The Exhibitor (Jun-Nov 1941)

THE EXHIBITOR June 11, 1941 Wrangler's Roost Estimate: Best of the series. Western 57m. Cast: The Range Busters (Crash Corri¬ gan, John King, Max Terhune), Gwen Gaze, Forrest Taylor, George Chesebro, Frank Ellis. Directed by S. Roy Luby. Story: The Range Busters are asked to investigate holdups in a certain area. Black Bart, imprisoned for 10 years, but on parole until he disappeared, is sus¬ pected. The Range Busters come to the town, unmask a cafe owner as a phony Black Bart, and discover the real Black Bart has reformed and turned preacher. The real BB helps them uncover the phony, and they ride on, leaving him to build churches. X-Ray: Thanks to the best story of the series, this is a decided improvement over what has gone by. The Range Busters ride, fight, and shoot, and the addition of the new character. Black Bart, heightens the interest. Likewise, Gwen Gaze is more attractive than other heroines in the series. Sell this as the saga of one of the real bold, bad men, Black Bart, and the Range Busters’ search for him. There are two songs: “Wrangler’s Roost” and “Joggin’.” Ad Lines: “Black Bart Rides Again . . . And the Range Busters Ride After Him”; “What Became of Black Bart? . . . The Southwest’s No. 1 Bandit”; “Follow the Range Busters As They Bring the Mur¬ derers to Justice”; “The Best Range Bust¬ ers’ Pictures Yet.” PARAMOUNT Caught In the Draft comedy (4032) 82m. Estimate: Sure-fire box office. Cast: Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Lynne Overman, Eddie Bracken, Clarence Kolb, Paul Hurst, Ferike Boros, Phyllis Ruth, Irving Bacon, Arthur Loft, Edgar Dearing. Directed by David Butler. Story: Bob Hope, a picture star, work¬ ing on a war picture set, discloses that he is afraid of any explosive noises. Comes the draft and he tries to dodge it by try¬ ing to marry Dorothy Lamour, a colonel’s daughter. A change in the draft age temp¬ orarily lets him out, he changes his mind about marriage, but goes on the make when the age limit is changed once more, making him a prospect for Uncle Sam’s Army. Aided by his agent, Lynne Over¬ man, Hope, in order to impress Dorothy with his bravery, tries to fake an enlist¬ ment with a phoney sergeant. The real sergeant stays on the job and Hope gets into the Army anyway. His destination is the camp commanded by Dorothy’s father, Clarence Kolb. From this point on it is a case of Private Hope upsetting army rou¬ tine with his comedy antics, to finally win his stripes as a corporal and marriage to the colonel’s daughter. X-Ray: This is without a doubt one of the funniest comedies of the season. Hope does everything in the book from potato peeling to sentry duty, and he does it with the gestures of the dumbest rookie the army has ever known. The offering is a positive riot from start to finish. It can’t help but click at the box office if the word-of-mouth, Hope’s popularity, and the current fad for khaki pictures mean anything. Hope scores as the screen’s No. 1 comedian, and “Caught In the Draft” will probably score as one of the top hits of the season in all situations. Song is “Love Me As I Am.” Ad Lines: “The Biggest Army of Laughs Ever to Parade On the Screen”; “The Big Laugh Blitz of ’41”; “Funny Enough to Make a Top Sergeant Laugh”; “Bob’s Singing ‘Tanks For the Memory’ As Uncle Sam Teaches Him the Old Army Game.” PRODUCERS RELEASING COBP. Paper Bullets Melodrama (123) Estimate: Okay for duallers. Cast: Joan Woodbury, Jack La Rue, Linda Ware, John Archer, Vince Barnett, Alan Ladd, Philip Trent, Gavin Gordon, George Pembroke, William Halligan, Bry¬ ant Washburn, Robert Strange, Alden Chase, Kemieth Harlan, Alex Callam, Selmar Jackson, Harry Dett. Directed by Phil Rosen. • Story: A girl from an orphanage, Joan Woodbury, double-crossed by her boy friend, is sent to jail. She then joins her gangster friend, Jack La Rue, in the town of her betrayer’s father and becomes part of a syndicate that controls the town with paper bullets, i.e., ballots. She and her colleagues and La Rue are finally tracked down by Alan Ladd, who has been posing as one of them. Her childhood sweetheart, John Archer, promises to wait for her as she goes off to jail again. X-Ray: This is an okay entrant for the duallers, with a stoiy that holds the in¬ terest fairly well, with gangster angles, a bit of tear-jerking, etc. There are even a couple of songs by Johnny Lange and Lew Porter thrown in, including, “I Know, I Know,” and “Blue Is the Day.” It has the possibilities for exploitation, and the title is good. Ad Lines: “Bullets vs. Ballots In a Battle to Control a