The Exhibitor (1953)

EXHIBITOR April 8, 1953 chase as they pass the diamonds back and forth, and get them confused until no one seems to know whether he is coming or going. X-Ray: When first reviewed in The Servisection of October, 1949, it was said: “There are a number of good gags by the Marx brothers, and while they are before the cameras, the action is always fast, funny and furious. The story is aver¬ age, and the cast is okeh, as are the direc¬ tion and production. A chase sequence gets in plugs for many products such as GE Lamps, Fisk Tires, Kool cigarettes, etc. There are four or more songs heard.” This is based on a story by Harpo Marx. Legion of Decency: “B.” Tip On Bidding: Usual reissue price. Ad Lines: “The Merry, Mad Marx Brothers Back Again To Fill You With Laughter”; “Funnier Than Ever Before — The Marx Brothers”; “Brought Back For Your Reenjoyment.” U-International Law and Order (Color by Technicolor) Western 79m. Estimate: Okeh outdoor show. Cast: Ronald Reagan, Dorothy Malone, Alex Nicol, Preston Foster, Russell John¬ son, Barry Kelly, Ruth Hampton, Chubby Johnson, Dennis Weaver, Don Gordon. Produced by John W. Rogers; directed by Nathan Juran. Story: Ronald Reagan, sheriff of Tomb¬ stone, cleans up the town and decides to settle down on a ranch near another town with Dorothy Malone, who has held off marrying him until he gets out of the law business. Reagan meets an old enemy, Preston Foster, who controls the town with his sons. They start to rile Reagan, who refuses to take the job of marshal offered him. His brother, Alex Nicol, takes the job, and one day in a gunfight with Foster’s son, Dennis Weaver, Nicol is killed. Reagan takes the marshal’s job, and offers to clean up the town if the decent citizens stand behind him. Reagan’s younger brother, Russell Johnson, threat¬ ens to kill Weaver, but falls in love with his sister, Ruth Hampton. Weaver and Foster, etc., arrive, and, in a gun fight, Weaver is shot by Johnson. Reagan per¬ suades him to go to jail, but Foster has him released, knowing town pressure would be against Reagan. The latter goes after him, and brings him back after a fight with Foster which results in the latter being killed as the result of an accident. It appears that Johnson will be acquitted with Hampton as a witness, and Reagan plans to settle down on his ranch with Malone. X-Ray: With action, an interesting yam, and okeh performances this shapes up as a better than average western, and it is aided by the Technicolor. The pace is good, and action fans should be satisfied. The screen play is by John and Owen Bagni and D. D. Beauchamp, based on the story, “Saint Johnson”, by William R. Burnett. Tip On Bidding: Fair program price. Ad Lines: “He Wore A Badge, And Meant It”; “There’s Only One Way To Clean Up A Town. . . With A Gun”; “Action Aplenty For All.” The Lone Hand 0uTDOO« 79V2m. (Color by Technicolor) Estimate: Outdoor drama should draw best with the family trade. Cast: Joel McCrea, Barbara Hale, Alex Nicol, Charles Drake, Jimmy Hunt, Jim Amess, Wesley Morgan, Roy Roberts. Produced by Howard Christie; directed by George Sherman. Story: Widower Joel McCrea and young son, Jimmy Hunt, travel by wagon from Missouri, and settle on a broken down ranch near Timberline. Hunt sees the sheriff killed by masked men, one of whom has a red star on his boots. Later, Hunt also sees a Pinkerton detective killed by Alex Nicol and Jim Arness, and recog¬ nizes them as the first outlaws. When Hunt tells McCrea, McCrea tells him to forget about the whole thing. Nicol and Arness approach McCrea after his wagon and supplies have been wrecked, and offer to cut him in on some outlawry. Need¬ ing money, McCrea goes along, with Hunt spying on the holdup of a stagecoach. McCrea marries neighbor Barbara Hale. When he continues to go out mysteriously, she suspects him, and finally leaves him. In the showdown, it is revealed that Mc¬ Crea is really a Pinkerton agent working to ferret out the outlaw ring, which is headed by Charles Drake, supposedly a dealer in horses. The windup has McCrea almost killed, but, thanks to Hale, he and Hunt are rescued, and Drake is appre¬ hended. X-Ray: While bearing little that is new, this should please the family, western, and neighborhood trade. Performances are routine, and the story hardly original, but the color embellishes the offering, and the players go through in experienced style. The story was written by Irving Ravetch. Tip On Bidding: Fair program price. Ad Lines: “His Father Was An Out¬ law .. . Should He Tell The