The Exhibitor (Nov 1948-Feb 1949)

TNE EXHIBITOR . November 10, 1948 UNITED ARTISTS High Fury (Rogers-Cohn) (Made in Switzerland) Estimate: Mild program. Cast; Madeleine Carroll, Ian Hunter, Michael Rennie, Anne Marie Blanc, Michael McKeag' Arnold Marie, Willi Feuter, Max Haufler, Margarete Hoff, Gerard Kempinski. Produced by Ivor McLaran; directed by Harold French. Story: When Madeleine Carroll, oper¬ ator of a Swiss inn, finds that she has to send back Michael McKeag, a French war orphan who has been entrusted to her care, after World War II ends, she wants to keep him, but the law forbids. McKeag escapes, and returns to her, and Carroll learns that her husband, Michael Rennie, must sign the adoption papers if she is to keep the boy. Finally, he signs, but she has to turn over ownership of the inn. McKeag, trying to prove to Rennie, who dislikes him, that he isn’t a coward, goes on a mountain climbing trip with him. McKeag slips, and Rennie gives his life to save him. Eventually, McKeag is rescued by Ian Himter, a sympathetic doctor who loves Carroll. The three prepare to re¬ sume their happiness together. X-I^ay: a mild import, the principal claim to attention here rests in breath¬ taking mountain climbing scenes, but outside of that, there isn’t too much to interest the customers. Chief trouble seems to lie in the scripting, with little oppor¬ tunity for the characterizations to be developed. The Carroll and Hunter names will help on the marquee, and there are the mountain climbing thrill angles for the selling, but the net result is just a programmer, which, with its interesting movements, doesn’t make the grade intended. Tip On Bidding: Program rating. Ad Lines: “A Challenge To His Courage . . . A Rival To Her Love”; “Are There Heights A Man Can Reach Without A Woman?”; “Between Their Love ... The Shadows Of A Man, A Boy, And A Mountain.” The Plot To Kill Roosevelt SpyDr^ia 83m. (Selected) (British-made) Estimate: Average exploitation entry. Cast; Derek Farr, Marta Labarr, Man¬ ning Whiley, Pamela Stirling, John Slater. Directed by William Freshman. Story: Newspaperman Derek Farr, working in Rome, falls in love with ballet dancer Marta Labarr, who is fired by the State Minister of Entertainment for “secur¬ ity” reasons. Farr’s writeup gets her in more trouble. He manages to get her out of jail and himself fired, but she disap¬ pears and he doesn’t see her again until the war, when he is a foreign correspon¬ dent in Teheran. She has become the protege of the most influential merchant in Persia, Manning Whiley, secretly in league with munitions interests desiring to promote another war after the assured Allied victory. With the aid of a local liberal politician, Farr sees the transpor¬ tation of arms by Whiley under the guise of an “aid-to-Russia” front headed by an unsuspecting Labarr. Farr had previ¬ ously discovered the coming of the big three to meet in Teheran, and also that it is known by Whiley and his cohorts. Farr gets the police to search Whiley ’s warehouse, but the latter covers up. 'WHien new evidence turns up, and only the Russians believe Farr, he has the poli¬ tician contact the Russian head man, but the politician is killed by Whiley. Labarr has stumbled across the truth about Whiley, and is held captive until rescued by the intrepid Farr. They are ambushed by Whiley’s men, but Labarr escapes in time to notify the Russians, while Presi¬ dent Roosevelt is arriving at the meeting place. The Russian police arrive in time to kill Whiley before he can detonate ex¬ plosives set to go off under the ground where F.D.R. is alighting from his car. Farr is also saved, joins Labarr. X-Ray: Purporting to be a revelation about a near-disaster at Teheran, but actually nothing more than a routine, un¬ distinguished spy drama, this Englishmade lower half fare offers exploitation angles because of its subject matter and arresting title. Tip On Bidding: Lowest bracket. Ad Lines: “Top Secret Until Now . . . ‘The Plot To Kill Roosevelt’ ”; “It’s Dyna¬ mite! A Story As Top Secret As The Atom Bomb! . . . ‘The Plot To Kill Roosevelt’ ”; “Two Lovers Against The Wiliest Agents Of An International Cartel Of Death.” U.