Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1952)

N. Y. Critics Differ On Merits Of Columbia's 'The Happy Time' New York reviewers greeted, with mixed emotions, the opening of "The Happy Time", a Stanley Kramer production for Columbia. It was generally agreed the film is an entertaining comedy, but there was some disagreement as to the quality and quantity of mirth. Comments ranged from "bright and cheerful," to "harmless off-color joke". One critic considered it a hoked up show, while another believed it contained "charm and warmth". Said Otis L. Guernsey, in the Herald Tribune, " 'The Happy Time' is a patchwork quilt of many colors, but most of them are bright and cheerful, and they blend into a smooth pattern of amusement". He compromised with "it has no great fund of wit, satire, or cleverness, but it is an entertaining piece of comic legerdemain." According the film a Good Movie Meter 'Rating, the Post's Archer Winsten thought hat it "seems always a fun-loving show, noked for maximum entertainment, and hit:ing the mark half the time." i In the World-Telegram & Sun, Alton Cook waxed enthusiastic with "the film surges happily through episode after episode of unbridled hilarity or warm sentinent". He topped that praise with "(it) akes you on a fling of mischief, laughter nd generous kindness that will make you ove yourself in the morning". | The Time's Bosley Crowther was someivhat disappointed and commented that the ilm "has been permitted to develop as a ort of harmless off-color joke . . . rather iian as a sensitive boyhood tale". He felt (he potential of the picture was not fully • chieved and it was "allowed to drift off in ne direction of rambunctious family farce". "A persistent hit on Broadway has been •anscribed to the screen . . . and there is no ;ason to doubt that it will be less of a jrowd pleaser," penned Fred Rayfield in he Daily Compass. Tagging it with a [ lood rating, he observes the film as "sheer lirth, merriment and Home, Sweet Home". "HE THIEF' INTTED ARTISTS II" Interesting movie . . . wonderfully ef:ient game of charades, and perhaps an ' pject lesson on the prudent substitution of I .mera for hackneyed expression." — 1 napiro, X. Y. Daily Compass. I "Trick overpowers the material . . . but » e trick itself is a fascinating novelty." — uernsey, N. Y. Herald Tribune. . "Feature-length chase, occasionally repeious, in which suspense is only interittent . . . Novelty ... is this melodrama's sic virtue." — Weiler, N. Y. Times. "Ingenious, fascinating stunt and round stirring excitement. It should keep . . . 1 Itrons in a steady state of harried susnse." — Cook, X. Y. W orld-Telegram. 'Good (Movie Meter Rating) . . . Medium j" . . . story telling ... is effective, which inot to say that the picture couldn't have j;n equally forceful, utilizing the usual Jthod of filming an FBI thriller." — Thirer, Y. Post. 'QUOT6S" What the Newspaper Critics Sag About New Film* THE GOLDEN HAWK' COLUMIil A "A deal of the sort of blood and thunder that is standard in sword-and-romance films is spewed in this Technicolored gce-gaw." — Crowther, V V. Times. "Must have been made to give Hayden a warm-up for something mure important, such as a class B production." — Pihodna, N. Y. Herald Tribune. "Poor plus (Movie Meter Rating) . . . Not much worse than other pictures known as swashbucklers." — Winsten, N. V. Post. "One of the high-flown novels of Frank Yerby ... it seems unlikely that he will take much pride in this latest version of his brainchild." — Cook, N. Y. World-Telegram. "Good escapist stuff ... A lively swashbuckler."