The Exhibitor (1950)

EXHIBITOR July 5, 1950 THE SPORTING SUWANEE. Para¬ mount — Grantland Rice Sportlight. 9V2m. Narrated by Bill Slater, this traces the course of the Suwanee River from its origin in Georgia’s Okeefenokee Swamp to its outlet in the Gulf of Mexico. Beauti¬ fully photographed scenes of the river’s wildlife and views of hunting and fishing are shown. GOOD. (R9-9) . FLATBUSH, FLORIDA. ParamountPacemaker. 11m. A 12-year-old gets the thrill of a lifetime watching the Dodgers during spring training, and is asked to help out when Dodgers’ boss Branch Rickey spots him supporting and rooting for the team. He works out with all the big team members, and dreams of joining the team when old enough. GOOD. (K9-5). DIVING MANIACS. 20th Century-Fox — Movietone Sports Review. 9m. This humorous entry finds some of the coun¬ try’s top diving acrobats doing their zany stunts to the accompaniment of a punny Charles E. Slocum narration. The usual tricks, running some footage back¬ wards, inserting shots of pretty girls, and the routine shenanigans should prove sat¬ isfactory. The locale is Silver Springs, Fla. GOOD. (3003). Too Late To Classify Features Seven Journeys Drama 88m. (Vogue) (Made in the Allied Zone of Germany) (English dialogue-titles) Estimate: Interesting import for art spots. Cast: Erich Schellow, Gert Schaefer, Winnie Markus, Karl John, Erica Balque, Eva Gotthardt, Hermann Speelmanns, Fritz Wagner, Franz Schafheitlin, Alice Treff, Hans Nielsen, Gisela Tantau, Isa Vermehren, Margarete Haagen, Willy Maertens, Ida Ehre, Carl Raddatz, Bettina Moissi. Directed by Helmut Kautner. Story: In 1947, two workers, former soldiers, are removing parts from an old automobile. The voice of the car tells its story, which has to do with the seven owners. A man gives his sweetheart the car as an engagement present, and they cut the date in the windshield. A com¬ poser is banned by the Nazis, and the car knows that he and his wife’s friend have been overfriendly. Another owner and his wife, because of a mixed marriage, are persecuted until they are driven to suicide. A husband disappears when the Gestapo takes an interest in their doings, the car is commandeered by the army, and sees action on the eastern front against the Russians. A former maid tries to get her nobility-born mistress away from the police, and finally a military courier resurrects the car from a barn where it was rusting, and helps an unmarried mother on her way with her infant. They seem to Ta.ll llx lcrvc, ko promioao fr> see her again, but the war interferes, nhd the car becomes a pile of junk. X-Ray: Seven episodes in the life of a car are skillfully woven together to emerge as an interesting entry for the art house patronage. It should please those who seek different entertainment. The cast is convincing, the story interesting, and the direction in keeping. The story is by Helmut Kautner and Ernest Schnabel. Ad Lines: “Seven Owners, Each With A Different Story To Tell”; “A Different Film From The Allied Zone In Germany”; “Adventures In Life And Realism.” If This Be Sin Drama 72m. (UA) (Ratoff) (Made in England) Estimate: Average romantic drama. Cast: Myrna Loy, Roger Livesey, Peggy Cummins, Richard Greene, Elizabeth Allen, Gerard Heinz, Jean Cadell, G. H. Mulcaster, Margaret Withers, Ronald Adam, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Henry Caine, Patrick Waddington, Edith Sharpe, George Curzon, Phyllis Stanley, Robert Atkins. Produced and directed by Gregory Ratoff. Story: Overwork brings on an attack to the vision of Roger Livesey, prominent British attorney, and he is instructed by his doctor to rest for six months with his wife, Myrna Loy, as his companion and nurse, and Livesey’s daughter, Peggy Cummins, by a previous marriage. While on the Isle of Capri, he tries to recapture romantic moments. He receives an anony¬ mous letter accusing Loy of being unfaith¬ ful with his associate, Richard Greene. Loy is forced to read it, after which she denies it, and Livesey