Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1950)

MY FRIEND IRMA GOES WEST' AS FUNNY AS THE ORIGINAL Rates! • • • in small towns, less in metrop Paramount 90 Minutes John Lund, Marie Wilson, Diana Lynn, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Corinne Calvet, Lloyd Corrigan, Donald Porter, Harold Huber, Joseph Vitale, Charles Evans. Directed by Hal Walker. The sequel to "My Friend Irma," the Hal Wailis comedy based on the popular radio series, should equal and, in some cases, surpass the boxoffice success which greeted the initial film. Its possibility for bettering the original's grosses is based on the increased footage allowed the zany antics of Jerry Lewis and the addition of the French glamour importation, Corinne Calvet. The plot is no less nonsensical than its predecessor's, but when Lewis has a profound conversation with a chimpanzee, or makes like an Indian, or goes through the numerous othe,'." laugh-provoking frenzies that will fill the theatre with howls, who cares about a story! Without the funny Mr. Lewis, "Irma" would be just another wacky program comedy. Marie Wilson is again the incredibly dumb Dora, whose unbounding faith in John "Al" Lund's olitan and action spots schemes and her inept desire to "help" her roommate, Diana "Jane" Lynn, fills the screen with slapstick situations and gags. This time, it's a trip to Hollywood to put Dean Martin into pictures, ending up in Las Vegas and its gambling emporiums, that forms the basis for the story Inserted to good advantage are several tunes, pleasantly rendered by Martin, and some inoffensive sex, well handled by Miss Calvet. Fast-moving, funny and tailored to mass audiences, "My Friend Irma Goes West" should have no trouble making a favorable mark in most houses. Sophisticates and action fans, however, will stifle yawns except when Jerry Lewis is on the loose. The characters from the pen of Cy Howard get the same broad treatment from their screen counterparts which characterized the air show and the initial film. Miss Calvet is well-suited to the French glamor gal ,role, but fails to meet the competition from her chimp pet when they vie for audience interest. And when the precocious Lewis meets the monkey, patrons will have to be tied in their seats to keep the aisles clear. Director Hal Walker keeps the pace fast, lets Lewis have his head, and otherwise shows he has his finger on the mass audience pulse. STORY: It is not until they get as far West as Albuquerque that the entourage including Marie "Irma" Wilson, boy friend, John Lund, girl friend Diana Lynn, crooner Dean Martin and his sidekick, Jerry Lewis, realize that they have been duped by a nut under the delusion that he is a movie producer and has signed Martin to a movie contract. Lund promptly promotes an alternate pact for Martin to appear in a film with French star Corinne Calvet, whose interest in Martin makes Lynn most unhappy. They stop in Las Vegas where Calvet is to make a night club appearance and Lund lands a job as croupier in a crooked gambling emporium When his "fixed" table is unfixed by Irma, Lund has to promise to repay the gambling losses and happily leaves Irma as hostage until he does. An alarm goes out that Irma has been kidnapped, and Lewis disguises himself as an Indian, tracks the gamblers to their hideout, helps Irma escape, thus securing a role for himself in pictures. YORK. 'LOUISA' DIVERTING COMEDY OF SEPTEMBER ROMANCE Rates • • + or better in small town and family spots; weak fo r action houses develops some obvious but nonetheless amusing situations, and the parallel between the old people's courting and the adolescents' smooching makes for subtle comic counterpoint. "Louisa" is clean, wholesome family entertainment which should reap a good harvest in the smaller communities and rural districts, as well as neighborhood houses. It is, of course, no attraction for the action spots. The veteran players, Coburn, Gwenn and Miss Byington dive into their roles with relish and their infectious enjoyment is communicated to the audience. Although shadowed by the oldsters, Reagan and Miss Hussey are just right as the harried children who find their mother's affairs of the heart much more trying than their own daughter's amours. Robert Arthur's production values, while not lavish, are eminently satisfactory for the purpose. STORY: Widowed Spring Byington moves in with her son, Ronald Reagan, his wife, Ruth Hussey, and their two children, and the household becomes a scene of discontent as Spring finds fault