The Exhibitor (1950)

E X H IB I T O R May 10, 1950 Shirley O. Mills, Tom Brown Henry, Harry Harvey, Paul E. Burns, Jacqui Snyder, Lora Lee Michel. Produced by Peter Scully; directed by William Castle. Story: Will Geer, farmer, raising a daughter and son, Paul Dale, in California, discovers that the latter will grow no taller, being a midget. He withdraws the boy from school, and tries to overcome the latter’s handicap, but because the sister is embarrassed and her home life is affected, Dale decides to take a job with a carnival owner. He finds this intolerable, and runs away, winding up in a town where he makes friends with bootblack Todd Karns, and also becomes a shoe shine boy. Dale is happy until he meets Lorraine Miller, who shows an interest in him. At her behest, and because he believes she really likes him, Dale ties up with a gang of pickpockets including Nina Koshetz and Steve Brodie. However when he realizes that Miller has been playing him for a sucker, he tells the police, who close in. The judge, sensing an unusual problem, sends Dale to the Cole Brothers Circus in Florida, where, after meeting another midget, Anne Sholter, who trains horses, he falls in love, and marries her. Under¬ standing that with the proper viewpoint, a midget can adjust himself to life, he carries on with the circus. X-Ray: Whether this will start a series of stories on midgets is questionable, but regardless this is a sincere study of the problems of little people in the everyday world. Dale, as the midget, turns in an interesting performance, while the sup¬ porting cast contributes much to a genuinely interesting film that offers in¬ teresting showmanship angles. The prob¬ lems of the midget, his love for the normal woman, his clash with society, and his final solution lend themselves to unique salesmanship. While there is nothing of value for the marquee, the nature of the piece will, to an extent, offset this disad¬ vantage. On the credit side go plaudits to the writer, producer, and director, who have done a creditable job. The story was written by William Castle. There is one song, “It’s A Small World.” Ad Lines: “Can A Midget Be Loved By A Normal Woman?”; “He Sought Happi¬ ness With Normal People . . . But Found He Wasn’t Wanted”; “The Story Of A Man Who Sought A Love Denied To Him.” Kill Or Be Killed (029) Estimate: Fair meller for the duallers has many exploitable angles. Cast: Lawrence Tierney, George Coulouris, Marissa O’Brien, Rudolph Anders, Lopes Da Silva, Veloso Pires, Leonor Maia, Joao Amaro, Licinio Sena, Helga Line, Mira Lobo. Produced by Walter Jurmann; directed by Max Nosseck. Story: American engineer Lawrence Tierney has just finished a job for cafe owner Lopes Da Silva in a South Ameri¬ can seaport town when Da Silva is mur¬ dered, and the circumstantial evidence weighs heavily against Tierney, who es¬ capes to a steamer bound for the jungle plantation of Rudolph Anders. On the ship he meets Anders’ wife, Marissa O Brien, who agrees to help him. Tierney gets a job on one of Anders’ labor gangs. George Coulouris, Anders’ henchman, who also arrived on the steamer, reports to Anders that he killed Da Silva, and that Tierney was charged with the crime, and killed during the escape. Coulouris had killed Da Silva because the cafe owner had witnessed a murder committed by the plantation owner and his henchman, and was blackmailing the pair. O’Brien tells Anders that she wants a divorce, and Anders, suspecting a love affair be¬ tween her and Tierney, and also because he suspects that Tierney knows the cir¬ cumstances of Da Silva’s murder, orders Coulouris to kill him. When Coulouris takes Tierney for a trip in a motor boat, and attempts to throw him overboard, he is thrown into the water. Tierney drags him into the boat, but his legs are eaten away by ferocious fish. Before he dies, Coulouris confesses the murder of Da Silva. When Tierney confronts Anders with his knowledge, a fight ensues, in which Tierney is saved when Anders’ houseboy shoots his employer. Tierney and O’Brien, free to marry, leave the plan¬ tation. X-Ray: Although Tierney isn’t too con¬ vincing in a non-heavy role, and the story drags because of overly melodramatic di¬ rection, this has many exploitable angles by virtue of its South American setting and the casting of Tierney in a different type role. The strained attempts to make the villains appear sinister sometimes re¬ sult in an overall ludicrous effect. This was written by Arnold Phillips, Max Nos¬ seck, and Lawrence Goldman. Legion of Decency, “B.” Ad Lines: “Lawrence Tierney Battling For Survival In A Terror-Filled, Man¬ hunt”; “See Lawrence Tierney Fighting By The Only Law He Knew — ‘Kill Or Be Killed’ ”; “Tierney Is Terrific In His Toughest Role.” Satirical Kind Hearts And Coronets Drama 101m. (British-made) Estimate: Good import for the art houses. Cast: Dennis Price, Valerie Hobson, Joan Greenwood, Alec