A BREATH of FRESH AIR

Radio Record, 13 May 1938, Page 27

A BREATH of FRESH AIR

"Tom Sawyer" Has What os Hollywood Cannot Spoit--Youthful Spirits

VERYONE who reads a hook visualises it differently. Therefore, the more popular a book is and the more it has become wrapped in lavenderscented memories with each passing vear, the more difficult becomes the problem of the producer who sets out to make a film version of it. All around him are self-appointed crities ardent and uncompromising--euch one of Whom is ready to pounce on anything that deviates from his own conception of the characters and uetion. So, When fi took with me to the preview of Selaznick’s "Phe Adyentures of Tom Sawyer’ a friend who is so chamoured of the Mark Twain classic that he has read it almost once a year xinee boyhood, f realised that Lo was setting the piefure the severest test if could face, My friend's unbounded enjoyment of "Tom Sawyer" was proof te me that Selznick has done again with this picture What he did just recently with "The Prisoner of .Zenda’-made as

nearly perfect an adaptation of a literary favourite as seems humanly possible. This was borne out by the comments of other Twain-lovers whom I saw after the screening. ‘They bad their quibbles on this and that, of course, but they themselves were prepared to admit that they were no more than quibbles, Adults Come First DIT) not, however, require all this enthusinsm to fire my own. ITlaying read "Tom Sawyer" only onee, and that too Jong ago to remember it elearly, I went to the preview with a more or less open mind-and came away feeling that I could do humanity no greater immediate service than recommend this film in the strongest terms possible. Between then and writing this, several days haye passed, and I have had time to sleep on it and chew it over: hut although the first rosy glow of enthusiasm has naturally faded a little, I hope that enough remains fo warm this reyiew and dispel the common illusion that candid film crities(sic)

are cold, impersonal creatures who are always more ready to damn than to praise. The story is American? Yes, but Tom Sawyer was a little boy first, and an American little boy second. However, this is certainly not exclusively a film for children. It is not eyen primarily a film for them, any more than the cartoons of Walt Disney are. Disney says that he makes his pictures to appeal to the childishness that remains in every adult. Selznick must have been guided by the same principle in "Tom Sawyer." Clear The Decks wars shall I praise first? Yet, perhaps it would be better if I cleared the decks for a good, hearty broadside of appreciation by saying ihat the picture is not faultless. For instance, one feels that Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer was not quite the little gentleman that Selznick has made him. Furthermore, the picture.is inclined to he episodic, to lack continuity, because so much emphasis has been placed on action, One adventure ends; another

begins. In between there is little ot that sense of repose, of dreamy Mississippi days, which | seem to recollect in the book, and which would have been so useful as a connecting fink in the film. And L must admit that the show was a few thousand feet advanced before I was fully under its sway. Unspoiled Youth rITH that, my fault-finding is practically exhausted. All that remain on the debit side are a few quibbles -unworthy of mention. On the credit side, however, the score is impressive, being headed, in my ledger at least, by the superbly natural performances et Tommy Kelly, as Tom Sawyer, and Ann Gillis as Becky Thatcher. I know of no more depressing screen ,experience than watching fledgling .players trying to act; but when, 2s here, they can act without ‘trying, I -know of none more delightful. We suffer much from infant prodigies on the screen to-day: I recommend Tommy Kelly, Ann Gillis, Jackie Moran (Huckleberry Finn), and-most of the ° other children in "Tom Sawyer," to your: notice as examples of genuine natural talent. See them now, before Hollywood has any chance to svou them. Ann Gillis particularly. That dis- play of hysterics in the cave after the horrible death of Injun Joe shold be envied by every adult star who claims to be an emotional actress. Ipcidentally, the scene of the chase ‘be _tween Indian Joe and Tom provides some of the finest moments of unilloyed suspense I can remember. Calf-Love THE treatment by Norman Taurog, the director, of the calf-love between Tom and Becky, which is such

in important part of the story, appeals to me as being particularly significani Hollywood these days is increasing] occupied with the dangerous subject of adolescent romance-dangerous hecause it can be so thoroughly obnoxious if handled precociously. Comparisons being odious, I shall mention three films in which the-subject is treated with complete snecess and real enijoy-

TUPUREDEETEEEEATEEEEEUPEREUEUEETEE DER EORER STREETERS ODER UEEES ERE T EERE EEE ty ment to the onlooker-in "Mad About Music," in a new M-G-M film called "You're Only Young Once," and in "Tom Sawyer," Yet one feels that the callow canoodling between Tom and Becky, and the flirtatious advances of Amy Lawrence (Cora Sue Collins) are thoroughly acceptable only because the characters

