Boxoffice (Jan-Mar 1962)

Opinions on Current Productions Feature reviews Symbol © denotes color; © CinemaScope; ® Vista Vision; (§) Superscope; ® Ponovision; g Regolscope; ® Techniromo. For story synopsis on each picture, see reverse side. Tender Is the Night F 2RS£ @Dram3Q 20th-Fox (203) 146 Minutes Rel. Feb. '62 oppc The combination of Jennifer Jones (her first picture since ]\ aifs ' "A Farewell to Arms" in 1958), Joan Fontaine and the up Uh | and-coming Jason Robards jr. in an intensely dramatic F. Scott Fitzgerald tale of the 1920s, which has been given the utmost in lavish production values and superbly photoraphed French Riviera backgrounds, cannot fail to have a built-in appeal, especially to the ladies, and become a boxoffice hit. Like so many of Fitzgerald's novels, this deals with the playboy set composed of handsome men and beautiful women, where wealth, excessive drinking and idleness lead to broken dreams and unhappiness, and Ivan Moffat's screenplay follows this pattern expertly. Although the picture is over-long, Henry King's direction maintains interest throughout and he captures the '20s atmosphere splendidly. After only two previous pictures, Robards' perceptive portrayal of the dedicated psych:atrist whose life is ruined by wealth • hould put him in he top star bracket, while Miss Fontaine has rarely looked better or given a finer performance. Tom Ewell has a cynical, semi-serious role for a change; Paul Lukas and Cesare Danova are also outstanding and Jill St. John adds pulchritude. Miss Jones is generally excellent. Produced by Henry T. Weinstein. Jennifer Jones, Jaron Robards jr., Joan Fontaine, Tom Ewell, Paul Lukas, Jill St. John, Cesare Danova. / Bombed Pearl Harbor F XL2ZI Parade Releasing 98 Minutes Rel. Dec. '61 Conveying realism to sometimes astonishing degrees, this should find a ready and waiting market, particularly among the male patrons. This is a Parade Releasing Organization release of a Toho Co. production, with English dialog. The Widescope and Technico'or packaging enable the Japanese filmmakers to dramatically convey a vastness of the great reaches of the Pacific Ocean, at the same time pinpointing the very human reactions of a cluster of earnest young men imbued with the spirit of a Japanese victory over the United a States in those turbulent days immediately following the :>d sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. The role of the Japanese task 'i_ force commander is entrusted to Toshiro Mifune, that country's leading character actor, and he brings to the role cm admirably restrained delineation. Yosuke Natsuki, as a flight leader, and Misa Uehara, the girl he leaves behind, provide the brief romantic moments. In the main, this is a man's action show, the footage covering the days before Dec. 7, 1941, and going through the U.S. show of retribution at Midway Island. Shue Matsubayashi directed with a firm awareness of the historical impact. Mifune was accorded top acting honors at the recent Venice International Film Festival. Yosuke Natsuki, Toshiro Mifune, Koji Tsuruta, Misa Uehara, Aiko Mimasu, Jun Tazaki. White Slavery D“tary Joseph Brenner Associates 64 Minutes Rel. Dec. '61 This footage, released by the Tangier police department and subsequently edited by Exploit Films Inc., is a forceful depiction of the inner workings of the almost unbelievable complexities of a giant white slavery ring functioning throughout the Mediterranean, a subject, of course, strictly for the adult trade and the action-adventure-liking segments of same, at that. Photographer Michael Steel, who had the admittedly steel nerve to ingratiate himself into the higher echelon of said illegal women-traders, narrates his own adventure and while much of the ensuing episodes could well be classified as smacking of more fiction than fact, simply because of its fantastic carryings-on, the overall effect is one of headline-commanding attention. The press should be alerted to the truth-stranger-than-fiction. approach intelligently tackled by Steel, and the fact that the Tangier authorities gave the footage their blessing. Steel's footage is of the no-frills, strictly business content and he's to be acco DKIk for undertaking a mission of certain danger. The film . 