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The Corsican Brothers (Small; United Artists) are (both of them) Douglas Fairbanks Jr., who has yet to make up his mind who he is: his father, or Ronald Colman. They are also the offspring of Alexandre Dumas. Their eventual defeat of Baron Colonna (Akim Tamiroff), who slew their parents, is accomplished with heavyhanded, uninspired direction and all the corny hokum that accompanies the routine Hollywood romantic picture.
In the realms of farce or horror, The Brothers' situation might have amounted to something. The Corsican brothers are born Siamese twins. After they have been secretly rescued from their parents' burning castle, a friendly 19th-Century medico (H. B. Warner) severs their bond of flesh, dispatches one (Lucien) to live with a family retainer among Corsican bandits, the other (Mario) to Paris in the care of a wealthy, childless couple.
Then the fun begins. Whenever anything drastic happens to Mario, his twin brother automatically feels it. Mario gets pinked by a saber thrust in a Parisian duel and Lucien, leagues away in a Corsican forest, also bears the pain. Mario falls in love with the heroine (Ruth Warrick), and Lucien writhes on his Corsican couch.
Obviously, this kind of unfairness cannot go on forever. Lucien dies in the tenth reel, after the reunited brothers have toppled Colonna. The remaining half of Douglas Fairbanks Jr. lives on to win the girl and mouth such Shakespeareanisms as: "With love's light wings do I o'erperch these walls." But he doesn't perch the way his father did.
Remember the Day (20th Century-Fox) is a belated bow to the public-school teachers of America. It is also a sensitive portrayal of a youngster (Douglas Croft) who honestly adores his pretty, understanding teacher (Claudette Colbert). Based on Philo Higley's and Philip Dunning's 1935 Broadway play, the picture will remind many a U.S. grownup of his grade-school days.
Gaited to the unexhilarating life of an upState New York small town, Remember tells its story with homely detail. It shows the customary travail of a boy growing up; the teacher's wisdom grooving his bright young talents; her dubious reward in seeing him (John Shepperd), long after, become a U.S. Presidential candidate. There is also the teacher's furtive romance with the manual training teacher (John Payne), and their painful discovery of how sadistically the community minds their well-meant morals.
Remember is not exciting, but it has a casual authenticity and charm. Its reconstruction of World War I society is very near the life. So are the performances of young Croft and Miss Colbert. This first-rate melding of an understanding script (Tess Slesinger, Frank Davis, Allan Scott) with superior photography (George Barnes) and music (Alfred Newman) is a peacock feather in Director Henry King's cap.