The Exhibitor (1950)

June 21, 1950 EXHIBITOR The Rocking Horse Winner Drama (982) 91m (British-made) Estimate: Good British import. Cast: Valerie Hobson, John Howard Davies, Ronald Squire, John Mills, Hugh Sinclair, Charles Goldner, Susan Richards, Cyril Smith, Anthony Hollies, Melanie McKenzie, Caroline Steer. Produced by John Mills; directed by Anthony Pelissier. Story: Valerie Hobson and Hugh Sin¬ clair, parents of young John Howard Davies, are in financial straits as Hobson’s extravagancies and Sinclair’s gambling force them to live off the charity of Hob¬ son’s brother, Ronald Squire. Handyman John Mills, former jockey and stable boy, gives Davies the attention the others fail to supply, and fans his interest in horse racing. Davies gets a rocking horse for Christmas, and it becomes his obsession. When he hears Hobson declaim the need for more money, and finds Mills perusing a racing form, Davies bets on a horse. It loses, but Davies “rides out” the races on his rocking horse betting progressively, and keeps picking winners. He has a partnership with Mills which Squire later amazedly joins, and money is given to Hobson under pretense of a legacy, but she continues spending. Eventually, Davies works him¬ self into a nervous state, and depletes the kitty by picking losers, but refuses to take a vacation before the Derby. Intuition sends Hobson home from a ball one night to find the boy “riding.” He has a nervous collapse, but utters the Derby winner first. He dies after learning of the victory. Hobson tells Mills to destroy the for¬ tune, but he holds it for charity. X-Ray: Based on a short story by D. H. Lawrence, this import treats a strange theme with care and conviction, making a thoroughly interesting study. Perform¬ ances are uniformly fine, with Davies, Squire, and Mills outstanding. Art houses and class audiences should find this of most interest as the strong story line is given a proper denouement. Anthony Pelissier wrote the screen play. Tip On Bidding: Low bracket. Ad Lines: “A Strange Tale Of D. H. Lawrence Grimly Brought To The Screen In ‘The Rocking Horse Winner”; “John Mills and Valerie Hobson Starring In ‘The Rocking Horse Winner’ “Her Love For Money Killed The One Being She Loved.” Hunt (920) Mystery Melodrama Estimate: Names may help routine melodrama. Cast: Howard Duff, Marta Toren, Philip Friend, Robert Douglas, Philip Dorn, Walter Slezak, Kurt Kreuger, Aram Katcher. Produced by Ralph Dietrich; directed by George Sherman. Story: Microfilm evidence proving a political murder in an East European country is smuggled out by Marta Toren, a spy working with British intelligence. She hides it in the collar of one of two panthers owned by Howard Duff, heading back to the United States. Counter-agents wreck the train, and while Duff escapes, his panthers are loose in Swiss territory. At an inn operated by Walter Slezak assemble British correspondent Philip Friend, hunter Philip Dorn, artist Robert Douglas, Toren, and Duff. Eventually, Friend, a spy, kills Dorn, and in a show¬ down, Douglas is revealed as top man. Through a ruse, he is captured, and the film recovered but not before Duff is wounded. All problems solved, Duff con¬ tinues with his cats, and Toren takes her microfilm to the proper parties, a clinch in the offing. X-Ray: With the players far better than the story, this is a routine melodrama that has some suspensive moments but for the most part is just about what would be expected. Duff doesn’t have too much to do, Toren, Friend, Douglas, and Dorn per¬ form capably in stock roles, and Slezak is wasted. This should get by as a pro¬ grammer. It is based on “Panther’s Moon,” by Victor Canning. Tip On Bidding: Program price. Ad Lines: “A Panther Guarded The Secret . . . But Meant Death”; “Who Headed The Spy Ring?”; “Death Lurked At Every Turn.” Winchester '73 (921) Western *92m. Estimate: High rating western. Cast: James Stewart, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea, Stephen McNally, Millard Mitchell, Charles Drake, John Mclntire, Will Geer, Jay C. Flippen, Rock Hudson, John Alexander, Steve Brodie, James Millican, Abner Biberman* Anthony Curtis, James Best. Produced by Aaron Rosen¬ berg; directed by Anthony Mann. Story: In 1873, James Stewart and Mil¬ lard Mitchell ride into Dodge City hunt¬ ing for Stephen McNally, with whom Stewart has a score to settle. Marshal Will Geer is escorting dancehall enter¬ tainer Shelley Winters out of town. Stew¬ art and Mitchell meet McNally when they enter a rifle shooting contest. The prize is a rare Winchester rifle. After some spec¬ tacular shooting, Stewart wins the gun, but McNally ambushes him, and rides off with the rifle. Without guns or ammu¬ nition, McNally loses the gun to John Mc¬ lntire, a dishonest Indian trader. Mcln¬ tire is killed by the Indians, and chief Rock Hudson winds up with the gun. Meanwhile Winters meets her fiance, Charles Drake, and Indians drive them into an encampment of