Canadian Film Weekly (Oct 6, 1943)

v THE PICK OF THE PICTURES REVIEWS INFORMATION RATINGS Vol. 8, No. 41 *‘Let’s Face It’ With Bob Hope, Betty Hutton. Paramount 76 Mins, EXHIBITORS SHOULD CLEAN UP WITH LATEST HOPE PIC; PLENTY OF LAUGHS IN STORE FOR CUSTOMERS. ‘Lets Face It,” Bob Hope’s latest cinematic venture, will roll up handsome grosses for the exhibitor. There is too much entertainment in this film to arrive at any other conclusion. And one says that in the face of the fact that the picture is not the best of the Hope pictures. But, best or not best, the production has what it takes to make the customers happy and the theatre man richer. Hope has been provided with a script that permits him to strut his stuff with no restraint—which is a guarantee of laughs without end. As a soldier who gets himself involved with a trio of lonely wives with two other buddies in his effort to obtain enough money to be married to Betty Hutton, the comic is tremendously funny. The complications are hilarious and endless, reaching their climax when the husbands of the lonely hearts suddenly appear on the scene with a trio of girl friends of their own. Hope gets himself into plenty of trouble with the camp authorities in his endeavor to keep his rendezvous with the three ladies. Hope and Miss Hutton are excellently paired. Dave Willock and Cully Richards play the comic’s buddies nicely. As the three wives who try to become romantic with the boys to get even with their husbands, Zasu Pitts, Phyllis Povah and Eve Arden are topnotch. Raymond Walburn, Andrew Tombes and Arthur Loft enact the husbands well. Again Joe Sawyer has a role as a tough sergeant. Some of the others deserving mention are Marjorie Weaver and Dona Drake. The comedy stacks up as fast and furious entertainment, thanks chiefly to the direction of Sidney Lanfield. Harry Tugend did the screenplay, based on a musical play by Dorothy and Herbert Fields and Cole Porter which was suggested by a play by Norma Mitchell and Russell G. Medcraft. CAST: Bob Hope, Betty Hutton, Zasu Pitts, Phyllis Povah, Dave Willeck, Eve Arden, Cully Richards, Marjorie Weaver, Dona Drake, Raymond Walburn, Andrew Tombes, Arthur Loft, Joe Sawyer, Grace Hayle, Evllyn Dockson, Andria Moreland, Kay Linaker and Brook Evans. Associate Producer, Fred Koblmar; Director, Sidney Lanfield. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, REVIEWS FROM FILM DAILY, NEW YORK ‘Lassie Come Home’ with Roddy McDowall M-G-M ' && Mins. THIS FILM IS ESCAPIST DELIGHT, OFFERING ENTERTAINMENT THAT DEPARTS FROM THE ORDINARY. Departing from the usual, this Technicolor film provides a generous measure of refreshing entertainment. It is a charming, simple and affecting story of a dog—a lovely collie called Lassie. Dog lovers will eat it up. The film falls in the class of “My Friend Flicka,’ appealing to the same type of audience as did the 20th-Fox picture about a youngster’s attachment for a filly. Oddly enough, Roddy McDowall, who played the youngster in “Flicka,” has a similar role in “Lassie Come Home.” Again he gives a sensitive and gentle performance as the collie’s young master to whom separation from the animal is a tragic thing. In this film the role of the youngster is subordinated to that of the animal. In fact, the film belongs to Lassie. The human actors play second fiddle to her. The story relates the dog’s attachment for her owners—an attachment so powerful that the animal escapes three times from the Kennels of Nigel Bruce, British duke to whom the collie is sold by Roddy’s parents, Donald Crisp and Elsa Lanchester, who are desperate for funds. The dog’s final escape takes Lassie from Scotland to the Yorkshire home of its young master in a moving display of courage. The suffering undergone by the animal makes for footage that is as dramatic as it is touching. The film ends happily when Crisp is allowed to keep the animal and is hired by Bruce to look after his kennels. McDowall will win many hearts with his performance. Others who turn in fine jobs are Crisp, Dame May Whitty, Edmund Gwenn, Bruce, Miss Lanchester, Elizabeth Taylor. The film is based on the novel of the late Eric Knight, to whom the film is dedicated. The adaptation was done by Hugo Butler. Fred M. Wilcox’s direction is good. Leonard Smith's camera work gives the film a potent visual appeal. CAST: Roddy McDowall, Donald Crisp, Dame May Whitty, Edmund Gwenn, Nigel Bruce, Elsa Lanchester, Elizabeth Taylor, Ben Webster, J. Patrick O'Malley, Alan Napier, Arthur Shields, John Rogers, Alec Craig, Lassie (dog). Producer, Samuel Marx; Director, Fred M. Wilcox. Based en novel by Eric Knight. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, ‘Thank Your ;{ Lucky Stars’ with all-star cast Warners 12% Mins. PRODIGAL DISPLAY OF STAR TALENT WILL WIN WEIGHTY GROSSES FOR THIS MUSICAL EXTRAVAGANGA. Here’s a big-time tune show geared for bulging grosses. With such a prodigal display of star talent, it matters little that the material is on the whole commonplace and that the pattern is overly familiar. Audiences will be too busy with the movement of stars and highly-regarded featured players on and off the screen to worry about the faults. They'll come to see the stars and they won't be disappointed. Warners has scraped the barrel to please them. The Warner stars let down their hair in this sprawling musical extravaganza to the delight of the fans. It is a distinct surprise to find many of the company’s big names trying their hand at entertainment chores with which they have never been associated by the public. For the first time audiences will hear such stars as Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Errol Flynn, John Garfield and Ida Lupino raise their voices in song. The only professional song-bird is Dinah Shore. Most of the film’s stars are in for very brief stints in the revue-like second half of the production. Eddie Cantor, Joan Leslie, Dennis Morgan and Edward Everett Horton are the principal players in the running story. Cantor draws a barrage of laughs in a dual role in which he appears as himself and as a Hollywood tourist guide. The guide has to pose as the real Cantor so that his pal (Morgan), a struggling singer, can appear in a charity show. How the real Cantor, who is in charge of the show, is gotten out of the way is extremely funny. Cantor will bow] the customers over with his work. The other players in the story sequences are equally as competent. The direction of David Butler is a bit slow in tempo until Cantor enters the proceedings. “Thank Your Lucky Stars” would have been still better entertainment hed its footage been reduced. CAST: Eddie Cantor, Bette Davis, AS cag iggy 0. talPlgge vale Flynn, John Garfield, Joan Leslie, Ida Lupino, Dennis Morgan, Ann Sheridan, Dinah Shore, Alexis Smith, Jack Carson, Alan Hale, George Toblas, Edward Everett Horton, S. Z. Sakall, Hattie McDaniel, Ruth Donnelly, Don Wilson, Willie Jones and His City Slickers.. Producer, Mark Hellinger; Director, David Butler. DIRECTION, Okay. PHOTOGRAPHY Good, ; October 6, 1943 ‘Melody Parade’ with Mary Beth Hughes, Eddie Quillan Monogram 73 Mins. MIXTURE OF COMEDY AND MUSIC MAKES SATISFACTORY BOOKING FOR NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSES. Here is a satisfactory offering in the modest budget field. In keeping with its title, it has plenty of music, with Anson Weeks and Ted Fio Rita and their orchestra busy, not to overlook the Loumell Morgan Trio. Handling the vocal chores are Jerry Cooper, Armida and Mary Beth Hughes. Edward Cherkose and Edward Kay concocted six songs and Armida one. Among the other numbers used are “Sleepy Time Down South,” “What Do You Know, Joe?" and “Them There Eyes.” Eddie Quillan, Tim and Irene Ryan and Manton Moreland handle the comedy chores and do well with their assignments. Incidentally Tim Ryan collaborated with Charles R. Marion on the original screenplay. Rulofi, Follette and Lunard score with their comedy dance number. Andre Charlot, Kenneth Harlan, Cyril Ring, Ruby Dandridge and Ramon Ros are among the principals. Arthur Dreifuss turned in a good job of directing, while Lindsley Parsons provided excellent production values. The chorus is eyefilling with Jack Boyle responsible for the goad dance routines. Quillan is an ambitious bus boy in a near-defunct night club operated by Tim Ryan. He believes that Mary Beth Hughes, new hatcheck girl at the club, is a great bet as a singer of popular songs. However, Armida is engaged for the principal spot. After many complications, Mary Beth wins her chance and of course makes good. CAST: Mary Beth Hughes, Eddle Quillan, Tim Ryan, Irene Ryan, Manton Moreland, Jerry Cooper, Armida, Andre Charlot, Kenneth Harlan, Cyril Ring, Ramon Ros, Loumell Morgan Trice, Rulec, Follette and Lunard, Anson Weeks and his orchestra, Ted Fio Rita and his orchestra, Ruby Dandridge. Producer, Lindsley Parsons; Director, Arthur Dreifuss. Peer in Geed. PHOTOGRAPHY, We Will Rent or Lease Your j heatre I Price I Right WRITE TO BOX 17 Canadian Film Weekly