine admirers after his performance as Matt Burke, Irish sailor. Mr. Bickford made a distinct place for himself in Dynamite, but I feel sure he will even make more of a dent in susceptible feminine hearts with his performance of the rough sailor with the well pronounced ego.
Much of the successful work of the players can be laid down to Clarence Brown's direction. Mr. Brown offers many deft and original touches. Although he has always been credited with being one of the best directors in the picture business, Anna Christie is his crowning achievement. Frances Marion, who adapted the play, furnishes a very nice piece of work. In fact, all in all, MGM may feel well satisfied with the talkie version of Eugene O'Neill's famous play.
A two-reel colortone revue, called The Flower Garden, and a Fox Movietone News complete the program.
1/25/1930 LAX The Love Parade
By Louella O. Parsons
The disarming and engaging smile with which Maurice Chevalier delivers his complicated English in The Love Parade had the audience at the Paramount Theater yesterday completely enthralled. Mr. Chevalier need only speak a few words with his delicious accent to hold interest, but when you add to his charm the smart, sophisticated comedy of Ernst Lubitsch you have entertainment that ranks high.
We speak so lightly of personality that is probably the most misused word in the English language. Yet it is M. Chevalier's personality that is chiefly responsible for his great success. You can well understand why Paris, looked upon him as the greatest entertainer in the French capital. When he sings a song he puts so much of himself into it that you care not what he sings so long as you can see him smile and hear him laugh.
The Love Parade is a sort of glorified musical comedy with a Graustarkian touch. It is not so much the story as the scintillating lines that capture the imagination and the unexpected comedy touches that Herr Lubitsch puts over with such skill. There are plenty of amusing situations when the gay, naughty Count Alfred comes to Silvanus to get disciplined by his queen.
Silvanus, a imaginary kingdom, is ruled by a young and beautiful sovereign and what is more natural than for her to fall in love with the naughty boy from gay Paree? Jeanette MacDonald, one of the stage's products, has a pleasing voice and sings very well. She also has a great deal of beauty but almost any actress would be overshadowed by the Chevalier charm. Scenes when Chevalier isn't on the screen seem flat and uninteresting.
The darling of the married women of Paris suddenly becomes a slave to the queen of Silvanus. She orders him about like one of her subjects Life in the palace becomes a bore and until the queen promises to be just his wife their domestic happiness totters. The court scenes are delicious. The peep through the keyhole into the royal boudoir, the advice of all the ministers of war and the Turkish minister's prophecy that the royal marriage will be a failure because a woman should not be the boss are all done in the best Lubitsch fashion.
The two comedy roles are well played by Lillian Roth and Lupino Lane. Their song numbers are particularly good. The one, "Let's Be Common, has all the elements that make for popularity.
Not all the lively musical numbers are confined to Mr. Lane and Miss Roth. There is "The Love Parade," and "Paris, Wait for Me," Mr. Chevalier's and Miss MacDonald's songs, both of which are tuneful and gay. An aggregation of expert talent is associated in the production of this prize package. There is Guy Bolton who wrote the libretto. Ernst Vadja who authored the film story, Clifford Grey who wrote the lyrics and others who had a hand in the production of "The Love Parade." Perhaps that is why it is one of the year's test best.
A Paramount Newsreel and Milton Charles at the organ complete the program.
1/30/1930 LAX Devil May Care
By Louella O. Parsons
The dashing, boyish Ramon Novarro, who captivated a delighted motion picture public in Sabatini's Scaramouche, returns to us in Devil May Care. There is the same gay humor, the same perfect finesse, and the same melodramatic suspense. Only Scaramouche belonged to the realm of silent pictures while Devil May Care gives Novarro a chance to sing and talk. His voice and the musical numbers were no small part of the entertainment offered the first-night audience at Carthay Circle Theater last night.
I suppose one might say some of the song numbers have a rather modern twang to belong to the Napoleonic period. But what matter, when they are sung with such a pleasant harmony by young Novarro? Costume plays can be either stilted and uncompromisingly true to their period, or they can borrow a little license and be sure to please this generation. The songs sung by Napoleon's men have a military flavor that had everyone keeping time last night.
Devil May Care lis laid in the period when Napoleon is banished to Elba and the royalists take possession of France. Novarro, as Armand, the fanatical follower of Napoleon, is sentenced to death. His escape from the shooting squad when he persuades the troops to let him give the death command is one of the best situations in the picture. While the troops are obeying his order to turn about face, the young Bonapartist escapes over a stone wall.
