Film Bulletin (1942)

What The Newspaper Critics Say HIGHLIGHTS FROM REVIEWS OF NEW PICTURES BY FOREMOST CRITICS 'PRIDE OF THE YANKEES' WELL LIKED BY N. Y. CRITICS (RKO-RADIO) "...Simple, tender meticulous and explicitly narrative film told with sincere and lingering affection ... Principal weakness as a dramatic film is that it lacks conflict till well toward its end." Crowther, N. Y. TIMES. "...One of Goldwyn's best productions. . .Sentimental and at times deeply moving... A must for all moving picture goers — women and children as well as men." Cameron, N. Y. DAILY NEWS. "...Despite minor, but serious drawbacks and overtime which occasionally becomes thick and repetitious, it is compelling, exciting and inspiring." Mortimer, N. Y. MIRROR. — ".. .Tender and compelling love story and a deeply moving story... So wonderfully human and so superlatively presented that it results in two hours of sheer delighl ...Irresistible entertainment." Boehnel, N. Y. WORLD-TELEGRAM. — "...Simple story, enlivened with the mild humor and rich sentiments of people to whom wit, intellectual achievement and clever ideas are foreign .. .Packs a heavy emotional wallop... Ranks with 'Yankee Doodle Dandy' as one of the two best movi2 biographies of the year." Winsten, N. Y. POST. "...Every inch a memorable show. . .Packs an emotional jolt which makes for stunning entertainment ... Simple tale of a simple man, brought to the screen with such brilliant showmanship that it is a ten-to-one shot that it will not leave you unshaken." Barnes, N. Y. HERALD TRIBUNE. 'HER CARDBOARD LOVER' GETS THE ROYAL RAZZBERRY (METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER) "...May have been a charming bit of nonsense 15 years ago but it is far from a charming bit of anything today. . .Witless talk and the performance is close to ridiculous." Crowther, N. Y. TIMES. "...Even if it were good it would be difficult to write favorably about something so flashy, so synthetic, so outmoded, but when it is done so artlessly — so atrociously so — it is drivel." Boehnel, N. Y. WORLD-TELEGRAM. "...Artificiality without wit, a depressing combination." Winsten, N. Y. POST. "...Slow, verbose and leaden ... Scripting, direction and production are the villains of the piece." Mortimer, N. Y. MIRROR. "...Norma Shearer distinguishes herself by giving the worst performance of the year... A very bad screen version of Deval's comedy is doing its best to polish off the screen careers of Shearer, Taylor and Sanders... O stars." Cameron, N. Y. DAILY NEWS. — "...Stodgy rather than scintillating. . .A dull dish of celluloid entertainment .. .Woefully lean on satiric bite or farcical excitement." Barnes, N. Y. HERALD TRIBUNE. 'THE BIG SHOT' OLD STUFF, BUT MOVES BRISKLY (WARNER BROS.) "...Sharply written script and a good cast lend an air of distinction to a rather routine crime story .. .Brisk melodrama." Crowther, N. Y. TIMES. "...There is always action and excitement. .. Pretty close to being a twilight of the gangsters. . .Bogart gives a strong, hard-bitten performance." Winsten, N. Y. POST. "...Takes an unconscionable long restating a lot of drab and hackneyed material. . .Undistinguished by freshness and sparkle." Boehnel, N. Y. WORLD-TELEGRAM. "...Stock situations, but because of adept direction and excellent performances, turns out to be better than average entertainment." Cameron, N. Y. DAILY NEWS. "...Repetition, neither timely nor topical. . .Steps along briskly. But it makes one feel like Rip Van Winkle, suddenly waking up and saying, 'This is where I came in'." Mortimer, N. Y. MIRROR. — — "...Suspense and excitement .. .As familiar as it is effective. . .Patchwork of melodramatic cliches. . .Bogart packs the show with all the melodramatic power that one might expect, considering the material." Barnes, N. Y. HERALD TRIBUNE. 