Geckos, Sea Turtles, and Seahorses...oh my!

Not all of my time is spent sprawled out on the front lawn playing with dog feces and scaring old ladies- I also got some canvases finished and a new one started. This first canvas, the gecko, was done with watercolor pencils, acrylic paint, markers, pens, and glaze. The gecko is Sherry Goshon's belated b'day gift... yes, I am always late for everything. Sherry taught me how to use the watercolor pencils and glaze on canvases.The next canvas is a green sea turtle. Sea turtles are a big thing around here. They come in from the Gulf and nest on the beaches of Anna Maria Island. This canvas was done with acrylic paint and texture medium for the back ground. The turtle was done with watercolor pencils and pens. This seahorse canvas was done with acrylic paint, watercolor pencils, pens, markers and glaze.This is a new canvas I just started. The yellow background is mulberry tissue paper, and the sun and woman were done with watercolor pencils and acrylic paint. I still have a lot to do to this one- I decided to open an Etsy shop and will try to sell some of these canvases and the beaded critters.I am so excited about tomorrow night. We are going to the The Ringling Relics Retrospective Gallery Opening, Auction and Sale held in Sarasota at the Sarasota Architectural Salvage. I e-mailed an RSVP to them this evening stating we would be attending. I will be sure and take my camera so I can get some photos to share. Have a great weekend, everyone!Linda Fleming

My Writing Holiday Gift—Robin

Today we had our annual Children’s Writers Holiday Luncheon and book exchange. It’s always a blast to catch up with our local writer friends and then watch their mouths drop when you steal a book from them during the gift exchange. Ha! Just trying to keep it interesting, y’all! Last year, I walked away with my own copy of Twilight. Which turned out to be a new favorite of mine. So I’m hoping this year’s book will turn out to be another.I have (ahem, stole…sorry, Yvonne!) a copy of What I Saw and How I Lied, by Judy Blundell. Just the cover art and back flap got me excited to read it. Here’s a review from Publisher’s Weekly. Anyone else hearing buzz about this book? Can’t wait to dig in!ReviewBlundell, author of Star Wars novelizations, turns out a taut, noirish mystery/coming-of-age story set in 1947; it's easy to picture it as a film starring Lana Turner, who is mentioned in these pages. When first met, 15-year-old Evie and her best friend are buying chocolate cigarettes to practice smoking. Evie sheds that innocence on a trip to Florida, where her stepfather, Joe, back from the war in Europe, abruptly takes her and her beautiful mother, Beverly, and where Evie falls in love with glamorous Peter, an army buddy whom Joe is none too happy to see. But after a boating accident results in a suspicious death and an inquest, Evie is forced to revisit her romance with Peter and her relationships with Joe and her mother, and to consider that her assumptions about all three may have been wrong from the beginning. Blundell throws Evie's inexperience into high relief with slangy, retro dialogue: Peter calls Evie pussycat ; Beverly says her first husband kicked through love like it was dust and he kept on walking. Readers can taste Evie's alienation and her yearning; it's a stylish, addictive brew. --Publisher's Weekly

