Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1950)

THE MEN* ANOTHER FINE FILM FROM STANLEY KRAMER lates • • • where exploited; more in class houses United Artists (Stanley Kramer) 15 minutes Marlon Brando, Teresa Wright, Everett. Sloane, Jack Webb, Richard Erdman, \rthur Jurado, Virginia Farmer, Dorothy rree, Howard St. John, Nita Hunter, Patricia Joiner, John Miller, Cliff Clark. Directed by Fred Zinneman. Producer Stanley Kramer has delivered mother fine film, his third in a row. "The VIen" is an intensely dramatic and super)ly produced film that will probably not )reak any boxoffice records, but will deepy impress those who see it. Boxoffice wise t will garner well-above average grosses generally and business should be tops in ;lass houses. Mr. Kramer has demonstrated a rare talent for making fascinatng and remarkably satisfying movies >ut of subjects that would be considered lighly unlikely screen material. In "The VIen," he scores his greatest triumph, xrincipally because he has ventured into me of the most challenging fields — >araplegia — and has emerged with a novie on the highest plane: an adult Irama that combines poignancy, heartwarming romance, rib-tickling humor and 11 thoroughly credible story. Spiced with lialogue from the pen of Carl Foreman, vho did the screenplay for Kramer's preious successes, "Champion" and "Home of the Brave," bulwarked by a cast that is well-nigh perfect, albeit not important to the marquee, and settings that breathe authenticity, "The Men" mingles its entertainment ingredients in a perfect balance. As soon as the proceedings begin to reach the stage of stark drama, delightfully comic relief is injected. Much of the humor is based on the patients' kidding of their own handicaps, but it is done in such good taste and so lightheartedly that no one will take offense. "The Men" will need a strong assist from the showman to realize the grosses it merits; and, sad to relate, in many situations it will not. Marlon Brando s performance is a new experience for the screen. Brando actually lived in the Birmingham Veterans' Hospital, where much of the picture was filmed, for several weeks, learning the entire routine of the disabled veterans' mental and physical existence. Assuming the role of a paraplegic, his performance is one of behavior rather than acting. He mumbles, stutters, garbles his words, apparently oblivious to a camera recording his every motion. The characterization is one of such complete naturalness that even the excellent performances of the other professionals in the cast are levelled to mere acting chores in comparison, but in comparison only. Teresa Wright is poignantly effec THE BREAKING POINT' SUSPENSEFUL MELODRAMA lates • • + generally; slightly better for action spots iVarner Brothers •7 minutes fohn Garfield, Patricia Neal, Phyllis Thaxter, Juano Hernandez, Wallace Ford, Sdmon Ryan, Ralph Dumke, Guy Thomijan, William Campbell, Sherry Jackson, )onna Jo Boyce, Victor Sen Yung, directed by Michael Curtiz. This violence melodrama from Warner Bros, offers a sizeable chunk of suspense md action that is sometimes vague, but jhat will keep audiences attentive in most ituations. It is occasonally talky, but he talk is pungent and spicy enough to nake good listening and to help this otherwise incredible yarn qualify as satsfactory entertainment. Ranald Mac)ougall's screenplay, based on an Ernest lemingway story, has a familiar ring to t, and no wonder, since "The Breaking Joint" is a remake of an earlier Warner meller, "To Have and To Have Not," with a fresh locale. That aforementioned dialogue, however, plus some top-drawer characterizations by John Garfield, Patricia Neal, Phyllis Thaxter and the other fine actors in the cast, as well as a betterthan-average job of megaphoning by Michael Curtiz, make this Jerry Wald production a pretty good movie in its own right. STORY: Stranded in Mexico without funds to fuel his fishing boat, John Garfield hires out to Chinese smuggler Victor Sen Wung to bring several of Yung's "clients" into the United States. In an argument over payment, Garfield accidentally kills Yung and dumps his body into the sea. This is witnessed by Juano Hernandez, who works for Garfield, and Patricia Neal, a loose lady passenger. They put the Chinamen ashore and return to California, where they are met by the Coast Guard, who confiscate the boat be A LIFE OF HER OWN' WEEPY TURNER SOAP OPERA EPIC lates • • • generally because of marquee