Canadian Film Weekly (Jul 4, 1945)

| THE PICK OF THE PICTURES a ¢ CANADIAN MOTION PICTURE INOUSTAaY a REVIEWS INFORMATION RATINGS Vol. 10, No. 27 Horn Blows At Midnight with Jack Benny, Alexis Smith Warner Bros. 78 Mins. HIGHLY AMUSING FANTASY WILL CLICK AT THE BOX OFFICE; DEPARTURE FROM THE USUAL. The field of fantasy has been explored to good effect in concocting Jack Benny’s latest screen comedy. “The Horn Blows at Midnight” is an extremely amusing film that departs from the customary, resulting in humor with a refreshing quality. It’s all done with tongue in cheek and with pleasant touches of satire. The picture is not one to draw guffaws, but rather smiles and chuckles—and on an unrationed basis. Grand fun is the story of a trumpet player (Benny) who falls asleep while performing with an orchestra on a coffee broadcast and dreams himself into heaven. There we see him as an angel who wins the heart of a lady angel (Alexis Smith). Hilarious complications galore resulf when the celestial chief (Guy Kibbee) sends him earthward on a mission to destroy the misbehaving world by blowing a blast on his trumpet at midnight sharp. Benny muffs his assignment, and Miss Smith prevails upon Kibbee to send her down after him to see what the trouble is. More humorous complications. Benny never does get to blow his judgment-blast. The film has been strikingly produced by Mark Hellinger, with Raoul Walsh contributing good direction.. The Sam Hellman-James V. Kern screenplay is full of fanciful stuff. . CAST: Jack Benny, Alexis Smith, Dolores Moran, Allyn Joslyn, Reginald Gardiner, Guy Kibbee, John Alexander, Franklin Pangborn, Margaret Dumont, Bobby Blake, James Burke, Ethel Griffies, Paul Harvey, Truman Bradley, Mike Mazurki, John Brown, Murray Alper, Pat O’Moore. CREDITS: Producer, Mark Hellinger; Director, Raoul Walsh; Screenplay, Sam Hellman, James V. Kern; Based on idea by Aubrey ‘Wisberg; Cameraman, Sid Hickox; Art Director, Hugh Reticker; Film Editor, Irene Morra; Musical Score, Franz Waxman; Sound, Stanley S. Jones; Special Effects, Lawrence Butler; Set Decorator, Clarence Steensen; Musical Director, Leo F. Forbstein. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. Masters, lreton Attend NY Confabs Glenn Ireton, Warner Brothers Canadian publicity chief, was in New York last week attending a series of exploitation conferences. The district managers meeting, held concurrently, was attended by Haskell Masters. REVIEWS FROM FILM DAILY, NEW YORK Zoya Artkino 90 Mins. NEWEST SOVIET IMPORT OF MILD APPEAL; SCORE ITS BEST ASSET. “Zoya’’ is another of those heavy Russian films carrying limited appeal for audiences not sold on Soviet screen product. In telling the story of one of Russia’s heroines of this war the picture misses many opportunities that would have made the Soyuzdet production worthy of American audiences. For a subject that lends itself to strong dramatic treatment the offering is strangely limited in its power to move an audience more than superficially. The story has little impact, due largely to the obvious way it has been related. What the film does have is simplicity, realism and a fierce earnestness. The Dmitri Shostakovich score is the biggest selling point. The story, which is along episodic lines, takes the heroine from birth to her death by hanging for refusal to betray her fellow partisans to the Nazis. Her treatment at the hands of her captors accounts for some of the best footage. Emphasis is on the forces that drove her to give her all for her country. The acting has vigor. Howard Fast did the English narration and the dialogue. CAST: Galina Vodianitskaya, Kitia Skvortsova, Xenia Tarasova, Mikolai Ryzhov, Tamara Altzeva, Alexander Kuznetsoy, Boris Poslavsky, Victor Volchek, Boris Podgorny, Roman Pliatt. CREDITS: Director, Lev Arnshtam; Screenplay, Lev Arnshtam, Boris Chirskov; Cameraman, A. Chelenkov, I. Chen; Musical Score, Dmitri Shostakovich; English narration and dialogue, Howard Fast; Narrator, Donna Keath. DIRECTION, Fair. PHOTOGRAPHY, So-so. We Accuse Artkino-Esquire 70 Mins. Important Documentary As vivid a plea for the extermination of Fascism as will come out of the essays of this war is nurtured in this authentic film record of the world-famous Kharkov trial of four of the accused instruments of the Hitler master plan. Produced by Irvin Shapiro with an excellent editing job of the trial sequences and Red Army war scenes, through the courtesy of. Artkino Pictures, this film packs a thought wallop and should be witnessed by all those who do not care to bargain for peace but who will clip the shreds of Nazism by demanding swift