Boris Karloff In the 30's

Lizzie's day off, so Lolly is filling in.gdh5/6/1934 LAX Movie-Go-Round By Louella O. Parsons Ernst Lubitsch created a sensation on The Merry Widow set the other day when, after listening to Chevalier and MacDonald sing a number, he grabbed his cigar out of his mouth, lifted his head and broke into song himself. Nobody knew Ernst could sing. Herbert Stothart, who was playing the piano, says that the Lubitsch voice is really quite good and would record excellently. Wouldn't be amusing if our most sophisticated director had crooner potentialities? .... Jackie Cooper is in love again! The young lady of his heart is Ottilie Kruger, 8-year-old daughter of Otto Kruger. both are staying at Catalina Island where Treasure Island is being shot, and Jackie pouts and all but refuses to go to the isthmus to shoot unless Ottilie can come. When he goes without her he can hardly wait to get back. He has taken her dancing at one or two of the Treasure Island parties. And, thrill of thrills, every time he has a spare minute between scenes he take Ottilie riding in a big speedboat which he pilots himself. .... When Edward Everett Horton's father, a struggling New York newspaper reporter, married Eddie's mother, he was too poor to buy her an engagement ring. A gold band was all he could afford. But he promised that the first extra sum of money would go for a solitaire. Instead of the money along came babies and cares and responsibilities, and the result that he never could manage the diamond ring. Years passed and Eddie's father died and still no engagement ring. So, on her seventieth birthday, a short time ago, Eddie bought his mother the engagement ring, a square-cut diamond. .... One of the Hollywood genties who is sighing over Virginia Pine's romance with George Raft is Ronald Colman. It appears that Colman was Virginia's escort at quite a number of dinner parties and was quite smitten with the Chicago heiress. More smitten, in fact, than the elusive Ronald has ever been known to be. He paid her marked attention. .... Cigar-smoking is not one of May Robson's habits. She had to learn to smoke that big black stogie in Reunion In Vienna. In telling about it she says: "It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I didn't even know how to handle a cigar. Our property man had a cigar made for me with a hollow center in which he put a tube of cubeb tobacco, kept alight with a rubber tubing. I practiced nonchalantly flipping imaginary ashes from a fountain pen until I was able to acquire the proper technique."Boris Karloff In the 30'sABBREVIATIONSDN -- Los Angeles Daily NewsEE -- Los Angeles Evening ExpressEH -- Los Angeles Evening HeraldEHE -- Los Angeles Evening Herald ExpressFD -- Film DailyHCN -- Hollywood Citizen NewsHDC – Hollywood Daily CitizenIDN – Illustrated Daily NewsLAR -- Los Angeles RecordLAPR -- Los Angeles Post-RecordLAX -- Los Angeles ExaminerMPH -- Motion Picture Herald**7/14/1930 FD Behind that CurtainFox Length: Sound, 8320 ft. No Silent Version (All-Talker) Interesting mystery picture with fine desert shots. First class audience stuff. Drama. Adapted from the story by Earl Derr Biggers. A good deal different from the original story and lacking in the novel's punch. At that Irving Cummings, the director, handled the material in a showmanship manner. He extracted all the screen values that lay dormant there, and did a good job. He also injected a lot of his own sterling craftsmanship. From this you may gather that it is essentially a director's picture. It is–but occasionally ragged continuity hurts. Gilbert Emery tucks the affair under his arm and walks away from Warner Baxter. Emery as the Scotland Yard man is a treat, and we should see more of his easy manner and hear his perfect English diction many times and oft. Lois Moran and Baxter do nice work. CAST: Warner Baxter, Lois Moran, Gilbert Emery, Claude King, Phillip Strange, Boris Karloff, Jamiel Hansen, Peter Gawthorne, John Rogers, Montague Shaw, Finch Smiles, Mercede De Valasco, E.L. Park. Director, Irving Cummings; Author, Earl Derr Biggers; Scenarists, Sonja Levien, Clarke Silvernail; Editor, Vincent Farrar; Adaptors, Sonja Levien, Clarke Silvernail; Dialoguer, George Middleton; Cameramen, Conrad Wells, Dave Ragin. Direction, Showmanship. Photography, Beautiful.8/10/1930 FD The Sea BatMGM Time, 1 hr., 14 mins. Wild meller of South Sea island filled with hooey that brings laughs in wrong places. One of the season's worst. This is an original story by Mabel Yost. It's a cinch that Miss Yost never visited the South Seas, or rather, the Bahama Islands, where this is supposed to take place. But listen to the yarn, and judge for yourself. Raquel Torres, as the daughter of a Spanish superintendent of a sponge fishery on an island, goes voodoo along with the natives. Her lover is killed by a giant ray, or sea bat. A rival half-breed infatuated with the girl, traps him into his death. Then along comes an escaped convict from Devil's Island (Charles Bickford) who has swiped a minister's garments, and poses as such. The fact that the records prove that no prisoner ever escaped from Devil's Island makes no difference to Miss Yost. And so on, and so on, till it becomes childish. The hardboileds the balcony of Loew's New York gave it the haw-haw, which is enough. CAST Raquel Torres, Charles Bickford, Nils Asther, George F. Marion, John Marion, Boris Karloff, Gibson Gowland, Edmund Breese, Mathilde Commont, Mack Swain. Director, Wesley Ruggles; Author, Dorothy Yost; Adaptors, Bess Meredyth, John Howard Lawson; Dialoguers, the same; Editor, Harry Reynolds; Monitor Man, Douglas Shearer; Cameraman, Ira Morgan. Direction, best the material afforded. Photography, fair.8/22/1930 HDC Elizabeth Yeaman Three of the best action players in Hollywood have been added to the cast of The Utah Kid, Rex Lease's first western picture for Tiffany. Thomas Santschi, Walter Miller and Boris Karloff, all well known for their character roles in dramatic types of outdoor pictures, comprise the trio. Dorothy Sebastian was selected yesterday for the leading feminine role.8/22/1930 LAX Louella O. Parsons What an audience there is for bandits, Wild West thrillers and fast-moving melodrama. Tiffany is about to make The Utah Kid on a large scale. Rex Lease, who seems, by the way, to have lived down the unpleasant publicity he received when he was arrested by Vivian Duncan a few months ago, has the lead. Dorothy Sebastian has been signed as the leading lady. Dorothy does get around, we must say. She is here, there and everywhere, being one of those girls who seem to fit into nearly any picture. Thomas Santschi, Walter Miller, Boris Karloff are other members of the cast, with Richard Thorpe directing. Wonder when King Vidor's Billy the Kid will be released. I am told it is a fine picture.11/23/1930 FD The Utah KidTiffany Time, 57 Mins. A real western packing a punch with hard riding and two-gun play that will please the regulars. A good old-fashioned western put over with the silent technique. This means that the tough hombre and cowpunchers don't stand around gabbing for ten-minute stretches, like a bunch of society debs as has become the custom in so many of our western talkies. They go into action, and stay that way right through the film. Lester Scott supervised this one, which probably accounts for it. Scott is an old-timer when it comes to making westerns, and he uses dialogue only when the action requires it. It's just the good old hole, and has nothing particularly new. The hero is a member of a bandit gang, meets the girl, saves her from the gang by marrying her. She happens to be engaged to the sheriff, who is after the hero. So with this setup the developments prove exciting and interesting. Features a knock-down fight between Rex Lease and Tom Santschi that is a wow. CAST: Rex Lease, Dorothy Sebastian, Tom Santschi, Mary Carr, Walter Miller, Lafe McKee, Boris Karloff, Bud Osborne. Director, Richard Thorpe; Author, Frank Howard Clark; Adaptor, The Same; Dialoguer, The Same; Editor, Billy Bolen; Cameraman, Arthur Reed. Direction, Snappy. Photography, Fair. 1/4/1931 FD The Criminal CodeColumbia Time, 1 hr., 37 mins. Intense prison drama with strong situations and a gripping romance. Huston is powerful. With a punch that is a knockout, this talkie version of the stage success is a heart gripper of the first class. The director has presented a thoroughly fine piece of dramatic work and the characterizations of Walter Huston and Phillips Holmes are powerful and sturdy. As the district attorney who sends Holmes to prison only to later find himself warden and faced by Holmes and thousands of other convicts whom he has prosecuted. Huston handles his part with all the strength of his talents. The prison scenes are realistic and thrilling and the romance between Holmes and the warden's daughter is beautifully done. It's a picture for strong men and women who don't mind crying a bit. CAST: Walter Huston, Phillips Holmes, Constance Cummings, Mary Doran, DeWitt Jennings, John Sheehan, Boris Karloff, Otto Hoffman, Clark Marshall, Arthur Hoyt, Ethel Wales, Nicolas Soussanin, Paul Porcasi, James Guilfoyle, Lee Phelps, Hugh Walker, Jack Vance. Director, Howard Hawks; Author, Martin Flavin; Adaptor, Fred Niblo Jr.; Dialoguer, Same; Editor, Edward Curtis; Cameraman, James Wong Howe; Recording Engineer, Glenn