The Exhibitor (1954)

April 21, 1954 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR Detective Gary Merrill, finding no evi¬ dence, and no body, tries to convince Stanwyck she was dreaming. Stanwyck is terrified that she will be Sanders’ next victim. A game of wits ensues, Sanders endeavoring to prove that Stanwyck is a mental case; Stanwyck positive, without proof, that Sanders is a killer and a maniac; and Merrill, who has fallen in love with Stanwyck, helpless since there is no tangible proof. Sanders manages to get access to Stanwyck’s typewriter and then accuses her of sending him threat¬ ening notes. This clinches the fact that she is a mental case, and she is sent to a city asylum for treatment. Following a harrowing experience, Merrill gets her out on a writ. The body of the woman Sanders strangled is found, but police do not link him with the crime. Stanwyck confronts him, and this leads to a chase, on the building scaffolding on a sky¬ scraper. Trapped at the top, Stanwyck almost falls off, as Merrill makes an appearance. In a fist fight he knocks Sand¬ ers to his death down the elevator shaft. X-Ray: This is suspenseful from start to finish, with Stanwyck and Sanders high rating in familiar roles. Merrill like¬ wise turns in a top performance as the detective. Add td this excellent black and white photography, a logical script except for the very end, which is a trifle overly melodramatic, and this is an okeh film of its type. This was written by Chester Erskine. Tip On Bidding: Above average price. Ad Lines: “Almost Unbearable Sus¬ pense”; “She Knew What She Saw Was No ‘Dream’ Or Mental Lapse And Proved It”; “You Will Be Sitting On The Edge Of Your Seats When You See ‘Witness To Murder’.” U-International Playgirl (421) Drama 85m. Estimate: Names should help entertain¬ ing programmer. Cast: Shelley Winters, Barry Sullivan, Gregg Palmer, Richard Long, Kent Tay¬ lor, Dave Barry, Phillip Van Zandt, James McCallion, Don Avalier, Paul Richards, Carl Sklover, and introducing Colleen Miller. Produced by Albert J. Cohen; directed by Joseph Pevney. Story: Entertainer Shelley Winters is on hand to greet Colleen Miller when the latter arrives from Nebraska for a try at success in New York as a model and takes her in as a room mate. Winters gets her a date with socially prominent but finan¬ cially embarrassed Richard Long on her opening night at a night club run by Phillip Van Zandt. At the club, Miller meets Kent Taylor, wealthy gambler, who offers her money to entertain him, and she walks away from him. She gets a job as a model for a magazine through the efforts of Gregg Palmer, one of the editors and their neighbor, and through publisher Barry Sullivan, married boy friend of Winters, who takes a liking to Miller. He puts off Winters, who becomes jealous of Miller and one night makes a scene and ruins Miller’s gown. Sullivan takes Miller to an apartment maintained by the maga¬ zine and is about to leave when Winters shows up-drunk with a gun. It accident¬ ally goes off killing Sullivan. The girls are freed after hearings and publicity and the careers of both are ruined, with Win¬ ters starting to drink heavily. Palmer re¬ fuses to hear Miller’s side. The latter turns party girl with Taylor a frequent caller. Unknowingly, some gangsters use Miller and her apartment as a trap to kill Taylor, which is unsuccessful because Winters breaks up the trap and gets shot. Palmer hears her absolve Miller of any guilt in any of the affairs and they are reunited. Winter recovers. X-Ray: Well mounted and with an in¬ teresting yam and some dramatic moments, this shapes up as interesting entertainment. The cast is efficient and the direction and production are good. Winters sings two songs, “There’ll Be Some Changes Made” and “Lie To Me.” Newcomer Miller impresses as a young beauty who has possibilities. The screen play is by Robert Blees, with the story by Ray Buffum. Maximum aspect ratio: 1.85-1. Tip On Bidding: Fair program price. Ad Lines: “A Beautiful Gal Comes To New York To Make Her Fortune”; “A Tale About A Beautiful Gal And The Big City”; “She Found Romance, Excitement, Thrills, And Murder In Her First Visit To The Big City.” WARNERS Lucky Me (324) Musical 100m. (Color by WarnerColor) (CinemaScope) Estimate: Pleasing comedy with music is packed with selling angles. Cast: Doris Day, Robert Cummings, Phil Silvers, Eddie Foy, Jr., Nancy Walker, Martha Hyer, Bill Goodwin, Marcel Dalio, Hayden Rorke, James Burke. Produced by ^ Henry Blanke; directed by Jack Donohue. Story: Superstitious Doris Day, Phil Silvers, Eddie Foy, Jr., and Nancy Walker are headliners in a variety show in a ' small theatre in Miami, Fla. The manager cancels out the show. The four wind up at the bus terminal hungry, broke and homeless. Silvers asks them all to