Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1949)

SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, November 26, 1949 25 Box-Office Slants Por! of New York {Continued from Page 23) is murdered and Richard Rober as the Narcotics Squad man who completes the search for the dope ring head, and nearly gets murdered, give clear cut and persuasive performances. Yul Brynner as leader of the narcotics smuggler makes the part that of a hard-boiled killer who will stop at nothing to get the huge prohts the drug will bring. K. T. Stevens as his "girl" acts her role capably. Others give good support. Action in and around the New York harbor is picturesque and the scenes there add to the suspenseful drama. Exhibitors, having no patron-pulling names for the marquee, should base their exploitation on the drama of the narcotics hunt and the good acting of a not very well known cast. Word-of-mouth will give them first aid. Good for first-runs in smaller towns and neighborhoods, but should be dualed with a comedy in big-town first-runs. Ranger of Cherokee Strip Republic Western 60 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) One of Monte Hale's best, with the customary action and several imaginative fillips. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: A good series western entry. Cast: Monte Hale. Paul Hurst, Alice Talton, Roy Barcroft, Douglas Kennedy. George Meeker, Frank Fenton, Monte Blue, Neyle Morrow, Credits: Associate Producer, Melville Tucker. Director, Philip Ford. Screenplay, Bob Williams. Story, Earl Snell. Photography, Ellis W. Carter. Plot: The land by treaty with the United States governed by the Cherokee Nation is being usurped by unscrupulous cattlemen. The opposition of one young half-Cherokee has landed him in jail on a murder frame-up. When he escapes to help his people, a sheriff (Paul Hurst) and a ranger (Alonte Hale) chase him, become convinced of his innocense and, when he is framed on still another murder charge, manage to get the evidence on the real outlaws. Comment: That more imagination was lavished on this than on most series westerns — HUMClCSMIIMnrTRMlEIIS ARC/^^TPATfD! BEST QUAL/nrf QUICKCST SERVICE.' F I L M A C K Ofehr* SHOf^ ; CHICAGO 1 3127 S. Wabash "HOtltr^ NEW YORK 619 W. 54th Avenue Street NOW SPECIALIZING] IN REFRESHMENT SERVICE FOR DRIVE-IN THEATRESy SPORTSERVICE Corp. jacoss bros. 703 MAW ST. • BUFFALO, H. Y. • WA. 250G antl not at the expense of a full complement of the basic ingredients for such production — makes it one of the best efTorts in the Monte Hale line. Big Monte slugs, shoots and rides while his customary sidekick, capable actor Paul Hurst, makes with the wry humor. To those essentials creators Tucker and Ford have added the role of an ex-actor who imitates the voice of another character, a confessional scene enlivened by a hangman's noose and a threatened grave, and some efficient conflagrant stampede stemming on the part of Hale. "Ranger of Cherokee Strip" is a good series western entry. The Return of the Eagle (Italian Dialog — English Titles) Lux Film Melodrama 113 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) Has melodrama and action elements, though overlong and obvious. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Satisfactory melodrama entry for foreign and grind houses. Brazzi and Cervi names known. From Pushkin novel about court of Catherine the Great. Cast: Rossano Brazzi, Trasema Diliaii. Gino Cerv , Harry Feist, Angelo C.'.labi'es'^, Paolo S'oppa, Rina Morelli. Credits: Produrer, Distributor! Irdepen itnii Director, Riccardo Freda. Sc^tiario, Braccio Agno'etti. Photography, Rodolfo Lombardi. Music, Franco Casavola. Settings, Impresa Cinti. English titles, Clare Catalano. Plot: When his family is cheated of its lands by a new; overlord, a young officer gives up his career to pursue revenge. He becomes a feared bandit, known as the Black Newsreel Synopses (Released Wednesday, Nov. 23) ALL AMERICAN (Vol. 8, No. 370)— School safety patrols; Twins contest; Billiard woman; Carver Hospital; Old Navy employe; Benjamin Davis beaten. MOVIETONE (Vol. 32, No. 93) — Thanksgiving; Buzz bomb from sub; New jet bomber; Girls football; Swimming (ex. Okla., Kans., St, L.); Football: Oklahoma-Missouri (only those cities). NEWS OF THE DAY (Vol. 21, No. 223)— Shah of Iran; Buzz bomb from sub; New jet bomber; Truman on rights; Dog show; Flight-born baby; Water sports; "Battleground" preview. i'AKAMUUXMl' (No. 2b) — l^hotograpHy museum; Thanksgiving. TELENEWS (Vol. 3, No. 46B)— Labor's Bridges, Lewis; Czech church controls; Turk independence day; Immigrants to Israel; Hans Eisler's German anthem ; Fashions. UNIVERSALINTERNATIONAL (Vol. 22, No. 301) — Flight-born baby; Shah of Iran; Bunche