Rominger. Direction, Masterful. Photography, Excellent.1/8/1931 LAX The Criminal Code By Louella O. Parsons Arthur Byron became such an intangible part of The Criminal Code on the stage that unconsciously every time the play is mentioned you visualize him in the principal role. I wonder whether even Walter Huston could meet this opposition, but ten minutes in the Orpheum Theater convinced me that other characters may have been indifferently cast, but no one could possibly improve upon Huston's performance. Curiously enough, Mr. Huston makes no effort to imitate Arthur Byron. He furnishes his own characterization and does it so well that his crisp "Yes" and his manner of smoking his black cigars become a part of Matthew Brady, first district attorney, and later warden. Martin Flavin's play, The Criminal Code, was a sad, tragic–yes, gloomy–play on the stage. ON the screen it loses none of its atmosphere, but it brightens toward the end when the boy is freed and released from the charge of complicity in a prison murder. The criminal code that exists among prisoners that no one shall "snitch" is the cause of the mental crucifixion of the young boy imprisoned for a murder he committed in self-defense. Phillips Holmes is splendid as the boy. He is so poignant in his emotions, and his suffering is intensely real. The part of the girl is, of course, greatly overshadowed by the men. Constance Cummings plays the warden's daughter, a nice role for a beginner. Miss Cummings is very pretty, and I have no doubt will improve with experience. She is still young and obviously new to emotional roles. No one who sees Boris Karloff as Galloway will forget him. He had the same role on the stage and he is excellent as the sulky, brooding prisoner who bides his time until he gets even with Gleason. No prison story is complete without DeWitt Jennings as a police officer. His Gleason is one of the highlights. Mary Doran is effective in a small, but important role, so are Ethel Wales as the aunt, Otto Hoffman as Pales, another prisoner, and Nicholas Soussanin as the police doctor. In spite of certain definite changes in the very well constructed play, The Criminal Code stands out as entertainment of no ordinary quality.1/8/1931 EH The Criminal Code Opened at the Orpheum jan. 7. Taken from the play by Martin Flavin. Directed by Howard Hawks. CAST: Constance Cummings, Walter Huston, Phillips Holmes, Mary Doran, DeWitt Jennings, John Sheehan, Boris Karloff, Arthur Hoyt, Ethel Wales and John St. Polis. By W.E. Oliver Coming late in the vogue of prison pictures, The Criminal Code, now at the Orpheum, should old a strong place among the very best of its ilk. In fact, it grips the emotions as potently as any of them. The merits of the fine play from which it is adapted are partly responsible for this. In addition, some honest changes in the story give it a hopeful note lacking in the play. More than this are the intelligent of Howard Hawks and the grand acting of Walter Huston as Warden Brady, young Phillips Holmes as the youth condemned to penal servitude by a combination of fate's vagaries and the law's inexorable code, Boris Karloff playing the cadaverous convict, and DeWitt Jennings, Constance Cummings, John St. Polis playing respectively the jailer, the warden's daughter and the prison doctor. CHANGES HELP These changes in the story and Walter Huston give the picture a conviction that the play lacked, particularly toward the end where the fortuity which sent the boy to prison was repeated in having him murder a jailer on the eve of his parole. The version on the screen undoubtedly is made with both eyes on the box office. But I contend it loses nothing by its addition of a hopeful ending, and it sacrifices hardly anything in its strong preachment against the rotting effects of our penal system. Although it lacks the sustained mood of the stage play, on the screen The Criminal Code is fuller of emotional appeal and suspense. I vastly prefer it. Walter Huston's Warden Brady will be suitable company for the grand assortment of screen portrayals he has already supplied this screen. The playing of Phillips Holmes brings utter conviction to the role of Robert Graham, a boy who brings a lump in the throat when he dazedly admits first to the sympathetic district attorney that he is "sometimes called Bob," and later, as a despair-sodden lump, when he is brought before Huston, now the prison warden. There are few young men in Hollywood who could have done so handily with the role. ROMANCE EFFECTIVE A slender thread of romance, repressed almost to inarticulate measure, falls almost entirely on the shoulders of Constance Cummings, who deals very well with it. This love affair, by the way, is doubly effective against the drab backing of prison walls and men without women. Others in the cast are Ethel Wales, Mary Doran, Arthur Hoyt and John Sheehan. Theatrical resources barrel to the stage are used with telling effect by director Hawks. Particularly unforgettable are the "yammering" scenes as thousands of convicts snarl in sullen chorus. Details of prison life are depleted with reality, where the stage suggested them in a conventionalized way. Much of this realism comes, I understand, from the suggestion of a former convict, who acted in an advisory capacity. The Criminal Code is one of Hollywood's best recent products. Whether you are out just for entertainment or are interested in prison reform you will enjoy it. Nat Carr, in a short burlesque, Trader Ginsberg, a Schumann-Heink song feature, an Aesop Fable and the sound news fill out the screen offerings.1/8/1931 EE The Criminal Code By Jimmy Starr "An eye for an eye—the basis and foundation of our criminal code!"—shouted the district attorney. "I know the boy is sorry, but a man lies dead upon a slab in the morgue! Somebody has to pay for that!" Such was the speech made by the district attorney to a lawyer making a feeble attempt to save an unknown boy from the disgrace and hardships of prison; to save him from giving society 10 years of his life. But the boy is not saved. Despite the fact that even the district attorney knows a "way out," he is bound by duty to win his case....to send a youth to almost sure ruin because of an "accident," one misstep. How the district attorney, later made warden of the prison, saves this boy is a drama you must not miss! Martin Flavin's powerful, daring play, "The Criminal Code," has been transferred to the audible screen with even more suspense and terrific punch than was acquired upon the stage! The film opened last night at the Orpheum Theater before a thrilled audience that became so enraptured with the magnificent performances applause was often heard after actors had completed scenes. An unusual tribute indeed! Walter Huston, in the central role of the district attorney and prison warden, gives his best performances. With all due credit to Arthur Byron, who played the role on the stage, Huston surpasses him because he lives the character, breathes and thinks like a man would in such a position....he is human! Although Huston handles the role magnificently, he is not alone the sole receiver of all the laurels. Phillips Holmes, as the boy, goes beyond any of his previous efforts and turns in a grand performance....a portrayal that will go down with Huston's to be written firmly on the pages of motion picture history. And there is one other who runs third for honors—Boris Karloff, the sinister Galloway—a killer made by prison tactics, by brutality. Karloff will win an exclusive place in pictures with his work. He is superb! Others who win printed plaudits are: Constance Cummings, a newcomer, who is definitely a "find." She possesses a natural charm and talent that will take her a long way on the cinematic path. Second is DeWitt Jennings in the difficult, but excellently done, role of Gleason, brutal prison guard. Third is Mary Doran, who contributes a fine bit of acting as the girl who caused the boy's mistake. Arthur Hoyt, John St. Polis, Otto Hoffman, John Sheehan, Clark Marshall, Andy Devine and Ethel Wales all aid greatly in making up a perfect supporting cast. Director Howard Hawks, responsible for The Dawn Patrol, again proves his ability for handling heavy, dramatic themes without once veering to the melodramatic. He displays an unusual talent for maintaining the proper amount of suspense, and his steady, even tempo is something to be regarded highly. Fred Niblo Jr., and Seton I. Miller are credited with the adaptation of the play and additional dialogue. They have kept close to the original, injecting several added thrills and splendid lines. Their sane treatment of the delicate theme is an outstanding note of the production. Well, I must say the movie fans are getting their share of good pictures. You'll get a big thrill from The Criminal Code. It is truly an excellent film—if you haven't guessed so already from what I've been saying. There is an amusing comedy, Trader Ginsberg, starring Nat Carr, along with an Aesop Fable film and Pathe news weekly. 