Canadian Film Weekly (Feb 13, 1946)

THE PICK OF THE PICTURES Vol. 11, No. 7 They Were Expendable with Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, Donna Reed MGM 135 Mins. POWERFUL AND IMPRESSIVE FILM, A NOTABLE JOB OF PICTURE MAKING, RATES THE MOST EXTENSIVE PATRONAGE. In William L. White’s book about the exploits of the US Navy's P-T boats in the Pacific war Metro has found the material for an impressive film, one of inordinate power and sweep, one that deserves all the patronage it can command. ‘“‘They Were Expendable” is a notable job of picture making which gains in effectiveness by its refusal to go in for false heroics and by its commendable exercise of restraint in recording the gallant and perilous deeds of the P-T men around whom the story is built. In the film come tardy honors for the torpedo boat crews that played so important a part in the victory over the Japs. Their story has inspired Commander Frank Wead, an old hand at yarns with a naval background, to write a screenplay of scope and John Ford to lend direction that has so much heart and force that audiences will find it hard to avoid laughing and suffering with the members of the P-T crews commanded by Robert Montgomery and John Wayne. The two, aided by a cast of stalwarts, have joined in making “They Were Expendable” as believable as any war film could be and as inspiring a screen document as has been presented in some time. Ford has served the film as well as producer as he has as director, giving it unexcelled physical properties that create a supreme air of realism. Technically, the production calls for raves, with a lot of credit due Joseph H. August the cameraman, and Cedric Gibbons and Malcolm Brown, art directors. There is little bravado to the acting of Montgomery and Wayne, with the former being especialiy subdued. Donna Reed is adequate in the role of the Army nurse of whom Wayne becomes enamored. Plenty of competent acting is forthcoming from the supporting players. CAST: Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, Donna Reed, Jack Holt, Ward Bond, Marshall Thompson, Paul Langton, Leon Ames, Arthur Walsh, Donald Curtis, Cameron Mitchell. CREDITS: Producer, John Ford; Associate Producer, Cliff Reid; Director, John Ford; Screenplay, Frank Wead. eR ECR: Fine. PHOTOGRAPHY, ine. i J AL) —f i Pf —ts YA REVIEWS FROM FILM DAILY, NEW YORK Wonder Man with Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo KO 98 Mins. GOLDWYN HITS THE JACKPOT FOR ENTERTAINMENT WITH A GEM-STUDDED PRODUCTION THAT CROWNS DANNY KAYE’S REGAL COMEDY STYLE. Praise! Praise! Praise! For the rhyme and reason Danny gives this ectoplasmic screwball comedy....For the Hartman-Shavelson-Rapp screenplay... For Bruce Humberstone’s direction....And a bouquet to Samuel Goldwyn for his lavish production. Loaded with special song material, the film offers Kaye free rein for his dynamic personality, and his delivery of Sylvia Fine’s arrangement on “Otchi-Tchornia” is top-notchornia. The Goldwyn Girls are more alluring than ever and are artfully included to share the production honors of a “Bali Boogie” number, expressively danced by Kaye and Vera-Ellen, and the “So in Love” song which features a smart tap-routine by screen newcomer Vera-Ellen. Getting the most out of their comedy chores, S. Z. Sakall, Edward Brophy, and Allen Jenkins deserve a plum from this Goldwyn pie. Virginia Mayo’s beauty blends well with the Technicolor production and she displays an ingratiating charm in her costarring part. Kaye outpoints the screenplay’s challenge to his exciting versatility in a dual role which has him playing an ambidextrous scholar with a photographic mind as credibly as a madcap night club entertainer whose body is disposed of in a creek when he prepares to offer evidence that will convict a dangerous gangster of murder. The fast-moving comedy situations are punctuated by the “power of magnetic compulsion” wielded between a dead and living twin. Kaye answers the call of his dead twin brother’s purpose and cleverly discloses the evidence being sought by the district attorney in an operatic sequence that will win belly laugh after belly laugh. CAST: Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, Vera-Ellen, Donald Woods, S. Z. Sakall, Allen Jenkins, Ed Brophy, Steve Cochran, Otto Kruger, Ed Gargan, and the Goldwyn Girls. CREDITS: Preducer, Samuel