Photoplay (Jul - Dec 1943)

Your Cuticle Wartime busyness is no excuse for rough cuticle. You can soften and loosen cuticle so easily and quickly with Cutex Oily Cuticle Remover. Get a bottle now! Only 10^—35? (plus tax) for the large size. Northam Warren, New York Judy Garland who sings, dances, loves and acts delightfully. If ever there was a shining example of "young lady stampedes to fame" it's Judy, who proves herself capable of the heavy assignment given her. Not to be overlooked, of course, is the terrific support given her by Van Heflin, an actor, to our notion, much too important to be playing a musical lead. And yet there's no denying his presence is the cream in the coffee of this delightful movie, the kind customers have been crying for. Judy is a stage-struck miss from Indiana, who tortures stage producer Heflin out of his mind when he visits his mother's home in Indiana. When Judy refuses to be discouraged and follows the producer to New York, there's nothing for Heflin to do but give her a job. In fact, she almost gets the lead. Her "good trouper" behavior wins her eventual stardom and Van. Spring Byington, widowed mother of Judy and four other offspring, Richard Carlson and Marta Eggerth, as director and star, Fay Bainter, as Van's mother, are all outstanding. Two orchestras, Bob Crosby's and Tommy Dorsey's, peep in for a bit of swingeroo. rine dancing finale is a lulu, the strawberries and whipped cream of rhythm. And, oh yes, Ray McDonald has a bit that's so good. tween father and son. Roddy, of course, is wonderful. Preston Foster is just right as the father and Rita Johnson acceptable as the mother. Your Reviewer Soys: You'll love it alL 'Pilot 5 (M-G-M) It's About: Events that motivate a hero's action. THE construction and craftsmanship of ' this well-done tale are original and arresting. It presents four pilots on the island of Java, revealing, to their Major, the life story of the man who has just taken aloft the only available plane in a suicidal attack against the Japs. One man tells of the pilot's college days, of the girl he loved. Another tells of his days as a politician serving a crooked governor that led to disgrace for the man up there in the skies, who, of course, gives his life in his attempts to block the enemy. Franchot Tone is the pilot who is so believable, giving a top-notch performance. Gene Kelly, as his political partner, now disillusioned and chastened, proves he's here to stay in Hollywood. Van Johnson, Marsha Hunt, who delivers a heartthrobbing speech, and Steve Geray are outstanding. Your Reviewer Says: A honey of a musical. Your Reviewer Says: Well worth seeing. 'My Friend Flicka (Twentieth Century-Fox) It's About: A boy's devotion to a horse. A NATURAL! Give a boy an animal to *» love and you've got a story in which everyone is in complete accord and sympathy. And so it is with this story of Roddy McDowall, a daydreaming average kind of kid who roams his father's Wyoming ranch with little sense of responsibility until he is given a choice of a horse for his own. Over his father's protests, he chooses Flicka and proves, despite all warnings, she can be halter-broken. And then an old wound lays Flicka low and, through the boy's utter loyalty to his horse, is born a new understanding be Shantytown (Republic) It's About: A big-hearted kid who aids a refugee from a racketeer. nEMEMBER Mary Lee in the Gene •^ Autry films? Well, here's little Mary on her own, in a cute story about a poor kid who arranges for a garage mechanic to room with her folks in Shantytown. Mary's heart is badly dented when she learns the handsome roomer is married and her chivalry is aroused when she learns a racketeer has him in a bad spot, so bad he flees, leaving his wife heartbroken. Hoping to help, Mary manages to get on an amateur radio show to relay word to the fleeing man. Result — all's well that ends well and Mary gets a permanent radio job. John Archer and Marjorie Lord CUTEX OUT CUTICLE REMOVIR Excitement plus in an A-plus picture: Burgess Meredith and Ronald Reagan watch an attacking Jap Zero blast their defenseless plane in the current Warners' film for Uncle Sam, "The Rear Gunner" 100