Canadian Film Weekly (May 9, 1945)

@ THE PICK OF THE PICTURES | Y wk REVIEWS INFORMATION RATINGS Vol. 10, No. 19 REVIEWS FROM FILM DAILY, NEW YORK $2.00 Per Annum Hotel Berlin with Andrea King, Helmut Dantine, Raymond Massey, Faye Emerson Warner Bros. 98 Mins. SUBJECT MATTER AND EXCITING PRODUCTION WILL ASSURE THIS ONE OF SUCCESS. The lure of its title and exploitableness of its material give the film version of the Vicki Baum novel a ready-made advantage without taking into account the production’s merits as entertainment. The film has been turned out with the vigor and technical skill that have become a commonplace of Warner Bros. melodrama. While the treatment is not too convincing, the picture succeeds in creating a sense of life, excitement and commotion that captures the interest and holds it to the end. In their screenplay Jo Pagano and Alvah Bessie haven’t been able to avoid a feeling of confusion. The script, dealing with opposite forces among the German people, fails to make the loyalties of some of the characters clear and definite. This is one of the serious shortcomings of the film. As in Miss Baum’s “Grand Hotel,” the action takes place in a Berlin hotel peopled by characters impelled by various motives in their allegiance to one side or the other. The emphasis is more on character analysis than it is on plot content. The story has to do with the German underground. Helmut Dantine is a foe of the Nazis who hides from the .Gestapo in the hotel. In his efforts to avoid detection he becomes involved with a number of persons, some sympathetic, some not. Among them are Andrea King, an actress; Faye. Emerson, a floosie; Peter Lorre, a professor; George Coulouris, a Gestapo chief. Raymond Massey plays a general who is made to take his own life because of treason. Well-produced by Louis Edelman, the film has fast direction by Peter Godfrey. CAST: Helmut Dantine, Andrea King, Raymond Massey, Faye Emerson, Peter Lorre, Alan Hale, George Coulouris, Henry Daniell, Peter Whitney, Helene Thimig, Steven Geray, Kurt Kreuger, Paul Andor, Erwin Kalser, Dickie Tyler, Elsa Heiis, Frank Reicher, Paul Panzer, John Mylong, Ruth Albu, Jay Novello, Lotte Stein, Torben Meyer. CREDITS: Producer, Louis Edelman; Director, Peter Godfrey; Screenplay, Jo Pagano, Alvah Bessie; Based on novel by Vicki Baum; Cameraman, Carl Guthrie; Art Director, John Hughes; Film Editor, Frank Magee; Sound, Charles Lang; Set Decorator, Clarence Steenson. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. PanAmericana with Phillip Terry, Audrey Long RKO & Mins. MUSIC, COMEDY AND ROMANCE BLENDED TO THE SATISFACTION OF AVERAGE FILMGOER, A musical romance devised to capture the popular interest, “PanAmericana’ should have little difficulty attracting audiences and keeping them entertained. The picture is made of the stuff that goes over especially well with younger souls. Gay in spirit, throbbing with LatinAmerican rhythms, light in mood, the production, attractively turned out under the super vision of Producer John H. Auer, commands the attention at all times. A gesture to our neighbors to the South, the film has Phillip Terry and Audrey Long as the love birds. The former, photographer for a magazine, has to live down his reputation as a wolf before he can win Miss Long, a feature writer for the publication who is engaged to another man. The action takes place on a Latin-American tour conducted by the magazine in a search for representative beauties for a show sponsored by the publication. The romance has been worked out to the accompaniment of generous doses of rhumba, samba and other Latin-American music specialty numbers, several of them of outstanding merit, are scattered liberally through the footage. Under the skilled direction of Auer, the players perform commendably. Terry and Miss Long make a good pair of lovers. The comedy is handled capably by Robert Benchley and Eve Arden. CAST: Phillip Terry, Audrey Long, Robert Benchley, Eve Arden, Ernest Truex, Mare Cramer, Isabelita, Rosario and Antonio, Miguelito Valdes, Harold and Lola, Louise Burnett, Chinita Marin, Chuy Castillon, Padilla Sisters, Chuy Reyes and orchestra, Nestor Amaral and Samba band. CREDITS: Producer, John H. Auer; Executive Producer, Sid Rogell; Director, John H. Auer; Screenplay, Lawrence Kimble; Based on story by Frederic Kohner, John H. Auer; Cameraman, Frank Redman; Musical Director, C. Bakaleinikoff; Musical numbers staged by Charles O’Curran; Special Effects, Vernon L. Walker; Art Directors, Albert S. D'Agostino, Al Herman; Set Decorators, Darrell Silvera, Michael Ohrenbach; Sound