believes her when she tells him that Greene and Cummins are really in love. Cummins does love him, but he treats her as a child. When Greene arrives, Loy tells him that she can’t go away with him, but must give him up to care for Livesey. Greene takes refuge in Cummins’ friendship until they find that they are in love. When Livesey recovers, and they return to London, he learns that his sister wrote the letter, and that it was partially true at the time. He drives Greene from his office, Cummins runs away from Loy, and she and Livesey have a battle. Loy sends Greene to marry Cum¬ mins, and just before they leave for their honeymoon, a reconciliation is effected. X-Ray: This import has some good moments, a drama that through its ro¬ mantic implications and involvements may interest the feminine part of the audience more than the male. The cast turns in efficient performances, the direction and production are average, and the story holds interest fairly well through the comparatively short running time. It will fit nicely into the duallers. The film is based on a play by Margaret Kennedy and Ilya Surgotchoff. Tip On Bidding: Program price. Ad Lines: “If This Be Sin, Then Make The Most Of It”; “They Both Loved The Same Man . . . Which Would Win? Mother Or Daughter?”: “Dramatic Dynamite As ?.Icthsr And Daughter Vie For A Man’s Affections.” Shorts CANDID MICROPHONE No. 5. Colum¬ bia — One Reel Special. 10V2m. Allen Funt takes his hidden microphone and hidden camera to a diner, gets into a chef’s cos¬ tume behind the counter, and deliberately baits three customers. The short concludes with Funt behind the counter of a cutlery shop telling a customer he never bought an item in the store, and getting him frantic. EXCELLENT. (2555). CLAUDE THORNHILL AND ORCHES¬ TRA. U-I — Name Band Musical. 15m. A new group of singers, “The Snowflakes,” present “Honolulu” to the accompaniment of Claude Thornhill and his orchestra while others present such numbers as “Poor Lil,” “Darktown Strutters’ Ball,” “Everything Is Latin In The USA,” and the orchestra plays “Temptation” and “When You Wore A Tulip.” GOOD. (5308) . FISH FRY. U-I— Lantz Cartune— Tech¬ nicolor. 7m. Andy Panda buys a goldfisl} which is spotted enroute home by a tom cat who tries to get the fish away in every way possible but with little suc¬ cess. Eventually, Andy tires of it all, and returns to the pet shop for a huge bull dog as an escort and the cat really goes crazy with frustration. GOOD. (5330). A-CAMPING WE WILL GO. U-I— Variety View. 10m. Parker Fennelly nar¬ rates this amusing adventure of three bear cubs, and what happens when they stumble on a temporarily abandoned camp. They stick their nose in everywhere, and really wreck the place. Only the approach of the returning campers scares them off. GOOD. (5345). SING HAPPY. U-I— Cartoon Melodies. 9m. The King’s Men urge the audience to join in singing such tunes as “I’m For¬ ever Blowing Bubbles,” “Ain’t We Got Fun,” and “I’m Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover” to numerous appropriate cartoon backgrounds. GOOD. (5387). RUSTLER’S RANSOM. U-I— Musical Western.' 27m. Tex Williams, Smokey Rogers, Deuce Spriggens, Leslie Banning, Terry Frost, Steve Darrell, Hugh Prosser, William Gould, Bob Wilke, Ray Jones, Buddy Roosevelt. Produced and directed by Will Cowan. A cattle rustling gang secretly headed by Steve Darrell, town banker, successfully intercepts every herd of cattle headed for William Gould’s packing plant so that Darrell can take over the plant. Tex Williams and his partner, Smokey Rogers, happen along as the boss of a herd is ambushed and killed, and Williams offers to help owner Leslie Banning and the others. He gets in the good graces of the crooks by posing as a wanted outlaw, learns where the hiding place is and that Darrell is behind the whole thing, and they are all caught in an action-packed climax. Among the tunes heard are “My Ma Ma Never Told Me,” “Nevada,” and “The Outlaws’ Song.” GOOD. (5355). f 2884 Servisection 6