The Exhibitor (Nov 1941-May 1942)

THE EXHIBITOR December 31, 1941 Novelty INFORMATION PLEASE. RKO— No. 3. 11m. The guest guesser is Cornelia Otis Skinner, well-known monologist, imper¬ sonator, and comedienne. The questions, which range from charades to spotting what’s wrong in a wedding ceremony, aren’t as good as usual, while the re¬ partee isn’t always sparkling as one might expect from such distinguished humorists. This is still good filler, however. GOOD. (24203). STARS DAY OFF. RKO-Picture People No. 4. 8m. Little Joan Carroll tees the reel off with an exhibition of figure-skat¬ ing. Moppet has plenty of charm. Shirley Ross, Frances Langford, Felix Mills, and Jon Hall look silly on a sail-boating ex¬ cursion. Finally, Joan Woodbury, Marian Marsh, Henry Wilcoxon, and Eddie Nor¬ ris try their hands at comedy and sailing toy bots. FAIR. (24404). Color Sport KING SALMON. Vitaphone — Sports Parade. 10m. This interesting reel is de¬ voted to a depiction of the life of the Chinook salmon from egg to the fisher¬ man’s basket, and from ocean to quiet stream breeding ground. This was blown up from a Kodachrome 16mm. original, and a beautiful job it is. The photography and color work are of the highest calibre. EXCELLENT. (7402). Color Travel HISTORIC MARYLAND. Metro— Fitz¬ patrick Traveltalk. 9m. Maryland’s cities, their historic and patriotic landmarks, make up the subject of this reel. Annap¬ olis is first visited. Points shown include St. John’s College; the “Tree of Liberty.” Carvel Hall, the Chase Home, the Old State House, the John Paul Jones tomb, and the U. S. Naval Academy, whose workings are briefly sketched. In Balti¬ more, one visits, among other things, the Highlight Shorts TOO IflTE TO CMSSIFY TWO REEL Dramatic Main Street — USA — RKO — March of Time Color Musical The Gay Parisian — Vitaphone Spanish Fiesta — Vitaphone Musical West of the Rockies — Vitaphone ONE REEL Color Cartoon The Night Before Christmas — Metro Rhapsody in Rivets — Vitaphone Color Novelty Rhythm in the Ranks — Paramount Novelty How to Hold Your Husband Back — Metro War Women in Defense — UEM Carrol house at Johns Hopkins, the “Flag House,” Fort McHenry, and the Francis Scott Key monument. This is up to the usual production excellence of the Fitz¬ patrick reels. EXCELLENT. (T-315). Travel SNOWTIME IN QUEBEC. Malcolm. 10m. This is a thinly veiled commercial for tourists to come north. It has se¬ quences of skiing and skating. Narration is below average. FAIR. Adult Melodrama 97m. The Shanghai Gesture (Pressburger) <UA) Estimate: Meller of the Orient will need plenty of push. Cast: Gene Tierney, Walter Huston, Victor Mature, Ona Munson, Phyllis Brooks, Albert Basserman, Maria Ouspenskaya, Eric Blore, Ivan Lebedeff, Mike Mazurki, Clyde Filimore, Grayce Hamp¬ ton, Rex Evans, Mikhail Rasummi, Michael Delmatoff, Marcel Dalio. Directed by Josef von Sternberg. Story: Ona Munson operates an Oriental gambling casino. Walter Huston, English financier, buys up property in the district and incurs Munson’s wrath when she is told to close up her place. She seeks vengeance in Oriental fashion and, as a result, she starts Huston’s daughter, Gene Tierney, on the downward path. She also accuses Huston of desertion years before. Huston finally tells Munson that Tierney, the girl she has ruined, is actually her own daughter. Later, Munson shoots Tierney for disobedience to her parent. X-Ray: This has exploitation angles, even if short in some departments. Money has been spent, but this, in itself, will not be enough. It will need intensive selling, on the title and obvious angles, the mys¬ tery of the Orient, etc. Reaction to the show when screened was not overwhelm¬ ingly favorable, so it appears as if this will need plenty of work. Ad Lines: “Famous Stage Play Now A Screen Sensation”; “Oriental Morals . . . Passion and Thrills In Thrill-Packed Love Melodrama”; “A Sensational Drama Of Love and Shame In Wicked Shanghai”; “What Was the Terrible Fate That Awaited Her?” 922 Servisection 4