1/9/1931 LAX The Criminal Code By Louella O. Parsons Arthur Byron became such an intangible part of The Criminal Code on the stage that unconsciously every time the play is mentioned you visualize him in the principal role. I wonder whether even Walter Huston could meet the opposition, but ten minutes in the Orpheum Theater convinced me that other characters may have been differently cast, but no one could possibly improve upon the Huston performance. Curiously enough, Mr. Huston makes no effort to imitate Arthur Byron. He furnishes his own characterization and does it so well that his crisp "yes" and his manner of smoking his black cigars become a part of Matthew Brady, first district attorney, and later warden. Martin Flavin's play, "The Criminal Code," was a sad, tragic—yes, gloomy—play on the stage. On the screen it loses none of its atmosphere, but it brightens toward the end when the boy is freed and released from the charge of complicity in a prison murder. The criminal code that exists among prisoners that no one shall "snitch" is the cause of the mental crucifixion of the young boy imprisoned for a murder he committed in self-defense. Phillips Holmes is splendid as the boy. He is so poignant in his emotions, and his suffering is intensely real. The part of the girl is, of course, greatly overshadowed by the men. Constance Cummings plays the warden's daughter, a nice role for a beginner. Miss Cummings is very pretty, and I have no doubt will improve with experience. She is still young and obviously new to emotional roles. No one who sees Boris Karloff as Galloway will forget him. He had the same role on the stage and he is excellent as the sulky, brooding prisoner who bides his time until he gets even with Gleason. No prison story is complete without DeWitt Jennings as a police officer. His Gleason is one of the highlights. Mary Doran is effective in a small, but important role, so are Ethel Wales as the aunt, Otto Hoffman as Pales, another prisoner, and Nicholas Soussanin as the prison doctor. In spite of certain definite changes in the very well constructed play, The Criminal Code stands out as entertainment of no ordinary quality.4/18/1931 LAX Cracked Nuts By Marquis Busby It's just no use judging Cracked Nuts, current at the Orpheum Theater, by any standards of drama, comedy, grand opera or terpsichore. From the opening scene wherein Bert Wheeler is thrown from a hotel to the closing moment when Edna May Oliver remarks that she'll take vanilla there isn't a sane moment. The title is right, but the audience laughed. And that is the sole purpose of a comedy. There isn't much of a plot, unless it was introduced while that large lady in front of me gathered her parcels together and departed. It seems that Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey are rivals for the throne of one of those opera bouffe kingdoms. On this slim thread all the gags in the world are strung out for inspection. If you don't laugh at one there's another one along right away. Some of these jokes I regret to say, wore long, gray beards when Mr. Weber used to kick Mr. Fields in the seat of his checkered trousers. There are others whose ancestry is shrouded in the dim forgotten ages. Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Woolsey work hard, and they are deserving of better material. The saving grace of the production is the rapid fire tempo in which it is played. Never for an instant does it drag. I thought Edna May Oliver managed to be very amusing without a single amusing line. Dorothy Lee is the heroine when they have time for it, and Leni Stengel impresses as the royal vampire. Stanley Fields, Harvey Clark and Boris Karloff are also in the cast. The picture was directed by Edward Cline, and the screenplay was by Douglas MacLean and Al Boasberg. Bobby Agnew is master of ceremonies this week of the Orpheum stage presentation, "Pirates of Jazz." Featured in the act are Bobby Thompson, Bert Prival, Ray Williams and Jack Rey.4/21/1931 IDN ROBERT WOOLSEY SETS RECORD FOR CIGAR CONSUMING Cigar smokers may well envy Robert Woolsey in Cracked Nuts, the Radio farce now at the Orpheum theater in which he has the part of the kind of El Dorania, a mythical empire. Every time he smokes one of his elongated cigars he is attended by a Royal Ash Tray, Royal Lighter and Royal Humidor. In addition, there is at call a Roy Adviser and Royal Tooth Pick. Woolsey smokes 134 cigars in Cracked Nuts. This exceeds his former record of 102, established in Hook, Line and Sinker. Only 87 were consumed in Rio Rita by the comic, but he was just starting then. In Cracked Nuts, Woolsey wins the crown when he agrees to shoot "craps" with the king for it and the latter roles "snake eyes." But upon his ascension, his old Brooklyn playmate, arrives as a claimant to the position, as the financial supporter of a successful revolution. Bert Wheeler plays the contender, and Dorothy Lee once again is his weakness. Others in the cast are Edna May Oliver, Stanley Fields, Leni Stengel and Boris Karloff. Edward Cline directed. On the stage at the Orpheum is "Pirates of Jazz," spectacular revue of song, dance and novelty with a company of 75, including Carlton Kelsey's augmented orchestra and the Reel Girls.5/8/1931 HDC Elizabeth Yeaman Have you ever noticed the resemblance between Boris Karloff and the late Lon Chaney? Karloff, who is a fine actor, has been signed for a nice role in support of Richard Dix in The Reckoner which J. Walter Ruben is directing for Radio Pictures. The other additions to the cast are Ruth Weston, who is getting a lot of breaks these days, Paul Hurst and Nella Walker.5/15/1931 HDC Cracked Nuts By Elizabeth Yeaman There's an all comedy bill at the Pantages Theater this week. Wheeler and Woolsey in Cracked Nuts would make an undertaker giggle and Laurel and Hardy in Chickens Come Home are a guaranteed remedy for the blues. The entire program is comedy nonsense and hilarious wisecracks. For instance, Wheeler says "Love is intoxication," and Woolsey answers "And marriage is the hangover!" I don't know whether Al Boasberg or Douglas MacLean was responsible for that particular gag, bor both these inimitable humorists contributed to the screen play. But in any event Wheeler and Woolsey are perfect mouthpieces for these two comedy writers. LOVE NOT SMOOTH Wheeler, as Wendell Graham, a pampered product of wealth, loves Dorothy Lee, of course. But Edna May Oliver is present as Aunt Minnie to make the course of true love a stormy one. When Aunt Minnie orders Wendell out of the house for the last time he assures her of his ambition by saying that he "will leave his footprints on the sands of time." To which Aunt Minnie retorts, "You mean you'll leave your fingerprints!" But it is useless to try to repeat the funny situations and wisecracks which make up Cracked Nuts. You must see the picture for yourself to appreciate it. The plot is a travesty on revolutions in petty kingdoms. Two scheming promoters persuade Wendell to buy a revolution in El Dorania assuring him that he will be made king, in return. And most of the action takes place in the tiny kingdom. THRONE IS CROWDED Woolsey wins the crown from King Oscar in a crap game, so when Wheeler arrives to claim the throne he finds it occupied by his buddy "ZUP," which is short for Zander Ulysses Parkhurst. Leni Stengel is most attractive as Carlotta, consort of the last 12 kings of El Dorania. Stanley Fields is excellent as the comedy menace. General Boardus, and Harvey Clarke and Boris Karloff complete the cast of principals. Edward Cline has done a fine job of directing and the final shot of the oil gusher is one of the funniest in the picture. Laurel and Hardy offer some sidesplitting slapstick comedy in Chickens Come Home. It is all a big marital and political tangle with Mae Busch, Thelma Todd and Norma Drew furnishing the petticoat influence. James W. Horne directed. The Fanchon and Marco prologue "Sketches Idea" is unusually entertaining. Some beautifully staged ballets and a comedy team composed of a man and a woman are the highlights of the stage performance.5/23/1931 EH Young Donovan's Kid By W.E. Oliver If you like your hokum done to a turn, Young Donovan's Kid, now at the Orpheum, should suit your taste. It is built to start the tear faucets flowing and lets hardly anything interfere with this estimable public service. If you like Richard Dix and Jackie Cooper you will probably see this picture, come what may. Should the excellent acting of these two alone attract you, you will doubtless be found in the section of the audience which yesterday gave vent to not a few snickers as the more emotional moments of this saga of big brotherly love was unfolded. The picture is based on Rex Beach's story and has a large number of rugged developments which doubtless led its makers to believe that if you contrast the manners of hard-boiled gangsters with the way of a man with a homeless kid, backing this up with the "crool law" on one side and the tender ministrations of a priest and his daughter on the other, you'll have drama in great gobs. Well, they were right. Young Donovan's Kid is going to make lots of money among the unsophisticated. It won't do much for its two chief players, however, except point up more surely their great work in Cimarron and Skippy. Children will likewise enjoy the film. The hero worship theme will appeal to them. Fred Niblo directed the picture. Others in the cast of note are Marion Shilling, Frank Sheridan, Boris Karloff, Dick Rush and Fred Kelsey. When are they going to show a cop as an intelligent human being again? This film is a step backward in this respect. An amusing sound cartoon, a very funny burlesque on gangster films starring Nat Carr and several other short features round out the bill. Opened at Orpheum Friday, May 22. Directed by Fred Niblo. Novel by Rex Beach. CAST: Richard Dix, Marion Shilling, Jackie Cooper, Frank Sheridan, Boris Karloff, Dick Rush, Fred Kelsey, Richard Alexander, Harry Teabrook, Wilfred Lucas, Phil Sleeman, Robert Wilber, Charles Sullivan and Frank Beal.6/19/1931 EH Smart Money. Opened at Warners' Hollywood and Downtown theaters Thursday, June 18. Directed by Alfred E. Green. Story by Kubec Glasmon, John Bright, Lucien Hubbard and Joseph Jackson. CAST: Edward G. Robinson, Evalyn Knapp, James Cagney, Rolf Harolde, Boris Karloff, Morgan Wallace, Margaret Livingstone, Noel Francis, Maurice Black and Ben Taggert. By Dick Hunt If Edward G. Robinson were dictating this in the vernacular of his character in Smart Money, he'd say, "I'll give you two to one that you like this picture." And I'll give the same bet. Take your choice of either of the Warner theaters, Hollywood or Downtown, and I'm positive you'll agree. For Smart Money shows the star in a characterization that blends excellent comedy and forceful drama. Unlike Little Caesar which made him a vicious, unrelentous gang leader, Smart Money, gives him a human and sincere note that gains sympathy. SMALL-TOWN GAMBLER Either a composite or taken from the life of a famous gambler, Smart Money, starts with Robinson in a small-town and finishes with him paying for playing the wrong side of the law. As Nick the barber, he conducts a shop in a tank-town. He runs it in an efficient manner, but his principal vocation is matching is matching "double or nothing" on the customer's check, and rolling dice in the back room. There's nothing that Nick will not bet on, and either way. His tremendous luck takes him to the big city where, through a series of struggles he eventually lands on top only to be take himself. But through a blonde. For Nick, with all his smartness, is a chump where women are concerned, and one eventually brings his notorious career to a close. ROLE ONE OF HIS BEST The role allows Robinson one of his best opportunities, even including Little Caesar. There's everything to be found in it, from light wise-cracking to intense drama, and he is masterful and compelling through it all. After The Public Enemy one feels that James Cagney, who plays Robinson's pal, is being neglected. But, forgetting the gang picture for the moment, he has a sizable part, and does it splendidly. Especially good is one comedy scene, done in pantomime, in which he describes a woman waiting outside to see Robinson. Incidentally this woman, Margaret Livingston, together with Robinson furnishes the biggest laugh in the picture. Its too good to spoil here, but several lines of dialogue are missed because of it. SUPPORT EXCELLENT Evalyn Knapp is both decorative and effective as the blonde who finally brings about Nick's downfall. Rolf Harolde has several good moments as a crooked gambler. Morgan Wallace, Boris Karloff, Noel Francis and Maurice Black also offer excellent support. Story and dialogue credits are divided between four writers, namely; Kubec Glasmon, John Bright, Lucien Hubbard and Joseph Jackson, and all deserve praise for a natural, human story. Alfred E. Green's direction is also a commendable piece of workmanship. And the bet still goes. here is one that you will enjoy. Don't miss it. With the feature is a new episode of Adventures in Africa, a cartoon and the news reel.7/2/1931 LAX Harriet Parsons (Louella O. Parsons on vacation) Heard and overheard about town: Bela Lugosi switched from Frankenstein to Murders in the Rue Morgue. Ditto James Whale, previously announced as directing Frankenstein. These studios will persist in giving me stories one day and changing their minds the next. They're not so dumb–it gets them double mention in the column!7/7/1931 LAR Llewellyn Miller Something has to be done for Bela Lugosi. Lugosi has been trying for a week to make a screen test for Frankenstein. He has to wear a weird makeup, with two or three different colors, strips, steaks and striations. But after a few blasts of hot air, the makeup all fuses together, making him a clown instead of a menace.7/7/1931 LAX Harriet Parsons Having proved to the world that his papa "Uncle Carl" Laemmle's faith in him was justified and that, in spite of his youth, he is capable of running a large studio and producing good pictures, Junior Laemmle is looking around for new worlds to conquer. He will produce a musical comedy based on a story by Albert DeMond titled "Say It Again." Negotiations for a theater are under way at the present moment. Apropos of the Laemmle activities I was mistaken when I said that James Whale would direct Murders In the Rue Morgue instead of Frankenstein. Whale will handle the Mary Shelley story as originally announced and the blood curdling Poe thriller will be directed by Robert Florey. Florey, who worked with Garrett Fort on the adaptation of Frankenstein, has just been given a long-term contract by Universal.7/14/1931 HDC Elizabeth Yeaman James Whale has finished directing Waterloo Bridge for Universal and is now making preparations for his next picture which will be Frankenstein. He will have a real problem on his hands to produce the weird monster which was created by a scientist. I am wondering who he will get to play the role since Bela Lugosi has been switched to Murders in the Rue Morgue? They tell me that Frankenstein will be produced on an elaborate scale with a fine cast of stage and screen players.8/14/1931 HDC Elizabeth Yeaman Although Universal is still looking for an actor to play the difficult title role of Frankenstein, Edward Van Sloan has been engaged for one of the other important roles. He is a veteran of the stage and will be remembered for his portrayal of Dr. Van Helsing in Dracula, which he did both on the stage and screen. James Whale will direct, and some extraordinary sets deigned by Herman Rosse are now being built.8/20/1931 HDC Elizabeth Yeaman Mae Clark certainly is making a hit at Universal. The studio is giving her one big part after another as a result of her outstanding work in Waterloo Bridge, which James Whale directed. Whale also will handle Frankenstein, and since he likes to work with Miss Clark, she has been given the leading feminine role in Frankenstein. Colin Clive, who was a sensation in his stage and screen performances for Journey's End, has the leading male role. Clive has just arrived from London to play the part. They tell me that this strange picture is expected to surpass Dracula for weirdness of settings and atmosphere. Work has now started on Frankenstein, although no actor has been found for the difficult title role.8/21/1931 LAX Public Defender By Jerry Hoffman How's the blood pressure? And the nerves? If you like them tensed up occasionally, don't fail to see The Public Defender at the RKO Hillstreet Theater. Whether you are or are not one of those people who love to curl with a mystery story, there are thrills coming when you see Richard Dix in this one. It isn't necessary to kill a lot of people and have a mob of gangsters running through a picture to make it a thriller. Really it isn't. The Public Defender proves that. There is nothing of the usual underworld business in it, and yet it contains as many thrills and as much suspense as anyone could desire. Here we have bankers and financiers as criminals. Dix, playing the role of a wealthy private citizen, appoints himself a "public defender." He is determined to expose defrauders of innocent depositors and succeeds beautifully. He also succeeds in delivering a fine performance in a very good movie. Contrary to the usual mystery tale procedure, the audience is kept in the dark as to the identity of the "Reckoner," as the public defender styles himself. Withal, the unfolding of his methods make all moments dramatically tense. Richard's fans will like him tremendously in this screen version of George Goodchild's novel. There is Shirley Grey, new to pictures, opposite to Dix. One readily understands why Richard had her play with him in succeeding stories. Not only is she very attractive, but radiates a definite charm plus fine ability. Richard has been given a very good cast. There are performances practically guaranteed with the presence of such troupers as Edmund Breese, Purnell Pratt, Alan Roscoe and Paul Hurst. Also more than ordinarily effective are Boris Karloff, Frank Sheridan and Carl Gerrard. I understand this is J. Walter Ruben's first offering as a full-fledged director. He has done a clever piece of work, fully warranting his new position. The screen play by Bernard Shubert is good. Burns and Allen head the RKO vaudeville unit for the week. Also present are Frank Conville, Sunny Dale, Grand and Rafferty, and the Zelda Brothers. A Karl-Dane-George K. Arthur short may be funny to some. Even spinach has appeal.8/24/1931 HDC Elizabeth Yeaman The selection of an actor to play the role of the weird monster, in Frankenstein, has finally been made. Boris Karloff has been signed for this difficult role, and with the addition of John Boles the cast of this picture is now complete. As you probably know, Colin Clive was brought from England for the starring role and Mae Clarke has the feminine lead. Others in this unusual cast include Dwight Frye, as the dwarf, Edward Van Sloan and Frederick Kerr. With James Whale directing this picture certainly should be good.9/11/1931 IDN Graft By Harry MinesThere's a pleasant zip to the