Canadian Film Weekly (May 1, 1946)

THE PICK OF THE PICTURES — ell. OICE of the CANADIS% MOTION PICTURE INOUSTEOY ~ REVIEWS INFORMATION RATINGS Vol. 11, No. 18 ‘Little Giant with Abbott and Costello Universal 91 Mins. ABBOTT AND COSTELLO TRY A CHANGE WITHOUT LOSING ANYTHING AS LAUGH-GETTERS. “Little Giant” represents a departure for the team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in that it places dependence for laughs more on situations than on gags. The result is a film less noisy and rough-and-tumble than the comics have been accustomed to appear in but one just about as amusing as any they have played in. The film has this one great advantage: those who have not been special Abbott Costello fans will find the duo easier to take than at any time in their film careers. In “Little Giant’’ the emphasis is placed on story with not much sacrifice of laughter. Slapstick has been held to a minimum and the comedians don’t dip into their bag of old tricks any more than they have to. The story keeps Abbctt and Costello separated for most of the time, with Costello carrying the burden of the story. The Walter De Leon screenplay deriv-ing from a Paul Jarrico-Richard Collins yarn gives the comics, Costello in particular, every opportunity tc be funny without overdoing things. William A. Seiter’s direction is largely respons ible for preventing the picture from running away with itself. “Little Giant’? has Costello as a bumpkin ambitious to become a salesman. He leaves his mother’s California ranch to put into practice the knowledge he has acquired from a home course in salesmanship. He proves a failure and is about to throw in the sponge and return home when freakish series of events transforms him into a success. Abbott figures in the story as Costello’s employer. It must here be explained that Abbott plays a dual role, one as manager of the vacuum cleaner firm employing Costello, the other as manager of a company branch. The story doesn’t overlook the humorous possibilities of involving Costello in romantic doings. CAST: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Brenda Joyce, Jacqueline De Wit, George Cleveland, Elena Verdugo, Mary Gordon, Pierro Watkin, Donald MacBride, Victor Kilian and Margaret Dumont. CREDITS: Producer, Joe Gershenson; Director, William A. Seiter; Screenplay, Walter De Leon; Based on story by Paul Jarrico, Richard Collins; Cameraman, Charles Van Engers, DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. REVIEWS FROM FILM DAILY, NEW YORK a a ES Junior Prom with Freddie Stewart, June Preisser and Judy Clark Monogram 69 Mins. YOUTHFUL STORY, EXCELLENT LY DIRECTED, LAUNCHES NEW “TEEN-AGERS” SERIES TO GOOD START; LYMAN AND ORK DELIVER NICELY, This offering, produced by Sam Katzman, with Maurice Duke as his associate producer, provides a nice quota of entertainment and gets the new ‘Teen-Agers” series off to a good start. It is highlighted by its music, with a special swing arrangement of “Loch Lomond,” by Eddie Heywood and his orchestra being a standout. Abe Lyman and his orchestra deliver nicely, while Harry ‘The Hipster” Gibson scores with his specialty tune, “Keep the Beat.” Freddie Stewart, June Preisser, Judy Clark, Jackie Moran, Frankie Darre, Neel Neill and Warren Mills are among the capable principals. Arthur Dreifuss did an excellent job of directing, while Don Raye, Sid Robin, Harold Rome, Jamblan Herpin, Murray Lazar and Stanley Cohen fashioned the songs. Freddie Stewart and Jackie Moran are rival candidates for student body president, with Frankie Darro as Moran’s manager, Jackie’s father, Sam Flint, and Frankie try pressure methods, but Freddie is the winner. CAST: Freddie Stewart, June Preisser, Judy Clark, Noel Neill, Jackie Moran, Frankie Darro, Warren Mills, Murray Davis, Mira McKinney, Belle Mitchell, Milt Kibbee, Sam Flint, Charles Evans, Hank Henry, Abe Lyman and orchestra, Eddie Heywood and orchestra, Harry “The Hipster” Gibson and the Airliners. CREDITS: Producer, Sam Katzman; Associate Producer, Maurice Duke; Director, Arthur Dreifuss; Authors, Erna Lazarus and Hall Collins; Screenplay, same; Cameraman, Ira Morgan; Musical Director, Abe Lyman. DIRECTION, Excellent. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. e Colver to Columbia Roland Colver, famed British character actor, has been signed by Columbia for the important role of Mr. Jordan in “Down to Earth,” (tentative title). This is the Technicolor musical starring Rita Hayworth. Marie-Louise with Josiane Empire-Universal 93 Mins. FINE SWISS-MADE FILM WITH STORY THAT REACHES THE HEART SHOULD CAPTURE ATTENTION. This, understood to be the first Swiss-made film to be exhibited to Canadian audiences, is indeed a revelation. Here is a beautifully produced picture meritorious in every respect, a picture that reaches the heart with uncommon skill and finesse, making a more potent impression than any hammer-and-tongs attempt to wring tears from the customers. ‘‘Marie-Louise,’”’ the simply told tale of a French child who finds temporary surcease from the horrors of war in Switzerland, is compounded of the stuff that wins the special plaudits of women patrons. Turned out by Praesens Films, Ltd., of Zurich under the supervision of L. Wechsler, the film should capture an audience with its genuineness, warmth and tenderness. Efforts made to teach the little girl to smile again are deeply touching to a person with any sensitiveness in his make-up. Marie-Louise is one of a group of children sent to Switzerland at the time when the Germans were allowing children in danger areas to be evacuated to that country. The family that takes in Marie-Louise devotes itself unselfishly to her welfare, striving in every possible way to re store the joy that the terror of war in her native Rouen has driven from her young heart. Restrained acting does much to give the film validity. Under the feeling direction of Leopold Lindtberg, Josiane reveals herself as an extremely sensitive performer in the title role. CAST: Josiane, Heinrich Gretler, Margrit Winter, Anne-Marie Blanc, Armin Schweitzer, Mathilde Dancgger, Fred Tanner, Emil Gerber, Bernhard Ammen, Germaine Tournier, CREDITS: Producer, L. Wechsler; Director, Leopold Lindtberg; Screenplay, Richard Schweizer; Cameraman, Emil Berna. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. Vol. 11, No. 18 May 1, 1946 -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 Dundes Square, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Phone ADelaide 4317. Price S cents each or $2.00 per year, Entered as Second Class Matter, $2.00 Per Annum Three Strangers with Sydney Greenstreet, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Peter Lorre Warners 92 Mins. A STRANGE COMBINATION OF THREE “STRANGE” STORIES TIED BY A STRANGER PLOT; JOAN LORRING SCORES. Credit producer Wolfgang Reinhardt for having secured the talents of three marquee “names” and some arty direction by Jean Negulesco for an involved nest of plots dreamed up by John Huston and Howard Koch. Enough production values have been injected into the valuable footage to have been spent to better advantage. Topping the standard portrayals expected of Lorre and Greenstreet, acting honors for the film belong to Joan Lorring, comparative newcomer, who will be remembered for an interesting performance in “The Corn Is Green.” The stery invclves the individual destinies of Lorre, an alcoholic, Greenstreet, a barrister who gambles with a client’s trust fund, and Fitzgerald, a well-bred English woman who has a fear of losing her husband to another woman. The individual tribulations of the three strangers are adapted to an embracing plot wherein Fitzgerald is authorized to lure Greenstreet and Lorre into her apartment on Chinese New Year’s Eve in London, in the year 1938. She introduces them to the statuette of Kwan-Yin, a Chinese goddess who is supposed to open her eyes at midnight and open her heart to the combined wish of any _ three strangers. In this case, they all want money. Greenstreet and Fitzgerald buy an interest in a sweepstake ticket owned by Lorre. As fate would have it, the ticket bearing all three names is a winner; but, GreenStreet kills Fitzgerald with the statuette when she refuses to let him dispose of his share before the race is run, and he goes berserk. Lorre not wishing to become implicated in the murder, burns the ticket, and accepts his loss good-naturedly. CAST: Sydney Greenstreet, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Peter Lorre, Joan Lorring, Robert Shayne, Marjorie Riordan, Arthur Shields, Rosalind Ivan, John Alvin, Peter Whitney, Alan Napier, Clifford Brooke, Doris Lloyd and Stanley Logan. CREDITS: Producer, Wolfgang Reinhardt; Director, Jean Negulesco; Original Screenplay, John Huston and Howard Koch; Cameraman, Arthur Edeson, DIRECTION, Fair, PHOTOGRAPHY, eee errs