Cinema Reviews

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21247, 20 August 1934, Page 8

Cinema Reviews

-5 TIVOLI t "BELOVED" i "Beloved," at the Tivoli this week, I is rather a stupendous compound of ■ romance, music, history, and melo- | drama. From the broad pases of its . pretty story one could perhaps find : several themes which in themselves j would each make excellent stuff for . talkies. The result is that while much ' J, * 7' usiC °J the is superb, t J aCt i" g u generally sound and the film technique brilliant, the full story makes rather heavy going This is necessarily so, for the tale covers the life of a man through 80 colourful years, his struggles and successes, his one great romance and his absorbing passion for music. These "struggling musician" films are having a fine run in American talkies. This one actually takes u:: from the date of music's heyday in Vienna, from the days of chamber music in every fashionable drawingroom, to the first thunderings of the jazz avalanche as it starts its descent on a war-weary world. The story is ; finely conceived. A Viennese patron of 1 music hopes to see in his son the embodiment of all the musical aspirations which apparently he was unable «o attain. Li'e-nlly. he f«ods the child's r>- n>nnir The dirt works. and v- tr r)n^^T^nr , n • v"n h's fir ' nri "'Vring audience Th'-n there is revolution in Vienna, and Carl and his widowed mother fly to the United Stairs. Music-teaching keeps them alive while Carl develops his i talents as a violinist and composer. But a romance und another revolution (the American Civil War) puts a ; spoke in the wheel of fortune, and in a few years Carl, still a poor man, and ] married, is struggling himself ns a \ teacher of the violin. In the meantime he is unable to realise his ambitions as a composer. In other ways I ho prospers. Misfortune comes again when his son, a wayward fellow, is forced to marry a young woman ho .dishonoured To retrieve his own "honour the son goes to war, and while he is fighting the woman presents the now ageing musician with a grandson. In this grandson, to the great joy of the musician, are fulfilled all the musical ambitions of two generations, i But the younger Housemann (here is ■ a nice glorification of American jazz I at the expense of music), becomes one i of the great jazz writers of the age. . The old man sees in this jazz music ■ of his grandson the melodies of the American symphony which he has been writing for about 40 years, and there is domestic disruption. But at the age of 80 the old man is able to see his symphony triumph, and the writer of the story makes us feel thai after oil music might have its place in the world as well as jazz. Perhaps more of the good music and , a little less of the deathbed and domestic sordidness which characterises the fiim might have made it quite a classic. It is still a fine talkie, very well produced, and notable, too, for the excellent singing of John Boles, who is like Clive Brook in his portrayal of the musician young and old, so sorely tried by a misunderstanding world, but truly John Boles in his glorious singing of those intimate lovepoems which are so charmingly written for him. Boles outshines Gloria Stuart, but her acting of tho part of the musician's devoted wife is sincere and warm. The supporting cast included a long ■' programme of revue numbers, well i clone and entertaining, and th<n*e is : also a Silly Symphony. ! MAJESTIC j "MANHATTAN MELODRAMA" I "Manhattan Melodrama," the new | film at the Majestic this week, docs ; not belie its name. It is melodrama ! of the frankest and most generous ''kind. There is the good young man who rises to be governor and marries j the beautiful girl; there is the bad i: young man who lives a gay and spectacular life full of pretty girls and gamblers and gunmen and i who reaches a more or less deserved end in the electric chair; • there are gangsters, politicians, and. i above all, the flashing night life of, [New York. It is an entertaining pic-, ture and, as a modern version of the old-style melodrama, makes a good, thrilling film. The picture's three stars, Clark Gable, William Powell, and Myrna Loy, appear in parts which are for them somewhat unusual. Powell, usually advertised as "the suave Mr Powell," drops most of his suavity to become the good young man who, by hard study and a constitutional aversion to liquor and pretty girls, combined with a determined honesty, rises to be district attorney and then governor of the state of New York. In his earlier pictures Powell has usually played the part of the charming but slightly sinister scoundrel-hero, but in this picture he has no opportunity to be sinister. In fact, as Jim Wade, in "Manhattan Melodrama," he is nlmost too good to be true, although that does not prevent him from giving a fine performance. Gable, on the other hand, who has appeared in many pictures, notably "It Happened One Night," ns the cynical but good-hearted hero, here dons Mr Powell's sinister but charming cloak. He is the bad boy who starts his career by playing dice in the gutter and who rises to the doubtful glory of being a famous and notoriously lucky gambler, an associate of gengsters and of all that is exciting but unwholesome. In their childhood the two boys were orphaned by a disaster from which they only escaped with their lives. Brought up together, their friendship remains close after they reach manhood. Gable, as Blackie Gallagher, embarks on his