production of Graft, a Universal programmer, now at the Los Angeles Theater, featuring Regis Toomey and Sue Carol. It has loads of action and excitement and has evidently been built for the imaginative folk. Small boys will eat it up. It's as good as a 15-chapter Saturday afternoon serial any day. And the newspaper background is exciting in itself. All the reliable thrills are included in this yarn, dealing with a young reporter laboring under the picturesque name of Dustin Hotchkiss (credit someone for thinking up such a romantic moniker), and his tracking down of a murderer. It seems that there are some crooked politicians in a certain town, who are up to plenty of evil work on the eve of election. The district attorney, who knew too much and threatened plenty, is murdered and the daughter of the rightful candidate is held. In steps a youthful scribe and helps her to uncover the real culprits. There are fights, wild chases and cops galore. But it all makes good fun. WELL DONE Regis Toomey has a role reminiscent of his reporter characterization in The Finger Points and he plays it excellently. He's been a long time building himself up into the "good part" class, but with every performance stamps himself as a clever actor. The delightful Sue Carol returns to the screen after a much too lengthy absence in a non-descript part, which she builds up in interest. She has a charming personality, looks and humor–what more could an actress have? Also the ladies in the audience approved her new coiffure. VILLAINS William Davidson and Boris Karloff are the scoundrels. Both are well cast. As a cast-off sweetie, Dorothy Revier is good. Others in the lineup include Richard Tucker, Willard Robertson, Harold Goodwin and Carmelita Geraghty. The stage show as Babe Eagen and her Redheads; Jimmie and Johnnie Shea, dancers, and a skater, Frank Evans, in star spots.9/29/1931 HDC Elizabeth Yeaman Great secrecy has surrounded the fantastic make-up of Boris Karloff, who plays the murderous monster of Frankenstein at Universal. Although Karloff is over six feet tall and weighs 200 pounds, director James Whale considered him far too diminutive for this monster. As a result, 48 pounds of make-up and additional body structure have been devised for his characterization. Karloff's make-up, which has been carefully guarded from even studio employees to prevent advance information from seeping out, is said to be the most unusual and terrifying that has been done on the screen. Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan and Frederick Kerr head the cast with Karloff.10/2/1931 EH I Like Your Nerve By W.E. Oliver Opened at Warners' Hollywood and Downtown Thursday, Oct. 1. Directed by William McGann. Story by Roland Pertwee. CAST: Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Loretta Young, Claude Allister, Andre Cheron, Henry Kolker, Edmund Breon, Boris Karloff and Luis Alberni. A fairly diverting round of amiable intrigue is the current assignment of Douglas Fairbanks Jr. on the rialto. He is seen as the bounding American hero of I Like Your Nerve, now screening at the Downtown and Hollywood theaters. Young Doug plays the focal character of a romantic adventure set in a mythical republic of South America. In his dash to win the daughter of the minister of finance he is not averse to pausing here and there for a bon mot. PLAYS WITH SPIRIT These nothingnesses are tossed off with some of the debonair elan he displayed in The Man In Possession, and then it is on with the chase again. There is a remarkable resemblance at times to his father, who bounded with no lack of ability himself in similar romances of past days. The likeness even extends to echoes in the voice. At times, Douglas Junior—who is really graceful—seems on the verge of one of those gymnastic feats which hall-marked the elder Fairbanks' more strenuous screen days. But for the most part, he turns to persiflage to confound those who bar his passage to the girl's heart, where a hop-skip-and-a-jump over the front facade would not have been violently out of place. His airy witticisms, however, are effective enough to win the girl from the rich English suitor, trick him out of a fortune to cover her stepfather's defalcations in office and foil the plots and counter-plots a Latin American atmosphere inevitably breeds in such stories. GIRL IS CHARMING Loretta Young plays the girl, charmingly, of course. She wears dresses, too, that will draw feminine attention away from the action at times. Others who materially aid the lightsome air of the picture with good characterizations are Claude Allister repeating, "Jolly well right, old egg"; Henry Kolker as a suave minister, and Edmund Breon as the English suitor. Boris Karloff's cadaverous face, Guy Kibbee's bald head, and the Latin gestures of Andre Cheron and Luis Alberni also contribute amusement. William McGann gives a satisfactory, labored direction to Roland Pertwee's story. Vitaphone furnishes additional comedy; the laughable Norworths in a slapstick routine, and Billy Gaxton's insanities in The Silent Partner. A newsreel and a travel talk to Italy's art treasures give the only serious note.10/2/1931 HDC I Like Your Nerve By Elizabeth Yeaman Douglas Fairbanks Jr. has proved that he is an actor in his own right and has a definite personality of his own. So it is without fear of imitation that he has starred in I Like Your Nerve, a picture of dashing and adventurous romance which came to Warners' Hollywood and Downtown theaters yesterday. I Like Your Nerve has a strong resemblance to the romantic silent films of Doug Sr. It is not a costume picture, but it has a verve and buoyancy that bear the unmistakable Fairbanks trademark. Furthermore, the personal similarity between Doug pere and Doug fils was never so striking as in this picture. NOTHING IMPOSSIBLE The keynote to the picture may be summed up in one brief line of dialogue: "There's no such word as impossible." Doug Jr. proceeds to prove the truth of the statement. From start to finish he accomplishes the impossible, always, of course, in the interests of a lady fair. It is a joyous, exuberant picture, quite lacking in logic but carried along by the irrepressible joie de vivre of the star. The romance is as fantastically pleasant as the bold adventures. From a bullied weakling, Doug Jr. blossoms forth as an intrepid adventurer, determined to live up to the prophecies of a fake fortune teller. In Central America he crosses the path of Loretta Young, who is about to be married to a wealthy old fossil. Doug has only four days in which to break up that pending marriage, but he does it in a series of whirlwind adventures that provide exciting entertainment. This picture should do excellently at the box office. It revives the fast-moving and romantic type of film that has been too long absent from the screen. Loretta Young, who is about to be married to a wealthy old fossil. Doug has only four days in which to break up that pending marriage, but he does it in a series of whirlwind adventures that provide entertainment. This picture should do excellently at the box office. It revives the fast-moving and romantic type of film that has been too long absent from the screen. Loretta Young is beautifully charming as the girl, and Doug Jr., should be any one's ideal of the indomitable hero. Those who would complain that silent picture technique was lost with the intrusion of the talkies should see this film. CLAUDE ALLISTER CAST Other players prominently cast include Claude Allister, Guy Kibbee, Andre Cheron, Henry Kolker, Edmund Breon, Boris Karloff and Louis Alberni. The story and dialogue were written by Roland Pertwee. William McGann has done a nice job of directing. I Like Your Nerve is not a great picture, but it is thoroughly entertaining film fare. Doug Jr. would do well to make more pictures of this type. The usual assortment of short subjects is included on the program.10/24/1931 HDC The Yellow Ticket By Elizabeth Yeaman Czarist Russia, with its contrasting elements of wanton splendor and supreme cruelty, provided the background and plot for The Yellow Ticket, a picture of tremendous drama which opened at Grauman's Chinese and the Fox Criterion theaters yesterday. It is not the usual Russian drama, however,. It has some of the epic sweep and beautiful photography of the films which come from Russia, but it has also the fine acting and directorial speed of Hollywood films. If it has not been your good fortune to see Elissa Landi, you must not miss this opportunity to see one of the most beautiful and accomplished actresses on the screen today. DYNAMIC, BEAUTIFUL Miss Landi is as dynamic as she is beautiful, and her extraordinary poise is one of her greatest assets. But best of all she is a distinct and different personality. She does not have Garbo eyebrows nor Shearer hair, neither does she possess a throaty voice, a voluptuous lower lip, or hungrily lean contours. She scorns artificiality and her beauty is an unaffected as her acting. All in all, she is one of the most captivating actresses that the screen has discovered. Miss Landi gives a striking performance as Marya Kalich, the Jewish girl who in desperation obtains a "yellow ticket" in order to go to her father, who lies ill in prison. The "yellow ticket" is the stigma of woman's oldest and most dishonorable profession. TENSE CLIMAX REACHED From this stirring beginning the picture builds