The Exhibitor (1950)

COLUMBIA Romantic Hoedown (251) Musical Farce 64m. Estimate: Okeh for small towns and duallers. Cast: Eddy Arnold, Jeff Donnell, Jock O’Mahoney, Guinn “Big Boy” Williams, Carolina Cotton, Fred Sears, Don Harvey, « Charles Sullivan, Douglas Fowley, Ray Walker, Harry Harvey, The Pied Pipers, The Oklahoma Wranglers. Produced by Colbert Clark; directed by Ray Nazarro. Story: Jock O’Mahoney, a one picture bust as a cowboy actor, is on a p.a. tour sponsored not by the studio as he thinks but by his mother, with money from the mortgage. The tour folds when his man¬ ager runs out, and O’Mahoney is then the object of the scrutiny of sob-story re¬ porter Jeff Donnell. O’Mahoney winds up working for board for Eddy Arnold, famed folk singer holding a hospital benefit hoedown. Arnold’s cousin, Carolina Cotten, falls for O’Mahoney, and Arnold, mistaking a dubbed Gene Autry song from O ’Mahoney’s film, calls agent Fred Sears to sign O’Mahoney. Sears is com¬ mandeered by bank robbers Douglas Fowley, Don Harvey, and Charles Sulli¬ van. The trio steals the benefit funds but O’Mahoney becomes a strong man when, inspired by Cotten’s kisses, he regains the money by overpowering the trio. He is re¬ warded, gets offers, and Cotten, and Arnold and Donnell clinch. X-Ray: Extremely broad farce is the feature of this entry, and while none too adroitly performed, it should suffice along with the folk songs to satisfy the rural and twin-bill following. Arnold’s draw should help. This was written by Barry Shipman. Songs heard are “Just A Little Lovin’ ”, “I’m Throwin’ Rice,” “I’ll Betcha I Getcha,” “Bouquet Of Roses,” “Tennes¬ see Saturday Night,” “Frog Went ACourtin’,” and “Skip To My Lou.” Tip On Bidding: Lowest bracket. Ad Lines: “Hear Eddy Arnold Sing In ‘Hoedown’ “He Was A Cowboy HeMan Who Fainted At The Sight Of Blood”; “It Took A Woman’s Kisses To Make Him Do A ‘Hoedown’.” EAGLE LION CLASSICS The Blue Lamp (English-made) Melodrama 84m. Estimate: Good British meller. Cast: Jack Warner, Jimmy Hanley, Meredith Edwards, William Mervyn, Clive Morton, Charles Saynor, Campbell Singer, Gwynne Whitby, Robert Flemyng, Bernard Lee, Bruce Seton, Sidney Pointer, Dirk Bogarde, Patric., Doonan, Peggy Evans, Michael Golden, Gladys Henson. A Michael Balcon production; directed by Basil Dearden. Story: Newly appointed police recruit Jimmy Hanley is assigned to a typical London police station, and veteran Jack Warner is assigned to show him the ropes. Peggy Evans is reported missing by her parents, and Hanley recognizes her from a photograph but the police are powerless to persuade her to return home. The girl returns to her boy friend, Dirk Bogarde, and his pal, Patric Doonan, who pull off a jewelry store robbery and a holdup of a theatre in which Evans is employed. War¬ ner is shot, and dies. Various odds and ends plus an appearance by Bogarde at the police station to try to throw them off put the spotlight on the pair, and it winds up in a terrific chase with the pair captured. Published weekly by Jay Emanuel Publications, Inc., Publishing office: 1225 Vine Street, Philadelphia 7, Penn¬ sylvania. New York office: 1600 Broadway, New York 19. West Coast representative: Paul Manning, 923 Alandele Avenue, Los Angeles 36, California. Jay Emanuel, publisher; Paul J. Greenhalgh, business manager; Herbert M. Miller, editor; James A. Dalton, advertising manager; George F. Nonamaker, Mel Konecoff, associate editors. SECTION TWO Vol. 44, No. 9 JULY 5, 1950 X-Ray: With a tight, tense plot that holds interest once it gets started, this provides good import entertainment. At the onset, the accent is difficult to under¬ stand, but once the plot develops it is easily overcome. The cast does a good job, the direction is efficient, and the produc¬ tion good. This should appeal to those who like imports. The screen play is by T. E. B. Clarke. Ad Lines: “The British Police Swing Into Action”; “Adventure With The British Police”; “A Rookie Joins The London Police Force, And Things Begin To Happen.” Adventure Destination Moon