Universal-International 90 minutes Ronald Reagan, Charles Coburn, Ruth Hussey, Edmund Gwenn, Spring Byington, Piper Laurie, Scotty Beckett, Jimmy Hunt, Connie Gilchrist. Directed by Alexander Hall. This is an amusing and entertaining comedy of love among the elders. Full of chucklesome situations and some unusual twists, the Stanley Roberts screenplay has been handled with the old-time deftness that characterized director Alexander Hall's earlier efforts and made him one of Hollywood's ace comedy megaphones. Although Ronald Reagan and Ruth Hussey get top billing, it is the September triangle which has oldsters Charles Coburn and Edmund Gwenn vying for the love of Spring Byington that form,:; the foundation for "Louisa" and takes up most of the reels with delightful results. The switch which sees the children trying to put a halter on their mother, giddy with newfound romance, with everything. Urging her to go out more, they are disconcerted to learn that their daughter, Piper Laurie, while "smooching" in a movie balcony with her boy friend, Scotty Beckett, has seen their mother in similar circumstances with the grocer, Edmund Gwenn. Confronted by the family, Spring admits that Gwenn is courting her and persuades them to invite him to dinner. The real complications start when Reagan's employer, Charles Coburn, comes in during the dinner and falls head over heels for Spring. With Reagan's job hinging on the outcome, the pair indulge in a whirlwind courtship of his mother, which ends with Spring disappearing and turning up, well chaperoned in Gwenn's apartment. Coburn, meanwhile, has dug up facts which show that Gwenn was four times married but never divorced and when faced with the apparent bigamy charge, Gwenn explains that he and his late wife had, for sentimental reasons, gone through the marriage ceremony every ten years. As Gwenn and Spring are married, Coburn mutters. "It'll never last!" BARN. 'DESTINATION MURDER' ORDINARY MURDER MELODRAMA Rates • • as action house dualler RKO Ti minutes Joyce MacKenzie, Stanley Clements, Hurd Hatfield, Albert Dekker, Myrna Dell, James Flavin, John Dehner, Richard Emory, Norma Vance, Suzette Harbin, Buddy Swan, Bert Wenland, Franklyn Farniun and Steve Gibson's Redcaps. Directed by Edward L. Cahn. "Destination Murder" is a violent, sudden-death meller which should satisfy in theatres where patrons crave plenty of killing and old-fashioned double-crossing. However, this little RKO quickie lacks the novelty and name power necessary to qualify it as better than a supporting dualler. The story by Don Martin is too complicated, twisting and turning in bewildering fashion, and is most disappointing in its failure to sustain the interest created by the precision murder in the opening scenes. And, since the identity of the master-mind is revealed before much of the running time has elapsed, the much-needed mystery and suspense for this type of movie is sadly missing. As the foolishly courageous girl who tries to play detective to find her father's killer, newcomer Joyce MacKenzie is quite satisfactory. Stanley Clements is far less convincing as a playboy-Murder, Inc. type thug. The Dr. Jekyl-Mr. Hyde role of night club manager who is secretly the brains behind the murder is adequately filled by the talented Hurd Hatfield. Albert Dekker, Myrna Dell and James Flavin handle the more important supporting assignments. Edward L. Cahn's direction is routine. STORY: Stanley Clements, a freespending delivery boy, slips out of a theatre, i.s picked up by a stranger in a fast car, dons his delivery uniform, kills Franklyn Farnum and returns to the theatre — all during a five-minute intermrssion. The murdered man's daughter, Joyce MacKenzie, sees the killer, but is not sure of his identity. She picks Clements from the police line-up and plays up to him, hoping to get proof that he is the murderer. Clements leads her to a night club ostensibly run by Albert Dekker, driver of the murder car, from whom Clements tries to get more money for the job. Joyce then switches her attentions to Dekker, working in his place as cigarette girl. The secret power behind the scene, Hurd Hatfield, falls for Miss MacKenzie and decides to eliminate Clements, Dekker and Myrna Dell, Dekker's double-crossing girl friend, who had previously fast-talked Clements into blackmailing Dekker with an incriminating letter which she kept in her possession. A police trick shows up Hatfield as the boss of the entire operation, and he is killed in the final scuffle. TAYLOR. 20 FILM BULLETIN