The Exhibitor (Nov 1941-May 1942)

THE EXHIBITOR March 25, 1942 Hollywood’s Backdoor Glamour”; “A Gay and Gal-orious Comedy Cast In a Great Satire On Movie-Making”; “Laugh With Hollywood As the Movie Capital Pokes Fun At Itself.” 20th CENTURY-FOX Lone Star Ranger Western (225) 55m Estimate: Satisfactory western. Cast: John Kimbrough, Sheila Ryan, Jonathan Hale, William Famum, Truman Bradley, George E. Stone, Russell Simp¬ son, Dorothy Burgess, Tom Fadden, Fred Kohler, Jr., Eddy C. Waller, Harry Haydon, George Melford. Directed by James Tinling. Story: The richest section of the Texas cattle country is plagued by rustlers. Cattle men are losing their ranches. William Farnum gets John Kimbrough, member of the Rangers, to go to the disturbed country, arriving just in time to foil a hold-up of the stage coach, and save Sheila Ryan, niece of the local banker and judge, Jon¬ athan Hale. She loses her necklace in the hold up. Kimbrough and his buddy, George E. Stone, see it being worn by Dorothy Burgess, sweetheart of Fred Kohler. They turn Kohler and his buddy, Tom Fadden, over to the sheriff. When the hold-up men escape, and try to kill the boys, Kimbrough and Stone recap¬ ture them, and deliver them to Hale. However, Hale and Truman Bradley, his bank manager, are in cahoots with the gang, and again permit the men to go, with instructions that the rest of the gang be rounded up. Kimbrough and Stone be taken care of. The boys escape harm, and Bradley, knowing he is exposed, plans on robbing the next stage, and getting out of the country. Hale backs out, and stays to take his medicine. Kimbrough captures or kills the gang before they can rob the stage. Because he has repaid the stolen money, Hale is promised a pardon by the governor, and Kimbrough and Miss Ryan decide to marry. X-Ray: An okay western, this is helped by an adequate cast and smooth produc¬ tion. Kimbrough may be no Gene Autry, but he handles his role with some amount of conviction. It should satisfy the west¬ ern fans. Ad Lines: “Guns Roar as One Man Out¬ smarts the Vicious Cattle Thieves”; “A Rip-Roaring Story of Flashing Guns”; “Cattle Rustling and Thrills In One of Zane Grey’s Greatest Yams.” Rings On Her Fingers comedy (237) 85m. Estimate: Light comedy will need plenty of push. Cast: Henry Fonda, Gene Tierney, Laird Cregar, John Sheppard, Spring Byington, Frank Orth, Henry Stephenson, Marjorie Gateson, George Lessey, Iris Adrian, Harry Haydon, Gwendolyn Logan, Eric Wilton, Billy Benedict, Sarah Edwards, Thurston Hall, Clara Blandick, Charles Wilson, Mary Treen, Edgar Norton, George Lloyd, Kath¬ ryn Sheldon, Frank Sully, Mel Ruick. Di¬ rected by Rouben Mamoulian. Story: Laird Cregar and Spring Bying¬ ton, confidence workers, who specialize on rich people, add department store worker Gene Tierney as their front. They pull a gag on Henry Fonda, in reality only a Wall Street bookkeeper who has saved his money, whereby they sell him for $15,000, his life’s savings, a boat they didn’t own. When the blowoff comes, Fonda doesn’t realize Byington and Tierney are in on it, but does know Cregar’s connec¬ tion. They meet again later on the estate of John Sheppard, who falls for Tierney and wants to marry her. But Fonda and Tierney have fallen in love, and she gives up the racket, going with him, although he is still not wise. From then on it is a case of her wanting to see that he gets back his $15,000, which has been left with her by Cregar for safekeeping, keeping away from Byington and Cregar, dodging Shep¬ pard, and also a detective hired by Fonda to get the goods on Cregar. Paths keep crossing, and, in the windup, Fonda is allowed to win his money at a gambling table, Tierney pronfising to give him up and marry Sheppard. The detective, how¬ ever, puts Fonda wise, so he comes back to get her, all forgiving. X-Ray: This is one of those lightweight dialogue comedies, without action, which will probably hold its own in the class spots. Story is familiar, dialogue isn’t too bright, and there are slow moments, although there are a few funny situations. Some shots of Tierney in a bathing suit offer angles. Otherwise, this will need plenty of attention. Ad Lines: “What Happens When a $65 a Week Millionaire Meets a Department Store Clerk Socialite?”; “Rines On Her Fingers, But Not Where She Wanted It”; “Crime Doesn’t Pay . . . Unless It Is In Six Figures ... A Hilarious Comedy of Cheating Cheaters”; “They Lived By His Wits, and What a Handicap That Was.” Sundown Jim western (239) 53m. Estimate: Average western. Cast: John Kimbrough, Virginia Gilmore, Arlene Whelan, Joseph Sawyer, Paul Hurst, Moroni Olson, Don Costello, LeRoy Mason, Lane Chandler, James Bush, Charles Tannon, Cliff Edwards, Paul Sut¬ ton, Eddie Waller, Tom Fadden, Frank McGrath. Directed by James Tinling. Story: Marshal John