Canadian Film Weekly (Dec 29, 1943)

e ) Vol. 8, No. 53 “The Tron Major’ with Pat O’Brien, Ruth Warrick RKO 8S Mins. MOVING TRIBUTE TO LATE COACH CAVANAUGH SHOULD GO OVER BIG WITH FOOTBALL FANS. “The Iron Major” is the story of Frank Cavanaugh, football mentor who reached the height of his coaching glory at Fordham University. It is a story finely put together with a strong box-office appeal. Warmth and humanity have been poured into it in abundance. The film is more than good entertainment. It carries a message of faith, courage and duty of special application today. The story has been developed with patriotic overtones that give it a certain timeliness. Exhibitors will not go wrong playing “The Iron Major.” Football lovers particularly will give it heavy consideration. The picture traces Cavanaugh’s life from adolescence to death, stressing the passion for football that colored his whole existence and influenced his attitude toward life and the world. The production passes briefly over his carly years. Cavanaugh took up coaching when he was forced to quit Dartmouth by the death of his father. He started his college coaching at the University of Cincinnati. Then followed posts at Holy Cross, Dartmouth, Boston College and finally Fordham. World War I interrupted his career. After serving with distinction he came back a major. He resumed his coaching at Boston College handicapped by war injuries, but his courage and tenacity refused to let him cry quits. Aware that his days were limited, he accepted the Fordham post in an effort to make his family secure after his death. Ray Enright has directed with feeling. Robert Fellows has produced with intelligence. The screenplay, a good job, is by Aben Kandel and Warren Duff, who worked from a story by Florence BE. Cavanaugh. Pat O'Brien plays Cavanaugh earnestly and effectively. His wife is enacted sensitively by Ruth Warrick. Robert Ryan and Leon Ames are other meriting special mention. CAST: Pat O'Brien, Ruth Warrick, Robert Ryan, Leon Ames, Russell Wade, Bruce Edwards, Richard Martin. DIRECTION, Geod. PHOTOGRAPHY, REVIEWS FROM FILM DAILY, NEW YORK _ *No Time For Love’ with Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray Paramount 33 Mins. ROMANTIC COMEDY IS SWELL FUN FOR EVERY SORT OF AUDI ENCE; COLBERT, MacMURRAY ACES. A vote of thanks is due Mitchell Leisen for making — available to exhibitors a smart, buoyant comedy that meets the entertainment needs of the man in the street without antagonizing the more cerebral. Generous use of bright, clever dialogue and titillating situations, of which the possibility for humor has been fully realized by a headsup cast and knowing direction, makes “No Time for Love” a candidate for spanking box office returns. Working from a screenplay by Claude Binyon that is rich in fine material although loose in form, Leisen, thanks to his astuteness as producer and expertness as director, has turned into delicious fun a romantic comedy in which the principal participants are Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray. He has given the proceedings a breeziness and a worldly quality that are among the main charms of the comedy. Miss Colbert and MacMurray capture the spirit of the comedy with signal success. The one is cast as a high-toned photographer engaged by a picture magazine; the other, as a tough sandhog working on the construction of a tunnel under New York’s East River. The seeds of the romance between the two are planted when Miss Colbert is assigned to take pictures of the tunnel. MacMurray, a hard-boiled, cynical sort, becomes indebted to her when she saves him in an accident that occurs while she is discharging her assignment. That doesn’t please our hero at all because he resents the ultra sophisticated Miss Colbert. The gal falls for him without letting on, while the mug plays hard to get. . The stars get fine assistance from Ilka Chase, Richard Haydn, Paul McGrath, June Havoc and others. CAST: Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray, Ilka Chase, Richard Haydn, Paul McGrath, June Havoc, . Gatesen, Bill Goodwin, Morton Lowry, Rhys Williams, Murray Alper, John Kelly, Jerome DeNuccio, Grant Withers, Rod Cameron, Robertson. DIRECTION, Geed. PHOTOGRAPHY, Goed. Willard *Pistol Packin Mama’ with Ruth Terry, Robert Livingston Republic 6 Mins. POPULAR TUNE SERVES AS BASIS OF A MUSICAL THAT WILL MAKE A HIT WITH YOUNG FOLK. The famous tune of Al Dexter has inspired Republic to produce a film that is certain to carry a lot of weight with young people. “Pistol Packin’ Mama” packs plenty of ammunition. It should have no trouble at all hitting the target. No film could have been blessed with a title possessing greater box-office value. It is a challenge to the showman, for here indeed is an exploitation natural. The story isn’t intended to be taken too seriously. Since the subject has been treated as a musical, the plot can well risk the implausibilities that have gone into it. The young folk, for whom this entertainment is primarily intended, are certain to have no eye for the plot faults. The pistol-packing lady of the title operates a gambling place out Nevada way. One day an Eastern gambler breezes in with his stooge, breaks the joint with a pair of loaded dice and blows. When the lady finds she’s been played for a sucker, she hotfoots it East where she proceeds to get even with the mug. Step number one is to manoeuvre the guy into turning over to her the smart bistro he has acquired with his ill-gotten profits. Before long the gal has fallen a victim to the fellow’s charm. She proves how much she cares by coming to his rescue when he falls into the hands of a bunch of thugs trying to muscle in. The job of portraying the pistol-packin® mama has fallen to Ruth Terry, who performs creditably. After her first rendering of the Dexter song she keeps reprising the tune through the rest of the footage. The young Jady handles well three other tunes assigned to her. Robert Livingston plays the gambler acceptably. The comedy relief is taken care of nicely by Wally Vernon as _ Livingston’s stooge. The head villain is enacted by Jack LaRue. Eddy White produced meritoriously, CAST: Ruth Terry, Robert Livingsten, Wally Vernen, Jack LaRue, Kirk Alyn, Eddie Parker, Joe Kirk, Helen Talbot, Lydia Bilbrook, George Lassey King Cole Trio. = , DIRECTION, Good, PHOTOGRAPHY, . REVIEWS 1, INFORMATION i RATINGS | December 29, 1943 ‘Whistling In Brooklyn’ with Red Skelton, Ann Rutherford M-G-M 87 Mins. LATEST SKELTON SHOW IS A HECTIC AFFAIR THAT WILL RAKE IN PLENTY OF DOUGH EVERY WHERE. This “Whistling in Brooklyn” strikes a happy box office note. Exhibitors should have no trouble at all pulling in the customers and keeping them contented once they are inside. The picture is one of Red Skelton’s most hilarious exhibitions of his talent, being extraordinarily fast and furfous entertainment that doesn’t ease its breathless pace for a moment. Its comedy hits the mark solidly, convulsing the audience time and again as Skelton busies himself with a ruthless gang wanted by the coppers. Nat Perrin has provided Skelton with a good screenplay enriched with additional dialogue by Wilkie Mahoney. Although the story is old, it has been developed well with many clever touches, not to say excitement and suspense where the occa~ sion warranted. Skelton is a star of radio crime fiction who gets involved with the gang when he is mistaken for a notorious killer. The comic is in the unenvious position of being pursued both by the police and the villains. The film is the funniest when Skelton, in the disguise of a member of a team playing against the Brooklyn Dodgers, invades Ebbets Field in a desperate effort to save from the mob’s vengeance a police inspector who is among the crowd there. Ann Rutherford as the sweetheart, Jean Rogers as the sob sister and “Rags” Ragland as the chauffeur lend Skelton swell support. Ragland supplies considerable comedy of his own to bolster the entertainment. Also a big help in the comedy department is Sam Levene as a member of the gang. Other roles are well taken by Ray Collins and Henry O'Neil. The participation of the Brooklyn Dodgers in the doings should prove an added magnet. S. Sylvan Simon’s direction is to be commended, as is George Haight’s service as producer. CAST: Red Skelton, Ann Rutherford, Jean Rogers, “Rags” Ragland, Ray Collins, Henry O'Neill, William Frawley, Sam Levene, Arthur Space, Robert Emmet O'Conner, Steve Geray, Howard Freeman, Tom Dillon, Brooklyn Dodgers. DIRECTION, Geed, PHOTOGRAPHY,