steadily to a tense climax that holds you on the edge of your seat. Miss Landi does not agonize through her experience. She preserves the poised restraint of good breeding, and that restraint is far more devastating to audience emotions than heavy dramatics. Some how her radiant vitality and innocent beauty prepare a logical reason for a happy ending, but you can't be sure of the ending until it comes. Lionel Barrymore is cast as the cruel, mocking and licentious old baron. The fact that you would like to murder him yourself is proof of his good acting. Barrymore excels in portrayals of lascivious old men, and he is a perfect selection for this character in The Yellow Ticket. Laurence Olivier, another newcomer to the screen, scores decidedly in the romantic role of the English newspaper correspondent. He too has a great deal of charm and poise as well as an assured technique. It is to be hope that we shall see a great deal more of Olivier. ROLES WELL DONE Small roles are well played by Sarah Padden, Arnold Korff, Mischa Auer and Boris Karloff. Raoul Walsh is to be congratulated for the manner in which he has sustained suspense and brought out the interesting details of the three major personalities. The Yellow Ticket should do excellently at the box office, if I can judge from the personal thrill the picture gave me. It has romance, intrigue, heavy drama, comedy and much action, to say nothing of the excellent cast. What more can you ask of any picture? Pete Smith again furnishes the dialogue for a fishing short, Sharks and Swordfish, and a Mickey Mouse cartoon and Eddie Buzzell bedtime story are other short features.10/24/1931 EH The Yellow Ticket By W.E. Oliver In making The Yellow Ticket, an old melodrama of pre-Soviet Russia, into acceptable cinema fare for 1931, Fox has resorted to a partially fine performance by Lionel Barrymore, the lure of two comparatively new cinema personalities—Elissa Landi and Laurence Olivier—and the arts of the scenario writer. Other usages in bringing the story laid in 1913-1914 up to the interests of today are motorcycles and sirens in the streets of Petrograd and a British dispatch plane carrying the lovers from danger out of Russia. Lionel Barrymore does a splendid characterization for the first part of the picture. Toward the end the melodramatic requirements of the action lead him into leering and other tried and true methods of creating sympathy for the heroine and spite for the villain. Miss Landi is seen as a Jewish girl who assumes the badge of a prostitute so she can travel to Petrograd to see her father, who is dying in prison. You can readily imagine how such a situation could be productive of suspenseful events. The film has overlooked few of them. As this girl, Marna Verenka, Miss Landi employs her talents for looking alternately tortured, embarrassed, harassed and passionate to good use. FILM HAS SUSPENSE The newcomer to the screen, Laurence Olivier, bears a remarkable resemblance to Ronald Colman, a similarity which extends to his clipped British manner of speaking. He symbolizes screen attraction a-plenty, although his cinema reactions need the catalysis of someone like Clara Bow or Greta Garbo to set them off. Other characters in this breathless and booted romance of Russia under the czars are played capably by Walter Byron, Sarah Padden, Arnold Korff, Mischa Auer and Boris Karloff. Patrons of the Chinese or Criterion theaters, where The Yellow Ticket is playing, will find opulence in movement, color and action, put there by the practiced hand of director Raoul Walsh. Especially picturesque are the street scenes showing Russia's preparation for war and undeniably moving are the early events depicting the persecution of the Jews. FIRST PART BEST In fact, the first part of the story is by far the most convincing. The bones of the old melodrama creak palpably in the latter half. There is a gay sequence with the military which shows what little chance women who bore the yellow ticket had in a soldier and police ridden country. Thrills are generously supplied at the end of the picture. The girl murders the Russian officer who tries to initiate her by force into the profession of which she is only theoretically a member. She shoots him, escapes to warn her lover, the young English newspaper man, of a plot to send him to Siberia, and while the two of them flee to the British Embassy and thence in an official British plane out of Russia spurs and swords clink and rattle in good old-fashioned pursuit. When the plane takes off with the Cossacks almost on it, the audience applauds vigorously. The heroine has some lovely gowns in the picture. Where she gets them from is not explained. She apparently subsists on the meager pay a newspaper man can give her for supplying him with facts on the state of prostitution in Russia. The Yellow Ticket is a thrilling melodrama done in a style opulent and exotic enough almost to fool you. It is my guess, though, that enough of the public will relish its broad strokes to make it popular. An engrossing fishing film, dialogued with Pete Smith's inimitable humor; a Mickey Mouse cartoon, an amusing comedy with Eddie Buzzell in the leading role and the news events complete the program.10/25/1931 FD The Mad Genius CAST John Barrymore, Marian Marsh, Donald Cook, Carmel Myers, Charles Butterworth, Luis Alberni, Andre Luget, Boris Karloff, Frankie Darro, Mae Madison.10/28/1931 EH Five Star Final Opened at Warners' Western Tuesday, Oct. 27. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Play by Louis Weltzenkorn. CAST: Edward G. Robinson, Francis Starr, H.B. Warner, Marian Marsh, Aline MacMahon, Ona Munson, Anthony Bushell, George E. Stone, Boris Karloff and David Torrence. By Harrison Carroll Hollywood's misrepresentation of newspapers reaches its peak in Five Star Final, which opened last night at Warners' Western Theater. From publisher to reporter, this film depicts newspapermen as calloused and unscrupulous. True, it restricts its attack to sensational tabloids, but, in the public mind, the stigma will extend to the press in general. TYPE OVERDRAWN For a long time now, this has been coming on. You have seen reporters represented as drunks, grafters and deliberate fakers. In Five Star Final, they are worse, and I, for one, am fed up. Reporters, as I have known them, are quick to penetrate and to show up hypocrisy, but are never insensitive to genuine distress. They work under pressure of deadlines, but they strive for accuracy. Many of them drink, but there are very few drunks. NOTE IS FALSE As for the men higher up, time and again have I seen them dispense news with mercy. Never have I seen them cruelly warp it, as in Five Star Final. The author of this story has written a hymn of hate. To lend it reality, Warners have given it to one of their best directors, Mervyn LeRoy, and one of their star players, Edward G. Robinson. The result is a grave injustice. It's a good thing newspapers are more fair in their representation of Hollywood. Otherwise, there would be plenty of trouble.11/19/1931 HCN Mad Genius By Jim Crow The Barrymore tradition of histrionic brilliance is safe in the hands of the brothers, Lionel and John. The former added to the Royal Family's long succession of triumphs by winning the 1931 motion picture academy award for acting excellence. John Barrymore, his cameo profile embellished with a scraggly Van Dyke, opened at Warner Brothers' Western Theater yesterday in The Mad Genius and gave a truly Barrymore portrayal–powerful, distinguished, sure. STAR HOLDS AUDITORS From the time the picture opened with the star as a club-footed master of a puppet show, his heart broken by his yearning to be a great dancer, until it closed as he lay grotesquely dead among the dancers of the Imperial Ballet, the younger Barrymore held taut the attention of his followers. So tensely acted was this final scene and so well done was the direction of Michael Curtiz that the panic which seized the ballet audience on the screen had a distinct counterpart in the real life audience at the Western. The picture tells the story of Tsarakov, the dance mad cripple who poured into the soul of a young Russian all his own genius and made him the foremost ballet artist of the world, smashing all that stood in the way, even the love of the youth for the beautiful Nana. The picture ends on a crashing note of tragedy, with Tsarakov's skull split by an axe in the hands of Serge Bankieff, drug-enslaved dance director who had been the master's tool. Barrymore gives the requisite touch of insanity to the role of the genius, but his portrayal is utterly devoid of that over-emphasis which has been noted in his previous performances when they were compared with the more casual, ready-made delineations of "ordinary" picture players. BUTTERWORTH SCORES Next to the performance of the star, the exquisite, sad-faced, discreet comedy of Charles Butterworth merits attention. Marian Marsh, as Nana, gives a soft and appealing portrayal in good contrast to Tsarakov's strength, but Donald Cook, as the young dancer, appears rather stolid in his role. The part of Serge is well handled by Luise Alberni. Carmel Myers, Andre Luget, Boris Karloff, Frankie Darro and Mae Madison are others in the cast. The picture was taken from the play be Martin Brown. A comedy, a newsreel, a travelogue and Albert Hay Malotte's organ playing are added attractions.

