Canadian Film Weekly (Aug 29, 1945)

THE PICK OF THE PICTURES | vorce $) ge REVIEWS INFORMATION RATINGS Vol. 10, No. 35 Nob Hill with George Raft, Joan Bennett, Vivian Blaine 20th-Fox 95 Mins. LAVISH TECHNICOLOR MUSICAL IS LUSTY ENTERTAINMENT CERTAIN TO DRAW HEAVILY. In “Nob Hill” 20th-Fox has added another to its imposing list of sumptuous, _ eye-filling Technicolor musicals devised to capture the popular fancy. Vividnes, gusto, excitement and a fierce sense of life combine to give the film a claim to public attention. Under the supervision of Andre Daven the picture parades a wealth of production values that are definitely boxoffice. Not the least of the picture’s attractions is an abundance of music reflecting the lusty spirit and gay abandon of the San Francisco of the turn of the century. This tempestuous tale of life and love on the Barbary Coast is an old one that has been dulled by time and repetition. Fortunately 20th-Fox has produced it in a manner that takes some of the curse off it. The yarn tells of the owner of the Barbary Coast’s . top gay spot who momentarily forgets his affection for his star entertainer to sample love with a Nob Hill beauty. The guy soon finds himself beyond his depth and returns to the faithful gal of the Barbary Coast. The Wanda Tuchock-Norman Reilly Raine screenplay never leaves the aud ‘ience in doubt as to how the plot will turn out. Fast and punchy direction has been contributed by Henry Hathaway. The photography of Edward Cronjager is one of the film’s biggest assets. George Raft and Vivian Blaine are the Barbary Coart lovers, Joan Bennett being the Nob Hill gal. Peggy Ann Garner adds a touching note as a homeless Irish lass befriended by Raft and Miss Blaine. Highly decorative as well as competent—that’s Miss Blaine. CAST: George Raft, Joan Bennett, Vivian Blaine, Peggy Ann Garner, Alan Reed, B. S. Pully, Emil Coleman, Edgar Barrier, George Anderson, Joe Smith and Charles Dale, Don Costello, Joseph J. Greene, J. Farrell MacDonald, Three Swifts, William Haade, Mike Mazurki, . Stone, George McKay, Beal wne Gite T. Lee, Frank McCown, Veda Ann Borg, Robert Creig, Charles Cane, Helen O'Hara, Dorothy Ford, Arthur Loft, Nestor Paiva, Paul Everton. CREDITS: Producer, Andre Daven; Director, Henry Hathaway; Sercenplay, Wanda Tuchock, Norman Reilly Raine; Based on story by Eleanore Griffin; Cameraman, Edward Cronjager; Songs, Jimmy McHugh. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Fine. REVIEWS FROM FILM DAILY, NEW YORK CounterAttack with Paul Muni 90 Mins. WAR PICTURE IS STRONG DRAMATIC STUFF: BITINGLY PRODUCED AND DIRECTED. A heavily dramatic film has been fashioned from the play “Counter Attack,’’ which Janet and Philip Stevenson derived from a Russian source. With no ray of lightness to relieve the darkness of its mood, the proauction can hardly classify as entertainment of wide popular appeal. The film is to be recommended principally for those who like their drama good and strong. Tellingly produced and directed with force and bite by Zoltan Korda, the picture makes good use of suspense to put its story over. The film manages to hold the interest engaged for most of the way and possesses much action that is gripping. What marquee strength the Columbia film has centers in the Paul Muni name. The actor has the role of a Soviet paratrooper who, with a girl guide (Marguerite Chapman) finds himself trapped in a cellar with a group ot Nazi soldiers when enemy guns attempt to prevent him and a group of buddies from getting information on the concentration of German troops preparatory to the launching of a counter-attack by the Russians. How Muni contrives to worm the vital information from the Nazis while fighting against sleep comprises the burden of the film. Muni performs forcefully. Miss Chapman, the only woman in the cast matters little in this in stance. CAST: Paul Muni, Marguerite Chapman, Larry Parks, Philip Van Zandt, George Macready, Roman Bohnen, Harro Meller, Erik Rolf, Rudolph Anders, Tan Wolfe, Frederick Giermann, Paul Andor, Ivan Triesault, Ludwig Donath, Louis Adlon, Trevor Bardette, Richard Hale. CREDITS: Director, Zoltan Korda; Screenplay, John Howard Lawson; Cameraman, James .Wong Howe; Film Editors, Charles Nelson, Al Clark; Art Directors, Stephen Goosson, Edward Jewell. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Lady Ona Train with Deanna Durbin Universal 93 Mins, MELODRAMA WITH LIGHT STRETCHES AND LOTS OF ACTION, DEPENDS MOSTLY ON CAST NAMES. “Lady on a Train” finds Dean na Durbin a little out of place as the heroine of a melodrama that gives her small opportunity to exercise that part of her talent that has won her popularity. More music and less melodrama would have shown Miss Durbin to better advantage and would have made the production a far more entertainting one. This handicap is overcome to a large degree by the boxoffice value of Miss Durbin’s name, plus those of Edward Everett Horton, Ralph Bellamy and _= several others. The film must lean heavily not only on the three song numbers executed by Miss Durbin, two of which are “Silent Night” and Cole Porter’s “Night and Day,” but on some light stretches in which Horton is the principal dispenser of mirth. The swell production accorded the story by Producer Felix Jackson also will help make the film acceptable to the average patron. The picture has a loose and rambling script by Edmund Beloin and Robert O’Brien, full of confusion and lacking in conviction. The film, based on a Leslie Charteris yarn that is basically sound, has Miss Durbin as an amateur sleuth who tries to solve the murder of a Wealthy man at the risk of her own safety. Charles David's direction is swift, so that there is no lack of action. CAST: Deanna Durbin, Ralph Bellamy, Edward Everett Horton, George Coulouris, Allen Jenkins, David Bruce, Patricia Morison, Dan Duryea, Maria Palmer, Elizabeth Patterson, Samuel S. Hinds, William Frawley, Jacqueline de Wit, Thurston Hall, Clyde Fillmore, Ben Carter, Mary Forbes, Sarah Edwards, CREDITS: Producer, Felix Jackson; Associate Producer, Howard Christic; Director, Charles David; Screenplay, Edmund Beloin, Robert O’Brien; Based on story by Leslie Charteris. DIRECTION, Okay. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. (Me -_ Vol. 10, No. 35 August 29, 1945 Uy: HYE BOSSIN, Managing Editor 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 5 cants each or $2.00 per year. Entered as Second Class Matter. Printed by Eveready Printere Limstted, 78 Wellington Street West, Terento, Ontario. $2.00 Per Annum The Story of G. I. Joe with Burgess Meredith, Robert Mitchum UA-Cowan 109 Mins. ERNIE PYLE BOOK CONVERTED INTO NOTABLE FILM DOCUMENT IMPRESSIVELY PRODUCED. In “The Story of G.I. Joe” Lester Cowan produced one of the few genuine accounts of fighting men to come out of this war. Hollywood has not turned out many war pictures to match the screen version of Ernie Pyle’s book for honesty, conviction and realism. Here is a war film that rings true, that shuns the phony heroics so common to entertain ment pictures of its class, that impresses one with its simplicity and its straightforwardness. The production is shot through with the humanity and warmth that characterized Pyle’s warfront dispatches on G. I. Joe. Humor and tragedy march together in this eloquent and moving account of American soldiers face to face with death. It is a film with many emotionally disturbing scenes—scenes that hold you with the validity of their drama. The picture, which sticks so close to truth as to take on the quality of a documentary, is an atmospheric masterpiece. The devastation of war has been so skillfully reproduced that you could swear you were looking at the real thing. There isn’t much of the appearance of make-believe about “The Story of G. I. Joe.” Especially is this true of the Italian sequences. There is little of formal plot or story. The offering is merely an informal account of how soldiers live and die, of their hopes and aspirations, of what makes them tick. As a study of men under fire the film is notable indeed. Burgess Meredith plays the famous correspondent = exceptionally well. Robert Mitchum as a captain who dies in the Italian campaign presses him closely for acting honors, William A. Wellman has directed with force and feeling. CAST: Burgess Meredith, Robert Mit chum, Freddie Steele, Wally Cassell, Jimmy Lloyd, Jack Reilly, Bill Murphy. CREDITS: Producer, Lester Cowan; Associate Producer, David Hall; Production Manager, Ray Heinz; Director, William A, Wellman; Screenplay, Leopold Atlas, Guy Endore, Philip Stevenson; Based on book by Ernie Pyle. DIRECTION, Fine, PHOTOGRAPHY, .