career as a gambler and crook, while Jim Wade passes through law school and becomes district attorney, being elected on a reform plank which includes a pledge to wipe out the gangsters in New York. Finally he is elected governor, and at the same time hfs to decide between sending his friend to the electric chair for murder and sacrificing both his career and his principles of honesty to save him. Myrna Loy plays the part of Gallagher's mistress, who eventually marries Wade. Evidently Mr W. S. Van Dyke, v/ho directed the production, was in a benevolent mood and overflowing with the milk of human kind- , nc£s when he made it, because she, in common with the o'her two stars, is so good and sweet and honest in snite of her faults that only the transformed Mr Powell could be worthy of her. As ( a whole the picture. even though the s'ars are improbably righteous and ; good-hearted, is n flrst-class show On the sunnorting programme is a ''ancinff hplt musical cartoon, n Graham MePXamee newsreel, and a ' Charlie Chase comedy. J 1!| " L ~ " " i

CIVIC "ON THE AIR" Not many more entertaining films f have been made than "On the Air," a British Dominions Films release which was screened at the Civic [ Theatre on Saturday. It is something new in the way of pictures, and if I the reception it was given on its first • screening is any criterion, it should i have a successful run here. For once , a British director has given up the [ usually fruitless task of producing in ; a British studio the type of film that . the Americans, and only the Ameri- ■ ' cans, can make, and has launched out II on his own. This launching has been ; a notable success, and one which will stand the repetition that its success will undoubtedly inspire. It is a ; variety show, almost of the old type of i one turn after another, but saved from s the name of variety show by virtue , of the story which is woven in among ■ the turns. The turns themselves are all per- ; formed by artists of international re- ; pute, known familiarly to British radio ; listeners and also in every country ' where gramophone records are sold. . It is very difficult to recall when there ; was a more celebrated cast in a pici tr.re of the type. There are dozens of i performers, and all of th<»m are stars, J '-rut chief th"in is Roy Fox and i Vs rr , l"*"-ri*r"* ba-r'. '* ho™ m'i*ve is as ; rt-i/T-l !>' th"t 'vn" of Tvnpip can wr>ls ( -<r> "Th" '-'tnry ip ingenious introduction for the famous performers ■ who appear one after the other. It ; opens with Davy Burnaby and Rogii nald Purdell, two famous radio stars, . starting off for their annual holiday, i determined to have nothing whatever i to do with radio in any of its forms, i They have not gone far before they I are accosted by a radio salesman, but i' their quick action carries them beyond • danger. They arrive at a country ■ hotel, and are greeted by the charming ; young lady who supplies the romance i that is in the film. Both determine that : they will go no further for their vaco- ; (ion and will remain incognito in the i village. They are very soon recog- : nised, and half the village begs them ; for auditions which may discover that • they have talent for performing in ' front of the microphone. Their ' troubles are completed when the vil- . Inge parson blackmails thom into per- : forming at his concert. They escape : from the country to a palatial city -' cabaret, but their attempts at conceal- . ment in the city are as poor as they '■ were in the country, and they end by ; giving up the struggle for anonymity. • The supporting programme is good, I and includes an excellent film dealing - with the wild life of Africa. Miss Iris > Mason plays a popular selection of ! music on the organ. ij CRYSTAL PALACE ! !"SEARCH FOR BEAUTY" AND ' ! "THE WITCHING HOUR" J 1 Now and again the cinema produces i j something which is essentially difier- ' cut from the usual run of films-. [ "Search For Beauty" is an example, I and it i 3 different for three reasons. '. The first: is that the acting counts for I very little. The film is more of a ' parade than a story to be acted, and much of its interest lies in the opportunity it gives for audiences to | compare the representatives of their ! own countries with the representative:: ;■ of i.illiit.,. The .second reason is that •Hie parade has been very carefully ! manipulated so that while it always I remains a parade, other interests have ; been introduced to lend it colour. The ; third, but not the least important, j reason is that the scenery is unusual, j even original, and shows signs oC a r . pleasing virility of ideas. Colin Tapley and Joyce Nlelstn, who represent >; Now Zealand, do not have much to do, i and the most satisfactory thing that ; can be said of them is that they comj pare very well with the other winners . of the "Search For Beauty" competi- ! tion. Tapley speaks and conducts liim- ' self very well. The cast is headed by '. Buster Crabbe and Ida Lupino, who are supported by Robert Armstrong , and James Glenson. These four do all :they arc supposed to do in approved j style. : The other picture, "The Witching I Hour," uses a good story to discuss i some psychological questions. Is there any truth in hypnotism? Will a hypnotised man act upon a thought which was placed in his mind before he was hypnotised? The story answers yes to both questions, and answers in a startling way. A wealthy man named Brookfteld has an unpleasant visitor whom he throws out with a