Harrison's Reports (1954)

94 HARRISON’S REPORTS June 12, 1954 “Hobson’s Choice” with Charles Laughton, John Mills and Brenda de Banzie (United Artists, June; time. 107 min.) A highly amusing British-made period comedy-drama, skillfully directed and flawlessly acted. Its appeal, however, probably will be hmited to the art house trade, where its decidedly British humor will best be appreciated. Insofar as the general run of audiences is concerned, the picture's chief drawback is the British players' thick Lancashire accents, which make it difficult for one to understand much of the dialogue. Set in a typical English provincial town at the turn of the century, and revolving around the amusing predicaments that befall a widowed, hard-drinking bootmaker when he refuses to grant dowries to his three eligible daughters, the story's comedy situations are so richly humorous that one does not mind too much its leisurely pace. Charles Laughton is at his best as the drink-sodden, pompous bootmaker who is outwitted by his daughters, but he is crowded for acting honors by John Mills, who is excellent as a shy, ilhterate shoemaker who is rushed into marriage ■by the eldest of Laughton's daughters, a shrewish but ^likeable character, charmingly played by Brenda de Banzie. The manner in which she builds up Mills' confidence and ultimately maneuvers him into a partnership with her father provides the film with a number of delightfully amusing episodes: — Laughton, prosperous owner of a bootshop, has his home and business looked after by Brenda de Banzie, Daphne Anderson and Prunella Scales, his three daughters, while he imbibes at a local saloon in the company of friends. Laughton has plans for the marriage of his two younger daughters, but not for Brenda, whom he considered too old. When he learns, however, that he expected to contribute handsome dowries to his marriageable daughters he refuses to do so. Revolting against her father's attitude, Brenda makes a play for John Mills, Laughton's illiterate workman and, despite her father's violent objections, rushes the bewildered Mills into marriage and sets him up in business in opposition to her father. Left to the tender mercies of his two younger daughters, Laughton takes more and more to drink and, while in an inebriated condition, falls into a cellar owned by a teetotaler enemy and finds himself sued for trespassing. Seeing a golden opportunity to further the plans of both her sisters and herself. Brenda, aided by her sisters' boy-friends, intervenes and cunningly induces her father to pay a sum that not only settles the action but also provides the girls with their dowries. This turn of events really makes Laughton disconsolate. He starts drinking in earnest, becomes ill and finds himself compelled to depend on Brenda for his well being. She agrees to return home, but not before Laughton agrees to take her now articulate husband into partnership. It was produced and directed by David Lean, who collaborated on the screenplay with Norman Spencer and Wynyard Browne, based on the play of the same name by Harold Brighouse. Suitable for the family. “Gog” with Richard Egan, Constance Dowling and Herbert Marshall (United Artists, June; time, 85 min.) From the viewpoint of production, “Gog” is tops, for the characters impress one as being real. It is a science-fiction type of picture, photographed in 3-D and in color by the Color Corp. of America process. The subject matter deals with a secret government laboratory in which American scientists work to construct and send a “space station” far above the earth, or rather away from it, so that it may be used to further interspace travels and communications. The trouble with the story, however, is too much science and not enough emotional appeal: Every move seems to be scientifically accurate. Although the picture should appeal mostly to children, particularly those who are “wild” about space doings, many adults, too, should enjoy it. The story is rather grim, with no comedy twists. Scientists are shown dying as a result of unseen enemy action, either from extreme cold or intense heat, or by high frequency sound waves. The photography is a treat to the eye, and so is the color: — Richard Egan, security officer of the Office of Scientific Investigation, at Washington, D. C., is ordered to go to the Government's subterranean laboratory in New Mexico, where a large number of scientists are working to construct and launch the first space station. The work, however, is being sabotaged by an unseen enemy, who strikes again and again, snuffing out the lives of several of the scientists by such methods as freezing, radio-active poisoning, centrifugal force and supersonic sound waves. Herbert Marshall, who is in charge of the installation, assigns Constance Dowling, a security agent, to guide Egan around the laboratory. Egan soon learns that the killings and damage to the machinery are being done by a giant brain mechanism, which controls every operation in the underground plant. He learns also that enemy agents had managed to build into this mechanism, before it was delivered to the laboratory, a powerful transmitter and receiver. An enemy plane, whose fiberglass body did not register on radar, had been flying overhead, beaming an ultra-high frequency ray into the brain machine and thus controlling it. The huge laboratory is endangered when Gog, a five-armed metal robot, moves to the lower level in the laboratory, evidently for the purpose of pulling out the safety rods in the atomic stockpile and thus explode it. Egan attacks the robot with a flame thrower but runs out of fuel as it advances on him. Just when all seems lost, an American Sabre jet plane tracks down the enemy plane and destroys it, causing it to lose control of the brain machine as well as the robot, which is rendered motionless. Ivan Tors produced it, and Herbert L. Strock directed it, from a screenplay by Tom Taggart, based on a story by Mr. Tors. Family. “The Barefoot Battalion” (Independent release; time, 88 min.) One of the best foreign-made pictures brought to this country in some time. It should appeal to people in general, for, in addition to the fact that the action holds one's interest all the way through, there are also human touches. Shot entirely in Greece with English sub-titles to translate the Greek dialogue, the story benefits considerably from the outstanding directorial work of Gregg TaUas, an American, who deserves great credit for taking Greek boys, all unexperienced actors, and making them act like old troupers. The story takes place in 1943 and the villain of the piece is a black marketeer, whose oil (very scarce and costly during the war days) is stolen by the boys, who use the proceeds to help an underground worker smuggle an American aviator out of the country. In doing so the boys endanger their lives, but they feel that it is the least that they can do in gratitude for the help America was giving to Greece. The boys are depicted as sort of Robinhoods; they rob the Nazis of food to feed starving Greek families and to sustain themselves. Miss Maria Kosti takes a prominent part in the action as a member of the Greek underground, and she does creditable work, thanks to Mr. Tallas' able direction. Since the story is not anti-German, the picture may be shown also where there is a predominant German element. Peter Boudoures, of San Francisco, produced the picture, and the story and screenplay was written by Nick Katsiotes, who spent several years at the 20th Century-Fox studio. Family entertainment.