Canadian Film Weekly (Jan 30, 1946)

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THE PICK OF THE PICTURES Vol. 11, No. 5 The Lost. Weekend with Ray Milland, Jane Wyman Paramount 101 Mins. DRAMATIC PILE-DRIVER IS NOTABLE |ACHIEVEMENT; ADULT EN TERTAINMENT; MILLAND TOPS A starkly dramatic film overwhelming in its effect has been drawn from the Charles R. Jackson novel about an alcoholic. Impressively produced by Charles Brackett, who also is credited with collaborating on the super° lative screenplay with Billy Wilder, “The Lost Weekend” is a most remarkable screen achievement in that it has been able to paint a picture of a slave to drink so preciously true that it hurts. The picture is not a pretty one, often rising to terrifying dramatic heights. It is a soul-searing experience for the ordinary person, while women will find it much too harsh for their sensitive tastes. This in a way is a compliment to the picture, for no faithful study of an alcoholic could be presented without creating a sense of painful reality. There can be no question that it took great courage to make “The Lost Weekend.” To have handled the subject with kid gloves or to have given it the “Hollywood touch” would have cheapened it beyond conception. It should be made clear that “The Lost Weekend’ is no preachment. It merely shows how one man goes to pieces as the result of his inability to curb his drinking. Failure to exploit the film carefully would be a grave error. While the picture’s study of its alcoholic hero may seem exaggerated to the person who is unfamiliar with individuals like him, it must be said on the contrary that, if anything, ‘The Lost Weekend” is an understatement. Wilder’s simple, firm and sympathetic direction has inspired the cast to deliver performances of top-flight caliber. Ray Milland’s work as the alcoholic is his top screen performance to date. As the girl who fights to save him Jane Wyman excels herself. Philip Terry as his brother and Howard da Silva as a bartender are others who are outstanding. CAST: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Philip Terry, Howard da Silva, Doris Dowling, Frank Faylen, Mary Young. CREDITS: Producer, Charles Brackett; Director, Billy Wilder; Screenplay, Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder; Based on novel by Charles R. Jackson; Cameraman, John F, Seitz; Musical Score, Miklos Rozsa. DIRECTION, Superb. PHOTOGRAPHY, Fine. The Fighting Guardsman with Willard Parker, jAnita Louise, John Loder Columbia 84 Mins. ACTION IS EMPHASIZED IN POOR COSTUME MELODRAMA OF INTEREST PRIMARILY TO KIDS, The struggle between Louis XVI of France and his downtrodden subjects has been made the subject of a costume melodrama displaying no imagination or distinction. The Alexander Dumas novel, ‘‘The Companions of Jehu,” hag inspired (if that is the word) Franz Spencer and Edward Dein to concoct a screenplay so full of theatrics and artificiality that only the kids will accord it their respectful attention. There is virtually only one thing in which the film isn’t lacking—action. The picture is a painful example of cloak-and-sword hijinks. The quality of the production may be gauged from the fact that the action often elicits laughter in the wrong places. “The Fighting Guardsman” is an exhibit of familiar melodramatics rigged up in fancy costumes. It attempts to tell the story of a democracy loving French nobleman (Willard Parker) who fights for a square deal for the common people of France. Disguising his identity, he leads a campaign of terror against the king (Lloyd Corrigan) time and again barely missing capture. Our liberty-impassioned hero is aided in his mission by a lady of the king’s court (Anita Louise) with whom he is in love. He has a rival for her hand in a British nobleman (John Loder) who is in France in connection with a loan sought by Louis XVI, but the Englishman gracefully bows out when he realizes how much Parker and Miss Louise mean to each other. In placing stress on action Henry Levin has directed the film very much in the spirit of a western. The players give the film no better acting than it merits. CAST: Willard Parker, Anita Louise, Janis Carter, John Loder, Edgar Buchan George Macready, Lloyd Corrigan, Elisabeth Risdon, Ian Wolfe, Ray Teal, Victor Kilian, Charles Halton, Maurice Tauzin, Charles Waldron. CREDITS: Producer, Michael Kraike; Director, Henry Levin; Screenplay, Franz Spencer, Edward Dein; Based on Alexander Dumas novel; Cameraman, Burnett Guffey; Film Editor, Viola Lawrence; Art