Box office digest (May-Dec 1946)

IO BOX OFFICE DICES! "The Walls Came Tumbling Down' Well-Made Mystery (COLUMBIA) 'The Digest’s II ox Office Estimate: 125% Producer Albert J. Cohen Director Lotliar Mendes The Players: Lee Bowman, Marguerite Chap man, Edgar Buchanan, George Macready, Lee Patrick, Jonathan Hale, J. Edward Bromberg, Elisabeth Risdon, Miles Mander, Moroni Olsen, Katherine Emery, Noel Cravat, Boh Ryan, Charles LaTorre. Photography Charles Lawton, Jr. Time 81 minutes “The Walls Came Tumbling Down,' which may be a rose of any other title by the time it is crammed into your marquee, stacks up as intelligent mystery picture making, with a story off the beaten path, and topped by a corking performance from Lee Bowman. Producer A1 Cohen found something different for a mystery springboard in the novel on which the picture is based. This is the finding of a priest a supposed suicide by hanging. Aside from the natural unwillingness of a good portion of the spectators to believe a priest a suicide the story also lias a newspaper columnist, befriended by the priest in his childhood, who refuses to be convinced by the apparent evidence. His digging into the mystery leads to a plot concerning a missing Bible, which contains the clue to a hidden Leonardo da Vinci painting. The characters met in the course of the action, which includes two more killings and other vigorous action, are not stock screen meller types. They have been well cast and are well trouped. Bowman’s top performance in the lead is well paralleled by two other players, Marguerite Chapman and George Macready. Lee Patrick is outstanding in the support. Direction by Lothar Mendes is vigorous, and especially effective in pictorial effect. Producer A1 Cohen has wrapped up an interesting yarn with all the necessities of class production. Exhibitor’s Booking Suggestion : Worth while mystery item. . . . Previewed May 17th. WHAT THE OTHER FELLOWS SAID: REPORTER: “Faulty.” VARIETY: “Credit to both producers and cast.” \\ Strange Triangle rr Above Average Program Thriller (20TH CENTURY-FOX) The Digest's Box Office Estimate: 90% Producer Aubrey Schenck Director Ray McCarey The Players: Signe Hasso, Preston Foster, Anabel Shaw, John Shepperd, Roy Roberts, Emory Parnell, Nancy Evans, Gladys Blake, Frank Pershing, Robert Malcolm. Photography Harry Jackson Time 65 minutes A tight script and crisply capable direction by Ray McCarey make “Strange Triangle” a better than average offering for the program meller market. Neither is the picture exactly weak in stellar interest with Singe Hasso and Preston Foster carrying the top roles. It is another of those yarns which “starts at the finish” and must achieve its suspense note by interesting us in finding out how the leading character got into his — or her particular pickle. In this case it is Preston Foster, in jail for the killing of Signe Hasso, whom we meet first. Then we flash back to the reasons therefore, and take up with Foster and Hasso on the occasion of their first meeting. There follows a tale of a conniving woman, tricky bank embezzlement, a triangle love story with Foster on the hot spot, and finally the denoument of the killing. As said, it has been tightly and cleverly scripted for continued interest, and Ray McCarey’s direction misses no bets. It is a worthy credit on the Aubrey Schenck production list. Miss Hasso is properly appealing and sinister in the well drawn chiseler role and Foster completely capable as the victim turned sacrificial killer. Support is satisfactory, with top opportunity well handled byJohn Shepperd. Exhibitor’s Booking Suggestion : Good meller program item. . . . Previewed May 6th. WHAT THE OTHER FELLOWS SAID: REPORTER: “One of the better supporting features which should earn respectable returns.” VARIETY: “Stacks up as extra grade double hill material.” Larceny in Her Heart' Has Title for PRC Market (PRC) The Digest’s Box Office Estimate: 80% Producer Sigmund Neufeld Director Sam Newfield The Players: Hugh Beaumont, Cheryl Walker, Ralph Dunn, Paul Bryar, Charles Wilson, Douglas Fowley, Gordon Richards, Charles Quigley, Julia McMillan, Marie Harmon, Lee Bennett, Henry Hall, Milton Kibbee. Photography . Jack Greenhalgh Time 68 minutes Michael Shayne, now making his home in PRC exchanges, will probably find a comfortable spot there judging by the first two episodes of his adventures. He is a forthright dick, his problems run pretty true to whodunit formula, and there are even the customary stock characters for comedy purposes— newspaper man, and blustering copper. If script and direction show signs of budget worries, at least it can be said that for his sixty-odd minutes Mike Shayne keeps moving, encounters perils, and solves his crimes. Hugh Beaumont confirms the good impression he made as Shayne in the first PRC production, with Cheryl Walker his decorative and adequate secretary. Paul Bryar and Ralph Dunn, as the newspaper hound and police official, do as well as the rough material provided allows. Mystery is brought right to Shayne’s office to start this one off, when the missing heiress whom he has been hired to find is discovered strangled on his own premises. There is more violence before the mystery is solved, considerable interference from suspicious cops, and Shayne even has to commit himself to an asylum for alkies before the time is up. Sam Newfield’s direction measures up to the standard demands of the type of offering. Exhibitor's Booking Suggestion : Okay filler number. . . . Previewed May 13th. WHAT THE OTHER FELLOWS SAID: REPORTER: “This mystery film is in the hag for its market.” VARIETY: “Sufficient suspense to carry it for intended market.”