-INT. You Gotta Stay Happy 100m. Estimate; Good comedy. Cast: Joan Fontaine, James Stewart, Eddie Albert, Roland Young, Willard Parker, Percy Kilbride, Porter Hall, Marcy McGuire, Arthur Walsh, William Bakewell, Paul Cavanagh, Halliwell Hobbs, Stanley Prager, Mary Forbes, Edith Evanson, Peter Roman, Houseley Stevenson, Emory Parnell, Don Kohler, Bert Conway, Hal K. Dawson, Vera Marshe, Jimmie Dodd, Robert Rockwell, Joe. Produced and written for the screen by Karl Tunberg; directed by H. C. Potter. Story: As the wedding of Joan Fontaine, one of the world’s richest girls draws near, she decides not to wed Willard Parker, but her uncle and a psychiatrist talk her into it. After the wedding, the pair head for their honeymoon suite in a fashionable New York hotel. At the entrance to their room, an argument ensues. James Stewart, president and chief pilot for a two-plane < cargo airline, decides to go to the lady’s rescue, and winds up on his back. Later, Fontaine, in pajamas, decides she can’t go through with the marriage, and escapes, winding up in Stewart’s room. With the aid of a number of pills, she sleeps. In the morning, Stewart’s co-pilot and fellow stockholder is slightly astonished, espe¬ cially since they have difficulty awaken¬ ing Fontaine. Under an assumed name, she begs Stewart to get her out of the city. He agrees. At the airport, his plane is sched¬ uled to carry a chimpanzee, a dead body, boxed, of course, a load of fish, etc., in ad¬ dition to forbidden passengers Fontaine, honeymooners Marcy McGuire and Arthur Walsh, and embezzler Porter Hall and his load of loot. The plane is forced down in Oklahoma, and the farm family of Percy Kilbride plays host. Stewart and Fontaine realize they are in love. Hall decides to give himself up, and the fish begin to spoil. Stewart finds out who Fontaine really is, and when they leave in the morning, Fontaine remains behind, and proceeds to the coast on her own. She arranges for an annulment from Parker, buys up the majority of stock in Stewart’s airline, and finally persuades him that they were meant for each other. X-Ray: An amusing film, with names to , sell, this hops from one humorous situa¬ tion to another, and all types of audiences should get a great kick out of the pro¬ ceedings, which show off the comic talents of Stewart and Fontaine admirably. The supporting cast is also of value in bringing off a solid comedy, which should be a highlight at any boxoffice. Director H. C. Potter demonstrates once again that he is adept at getting the most out of a yarn, this one being based on a Saturday Evening Post Serial by Robert Carson. Tip On Bidding: Higher bracket. Ad Lines; “She Wanted A Ride In His Airplane, But He Thought Passengers Were A Nuisance”; “Your Troubles Will Soar Into The Wild Blue Yonder When Jimmy Stewart Takes Over The Controls”: ‘"niere’s a Laugh In Every Plane Load As Pilot Jimmy Stewart Takes Off On A Wacky Cross Country Jaunt With A Coffin, An Ape, And Joan Fontaine.” WARNERS Angels With Dirty Faces Drama ' 105m. (Reissue) Estimate: Reissue has names to sell. Cast: James Cagney, Pat O’Brien, Hum¬ phrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, George Ban¬ croft, Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey, Gabriel Dell, Huntz Hall, Bernard Punsley, Joe Downing, Edward Pawley, Adrian Morris, Frankie Burke, William Tracey, Marilyn Knowlden, St. Brendan’s Church Choir. Directed by Mich&el Curtiz. Story: Tough tenament district hood¬ lums Jarnes Cagney and Pat O’Brien, growing into manhood, follow opposite paths. Cagney becomes pubhc enemy nimber one, while O’Brien enters the priesthood. O’Brien’s main problem is to check the hero worship of Cqgney by the yoimg toughies of the district. His pur¬ pose appears to be of no avail until Cagney, taken in a gun fight, is sentenced to the chair. O’Brien persuades Cagney to pretend that he is yellow in the face of death so that the yoimgsters will awaken to the disillusionment of crime. X-Ray; When first reviewed in The Servisection in 1938, it was said; “This is tops in gangster pictures, with plenty of action, gunplay, and some new twists. The cast, including the kids (now known as the ‘Dead End Kids’), all register indi¬ vidual triumphs, and turn in some emo¬ tional trouping that is tops. The story is off the beaten path, and moves forward to a smashing climax.” Tlie reissue possi¬ bilities seem linked tc the strong star values. Tip On Bidding: Reissue price. Ad Lines: “Brought Back For Your Re¬ enjoyment”; “Truly An All Star Cast In One Of The Greatest Gangster Mellers Of All Time”; “Action-Packed Excitement From Start To Finish In A Great Film.” They Drive By Night Melodr^a (Reissue) Estimate: Reissue has names to sell. Cast: George Raft, Ann Sheridan, Ida L upino, Humphrey Bogart, Gale Page, Alan Hale, Roscoe Kams, John Litel, George Tobias, Henry O’Neill. .Produced by Hal B. Wallis; directed by Rauol Walsh. Story: Ida Lupino, wife of Alan Hale, king of the trucking business, kills him believing she will be able to win George Raft away from Ann Sheridan, a waitress. Lupino goes insane after accusing Raft of driving her to crime. Raft is unwittingly compromised by his own friends, ^md seems destined to go to the chair until Lupino goes to pieces, and he is freed. X-Ray: When first reviewed in The Servisectton 1939, it was said: “Here is topnotch melodrama with names to lure the customers. Lupino’s performance is outet^ding. Dialogue is brisk and so¬ phisticated, and the piece is a thriller Servisection 5 2505