Judge — June 6, 1931 — page 22: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

JUDGWG MO wat should have been an Wis picture, what cer- tainly was an amusing litt play, got lost somewhere in transit between Broadw nd Hollywood, with the result that “Up Pops. the Devil” is just about as amusing as a radio speech on prosperity. nis play was neither original nor ambitious. It was made originally from gentle scraps of “Saturday's Children” and some of the comic strips of “Young Man of Manhat- tan.” There was a thread of a play, a story of a young advertising man who wants to write, a giri who goes to work earning a living so he may do so, and the subsequent trouble the couple have because the writer loses his self-respect under the onus of being a kept man. “[Je Pors tur Devin" was pro- duced on the Coast so the pro- ducers and Director Sutherland had ample opportunity to see the show be- fore they made it. And if they had looked closely they must have seen that the thing had only one act, but that it was amusing beeause it had some modern wise-cracks, some ga Greenwich Vi » drunkards, and a ce that moved the young couple along swiftly toward a happy ending. If they had noticed their property this closely they could have done one or two things with it: let Mr. Kober add wis ks until the show was outright comedy or they could have rewritten the entire show and made new movie. But the producers and Director Sutherland did nothing except photo- graph the play as she stood, doesn’t look like the same play now the boys in Hollywood shoul’ know that a play has more to it than nd two curtains. Here medy that was tried out in stock, rewritten two or three times, put on the road for three weeks, re- written constantly, so by the time it appeared in New York it had unity, a ood pace, and it was a show that held together. JUDGE By PARE LORENTZ Director Sutherland just set his camera up in a Crane's bathtub set that looked like no apartment occu- pied by an advertising man east of the Rockies, 1 let his cast wander through their lines. The sound and photography is so bad you can neither see nor hear the characters part of the time. What once were amusing lines come forth so slowly they stretch themselves horizontally on the floor as quickly as so many’ British heavy- weights. “Up Pops the Devil” is not worth your time, but it is a class- room example of bad movie judgment and unimaginative direction. A great p ned on celluloid may turn out to be almost anything; a mild p treated turns out to be nothing M«: Lowett Suerman, who has earned his service stripes as a lady killer these many years, may have had fun directing and acting the leading réle in’ “Bachelor Apart- ment,” but he is one of the few people 1 the world who gets any fun out of it. I wouldn't mind myself, standing before a camera, leering idly at the electri ile young women jumped in bed, under bed, and out the kitchen door, but I wouldn't ask an audience to take it in good fun. Of course, there is real movie romance in the show, be a poor working girl supports her sister and protects the family virtue and shows Mr. Sherman so all. usi Recommended “City Lights"—Chaplin in a silent but great picture. thriller with the Miss Sydney and mmett dialogue worth Page"—Uproarious and | turned nicely by excel- cast, but well directed. comedy Sous Les worth your “The Secret Six”—Overdone but effec- tive acting by Mr. Beery, and con- vincing at times. ny a year. 20 “Tabu"—The loveliest picture you will | LS oA } # that true love is worth all manner of bachelor activities. Irene Dunne, one of the few young actresses on the sercen who has dignity and maturity. is woefully miscast as a working girl nd if they don't put her in gowns and sables they're crazy. ‘They're downright. sav yo omake her work in) many as bad as Bachelor Apartment. “GS 1x-Crtixpee Love” is just as out moded as its horse-power, and the picture of a young man buying a car on the instalment plan, stealing funds from his employer and. then worm-turning into an active husband seems as old-fashioned and sadly out of date as an essay on “Americaniza tion or the Great Melting Pot.” Spen cer Tracy, as a go-getting salesman, squeezes some comedy into his old part, but the whole show is so dated, so overacted and bombastic I wouldn't ask you to bother about it. I you want to see a show called “The Good Bad Girl” don’t let me stop you, but if you have any judg ment at all you'll stay home and play backgammon. Tre nature epics that might have been amusing if they had been sent to the cutting room are further dam aged by two solemn gentlemen who deliberately burlesque mild hunt and fishing expeditions by working themselves into Graham MeNamce lathers and assuring us the heroes of Ti : of the Deey at their jobs. As you can sce by glancing at the pictures, the gentlemen adventurers are well protected by elephants in one case and a big boat in the other. 1 don’t doubt that it fun, and if the announcers had stayed away the two pictures, cut vigorously, would make good fifteen - minute entertainments. As they stand they are just about as ng as a trip to the Bronx Zoo, and, if you ask me, not nearly as dangerous. comicbooks.com