SAVED BY HIS WIT
He almost falls into the hands of the enemy again when an ardent young feminine royalist turns him over to the King's troops. But his quick wit and ability save the day. Dorothy Jordan, into whose boudoir he stages his escape, is a newcomer to the screen. This role opposite Ramon Novarro gives her excellent opportunities, both from an emotional and comedy standpoint.
Her scenes with Novarro, when she is trying to resist his charms, are particularly good. Later, when he hides as a servant in her cousin Louise's castle....[several lines missing]....
Marion Harris, well-known singer, sings but one song, as the Countess Louise. Unlucky lady in love with Novarro and constantly beset with fears that her royalist friends will discover his identity, she has anything but an easy time. Personally I would like to hear Miss Harris sing more.
CHASE COMPLICATED
The chase for Armand is further complicated by DeGrignon's love for Leonie. She is engaged to him when Armand bursts into her life so unceremoniously. William Humphrey makes a most satisfactory Napoleon and George Davis and Clifford Bruce also make the most of their respective roles.
Devil May Care, I have no doubt, will be history-making in the career of young Novarro. He talks with ease and his singing vice is one of great sweetness. The story is romantic and it has enough suspense to carry along the average audience. The costumes in this Napoleonic era are unusually attractive. Sydney Franklin, the director, knows his costume dramas. However, we might take issue with Mr. Franklin on the 1930 captions on the cartoons of a king who reigned in the time of Napoleon.
The story, from the French drama, "La Bataille des Dames," has been ably adapted by Richard Strayer with the scenario written by Hans Kraly. Zelda Sears' long acquaintance with the stage is evident in her skillful dialogue.
Carli Elinor's overture of selected Russian airs, was well received. A clever MGM dog comedy, the best of its kind yet produced, was directed by Jules White and Zion Myers, and a Fox Movietone newsreel completed the program.
1/31/1930 LAX Not So Dumb
By Louella O. Parsons
Not a single comedy situation in Not So Dumb passed over the heads of the audience at Loew's State Theater yesterday and not one of Dulcy's bright remarks was lost. Marion Davies, in the opinion of this reviewer, has had better pictures, but she has never had one that was received with more obvious enjoyment than this simple little comedy.
Some of us who know the extent of Marion Davies' ability, and what a genuine artist she is when it comes to inspiring laughter, had the feeling that Not So Dumb was not a big enough picture for her. That was my feeling before I heard that audience at Loew's State roar and rock with mirth.
I came away from the theater convinced that it is the simple, natural things that make folk laugh. Dulcy, whose platitudes are inexhaustible and who has a faculty for always doing and saying the wrong thing, can be found in many of our best families.
Miss Davies doesn't try to glorify this Dulcy nor yet whitewash her. She makes her what she is--a well-meaning young woman who just has a natural faculty for getting those she loves in trouble; a lovable dumbbell with a fanatical urge to boss people.
GREAT STAGE HIT
At the time 'Dulcy,' a play by Marc Connelly and George Kaufman, from which Not So Dumb is adapted, opened in New York, it was a tremendous success. It scored so effectively that 'Dulcy' and 'Dumbbell' became synonymous.
Lynn Fontaine, now prominent Theater Guild actress, made her first big success in 'Dulcy.' I hope I am not prejudiced when I say, even with all her stage experience, I did not like her 'Dulcy' as well as the one Marion Davies presents on the screen. You feel sorry for Marion's 'Dulcy' and wish you could help her. You didn't care what happened to Miss Fontaine's "Dulcy'--in fact, you felt you could help assassinate her.
The story of Not So Dumb deals with a beautiful young woman called 'Dulcy.' She wishes to help her fiancé in a business deal, so she entertains his boss, his young wife, his beautiful daughter, a talkative scenario writer, a versatile but slightly demented young man and a butler who is an ex-convict.
These are the unique guests at a house party at which everything but a high-class murder occurs. Through it all Dulcy flits, adding fuel to the fire and encouraging elopements that shouldn't be and causing annoyance when peace would have been more profitable.
PRAISE FOR VIDOR
King Vidor, who is probably the most versatile director in filmland, ranging as he does from such difficult problem plays as The Crowd to plays with the popular appeal of Show People, is particularly good in comedy of the type of Not So Dumb.
He puts in all the little comedy scenes in which Marion excels and he adds little subtleties that are overlooked by the average director. Mr. Vidor was aided in the scenario furnished by the average director. Mr. Vidor was assisted in the scenario furnished by Wanda Tuchock and the dialogue written by Edwin Justus Mayer.
