Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1945)

What The Newspaper Critics Say HIGHLIGHTS FROM REVIEWS OF NEW PICTURES BY FOREMOST CRITICS HE VALLEY OF DECISION' ANOTHER G ARSON BOXOFFICE DRAMA IM-G-M "...Spacious period picture. . .Plot that can't miss, even though iyou feel as if you were observing polite pantomimes under flawless plate glass. . .Boils down to your personal decision regarding kGreer Garson. She is the one whose attributes will either permit the film to assume proportions of epic grandeur or limit it as an example of the personality-showcase type of entertainment." 'WINSTEN. N. Y. POST. "•...Sentimental, lum pin -t he-throat saga of a Pittsburgh steel dynasty .. .Essentially a love story and a pleasant one, with much sadness and a properly happy ending." PECK, N. Y. PM. ".. .Three and a half stars. . .Full-bodied, finely acted by a wellchosen cast... Greer Garson turns in the best performance she has given since Mrs. Miniver. . .Tay Garnett, who directed, is to be commended for a number of beautifully staged scenes and for the precision timing of the dramatic events." CAMERON, N. Y. NEWS "...Has many elements of dramatic appeal ... Miss Garsons performance is generally one of fine attitudes more photogenic than incisive, but that's what her audiences like. Gregory Peck is quietly commanding .. A full romantic show." CROWTHER, 1ST. Y. TIMES. ". . .Best of the recent Garson series because Marcia Davenport's novel offered more substantial material than the others. . .Miss Garson is developing some distressing monotonous mannerisms in her playing. . .Basically, her characterization is sound." COOK, N. Y. WORLD-TELEGRAM. "...A tale of an American dynasty with great feeling and some sense... Has a radiant intensity which should make it a thumping boxofflce success. . .Miss Garson makes the film... Social significance of the work is difficult to define. . Motion picture of vitality and imaginative execution. It deserves to be a resounding hit." BARNES, N. Y. HERALD TRIBUNE. IAMOND HORSESHOE' TECHNICOLOR MUSICAL CALLED 'SNAPPY ENTERTAINMENT' "...Seldom have business and pleasure been conjoined to such a notable degree... At least a million dollars worth of fanfare for Mr. Rose's New York night club and a snappy entertainment in the strictly gala musical-spectacle line... Betty Grable plays the glamorous cuties with considerable down-to-earthiness and Dick Haymes is surprisingly natural. . .Phil Silvers has some big opportunities to be amusing — and makes the most of them." CROWTHER, N. Y. TIMES. "...More sprawling than sprightly. It makes much of variety turns and those spectacular girly-girly ensembles which Rose always refers to as his 'Greek salad numbers'. . .Glitters, but it constitutes a scramble and none too satisfying vicarious visit to a hot spot." BARNES, N. Y. HERALD TRIBUNE. "...Screen is filled with all manner of gaudy trappings in shiny Technicolor and endless parades of pretty girls sent prancing HE ENCHANTED COTTAGE' LOVE STORY RKO-RADIO "...Somewhere in the writing and filming the spirit of fantasy that glowed through the Pinero play has been discarded. . .The bitterness of Robert Young and Dorothy McGuire is too harsh and uncompromising to stir much pity... A picture where scenes are impressive not the effect of the whole... Has a dignity and honesty that raises it far above the level of an unabashed tear jerker — but not quite far enough." COOK, N. Y. WORLDTELEGRAM. "...Good... A sentimentally moving statement of the truism that love greatly enhances the beauty of the beloved. . .Can still furnish enchantment and emotion for those willing to accept surgical through them... A Grable picture is good or bad, depending on the quality of the musical numbers and this time they seem a little above par... Not much of a story, but it never is allowed to interfere with the song and prance interludes. That makes it good musical comedy material." COOK, N. Y. WORLD-TELEGRAM. "...Three stars. . .Colorful, glittering, musical comedy spectacle ...Tip-top film entertainment. . From Betty Grable's costumes to Phil Silver's amusing lines and its tuneful song numbers, it is completely