The Exhibitor (Jun-Nov 1944)

COLUMBIA Stars On Parade Musical 64m. Estimate: For the duallers. Cast: Larrv Parks, Lynn Merrick, Ray Walker, Jeff Donnell, Robert Williams, Selmar Jackson, Edythe Elliot, Mary Currier, Danny O'Neil, Frank and Jean Hubert, The Chords, King Cole Trio, The Ben Carter Choir. Directed by Lew Landers. Produced by Wal¬ lace MacDonald. Story: Larry Parks and Lynn Merrick, sweethearts and a song and dance team, are discouraged with the failure of the motion picture industry to notice the talent in Hollywood. They interview everyone with talent with an eye to putting on a big show with the cream of the crop to which all the studio heads would be invited. Parks and Merrick also be¬ come enstranged when Parks sees Merrick kissing Ray Walker, an old acquaintance, and remain that way until opening night rolls around, when Walker finds out what is the cause of the break between the two, and finally patches things up. They go on, and are a hit as are some of the other acts. X-Ray: This should find a spot on the double bills. There are several good acts in the film. Musical numbers include: “Jumpin’ At the Jubilee,” “Ezekial,” “Two Hearts In the Dark,” “Somewhere This Side Of Heaven,” “Who Said Dreams Don’t Come True?”, “My Heart Isn’t In It,” “It’s Love, Love, Love,” “Takin’ Care Of You,” and “Sunny Side Of the Street.” Ad Lines: “It’s the Gayest Musical To Emerge From the Hollywood Studios In a Long Time,” “An Hour Of Mirth and Melody For Your Enjoyment,” “A Tale About Hollywood’s Own Studios,” and How a Boy and Girl Make Good.” MONOGRAM Johnny Doesn't Live Comedy Here Any More 79m Estimate: Hilarious comedy. Cast: Simone Simon, James Ellison, William Terry, Minna Gombell, Chick Chandler, Alan Dinehart, Gladys Blake, Robert Mitchum, Dorothy Grainger, Grady Sutton, Fern Emmett, Chester Clute, Jerry Maren, Janet Shaw. Directed by Joe May for pro¬ ducers Maurice and Franklin King. Story: Weary defense worker Simone Simon, in quest of lodgings sees William Terry leaving an apartment house, asks if he is vacating a room, she is informed he is joining the Marines, and she may use the room for a while. He forgets to inform her that he also has given a key to the rooms to all his friends in the service, which includes sailors James Ellison, and his side-kick. Chick Chandler. From there on the apartment becomes a sort of way station and mad house, with service men who have fallen in love with Simon popping in and out of the place at all hours. When Chandler lends his key to Bob Mitchum, whose wife is coming to town, to use the place over night, a free-for-all fight occurs. They are haled to court where presides Alan Dinehart. It all ends with a surprise gag finish, that all the mess has been fathered and fostered by a ghostly gremlin who glides in and out of the proceedings. X-Ray: This one should please the escapist fans. It has a different story, good dialogue, is fast paced, and has a hand¬ picked cast, which does a nice job for director Joe May who never lets the pro¬ ceedings get out of hand. Antics of the gremlin played by Jerry Maren, reduced to a mere spectre by trick photography, make for a happy interlude. This should fit neatly into the duallers, or as a single where a selling campaign can be given it. Ad Lines: “Do You Believe In Grem¬ lins? . . . If Not . . . See What One Did To a Perfectly Nice Girl. . . . And Her Boy Friends”; “A Rollicking Story Which Hits the Heart With a Bull’s Eye”; “You’ll Chuckle . . . You’ll Laugh . . . You’ll Won¬ der How It Will End . . . But You’ll Be Surprised!” Return Of Melodrama The Ape Man 60m Estimate: Routine shocker. ACTUAL REVIEWS — with ALL pertinent data, plus the X-RAY A Jay Emanuel Publication. Published weekly by Jay Emanuel Publications, Incorporated. Publishing office1225 Vine Street, Philadelphia 7, Pennsylvania. New York office: 1600 Broadway, New York 19. Coast Reoresentative: Samuel Lindenstein, 425 South Cochran Avenue, Los Angeles 36, California. Jay Emanuel, publisher; Paul J. Greenhalgh, business manager; Herbert M. Miller, managing editor; James A. Dalton, pro¬ duction manager; George F. Nonamaker, associate editor. SECTION TWO VOL. 32, No. 3 MAY 31, 1944 Waterfront (415) Melodrama 65m. Cast: Bela Lugosi, John Carradine, Frank Moran, Judith Gibson, Michael Ames, Mary Currier, Ed Chandler, Mike Donovan, George Eldridge, Horace Carpenter, Ernie Adams, Frank Leigh. Directed by Phil Rosen. Produced by Sam Katzman and Jock Dietz. Story: Scientist Bela Lugosi, aided by scientist John Carradine, learns out how to keep people in suspended animation packed in ice. They journey to the Arctic, uncover a prehistoric man, and bring him back to life. Lugosi wants to transplant the brain of a modern man into the prehistoric man, but Carradine rebels. Later, Lugosi kills Carradine, and performs the experiment with Carradine's brain. The ape man gets loose, becoming