Canadian Film Weekly (Oct 17, 1945)

THE PICK OF THE PICTURES SZ =A iNOUSTaY REVIEWS INFORMATION RATINGS Vol. 70, No. 42 REVIEWS FROM FILM DAILY, NEW YORE $2.00 Per Annum Radio Stars On Parade with Wally Brown, Alan Camey, Frances Langford RKO 69 Mins. CORN AND SLAPSTICK DISHED OUT BY WHIRLWIND COMEDY OF STRONG APPEAL TO FAMILY TRADE. “Radio Stars on Parade” is a load of corn’ devised especially for the palate of ether hounds. On many occasions the production goes unashamedly slapstick, to the delight of the kids in particular. Mixed in with the lowbrow humor are musical snatches engaging the services of Frances Langford, Skinnay Ennis and his band, Rufe Davis, the Town Criers and several others of lesser importance. The trigger-fast direction of Leslie Goodwins keeps the film moving breathlessly all the way. The whirlwind pace serves the good purpose of giving the audience little time to think of how flat and old most of the comedy is. The film leans heavily on “Truth or Consequences” for its box office appeal. To be truthful, the sequences based on that popular radio program, with Ralph Edwards supervising the fun, account for the most entertaining portions of the film — certainly the most hilarious. The picture, produced on a modest scale by Ben Stoloff from a Robert E. Kent-Monte Brice screenplay, requires the comedy team of Wally Brown and Alan Carney to carry the burden. The story finds the comics running a talent agency for a 10-per center who is forced to flee Hollywood to escape the wrath of a gambler to whom he is heavily in debt. Brown and Carney spend most of their time trying to get a break for Frances Langford against the wishes of a gangster admirer. They get in trouble with the thug but succeed in extricat ing themselves neatly. CAST: Wally Brown, Alan Carey. Frances Langford, Ralph Edwards and company, Skinnsy Ennis and band, Don Wilson, Tony Romano, Town Criers, Cappy Barra Boys, Rufe Davis, Robert Clarke, Sheldon Leonard, Max Wagner, Peters. Kae DIS: Executive Producer, Sid Rogell; Producer, Ben Stoloff; Director, Leslie Goodwins; Screenplay, Robert E, t, Monte Brice. RO IRECT ION, Okay. PHOTOGRAPHY, Okay. McGuire in Lead Dorothy McGuire will play the female lead in RKO’s’ Dore Schary production, “They Dream of Home.” Delightfully Dangerous with Jane Powell, Ralph Bellamy, Constance Moore UA-Rogers 93 Mins. ROMANTIC MUSIC, ATTRACTIVE PRODUCTION AND POWELL’S PRESENCE WILL SELL THIS ONE. The youthful charm and sweetness of Jane Powell, the class with which it has been produced by Charles R. Rogers with the aid of Joseph S. Tushinsky and the novelty effect achieved in its production numbers are the main attractions of ‘Delightfully Dangerous.” The pull of the film is stronger on women than men. Not the least of the appeal to women is based on the romantic flavor of the music, which consists of songs by Morton Gould and Edward Heyman and Strauss melodies. The score is a melodic delight that ought to please every music lover. The film is under the handicap of a story that is weak and stereotyped. It presents Miss Powell as a Student at a girls’ school who believes her sister (Constance Moore) is a musical comedy star when in reality she is a burlesque queen. Badly disillusioned when she discovers the truth, the youngster, determined to lift sister out of burlesque, gets a noted Broadway producer (Ralph Bellamy) to sign up Miss Moore. The little trickster also wangles a role for herself. Must you be told the show goes over with a bang and Bellamy develops a romantic feeling for Miss Moore? Arthur Lubin’s direction tends to listlessness. Miss Powell is given ample opportunity to sing. Her fellow players are not at their best. Arthur Treacher helps a lot as the main laugh dispenser. CAST: Jane Powell, Ralph Bellamy, Constance Moore, Morton Gould and orchestra, Arthur Treacher, Louise Beavers, Ruth Tobey, Ruth Robinson, Andre Charlot, Shirley Hunter Will.ims. CREDITS: Producer, Charles R. Rogers; Associate Producer, Joseph S. Tushinsky. DIRECTION, Passable. PHY, Fine. PHOTOGRA Over 21 with Irene Dunne, Alexander Knox, Charles Coburn Columtia 102 Mins, BROADWAY PLAY TURNED INTO HIGHLY ENTERTAINING FILM WITH STRONG BOXOFFICE PULL. Columbia