honored; New jet bomber; Dog show; Football: Oklahoma-Missouri; Oregon State-Michigan State. WARNER PATHE (Vol. 21, No. 28)— Buzz bomb from sub; Acheson home; Shah of Iran; Bunche honored; New jet bomber; Flight-born baby; Kids' fashions; Celebrity art; Water sport; Football: BrownsBills. (Released Saturday, November 26) MOVIETONE (Vol. 32, No. 94)— B-29 disasters; Royal Command Film Performance; Barkley wed; Football : California-Stanford, Ohio State-Michigan NEWS OF THE DAY (Vol. 21, No. 224)— B-29 survivors; Monty here; Singer denies Tito link; Royal Command Film Performance; Barkley wed; Football: Cahfornia-Stanford, Ohio State-Michigan (ex. N. O., D. C), Tulane-Virginia (only N. O., D. C). PARAMOUNT (No. 27)— B-29 survivors; Barkley wed; Football: California-Stanford, Ohio State-Michigan, North Carolina-Duke. TELENEWS (Vol. 3, No. 47A) — B-29 survivors; Two more B-29s collide; Jewish children's camp in Norway; Barkley wed; USSR ambassador to East Germany; Weapons confiscated in N. Y. ; Football: BrownsYankees. UNIVERSAL INTERNATIONAL (Vol. 22, No. 302) — B-29 survivors; Barkley wed; Football; California-Stanford, Ohio State-Michigan, Tulane-Virginia, Yale-Harvard. WARNER PATHE (Vol. 21, No. 29)— B-29s crash; Barkley wed; Monty here; James Roosevelt to run; Royal Command Film Performance; Football: Ohio State-Michigan, California-Stanford. Eagle. Eventually he introduces himself disguised as a timid tutor into the fortress, home of the overlord, but the love that develops between the Eagle and the overlord's daughter hinders the revenge until the father tries to force the girl into a morganatic marriage. Comment: Though it is overlong and obvious, this film does have melodrama and action elements and should be a satisfactory melodrama entry for foreign and grind houses. The fact that it was taken from a novel by Alexander Pushkin about the lusty court of Catherine the Great is a selling line and the narrjes of Rossano Brazzi, who plays the handsome Eagle, and Gino Cervi, who performs well as the tyrannical overlord, are among the more familiar in Italian films here. There's a Girl in My Heart Allied Artists Comedy with Music 82 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) A comedy-drama with music and dancing of the 1899 period that is pleasantly entertaining and capably acted and should appeal to the family trade. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Dualed with a drama or action picture, the film should draw well in neighborhoods and smaller situations. Marquee names will help some and word-of-mouth should build up patronage appreciably. Cast: Lee Bowman, Elyse Knox, Peggy Ryan, Ray McDonald, Gloria Jean, Joel Marston. Iris Adrian, Lon Chaney. Lanny Simpson, Ludwig Donath, Paul Guilfoyle, Richard Lane, Irene Ryan, Martin Garralaga, Lee Tong Foo, Robert E. Keane, Kay Ann Nelson. Credits: A Sandre Production. Produced and directed by Arthur Dreifuss. No author or scenarist credit given. Photography by Phillip Tannura, Assistant producer, Leonard Shapiro. Assistant directors. Mack Wright and Robert Farfan, Plot: A New York (1899) picayune politician, Lee Bowman, befuddles Lon Chaney, lessee of a music hall-saloon-restaurant, into becoming his partner in a sports arena which will oust many tenants and shop keepers. They scheme to get the music hall cheaply from the widow who owns it, Elyse Knox. She turns out to be young and pretty with stage ambitions and refuses to sell. She becomes the star attraction and business jumps. Both men are charmed by Elyse but Bowman continues to try to get control of the hall. He finally accepts Chaney's challenge to fight for Chaney's option to buy. Bowman wins, but tears up the option. There will be no sports arena. He convinces Elyse they are two of a kind and belong to each other. Comment: A comedy-drama, with some old-time songs, that tells a pleasant and plausible story and furnishes a fair amount of entertainment with some amusing characterizations and situations. Producer-Director Arthur Dreifuss did well with a loosely conceived and written script. Photd'graphj is adequate. Sets and costumes and the songs were of the story's period, holding a nostalgic interest in themselves because of that fact. A stage number or two, some dances by Peggy Ryan and Ray McDonald give zest to the production as does the singing of Gloria Jean, now nearly grown up and having a temporary suitor in Bowman and a permanent one in the doctor, Joel Marston, in whose office she is a nurse. Her choir solo of Ave Maria is the musical highlight of the ofifering. Bowman, Miss Knox and Lon Chaney give good performances in keepin.g with the characters they ,impersonate. While the story is no great shakes, it is yet pleasantly entertaining.