Critical Moments

About a decade ago the first “Bulldog Drummond” novel appeared. It came from the typewriter of an Englishman named H. C. McNellie; its success was instantaneous and the moving pictures always on the lookout for good film material, allowed it to lay untouched until just a few seasons back when Ronald Colman was employed to bring the dashing Captain Drummond character to the screen. The picture was one of the most profitable ventures undertaken and now Twentieth Century has engaged Mr. Colman and made “Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back,” which is playing at the Rivoll, much to the delight of all lovers of the melodrama.

Drummond, as he is portrayed on the screen is the ideal Englishman, gallant, brave, trustworthy and ready for adventure at any time. His penchant is running down unspeakably cruel and ruthless crooks and he manages to get this man or men regardless of the odds stacked against him. In “Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back” the excitement occurs during one hectic night. Briefly it concerns the horrifying experiences of a young girl (Loretta Young) who with her aunt has registered at a small London hotel. She leaves her aunt for a few hours and returns to find that no one will admit that either her aunt or herself ever stayed at the hotel. Of course it is all a plot and has something to do with a dreaded disease and the schemes of the crooks who—but then I really can’t tell you—it would spoil all the fun, needless to say the plot moves along with speed and dispatch. There are the usual quota of murders, kidnappings and other felonious acts but in addition, and that is what lifts this picture far above the ordinary, a humorous subplot which shows the agonizing antics of Drummond’s pal Algy who, on the night all the excitement is happening, got married, and cannot get back to his wife because Drummond needs him.

The cast from Ronald Colman down act in a breezy and delightful manner. The dialogue is bright and the directing intelligent. All in all “Drummond Strikes Back” is Class double A entertainment. It is one of those pictures that you simply cannot find fault with.

DAMES

Warner Brothers latest musical “Dames” with an extensive cast including Ruby Keeler, Joan Blondell, Dick Powell and Zasu Pitts is another Warner Brothers musical and by that I am not disparaging. The musical films of this company rank high and “Dames” is easily up to average. The tunes are unusually catching, you’ll be hearing them over the radio, the dancing lively and clever and the cast willing and able. There is a plot but it is unimportant and has little if anything to do with the enjoyment of the film. Sufficient to know it is based on the whims of a multi-millionaire character who hates singing, dancing and other pleasures, His ambition is to establish a society to uplift morals; but his daughter (Ruby Keeler) wants to dance and sing—which naturally leads to complications.

WHAT A WIFE?

Tall Aline MacMahon, easily one of Hollywood’s best character actresses, has had more luck than most cinema stars in that she has been given roles that fitted her particular type of acting; however she has had her lapses and the new picture called “Side Street” which came from the First National Studios to the Mayfair Theatre is one of them.

Manuel Seff ex-Broadway press agent is responsible for the adaptation of the screen play which concerns itself with the trials and tribulations of a long suffering wife and a philandering husband. Aline MacMahon is the wife and Paul Kelly acts the husband with a roving eye for other women. His escapades with other ladies are legion but his wife, for reasons best known to herself, allows the gentleman all the freedom he wishes. When one of his girl friends is about to give birth, the wife does not flinch, in fact she makes plans to adopt the baby. The climax is reached when the husband about to desert his wife for good, finds her rocking the little one to sleep. He is so touched by this maternal act that he sends his new girl packing and returns to his wife.

All of which wouldn’t have been so bad if the wife at some point in the picture showed a little spirit and a willingness to tell her erring mate a few things. Her complete surrender is a trifle difficult to believe. Nobody but a complete moron could be so meek and Aline MacMahon’s spirited acting is not of that calibre. Always an admirable actress she does the best she can with the material at hand. Paul Kelly as the wandering husband is also almost human and believable. But the film as a whole is inferior cinema fare.