'JbU concludes on a hopeful enough note as Steel’s footage is used to convict the hard-hearted chaps who engineered one 1 of the most unbelievable trading episodes in contemporary history. Narrated by Michael Steel. Light in the Piazza F 2Ra55°1 MGM (616) 101 Minutes Rel. Jan. ’b2 — Using a plot situation probably never before attempted on Dri the screen, this picturization of the 1961 best-selling novelette a by Elizabeth Spencer is unusual and provocative fare, superbly photographed in CinemaScope and Metrocolor on actual locations in Florence and Rome. With Olivia de Havilland, in one of her rare screen appearances, and the handsome, fortyish Rossano Brazzi to draw the adult fans and George Hamilton, a favorite with the teenagers, this Arthur Freed production should have a wide appeal. The story tells how the protective mother of a beautiful 26-yearold daughter who, because of a childhood accident, has the mentality of a young adolescent, first tries to prevent the girl's romance and later decides to encourage it. Under Guy Green's able direction, this strange plot holds interest even if a few incidents are unbelievable and the "happy" ending will leave patrons wondering what will eventually happen to a retarded wife. Miss de Havilland looks beautiful and wins great sympathy for the worried, confused mother; Hamilton is remarkably convincing as a lovelorn Italian youth; and Brazzi and Barry Sullivan also do well in their roles, but it is the enchanting Yvette Mimieux who scores most heavily as the child-like daughter. Otto Heller's camera work is striking. Olivia de Havilland, Rossano Brazzi, Yvette Mimieux. George Hamilton, Barry Sullivan, Isabel Dean. Follow That Horse F “li """" Seven Arts 80 Minutes Rel. Dec. '61 Within an admirably trim 80 minutes some fine British creative talents provide a satirical glimpse of the "small people," civil servants, caught up in the more humorous aspects of international spying and subsequent unraveling. While much that transpires in this Thomas Clyde production, directed by Alan Bromlv, can be reasonably predicted by the intelligentsia and art theatre patrons for whom it's obviously ear-marked, there are sufficient comedy ingredients to keep all concerned very much satisfied. David Tomlinson ; qJ0*' essays the top role of the befuddled, yet well-meaning chap, r who inadvertently sets off a wild dhase for atomic spies in his native England, in the process meeting and mating with the lithesome Mary Peach, whose dad conveniently maintains race horse facilities near a top-secret atomic project. The two leads are handsome indeed and cavort in the best tradition of British farce. Cyril Shaps has some shrewd moments as the scientist who would defect to other lands. Alfred Shaughnessy's screenplay keeps matters bubbling along, some of the better-contrived facets concerned with the horse who eats highly secret documents, wins a race and then is sold at auction. David Tomlinson, Cecil Parker, Richard Wattis, Cyril Shaps. Mary Peach, Dora Bryan, Raymond Huntley. Shangri-La A F,nuf Joseph Brenner Associates 63 Minutes Rel. Sept. '61 Strictly adult novelty fare, this ought to coast along on word-of-mouth alone once the populace is alerted to contents of the admittedly flimsily concocted yarn of the femalestruct zoo-keeper, known as Sammy, who follows two gals haphazardly, to say the least, while vacationing, to Washington, D.C., and Silver Spring, Fla., eventually winding up in a nudist camp billed incongruously, perhaps, as ShangriLa (hence the title). The sight-gags (and they are used in this modestly budgeted effort in profusion) and the appearance of many an undraped damsel won't appeal to the discriminating; the approach, conduct and premise, if such can be charitably described of the filmmakers' intent, is geared to the level of novelty-seekers and, depending on the local situations, the element plunking down the dollars at the boxoffice apparently won't be overly concerned with logic. To its everlasting credit, some off-beat is lazily incorporated— use of beauty display through kaleidoscopic Aj. lenses at one instance. As far as acting is concerned, the awards will be sadly placed if anybody (no cast credits available) rates even a feeble accolade. If anything, there seems dominant a sense of hurry up and get it over, a degree of effectiveness implying inferior preproduction planning. The reviews on these pages may be filed for future reference in any of the following ways: (1) in any standard three-rina loose-leaf binder; (2) individually, by company, in any standard 3x5 card Index file; or (3) in the BOXOFFICE PICTURE GUIDE three-ring, pocket-size binder. The latter, including a year's supply of booking and daily business record sheets, may be obtained from Associated Publications, 825 Von Brunt Blvd., Kansas City 24, Mo., for $1.00, postage paid. 2596 BOXOFFICE BookinGuide : : Jan. 15, 1962