— Pelswick, N. Y. JournalAmeri THE PRISONER OF ZEN DA' M KTRO-GOLDW YN-M AYER "Good escapist adventure . . . All done up with the proper flamboyance and spun out against glittering backgrounds." — Pelswick, X. Y. Journal-American. "Blazing with color and bristling with the arrogance of high romance . . . Streamlined just a little, down to the essentials of the plot . . . More of an amusement than an excitement, but it is good of its kind." — Guernsey, X. Y. Herald Tribune. "As 'Prisoners' go, the new one rates pretty well. Big money has been poured all over place in its large scale castles, ceremonial halls and hunting lodges." — Cook, X. Y. World-Telegram. "Looks quite as youthful and unblushing as if it bore not the slightest trace of age . . . The sort of play-acting that defies the solemnities of time, the smirks of sophistication and the rigidities of age." — Crowther, X. Y. Times. "Good plus (Movie Meter Rating) . . . Bound to be a terrific hit, and it deserves to be ... A load of action-packed, gorgeously mounted fun." — Thirer, X. Y. Post. BREAKING THROUGH THE SOUND BARRIER' UNITED ARTISTS (LOPERT) "Thoughtful and informative as well as exciting film . . . Remarkable simulation of reality in both sound and sight has been achieved." — Cook, X. Y. World-Telegram. "Excellent (Movie Meter Rating) ... A picture with subject matter of such terrific dramatic impact that director, writer and performers have only to keep calm to produce explosive excitement." — Winsten, X. Y. Post. "Exciting semi-documentary . . . with a trace of human element to give it the form of a drama . . . Picture gives off a tension as keen as the whistle of jet motors whenever it takes to the air." — Guernsey, X. Y. Herald Tribune. "As documentary and pedantic as that lengthy and tedious title may sound, we urge you to overlook it and not let it stand in your way." — Crowther, N. Y. Times. O. HENRY S FULL HOUSE' 20TH CENTURYFOX "Adequate but unstimulating Memories attached to the name O. Henry promise more than this film performs." — Guernsey. N. Y. Herald Tribune. "Compact and varied entertainment . . . brisk, direct and tricked with the element of surprise." — Crowther, N. Y. Times. "Adding extra stuffing to (J. Henry's airy whimsical structures is a dangerous undertaking. The workers on (the film) have not surmounted the perils very effectively." — Cook, N. Y. World-Telegram. "This is good O. Henry . . . But don't make the mistake of assuming . . . that these shorts are up to the level of . . . 'Ouartet,' ' Trio,' and 'Encore'." — Winsten, N. Y. Post. "FOUR POSTER" COLUMBIA "Good (Movie Rating) ... A thin play and a thin movie. None of it is extraordinary, but all of it ... is very honest . . . Drama without bathos, comedy without burlesque, performed by two people who know their business." — Shapiro, N. Y. Daily Compass. "Good (Movie Meter Rating) . . . With the alternating sorrows and gladnesses, the bursts of anger and the sweetness of reconciliation, you may say that marriage is exploited for entertainment quite successfully and emotionally." — Winsten, N. Y. Post. "Amazing that a two-character, one-set stage play should have been considered material for the movies, and even more amazing that the results are excellent." — Pihodna, N. Y. Herald Tribune. "Picture that at times runs exceedingly thin . . . Regardless of plausibility, they are pleasant company, being graciously domestic people and blandly and winsomely droll." — Crowther, X. Y. Times. "Film falls victim to the entertainment lulls that come when screen players talkendlessly about doing things instead of actually doing them." — Cook, N. Y. WorldTelegram. SPRINGFIELD RIFLE' WARNER BROS. "Fair plus (Movie Meter Rating) . . . Story, setting, action and acting are all in the cactus tradition . . . Rifles . . . are so small a part of the story that you wonder why the name was used." — Winsten, N. Y. Post. "Routine outdoor drama . . . steps along so smartly that there is hardly time to notice the thinness of the material or the film of dust on the characters." — Guernsey, N. Y. Herald Tribune. "Has more of an aspect of familiar screen dramatics than of historical actuality . . . Even the rugged outdoor scenery is pretty much of the same old thing." — Crowther, X. Y. Times. "Apparently the same horses as well as the same plot that Westerners have given us time after time." — Cook, X. Y. WorldTelegram. FILM BULLETIN November 17, 1 952 Page If