The Exhibitor (Jun-Nov 1941)

October 1, 1941 THE EXHIBITOR Fowley, suspicious lawyer, has three men trail the party to find out the reason for the Chinese threats. At the ruins, other mysterious events take place. Boyd and the Chinese accidentally stumble through the ruins into the sort of Shangri-La the Chinese have set up, hidden in the moun¬ tains, and into a gold mine they’ve been working. Befriending the Chinese, Boyd carries their mine and land claim to the land office to be filed, beating Fowley, carrying his own claim, in a spectacular cross-country ride and fist-fight. Song is “I Can’t Play the Banjo With Susanna On My Knee.” X-Ray: This lacks the action that some western fans will expect, depending for entertainment values more on the Oriental mystery elements of the story. Draggy in spots, the action sequences that the film does contain look all the more lively. Pho¬ tography is top-notch. Production is okay. Ad Lines: “Hopalong Cassidy Is On the Trail Again ... So Beware, Outlaws!”; “Oriental Mystery and Intrigue Visit, the Badlands”; “A Red-Blooded Action Epic Of the Men Of the Old West!” Riders Of the Western Timberline 59m Estimate: Average Hopalong, passable action opus. Cast: William Boyd, Brad King, Andy Clyde, J. Farrell McDonald, Eleanor Stewart, Anna Q. Nilsson, Edward Keene, Hal Taliaferro, Tom Tyler, Victor Jory, Mickey Eissa. Directed by Lesley Selander. Story: Boyd, King, and Clyde are em¬ ployed to deliver some money to lumber¬ man McDonald. Arriving, they find the old boy is having trouble keeping a crew. McDonald has a contract with Keene to deliver timber by a certain date. Keene is doing everything in his power to breach it. Boyd, King, and Clyde stay on to help McDonald. They straighten things out, Keene is shown in his true colors, and a fast ride over the aerial tramway brings Boyd and King on the scene in time to keep Keene’s henchman, Hal Taliaferro, from blowing up the log dam. The Guardsmen sing “The Fighting Forty.” X-Ray: This is an average western — no more, no less. Deficiencies of dialog, plot, acting, and motivation are at least par¬ tially offset by beautiful outdoor settings, superb photography, and a fairly gener¬ ous helping of action. In the better spots, even if action houses, this should serve as a bottom dualler. Ad Lines: “The Roar Of ‘Timber!’ Echoes Through The Great Forest . . . Mighty Trees Come Crashing Down . . . And Hopalong Cassidy Rides Again In A Thunderous Drama Of Strong Men In Mortal Combat!”; “Your Favorite TwoGun Hero In A New Adventure Of Power¬ ful, Dramatic Action!” Twilight On the Trail West5e6rmn Estimate: Run-of-the-mill western. Cast: William Boyd, Brad King, Andy Clyde, Jack Rockwell, Norma Willis, Wanda McKay, Robert Kent, Tom London, Frank Austin, Clem Fuller, Johnny Pow¬ ers, Jim Wakely Trio. Directed by How¬ ard Bretherton. Story: William Boyd (Hopalong Cas¬ sidy), Andy Clyde, and Brad King pose as eastern detectives to help their friend unravel a mystery of stolen cattle. After they pose as the sleuths, they revert to their regular regalia and find out that a hidden passageway into a canyon is the secret, exposing Jack Rockwell, the ranch foreman, as the ringleader. X-Ray: Just a routine western, this doesn’t fall in the best Hopalong Cassidy groove. The comedy generally falls flat, and while the ending has a lot of action, there isn’t enough for the rest of the show. Two songs: “Lady-O-Lady-O-A” and “Twilight on the Trail” are sung by King and the Wakely Trio. Ad Lines: “Hoppy Again Saves the Day in a Wild and Wooly Western”; “Fast . . . Furious . . . And Packed With Ac¬ tion”; “Here’s Real Action of the Old West”; “Your Favorite Star Is Back Again”. Weekly Newsreel Information Is a Regular Feature of This Publication. mco-R&mo The Gay F alcon Mystery Drama (206) 67m Estimate: Okay mystery programmer for the duals; successor to “The Saint.” Cast: George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, Allen Jenkins, Anne Hunter, Gladys Cooper, Edward Brophy, Arthur Shields, Damian O’Flynn, Turhan, Bey, Eddie Dunn, Lucille Gleason, Willie Fung. Directed by Irving Reis. Story: To soothe his fiancee, Anne Hun¬ ter, “The Falcon” (George Sanders) has set up a dummy brokerage office with Allen Jenkins as partner. In walks Wendy Barrie to have Sanders protect the guests from jewel-robberies at a Gladys Cooper soiree. A wealthy dowager is killed and her expensive ring is gone. Miss Barrie volunteers as Sanders’ assist¬ ant and makes a play for him. Jenkins gets kidnapped by a jewel-thief who en¬ deavors to have him carry instructions to “The Falcon,” whom the thieves believe has the ring. The kidnapper is mysteri¬ ously shot. Jenkins gets the blame. Tur¬ han Bey, smooth Latin, has been wooing Miss Hunter. Sanders suspects him, tips off his girl, but the latter thinks it’s just a jealous