values H-G-M 108 minutes tana Turner, Ray Milland, Tom Ewell, Louis Calhern, Ann Dvorak, Barry Sullivan, Margaret Phillips, Jean Hagen, Directed by George Cukor. I Lana Turner's return to the screen after a two-year layoff is a weepy, soap>pera triangle drama angled strictly at he distaff side of the audience In "A Jfe of Her Own", the blonde star glories n an "other woman" role as she portrays i small-town girl who falls in love with % married man and finally give him up to his crippled wife. Although the story las no distinguishing characteristics, M-G-M has given it a class A treatment knd director George Cukor has used his capable performers in effective manner to turn out a piece of screen entertainment that will score with all but the more discriminating audiences and the action fans. Returns generally, based on the marquee value of Turner and Ray Milland, as well as the attraction for the ladies should be well above average. Miss Turner turns in a creditable job of histrionics; she has learned the value of underplaying. Milland, as the mining engineer forced to make a decision between Lana and his crippled spouse, plays with sincerity. Louis Calhern comes through again with his usual polished performance and the rest of the cast provide adequate support for the stars. George Cukor's direction squeezes every last tear from the proceedings, yet has contrived to make the proceedings seem credible. STORY: Lana Turner, young hopeful tive as his confused sweetheart, while other standouts are Everett Sloane's doctor, and Jack Webb, Richard Erdman and Arthur Jurado as other victims of war's horrors. Fred "The Search" Zinneman's direction is a masterpiece of pacing, understanding and balance. A musical score by Dimitri Tiomkin is an integral and valuable adjunct to the film. STORY: His spine injured during a final battle of the war, Marlon Brando is taken to a veteran's hospital and, after a severe battle to survive, is placed in the paraplegic's ward with the understanding he will never walk again. Bitter and hopeless, he rejects all efforts to "rehabilitate" him until Teresa Wright, the girl he was engaged to before his injury, comes to him despite his obstinate objections. Her love and the friendship of his ward-mates finally snap him out of his depression and they are married. Doubts aroused by her parents' objections to the marriage and Brando's hypersensitivity about his condition lead to a misunderstanding the first day they enter their new home and Brando leaves in a fury, returning to the hospital. Through the wise counsel of his doctor, Eve.rett Sloane, Brando is made to realize that both he and Wright have had to undergo a readjustment and he returns to her ready to take his place in the outside world. BARN. cause one of the Chinamen has reported the name of the boat to Mexican authorities. The boat is eventually returned but Garfield can't meet payments on it. Worried about his inability to support his wife, Phyllis Thaxter, and their two children, Garfield reaches "the breaking point", and accepts another shady mission, with Wallace Ford, a disreputable lawyer, acting as go-between. Knowing that the new job involves transporting a holdup gang to a ship out at sea, Garfield plans to kill or capture the mob for whatever reward is offered, thereby solving his financial problems. The gangsters shoot Hernandez and Garfield takes them out to sea, where he kills them all in a violent gun battle and is seriously wounded in turn. The Coast Guard tows him back to port, where, in a dramatic finale, his forgiving wife talks him into giving permsson to amputate a badly damaged arm. JACKSON. from Kansas, arrives in New York and "lets a job modelling for an agency run by Tom Ewell. While in his office Lana meets Ann Dvorak, an ex-model whose beauty has faded from too much drink and romantic affairs. When Dvorak's current boy friend jilts her for Turner, the distraught Ann commits suicide. Deeply affected, Lana carefully plots her career and soon rises to the top. Through Louis Calhern, she meets Ray Milland, married mining engineer. Falling in love with Milland, Lana determines to go to Milland's invalid wife and ask her to give Milland up. After meeting Margaret Phillips, Milland's wife, Lana cannot bring herself to go through with it. Biddiing Phillips and Milland farewell, Lana determines to go on with her career and face life with courage rather than taking Dvorak's way out. RUBE. SEPTEMBER 2 5, 1950 I I