Canadian Film Weekly (Dec 1, 1943)

SE ee ee i eel THE PICK OF THE PICTURES “ AM MOTION PrctuUeEt inoUSTEY REVIEWS INFORMATION | RATINGS | Vol. 8, No. 49 REVIEWS FROM FILM DAILY, NEW YORK December 1, 1943 Melody’ with Rosemary Lane and Johnny Downs PRC 70 Mins. TIMELY MUSICAL WITH BACK TO THE FARM SETTING SHOULD SATISFY EASILY. Walter Colmes makes a promising debut as a producer with this timely musical comedy. It deals with the back to the farm movement and is an attractive offering from the modest budget field. Rosemary Lane does nice work in the starring role, with Johnny Downs and Sheldon Leonard capably filling important roles. The Radio Rogues, with their impersonations, contribute much to the fun-making. Eddie LeBaron and his band are effective in taking care of the musical chores. Sam Newfield did an excellent job of directing. Harry Akst, Leo Skuken, Walter Colmes and Benny Davis wrote the song numbers, and Martin Mooney and Andre Lamb the original story. The screenplay is by Allan Gale. Rosemary Lane is a washed up Hollywood star, whose press agent, Sheldon Leonard, induces her to volunteer to work on a farm during the labor emergency. Johnny Downs, a farm lad, who is in love with Marjorie Manners, hecomes infatuated with Rosemary. Rosemary’s farm work receives so much national publicity that she is made president of a country-wide organization known .as the Affiliated Farm Clubs. The nation-wide publicity causes three picture companies to make her very attractive offers, but she rejects them in favor of her new work. She also sees to it that Johnny returns to Marjorie. CAST: Rosemary Lane, Johnny Downs, Sheldon Leonard, Charlotte Wynters, Luls Alberni, Claire Rochelle, Syd Saylor, MarjJorie Manners, Sunny Fox, Henry Hall, Billy Nelson, Frances Gladwin, The Radio Rogues, Tho Vigilantes, Eddie LeBaron and Orchestra. DIRECTION, Excellent. PHY, Good. C. H. Bennett Passes; Nova Scotia Censor C. Henry Bennett, chairman of the Nova Scotia Board of Censors, passed away in Halifax last week. The board was responsible for the theatre regulations in that province. Bennett had been active in many fields of endeavor. He was at one time president of the Halifax County Liberal Association, chairman of the Halifax School Board and president of the Amateur ‘Harvest | PHOTOGRA Athletic Union of Canada in Ls Maritimes, ‘Flesh and Fantasy’ with Charles Boyer, Edward G. Robinson, Barbara Stanwyck Universal 93 Mins. A DEPARTURE FROM THE ORDINARY, THIS ONE SHOULD PULL WELL. Universal has departed from the norm in making “Flesh and Fantasy,’’ thereby bringing pleasure to those seeking something different in film entertainment. Invading the province of the mind, this is a strange film that wields a peculiar fascination and arouses a variety of emotions. The picture deals with a subject that will strongly attract the maturer minds. For those who will find the thought-provoking aspects of the story and the mystic and psychic implications a bit above their tastes and their thinking there is a high-powered cast to draw them and sustain their interest. With the film offering something to lure both intelligent persons and mental laggards, Universal has little cause for worry about the box office performance of “Flesh and Fantasy,’”’ which has been told with a strong sense of irony and a touch of the macabre, The film is divided into three unrelated episodes, all devised to show, that man is the master of his own destiny despite fortunetellers and dreams. The first episode, in which Betty Field and Robert Cummings are the main performers, telis of an ugly girl who finds beauty through faith, thereby winning the love of a youth with whom she has long had a secret passion. The meaning here is at times confused. Edward G. Robinson and Thomas Mitchell are the principal players in the second episode, which relates the tragedy of a man standing (Robinson) driven to murder by a2 palm-reader’s prognostication. The twist here is that the fortune-teller (Mitchell) becomes Robinson's victim. Romance has an important place in the final episode, with the leading roles handled by Charles Boyer and Barbara Stanwyck. This portion of the footage should appeal heavily to the women. The picture has been well produced by Boyer and Julien Duvivier. CAST: Charles Boyer, Edward G. Rob | inson, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Bench ley, Betty Field, Robert Cummings, Thomas Mitchell, Charles Winninger, Edgar Barrier, C. Aubrey Smith, Anna Lee, Dame May Whitty, Marjorie Lord, Clarence Muse, June Lang, Grace McMary