remark that some day someone will shoot that visitor's brains out. Brookfield, still harbouring a wish that his visitor was dead, makes contact with a certain young man, who, under the spell of hypnotism and directed by Brookfleld's thoughts, goes out and shoots the man who has been the visitor. The story then sets out to solve the question, was the young man guilty of murder? For those who like excitement and psychological problems this is a first-class story. It has realism, grimness, some quaint humour, and is well acted. The principals are Sir John Standing, who was a strong personality and much ability, and John Halliday and Judith Allen, who are both suited to their roles. LIBERTY "IT'S TOUGH TO BE FAMOUS" AND "HOLD THE PRESS" The embarrassing adventures of a young man who hates publicity but. finds himself turned into a national I hero are told with diverting comedy ■ in "It's Tough to be Famous," one of i the two new films at the Liberty this v/cek. Douglas Fairbanks, jun., is the unfortunate young man and Mary Brian is the girl who suffers with him from the misdirected enthusiasm of newspaper reporters and publicity experts. I Fairbanks, as a young naval officer, is trapped in a sunken submarine with his men. He saves them by shooting them through a torpedo tube, but is unable to save himself, and resigns himself to death until he is unexpectedly rescued by divers. On his return home he finds that he has been turned into a national hero. He is given a rousing homecoming, has to make speeches, shake hands, and receive presentations. Tired of it all he goes to call on a girl whom he has known since childhood. He falls asleep, and when he leavc| her earjy in the morning is caught on the doorstep by an inquisitive reporter. The only thing he can do to save her reputation is to announce their engagement. They are married, again in a blaze of publicity, and the rest of the film describes the difficulties of being married to a hero and the way in which the two finally escape. It is an entertaining little comedy, well constructed and well acted. It was one of Fairbanks' earlier pictures, but his acting is worth seeing and worth admiring The second feature picture on the programme is a first-class thriller, entitled "Hold the Press," starring Tim McCoy and Shirley Grey. McCoy plays the part of a reporter on the staff of an important newspaper who un-

earths a big crime, turns detective, and finally solves the mystery, and at the same time exposes a system of graft by which the police are protecting the criminals. It is an interesting picture, even if it may appear a little far-fetched to law-abiding New Zealand audiences, because it gives a glimpse of the sort of thing that sometimes occupies a great deal of space in American newspapers. Above all, however, it is a fine "action" picture, and the adventures and thrills make excellent entertainment. REGENT "ALICE IN WONDERLAND" A SCREEN SUCCESS To translate "Alice in Wonderland" (and "Through the Looking Glass") on to the screen—how audacious an enterprise, one which every lover of Lev/is Carroll's printed page and Tenniel's line must be eager to see attempted, yet deeply afraid to see bungled! Even worse, a clever, highhanded producer might exploit it in an odious sort of success, travesty rather than interpretation. But the Paramount version of episodes from the two wonderful stories, which opened at the Regent Theatre on Saturday, banishes every anxiety and leaves little to be wished away or wished otherwise; while the wish that there was more of it, which must have been general, is the highest praise of a long film, full of delights. Alice herself, played by Charlotte Henry, is amazingly right, a child not too pretty in looks or ways to be the ordinary heroine of extraordinary adventures. Though sometimes bewildered, sometimes frightened, and someLimes angry, the is so quick to pick up her bearings in Wonderland, to move about among its inhabitants on familiar terms, that, like Alice in the book, she makes "fantasy more real than reality. Prodigious skill has been devoted to the make-up of characters like the Duchess, with her vast, shapeless face, the Red Queen and the White Queen, Humpty-Dumpty, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Caterpillar, the Dado, the Gryphon, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the Mock Turtle, and so on. The White Knight deserves special mention, perhaps, the craziest, gentlest figure imaginable, falling from his horse with an alarming, fire-iron clatter, and rising equably to resume the lunatic logic of his discourse; but if he does, then the Frog does, too, and the Fish, exchanging courtesies at the door, and it is not for a moment to be supposed that Carroll would have frowned upon the Fish's stammer, so delicious it is. AIJ these parts are taken by actors and actresses too numerous to remember from the screened cast, and recognisable, here and there, only by a turn of the voice. Their faces hidden, their screen personalities put aside, they have the credit of kind of self-sacri-ficing success, rare in the art of the screen. Whoever it is that speaks Humpty-Dumpty's lines, he knows the value of every syllable, and relishes it. The Mock Turtle's song, "Beautiful Soup," is a masterpiece of absurdity. The Caterpillar's critical, admonishing manner is perfect. The Red Queen's abrupt ferocity is as good in one way as the Dodo's creaking chant is in another. The camera, of course, lends itself to