gare decked out in the dresses of uuether and more innocent age. ‘ Pervading Charm OR saying that I shall probably incur the charge of being .a very superior and "precious". person; but undoubtedly a great deal of the charm of "Tom Sawyer" rests in its atmiosphere of old-fashioned, wholesome sentiment. .Old May. Robson, is made the channel through which much ot this sentiment flows, in the role «7 Aunt Polly-a warmly endearing. richly human characterisation. Coupled with the sentiment is the "humour. Spontaneous and gay with youth, it comes like a breath of fresh air after the artificial, brittle wisecracking to which we are accustomed. Oh, yes, before I forget it, the film is in colour. The fact that it alme: escaped my notice is the hest pro? T can give that the colour is good. Don’t Miss It! Y-own enthusiasm for this picture would seem to suggest thnt---uno-like the friend who accompanied me to the preview-one does. not need to be a Tom Sawyer addict or a Huckle berry fan by upbringing to appreciate it. This, in turn, ought to mean tnat it will prove popular with the average New Zealand audience. Yet theatre men tell me that this will he a parti cularly hard show to "sell" to the public, though they. feel that most people Will enjoy it if only they can be coaxed inside the theatre, I am not stre about the first point, but I am reasonably certain about the second. Which is why I hope I have succeeded with this review in doing my smaljl share of the coaxing. . {"Ehe Adventures of Tom Sawyer," Selaznick-United Artists. Directed by Norman Taurog. Starring Tommy Kelly, Ann Gillis, May Robson. First release; Wellington, May 20.) ~ Powell And Loy (THE last ten minutes or so of M.-G.-M.’s "Doubie Wedding" prevent it being just another crazy comedy and turn it into a show from which you should come away feeling very happy. I suppose one should also acknowledge the debt to William Powell and Myrna Loy, who would make any film interesting, though they have made some others much more _ interesting than "Double Wedding." There is not the suave light comedy that we have come to expect from the "Thin Man’ combination. Instead, they fall in with the prevailing knockabout fashion and go completely nutty, encing up by knocking each other unconscious. A line from the dialogue provides a clue to the type. of picture this is. Myrna Loy asks for advice on how to handle William Powell, and is advised to "try and make up her mind that she is in a lunatie asylum and married to the head warder," So This Is Art! N point of fact, Powell is supposed to be an artist, and if you think artists are eccentric and Bohemian yoa huven’t seen anything yet. He wanders round in striped underwear, or, alternatively, a fur coat and beret. He lives in a motor-trailer

parked in a "No Parking" area of 2 city street. He paints pictures, but can’t bear to part with them. His closest friend seems to be a pub-keeper called Spike, who calls him to the telephone by the simple expedient of firing un air-rifle at a gong hanging in ihe trailer window. Ue has been u soldier of the Foreign Legion, a tourist in Paris, and somebody’s husband; and when the story of "Double Wedding" opens he js pretending to be a film directur. Quite frankly Mr. Powell admits to Myrna Loy that he is what he supposes most people would call a ead. But so far as the eye of the audience can see, his caddishness merely consists of

me eO20238512555111555515111111511,, 000. e eee knocking some starch and stnffiness ont of Miss Loy, who is called on to portray a smug and severciy nractiea) business woman. Miss Manager Vpiss OX is very mueh the manag: * ing type. She manages a dress shop and the lives of everyone around her, ineluding her sister (Florence Rice), and her sister’s spineless finance iJohn Beal). But she cannot manage the eccentricities of Mr, Powell, who nearly wrecks the romance of Miss Rice and Beal, besides shocking Miss Loy to her deepest depths. Believe it or not, Miss Loy smiles only once during the whole picture, and then rather frigidty. And she has such a nice smile, too! The trouble with "Double. Wedding, ° as with most crazy comedies, is that everybody has to try terribly hard to be funny. Mind you, they sueceed more often than not; but onee Powell and Miss Loy have been established as direct opposites you know that they will quarrel heartily until the final scene, When they will end in one another's arms, The main interest, therefore, lies in wondering what sort of a elorions mess they ean yet themselves into for the finale, Loud Laughs \s ] said ar the beginning, it is the * finale which makes "Double Wedding’ worth gonr time and money. The wedding staged in Vowell’y enra-

van produced some of the heartiest laughter I’ve ever heard from a hardened bunch of previewers, and I rejoice to think what it will do in a, full theatre. In a way, it’s not unlike the finale of "Big City," only crazierand completely in keeping. with the general tone of the picture, which the finish of "Big City" certainly wasn’t. I didn’t collect any of the wisecracks, which aren’t quite up to "Thin Man" standard; but here are three pronunciations of Christian names which struck me as quaint (only may’ be Vm old-fashioned). "frene," pronounced ‘"‘TIreen," 10 thyme with "seen." "Hermione," pronounced "Hermoin." "Margot" with the "t’ sounded. [‘Double Wedding." M.-G.-M. Directed by Richard Thorpe. Starting William Powell, Myrna Loy. Wirst release: Wellington, May 13.] True Confession JPORTRAYING a congenital liar in her latest film, Carole Lombard pokes her tongue into her cheek as a sign to the wudience whenever she is preparing to tell a tall one. If I were a less conscientious critie, that is where my own tongue would have to be while L write this review. But the title o: the film is "True Confession," and 1 regard that as a challenge. A true confession’ So be it. There was a time-how long ago!wheg I thought the-"fey" performances of Carole Lombard were extremeis clever. So they were-then. ‘That was hefere she had acted the ideniieal giddy

