Boxoffice (Oct-Dec 1962)

Opinions on Current Productions Feature reviews Symbol Q denotes color; © ClnemoScope; ® VistoVision; ® Superscope; (gl Ponerisiaii; (g) Regolscope; ® Techniroma. For story synopsis on each picture, see reverse side. Billy Rose's Jumbo ".S'l 0“'^© MGM (310) 125 Minutes Rel. Dec. '62 A happy, tuneful, fun-filled and star-studded musical with consb circus backgroxmd, this Joe Pasternak production is fine ^ — entertainment for young and old alike, ideal family fare for wl' the holiday period or for any time of the year. Based on the musical produced by Billy Rose at the old Hippodrome in New York more than two decades ago, the picture has several memorable Rodgers and Hart songs, which ore delightfully sung by Doris Day and by Stephen Boyd in his singing debut. These include "Over and Over Again," which sets the carnival mood as various circus acts perform to its rhythms: "My Romance," "Little Girl Blue" and the superb "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World," all of which will set audiences humming. Miss Day is at her wholesome best, which is high praise, indeed, while Boyd is ruggedly handsome and puts over his songs splendidly. This romantic team is ably supported by those two veteran comics, Jimmy Durante, recreating his stage role of the lovable circus owner, and Martha Roye, os his long-time fiancee who muggs to strong lough returns. Well directed by Charles Walters, the turnof-the-century sets and costumes are enhanced by the firstrate Panavision and Metrocolor photography. A EuterpeArwin picture, coproduced by Martin Melcher. Doris Day, Stephen Boyd, Jimmy Durante, Martha Raye, Dean Jagger, Charles Watts, Joseph Waring, Robert Burton. 40 Pounds of Trouble Univ.-Int'l (6304) 106 Minutes Rel. Feb. '63 Following in line with the long succession of Universal aLE— comedy hits, this Curtis Enterprises production by Stan Margulies, is a thoroughly engaging, often riotous, comedy with sure-fire audience appeal. The similar situation of a hard-boiled young gambler saddled with a cute, six-year-old orphan girl made a star of Shirley Temple in "Little Miss Marker" in 1934 and Morion Hargrove's original screenplay is replete with riotous comedy touches, clever dialog and a chase climax through the wonders of Disneyland which will have audiences howling with laughter. This is the first time the famed amusement park has been used in a major feature— a big selling point and one that will delight America's youngsters, as well as most grownups. After a succession of serious roles, Tony Curtis is back in his comedy stride as a Nevada gambling house manager trying to evade paying alimony to his ex-wife in California. Little Claire Wilcox is natural and appealing as a youngster left behind by her gambler father, which leads to all the merriment between the child and Curtis who feels responsible for her. Suzanne Pleshette enters the scene as a nightclub singer who helps Curtis core for his charge, resulting in a romantic ending. Directed by TV's Norman Jewison. Tony Curtis, Suzanne Pleshette, Phil Silvers, Claire Wilcox, Howard Morris, Mary Murphy, Kevin McCarthy. Taras Bulba "S." "'‘S United Artists 122 Minutes Rel. Jon. '63 Magnificently filmed in Panavision and Technicolor on Argentina’s plains and employing thousands of horses and their army riders, this picturization of the Nikolai Gogol classic drama of the 16th Century Cossacks is tremendously impressive pictorially but less effective in its dramatic portions. With Tony Curtis, favorite with the women and teenagers, and Yul Brynner, for marquee lure, boxoffice returns should be good, particularly where the action fans and youngsters will thrill to the battle action, which has rarely been surpassed for the fury and realism of its sword-slashhate\ acrobatic horsemanship. Director J. Lee Thompson 1 i ^ excels with these scenes, as well as in the delicacy of the _ | * few romantic moments between Curtis and the lovely German actress, Christine Kaufmann, who is becoming familiar to U.S. moviegoers through several current films. Brynner gives a truly vigorous and authentic portrayal of the Cossack leader which overshadows Curtis' title role. The latter foils to get under the skin of the part and is less convincing than Perry Lopez, as his younger brother. The late Vladimir Sokoloff, as an aged Cossack, and Guy Rolfe, as a Polish prince, also stand out. Period settings and costumes are lavish. Produced by Harold Hecht. Tony Curtis, Yul Brynner, Christine Kaufmann, Sam Wanomaker, Guy Rolfe, Vladimir Sokoloff, Brad