Film and Radio Guide (Oct 1945-Jun 1946)

October, 1 945 FILM AND RADIO GUIDE 45 From the moment when the hidden guerrillas see “the march of death” from Bataan, until at last, directed by the booming of native log-drums, the greatly increased native force makes contact with American submarines at Leyte, the story moves with powerful interest, revealing the series of events that brought United States aid for the people of the Philippines. The graphic realism of the film makes clear the vast difficulties that jungle fighting in Pacific islands involves. Back to Bataan is a strong film, well worth seeing. CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT. Social comedy. Warner Bros. Peter Godfrey, Director. Recommended for all. A brisk and lively social comedy, brim full of laughs and rich in unexpected quips, Christmas in Connecticut gives Barbara Stanwyck opportunity for very pleasant acting. In this she has excellent support from Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, John Alexander, and S. Z. Sakall. Based on a story by Aileen Hamilton, Christmas in Connecticut has a good deal of originality and freshness and in many ways is pleasingly “different.” Generally speaking, the comedy tells the story of a popular writer about cooking and country life, caught in her own toils. The heroine (Barbara Stanwyck) has a great following as a writer for “Smart Housekeeping.” Actually she lives in a city apartment with an outlook over laundry on the line and no acquaintance with cows and rural life. In her writing she has won her public by her glowing accounts of an entirely fictitious country estate, husband, and baby. So far as cooking is concerned she can hardly boil water, but she has a good friend, an old Austrian chef (S. Z. Sakall) who keeps a small restaurant. Through him she gains all the appetizing directions for amazing dishes. Those facts form the basis for the humor that develops when, suddenly and without warning, she finds herself obliged to pretend to have estate, husband, baby, ability to cook, and intimacy with cows. Complication rises upon complication when, in her borrowed country home, she entertains not only a handsome Seaman First Class (Dennis Morgan) but also her demanding and truth-worshipping publisher (Sydney Greenstreet) . Witty dialogue gives color to farcical events. Quick action and a pleasantly developing romance hold interest steady. In the course of events we see the heroine boldly making love, and the hero stoutly resisting all her advances. The old Austrian chef is a fat and jolly Cupid, who solves all difficulties. As an original and highly amusing story of contretemps and triangle, Christmas in Connecticut will win many laughs. WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? Fantastic musical. 20th Century-Fox. Gregory Ratoff, Director. Recommended for all. “Backward, turn backward, 0 Time in thy flight” finds fulfillment in the fantastic events of Where Do We Go From Here, in which the hero finds himself making love several hundred years before he was born. This strange situation is brought about when a rollicking, goodnatured young man (Fred MacMurray) happens to rub an old lamp that he found in his pile of scrap metal, the lamp at once producing a genie ready to satisfy his master’s first three wishes. Unhappy because his two favorite young ladies (June Haver and Joan Leslie) give themselves into the company of men in uniform while he himself is merely a 4-F, the young man wishes to be a soldier — and instantly finds himself back in 1776 with Washington’s army at Valley Forge. Later, another flash sends him, with all his memory of history, nearly three hundred years further back, to the deck of one of the ships of Columbus on the waj^ to discover a new world. Then he finds himself wandering among the rocks and forests of primitive Manhattan ; in another moment among the Dutch of New Amsterdam, and lastly, after a ride over the clouds, he marches away with United States Marines down a street in modern New York City. In every situation, he finds his two beloved young women very much creatures of the period represented, and there, too, he finds dancing and singing, love and laughter, adventure and escape, a n d constant rescue by his guarding genie. This comic-opera, with Gilbert -and Sullivan nonsense, proves delightful because it keeps the spirit of nonsense throughout. Director Gregory Ratoff made every episode click with precision, bringing about instant appeal, always keeping close to the familiar and always fantastic and unreal. Under such circumstances it is natural to see George Washington, Benedict Arnold, Christopher Columbus, and horses that gallop over the clouds and change into automobiles. Lively, musical, humorous, interesting, with delightful group scenes. Where Do We Go From Here is excellent because it is what it is — nonsense. JOHNNY ANGEL. Mystery melodrama. RKO. Edwin L. Marin, Director. Generally recommended. Like the intriguing Five Graves to Cairo, in which a Brit