Word: scripting
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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Tortoisy Mr. Taft was nowhere. He had piled one inept act on another, bumbled when the script called for a gag, stumbled over his own and others' feet. In Iowa he denounced corn loans the day the Agriculture Department unloosed $70,000,000 in corn loans to Iowa; in Kansas City he crossed a year-old A. F. of L. picket line for no good reason; in Texas he shot his first deer, his first turkey, was photographed in business suit and starched collar gingerly holding the dead bird-a picture that brought a wave of nostalgic memories...
Another Thin Man is the third working.* Shot in 36 days with extreme care by the same producer and director, again using a script by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, it brought back William Powell as smart Detective Nick Charles, Myrna Loy as Nora, his imperturbable wife, Asta (cranky and snappy after a nervous breakdown) as their dog. It had the Thin Man's pace, bounce and snappy dialogue, exciting murder and air of amiable dipsomania. Nick and Nora take the pandemonium that passes for their domestic life with the same unquenchable good humor, poise, charm and thirst...
...emphasis has been shifted from the character of the kind to the horror of his crimes, and the result is a gruesome nightmare of sudden death with but few elements of constructive drama. Basil Rathbone, as the king, happily avoids overacting and creates a reasonably credible character; but the script and the direction are against him. That amiable Englishman, Boris Karloff, is made the center of interest, and the results are as expected. Costumed settings and a capable supporting cast strive valiantly, and occasionally succeed in raising the level of the picture to that of historical drama; but the whole...
...than rational, it profits from the intensified acting and such melodramatic slivers as a mother's scream. Although no one of the parts can be considered a lead, all are well handled, particularly the women's. The technique of "flash" scenes is effective though needing smoother coordination. Taking a script that is alive, at times unable to stay within its own bounds, the Student Union has injected "Bury The Dead" with a spirit of honest reality...
...What A Life," with Jackie Cooper, is an unsuccessful small-town drama which might have gone over with a better script, faster-paced direction, fewer cliches, and Mickey Rooney...