Kimbrough arrives on the stage as Paul Sutton shoots a man. Sutton is a member of the gang led by Joseph Sawyer, who had been imported by Moroni Olson years ago when the small ranchers led by Lane Chandler had re¬ belled against his power. The next day the mail is robbed by Sawyer. Don Cos¬ tello, small time chiseler, who has allied with the Chandler group for his own bene¬ fit, offers to help, but the marshal refuses, and lets it be known he will go alone the next night. He crosses the gang, recov¬ ering the mail. Sawyer is furious, and gathers his gang to eliminate the marshal. Kimbrough outwits them, and, with the help of Virginia Gilmore, daughter of the man murdered on Kimbrough’s arrival; and Paul Hurst, bc+ol owner disarms Sawyer and his gang, Ols in and his family, and the Chandler faction, including Cos¬ tello, and tries to stop the feud. Kim¬ brough plans to expose Sawyer and Cos¬ tello. Olson is shot, and the feud flares up. Kimbrough convinces both sides they are being used as tools, and they all start out after Sawyer and Costello, who are wiped out with the exception of Sawyer, who escapes. Kimbrough engages him in a gun fight, and emerges the victor. X-Ray: This is a routine western. Per¬ haps, by the time it is played, Kimbrough will have a following. His Texas drawl gives him a western flavor, but this doesn’t rank with the better open air pictures. Ad Lines: “Meet Your New Hero of the West . . . John Kimbrough”; “Dashing . . . Daring . . . Fighting . . . America’s Hero . . . John Kimbrough”; “Guns Spoke His Language . . . And He Answered the Same Way.” The Shores Comedy Drama Of Tripoli (241) 85%m. (Technicolor) Estimate: Technicolor service story should ride into the better grosses. Cast: John Payne, Maureen O’Hara, Randolph Scott, Nancy Kelly, William Tracy, Maxie Rosenbloom, Henry Morgan, Edmund MacDonald, Russell Hicks, Minor Watson, Ted North, Basil Walker, Alan Hale, Jr., Margaret Early, Frank Orth, Iris Adrian, Stanley Andrews, Richard Lane, Gordon Jones. Directed by Bruce Humberstone. Story: Cocky John Payne, out of mili¬ tary school, and whose father was in the last war, joins the Marines, and is put under Sergeant Randolph Scott, a buddy of his dad in fracas No. 1. Payne knows all the answers, but is able, and gets in Scott’s hair. In addition, he falls in love with nurse Maureen O’Hara, attached to the hospital. When Payne thinks Scott has been riding William Tracy, Payne’s room¬ mate, too hard, he takes a poke at Scott, and is arrested. Scott takes the rap, and is broken, even though Payne tries to tell the truth. Comes target practice at sea, and Payne saves Scott’s life, evening the score. He is about to quit the service when his father tries to dissuade him by telling him that he is indebted to Scott. But Payne learns it is a white lie, and quits, even though he loves O’Hara, and she him. Riding away with Nancy Kelly, a former sweetheart, Payne learns on the radio of the Pearl Harbor attack, rejoins the Marines, and sails for the action zone, with O’Hara on the same ship. X-Ray: Aided by Technicolor, backed by the authenticity of Marine Corps co¬ operation, this should get into the better grosses, even though the title makes this appear as if it is crammed with action, more than there really is. There is one melodramatic sequence when Payne saves Scott’s life during target practice, but for the most part this is the usual story of the smart aleck and his eventual realiza¬ tion of the spirit of the Marine Corps. In selling, no attempt should be made to link this with Wake Island, as it would be mis¬ leading. This is an ace film for Marine Corps recruiting, and should get plenty of tie-ups. It has enough angles to pull in the shekels. Ad Lines: “The Stirring Story of the U. S. Marines, and the Men Who Make It What It Is”; “Now In Stirring Techni¬ color . . . The U. S. Marines”; “The Pic¬ ture of the Year . . . With the Heroes of America’s Thrilling History”; “You’ve Never Seen Anything Like It . . . The Thrilling Story of the U. S. Marines.” Who Is Melodrama Hope Schuyler? 58m (242) Estimate: For the lower half. Cast: Joseph Allen, Jr., Mary Howard, Sheila Ryan, Ricardo Cortez, Janis Carter, Joan Valerie, Robert Lowery, Rose Ho¬ bart, Paul Guilfoil, William Newell, Pat Flaherty, Charles Trowbridge, Frank Puglia, Ed Stanley, Edward Keane, Cliff Clark. Directed by Thomas Z. Loring. Story: Joseph Allen, Jr., a special prose¬ cutor, must find Hope Schuyler, a missing astrologist, before he can expose ex-district attorney Ricardo Cortez, as a crook. With the help of Sheila Ryan, a newspaper gal, he does, but not before several people are murdered. Hope Schuyler turns out to be Mary Howard, working with Allen as his assistant in the investigation. A daughter of a judge, she had been in love 976 Servisection 6