Canadian Film Weekly (Aug 8, 1945)

i) ; * f @ f THE PICK OF THE PICTURES Vol 10, No. 32 Diamond Horseshoe With Betty Grable, Dick Haymes 20th-Fox 104 Mins. LAVISH TECHNICOLOR MUSICAL HAS THE MAKINGS OF A _ BIG MONEY-GRABBER. Compounded of ingredients that are the essentials of popular entertainment, Bill Rose’s “Diamond Horseshoe” is certain to prove another big money-maker from 20th-Fox.: For Tom, Dick and Harry and their women this stunning Technicolor production represents the height of diversion. A wealth of showmanship has been thrown into this amalgam of music, comedy and romance by Producer William Perlberg, who has lavished upon the offering production values that are unexcelled. The allure and glamor attached to Billy Rose’s emporium of entertainment are factors not to be overlooked in the merchandising of the picture. The film presents a more or less familiar story that serves well the purposes of a musical show. Considering its inspiration, the yarn naturally is about show business. The picture has Dick Haymes giving up his medical studies to become a singer. The attempt of his father, William Gaxton, Diamond Horseshoe entertainer, to discourage him and realize his dream of having 2 medico in the family, is productive of a good deal of drama. Betty Grable, singer and dancer with whom Haymes is in love, is drawn into the plot and helps to make life miserable for Haymes, but subsequently she succumbs to-him and becomes his wife. George Seaton acquits himself well in his first directional chore. The screenplay is his. Mack Gordon and Harry Warren have supplied seven pleasant if not outstanding tunes. Ernest Palmer’s photography is an important contribution. Miss Grable will rate much attention from the boys. Haymes is a good enough lover. Most of the comedy is dished out by Phil Silvers. CAST: Betty Grable, Dick Haymes, Phil Silvers, William Gaxton, Beatrice Kay, Carmen Cavallaro, Willie Solar, Margaret Dumont, Roy Benson, George Melford, Hal K. Dawson, Kenny Williams, Reed Hadley, Eddie Acuff, Edward Gargan, Ruth Rickaby. CREDITS: Producer, William Perlberg; Director, George Seaton; Screenplay, George Seaton; Suggested by play by John Kenyon Nicholson. DIRECTION, Good, PHOTOGRAPHY, Superb. Brown, “fp REVIEWS FROM FILM DAILY, NEW YORK Pillow To Post with Ida Lupino, William Prince, Sydney Greenstreet Warner Bros. 92 Mins. BREATHLESS COMEDY WILL PROVIDE PLENTY OF FUN FOR THE MAJORITY OF, AUDIENCES. Hectic is the word for “Pillow to Post.” The comedy hits a headlong pace almost from the start and doesn’t slacken it appreciably at any time thereafter. The fun is touch-and-go, with most of the footage providing substantial entertainment for the ordinary film-goer despite much familiar stuff. The film isn’t above employing slapstick when it suits the purpose, going overboard on this score on occasion. Alex Gottlieb has supervised the film’s production efficiently, Vincent Sherman supplying direction that makes the film move along with zip and keeps the action always at peak. Leaning to farce,-the picture is another finding its inspiration in the housing shortage. The one in need of quarters this time is Ida Lupino, who is trying to sell oil-well equipment for her pop to help solve the manpower shortage. To get accommodations near a camp she has to pose as an Army wife. She inveigles William Prince, an officer, to play at matrimony to sustain the duplicity. The complications are countless and quite amusing for the most part. A good deal of the fun stems from Prince’s efforts to keep Sydney Greenstreet, his superior officer, from finding out the truth. Miss Lupino does fine as a comedienne in spite of a tendency to overplay. CAST: Ida Lupino, Sydney Greenstreet, William Prince, Stuart Erwin, Johnny Frank Orth, Regina Wallace, Willie Best, Paul Harvey, Carol Hughes, Bobby Blake, Ann O'Neil, Marie Blake, Victoria Horm, Lelah Tyler, Sue Moore, Don McGuire, Joyce Compton, Louis Armstrong and orchestra. CREDITS: Producer, Alex Gottlieb; Director, Vincent Sherman; Screenplay; Charles Hoffman; Based on play by Rose Simon Kohn. DIRECTION, Okay. PHOTOGRAPHY, Okay. Man in Half Moon Street with Nils Asther, Helen Walker Paramount 92 Mins. WELL-MADE MELODRAMA WILL APPEAL MOST STRONGLY TO SHOCKER FANS. This effectively produced