be his guest at a fancy restaurant hotel arrang¬ ing with a friendly cop to make a false arrest when the bill is presented. The cop is called away and they are forced to work off the bill in the kitchen. Walker as a maid comes across songwriter Robert Cummings in the hotel and hears that he has just finished writing and scoring a new show and that he plans to produce it if he can get the money. Cummings is working on wealthy Martha Hyer to per¬ suade her father, oilman Bill Goodwin, to put up the money. She agrees, planning to let him play his numbers at a birth¬ day party for Goodwin. Cummings and Day meet and she mistakes him for a mechanic, which is okeh with him as he falls in love with her. When she finds out his true identity, they have a fight, but make up, and when she and the others audition, he promises her the lead and parts in the show for the others. Hyer, suspicious of his attentions to Day, orders him to break off with her or no show. Cummings refuses and decides to leave for New York. Day is determined to get the money he needs and she and the others via masquerade and subterfuge get to Goodwin, show him some of the num¬ bers from the show, and convince him to back it despite Hyer’s later complaints. X-Ray: There are fun, tuneful num¬ bers, gags, good looking gals and back¬ grounds, and CinemaScope to enhance this colorful production, all of which makes for light and interesting entertain¬ ment. Day gives her usual smooth pres¬ entation. The story is lightweight and fairly interesting, with the direction and production okeh. The screen play is by James O’Hanlon, Robert O’Brien, and Irving Elinson, based on a story by 0’Hanlon: Among the songs heard are “I Speak To The Stars,” “Love You Dearly,” “The Bluebells Of Broadway,” “I Want To Sing Like An Angel,” Take A Memo To The Moon,” “Superstition Song,” “High Hopes,” “Parisian Pretties,” “Lucky Me,” and “Men.” Tip On Bidding: Better price. Ad Lines: “She’s Got Beauty . . . Talent . . . Romance And Luck”; “Fun For All In This CinemaScope Musical”; “Music . . . Gags . . . Romance . . . Production Numbers All In Wondrous CinemaScope.” Science Fiction Drama 94mv Estimate: Good science fiction meller. Cast: James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, James Amess, Onslow Stev¬ ens, Sean McClory, Chris Drake, Sandy Descher, Mary Ann Hokanson, Don Shel¬ ton, Fess Parker, Olin Howlin. Produced by David Weisbard; directed by Gordon Douglas. Story: While on patrol in the New Mexico desert, James Whitmore, state trooper, and his colleague find a little girl wandering aimlessly in a state of stock. They also discover a demolished trailer. The only clue is a strange footprint. When the owner of a general store in the vicin¬ ity is found murdered under the same conditions, the FBI is called in. James Arness sends a cast of the footprint to the federal bureau and scientist Edmund Gwenn and daughter assistant, Joan Wel¬ don, are sent as additions to the investi¬ gating crew. They discover the owner of the strange foootprint to be a giant mon¬ ster. Gwenn theorizes that this situation might be the result of lingering radiation from the atomic blasts that occurred years before nearby. The group destroy the nest of the strange creatures, but two of the reproductive monsters escape, since they are capable of creating whole new col¬ onies, the search becomes imperative. After eliminating one colony they find that the last one has nested in the drain¬ age system of Los Angeles. Martial law is declared and troops are brought in to destroy the nest. Searching the passages, Whitmore finally discovers the nest cham¬ ber and two boys hiding there. The chil¬ dren are saved while all the forces con¬ verge to destroy the nest. X-Ray: Aimed at suspense and thrills and both accomplished in fine fashion, this science fiction entry has enough frightening effects to produce a goodly amount of goose pimples. The monsters as they appear before the cameras are enough to overawe the calmest disposition, the direction moves along at a swift and terrifying pace, and the acting is com¬ petent. For audiences eager for horror thrills, this should be a tasty potion. George Worthing Yates wrote the story from which Ted Sherdeman wrote the screen play. Interest is on high throughout with the special effects in the better class. Maximum aspect ratio: 1.66-1. Tip On Bidding: Better than average price. Ad Lines: “The Horrors Of The Desert”; “Creatures That Could Destroy The Human Race And Dominate The Earth”; “Giant Monsters Bring Terror To A City.” FOREIGN Diary Of A Country Priest Dh9™a (Brandon) (French-made) (English titles) Estimate: Import should appeal to the art houses. Cast: Claude Laydu, Nicole Maurey, Andre Guibert, Jean Riveyre, Madame Arkell, Nicole Landmiral, Martine Le Servisection 3 3735