Sheriff?”; “Lawless Bandits . . . Was His Dad One Of Them?”; “What Would You Do If You Discovered Your Father Was A Bandit?” Penny Princess (382) Comedy 90m. (Color by Technicolor) (English-made) Estimate: Amusing comedy for the art spots. Cast: Yolande Donlan, Fletcher Lightfoot, Dirk Bogarde, Edwin Styles, Reg¬ inald Beckwith, Kynaston Reeves, Peter Butterworth, Desmond Walter-Ellis, Law¬ rence Naismith, Mary Clare, Robert Hen¬ derson, J. McDonald Parke, Alex Gauge, A. E. Mathews, Anthony Oliver, Paul Sheridan, Derek Prentice, Raf De La Torre, Eric Pohlmann, Richard Wattis. Produced and directed by Val Guest. A J. Arthur Rank presentation. Story: When Yolande Donlan, salesgirl in a large New York department store, hears that she has inherited a million dollar estate from a remote relative, it is learned that among her inheritance is the European state of Lampidorra, a tiny principality. While Donlan is winging her way toward Lampidorra, Dirk Bogarde, representing a London department store, is headed for Lampidorra for a conven¬ tion. Donlan finds that her little state has a national industry, smuggling. She stops it, and, to stave off bankruptcy, gets the idea of selling Lampidorra’s cheese which has an intoxicating effect. The affairs of Bogarde and Donlan become intertwined, and he is ultimately involved in the dis¬ tribution of Lampidorran schneese. The marketing of schneese in other countries is so successful that protective tariffs are set up against it. The princess counters this by legalizing smuggling. Nature takes a hand when the berries needed for the schneese are exhausted, but Providence steps in at this point to save Lampidorra. Eventually, Donlan abdicates, and goes off with Bogarde. X-Ray: This off the beaten track comedy for the art and specialty spots offers a number of laughs and some amus¬ ing moments are present. Bogarde and Donlan are pleasant enough as the young princess and her consort, and the Tech¬ nicolor contributes to a pleasant fare. The screen play is by Val Guest. Tip On Bidding: Low bracket. Ad Lines: “A Zaney Comedy Of Inter¬ national Relations”; “One Taste Of Schneese, And You Are Out Of This World”; “She Inherited A European Country.” WARNERS By The Light Of The Silvery Moon Comedy with Music 102m. (Color by Technicolor) Estimate: Pleasing, nostalgic musical should account for itself okeh. Cast: Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Leon Ames, Rosemary DeCamp, Billy Gray, Mary Wickes, Russell Arms, Maria Palmer, Howard Wendell, Walter Flan¬ nery, Geraldine Wall, John Maxwell, Carol Forman. Produced by William Jacobs; di¬ rected by David Butler. Story: Around the end of World War I, Gordon MacRae, sweetheart of Doris Day, a tomboyish gal, returns to the small town where Day lives with her father, Leon Ames, a banker; mother, Rosemary DeCamp, and small brother, Billy Gray. MacRae, wanting to wait a while before he and Day marry, works for the bank. Complications arise when Day, Gray, and Wickes believe their father is playing around with visiting French actress Maria Palmer, which stymies the romance be¬ tween Day and MacRae, but it is all ironed out. X-Ray: Suggested by the Booth Tarkington “Penrod” yams, this follows the same pattern as “On Moonlight Bay”, and it should do similar business. While the treatment and comedy are old-fashioned, chances are that most audiences, particu¬ larly in the small town and neighbor¬ hoods, will get fun out of it. The long list of songs includes: the title song, “Your Eyes Have Told Me So”, “Be My Little Baby Bumble Bee”, “In My Merry Oldsmobile”, “Ain’t We Got Fun”, “Love Nest”, “If You Were The Only Girl In The World”, “What’s The Matter With Father”, “King Chanticleer”, “I’ll Forget You”, “Moonlight Bay”, “My Home Town Is A One Horse Town”, “La Vie En Rose”, and “Just One Girl”. The period settings are attractive, and the production numbers are modest. Performances are in line with the story written by Robert O’Brien and Irving Ellison. Tip On Bidding: Better than usual price. Ad Lines: “You’ll Sing . . . You’ll Dance . . . The Year’s Happiest Picture”; “She Was A Tomboy Until She Found What Fun Being A Sweetheart Could Be”; “Laugh . . . Cry . . . And Have A Lot Of Fun When You See ‘By The Light Of The Silvery Moon’.” FOREIGN Concert of Stars Musical 85m. (Magnicolor) (Artkino) (Russian-made) (English titles) Estimate: High rating Russian musical import. Cast: M. Mikhailov, N. Guselnikova, B. Khaikin, Galina Ulanova, V. Prebrazhensky, L. Maselnnikova, Sergei Leme¬ shev, S. Preobrazshenskaya, K. Sergeyev, 3496