Richard Van Hessen; Film Editor, Harry Marker. DIRECTION, Good. FHOTOGRAPHY, Forever Yours with Gale Storm, John Mack Brown Monogram 84 Mins. INFANTILE PARALYSIS SUBJECT OF GOOD DRAMATIC FILM FOR FAMILY TRADE. In “Forever Yours” Jeffrey Bernerd has produced for Monogram what easily rates as one of the studio’s top films. Besides being a sastifactory piece of dramatic entertainment with a strong emotional sense that makes it particularly appealing to women, the film is a worthy contribution in the fight to curb the ravages of infantile paralysis. Its subject makes the picture highly exploitable merchandise, especially in connection with polio campaigns, The film reveals a substantial growth in the talents of Gale Storm and gives her full opportunity to display her capabilities. The actress carries very well indeed the role of the life-loving daughter of a noted surgeon who falls victim to infantile paralysis. The future looks miserable to the girl and she loses interest in life until an Army surgeon wins permission to try on her a new type of operative treatment that restores her to health and happiness. Naturally, she falls in love with the surgeon. Under the capable direction of William Nigh the cast comes through praiseworthily. Standouts among the supporting players are John Mack Brown, as the Army surgeon; Conrad Nagel and Sir Aubrey Smith, respectively father and grandfather of Miss Storm; Frank Craven and Mary Boland as her uncle and aunt who provide comedy relief. CAST: Gale Storm, Sir Aubrey Smith, John Mack Brown, Frank Craven, Conrad Nagel, Billy Wilkerson, Mary Boland, Johnny Downs, Catherine McLeod, Selmer Jackson, Russ Whiteman, Matt Willis, Leo Diamond and his Harmonaires. CREDITS: Producer, Jeffrey Bernerd; Screenplay, Neil Rau, George Sayre; Director, William Nigh; Cameraman, Harry Neumann; Sound, Tom Lambert; Art Director, Emie Hickson; Musical Director, Edward Kay; Film Editor, Ray Curtiss. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Wolfe Cohen Tours Australia and NZ. Wolfe Cohen, former head of Warner Brothers in Canada, and now vice-president of Warner International Corporation, is now in Australia making his first survey of the territory recently placed under his jurisdiction. He will spend about a month in Australia and then he will go on to visit New Zealand and Manila, What a Blonde with Leon Errol, Veda Ann Borg RKO 71 Mins. INFLATED TWO-REEL COMEDY MATERIAL AS WOBBLY AS ERROL’S WALK; NEEDS STRONG SUPPORT. Leon Errol’s repetitious overplaying of situations stretches the footage into a nerve-wracking feature-length film that could easily have been broken into a couple of two-reel comedies to serve audiences to a better advantage. There are, however, a few good laughs to relieve the huffing and puffing of Errol, who is suspected of being a “wolf.” Fitting the situations which are jig-sawed into the plot, we . find Errol, a lingerie manufacturer, needing two riders in order to get extra gas coupons. He hires Michael St. Angel while his butler hires Veda Ann Borg, vivacious wise-cracking blonde show girl. Clarence Kolb, silk manufacturer whom Errol is dependent upon for materials, unexpectedly brings his wife to Errol’s house for dinner. They are led to believe that Borg is Mrs. Errol until the real Mrs. Errol returns from a visit to her mother. The silk mogul walks out on his host, and Angel proves a devil when he tells Errol that he has a formula for synthetic silk which he can put into effect—after the war. CAST: Leon Errol, Richard Lane, Michael St. Angel, Elaine Riley, Veda Ann Borg, Lydia Bilbrock, Clarence Kolb, Ann Shoemaker, Chef Milani, Emory Par nell, Larry Wheat, Dorothy Vaughan, Jason Robards. CREDITS: Producer, Ben Stoloff; Director, Leslie Goodwins; Screenplay, Chartes Roberts; Executive Producer, Sid Rogell; Original Story, Oscar Brodney; Cameraman, J. Roy Hunt; Art Directors, Albert S. D'Agostino, Lucius Croxton; Set Decorator, Darrell Silvera; Sound, Earl Wolcott; Music, Leigh Harline; Musical Director, C. Bakaleinikoff; Editor, Edward W. Williams; Gowns, Edward Stevenson; Assistant Director, James Casey. DIRECTION, Fair. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. The Bell Tolls For Bell’ Opening A novel method of announcing the start of another performance was used during the run of “For Whom the Bell Tolls’ at the Capitol Theatre, Vancouver. A record played the tolling of a bell through amplifiers on the front and rear marquees 45 seconds before the start of each show. With press items explaining the purpose, patrons were able to ascertain the exact starting time of a show,