Then there is the cast. It is what some of our sporting friends would call a "natural." Elliott Nugent, young Broadway stage actor, plays the role of the fiancé with considerable finesse and understanding. Raymond Hackett, whose pleasant voice and pleasing youth has added interest to many a MGM film, has one of the best comedy roles in the picture. He plays Dulcy's young brother, who thoroughly disapproves of all her maneuvers.
COMEDY HIGHLIGHTS
What a performance Donald Odgen Stewart gives! His subtle comedy is one of the highlights of the picture and is hilariously funny. William Holden, who has fathered so many of our film stars, plays the grouchy boss, Forbes, who finds Dulcy exceedingly troublesome. He gives an unusually good performance. The feminine lineup is also most satisfactory. Julia Faye wears stunning clothes and gives a good account of herself as the young wife of Forbes. Little Sally Starr, youthful and pretty, is attractive as the daughter.
We cannot overlook George Davis, as the butler, and Franklin Pangborn, as the romantic scenario writer. Mr. Pangborn's characterization is especially good, as the laughter of the Loew's State audience will testify.
Not So Dumb seems to have all the requisites of popular appeal. If a comedy is only as good as the laughter it inspires, then Not So Dumb ranks high.
Fanchon and Marco offer a prologue called "Eyes" Idea, featuring the Six Candreva Brothers, Don Carroll and others. A Fox Movietone completes the program.
2/3/1930 LAX Son of Gods
By Louella O. Parsons
Hollywood is imitating New York in the matter of midnight premieres, Warners, having started this innovation, have taken good care to supply films that are guaranteed to keep the tired reviewers wide awake. Take Richard Barthelmess' latest opera, Son of the Gods. No one could possibly take even a cat nap while this thrilling melodrama is unreeling.
There isn't a sleepy moment from the time Richard walks on the screen as Sam Lee, son of a wealthy Chinese merchant, until the final scene when we learn that he isn't really a Chinese. Perhaps I shouldn't be telling his secret, although I venture to say many of the readers of this paper have read Rex Beach's story.
First National is proud of Son of the Gods and believe it will have tremendous value at the box office. Combining an actor of Richard Barthelmess' enormous popularity with a story that is filled with suspense, romance and a certain amount of interest, what more remains?
Mr. Barthelmess has had more than his share of successes this last year. While Son of the Gods is frankly and obviously melodrama and with unmistakable hokum and too much sentimentality, it is a picture that most folk will enjoy.
The story of the boy who struggles against the white man's ostracism because he happens to be a Chinese is told with all of Rex Beach's flair for drama. At college, later in life and until the girl he loves is eventually convinced that nothing matters when two people love each other, the lot of Sam Lee is tragic. His father, a Chinese merchant, revered and respected, finds it difficult to understand the boy's bitterness and resentment.
The settings showing the Chinese home are done with discrimination. The scenes along the Riviera or wherever they are were filmed, are beautifully photographed. Frank Lloyd, the director, always manages to get stunning effects in his pictures.
Mr. Barthelmess shared honors with Constance Bennett. What a glamorous young person she is with her gorgeous frocks and her beauty! I am not sure that I consider her a particularly good actress, but she looks so lovely one doesn't mind any lack in this respect. A very nice piece of work is done by a newcomer called Mildred Van Dorn. The performance of E. Alyn Warren is played with nice restraint. She plays Eileen Dugan, Irish friend of the old Chinese. Anders Randolf, Claude King and Dorothy Matthews are others who must be favorably mentioned for their individual performances.
Bradley King is credited with the adaptation. One can only judge a film by the interest it creates, and since Son of the Gods intrigues the imagination and holds the audience, what more can we say?
James Barton in a short subject, The Under Dog, and a Pathe Sound News complete the program.
2/6/1930 LAX No, No Nanette
By Louella O. Parsons
The experimental stage, so far as musical comedy is concerned, seems to have successfully passed the acid test. There is no longer any fear that the microphone will do tricks and stop functioning when the heroine's voice reaches a high C or the villain is about to declare his love in low D. No, No, Nanette yesterday played to a crowded house at the Orpheum Theater as early as 10:30 o'clock in the morning.
I doubt very much if any picture that was not based on a musical comedy as familiar as No, No, Nanette could have persuaded so many housewives to stack their breakfast dishes and so many businessmen to leave their offices early in the morning.
The musical comedy by Frank Mandel, Otto Harbach, Vincent Youmans and Emil Nyitray must be given credit for this early attendance, for the two principal actors are as yet too new to the screen to be drawing cards.
HER FILM DEBUT
You see, this is Bernice Claire's debut on the screen and only the second appearance of Alexander Gray. Both are attractive young people. Miss Claire has moments of looking like Gloria Swanson and she has a voice that is clear and sweet and pleasant to hear. Mr. Gray is not only a good-looking youth, but he also has a singing voice that promises to become a regular feature in First National pictures.
The songs in No, No, Nanette are largely duet numbers. "Tea for Two?" the most popular number of the stage musical comedy, and "I Want to be Happy" are the principal numbers. At any rate, the audience kept time and hummed this popular tune under their breath. Miss Claire has one very good solo and Mr. Gray is at his best in "King of the Air," which he sings alone.
The music and the excellent settings and Larry Ceballos' dance numbers are not the only features that distinguish No, No, Nanette. There are Louise Fazenda, and Lucien Littlefield. These two are enough to make the saddest man in the world forget his unhappiness. Louisa in her prim clothes and her funny little mannerisms is simply delightful. She plays the stingy wife of a Bible manufacturer.
A CLOSE SECOND
Mr. Littlefield, as the millionaire manufacturer, runs Louise a close second for laughs. When he finds that he cannot spend his money on his wife he looks about for help.
He finds plenty of helpers and the scene at Atlantic City when both little helpers descend upon him is a close call to slapsticks.
ZaSu Pitts is another capable comedienne. As the servant girl who constantly threatens to leave, she has some of the choice lines of the play, and moreover she does right by them.
Lilyan Tashman in her smart clothes and sophisticated manner is the contrast to Miss Fazenda's dowdy clothes and her Pollyanna belief in mankind. Bert Roach, as Miss Tashman's conspiring husband, plays his role with more than average ability. Mildred Harris, as one of the gold-diggers, and Jocelyn Lee as the other, are decorative.
All in all, No, No, Nanette has much to recommend it as entertainment; and not the least of the credit, goes to Clarence Badger, who seems to be right at home directing the talkies. The one fault of No, No, Nanette is in the bad use of color. A Pathe Newsreel, a Walter Disney Silly Symphony, entitled Summer, and an Abraham Lincoln short in honor of Lincoln's Birthday, complete the program.
2/13/1930 LAX Lummox
By Louella O. Parsons
The drab drudge with a soul shining through her lummox-like personality, loses none of her realism in the talkie edition of Fannie Hurst's famous novel, Lummox. Winifred Westover, stolid, with the typical Swedish lack of emotion, gives a remarkably fine characterization as Bertha, the servant girl, whose incredibly dull life inspires a great poem.
Miss Westover's return to the screen, her first since she retired some six years ago to marry W.S. Hart, is a matter of interest not only to those inside the picture business, but, to the world at large, if one is to take the well fitted United Artists Theater as any indication.
Lummox is probably Miss Hurst's most successful book, but it is also a most difficult piece of fiction to analyze in a motion picture. To the ordinary mind there isn't much poetry about a Swedish servant girl with the physique of an ox and the endurance of a superwoman. Yet this same woman in a poet's family inspires a young poet to write his greatest masterpiece.
KEEPS HER SECRET
The glamour of the moon, the girl's nearness to the soil untrammeled by any artificial aid, intrigues a half intoxicated poet. He makes violent love to the girl. She responds and when he spurns her she leaves his mother's house without betraying that she is to have a child.
After his rendezvous with the lummox, he writes "The Cathedral Under the Sea," a sensation, and the only worthwhile poem he ever writes. Ben Lyon gives an excellent portrayal as the weak, drunken young poet. It is a difficult and rather unpleasant part, but Mr. Lyon succeeds in establishing the character with all its undesirable characteristics.
There is little that is commonplace about Lummox and not much that is cheerful, but it is so deftly directed by Herbert Brenon that one is conscious of the artistry of it. There is a realness about the whole production that one seldom finds in a movie.
Chita, played by Dorothy Janis with a surprising ability in one so young, is another heart-breaking incident. The girl, a product of a cheap sailor's boarding house, goes the easiest way until the lummox rescues her. First, when she is seduced by a sailor and later when she is the inmate of an unsavory house where Bertha goes as a servant.
GRAPHICALLY DEPICTED
Fannie Hurst's graphic accounts of Jewish family life is admirably depicted in one sequence which pictures Bertha as the maid of all work in a Jewish home. Clara Langsner gives a particularly good performance as Mrs. Wallenstein Sr., a Jewess of the old school. Buster Collier shows a real aptitude for dramatic acting as her son and Edna Murphy's portrayal of the frivolous wife is also worthy of note.