practical joke, tips off, in turn, Bey. The latter goes for “The Falcon,” but timely entrance of Miss Barrie saves his life. Bey tries to kill Miss Cooper, but she secretly slips him a poisoned needle, and Sanders proves that she was the mas¬ ter-mind of the jewel thieves. X-Ray: As a successor to “The Saint,” “The Falcon,” if his first entrant is to be the criterion, will not quite measure up to his illustrious predecessor. There are, however, similarities, which the exhibitor will find yielding of exploitation possibili¬ ties. First, there’s George Sanders. Sec¬ ond, there’s almost the same lady-killing, swashbuckling, yet suave character. Be¬ sides, the romantic element is given wider play. Irving Reis has managed to keep the suspense high enough for most action fans. Ad Lines: “In a New Role . . . Your Mystery Hero, George (“The Saint”) Sanders ... As the Hero Of Michael Arlen’s Famous Detective Novels. . . . Irre¬ sistible to the Ladies . . . Menacing to the Criminals . . . The Falcon!”; “A Dashing Hero the Ladies Just Can’t Stay Away From — Nor He From Them!” Look Who's Laughing Farce (209) 79m Estimate: Highly salable comedy with radio names. Cast: Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy, Fibber McGee and Molly (Jim and Marion Jordan), Lucille Ball, Lee Bonnell, Dor¬ othy Lovett, Gildersleeve (Harold Peary), Mrs. Uppington (Isabel Randolph), Walter Baldwin, Neil Hamilton, Charles Halton, Harlow Wilcox, Spencer Charters, Jed Prouty, George Cleveland. Produced and directed by Allan Dwan. Story: Edgar loses his way in his plane and lands in Wistful Vista. Fibber McGee is trying to get the Horton Aircraft Com¬ pany to build its new plant in W. V. in¬ stead of at the nearby town of Ironton Halton, Ironton estate dealer, is also after the plant. Bergen, absent-minded, recalls that Neil Hamilton, head of Horton, owes him a favor. He promises to use his in¬ fluence to swing the deal for Wistful Vista. Edgar and Lucille Ball, his secretary, fly back and get Hamilton’s promise to come over and see the Wistful Vista site. They find the C. of C. has sold it to Halton. Lucille, through a ruse, exchanges a piece of worthless land for the airport. She discovers it’s Bergen she loves. Bergen, it seems, owns the controlling Horton stock without knowing it. X-Ray: Allan Dwan has served up a tasty dish in this film, one that should appeal particularly in nabe houses and small towns. While the comedy is mostly of the broadly farcical, sometimes slap¬ stick type, even sophisticated audiences will get laughs, in spite of themselves, as it were. For the general run of customers, there is the unquestioned drawing-power of Bergen, McCarthy, and Fibber McGee of the radio, not to forget the somewhat lesser attraction of Lucille Ball. Ad Lines: “Together On the Screen For the First Time . . . America’s No. 1 Radio Favorites”; “See Your Radio Favorites, Fibber McGee and Molly, On the Screen For the First Time In Years, In a LaughPacked, Side-Splitting Comedy Sensa¬ tion!”; “That Lady-Killing, Bergen-Bung¬ ling Little Rascal, Charlie, Bringing to the Screen One Of the Year’s Best Comedy Hits!” Suspicion (208) Adult Melodrama 98x/2M. Estimate: Well-produced, suspenseful melodrama has names to sell; strong for class spots, but will need push in others. Cast: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce, Dame May Whitty, Isabel Jeans, Heather Angel, Auriol Lee, Reginald Sheffield, Lee J. Carroll. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Story: Joan Fontaine, spinsterish but beautiful English girl, falls for Cary Grant, penniless but attractive playboy. Grant loves her decently. They marry, against the advice of her father, Cedric Hard¬ wicke, and mother, Dame May Whitty. Grant keeps indicating he loves her, but that the inheritance she may receive from her father has been a factor. Fontaine for¬ gives him for his mistakes, but is stunned to find that he has stolen 2000 pounds from a friend. Meanwhile, Grant interests Nigel Bruce, a good-natured but dense chum, in a real estate proposition, intend¬ ing to use it to benefit himself financially. Fontaine objects. Grant calls it off. But Fontaine then gets the idea Grant would stop at nothing, even murder for money. Grant and Bruce leave for London, from whence Bruce is to go to Paris. Bruce is found dead of overdrinking in Paris. Fon¬ taine suspects her husband, then believes he is about to kill her. In the final sequence, she learns she has been conceiv¬ ing it all in her mind. She goes back with Grant to make a go of it, after she is convinced he is innocent, even though still irresponsible. X-Ray: This will naturally be compared with the other Hitchcock releases, “39 Steps,” “Lady Vanishes,” etc., but it doesn’t hit the mark of the others. True, from the production and acting standpoint, it is in Servisection 3 863