Harrison's Reports (1954)

July 24, 1954 HARRISON’S REPORTS 119 “Betrayed” with Clark Gable, Lana Turner and Victor Mature (MGM, September; time, 108 min.) The important thing about this picture, insofar as the exhibitor is concerned, is the marquee value of the stars’ names, for as an entertainment it is only moderately interest' ing and mildly exciting. Photographed in Eastman color, its World War II story of spies and counterspies in Holland, during the Nazi occupation, lacks conviction and is full of improbabilities that may get by with the undiscriminating picture'goers but which no doubt will be sneered at by those who have regard for story values. The direction is routine and so is the acting. Still another fault is the running time, which is much too long for the story that is told. On the credit side is the fine color photography, which enhances the actual Holland backgrounds against which the action was shot, but this picturesque scenery is not enough to overcome the lack of a worthwhile story: — Captured by the Nazis, Clark Gable, a Dutch intelligence officer working with the British, is rescued in a daring raid engineered by a Dutch underground group led by Victor Mature, a fearless and dashing fellow. Gable returns to England with a recommendation that the Allies aid Ma' ture’s group to expand its resistance activities, and in fur' therance of this plan he makes contact with Lana Turner, glamorous widow of a wealthy Dutchman, who wanted to aid the war effort. Lana is put through a severe espionage training program, during which she and Gable fall in love, and after which she parachutes into Holland. There, aided by Mature, she poses as a schoolteacher who is friendly to the Nazis and is enabled to receive and transmit mes' sages between Mature and the Allies. Lana finds herself attracted to Mature, whose daredevil antics fascinate her, and she feels deep sympathy for him when his mother, whom he worshiped, has her head shaved by the local citizens for alleged collaboration with the Nazis. In the course of events the resistance group begins to suffer high casualties and the Nazis seem to be prepared for their surprise raids. British intelligence finds reason to suspect that Lana is working against them, and Gable, sent back to Holland to invest!', gate, reluctantly comes to the same conclusion. Several inci' dents, however, cause him to suspect that Mature is the guilty one and that he had turned traitor in revenge for his mother being branded a collaborator. To prove his suspi' cions. Gable, disguised as a Nazi officer, engineers the rescue of Mature from an enemy military hospital, where he was supposedly being held as a prisoner. Information obtained from Mature not only convinces Gable that he is a traitor, but also enables thousands of Allied troops to fight their way out of a Nazi trap. Mature, aware that he had been found out, tries to escape, but Gable shoots him down. Her innocence established, Lana goes to Gable's trms. It was directed by Gottfried Reinhardt, from a screen' play by Ronald Millar and George Froeschel. No producer credit is given. Unobjectionable morally. “The Law vs Billy the Kid” with Scott Brady and Betta St. John (Columbia, August; time, 72 min.) An ordinary western, photographed in Technicolor. With the exception of theatres where westerns are popular, rc' gardless of their quality, this one has little to recommend it, for the direction is undistinguished and so is the acting. Scott Brady is conconvincing as Billy the Kid, the famous outlaw. The story is routine, and most of the action is con< trived and forced. In fact, it is hardy a picture for children because of the many shootings and killings and the occa' sional brutality. The color photography is good: — Scott Brady kills a man who had tried to outdraw him and is compelled to flee the State. James Griffith, his best friend, accompanies him, and both find employment on a ranch owned by Paul Cavanagh. When Brady shows an interest in Betta St. John, Cavanagh’s attractive niece, it arouses the jealousy of Allan Hale, Jr., the ranch foreman, who gives Brady a severe beating. Hale, discharged by Cavanagh, rides into town to align himself with Robert Griffin and Steve Darrell, the crooked sheriff, who headed a gang seek' ing to take over all the ranches in the territory. Learning that Brady was wanted for murder in another State, they decide to use this as an excuse to arrest Cavanagh for harboring a fugitive. Scott hides out as the sheriff's posse approaches, and he sees Cavanagh dehberately shot and killed under the pretense that he was about to draw his gun. Furious, Scott forms his own posse from among the ranch' hands and sets out to avenge Cavanagh’s murder, despite Betta’s plea that he let the law takes its course. A series of gun battles ensue, and the violence becomes so great that the Governor of the State takes personal command of the situation. He discharges the sheriff and appoints Griffith in his place. Griffith's efforts to talk Brady out of his desire for revenge are in vain, even though the Governor promises Brady that he will not be held accountable for his past crimes. After Brady kills Griffin and Darrell, Griffith forms a posse, traps Brady and throws him into jail to await hang' ing. Brady escapes, but before leaving town he hunts up Hale and kills him. He then hastens to Betta's home to take her along on his flight across the border. But Griffith, antici' pating Brady’s movements, surrounds the house with a posse and shoots Brady dead when he tries to escape. Sam Katzman produced it, and William Castle directed it, from a story and screenplay by John T. Williams. Adults. “Pushover” with Fred MacMurray, Kim Novak and Phil Carey (Columbia, August; time, 88 min.) A fair crime melodrama. It is not a pleasant story, for it deals with the downfall of a police officer, who resorts to murder, even to the extent of killing a fellow'officer, be' cause of his infatuation for an immoral woman. Several of the situations hold the spectator in pretty tense suspense, but the action for the most part is pretty slow and at times becomes boresome because of repetition. Fred MacMurray turns in his usual competent performance as the erring cop, and good work is done by Kim Novak, an attractive new' comer, who shows promise with her portrayal of the crook’s moll who influences MacMurray to take the wrong road. There is no comedy relief. The direction is skillful, and the photography good: — After flirting with Kim and taking her to his apartment, MacMurray discovers that she is the girl'friend of Paul Richards, who had committed a bcink robbery and murder several nights previously. MacMurray reports to his superior that Kim does not suspect him of being a cop, and he, along with Phil Carey and Allen Nourse, two other plain' clothes officers, are assigned to watch Kim’s apartment and to tap her phone in the hope that she will lead them to Richards. In the course of events, MacMurray has another meeting with Kim, and when he questions her about Rich' ards she realizes that he is a cop. Nevertheless, she informs MacMurray of the method Richards will use to contact her, and suggests that he kill him, take the loot and run off with her. Meanwhile at the stakeout apartment, Carey becomes fascinated with Dorothy Malone, a pretty nurse living next door to Kim. MacMurray decides to accept Kim’s sugges' tion and meets with her secretly on plans to misguide Carey and Nourse when Richards shows up at her apartment. The plan goes wrong when Nourse leaves his post for a drink at a cafe and shows up just as MacMurray nabs Richards. This turn of events causes MacMurray to kill both Richards and Nourse. He then takes Richard’s body and his car, which contained the loot, and hides it in a dark alley. Meanwhile Nourse is found dead and is believed to have been killed by Richards. In the complicated incidents that follow, Carey, through a chance meeting with Dorothy, learns that she had seen MacMurray leaving Kim’s apart' ment — a fact that he had concealed. Realizing that he had been found out, MacMurray snatches Dorothy and uses her as a shield while he and Kim try to reach the car con' taining the loot. But Carey and the other police officers form a cordon, trap MacMurray and shoot him dead. Doro' thy returns to Carey unharmed, while Kim realizes too late that she and MacMurray could have managed without the money. Jules Schermer produced it, and Richard Quine directed it, from a screenplay by Roy Huggins, based on stories by Thomas Walsh and William S. Ballinger. Adults.