Sx show open

Finally -- an exhibition for those who always have to touch everything

The influence of Muslim headgear and induced affect on aggressive responses in the shooter bias paradigm

On the third anniversary of the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, an innocent man shot dead by police in London who thought he was a suicide bomber, a timely and depressing article currently in press in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology:
Does Islamic appearance increase aggressive tendencies, and what role does affect play in such responses? In a computer game, participants made rapid decisions to shoot at armed people, some of whom wore Islamic head dress. We predicted and found a significant bias for participants to shoot more at Muslim targets. We also predicted and found that positive mood selectively increased aggressive tendencies towards Muslims, consistent with affect-cognition theories that predict a more top-down, stereotypical processing style in positive mood. In contrast, induced anger increased the propensity to shoot at all targets. The relevance of these results for our understanding of real-life negative reactions towards Muslims is discussed, and the influence of affective states on rapid aggressive responses is considered.
Reference:
Christian Unkelbach, Joseph P. Forgas and Thomas F. Denson (in press). The turban effect: The influence of Muslim headgear and induced affect on aggressive responses in the shooter bias paradigm. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Photo credit: Muslim Crop by Olly Farrell, Creative Commons License

I fought the stick, and the stick won!

So, here are some pictures of the kitchen under progress. The sun room is coming together. We'll be tackling the ceiling and walls on this side tomorrow and Friday. Luckily, behind that dark paneling was nice sheetrock that will get skimmed, sanded and then primed and painting. When Wayne comes to re-do the dark floors hopefully he can match the two and refinish together so you won't be able to tell.You can see here where the benchs will be. Those windows will come up a little even with the top of the 18" benchtop. There will be bench seats around two of the three walls with storage underneath. It's looking good.A nice little nook to have coffee with future Courtesy Parkers.Today, during lunch, I took a load on the dump truck to the dump. What my brother Marc did not tell me was that he had put a long board in the back of the truck... I knew it was there, but when I was using the tie downs for the load cover, I forgot about it..... and ran right into it, just missing my eye... man it hurt.

US serial killer 'shot by police'

A serial killer who has shot five people dead in South Carolina has himself been killed, police say.

A yummy deal

Drive to Mackay - Mar 20

Summary: Fruits, skip Gladstone next time, how ‘bout Cairns?, arrive in MackayThe day began with us driving through a bit of rain, then through an assortment of fields: sugar cane fields, citrus plantations, and what appeared to be a banana plantation. Like many farmers, the suspected banana growers put bags around the fruit to protect it from various animals. For that reason, I am not 100% sure it was bananas. Anyhow, the scenery was relatively constant with a lot of cane fields and mountains as a backdrop. Anyhow, it was cloudy and humid but not oppressively hot. Good driving weather.For lunch, we took a detour through Gladstone in hopes of finding a good selection. Yeah, well, Gladstone appears to be the mining/manufacturing/smelting capitol of Queensland. After driving through the city centre, Subway looked like the best bet and I don’t regret that choice at all. Surely Gladstone has its good side, its fun part, its interesting district. I just know it must have one. I am equally sure we did not find it.There were more goofy town names, but I don’t want to run that concept into the ground. Too late, you say? Sorry about that. Gin Gin was Queensland’s friendliest town a few years ago. I guess with South Australia cleaning up all the Tidy Town awards, these guys went with friendly – I like the strategy. Having Gin in your name twice surely helps with the smiling part.As we continued north, I jumbled around in my head whether we want to take a short day and drive to Townsville tomorrow or just get on up to Cairns and maybe do something fun on our last full day (I am picturing a boat, water, and a reef – possibly of the Great Barrier variety). After a short internal discussion with my editor, navigator, and joke-writer, we settled on Cairns.But first we needed to drive to Mackay (pronounced “muh-KY’”- rhyming with “uhh Sky!”, not “Mac-Key” or “McKay”). Mackay looks like a reasonably fun place downtown. I could be wrong, but it is lined with hotels (bars), outdoor tables (hinting at outdoor eating), and lots of plants (as in, they’ve made an effort to make Victoria Street attractive). However, we got in a little late and the only property downtown that looked appealing was sporting a “no vacancy” sign, so we are staying out where all the other motels are at a Best Western. We had dinner across the street at a little bistro (on the back of a bar) – really good food. I had never had spicy Indonesian noodles, but I like them now. Getting back to the lodging, as I go further north, I am trying to stay at brand name brand in the hope that they are less likely to provide us with little tropical six-legged roommates.In short, today was uneventful when compared to the last few days. We drove north. Not much in the way of photos either, just the front on one of the Ford pickup cars with the roo bars (trying to evoke that “rednecky” vibe that I alluded to). On the plus side, you’ve got plenty to read from the last few days. Speaking of cars, you know how I said Noosa had all the German cars. Yeah, that was it. None in Central Queensland. I think BMW, Mercedes, etc made the same decision as Starbucks – if it isn’t between Adelaide and (greater) Brisbane, never mind.Tomorrow: Cairns

Shoes and Cube News

Marshall's is putting a new spin on the crumby economy. They're branding it a shopportunity. They point out that as department stores struggle to move their stock, Marshall's is getting good deals on great labels. And they are featuring these finds in their newest department The Cube.The Cube is a boutique within the store geared towards younger women where you'll find more contemporary labels like Marc Jacobs, Gucci and Juicy Couture. You'll find shoes and accessories in The Cube too.I set off recently to see what I could find. There were lots of great deals but nothing really jumped out at me. Trying not to buy things unless I really want/need them. So I'll just have to come back and check again soon! But The Cube is kind of interesting, it really is organized differently than the rest of the store. Definitely feels younger/cooler.I did wander over to the Mega Shoe Store, which I've mentioned before. And there I found both the black ankle boots with a reasonable heel AND the tall brown high heeled boots I've been needing. I was pumped!OK, so I probably won't wear these boots with tights or leggings. I wear them with pants though I couldn't picture them that way without covering them up. I do like the look, it just doesn't feel like me. These boots are super comfortable by the way.I haven't had the chance to wear the tall boots but I can't wait to.Thanks Marshall's, you done me right again!

Honduras leaders reject deadline

The newly installed government in Honduras has rejected international calls to reinstate deposed President Manuel Zelaya.