such effects as Alice's lengthening and shortening, and to the vanishing of the Cheshire Cat, all but its grin. But it is not camera trickery that has made the success of this film; if; is the work of a producer and actors who have known how, in their own medium, to be faithful to a genius in another. Among the supports are a good car- ; toon, u Paramount newsreel and pici torial, and the best of the Sportlights series yet shown. The animal photographs in this arc excellent. PLAZA "FASHIONS OF Ifl.'U" "Fashion;; of MM" at the Plaza I Theatre this week is an entertainment, compounded of a scries of novel situations played against a back- ! ground in which women's fashions are > the main interest. William Powell is the star, debonair, and full of schemes for making money, most of which land him in awkward situations from which he escapes with amusing agility. Ope or two of the scenes are in the style of large-scale stage tableaux, espcci- , ally the spectacular fan dance, in ! which 20 beautiful girls arrange themi selves and their large fans ot ostrich | feathers into Mowing and unusual patI terns. Of the same kind Is the "Symphony of the Living Harps," but though well done, these are incidentals added to a story which is in itself sufficiently interesting. Powell, opposite whom plays Bette Davis, appears as an adventurer who begins by stealing designs of the latest French fashions as soon as they arrive in New York, and who ends by establishing his own "Maison Elegance" in Paris. But it is by his light-hearted unscrupulousncss—conveyed in feature as well as by the voice—that he carries the story along. His love story ; becomes tangled, just like his business affairs, but in it also he manages at the last moment to make everything go right. The minor characters, especially a Californian ostrich-farmer who is used by Powell in his money-making scheme, are among the many delights of the story. As far as its display of fashions goes the film is interesting, though their scope is by no means extensive. Particularly interesting is a series of costumes whose design is based on men's fashions of the past. The transformation is remarkable, but as the design is seen developing from an old print or painting, the connexion is kept clear. One or two of the results achieved are very pleasing. Of the supports the most interesting is a descriptive film about Fiji and New Guinea. The natives of Fiji are made to appear far less civilised than they really are, but a great deal of interesting information is conveyed incidentally, while at times the customary seriousness of such films is relieved by touches of humorous situation. GRAND "KING OP THE JUNGLE" "King of the Jungle," which began a return season at the Grand Theatre on Saturday, is something now in animal pictures. Buster Crabbe, holder of world records for several aquatic events and a number of the American Olympic swimming teams for 1928 and 1932, makes his screen debut in the role of the Lion Man in this thrilling drama. Crabbe is cast as a youth who, orphaned in the African jungle at an early age, grows up with a pack of roaming lions, and ultimately becomes their leader. Box plans are at the D.I.C, THEATRE ROYAL "SILLY SYMPHONIES" AND "PALOOKA" At the Theatre Royal this week the programme includes five of the most famous of Walt Disney's creations, two of them "starring" Mickey and Minnie, and the others silly symphonies in technicolour—all this as well as "Palooka," a comedydrama of the boxing ring, in which Jimmy Durante and Stuart Erwin excel themselves. The silly symphonies and the Mickey the Mouse cartoons make the first half

of the programme delightful fun, and | they are just as satisfying to the older j admirers of Mickey and Minnie as j they are to younger ones. "Santa's l Workshop" gives an Insight into the j workings of the vast factory which j Santa Claus has for the production of his annual bounty of toys. "Babes in the Woods" and "OJd King Cole" bring to life practically the whole storybook family—in "Old King Cole," Little Boy Blue, Mother Hubbard, the Crooked Man, Little 80-Peep, and a host of others, who attend a party in the castle of Old King Cole, the merry old soul with a very red nose. "The Klondike Kid," a hair-raising drama in which Mickey plays the part of the cheated lover, and "Mail Pilot," in which he is an intrepid airman, are the two Mickey the Mouse cartoons. Mickey can claim rightly enough to be the most versatile of modern screen actors. He seems to be able to adapt himself to any part Walt Disney requires him to play. "Palooka" is a comedy-drama about prize-lighters, their trainers, and the girls who entertain them. It is screamingly funny, mainly through the efforts of Jimmy Durante, who does not stop jumping about and poking his famous nose into trouble from beginning to end. The story is a sad yet funny one of a dairy lad who becomes a champion boxer, but only by a chance. He finds his new profession too strenuous for him, and goes back to his mother's farm, but not before a great many exciting fights in and out of the ring, and a long succession of awkward situations have troubled him. Jimmy Durante is the champion's trainer, and the champion himself— Joe Palooka—is Stuart Erwln. Lupe Vclez is the girl who causes complications by introducing the champion to the night life of the city. Robert Armstrong is Palooka's father. The programme includes a Cinesound Review, which has pictures of the All Blacks in training in Sydney.