United Artists went out to the highways and byways to get a good cast for Lummox. We find such players as Lydia Titus, Myrtle Stedman, Danny O'Shea, Cosmo Kyrle Bellew in small parts. Young Robert Ullman, son of George Ullman, is a very attractive edition of Bertha's young son, later played by William Bakewell.
Lummox, let me say, is most unusual picture entertainment, well played, well directed and truly well worth seeing. Miss Westover need have no further reticence about her screen career if she can duplicate her work as Bertha—the stolid, unappreciated servant girl.
The United Artists Theater program this week consists of a short Christy comedy, Our Next Door Neighbors, featuring Charlie Ruggles. Then Grantland Rice's Sportlites, and a Paramount sound newsreel. Miss Westover also made a personal appearance, so all in all it was a great day at this theater.
2/21/1930 LAX Street of Chance
By Louella O. Parsons
The spectacular career of Arnold Rothstein, gambler, sportsman and underworld character, has undoubtedly inspired innumerable movies. The first of these, Street of Chance, opened yesterday at the Paramount Theater. The other Rothstein epics will have to travel fast to equal this picture, which is what those addicted to slang might call a natural.
Street of Chance, furthermore, could be called a moral lesson on the sins of gambling. Only the lesson is painted with such a fine brush there is never any thought of preaching.
The interest in this colorful story of two brothers who could not resist the lure of the gambling table is told after the manner of some of our recent best sellers. There is continued suspense with enough human and love interest to keep the most restless mind occupied.
COMPELLING PORTRAYAL
You sit fascinated with the paradoxical character of this man, John B. Marsden, known to his gambling associates as "Natural Davis." If Rothstein had half the charm that William Powell gives "Natural," it's easy to understand why so many of his underworld friends have sworn revenge on his murderer.
Maybe I am taking too much for granted to say that "Natural" and Rothstein are one and the same. Whether or not they are, William Powell gives a compelling performance as the man who sacrifices the wife he loves for cards and who is willing to kill any man he believes does not play straight.
Regis Toomey, the smiling boy in Alibi, gives another finished performance as the young brother of "Natural." He comes to New York to make money at cards, and the one and only time "Natural" cheats is when he tries to cure his brother by breaking him.
Oliver H.P. Garrett, author of Street of Chance, has written a thrilling story, but even so, much of the credit must go to John Cromwell, who directed the story with finesse and with a fine regard for detail. The scenario is by Howard Estabrook, Street of Chance is a man's picture. The women are only incidental and only appear when they figure in the lives of these underworld specialists.
PRAISE FOR ACTRESS
But no woman on the screen could be more stunning than Kay Francis as "Natural's" wife. She wears her clothes like a thoroughbred and she adds interest to a story in which men are featured. Jean Arthur is very good, too, as the bride of young Marsden. Betty Francisco in a small part, and Joan Standing as the secretary, complete the feminine roster.
Two excellent character roles are contributed by John Risso as Tony, and one-armed newspaper boy and messenger for the gamblers, and by Stanley Fields as Dorgan.
The Shade of the Old Apple Tree, a song cartoon, and the Home Edition, a Paramount comedy with J. Flippen, and Milton Charles at the organ, complete the program. All in all, the entertainment at the Paramount Theater is one to delight the most fastidious audience.
3/14/1930 LAX Strangers May Kiss
By Louella O. Parsons
MGM needn't take any bows for being willing to open Strangers May Kiss at the Carthay Circle Theater on Friday, the 13th. With a picture like that they could face a barrage of black cats, a room full of broken mirrors and all the spilled salt in America and still have no fears.
What a picture, sophisticated, smart and with an appeal to our intelligence. Norma Shearer won the award given by the Academy last year for her work in Divorcee. I don't know what she will win this year, for Strangers May Kiss is much better than Divorcee.
John Meehan has furnished some of the best dialogue of the year. Why bring Frederick Londale here from England when we have an American who can write with the ease, the grace and the brilliance of Mr. Meehan? And how Norma speaks those lines.
WINS SYMPATHY
You feel right from the beginning a sympathy for this girl, this Lisbeth, fundamentally a good girl but driven to do the wrong thing because of a man. She falls in love, willing to give herself and her all. The man is casual. The girl suffers and then follow two years of being the sort of woman the world suns.