has a real hit in Sidney Buchman’s filmization of Ruth Gordon’s Broadway play. The opus proves that a picture can be very entertaining, provide much comedy, including some belly laughs, and yet deal with a serious, important problem. The acting is of the best, with Irene Dunne, Alexander Knox and Charles Coburn handling the Starring roles. Director Charles Vidor has skillfully guided the proceedings. In addition to being responsible for the production, Buchman wrote the screenplay. Because he wants to learn at first hand servicemen’s views on Shaping the post-war world, Knox, 39, resigns the editorship of the New York Bulletin, the nation’s foremost liberal paper, to join the Army as a private. The publisher, Coburn, is dismayed, because he is convinced that without Knox’s guidance the paper will fold. Knox’s wife, Miss Dunne, novelist and scenarist, comes to the rescue by writing editorials on the post-war world that Coburn believes are by Knox. Many of the laughs in the picture come from the experiences of Miss Dunne and Knox in a tiny bungalow, which is part of a court near Knox’s Miami Army post. CAST: Irene Dunne, Alexander Knox, Charles Coburn, Jeff Donnell, Loren Tind-ll, Lee Petrick, Phil Brown, Cora Witherspoon, Charles Evans, Pierre Watkin, Anna Loos, Nanette Parks, Adele Roberts, Jean Stevens. CREDITS: Producer, Sidney Buchman; Director, Charles Vidor; Screenplay, Sidney Buchman; Based on play by Ruth Gordon; Cameraman, Rudolph Mzte; Film Editor, Otto Meyer; Art Directors, Stephen Gooson, Rudolph Sternad; Musical Score, Marlin Skiles; Musical Director, M. W, Stoloff. DIRECTION, Excellent. PHY, Very Good. PHOTOGRA Underseas Drama “Secret Story,’ Columbia underseas drama, will feature Jim Bannon, Ross Hunter, Loren Tindall and Ken Curtis in the top roles. ala Vol. 10, No. 42. Oct. 10, 1945 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 cents each or $2.00 per year. Entered as Second Class Matter. Printed by Eveready Printers Limited, 78 Wellington Street West, Torento, Ontario, You Came Along with Robert Cummings, Lizabeth Scott, Don DeFore Par=mount-H_1 Wallis 103 Mins. GENUINE SCREEN FARE STUDDED WITH SPLENDID DIRECTION AND EXCEPTIONAL CASTING; STORY RICH IN WARM, HUMAN TOUCHES. For his second release under the Paramount banner, Hal Wallis wins for himself two feathers to add to his production cap. One, for bringing Robert Cummings back to the screen in a glove-fitting role, after an absence of two years, and the introduction of Lizabeth Scott as a new screen personality. The other, for handing John Farrow the directional reins to drive a simple story with warm, human touches directly to your heart. Although the ending is somewhat overdrawn in its. bid for melodramatic value, the altruistic fecling generated throughout the film will infect the audience with congenial acceptance of the added footage. The film starts clicking when soft-spoken Lizabeth Scott displays a sexy charm in a new gown and haircomb, in direct contrast to her mannish attire that she wore when she was assigned by the Treasury department to act as guide and aide to Cummings, DeFore and Charles Drake. By the time they reach Des Moines on their plane trip West, Cummings is commanding all of Scott’s attention. She learns that Cummings is the victim of a rare blood disease and is squeezing all the possible fun out of life that his numbered days will allow. Despite the knowledge of his condition, they both deride to marry at the Flyers’ Chapel, shrine of aviators, at the Riverside Mission Inn, San Bernadino, Moments of happiness in their honeymoon cottage are depicted until he feigns an overseas assignment and leaves to die shortly afterwards at the Walter Reade Hospital. CAST: Robert Cummings, Lizabeth Scott, Don DeFore, Charles Drake, Julie Bishep, Kim Hunter, Robert Sully, Helen Forrest, Rhys Williams, Franklin Pangborn, Minor Watson, Howard Freeman, Andrew Tombes, Lewis L. Russell, Frank Faylen, Will. Wright, Cindy Garner, Marjorie Woodworth, Ruth Roman, Crane Whitely. CREDITS: Producer, Hal Wallis; Director, John Farrow; Story, Robert Smith; Screenplay, Robert Smith, Ann Rand. DIRECTION, Excellent. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good,