Directors, Stephen Goosson, Walter Holscher; Set Decorator, Robert Priestley; Sound, Philip Faulkner; Musical Score, Paul Sawtell; Musical Director, Martin Skiles. DIRECTION, So-so, PHOTOGRAPHY, 0 Hotel Reserve with James Mason RKO-D. & P. 79 Mins. ENGLISH-MADE FILM IS PRE-WAR ESPIONAGE YARN OF MODERATE INTEREST. In “Hotel Reserve” the British film makers have sent us a moderately entertaining film which is robbed of a lot of its interest by the fact it is dated, the subject of Nazi espionage in France before the war being not the easiest thing with which to send patrons hurrying to the box-offices. The picture, turned out by D. & P. Studios, Ltd., has to its advantage primarily a passable amount of suspense and action, atmospheric settings and acting, much of which is creditable. A serious handicap in the film’s “quest for an audience in this country is the difficulty of understanding a good deal of the dialogue, the accents of the majority of the players proving unfamiliar to great sections of Canadian audiences. This fault makes the performances seem less effective than they actually are. Chiefly pleading not guilty to lack of clarity of speech are James Mason, the film’s leading performer, Clare Hamilton, his romantic vis-a-vis, Julien Mitchell and Herbert Roux, the villain of the piece. Laid on the French Riviera, the story details the struggle of a refugee to clear himself of suspicion of being an enemy agent. His task to ferret out the real culprit, one of his fellow guests at the hotel where he is staying. The villain meets his doom in a finish typical of the old-time mellers. Mason plays the top role with much intensity. CAST: James Mason, Lucie Mannheim, Raymond Lovell, Julien Mitchell, Clara Hamilton, Martin Miller, Herbert Lom, Frederick Valk, Ivor Barnard, Valentine Dyell, Patricia Medina, David Ward, Hella Kurty, Anthony Shaw, Lawrence Hanray, Patricia Hayes, Josef Almas, Ernest Ulman, Mike Johnson, Hugo Schuster, Henry T. Russell, John Baker. CREDITS: Producer, Victor Hanbury; Directors, Lance Comfort, Max Greene; Screenplay, John Davenport; Based on novel by Eric Ambler; Art Director, W. C. Andrews; Musical Score,, Lennox Berkeley; Sound, Harry Miller; Film Editor, S, Stone. DIRECTION, Okay. PHOTOGRAPHY, Okay. New Hope Starrer Bob Hope will be starred in Paramount’s ‘Where There’s Life,’”” a modern comedy of political intrigue. Signe Hasso will play the feminine lead. REVIEWS INFORMATION RATINGS Ses $2.00 Per Annum The Beautiful Cheat with Bonita Granville, Nozh Beery, Jr. Universal 59 Mins. MILD COMEDY IS RATED AS BOOKING FOR SMALLER SPOTS; SONG NUMBERS HELP. A preposterous little comedy made up of stale ingredients— such is “The Beautiful Cheat.” The film is slated primarily for the smaller spots, being too fragile to stand up anywhere else. The production will have to lean mainly on the names of Bonita Granville and Noah Beery, Jr. From the familiar Manny SeffFritz Rotter story Ben Markson has concocted an adolescent screenplay which offers Noah Beery, Jr., as a Nobel prize winner (!!!) who is a professor of sociology, a character treated purely as burlesque. So that he may get first-hand material on his subject, the professor, who is preparing a study on juvenile delinquency, takes Miss Granville into his home under the impression she is a delinquent. Beery doesn’t learn it is all a trick until he and the gal have fallen in love. Then Cupid really goes to work. Three song numbers, one sung by Miss Granville and two by Carol Hughes, help the film a lot. The cast does the best it can with the material at its disposal. CAST: Bonita Granville, Noah Beery, Jr., Margaret Irving, Serah Selby, Irene Ryan, Carol Hughes, Milburn Stone, Tom Dillon, Edward Gargan, Lester Matthews, Edward Fielding, Tommy Bond. CREDITS: Producer, Director, Charles Berton; Ben Markson. DIRECTION, Fair. Okay. Charles Barton; Screenplay, PHOTOGRAPHY, F. Rosenberg Named Col. Ad-Pub Head Frank Rosenberg has_ been named by Harry Cohn and Nate J. Spingold as the new head of Columbia's advertising, publicity and exploitation setup. Rosenberg succeeds David A. Lipton, who resigned the Columbia post to return to Universal as coordinator of advertising and promotion under John Joseph. During Lipfon’s 18 months in the army, Rosenberg took over his New York post, transferring to Hollywood as assistant to Whitney Bolton, studio advertising-publicity director, on Lipton's return. The return of Lipton to Universal is part of Joseph’s expansion program in publicity and advertising.