Fantasy 89m. (Color by Technicolor) Estimate: Well-made adventure yarn is packed with exploitation angles. Cast: John Archer, Warner Anderson, Tom Powers, Dick Wesson, Erin O’Brien Moore. Produced by George Pal. Directed by Irving Pichel. Story: Dr. Warner Anderson and Gen¬ eral Tom Powers have waited a long time to see their super rocket launched into space but sabotage causes it to crash shortly after its takeoff, and the two men retire to different pursuits. Powers leaves the army, and Anderson returns to scien¬ tific research. Several years later, Powers shows up' in the office of John Archer, one of the country’s top industrialists, with news that Anderson has developed an atomic engine capable of sending a manned rocket ship to the moon, and asks American industry to back the project. Work progresses until the rocket is prac¬ tically completed. Meanwhile, foreign in¬ spired propaganda is setting the public and government departments against the project, and Archer convinces the others that they must take off. Radar-radio oper¬ ator Dick Wesson is persuaded to go along in place of another stricken ill, and the four get off the ground. They arrive on the moon without mishap. They report their findings and progress to earth by radio. When the time arrives to leave, they find that they must strip the ship of everything in order to get off the moon. They do finally get off, and head back to earth. X-Ray: Although this was preceded by a similar film, “Rocketship XM,” this is an exploitation opportunity that can stand plenty of merchandising. The youngsters and men should be ready customers, suspense is well held, the story is inter¬ esting, performances okeh, technical angles well handled, and the presentation makes the whole project seem entirely feasible. In short, this is a “gimmick” show. Backed by the proper type of campaign, it should get the openings. How it holds up will depend on the word-of-mouth, and, in the final analysis, if the women’s interest can be aroused. The screen play is by Rip Van Ronkel, Robert Heinlein, and James O’Hanlon, from a novel by Robert Heinlein. Ad Lines: “Don’t Miss This Thrill Of The Future — A Trip Into Space”; “Come Along On A Trip To The Moon With Its Spine-tingling Adventure And Excite¬ ment”; “There Has Never Been Anything Like It.” Federal Man Melodrama 67m. Estimate: Okeh for the lower half. Cast: William Henry, Pamela Blake, Robert Shayne, Lyle Talbot, George Eldredge, Movita Castaneda, John Lauretz, William Edwards, Lori Irving, Ben Mosel. Produced by Jack Schwarz; directed by Robert Tansey. Story: When a narcotics agent is killed trying to discover the ring responsible for flooding the southwest, William Henry is assigned to the case, and finds a clue that leads him to a cafe below the border in Mexico. With the help of the authori¬ ties, he learns that narcotics are smuggled in by hiding the drugs in packages beneath cars returning to the States. He loses one car but the trail eventually leads to the operator of a rent-a-car garage, George Eldredge. The federal men put cameras and microphones on Eldredge, and tap his phone, but find out little to connect him with narcotics. Eldredge thinks that he might be suspected, and sends through an empty box but Henry learns of the trick, and the box is passed through. A real ship¬ ment is planned, and agents put a radar arrangement on the car which enables them to track it to its destination. Mean¬ while, Eldredge discovers the cameras and microphones, and takes Henry as a host¬ age to the garage where a battle to the finish is waged. X-Ray: A fairly interesting yarn plus fast-moving events, adequate perform¬ ances, and ordinary direction and produc¬ tion should help fit this on the lower half. It was written by Sam Neuman and Nat Tanchuk. Ad Lines: “Thrill With The T-Men As They Crack A Dope Smuggling Case”; “The Federal Men On The Trail Of Crooks And Murderers”; “Action And Adventure Follow The ‘Federal Man’.” PARAMOUNT The Furies (4926) Me“ mX' Estimate: Name draw will help wellmade melodrama. 2879