Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1941)

'SCATTERGOOD MEETS BROADWAY' MILDLY ENTERTAINING PROGRAMMER Rates • • — as dualler in family and rural houses RKO Radio. 68 Minutes. Guy Kibbee, Mildred Coles, William Henry, Emma Dunn, Frank Jenks, Joyce Compton, Bradley Page, Charlotte Walker, Chester Clute, Carl Stockdale, Morgan Wallace, Paul White, Donald Brodie, Herbert Rawlinson. Directed by Christy Cabanne. Despite the title, the third in the "Scattergood Haines" series Is still grooved to appeal primarily to naborhood and small town audiences. Actually, the film's conception ot how Broadway success is achieved will seem ridiculous to sophisticated metropolitan audiences and it will serve as no more than a filler on dual bills in the big towns. As the wise and witty storekeeper of Coldriver, Guy Kibbee has a role which fits him like a glove and this character actor succeeds m brightening even this routine tale. Kibbee is the series' greatest asset, but the popularity of the daily radio program and the Kelland books guarantees some business for "Scattergood" in the family houses. Scattergood lurns up on Broadway to talk to William Henry, a local boy who writes home about his playwrighting activities in glowing terms. Scattergood arrives just as Henry's play is accepted by a pair of shoestring producers who want a vehicle for a dizzy blonde actress Uoyce Compton) with a wealthy backer. The blonde's interest m Henry causes her backer to withdraw but Scattergood comes to the rescue with new capital after she and the phoney producers have walked out. Of course, the play is a success with another inexperienced actress in the lead and, although the two producers appear to demand a share of the glory, Scattergood out-smarts them and returns to Coldriver. Director Christy Cabanne and his wellchosen cast get the outmost in humor out of familiar situations. William Henry and Mildred Coles ably take care of the romantic interludes, Joyce Compton is outstanding as the blonde gold-digger and Charlotte Walker has a good dramatic bit. Prank Jenks and Bradley Page are amusing, if quite unbelievable, as fiy-by-night producers. LEYENDECKER 'UNDER FIESTA STARS' > Rates • • on Autry's name value Republic. 64 Minutes. Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Carol Hughes, Frank Darien, Joseph Strauch, Jr., Pauline Drake, Ivan Miller, John Merton, Elias Gamboa, Inez Palange, Burr Caruth. Directed by Frank McDonald. This is a thoroughly routine western which must depend entirely on the star's popularity for its box office draw. Gene Autry may still rate as America's No. 1 cowboy star, but his recent vehicles have displayed little action and even less imagination, with "Under Fiesta Stars" the weakest to date. The most entertaining portions of this film are once 'S WEAKEST TO DATE again supplied by Smiley Burnette who receives some rough-and-tumb.e comedy aid from his pint-sized replica, a plump youngster named Joseph Strauch, Jr. Autry's efforts are confined to singing five numbers in his pleasant crooning style and mixing up in a few fights and gun battles, but the doubling in his rodeo scenes is painfully apparent. The star's loyal followers will be disappointed and this won't win Autry any new fans. As in both "Sunset in Wyoming" and "The Singing Hill, " Autry's role i-equires that he placate, and eventually tame, a spoiled young female from the East. This time he finds that his partner in the joint ownership of a western mine is Carol Hughes, a mercenary girl who wants to sell out her interest. Autry, however, wants to keep the mine operating for the benefit of the bankrupt ranchers of the valley. After the girl's attempts to use her feminine wiles to win Autry over fail, she enlists the aid of a pair of shyster lawyers. The latter use cutthroat methods to get Autry in trouble, but he exposes them, after a thrilling gun battle in the mine, and even wins the girl over to his side. Carol Hughes — an actress far above the average for western heroines — is attractive and extremely capable as the girl from the East. Pauline Drake helps out as a secondary foil for Smiley Burnette's comedy and the others are standard. Frank MacDonald's direction is just fair. LEYENDECKER 'DOUBLE CROSS' ROUTINE GANGSTER QUICKIE Rates • • — as dualler in action spots Producers Releasing Corp. 61 Minutes. Kane Richmond, Wynne Gibson, John Miljan, Pauline Moore, Robert Homans, Mary Gordon, Richard Beach, William Halligan, Frank C. Moran, Daisy Ford, Henie Conklin, Edward Keane, Walter Shumway. Directed by Albert Kelley. "Double Cross" has gun-play and excitement enough to pass muster in the action spots, but its unmistakable "quickie" production values will bar it from all but the cheaper houses. A capable cast, with one exception, is occasionally able to breathe life into the routine gangster plot, although these players are handicapped by Albert Kelley's hurried direction. Insatiable action fans, however, will find it mildly engrossing. The familiar situation of a policeman having himself dishonorably discharged from the force and pretending to join an underworld gang is again employed in this film. The officer's aim is to avenge the death of a motorcycle squad pal who had been doublecrossed by Wynne Gibson, owner of a gambling joint. Miss Gibson takes an interest in the former policeman and gets him in with her crooked associates despite the suspicions of her partner (John Miljan). Miljan murders the woman and sets a trap for the officer, but a short wave broadcast brings help — and the crooks' capture, Kane Richmond stands out in a straightforward portrayal of the avenging young policeman, while Wynne Gibson and John Miljan are convincing in roles similar to those they have been playing for years. The pretty night club photographer who furnishes the film's romantic interest is acted in a most amateurish fashion by Pauline Moore. LEYENDECKER WHAT THE NEWSPAPER CRITICS SAY BAD MEN OF MISSOURI (Warner Bros.) "...Runs through the whole catalogue of Wild West pyrotechnics ...Has considerable slap-dash Western excitement." — ^BARNES, N. Y. HERALD TRIBUNE. "...The difference between 'Bad Men of Missouri'. , .and a minor league Western is purely financial. . .The episodes are not very believable nor are the performances particularly convincing." — WINSTEN, N. Y. POST. "...Of all the nonsensical whitewashings attempted by Hollywood, this one is a pip. . .Sole redeeming contribution is the pace at which the film moves. . .You scarcely realize you are wasting an hour and a quarter."— B. H., N. Y. WORLD-TELEGRAM. "...Warmed-up rehash ... There is much hard riding and slick shooting and everybody seems fairly good at it."— GAGHAN, PHIL A. LEDGER. "...The small boys were shooting from the hip as they left the gallery the other day. That's the kind of picture 'Bad Men of Missouri' is." — T. S., N. Y. TIMES. DIVE BOMBER (Warner Bros.) "...For its oddly dramatic subject and its most extraordinarily colorful contents, takes the palm as the best of the new 'service films' to date."— CROWTHER, N. Y. TIMES. "...Packed with thrills and excitement ... Photography is excellent, direction good, acting first rate. . .comedy is a bit on the corny side, but when those planes begin to dive you forget such petty annoyances."— BOEHNEL. N. Y. WORLD-TELEGRAM. ". . .The best of 'Dive Bomber' if not the most popular, is its mass of factual material. . .When it attempts more popular sequences, comedy, sex and the human angles, it is wholly trite," — WINSTEN, N, Y. POST. "...Subject matter gives it tremendous dramatic and emotional impact. . .Really miss the conventional melodramatic fireworks." — BARNES, N. Y. HERALD TRIBUNE. " . . . Constantly absorbing, efficiently acted . , . Could have used a little more editing."— MURDOCK. PHILA. LEDGER. 24 FILM BULLETIN