Goldwyn; Director, Bruce Humberstone; Screenplay Don Hartman, Melville Shavelson, and Phillip Rapp; Original story, Arthur Sheekman; Adaptation, Jack Jevne, and Eddie Moran. DIRECTION, Swell, PHOTOGRAPHY, Superb, White Pongo with Richard Fraser, Maris Wrixon and Lionel Royce PRC 74 Mins. EXPLOITATION PICTURE WELL HANDLED, SHOULD DO NICELY AT THE BOXOFFICE. Here is an exploitation picture that should do nicely at the boxoffice. It was directed by Sam Newfield, and. produced by Sigmund Neufeld, well experienced in this type of product. Gordon Richards leads an expedition to the Belgian Congo in search of ‘White Pongo,” an ape. When the expeditionary party gets lost in the jungles, Al Eben, chief guide, abandons members of the group and starts a search for gold. Lionel Royce, another member of the party, joins Eben, and Richard Fraser takes charge of the abandoned group. ‘White Pongo” kills Eben, and a fight ensues between “Pongo” and a black ape. “Pongo”’ is finally captured and Maris Wrixon, whom he had kidnapped, falls into the waiting arms of her sweetheart, Royce. Characterizations, if obvious, are well handled, and the story has sufficient suspense and action to satisfy audiences. CAST: Richard Fraser, Maris Wrixon, Lionel Royce, Al Eben, Gordon Richards, Michiel Dyne, George Lloyd, Larry Steers, Milton Kibbee, Egon Brecher, Joel Fluellen. CREDITS: Producer, Sigmund Neufeld; Director, Sam Newfield; Author, Raymond L. Shrock; Screenplay, same; Cameraman, Jack Greenhalgh; Art Director, Edward C. Jewell; Editor, Holbrook N. Todd; Musical director, Leo Erdody. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. Digges to Broadway After finishing his role in Hal Wallis’ “The Searching Wind,” Dudley Digges will leave Paramount to return to Broadway to step into the director's post in the production of three new Eugene O'Neill plays for the Theatre Guild. His Majesty to See "The Last Chance" A command performance of “The Last Chance,” the MGM International Films release, has been arranged at the request of His Majesty King George VI before its general opening in England. Produced in Switzerland with a cast almost entirely nonprofessional, the film track contains nine different languages, with English predominating, [REVIEWS || INFORMATION RATINGS $2.00 Per Annum Madonna of the Seven Moons with Phyllis Calvert, Patricia Roc Eagle-Lion 83 Mins. ITS EMOTIONAL WORTH MAKES THIS ENGLISH PIC DESIRABLE ENTERTAINMENT FOR FEMMES. ‘“‘Madonna of the Seven Moons” brings from Great Britain a drama with a tragic ending that should appeal especially to the women. The film has been produced with vividness by R. J. Minney under the supervision of Maurice Ostrer. Schizophrenia is the subject of the film. The dual personality victim, whose condition is traced to an unfortunate experience with a man in her convent days, is an Italian gentlewoman married to a man of means, When the other side of her personality exerts itself she disappears to pursue a sordid romance with a thief in the lower depths of Florence. Her final such excursion ends in death for her and grief for her husband and the daughter recently home from her schooling in England. There is much attractiveness to the production, which Arthur Crabtree directed capably enough if with a touch of artificiality. Dramatic opportunities are made the most of in the script Roland Pertwee concocted from the Margery Lawrence novel. Phyllis Calvert ig the schizophrenic; Patricia Roc, her daughter. Both are delightful to look at. Stewart Granger as the lover and John Stuart as the husband are others who do nicely. CAST: Phyllis Calvert, Stewart Granger, Patricia Roc, John Stuart, Peter Glenville, Nancy Price, Jean Kent, Peter Murray Hill, Dulcie Gray. CREDITS: In charge of production, Maurice Oster; Producer, R. J. Minney; Associate Producer, R. E. Dearing; Director, Arthur Crabtree; Screenplay, Roland Pertwee; Based on novel by Margery Lawrence. een Okay. PHOTOGRAPHY, y RKO Signs Lupino And Lamour Ida Lupino has been signed by RKO to a pact which calls for a picture a year for three years, starting in June, 1947, when the actress’s present contract with Warner Brothers expires. This is the second contract of this type which RKO has negotiated recently. The studio has signed Dorothy Lamour to a fiveyear contract which calls for one picture annually from June of 1948 to the end of 1953,