Judge — November 1935 — page 20: what you’re looking at

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

Judge THE MOVIES tune of Mendelssohn, is indeed a By PARE LORENTZ beautiful. ephemeral Titania—and T IS a natural wonder in itself. and has very little relationsh: to Hollywood and the conduct of »vie business past or present, but lidsummer Night’s Dream” is a fine picture, neither solemn, edu- cating, or uplifting, but melodious, beautiful to see. Produced by Max Reinhardt. the technical crew, the al arranger, Eric Korngold the composer, and the st equal honors in’ that t pie ture is, among other things, photographically and tech- full-grown, an neramen share nically the most important picture we have had during the talking picture era R inhardt, in his first movie, has shown the master for whi h he has been given credit in a dozen cour tries and which, if you ever had any doubts over, has n rrated a long, sometimes tedious, and diffuse Eliza- omedy to work with, Reinhardt did not ur the usual seventy-minute movie pace. It runs tle short of three hours now, but with the ex of one ballet scene toward the end of the first the movie, and the lesque show at the iclusion, the picture ctly. It has a id a gusto in periect h the lush phrases okel comedy, a time orngold helps make with his at of Mendelssohn’, mer Night's Dream” perfe xpert ar- ering the fact that t was content to let ikespeare’s. words ell: : achievement shows urly in the way the is handled: the long the fine words of one, his real nturies ago, seem and simple under t's expert timing— nd simple from such mes Cagney. Joe E. Brown, Frank McHugh, and Hugh Herbert There is one fellow even Reinhardt couldn't move from his high plane of st ympetency—Dick Powell remains Dick Po Reinhardt, hell and to the acute discomf nd high water, to his ow rt of audiences ate, flip, toothy, and complacent, Mister Powell does his best to turn the picture into an ordinary croon- ical comedy. him this tim And he might have learned—certainly James Cagney and Hugh Herbert and particularly Frank McHugh were docile enough, and evidently willing to tame their own Shakespeare disadvantage ffemir ing m However, the odds were against egos to Reinhardt’s uses. But a discussion of individual players may lead you astray—actually the players are not important. Anita Louise, in a blonde wig, and seen through amazing light filters, and to the so with all the players. (From now on we go on the assumption that Mr. Powell isn't in the picture, where), therwise we'll get no- While “Midsummer Night's Dream" is a triumph for the technical crew and for Reinhardt, who knew what to ask them to do, it is only fair to put in a word playwright, Mr. SI You will find it a most surprising and refreshing expe- rience to hear love spoken of on the sc or the re. kespe Mas an exciting, lusty business, You'll be even slightly shocked to tind kings of that day considered it a most pleasant and blood- stirring business to go a-courting, and that far from find- a painful, oh-the-pity-of busine they find it vbout the most amusing thing they could do—and when Io say “they” T mean all the characters concerned in the picture—Oberon, Titania, Hippolyta, Herr even Bottom, the Weaver ing and Shakespeare about as she was written; the most bea ful picture 1 days, you wil mer Nigh one of the most imp ade in talking find “Midsum- s Dream to be rtant movies vou ever have se n, The fact that the movie in- dustry can not toss out a Shakespeare or a Reinhardt every year in a decade; that all the skill and tinesse and good taste evidenced in this picture will have no in on future movie prod that the idea of lusty. healthy and amusir to be preferre and neurotic procrastination uence mn; ve-making is to anemic over love in the stract—all prove that grew out these facts, whic the picture neith of Hollywe nd nor will sow ive nothing to do with the fact that “Midsum- mer Night’s Drea has been made, and beautife ind that you can see it the subject of “Anna Kar: * but I MEANT to take up alter thinking about Reinha i r sick. A mo picture, leaving Garbo aside—the further the bette the moment; you find the boys have swo It’s product syllabic, sonorous costume movie, this din the daily papers over a problem picture of divorce and ante-war Russian court society. Phe characters are so sloppily drawn all of The officers are mus: officers, the court is so straight-lac emerge as icatures, 1 comedy I—the Russian court! k to Miss G. t even her best friend will spe (Page 29, ph rho when ase) Ps comicbooks.com