Guinness, Audrey Fildes, Miles Malleson, Clive Morton, John Penrose, Cecil Ramage, Hugh Griffith, Anne Valery. Produced by Michael Balcon; directed by Robert Hamer. Story: Dennis Price is brought up to assume the dukedom of his mother’s royal family from which they were banished by her marriage to a since-dead Italian singer. When Price’s mother is refused burial in the family plot he vows ven¬ geance, and when sweetheart Joan Green¬ wood rejects him, and marries John Pen¬ rose, he decides to become the duke by killing the eight people in his way, all played by Alec Guinness. Price causes the drowning of the young family rake, the death by explosion of the photography bug married to beautiful, straightlaced Valerie Hobson; poisons the sherry-loving eccentric Reverend; shoots down the bal¬ loon of the vigorous elderly suffragette, and kills the old army general with a bomb. The stupid naval admiral perishes in a ship collision, the kindly banker has a stroke, and Price shoots the duke. Meanwhile, Price has made Greenwood his mistress, and has proposed to Hobson. The bankrupt Penrose commits suicide after Price refuses aid, and when the latter refuses to marry Greenwood, she has Price convicted for murder. She promises to discover the suicide note be¬ fore his execution when he agrees to re¬ turn to her though Hobson marries him in jail, but Price doubts her, and writes his autobiography, which is discovered just when he is freed so he returns to be executed. X-Ray: Ghoulish humor is the keynote of this unusual and expertly performed satire which boasts considerable name draw in the person of Alec Guinness, who contributes a stunning bravura per¬ formance in eight sharply delineated char¬ acterizations. Price, Hobson, and the harshly dulcet-toned Greenwood are fine but too much of Price’s narration and a slow start and lamentable denouement de¬ tract. However, this should garner top bracket art house returns. Legion of De¬ cency, “B.” Robert Hamer and John Dighton wrote the screen play. Ad Lines: “See The Amazing Alec Guinness In Eight Different Roles In ‘Kind Hearts And Coronets’ ”; “All He Wanted Was To Be A Duke”; “One Of The Most Unusual Films You Have Ever Seen.” The Perfect Woman Comedy (015) 82m (English-made) Estimate: Fair import. Cast: Patricia Roc, Stanley Holloway, Nigel Patrick, Miles Malleson, Irene Han¬ dle, Pamela Devis, Fred Berger, David Hurst, Anita Bolster, Phillipa Gill, Con¬ stance Smith, Patti Morgan, Noel Howlett. Produced by George and Alfred Black; directed by Bernard Knowles. Story: Famed scientist Miles Malleson constructs the perfect robot woman, and before presenting his findings to a body of scientists, he is determined to test her in public. He hires Nigel Patrick and his valet, Stanley Holloway, to do so. Hollo¬ way hires the bridal suite in a large hotel, and tells the manager that Patrick has just gotten married. He is overheard by a friend of Patrick’s aunt, who phones her to meet her nephew’s new bride. Malleson has modeled his robot after his niece, Patricia Roc, and when she learns of the “date,” she decides to have some fun, and substitutes for the dummy. When they get to the hotel, Roc manages to phone her uncle’s housekeeper, Irene Handle, and begs her to bring on the real robot. Meanwhile, they put her to bed, the aunt arrives, and convinces herself that Roc isn’t a dummy by jabbing a pin into her. When the real dummy ar¬ rives, Roc suggests that Patrick summon his aunt again, and, when she tries to jab it, a short circuit results, and the hotel is almost wrecked as the dummy goes beserk. Roc and Patrick find they are in love, and everyone is happy except the hotel manager and Malleson. X-Ray: This is the kind of entry that Hollywood used to turn out years ago, and the fact that it was made in England hasn’t improved the plot, situations, nor dialogue. The story is fair, the direction average, and the production values good. The performers, usually able, do what they can with the material, which is below standard. However, it should be noted that there are several amusing scenes. The film is based on an original play by Wal¬ lace Geoffrey and Basil John Mitchell. Legion of Decency, “B”. Ad Lines: “She Was Almost ‘The Per¬ fect Woman’ Until The End Of A Hatpin Upset Things”; “There’s Fun Galore Fol¬ lowing ‘The Perfect Woman’ Around”; “They Thought She Was A Dummy Until She Kissed Him.” LIPPERT Everybody's Dancin' (4922) Estimate: Okeh dualler. Comedy Musical 66m:. Cast: Spade Cooley, Richard Lane, Bar¬ bara Woodell, Ginny Jackson, Hal Derwin, James Millican, Lyle Talbot, Michael Whalen, Sid Melton, Tex Cromer, Bobby Hyatt, Sons of the Pioneers, Chuy Reyes and orchestra, Flying Taylors, Great Velardi, The Medians, and guest appear¬ ances by Adele Jergens, Roddy McDowell, Jimmy “Shamrock” Ellison, Russ “Lucky” Hayden. Produced by Bob Nunes; di¬ rected by Will Jason. 2846 Servisection 2