'I MARRIED AN ANGEL' A NIGHTMARE — WINSTEN (METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER) ". . .A laborious dream, more nightmare than anything else." Winsten, N. Y. POST. ".. .A more painful and clumsy desecration of a lovely fiction has not been perpetrated in years." Crowther, N. Y. TIMES. "...MacDon ald-Eddy admirers will gobble it up... Others will find it difficult to swallow its laborious and sometimes sickish antics." Boehnel, N. Y. WORLD-TELEGRAM. "...Extravagantly lavish, containing everything that goes intc a musical comedy but entertainment and good taste... Dull pretentious production." Cameron, N. Y. DAILY NEWS. "...Slow and leaden. . .Handsomely invested and photographed, but too much repetition of the melod'es." Mortimer, N. Y. MIRROR. "...Dull and pretentious show ...Stars and pomp do not add up to much in the way of entertainment." Barnes, N. Y. HERALD TRIBUNE. "...Heavily and awkwardly conceived ... Gone is the wit, subtlety and charm of the stage show." H. P., PHILA. BULLETIN. 'CALLING DR. GILLESPIE' FAVORED BY MANY REVIEWERS (METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER) "...Interesting step forward in the frequently fascinating cases. . .Script becomes confused. . .Dorn and Donna Reed are personable and capable newcomers." T. S.,N. Y. TIMES. — — "...Effective as the suspense is, there is a minimum of invention in the narrative. . .Just so-so entertainment." Boehnel, N. Y. WORLD-TELEGRAM. "...Attention-holding tale... No mystery, but a controversy." Werner, N. Y. MIRROR. "...Many light moments. . .Some may think it morbid... Suspense is quite effective." Hale, N. Y. DAILY NEWS. "• ■ Cjnversational for the most part, offers a good bit of chit-chat about insanity." Pelswick, N. Y. JOURNAL-AMERICAN. ".. .Exciting. . .Countless thrills and well timed comedy relief .. .Moves at a rapid pace." Thirer, N. Y. POST. "...Kildare isn't missed in the least ... Newcomers give it life... Tense melodrama." Dana, N. Y. HERALD TRIBUNE. 'MEN OF TEXAS' STIFF AND JUVENILE, SAYS CROWTHER (UNIVERSAL) "...Stiff and juvenile in its recounting, but mak3s ample entertainment for the boys." Crowther, N. Y. TIMES. "...Straight action melodrama which is neither better nor worse than a run-of-the-mill Western... A little film with sporadic delusions of grandeur." Winsten, N. Y. POST. "...A lot of high sounding patriotic speeches fail to cover up the film's familiar plot... Sorry horse opera. . .Cumbersome melodrama." Boehnel, N. Y. WORLD-TELEGRAM. ■ "...Employing all the familiar angles. . .Cast can't do much to overcome the dog-eared script." Werner, N. Y. MIRROR. 'SWEATER GIRL' JUST SO-SO B-PICTURE (PARAMOUNT) "...Synthetically gruesome mystery .. .One of the minor mishaps of the week." T. S., N. Y. TIMES. '...Different, to say the least and also the most for this B thriller. . .Really keeps you guessing and rather knocks you for a loop." Thirer N. Y. POST. — "...Neither as song and dance entertainment nor as an exercise in lethal highjinks has it much merit." Boehnel. N. Y. WORLD-TELEGRAM. — "...While lacking cohesion, provides a lot of entertainment and amusement. Cast does a swell job with such scrambled and fluffy material." Mortimer, N. Y. MIRROR. 'SPY SHIP' HAS AMPLE ACTION, CRITICS SAY (WARNER BROS.) "...Excitement and tault melodramatic action .. .Well directed and cast works smoothly." Cameron. N. Y. DAILY NEWS. "...Makes use of every stock thriller and suspense situation ... Pace is fairly swift." Mortimer, N. Y. MIRROR. "...Low-grade melodrama in which the only intelligible action is a blistering gun battle at the end." Crowther, N. Y. TIMES. "...Possesses an abundance of violent action. Aside from that it is an ordinary item." Winsten, N. Y. POST. "...Pretty exciting entertainment, full of action and complications and as hot as today's front page headlines ... Good fun." Boehnel. N. Y. WORLD-TELEGRAM. — "...Suspense and significant action to make it a moderately entertaining spy thriller. . .Passably exciting variation of a sound melodramatic theme." Barnes, N. Y. HERALD TRIBUNE. 18 FILM BULLETIN