City”; “What Are Paper Bullets?” “Chaos In the City — As Organ¬ ized Crime Takes Over”; “Can a Girl From Prison Ever Return to a Decent Life?” REPUBLIC Angels With Comedy Broken Wings (016) Dr-S£ Estimate: For the duals and nabes; sell the names. Cast: Binnie Barnes, Gilbert Roland, Mary Lee, Billy Gilbert, Jane Frazee, Ed¬ ward Norris, Katherine Alexander, Leo Gorcey, Lois Ranson, Leni Lynn, Marilyn Hare, Sidney Blackmer, Tom Kennedy. Di¬ rected by Bernard Vorhaus. Story: Sidney Blackmer and Katherine Alexander aim to get married, but find a stumbling block because Blackmer be¬ lieves his Mexican divorce from Binnie Barnes is illegal. Binnie, aware of this, tries to move in on Blackmer, and bleed him for extra dough. Daughters of the widowed Katherine try to beat Binnie to the punch, using Edward Norris, boy friend of Jane Frazee, as a phoney South American to romance Binnie while they spar for time. Enters Gilbert Roland, real South American, bearing the name adopted by Norris, who falls for Binnie, until he discovers she is really after his cash. Roland then pretends to have escaped from a mental institution, and the finale comes with the pathway finally cleared for Sidney and Katherine to marry. X-Ray: Story is weak and the offering serves only as a showcase for this studio’s younger talent. Adult performers try hard to overcome the handicap of trite situations and dialogue, giving little sup¬ port to the juvenile players, who seem to wander aimlessly through the greatly padded footage. The picture is below the Republic standard and it will need strong support. Songs are “Three Little Wishes,” “In Buenos Aires,” “Where Do We Dream From Here?” “Has to Be,” “Bye Lo, Baby,” and “Una Voce Poco Fa.” Ad Lines: “Meet the Most Lovable Mis¬ chief Makers This Side of Heaven”; “The Sky’s the Limit . . . For Fun”; “You’ll Be Surprised, Delighted, and Amused”; “Five Beautiful Angels Set Out to Raise the Devil!” UNITED ARTISTS Broadway Limited Co'Sr (Hal Roach) Estimate: Comedy will need plenty of attention. Cast: Victor McLaglen, Marjorie Woodworth, Dennis O’Keefe, Patsy Kelly, Zasu Pitts, Leonid Kinsky, George E. Stone, Gay Ellen Dakin, Charles Wilson, John Sheehan, Edgar Edwards, Eric Alden, Sam McDaniels. Directed by Gordon Douglas. Story: The proceedings involve Leonid Kinsky, a film director; Marjorie Woodworth, his star; Victor McLaglen, a train engineer; Patsy Kelly, a friend of Woodworth; Dennis O’Keefe, a baby doctor; Zasu Pitts, a newspaper writer; George E. Stone, a mysterious man; and Gay Ellen Dakin, a baby. Action takes place on the train from Hollywood to New York, with Kinsky deciding at Chicago that Woodworth ought to have a baby. He gets one through Kelly, who has McLaglen, a boy friend, obtain one, although he doesn’t say where from. O’Keefe, a former sweetheart of Woodworth, meets her on the train. Kinsky, afraid love will reblossom, says the baby is Woodworth’s. Following this, the kidnapping of a baby gets into the headlines, McLaglen, now riding as a passenger, gets scared, and tries to put the baby off, but Stone puts the child back, with the windup having them all landing in New York, where the police enter the case, Stone turning out to be the child’s father, Woodworth getting O’Keefe, etc. X-Ray: There are lots of laughs here for the customers, even though the story is one of those familiar affairs. As it stands, it will need plenty of tieups, some of which are apparent through the title, etc. In addition, Marjorie Woodworth has been getting a buildup, which should help the show. Sell it as a straight comedy, with the kidnapping angle okay for the houses which can use that type of handling. Ad Lines: “The Fastest Comedy of the Season”; “Watch For a Trainload of Laughs In ‘Broadway Limited’ ”; “Meet 1941’s Headline Gal Marjorie Woodworth”; “Is Marjorie Woodworth the Real Successor to Jean Harlow?”; “An All Comedy Cast In a Terrific Trainload of Laughs.” UNIVERSAL Abbott and Costello and farce Dick Powell In the Navy 86m Estimate: Should do a whale of a busi¬ ness. Cast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Dick Foran, Claire Dodd, Shemp Howard, An¬ drews Sisters, Dick Powell, Butch and Buddy, Sunnie O’Dea, Gary Brechner, Robert Emmett Keane. Directed by Arthur Lubin. Story: Dick Powel, No. 1 crooner, dis¬ appears, and turns up in the Navy, where he keeps his identity a secret, using his real name. But reporter Claire Dodd is on his trail for pictures and a story, even hiding on a battleship to get the yarn. Although she is checked at every turn, the windup finds boy getting girl. Bud 764 Servisection 2