green cavalry soldiers surrounded by Hudson’s braves. Stewart and Mitchell also wind up there, and turn away the Indians. When Stew¬ art rides off, Drake receives the rifle taken from the dead Hudson. Winters and Drake arrive at their house as does desperado Dan Duryea, who shows up Drake for a coward, and eventually kills him for the gun. Duryea forces Winters to accompany him to a meeting with McNally to plan a bank holdup. Stewart shows up, learns from Winters that Duryea knows where McNally is, and upsets the bank holdup. McNally takes off for the hills, and he and Stewart battle it out, Stewart killing McNally, and recovering the gun, which the latter took from Duryea. Winters learns from Mitchell that Stewart and McNally were brothers, and that McNally shot their father in the back. Stewart re¬ turns with the prize gun. X-Ray: A top-grade western, this ranks with the better entries of its type. The prize gun ties together a story that holds interest on high from start to finish, with one climactic scene following another, and it is guaranteed to satisfy all audiences who go for action-packed westerns. The camera technique is an improvement, while the cast, direction, and production are in the better class. It should be noted that Stewart turns in one of his best jobs. The screen play is by Robert L. Richards and Borden Chase, based on a story by Stuart N. Lake. Tip On Bidding: Higher bracket. Ad Lines: “The Story Of The Gun That Won The West”; “Action And Thrills Fol¬ low Jimmy Stewart And His ‘Winchester ’73’ ”; “A Top-Grade Western That Will Leave Audiences Limp With Its Action Thrills.” WARNERS _ The Great Jewel Robber Melodr^£ Estimate: Okeh program meller. Cast: David Brian, Marjorie Reynolds, John Archer, Jacqueline De Wit, Alice Talton, Perdita Chandler, Robert B. Wil¬ liams, Warren Douglas, John Morgan, Bigelow Sayre, Mayor Stanley Church, Claudia Barrett. Produced by Bryan Foy; directed by Peter Godfrey. Story: Canadian jewel and fur thief David Brian is turned in to the police by the irate father of duped Claudia Bar¬ rett, who believes Brian loves her. He escapes from the prison farm, and takes money from Barrett, but then enters the U. S. with real flame Perdita Chandler. She contacts a crooked bartender who lines up a safe -cracking for him at a rich man’s home, but it develops the folks weren’t away as advised, and Chandler and the bartender strand Brian. He gets away with some valuables, but his at¬ tempted doublecross earns him a beating and a hospital stay where, however, he marries nurse Marjorie Reynolds, who later thinks he is persuaded to go straight. However, Brian meets fur buyer Alice Talton, and is discovered by Reynolds, who turns his picture in to the police when he fails to come home as promised. Brian escapes a police trap, and on a coastbound train meets wealthy divorcee Jac¬ queline De Wit, whose home and party guests he later robs. Brian escapes a police net while trying to dispose of the jewelry, but is caught in Cleveland, and taken back east. He escapes custody, but is caught by detective John Archer, and imprisoned for a long stretch. X-Ray: Based on the life of a real jewel thief, this is an okeh program, short on name draw but adequately performed by the cast headed by Brian. The pace is rather studied as there are numerous thefts, but the final chase is a pulse¬ pounding one with the criminal doing a human-fly building descent. This was written by Borden Chase. Tip On Bidding: Fair program price. Ad Lines: “See The True Story Of ‘The Great Jewel Robber’ “Good And Bad, All The Women He Met Fell In Love With Him”; “David Brian And Marjorie Rey¬ nolds Starring In ‘The Great Jewel Robber’.” MISCELLANEOUS Midnight Frolics Musical 49m. (Bell) Estimate: Exploitation novelty will ap¬ peal in limited situations. Cast: Sunny Knight, Mickey Ginger Jones, Aleene, Boo La Von, Shirley Heart, The Boyd Triplets, Charles and Gabrielle, Annette Warren, Deenah, Roman-Roman, Sunkist Beauty Chorus. Directed by W. Merle Connell. Story: This follows the burlesque pat¬ tern, and opens with the appearance of the chorus and the Boyd Triplets singing “Senorita Maracas From Caracas,” fol¬ lowed by Charles and Gabrielle doing a Latin American dance number and Boo La Von doing a “personality” dance. Two comedians do an ice cream skit. Contor¬ tionist Shirley Heart performs, followed by Aleene. The comedians return with a skit, and Annette Warren sings “Empty Arms,” the chorus does a fan dance num¬ ber, and Charles and Gabrielle do a ball¬ room turn. The comedians do another skit. Ginger Jones glides about, an accordionist plays for an ensemble number, and Sunny Knight appears for the finale. X-Ray: This supposed sex novelty is quite unrisque but' in situations where burlesque is a novelty it can be sold well. Primarily, this is aimed at the lesser houses depending on transient trade. There is actually no stripping, and the jokes are quite tame. Servisection 5 2873