and just punishment of the war criminals to insure it. The Bull Fighters with Laurel and Hardy 20th-Fox 61 Mins. TAILORED-TO-MEASURE LAUREL AND HARDY VEHICLE INSURES PLENTY OF FUN FOR TEAM'S FANS. The Laurel-Hardy fans will derive much fun from the comedy team’s latest effort. The W. Scott Darling screenplay is made to measure for the pair’s talents, with small concession to those who do not respond easily to the comic’s brand of clowning. The choice of a more colorful story than ordinarily whipped up for the two is very much to the advantage of the production, which was turned out by Producer William Girard competently enough. This time Mexico is the scene of the Laurel-Hardy blunderings. They are private detectives from the States in search of a lady criminal. Laurel is inveigled by Richard Lane, manager of a famous bull fighter, to take the place of his client who is late in arriying from Spain. It must be explained that the bull fighter and Laurel are lookalike. The fun goes into high gear when the real bull fighter arrives sooner than expected. The mistaken identity business is worked for all it is worth. His dual role gives Laurel a chance to do more than has been his wont. He and his teammate are kept stepping by the fast direction of Mal St. Clair. CAST: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Margo Woode, Richard Lane, Carol Andrews, Diosa Costello, Frank McCown, Ralph Sanford, Irving Gump, Ed Gargan, Lorraine De Wood, Emmett Vogan, Rober Neury, Gus Glassmire, Rafael Storm, Jay Novello, Guy Zanetto, Robert + Filmer, Max Wagner, Jose Portugal, Hank Worden, Joe Dominguez, Stevan Darrell. CREDITS: Producer, William Girard; Director, Mal St. Clair; Screenplay, W. Scott Darling; Cameraman, Norbert Brodine; Art Directors, Lyle Wheeler, Chester Gore; Set Decorators, Thomas Little, Al Orenbach; Film Editor, Stanley Rabjohn; Special Effects, Fred Sersen; Sound, Arthur von Kirbach, Harry M. Leonard. DIRECTION, Okay. PHOTOGRAPHY, Okay. This documented feature, written by John Bright and narrated by Everett Sloane, is an accusation by the people of Kharkov against those invaders and traitors directly responsible for the murder and torture of 300,000 of its Soviet citizens. Although gruesome in much of its detail, the hanging scenes of the four accused, Retzlaff, Langheld, Ritz and Bulanov, spells relief and security for the future. $2.00 Per Annum Keep Your Powder Dry with Lana Turner, Laraine Day, Susan Peters MGM : 93 Mins. FILM INSPIRED BY THE WACS GEARED TO APPEAL EQUALLY TO MEN AND FEMMES. With the WAC serving as its inspiration and with such femmes as Lana Turner, Laraine Day and Susan Peters in the principal roles, “Keep Your Powder Dry” is certain to appeal equally to men and women. The film is an innocuous affair treating superficially a subject in the consideration of which should have gone better reasoning. As it stands the production is a rewrite of the familiar formula followed by Hollywood in turning out service pictures. It must be admitted, however, that ‘Keep Your Powder Dry” handles its subject interestingly and with some good touches of drama. In Hollywood’s book no service film is complete without a feud. In this picture the feudists are the Misses Turner and Day. The former is a play-girl who enters the Wacs to prove she’s fit to inherit a fortune. Her plan is to quit once she gets the dough. Miss Day is actuated by high motives. The two are constantly at each other’s throat. Matters come to a point where both face being dropped out of officers’ candidate school. As any dope can guess, Miss Turner comes to love the corps and she and Miss Day kiss and make up. The Misses Turner and Day handle their parts well. Miss Peters brings tenderness to her role of peacemaker. Bill Johnson, as an officer, and Jess Barker, as a drunken rotter, are competent in the only male roles that mean anything. George Haight lavished a good production on the film, which Edward Buzzell directed capably. CAST: Lana Turner, Laraine Day, Susan Peters, Agnes Moorehead, Bill Johnson, Natalie Schafer, Lee Patrick, Jess Barker, June Lockhart, Marta Linden, Tim Murdock. CREDITS: Preducer, George Haight; Director, Edward Buzzell; Screenplay, Mary C. McCall, Jr., George Bruce; Cameraman, Ray June; Musical Score, David Snell; Recording Director, Douglas Shearer; jArt Directors, Cedric Gibbons, Leonid Vasian; Set Decorators, Edwin B. Willis, Ralph S. Hurst; Film Editor, Frank E. Hull. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, ie Mobile Advertising Use of vehicles for theatre advertising is now possible with the relaxation of WPTB regulations. Ore