Norma is so lovely that we can understand why the other man follows her to Europe and back again, willing to take her on any terms. He explains the public feeling against her by saying:
"Men like many things mixed, but they want their women straight."
FINE PERFORMANCE
Robert Montgomery won my heart. He loves this girl who tries to follow the code set down for men. He loves her in spite of her morals. I want to say Robert Montgomery got me. I have never seen a finer performance given by any juvenile actor on any screen.
Neil Hamilton, too, as the casual lover, who is indifferent in the beginning, but who finally realizes the importance of marriage, is splendid. What a performance he gives! Miss Shearer is so excellent she surprised even those who have always realized her supreme artistry. She had all [REST CUT OFF]
3/27/1930 LAX Hell Harbor
By Louella O. Parsons
The tempestuous Lupe Velez, a bundle of concentrated energy and unrestrained fireworks, is the only feminine motive in Hell Harbor, playing at the United Artists Theater. Lupe has things very much her own way from the time she threatened to kill her father until she runs away to see the magic Havana with the man she loves.
I wouldn't say she has an easy time, for being bounced over the head by a brutal father and swimming the entire length of a Florida inlet cannot be done sitting in a rocking chair.
Yet Lupe seems to enjoy all the difficulties in playing the heroine in a hectic melodrama. Talk about the thrillers that intrigued you in your adventurous youth, Hell Harbor has everything to hold the attention. There is plenty of suspense and action galore. As for impossibilities and improbabilities, who cares in a tale of this kind with backgrounds of tropical settings?
Henry King and Inspiration Pictures should really receive the vote of thanks from the Tampa Chamber of Commerce for they have unconsciously exploited some really beautiful bits of Florida scenery. The sunsets, the silhouettes of the natives in the bays and the stretches of water photographed at dusk are all tremendously effective. Fortunately, too, for the rather unpleasant character of Anita's father and the man he would have her marry, require an antidote.
....
4/3/1930 LAX Ladies of Leisure
By Louella O. Parsons
None of Will Hays recent ordinances have been violated in Ladies of Leisure, which opened at the Orpheum Theater yesterday. Columbia has slaved strictly within the law and by so doing has prove beyond a doubt that virtue is its own reward. By that I mean the talkie version of David Belasco's flaming play is very much better than Ladies of Evening, in the original stage version.
While Columbia has stayed away from anything that might be openly offensive in Ladies of Leisure, at the same time there is enough punch in the story to make it exceptionally good entertainment. Many liberties have been taken with Milton Gropper's play, but if Mr. Gropper sees what Jo Swerling has done with the dialogue and adaptation he can only honestly compliment him on his task.
I think so well of the picture that my advice to my readers is to jot down in their red note book and make it a point to visit the Orpheum Theater as I see it. Not since Flight has Columbia turned out so fine a piece of work. Frank Capra, the director, hasn't missed any of the points necessary to tell a screen story poignantly, adequately and colorfully.
BIT OF REAL LIFE
A little bit of real life is reflected in the character of Kay Arnold, a girl who is described as a "party" girl of voting woman who is well paid for giving her company to young men in search of an evening's entertainment at cafes, roadhouses or at private apartments.
Barbara Stanwyck is alternately defiant and wistful, but at all times consistently in the character of this girl. Her performance is a remarkable characterization, and you get clearly the idea that underneath all that hardened exterior there is a real soul. Miss Stanwyck, I prophesy, will be one of the most sought after actresses on the screen after producers see her performance.
Marie Prevost, as her best girl friend and her partner on all these evening expeditions, is really very amusing. The long walk up twenty flights is very funny. Perhaps Marie was a little reckless in letting Colombia ridicule her excess weight, for one of these days she will probably be slim again.
SEEN AT HIS BEST
I have never liked Ralph Graves as well in any picture as in Ladies of Leisure. He is even better than he was in Flight, as the earnest young artist who falls in love with the reformed party girl.
Lowell Sherman, who looks a little heavier to me, is at his best in the role of Standish, the man about town. Lowell is always convincing when he plays a cynical, sophisticated rounder, and that is exactly what we are given to understand is the character in a nutshell of Standish.
Juliette Compton, in a blonde wig, is unusually attractive, and her voice is pleasing. George Fawcett, as the artist's father, and Nance O'Neill, as his mother, both give good performances, Miss O'Neill is particularly good in the dramatic scene with Kay, when she begs her to give up her son.
The program this week, in addition to the Columbia picture, features Taylor Holmes in Dad Knows Best, a Pathe Sound News and Oliver Wallace at the organ. |
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