a killer, murders Lugosi, kidnaps Carradine's daughter, and eventually is tracked down by the police in Lugosi's laboratory. The daughter is rescued, and the prehistoric man dies in the flames. X-Ray: This piece of melodramatic non¬ sense will find its way into the lower half, with the non -discriminating thrill fans probably satisfied. The Lugosi and Carra¬ dine names will attract, and although the story borders on the ridiculous, it won’t make that much difference. Ad Lines: “Alive . . . After 2,000 Years ... To Kill”; “Can a Man Live 2,000 Years . . . Decide For Yourself”; “Those Two Thrill Boys Are Here Again . . . Lugosi and Carradine ... In the Year’s Most Amazing Picture.” PRC The Pinto Bcmdit Musical Western (456) 56m Estimate: Okay series entrant. Cast: Dave O'Brien, Jim Newill, Guy Wilkerson, Mady Lawrence, James Martin, Jack Ingram, Edward Cassidy, Budd Buster, Karl Hackett, Robert Kortman, Charles King, Jr. Directed by Elmer Clifton. Pro¬ duced by Alfred Stern. Story: Dave O'Brien, Jim Newill, and Guy Wil¬ kerson, Texas Rangers, are called to the aid of the town's post officials, who are having trouble with a masked bandit, who rides a pinto pony. The pay-off comes when the "pinto bandit" shoots one of the owners of the line, and the only evidence is stolen. The town officials decide to stage a threeman relay race, with entrants from competing com¬ panies, and the post contract as a prize. O'Brien, Newill, and Wilkerson identify the bandit, win the event, and turn the contract over to heroine Mady Lawrence and her brother. X-Ray: This entry in the “Texas Rangers” series is a western with plenty of action and slick gun slinging. Wilkerson’s comedy relief is okay. Songs heard are: “Listen To The Music Of The Range,” “It’s Too Late To Say You’re Sorry Now,” and “A Wanderer Wandering Home.” Ad Lines: “There’s No Stopping These Bruising Buckaroos — The Texas Rangers In Action Again”; “Hot Lead Spatters Over The Prairie As Bad-Men Get In The Texas Rangers’ Way”; “They’re Regular Prairie Panthers As They Sing And Slug And Handle The Toughest Of Hombres!” Estimate: Spy meller has angles. Cast: John Carradine, J. Carrol Naish, Maris Wrixcn, Edwin Maxwell, Terry Frost, John Bleifer, Marten Lamont, Olga Fabian, Claire Rochelle, Billy Nelson. Directed by Steve Sekely for producers Alexander-Stern. Story: Optometrist J. Carrol Naish, head of a Nazi spy ring in San Francisco, is held up near the waterfront, and a small black code book which also contains list of other agents is stolen. The job is engineered by a double-crossing Nazi agent, John Bleifer, who wants to sell the book to Edwin Max¬ well, prosperous marine insurance underwriter, who has been a Nazi agent, but now wants to get out. John Carradine arrives from Berlin with a code message to Naish which he cannot decipher until the little book is recovered. Carradine gets the book from Bleifer, and then murders him. Police detective Marten Lamont is assigned to the job. There are no clues but the bullet. Then Maxwell is found mur¬ dered, and Terry Frost who loves Maxwell's sec¬ retary, Maris Wrixon, is found in Maxwell's office under compromising circumstances. Autopsy shows a bullet similar to that found in Bleifer's body. Car¬ radine visits Naish, they quarrel, and Carradine murders him. Then Carradine goes to the home of Wrixon where her mother, a German refugee, hds rented him a room, Carradine discovers that Wrixon has identified him, but Lamont arrives on scene just in time to save the women's lives, and capture the spy. X-Ray: This meller is headed for the lower half, and with the Carradine and Naish names to help, it will fit into that spot neatly. Performances are satisfactory, although the script is routine, and handi¬ caps the players. Title also has selling angles. Ad Lines: “A Quick Witted Detective Outsmarts Two Nazi Agents”; “He Wanted To Escape the Stigma of Nazi Agentry . . . But Was Caught In the Toils Of His Own Corruption”; “A Sinister Cold and Cal¬ culating Nazi Agent Who Does Not Hesi¬ tate To Kill.” RK0 Musical 991/2M. (Foreign-made) RKO (English Titles) Estimate: Okay for language or foreign houses. Cast: Imperio Argentina, Rafael Rivelles, Armando Calvo, Ramon Martori, Jose Latorre, Eloisa Muro, Antonio Casas, Manuel Moran, Manuel Requena, Marta Flores. Juan Calvo, Antonio Bayan, Marina Torres, Maria Vera. Directed by Benito Peroio. Story: Time is the early part of the 18th Century. Imperio Argentina plays the dual role of entertainer and a countess. The former has lost her lover, Ar¬ mando Calvo. She grieves. The mayor, who has fallen for the singer, offers to help her, and takes her to the house of the countess, where he attempts to arrest Calvo. The mayor is killed. Calvo hides from the authorities. Meanwhile, the countess finds a new love in Rafael Rivelles, a soldier. Singer Argentina asks the countess for information about Goyescas 1513