goat six or seyen times running. Ye' ro-day Miss Lombard receives the highest salary per picture (150,000 dollars) of any female star. So may be I’m the crazy one. As a would-he authoress in "Tru Confession," Carole complains: "My stories aren't selling"’ Replies Una Merkel, "Of course they aren’t-tir people in them are crazy." If it weren't for cold, hard monetar) fuct--150,000 cold, hard facis-TI'd say that Hollywood, through Miss Merkel. had never utrered a trner werd Three-Ring Circus VYAROLE plays the role of a sons wife who tells picturesque lies he enuge she ean’t help herself. They jus’ pop out. Kor Instanee, when the man comes tg collect the typewriter that

hasn't been paid for, she stalls him off with the tale that her husband has gone off his head with grief.and thinks the machine is his dead baby. Naturally, her husbang (Fred McMurray), an honest and struggling young lawyer, is annoyed when he hears about it. The heroine’s passion for falsehood leads her into more serious trouble when she becomes involved in qa murder, and, by a rather curious menial process, decides that the best thing to do is plead guilty. Her husband defends her, gets her off, and the publicity makes then famous and wealthy as authoress and lawyer. ‘Then the truth rears its ugly head in the person of another lunatic--m genuine one this time-who knows that the girl didn’t commit the erim: and is out for blackmail. The trial scene is correctly described by the prosecutor (Porter Hall) as resembling a three-ring circus. When the. farce is at its wildest, he: shouts: "With every ounce of decency in me, L protest!’-a sentiment I very nearly applauded audibly. Gleams Of Sense r {(REATED with more sanity, this "tale told by an idiot" might have heen effective, rather macabre, comic twnelodrama, for even the manner in which Miss Lombard and McMurray hehaye throughout like a couple of silly, spoiled kids, does not quite obseure the sinister, nightmarish feeling ot two humans who are in a horrible mess, and at the mercy of a madman’s whim. There is, I suppose, nothing

inherently wrong in making fun of murder, deliberate falsehood, and "‘frying" in the electric chair, but the humour of "True Confession" lacks the spontaneity which would have made such jesting palatable. It is only fair to point out that the general lunacy is occasionally redeemed by some very clever touches of direction and acting. It’s a bright moment when Porter Hall, as the jackrabbit of a prosecutor, warmly railing in his shirt sleeves against the. buffoonery of the defence, calls for his coat to be brought him-and laughs (lown the sleeve! Meat Or Poison? WHEN John Barrymore first appeared on the scene as 2 man who has come down in the world, I thought it a rather appropriate role; but when

he really became warmed up to his enthusiastic caricature of a maudlin barfily and crazy blackmailer, he stole practically all there ever was of the picture. . Of Hdgar Kennedy, acting like a big bag of lard as the dumb detective, 1 propose-as another critic once said--. to take no notice except of a hostile nature, Yet recently, in reviewing ‘The Buccaneer," I pointed out that what was My meat might very easily be your poison, In the case of "True Confession," what was a dose of arsenic to me may quite possibly give you a nourishing meal. 1] am led to this generous conclusion by the news that "True Confession" has done excellent business in. Australia, and that many of the crities over there seemed to like it very much indeed. {"True Confession." Paramount. Directed by Wesley Ruggles, starring Carole Wombard, Fred MieMurray. Just released. ]} Of To Hollywood YWVHEN the Aorangi leaves Auckland on May 17 for Los Angeles. via IIonolulu, FE. . Rutledge, managing director of the 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation (N.Z.), Ltd., will he among the passengers. He is going to visit the studios of his company in Beverley Hills, Hollywood, and from there he will go on ro the head offiees in New York, It is possible that, after visiting America, Mr. Rutledge will continne «ois to London. "Beau" Smith T might be said that a very important chapter in the history of motion picture entertainment in New Zealand came to an end with the retirement last week of Beaumont Smith from the position of managing director of the J. C. Williamson Picture Corporation, Ltd. Mr. Smith, who has disposed of his personal holdings in the company, will be succeeded as manag: ing director by John FI. Mason, who is already managing director of New Zealand Theatres. Mr. Smith will. however, still be the largest debentureholder, and at the special request of the directors will remain in an advisory capacity for some time to come. Mr. Smith was the founder of the company and had been its managing director for 12 years-a comparatively short period, but one during which revolutionary changes occurred in the movie industry. Through Mrfi Smith's foresight and generaliship, the J. C. Williamson Picture Corporation reached a foremost position. The Regents T was in 1926 that the J. C. William son Picture Company was incor porated, its first venture being the opening of rhe Regent Theatre, Welling. ton (formerly Iiverybodys). The Regent, Auckland, was opened some two weeks later. The building of these two theatres may he said to have begun a new era of film entertainment in this country. They were the first modern picture theatres, offering an atmosphere of luxury and comfort hitherto unknown. In fact, these huildings marked an advance in keeping with the advance of morie entertainmenr itself,