Dexter. Strong Room Jj'"; Bryanston-States Rights 78 Minutes Rel. Dec. '62 There's as much suspense contained within the fastmoving hour-plus-18 minutes running time of this Britishproduced story of a bank heist that nearly went right as has appeared within the framework of a similarly concocted yarn filmed anywhere in the Western World. In a word, given sufficient and logical exploitation, this has the earmark of "sleeper" entertainment, very much of the "Rififi" genre. Guido Coen produced and Victor Sevelle directed is: 1 from a screenplay by Richard Harris and Max Marquis, as ncinn based on an original story by Harris. Darren Nesbitt, .as a Milquetoast bank manager in the British midlands who learns the meaning of full-dimensioned maturity while locked in a strong room with bonk secretary Ann Lynn, is the man on whom the bulk of dramatic restraint falls and this chop comes through respondingly well. As the minutes tick by, the more absorbed viewers will start chewing their noils, realizing that the air, dwindling away ever so rapidly, is the lifeline for Nesbitt and Miss Lynn and nary a bit of help is en route. Bryanston is to be congratulated, certainly, for a poised and professional job, worthy of accolades and acclaim on this side of the appreciative Atlantic. Darren Nesbitt, Ann Lynn, Keith Faulkner. Court Martial United Artists (6237) 82 Minutes Rel. Dec. '62 A European cast commendably enough delineates this story of one of the more shocking stories emanating out of the nightmarish turmoil and tragedy that marked the "thousand year" Nazi Reich, tracing three pitiful survivors of a naval battle in their inevitable trek to death after being initially hailed as heroes on return to Germany. A naval intelligence officer's insistence, however, that their recounting of the sinking of their ship by British forces didn't fully stand up led to further inquiry, the upshot of which found the men guilty, in Nazi regime's eyes. Helmuth Volmer produced and Kurt Meisel directed, from a screenplay by Will Berthold and Heinz O. Wuttig. Principal roles ore assigned to Karl Boehm (unfortunately here billed as Karlheinz Boehm, the name by which he is known in Germany), Christian Wolff, Klaus Kommer and Hans Nielsen. V/here attractions in this genre have pleased — understandably in action and adventure audiences — ^the film will prove reasonably satisfactory, despite the obvious lack of any marquee names. Moreover, it's not, by any stretch of charitable imagination, within the | , scope and basically American appeal of Herman Wouk's 34, 3 memorable "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial." ' Karl Boehm, Christian Wolff, Klaus Kammer, Hons Nielsen, Sabina Sesselman, Corola von Kayser. Seven Daring Girls Manson Distributing Corp. 76 Minutes Rel. Nov. '62 Producer Wolfgang Hortwig and director Otto Meyer, working from a Johannes Kai screenplay, provide reasonably satisfying entertainment in this trim-running yarn. Since the hour-plus-16 minutes can't carry the feature singly, it will need either supporting fare or a companion attraction. None of the names in this story about seven luscious gals newly graduated from an exclusive Swiss school embarking on a holiday under carefree skies will mean anything to the mass American market; their fetching forms, of course, ore physically endowed indeed, suggesting extensive exterior theatre ballyhoo, including street promotion. Adrian Hoven, the hero, and Ann Smyrner, the gal for whom he is obviously pining away while besting Jan Hendriks, seeking a fortune in gold ingots cached away in a crashed plane, do well enough with their assigned roles, although the conventionally developed shooting script can't provide sufficiently in-depth characterizations. The boy-girl relationship could have come off a bit more excitingly. The audiences, for which the Manson release is geared, probably won't quibble much 339 about this particular facet; they'll be gazing fondly at the constant parade of feminine beauty. Ludwig Spitaler was production manager. Adrian Hoven, Ann Smyrner, Jan Hendriks, Dorothy Glocklen, Beatrix Norden, Dimitri Bitenc, Kurt Ludwig. The reviews on these pages may be filed for future reference in any of the following ways: (1) in any standard three-ring 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 lat^r, including o year's supply of booking and daily business record sheets, may be obtained from Associated Publications, 825 Van Brunt Blvd., Kansas City 24, Mo., for $1.00, postage paid. 2690 BOXOFnCE BookinGuide Dec. 10, 1962 2689