Judge — December 1937 — page 23: what you’re looking at

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

HE HURRICANE is the kind of movie that is completely given away by its title. Everything is lovely in the South Seas—a few white people drink- ing brandy, a lot of Goldwyn girls stained brown feasting and doing native dances—but every time the breeze fresh- ens you lean forward and wonder if this is it. Before the hurricane breaks there is a native wedding, an excit- ing jailbreak, a 600-mile trip in an outrigger, much surly talk from Raymond Massey about duty, even a fight between the hero, weak with hunger, and two sharks. But finally the wind starts rising, the window shades rattle and someone re- marks, “The devil is abroad tonight.” You know what is coming. But unless you are the sort that takes newspaper ad- vertisements seriously you will scarcely be prepared for the size of this hurricane. It has nothing to do with the rest of the movie; it merely makes Raymond Massey stop talking about duty for a few min- utes. But as a hurricane it is tremendous. I never saw so many people” drowned. Even shaggy old C. Aubrey Smith is carried away. Mary Astor and Raymond Massey, Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall are left. But that is just about all. After everything has quieted down and the hero and heroine go paddling off into a South Seas sunset, Mary Astor as Mme. DeLaage says to Raymond Mas- sey, passing the back of her hand across her eyes, “I think I am a little tired.” Says Raymond Massey, "I know, I know, my dear.” Charles Boyer wears an artificial nose and an artificial stomach, Greta Garbo is extremely lovely. Conquest is a bad film. The reason is that it cost something like $3,000,000. You can write a movie about Napole if you try, without writing lines like: Napoleon (kissing her ten- derly) : “I have signed many treaties but this is the first time I have found peace.” But you would never do it if you knew the movie was going to cost $3,000,000. Perhaps magnificent movies are bound to be like that. ‘When somebody in the Metro-Gold- wyn-Mayer studios decided to make Con- quest a magnificent movie he was not only terribly impressed with the idea but he somehow managed to communicate December 1937 MOVIES that feeling about it to everybody else who so much as set foot on the lot. Or perhaps it is only that historical movies are bound to be like that. Vic- toria the Great is painfully authentic. All the scenes that are played in an in- terior of St. James's actually are played in an interior of St. James's, graciously loaned by the royal family for the free publicity. All the speeches that could be checked up on are scrupulously historic, seeming to come out of a museum equally with Queen Victoria's state coach, also loaned by the royal family. Anna Neagle ages sixty years on the screen and though I aged considerably less in the audience, I aged some. The producers were Eng- lishmen and, being Englishmen, they did not take their job lightly. I believe there is a technicolor finish. I wonder where Hollywood is going to find enough comedies for all these peo- ple who are suddenly turning out to be comedians. Now it is Leslie Howard. He is a Shakespearian actor in It’s Love I'm After. He and Bette Davis and Olivia DeHaviland twist through a complicated farcical plot that builds into a highly amusing picture. It is all very capably written and excellently directed—though I am not skilfull enough to be able to tell precisely where writing leaves off and directing begins. Perhaps it is very capably directed and excellently written —who knows? —Rosert TERRALL “W by isn't there anybody here to answer the phone?” comicbooks.com