diverting." CAMERON, N. Y. NEWS. "...No matter what ingredients 20th Century-Fox promises to put into one of their Technicolor musicals they all come out just about the same: Colorific, tuneful, lively, simple, sentimental and easy to understand. . .It's a gay whirl of bright fluff and feathers with a dozen laughs thrown in for good measure." WINSTEN. N. Y. POST. GETS DOUBTFUL REACTION anachronism for the sake of an old story." WINSTEN. NT. Y. POST. "...Deep and studied poignance of this elaborately heart-torturing film appears not only unreasonable but very plainly contrived... Doleful and morbid tone enough to make the picture a dubious entertainment for average folks... More of a horror film than a psychological romance." CROWTHER, N. Y. TIMES. "...A pretentiously lengthy production. . .A love story whose essence is simplicity of mood, character and emotion. . .Poignant enough to shine through the tedious treatment .. .Without benefit of any suggestion of glamour, Miss McGuire makes a likeable heroine. . .Robert Young gives a forceful portrayal. . .Cutting and simplifying could have made a good film into an excellent one." GUERNSEY, N. Y. HERALD TRIBUNE. T S A PLEASURE' COLORFUL AND PRETTY, BUT TRITE RKO-RADIO "...Such costumes, such sets, such sumptuous extravagance — all done up in pretty colors to make a lush background for little Sonja Henie. . .Tries to make up in eye-appeal what it lacks in story." ROB REEL, CHICAGO HERALDAMERICAN. "...Merely a collection of attractive pictures of skating rather than a well set up picture about skating. . .Miss Henie still cuts a handsome figure, personally and athletically on the studio ice rink." GUERNSEY, N. Y. HERALD TRIBUNE. "...This Sonja Henie ice show is refreshing only because that pirouetting ballerina of the blades appears in Technicolor. . .But there the attraction ends, for this yarn about the romantic tribulations of an exhibition skater and a pugnacious ice-hockey star is feeble and uninspired." A. W., N. Y. TIMES. "...Sonja Henie skates her way through a variety of spectacular ballets, does a modified cooch dance on skates, skates toe dancing and hot steps and scampers away time after time into those headlong fancy glides around the rink .. .Whenever the skating and dancing stops, you are in for a lull." COOK, N. Y. WORLDTELEGRAM. "...Despite the new costumes, scratch-proof ice and new sets, the act is worn out. . .But as an actress, Sonja has really come of age." WINSTEN, N. Y. POST. "...Very hackneyed and corny, and rather a stiff price to pay for assorted moments of superb skating. Something's wrong when the best part of a drink is the ice." L.K., N. Y. PM. "...Three stars... Rich in Technicolor, stunning sets and copious footage of the pretty little blonde... The story, though not very original and somewhat hampered by lapses into trite dialogue, still contrives to be a lively backdrop for some beautiful skating sequences." MASTERS, N. Y. NEWS. ALOME, WHERE SHE DANCED' CINEMA CURIOSITY — HERALD TRIBUNE UNIVERSAL "...Gives the curious impression that, one is seated in several theatres watching many motion pictures at the same time... Yvonne de Carlo dances alluringly and David Bruce makes an attractive rogue... Very little more than a cinema curiosity." GUERNSEY, N. Y. HERALD TRIBUNE. "...Collection of animated lantern slides, tinted in Technicolor, is probably the most fantastic horse-opera of the year... Miss De Carlo has an agreeable mezzo-soprano singing voice, all the 'looks' one girl could ask for and moreover she dances with a sensuous A Y 14, 1945 ness which must have caused the Hays office some anguish. The script, however, does not give her much chance to prove her acting talents." T.M.P., N. Y. TIMES. "...Sort of a Western, but not what you would call an action picture. In this one, you don't get action; you get hysteria... Pictures like this also could serve as an excuse for the rest of us to stay away from movies." COOK, N. Y. WORLD-TELEGRAM. "...Fair plus ... Lavishly Technicolored Western. . .Yvonne de Carlo, a curvaceous, beauteous newcomer. . .dances in veils and such in acceptable but certainly not remarkable manner." THIRER, N. Y. POST.