National Box Office Digest (May-Dec 1946)

ttOX OFFICE DIGEST Must Sell On Ginger Rogers "Heartbeat" (RKO-RADIO) The Digest’s Box Office Estimate: 170% Producers Robert and Raymond Hakim Director Sam Wood The Players: Ginger Rogers, Jean Pierre Au monl, Adolphe Menjou, Basil Rathbone, Melville Cooper, Mikhail Rasumny, Eduardo Ciannelli, Mona Maris, Henry Stephenson. Photography ...Joseph Valentine Time 101 minutes The name of Ginger Rogers will sell “Heartbeat” for better than average grosses, and the personality of Ginger Rogers will give the picture what measure of satisfaction it brings to audiences. The basic idea of the picture seems to be rich in farce-romance possibilities. It is the Cinderella theme, which has Ginger a reform school fugitive, enrolled in a pickpocket school, moving on into action amid the splash and splatter of high society life, and meeting her Prince for the budding of "Her Kind of Man" (WARERS) The Digest’s Box Office Estimate: 115% Producer .Alex Gottlieb Director Frederick de Cordova The Players: Dane Clark, Janis Paige, Zachary Scott, Faye Emerson, George Tobias, Howard Smith, Harry Lewis, Sheldon Leonard. Photography Carl Guthrie Time 70 minutes The Warner brothers are in the Warner groove when picturing a subject such as “Her Kind of Man,” and producer Alex Gottlieb upholds the traditions of alma mammy by responding with a lusty, slambang, thoroughly satisfying melodrama — even if it is in a groove insofar as originality or surprise is concerned. The story is a throw-back to Warner winners of other years — a combination of the gangster, gambling, night club, news "Avalanche" (PRC) The Digest’s Box Office Estimate: 75% Producer Pat Di Cicco Director Irving Allen The Players: Bruce Cabot, Roscoe Karns, Helen Mowery, Veda Ann Borg, Regina Wallace, John Good, Phil Van Zandt, Eddie Parks, Wilton Graff, Harry Hays Morgan, Eddie Hyans, Eddy Waller, Syd Saylor, Joe, the Raven. Photography Jack Greenhalgh Time 68 minutes “Avalanche” is in the school of murder mystery which places the emphasis on quantity of corpses and suspects. It is strictly from budget, and can be rated as fair for the PRC market. love. In this case the Prince is a diplomat, Jean Pierre Aumont. The structure could have provided a light, swiftly moving piece of gay froth, with moments of pseudo-drama in menace to out petite heroine, and dabs of Gallic sentiment. Scripting, by a corps of writers, is none too smooth, and Sam Wood apparently was not able to straighten out its course. The scene is Paris, and the central factor a school for pickpockets conducted by Basil Rathbone. Ginger’s first assignment is a neat stickpin job on Adolph Menjou, but she flubs it and then must yield to his scheme to attend a ball that evening and purloin a watch from Aumont, said watch supposedly bearing within its case a picture of Adolph’s wife, Mona Maris. That’s the outline of the structure, and numerous laugh-getting situations result in its telling, all of them played for full values paper yarns of pleasant memory. It is occasionally a bit talky in the telling, but the moments of excitement are probably sufficient for the ordinary appetite, and there is a dividend in the form of three excellent song numbers from Janis Paige in her role of cabaret entertainer. Zachary Scott is the “her kind of man” of the title, being the ruthless, double-crossing gambler who has been placed on that pedestal by Miss Paige. Dane Clark is a newspaper columnist attracted to the gal. Assorted characters necessary to the type of yarn include George Tobias as a night club owner, Fay Emerson his wife, and sister of Scott, Harry Lewis, baby-faced gunman, body-guard and eventual Benedict Arnold to Scott. It all concerns a killing for which Scott is responsible early in the action, his flight from justice, his return and eventual wiping out. Along that path you have seen all the glitter Principal difficulty seems to have been that the number of characters wandering through the action has thrown the scripter for a loss. There is fundamental suspense in the basic situation, that of an isloated mountain lodge, with danger from avalanche without and from murder within. There are many moments of excitement, but also many of confusion, apparently for director, players, and spectators. Bruce Cabot and Roscoe Karns are tax investigators who have journeyed to the mountain lodge to question a suspect. They encounter murder, first apparently of the man they were seeking, then another murder, and so on. Then they are snowed in, and anything can happen. A lot does. by the above par cast. What is missing is smooth flow. Miss Rogers is seen to personal advantage. Aumont satisfies in a brittle way. Menjou is suavely impressive, Rathbone is Rathbone, and Michael Rasumny is a delightful scenestealer as a bumbling pupil. Mona Maris is a charming suspected wife. Production values are on a class scale, Parisian atmosphere being both well developed and attractive as presented in the topnotch Joe Valentine photography. The picture is the first Hakim brothers production for the American market and evidences their willingness to spend for top quality. Exhibitor’s Booking Suggestion : Ginger and cast strength will sell it. . . . Previewed April 1 8th. WHAT THE OTHER FELLOWS SAID: REPORTER: “The writing encountered more apparent troubles than Wood or his players could overcome successfully.” VARIETY : “Lacks the body of a well turned-out comedy.” Old Days and gunplay of the prohibition era, and if you enjoy those colorful pages of history, this is it. Direction by Frederick de Cordova is workmanlike. Dane Clark rates the top billing and is impressive in the newspaperman role, but Zachary Scott’s heel is the meat of the picture, as of the title, and he socks it home powerfully. Miss Paige earns marking in the futurity book. Harry Leonard makes an outstanding item of the babyfaced gunbearer. Support has been well chosen, Faye Emerson, George Tobias, Sheldon Leonard and Harry Smith in particular measuring up to their opportunities. Exhibitor s Booking Suggestion : Meaty meller number. . . . Previewed April 22nd. WHAT THE OTHER FELLOWS SAID: REPORTER: “Very creditable piece of work.” VARIETY: “Glasses as fair grade enter tainment.” Irving Allen’s direction doesn’t completely overcome script weakness, but does point up well many of the sharper situations. Cabot is a capable investigator, Karns does his best, but the comedy material is generally forced. Picture is the first offering of Pat Di Cicco’s Imperial Pictures and has been well enough handled technically to warrant interest when the company embarks with a better job of script craftsmanship. Exhibitor s Booking Suggestion : Filler. Previewed April 19th. WHAT THE OTHER FELLOWS SAID: REPORTER: “Will probably fill the bill.” VARIETY : “Rates satisfactorily as supporting feature.” Warners of the Good Fair Budget Meller From PRC