Anz Hyde. ‘Henry Aldrich Haunts a House’ with Jimmy Lydon, Charles Smith, John Litel, Olive Blakeney, Joan Mortimer Paramount 73 Mins. BEST OF THE ALDRICH FILMS TO DATE, WITH LAUGHS, CHILLS AND ROMANCE, SUREFIRE B.O. ASSETS. Those legions of fans whose interests in the amusing escapades of young Henry Aldrich both on the screen and on the air will find this new film greatly to their liking. Indeed it is easily the best of the Aldrich pix to date, possessing an exciting and engaging story, and studded with human interest and humor. The cast is—and no pun intended—spirited and appears to have had a good time making the opus. Audiences will have even a better time watching its action, eerie qualities, romance and, at times, pathos. Jimmy Lydon, as usual, essays the central role. At the outset his schoolmates are convinced that he is a coward because of his refusal to engage in fisticuffs with a bullying and newly-arrived student at school. The white feather doesn't really exist. It’s the lad’s way of appearing intellectual in the eyes of his sweetheart, Joan Mortimer. The latter, when Jimmy pays his almost nightly visit to her home, gives him a potion, concocted by her science-pursuing father, to drink. It is supposed to make the imbiber three times as strong as formerly. The expected effect doesn’t materialize, but does cause Jimmy to stumble into an allegedly haunted mansion where, under the potion’s influence, he causes, without any subsequent remembrance of the incident, the imprisonment of his school’s principal in the tomb-like cellars. After happenings rife with mirth and chills, Jimmy and his young companions not only free the incarcerated principal, but in so doing bag a band of counterfeiters who were the haunting souls of the mansion. Hugh Bennett’s direction is excellent, and Associate Producer Michel Kraike has given the film unusually good production values. Daniel Fapp’s photography is of high quality throughout. CAST: Jimmy Lydon, Charles Smith, John Litel, Olive Blakeney, Joan Martimer, Vaughan Glaser, Jackie Moran, Lucien Littlefield, George Anderson, Mike Mazurki, Edgar Dearing, Charles Cane, Kernan Cripps, Jack Gardner, William Inman, Ferris Taylor, Anita Bolster, George M. Carleton, Dick Rush, Ray Walker, George Sherwood, Paul McVey, Paul Phillips. DIRECTION, Excellent. PHY, High Quality. PHOTOGRA ‘The Man From Down Under’ with Charles Laughton, Binnie Barnes M-G-M 103 Mins. COMEDY IS CROWDED WITH ELEMENTS OF ENTERTAINMENT; LAUGHTON DOMINATES FILM IN COLORFUL ROLE. While “The Man From Down Under” is a spotty offering, it should have little trouble giving a2 good account of itself at the boxoffice. The presence of Charles Laughton in the cast will make it possible for audiences to forget most of the film’s faults. The star’s impersonation holds the film together and keeps the audience’s interest in the proceedings constantly alive. The Laughton fans will be hugely delighted by the actor's portrayal of an Australian soldier who returns home from the first world conflict with two Belgian orphans, who in their grown-up stage develop into Richard Carlson and Donna Reed. The treatment of the role makes the film very much of a character study. Laughton is in his element in the part, which he plays for all he is worth. He puts on a good show and the box office returns should be the better for it. So many elements have worked into the film that it scatters its fire in too many directions. This has resulted in a film that runs much longer than it should. The picture contains two romantic pairings. One teams Laughton and Binnie Barnes, a music hall entertainer. The other joins Donna Reed and Richard Carlson. The romance between Laughton and Miss Barnes never gets beyond the mild stage since the former’s interest is strictly financial. It’s intended purely for laughs. That between Carlson and Miss Reed has its dramatic and poignant moments. It depends upon the establishment of the fact that the youth and the girl are not brother and sister but are totally without blood ties. Much of the story’s humor derives from Laughton’s business difficulties, Laughton gets fine support from Miss Barnes, Carlson, Miss Reed, Clyde Cook, Horace McNally and Arthur Shields. The film has been directed unhurriedly by Robert Z. Leonard, who produced with Orville O, Dull. CAST: Charles Laughton, Binnie Barnes, | Richard Carlson, Donna Reed, Christopher | Severn, Clyde Cook, Horace McNally, Arthur Shields, Evelyn Falke, Hobart } Cavanaugh, Andre Chariot. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY,