Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1952)

'WHEN IN ROME' APPEALING COMEDY Rates • • + for family audiences M-G-M 78 minutes Van Johnson, Paul Douglas, Joseph Calleia, Carlo Rizzo, Tudor Owen, Dino Nardi, Aldo Silvani, Mario Siletti, Argentina Brunetti, Mimi Aguglia, Emory Parnell, Charles Fawcett, Alberto Lolli, Adriano Ambrogi, Amina Pirani Maggi, Carlo Borrelli, Giuseppe Pierozzi, Guido Martufi, Joe Faletta. Directed by Clarence Brown Possessing an atmosphere of warm, human, understanding and light humor growing out of an incongruous situation, "When In Koine" should enjoy fair boxoffice success in the family houses, and, with exploitation, in all but strictly action houses. It will be very strong in Catholic areas. The story of an American priest and an escaped San Quentin convict on a pilgrimage to Rome, it was filmed in Italy amid the pageantry and simple splendor of the Catholic churches and monasteries during Holy Year. Guided by the expert hand of director-producer Clarence Brown, the amusing plot unfolds in a manner which realistically humanizes a basically religious story — without violating the dictates of good taste — and maintains all the elements of good screen entertainment. The story moves briskly throughout, with Van Johnson producing a completely believable portrayal of the priest, and Paul Douglas turning in one of his best performances as the escaped convice. Dino Nardi, as the commissario of police, and Tudor Owen, as an Irish priest, stand out in supporting roles. Full advantage has been made of the backgrounds of ancient Roman structures and the camera has succeeded in cap turing the magnificance of the Catholic 1 churches. STORY: Van Johnson, a priest from all Pennsylvania coal town, goes to Rome dur1 ing the Holy Year. Enroute he meets Paul J Douglas, who turns out to be an escaped "lifer" from San Quentin Prison. To elude f the waiting Italian police, Douglas steals Johnson's cassock and loses himself among the other priests in Rome for the Holy Year.: By the time Johnson catches up to Douglas,! the convict has registered in a monastery and his associations there lead to his re1 sumption of faith. The rest of the story in-tl volves Johnson helping Douglas to make the | pilgrimage of the four churches while trying to elude the Italian police. In the end. Douglas pays his debt to society, but in a| manner that is in keeping with the whole) atmosphere of the story. NEWT RANCHO NOTORIOUS' BOASTS MARLENE AS A WESTERN TOUCHIE Rates • • + generally; better where exploited RKO-Radio (Fidelity) 88 minutes Marlene Dietrich, Arthur Kennedy, Mel Ferrer, Gloria Henry, William Frawley, Lisa Ferraday, John Raven, Jack Elam, George Reeves Frank Ferguson, Francis McDonald, Dan Seymour, John Kellogg, Rodric Redwing, Stuart Randall, Roger Anderson, Charles Gonzales, Felippe Turich, Jose Dominquez, Stan Jolley, John Doucette. Directed by Fritz Lang "Rancho Notorious" spotlights Marlene Dietrich in a wild and woolley Western adventure somewhat similar to "Destry Rides again." The imitation is only half successful, however, for "Rancho Notorious" emerges as a rather mixed-up affair, splendid when Marlene is on deck to sing her songs, display her limbs and beguile the several men who make passes at her. Rut the story is all mixed up, frequently confusing, too long in the telling, and directed by Fritz Lang in artless, heavy-handed fashion. Lang accounts for an astonishingly hammy performance by Arthur Kennedy as the young man who sets out to avenge the murder of his sweetheart. It renders the picture's finale something much less than effective. However, the RKO release with its spectacular Technicolor production, interesting casting and vivid action material is the kind of movie that can be sold to mass audiences. Where exploited with enterprise, it will pay the freight. Miss Dietrich puts on a great show. Her costumes are wildly theatrical, so is her performance. Mel Ferrer is excellent as heil soft-spoken paramour. Gloria Henry plays the victim sympathetically. William Fraw-j ley, Lisa Ferraday, and John Raven do vvellj in their minor supporting roles. STORY: After Kennedy swears to tracU down the murderer of his sweetheart h<] travels West in search of a hide-out fo;| criminals run by a legendary beauty, Marlene Dietrich. By posing as an outlaw him-l self he ingratiates himself with Marlene. Tl'(| problem is to identify the hoodlum resoon j sible for the crime. Marlene gives him thtl information, thus violating her own rule mS keeping the men's confidence. They turn otj her in rage, and in the finale melee she killed. JAMES TALK ABOUT A STRANGER' WEAK MELODRAMA Rates • • as supporting dualler M-G-M 65 minutes George Murphy, Nancy Davis, Billy Gray, Lewis Stone, Kurt Kaszner, Anna Glomb. Directed by David Bradley This is a weak entry from M-G-M. Sufferinu primarily from an inept screen play, " Talk About A Stranger" falls short of the mark of good entertainment in telling the -tory of a boy's attempt to convict the inspected killer of his dog. The film never quite succeeds in making the most of the moral theme that is developed as llie boy, plagued by his imagination and circumstantial evidence, wreaks his vengence on the wroru/ly Mi-pected killer, only to have it backlip It lacks action and the plot does 10 not stimulate enough interest to make this useful as more than a supporting feature in lesser neighborhood and small town houses. This is basically a "one boy" show, with Rilly Gray dominating throughout in a part that is well handled. George Murphy and Nancy Davis have little to do as the boy's parents. Lewis Stone delivers his usual competent performance, as the small town editor who tries to guide Rilly in his search for evidence. Kurt Kasznar is effective in the part of the suspected killer. STORY: Always eager to own a dog, Rilly Gray gets his wish when a mongrel follows him home one day. Nearby, there is a strange looking house that had been vacant for years. A man, who calls himself Matlock, moves into the place and soon establishes himself as the town crank. Through a series ol events, Rilly becomes convinced that Mat lock is trying to kill his dog. When the bo;i finds the body of the poisoned animal, he i convinced that Matlock is responsible. Bill;| sets out to prove it, and circumstantial evi dence is turned up which tends to show tha Matlock may be even worse than a dog killei The story reaches its climax when the loca orange growers are faced with a freeze-ouj and there is a critical oil shortage. MatlocM has the only available oil, but when the meil go to get it, they find that Rilly has draineJ the tanks to avenge himself on Matlock. Ill the end, the boy finds that his dog had beeij poisoned accidently, and that Matlock was man suffering from a personal loss of hi| own. NEWT F I L M B ULLKTI >|