Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1950)

'LET S DANCE* DISAPPOINTING MUSICAL Rates* • i on names; n.g. for action houses Paramount 112 minutes Betty Hutton, Fred Astaire, Ruth Warrick, Roland Young, Lucille Watson Gregory Moffett, Barton MacLane, Sh'epperd Strudwick, Melville Cooper, Harold Huber, George Zucco, Peggy Badey, Virginia Toland. Directed by Norman Z. McLeod This Paramount Technicolor musical is disappointing. The song-and-dance routines are entertaining enough what with Fred Astaire's nimble dancing and the explosive exuberance of Betty Hutton, but the musical numbers are too few and far between to sustain the film's 112 minutes. The plot, corny and dull for long stretches, is too thin to hold the spectator's interest and this reviewer had the feeling that the picture ran for three hours or more. Those bright musical spots in "Let's Dance" are topnotch, however. The tunes by Frank Loesser are of Hit Parade calibre and the Astaire-Hutton combination gets the most out of them. Technicolor contributes its usual share toward making the film a lustrous and eye-filling affair. Boxoffice returns should be above average in the first-run deluxers on the strength of marquee values but cool word-of-mouth reaction will cause grosses to taper off in the subsequents. It offers little for the action houses. Miss Hutton and Astaire make a wonderful team in the song-and-dance department particularly with their lively "Oh, Them Dudes" number. Providing the mild humor are Roland Young and Melville Cooper, as a pair of snooty Boston lawyers who are somewhat bewildered, though pleased, by New York night club life. Gregory Moffett handles the role of Miss Hutton's precocious young son rather well, whi'e Ruth Warrick, Lucille Watson Barton MacLane and Shepperd Strudwick adequately round out the supporting cast. Norman McLeod directed for Robert Fellows' production of a screenplay by Allan Scott. STORY: Tired of waiting for Fred Astaire, her USO partner with high financial ambitions, Betty Hutton weds a G.I. from Boston. Her husband is killed shortly after the wedding, leaving her to rear their child, Gregory Moffett, in the blueblooded atmosphere of the Back Bay home of his great grandmother, Lucille Watson. Betty rebels, runs off to New York with her son to seek a job on the stage. She finally lands a job as as cigarette girl in Barton MacLane's supper club, with the child living a highly irregular life in the kitchen of the club. Miss Watson's lawyers, Roland Young and Melville Cooper, take Betty into court for contributing to the boy's delinquency. MacLane gives Eetty a part in his floor show with Astaire and she is granted 60 days to provide a proper home for Gregory. Betty quarrels with Astaire and announces her engagement to wealthy Shepperd Strudwick. Fred breaks up the romance, convinces Miss Watson that Bettv and the child should be together, and happily accepts Betty's marriage proposal during a New Year's eve song-and-dance production. JACKSON. 'TEA FOR TWO' LIGHT-HEARTED, ENTERTAINING TECHNICOLOR MUSICAL Rates • • • — ; except for action houses Warner Bros. 98 minutes Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Gene Nelson, Patrice Wymiore, Eve Arden, Billy De Wolfe, S. Z. Sakall, Bill Goodwin, Virginia Gibson, Craufurd Kent. Directed by David Butler. Some of the best songs of the late Twenties, some good production numbers, an abundance of comedy (some good, some tiresome) and a bunch of pleasant people make "Tea for Two" easy-going, light-hearted entertainment that should fare favorably at the boxoffice. Based on the hit Broadway musical of a generation ago, "No, No, Nanette," it gives the principals top-flight musical material to work with and they in turn give it a class-A treatment. There isn't much new in the story-line — the back-stage hack with a slight twist — but the lively performances and the toe-tapping, hummable hit tunes make "Tea for Two" highly entertaining for the average moviegoer. Among the principal assets are Doris Day and Gordon MacRae for the vocals, Gene Nelson in some sensational dance routines, Patrice Wymore exuding sex in an African dance number and Eve Arden, Billy De Wolfe and S. Z. Sakall for laughs. Arden and Sakall register strongly in this department, but De Wolfe is given an excessive amount of footage for his brand of humor. Such tunes as "Crazy Rhythm," "I Want To Be Happy," "I Know That You Know," "I Only Have Eyes For You," "Charleston," "Do, Do, Do," "No, No, Nanette" and the title song, give the film a plethora of musical value. Miss Day and MacRae treat the songs with a zest that should zoom the numbers to new popularity on the Hit Parade, especially since they are brand new to this generation of youthful moviegoers. The talented, personable Gene Nelson triumphs in three dance routines. Miss Arden, given the type of dialogue in which she excels, makes the most of every crack, and "Cuddles" Sakall is properly frustrated as a Dutch uncle. David Butler"s direction makes the most of the material and he doesn't spare the beauties, either, populating virtually every scene with shapely young things in bathing suits and other revealing attire. Production is high grade throughout. STORY: Told in flashback by Sakall to the two youngsters of Doris Day, his niece, and Gordon MacRae, the film starts with the crash of '29, when Day, an heiress with stage ambitions, is persuaded to back a musical production under th? aegis of Billy De Wolfe, unaware that her money has been dissipated in the crash by her uncle. Sakall enters into a bargain with her providing that she must say "no" to every question requiring a negative or affirmative answer in order to prevent her from being involved in any financial deals. The subsequent complications lead to a romance with songwriter and crooner MacRae, a situation which sees the entire cast rehearsing on her estate much to the discomfiture of Sakall and the eventual revelation that she is broke and the show is doomed. Her secretary, Eve Arden, however, turns her wiles on Bill Goodwin, Sakall's attorney who salvaged a fortune in the stock market, and gets a husband as well as a backer for the show. BARN. chauffeur. In this job, Ford meets and becomes attracted to Dorothy Malone, Crawford's daughter. Meanwhile, Millard Mitchell and some other prisoners plot to kill Frank Faylen, who squealed on a prison break. Realizing that Faylen is in danger, Crawford quarters him in the office. While both Ford and Crawford are out of the office, Mitchell enters and kills Faylen. Ford returns just as Mitchell is leaving and he stands accused of the crime. Living up to the prisoners' code, Ford refuses to talk and Crawford is forced to throw Ford into solitary. Mitchell then has himself thrown into solitary, smuggling in a gun for the purpose of killing cruel prison guard Carl Benton Reid. He succeeds in this, first confessing to the murder of Faylen, thus clearing Ford who is given his parole and promises to return for the warden's daughter when he gets a job. RUBE. 'CONVICTED' HACKNEYED PRISON MELODRAMA Rates • • generally; better in action houses Columbia 91 minutes Glenn Ford, Broderick Crawford, Millard Mitchell, Dorothy Malone, Carl Benton Reid, Frank Faylen, Will Geer, Martha Stewart, Henry O'Neil. Directed by Henry Levin Columbia dug down into its story files and came up with another remake of Martin Flavin's play, "The Criminal Code." This is a creditable programmer for action houses, but other situations will find it suiable only as the supporting feature on dual bills. The drawing power of Glenn Ford nad Broderick Crawford will help boxoffice returns somewhat, although "Convicted" adds no lustre to the career of either actor. No less than three writers (William Bowers, Fred Niblo, Jr., Seton I. Miller) were assigned to do the screenplay, furnishing concrete proof that in story-writing three heads are no better than one, for it is as hackneyed a prison yarn as any we've seen in years. Henry Levin's direction manages to squeeze a few exciting moments from the material at hand. Doing an entirely different type role from his famous "Willie Stark", Crawford handles this less demanding role with intelligence and manages to sustain a high level of interest while he occupies the screen. Ford does his job adequately. Production is of programmer calibre. STORY: When Glenn Ford accidentally kills the son of a high state politician, D. A. Broderick Crawford reluctantly prosecutes the case and Ford is sent to prison. After a year in the prison, Ford learns that Crawford has been appointed warden of the prison. Crawford, sympathetic to Ford in feeling that he has been unjust 1\ sentenced, makes him a trustee and his AUGUST 28, 1950 19