film has many of the attributes of entertainment of the shocker school. Possessed of an air of the macabre, the production sustains the attention well throughout its suspenseful course. The screenplay of Charles Kenyon, as based on a Garrett Fort adaptation of a play by Barre Lyndon, has an element of believability despite its fantastic story. It doesn’t go overboard in its toying with the science of endocrinology. The film is the story of a scientist, Nils Asther, who has cheated old age via a series of gland operations. He has had to commit many murders in his efforts to contravene the laws of nature. His passion for a lovely young woman, Helen Walker, has something to do with his desire to remain youthful. Death descends upon him when something goes wrong, saving him from the wrath of the law. CAST: Nils Asther, Helen Walker, Reinhold Schunzel, Paul Cavanagh, Edmond Breon, Morton Lowry, Matthew Boulton, Brandon Hurst, Aminta Dyne, Arthur Mulliner, Edward Fielding, Reginald Steffield, Eustace Wyatt, Forrester Hervey. Konstantin Shayne. CREDITS: Director Ralph Murphy; Screenplay, Charles Kenyon; Adaptation, Garrett Fort; Based on play by Barre Lyndon; Musical Score, Miklos Rozsa, Cameraman, Henry Sharp; Art Directors, Hans Dreier, Walter Tyler; Film Editor, Tom Neff; Sound, Ferol Redd, Philip Wisdom; Set Decorator, Sam Comer. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. ‘Chopin’ Pic Rights Sold to Paris Firm Rights to “Le Pere Chopin,” first French film produced in Canada by Renaissance Film under the direction of Charles Phillips, have been sold to a French syndicate in Paris for the amount of 30,000,000 francs. This figure is equivalent to $600,000 Canadian dollars. Vol. 10, No. 32. August 8, 1945 Address all communications—The Managing Editor, Canadian Film Weekly, 25 Dundas Square, Toronto, Canada. Published by Film Publications of Canada Ltd., 25 Dundas Square, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Phone ADelaide 4317. Price S cents each or $2.00 per year. Entered as Second Class Matter. Printed by Eveready Printers Limited, 78 Wellington Street West, Torento, Ontario. $2.00 Per Annum Along Came Jones with Garry Cooper, Loretta Young RKO Radio-International 90 Mins. STRONG DRAMATIC ROMANCE OF WEST, STUDDED WITH COMEDY, EXCITEMENT AND GROSSING POWER. Yes, “Along Came Jones,” is a western, but it’s champagne cider compared to the plain apple juice variety of cactus dramas. It points up the old adage that what is done is less important than how it’s done. This exciting, and at times cnormously amusing, romantic meller of the West in 1890 has the advantage of two bright stars, Gary Cooper (who is also the film’s producer) and Loretta Young, both and each worthy of anybody’s marquee, as lures to patrons. Additionally, it has a splendid screenplay penned by Nunnally Johnson in the best spirit and skill of that able writer. It has carefully chosen capable supporting players, ingratiating as well as genuine dialogue, and Milton Krasner’s photography that is hauntingly atmospheric. In short, “Along Came Jones” has the substance which comes from the smooth joining of good ingredients. That makes it box office, and click it will wherever shown. Its characters are believable. The most striking example is Cooper himself. No swashbuckling, 10gallon-hatted hero who can hit a gopher’s eye at 3,000 yards, but an awkward, gangling gent who couldn’t hit the back wall of a shooting gallery, let alone a transitory clay duck. His chief weapon is a good heart, full of affection for Loretta Young, the beloved of a bad man with a heavy price on his head. Cooper’s physical resemblance to the bandit is all but the former’s undoing. But at the finale, when stirring gunplay and comedy are over, it is Cooper who wins the Young heart. William Demarest and Dan Duryea are fine in their roles of the Cooper pal and the outlaw, respectively. “Along Came Jones,” in short, means along come profits for stands playing it. CAST: Gary Cooper, William Demarest, Dan Duryea, Frank Sully, Russell Simpson, Arthur Loft, Willard Robertson, Don Costello, Ray Teal. CREDITS: A Cinema Artists Production; Producer, Gary Cooper; Director, Stuart Heisler; Cameraman, Milton Krasner. DIRECTION, PHY, Solid, Loretta Young, Skilled. _PHOTOGRA