The Film Daily (1948)

Monday, August 9, 1948 Cf'\ daily » REVIEUJS » "A Southern Yankee" with Red Skelton, Brian Donlevy, Arlene Dahl. •^-G-M 90 Mins. Tr*>ONE WILL EQUAL THE BOX )FF,— Performances of past skel rON NUMBERS; HAS LAUGHTER IN 'ROFUSION. STORY ENHANCED BY 500D PRODUCTION, PERFORMANCES. It is apparent that the writing team that xoked up this one for the comic talents )f Red Skelton labored long and heavily, rhey have stripped down a potboiler of he espionage variety and erected on the )are essentials a comedy structure that ulfills its functional purpose. With the ikelton style of purveying laughs always n mind the gag sequences are subjected 0 strain and test but they manage to hold ip and fulfill their ultimate requirements —to make the viewer laugh and have a jeneral good time. Skelton uses every familiar trick and ;tunt in his book to catch a smile, titter ind spasmodically a laugh of the belly vari;ty. He works hard at it. It pays off in jnough instances for the show to gain a ■nore than average recommendation. RoTiance and war, together with a semblance jf drama are involved in the script. There are frequent spots where some deft writin, :rops up that really lends bright polish tc the drollery. A bumpkin of sorts, Red Skelton is ; bellboy in a St. Louis hotel during the Civi War with ambitions for army intelligence His pokings and prowlings annoy the Iocs command. The script contrives an acciden tal capture of a Southern spy knbwn a Gray Spider by Skelton. Being a man fo whom there is no demand but whom th( fates selected, Skelton is assigned to takr the prisoner's place and cross the line with information, a plot and kindred elements to first confuse the enemy and ultimately destroy him. Before he gets going, however, he meet! up with Arlene Dahl, a you-all Southern belle who is also a nurse and then agair an operator behind the lines, her specialty being delivery of Union wounded, picking up Confederate casualties. In the uniform of a Confederate major, Skelton encounter; characters, has adventures. He gets intc the middle of a battle. This scene is giver full spectacular treatment and one of the best gags. Ultimately he arrives at Confederate headquarters and much confusion, suspicion and what have you-all transpires to the end that his disguise is seen through and he i: facing a firing squad. In time he is saved by Miss Dahl who rushes to the spot soon after Lee surrendered at Appomattox and they drive off. Backgrounding Skelton's effort is a good production by Paul Jones and Edward Sedgwick's direction keeps the laughter motif to the fore. Doings stem from an original story by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama. CAST: Red Skelton, Brian Donlevy, Arlene Oahl, George Coulouris, Lloyd Gough, John Ireand. Minor Watson, Charles Dingle, Art Baker, leed Hadley, Arthur Space, Joyce Compton. CREDITS: Producer, Paul Jones; Director, Edward Sedgwick; Screenplay, Harry Tugend; 3riginal story, Melvin Frank, Norman Panama; "hotography, Ray June; Art, Cedric Gibbons, Randall Duell, Editor, Ben Lewis; Musical score, Oovid Snell; Sound, Douglas Shearer; Sets, Ed#rn B. Willis, Arthur Krams. DIRECTION: Good. PHOTOGRAPHY: Good. Easing of Int'l Trade Asked at Pix Conclave Madrid (By Cable)— At the first iilm convention ever to be 'held in Spain, representatives from Argentina, Mexico and other Latin-American countries asked that double bills be banned, trade barriers eliminated and exchange restrictions eased' with an emphatic request that players, producers and technicians be allowed unrestricted movement. It was also voted to create a Spanish-Argentina-Mexican film, company to supervise distribution throughout Central and South Amei'ica. This would apply to Spanish language product. Reps, attending the confabs had all their expenses paid by the Spanish Government. There were screenings of six new feature productions and a number of documentaries. A silver statuette was awarded a film produced in Latin-America. Pic. is citled "Locura de Amor." Delegates to the meet were shown Government supervised and sponsored acting schools, experimental studios and production facilities. Sue North 29 Drive-in for Patent Infringement Charlotte, N. C. — A suit, charging infringement of United States Patents covering certain Drive-In Theater uses, has been filed in the Federal Court here by Tillett & Campbell, attorneys representing Park-In Theaters of Camden, N. J., owners of the Hollingshead or Park-In Patent, against the A. S. F. Theater Co., George W. Ferguson, Byi-on Adams and R. C. Saunders, operating the North 29 Drive-In Theater on the Concord road just outside of Charlotte. Representatives of Park-In Theaters stated that the Wilkinson Boulevard Drive-In Theater is the only Drive-In Theater in Mecklenburg County licensed to use the Park-In Patents. Much interest in the case is anticipated inasmuch as there have been over 100 Drive-In Theaters opened in North and South Carolina in the past 12 months and this is the first infringement suit to be filed. HeywoodWakefield Profit at $391,025 The Heywood-Wakefield Co. reports a six-month profit of $391,025. Figure is equivalent to $5.06 per share of common stock. This is after a $100,000 provision for abnoi-mal plant costs. In the same period last year the company reported $345,882, or $4.32 per share. Metro Sets "Undesirables" West Coast Bnreun of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Metro will make "The Undesirables" as a semi-documentary from a stor-y by Lawrence E. Taylor. Walter Pidgeon and Janet Leigh will have the top roles. CHARTERED TUSCOLA DRIVE-IN THEATER, INC., 1214 Columbus Ave., Bay City, Mich.; $15,000 common ($10 par); $13,650 paid in. Max Michelson, Dr. M. A. Pasick, Harold Birnkrant, incorporators. Metro to Have Five Pix for Sept.-Oct. Release M-G-M will release five pictures, two in Technicolor, during September and Octo'ber, it was announced by Williami F. Rodgers, vice-president and general sales manager, at the weekend. The productions to be made available next month will include "Luxury Liner," in Technicolor, and "A Southern Yankee." Three are scheduled for October, "Julia Misbehaves," "No Minor Vices," and "The Secret Land," in Technicolor. Rodgers today will hold one of his periodic informal luncheons with publishers and editors of the trade press at the Astor Hotel, with a number of home office executives in attendance. Working Arbitration Favored by D of J (Continued from Page 1) has yet been advanced, a g-overnment spokesman said yesterday, but it would not be surprising if such a proposal should be put forth. There is little likelihood the government will put forth such a proposal, however, he said. While arbitration under the terms of the old consent decree is a thing of the past, he said, there is no objection to an arbitration system as an aid to enforcement of the new decree to come. "But the defendants don't seem to be interested in an arbitration system to enforce this judgment," he said. "This judgment is a severe matter, whereas the arbitration options under the consent decree were not." "Escape" Into N.Y. Globe Twentieth Fox's "Escape" will have its world premiere Aug. 17, at the Globe Theater. It will be people everywhere telling their friends about the Paramount thrill-picture produced by Hal Wallis, for which Film Daily predicts "Top grosses," JJ?