National Box Office Digest (Feb-July 1941)

APRIL 26, 1941 1 1 'Face Behind the Mask' Possible B Sleeper (Columbia) The Digest’s Box Office Estimate 75% Producer ... . Wallace MacDonald Director Robert Florey Screenplay Allen Vincent, Paul Jarrico Story ... Arthur Levinson From radio play by Thomas Edward O’Connell Stars Peter Lorre Featured: Evelyn Keyes, Don Beddoe, George E. Stone, John Tyrell, Stanley Brown, A1 Seymour, James Seay, Warren Ashe, Charles Wilson, George McKay. Photographer Franz F. Planer Another one of those Columbia pictures that has ben playing around the country plenty before being given to the tender Peter Lorre name, but there is some ■ . . And there is no doubt about him as an actor . . . So take that fact and add the item that Robert Florey has given it A direction, that the cast is a neatly selected group of troupers . . . Story, from an original by Arthur Levinson, has Lorre, who is a man figuratively and literally behind a mask because his face has been terribly distorted by fire, and who must fight his way back . . . George E. Stone stands out in the generally ecellent supporting cast. mercies of the critics . . . They made a mistake this time though, because it is close to being a sleeper in the small budget group . • . There isn’t much selling value in the WHAT THE OTHER FELLOWS SAID: REPORTER: "Something of a surprise package as supporting fare is Columbia’s unsung and unheralded 'The Face Behind the Mask’. A lot of movie-goers are due to discover this little show for themselves and wonder why Hollywood failed to make more to-do about it.” 'Very Young Lady' Mainly for the Kiddies 20TH CENTURY-FOX The Digest’s Box Office Estimate 75% Associate producer Robert T. Kane Director Harold Schuster Screenplay Ladislas Fedor, Elain Ryan Original play Ladislas Fodor Star Jane Withers Featured: Nancy Kelly, John Sutton, Janet Beecher, Richard Clayton, June Carlson, Charles Halton, Cecil Kellaway, Marilyn Kinsley, Jo Ann Ransom, Catherine Henderson, Lucita Ham, June Horne. Photographer Edward Cronjager Time 80 minutes Twentieth’s "A Very Young Lady” is very young in appeal. Made once before as "Girl’s Dormitory” with Simone Simon, it now turns out as a merger of the three Deanna Durbin formulae to serve Jane Withers. It falls into its own classification without the necessity of comment. You will pretty well know the plot when we tell you the springboard. Jane, at a classy finishing school, gets an adolescent crush for one of her professors. Oh, you have heard it before? Well, we won’t take up your time. The picture has a good cast, and excellent production values. In addition to Jane Withers turning on all the zip that she posseses, the supporting roles as can be seen from the cast list above, are in tried and true hands. Production values are good. But it sums up as 1929 saccharine, which is a way of saying that sugar is always sweet to taste but it doesn’t hold up as well as a piece of steak. Exhibitor’s Booking Suggestion: Just a kiddie filler. Previewed April 22nd. WHAT THE OTHER FELLOWS SAID: REPORTER: " 'A Very Young Lady’ is a very slight story. It remains to be seen how Jane Withers fans, accustomed to considerably more robust fare, will accept this offering.” VARIETY : "A human little drama of en gaged girls and their romantic leanings which will be recognized by all parents with such a youngster in their homes. 'A Very Young Lady’ gives 20th Century-Fox an opportunity to further advance Jane Withers along her maturing career and jump from the tomboyish stage into the 'growing up’ phase.” 'The Great Train Robbery' Unique Western (Republic) The Digest’s Box Office Estimate 70% Producer-director Joseph Kane Original screenplay Olive Cooper, Garnet Weston, Robert T. Shannon Featured: Bob Steele, Claire Carleton, Milburn Stone, Helen MacKellar, Si Jenks, Monte Blue, Hal Taliaferro, George Guhl, Jay Novello, Dick Wessel, Yakima Canutt, Lew Kelly, Guy Usher. Photographer Reggie Lanning Time 59 minutes This is a freak from Republic which a number of the company’s customers have already discovered to be a moneymaker in its bracket . . . There is something about the title, for one thing, that sells; there is a story that has enough of the railroading to live up to the title, but the sure framework of a fast-paced Western with its touch of mystery . . The title is probably doing most of the selling, since almost everybody who ever read a picture columnist in the past twenty years has heard about the industry’s birth with Thomas Edison’s "Great Train Robbery” . . . But don’t take anything away from the writers, director, and players who make it stand up . . . Strictly a freak — but what a great title for a freak. WHAT THE OTHER FELLOWS SAID: REPORTER: "Republic slipped this one out into the market without preview or fanfare, since which astounded Republic exchange men have been sweating to keep pace with the call for bookings for the step-child.” VARIETY: "'The Great Train Robbery’ fills the bill for thrills and will be especially to the liking of juvenile audiences.” FOR REVIEWS ^ /W THAT SAY ^ OWc* SOMETHING ^