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a white-heat of wonder at the pointINK ABOUTGREASEPAINTBy Alice Alworthof a joke and then shoots a totallyunexpected line that comes home with“The Man I Killed”Of all the movie porducers’ attempts1 to draw tears in the past few months,yD1fthey have succeeded only three times as far as I am concerned. I wept atpreviews ofn d✓ !2Emma, a “The Champ,and the picture now showing at the CriterionTheatre, called “The Man I Killed.”When thefilm is shownout of town itwill be known“The Fiftha bang.There is a scene where Ed gets insome of his playful jibes at G. B.Shaw, Coolidge, the ex-king of Spain,asi111ICommandment taking that title from the story which is based upon the “Honor thy father and thy mother” theme.The action takes place in a small German village a year after the World War. It concerns a young French ex-’ soldier who is tortured with the mem' ory of the man he killed in the trenches. A musican by profession and a highly tempermental person, Paul, the Frenchman, is driven almost mad at the thought of his “murder for duty.” He seeks solace in the church, but failing to find it there, he goes to the home of Walter Holder' lin, the man he killed, and tries to confess to Walter’s bereaved parents that he is the murderer of their son. He is unable to do it, so he pretends to have known Walter in Paris before the war. He wins the love of the old couple, and that of Walter’s sweet' heart. Paul confesses to the girl thelie he has been living, and that helearned Walter’s address from a letter that he found on his victim’s body. The girl convinces him that to reveal the truth to the parents now, after they have come to love him as a son, would be like killing Walter a second time.“The Man I Killed” is an ErnstEinstein, and Mussolini. He shows Cal deep in an important conference with the Sphinx. Mr. Wynn remarks that the Professor needs a haircut, and also turns a few quips in the directionof G.B.S. Ed gives a screamingly funny marionette show which he works himself. And in one of his anti'prohibition moods he shows the Statue of Liberty holding a glass ofbeer instead of the everlasting light.She bends the unraised arm, blows the foam off the glass and drinks it down.It seems that Mr. Wynn was not immune to a weakness to joke about the depression. He says the depres-sion was so bad in the middle-west thaf during the funeral services of a big business man the corpse sat up in his casket and laid off five of the pallbearers.The two song hits of the show are introduced by Jeanne Aubert and Laurence Gray (yes, the Laurence Gray from the movies.) Neither Jean nor Laurence can sing, but they are both pleasing personalities, and manage to put the songs across—with the help of a good orchestra. The songs are “You’re My Everything,” and “Ooh! That Kiss,” which havebeen played so often over the radio that hearing them is like meeting anold friend.There is some expert novelty entertainment by Jack Powell and Wilbur Hall, and some colorful dancing by the Albertina Rasch girls. But don’t go to “The Laugh Parade” to see good dancing—you can see that in “The Little Racketeer”: and don’tsee “The Laugh Parade” to hear good singing—you can get that in “The Cat and the Fiddle.” Go to see “The Laugh Parade” to laugh—to forget alliis anLubitsch production, and he has provided the picture with faultless direction and casting. Phillips Holmes, as Paul, is not only convincing, but emotionally stirring; Lionel Barrymore, as Walter’s father, gives a rare performance. He has forgotten, for this picture, the well known and well worn Barrymore growls and eye-squints, and has given a sincere and honest performance as the old German doctor. Nancy Carroll also gives a genuine performance. She made no effort tobe incredibly beautiful for this role. She left off the false eye-lashes and wasn’t afraid to make unattractive faces. The result is a believable performance. Tom Douglas, as Walter, is effective in the brief moment for which he remained alive. Tom is the youngster who appeared on the Los Angeles legitimate stage and brought the house down in leading roles opposite Elsie Ferguson and Mrs. Patrick Campbell. He was signed for movies and was unfortunately given bad or insignificant parts. But the boy is good—he’s on the road to the top.“The Man I Killed” is a timely picture. I don’t think that anyone who sees it will ever again cheer a military parade. It sets one to thinking about war to hear Lionel Barrymore as the old father say, “I stood in front of this building and watched my son march to war. I watched him march to his death. And I cheered, do you hear me?—I cheered!” The contemptyour troubles and most of your dignity—to laugh and laugh again.Mr. Wynn’s jokes fall like manna from heaven upon the weary play-goer who is fed up with the funeral or trashy humor of more of our so-called comedians. Humor is all a matter of opinion, of course, as is everything else—some people read tabloid newspapers. But the humor of Mr. Wynnhas universal appeal, and it would be safe to bet that no one has come out of the Imperial Theatre without having laughed, and without appreciating the artistry of The Perfect Fool.¥*“The Greeks Had a Word For Them”There is an excellent movie bill at the Rivoli Theatre in Times Square this week, where the picture version of the stage success, “The Greeks Had a Word For Them” is playing. Besides the feature there is a short called “Screen Souvenirs,” in which parts of the earliest motion pictures are shown. It is a rare treat to see the old-time famous actors pull out their bags of tricks—and what tricks! I never sawfor himself, the remorse and sorrow that the old man expresses in those lines will stir the most phlegmatic ofpicture audiences.* * *“The Laugh Parade”It is to laugh continuously to see “The Laugh Parade.” It is to laugh uproariously to see that blue-ribbon jackass, Ed (Perfect Fool) Wynn doing his particularly funny stuff in“The Laugh Parade.To Mr. Wynn go the honors for the entire evening’s entertainment—withthe exception of the singing. Mr. Wynn makes no attempt to reveal any bird-like qualities in his voice, be-ing intent upon showing you just how much of a laughing hyena he can be. The show was Mr. Wynn’s idea. He produced and staged it—and it has turned out to be one of the biggest hits in his career. Playing to packed houses every night at the Imperial Theatre, Mr. Wynn, being a perfect showman, manages to put across everyone of his jokes and digs. There is perhaps no comedian on Broadway who can time laugh lines as can Mr. Wynn. He works his audience up toanything as awful as a part of a picture made about 1905, in which Henry B. Walthall does a death scene. And one of the thrilling souvenirs was a picture of Buffalo Bill Cody re-enacting one of his encounters with an Indian tribe.“The Greeks Had a Word For Them” features three of Hollywood’s most exciting blonds—Ina Claire, Joan Blondell and Madge Evans. All arewell cast and all are good actresses. Ina is so good in the part of a scheming Riverside Drive siren that she will have a hard time living down the reputation she gives herself by her realistic performance. Madge Evans doesn’t draw very much sympathy in her role but it must be the role, because Madge has already proved herself a sweet person. Joan Blondell is most lovable. Her comedy is unstilted and unbridled, but not a bit messy.The gowns worn in the picture were specially designed by Chanel of Paris, who came to Hollywood especially to supervise the work on them. The direction was well-handled by Lowell Sherman, who also acts the part of Boris Feldman, three-thousand-dollar “piano player.” He is convincing inhis role, as are the other players.The story deals with three girls who are always together and “out for good.” They quarrel amongnothemselves occasionally and infringe upon each other’s territory—the “territory” being, in most cases, any man —free or fettered—who can provide the luxuries of a pent-house and a checking account.The dialogue is entertaining straightthrough the picture. Sidney Howard adapted the story creditably—his laurels are growing steadily these dayhe has had good luck with his adapta tions as well as with his own plays.
Newspaper Details
Bronxville Press
Bronxville, New York, US
Tue, Feb 09, 1932
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Rotten T.
USA 08 Sep 2021
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