Harrison's Reports (1962)

January 13, 1962 HARRISON'S REPORTS 3 will the front page read? WORLD DOOMED, or WORLD SAVED. Produced and directed by Val Guest; screenplay by Wolf Mankowitz and Guest. General patronage. • "Too Late Blues" with Bobby Darin, Stella Stevens (Paramount, Current; 100 wins.) FAIR. This is somewhat of a mixed-up mish'mash. When you deal with an off-beat theme in which young jazz-folk are trying to beat their way of life out of an off 'beat tempo, much of the story is going to lose its staying power and will stray off into lost corners. This requires the most seasoned kind of direction, writing and production ability. It calls for topflight acting. Triple-threat man John Cassavetes (he produced, directed, helped do the screenplay) seemed to lean on the method-acting school to bring in the picture. The protagonists were unable to rise to their difficult acting requirements. Bobby Darin, accepted by the young of America as one of its toprung singers, has far to go in the realm of straight, dramatic acting before he can meet all those challenges that threw themselves at him in a role that was highly demanding and heavily dramatic. The dialogue these youngsters mouth is a strange language all their own. The romantic lead lovely, wind-swept Stella Stevens is climbing slowly toward the reaches of a polished actress. But, she too has a long way to go. To be sure, there is quite an army of Darin devotees who will take to this melody idiom like stream trout to fresh fly-bait. While there are 17 musical numbers beaten out in this piece, Darin doesn't raise his tonsils even to one number. The method way of panning the cameras produced some fine photographic results. Exhibitors selling Pepsi-Cola will find Coca-Cola plugged. - and so, here he is, Bobby Darin, a dedicated jazz musician. The place, is Los Angeles. He has a little combo. They play charity dates, pick up a few farth' ings at the parks and otherwise are waiting for the big break. Into Darin's life comes a lovely young songstress (Stella Stevens) . She too is waiting for her break. The two hit it off. She's taken into the combo. They cut a record. The number Darin chooses is doomed to flop, but that's the way the melody idealist wants it. At the neighborhood pool hall the combo unwinds itself. One night a brawl breaks out. Darin is belted to the floor. In cowardly shame he fails to fight back. He becomes contemptuous, loses his girl to his sax man (Cliff Carnell) . Darin drifts away from the combo, becomes a sort-of jazz-gigolo for a "countess" who likes pretty melody boys. There's more aimless roaming. He finally finds his way back to Miss Stevens, who by this time is a run-of-the-gin-mill prostitute. She wants to commit suicide. He induces her to come back to the old combo. The boys are beating it out in a wretched night spot. The girl sings The Blues (Darin's old song) . It rings the bell with the jazz-men. There is a-moanin' and a-pleadin' from the instrumental woodwinds and the reeds expressing the feelings of the young cronies. They should always be together, because they need one another. Produced and directed by John Cassavetes. He did the screenplay with Richard Carr. General patronage with special appeal to the young jazzophiles. "Murder She Said" with Margaret Rutherford, Arthur Kennedy, James Robertson Justice, Thorley Walters (M-G-M, Current; 87 mins.) GOOD. Whatever else may be happening with our British brethren in production, they're not neglecting the "who-done-it." We have two in this week's issue alone. Product of London studios, they're both under distribution sponsorship of American companies. This one is done smoothly, adroitly, entertainingly. It is also endowed with several odd twists that make for a calm sort of excitement. For instance, the protagonist who plays private detective is a refined, rounded middle-aged spinster who has read about every story on homicides, plain killings and other manner of lethal mayhem that the Agatha Christies have hammered out and have found their way to her neighborhood library. What seemed a little on the incredulous side of story structure is to let a retiring, almost timid spinster carry the ball. The dangers that lurk in tracking down a cold murderer, the death-dealing pitfalls that await the heroic woman, were handled with the calm composure of the lady looking for a few doilies to repair. That's all because the rather difficult role is in the hands of extremley talented Margaret Rutherford. It is her picture, almost all the way through. The rest of the cast, all English with the exception of Arthur Kennedy, do well in their roles. Photography good. Margaret Rutherford is on her way home, by train, from a shopping trip. As she looks through the window, she is horror-struck. On a train, rolling alongside of hers, she sees a man clutching the throat of a girl who is dying. The spinster reports the scene to both the railway authorities and the police. Both, in a nice sort of way, refuse to believe her. The local librarian is convinced she is not mad. The two begin looking for clues. They find several. Convinced where the body should be, Miss Rutherford gets a job as maid on the sprawling estate. It is peopled by all kinds of strange characters. The daughter (Muriel Pavlow) is kindly however; a grandson is a mischievous brat and gives the maid quite a time of it. The spinster Sherlock Holmes begins searching the grounds, buildings, woods, etc. She finds the body hidden in a packing case. The police are notified. A series of suspicions are now in play. Several of the grouchy, skinflintish old man's (James Robert Justice) sons become suspect. Each would be willing to murder since his share of the legacy would be bigger if an additional heir doesn't make a claim. The murdered girl, they figured, is the missing wife of Justice's other son, killed in World War II. There are two more deaths (sons). But, the jig is up. Miss Rutherford knows "who-done-it." Since everybody plays detective when viewing a murder mystery, some of us may have an inkling who did the job. However, the lovely lady places herself in great danger as she closes in on the murderer. She knows it may be her life, before it's the killer's. Let's leave it there, - this is a mystery. As such, - and for your patrons to get the most entertainment out of this, play up the fact that this should be seen from the very beginning. Produced by George N. Brown; directed by George Pollock; screenplay by David Pursall and Jack Seddon; based on the novel "4:50 From Puddington," by Agatha Christie. General patronage.