Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1952)

ROAD TO BALI' RANKS WITH BEST OF THE ROAD SHOWS Rates • • • + everywhere except for act Paramount 90 minutes Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, Murvyn Vye, Peter Coe, Ralph Moody, Leon Askin. Directed by Hal Walker The long-awaited resumption of the fabulous "Road" shows turns out to be one of the very best of this bo.xofhce batch. Enhanced by Technicolor, using that wonderful off-the-cuff delivery that distinguished the others in the series, exploding surprise shots that turn into side-splitting gags, "Road to Bali" is mass entertainment that should roll up one of the top — if not the biggest— grosses of the year. Its nonsense, typical of the others in the series, blasts with such rapidity that even the most discriminating will finally give up and let the trio play on their funnvbone. One dares not take his eyes oft' the screen lest a gag be lost. There is corn, subtlety, gorgeous girls, beautiful color and laughs galore, all mixed into a platter that is a sure to tickle the entertainment palate of the moviegoing public. Such assorted personalities as Jane Russell, Humphrey Bogart, Martin & Lewis, Bob Crosby, among others, turn up without ion houses warning. The zany doings begin with the pair as a song-and-dance act in Australia, then on the run to a South Sea island en route to Bali and finally in the midst of a volcanic explosion. The hilarious ending will send them out laughing and talking it up. Bing and Bob exchange their barbs with apparent utter disregard for the camera, then do a turnabout and talk right to the audience. When Ming sings one of the sextet of excellent tunes by Johnny Murke and James Van Heusen, Hope turns to the lens and advises the audience to buy their popcorn now. Such gags, scattered throughout what was originally a screenplay, are additional bonuses to a comedy that would have been funny enough without them. It's hilarious, sure-fire entertainment that can't miss. The trio of stars were never better. They romp through the proceedings with their customary ease. Hope, as always, gets the short end of the stick, getting strung up on a tiger trap, caressed by a gorilla, enmeshed with a squib, and assorted other mayhem. A running gag of a beautiful girl emerging to life size from a basket like a cobra as each of the boys plays the tunc is climaxed with the emergence of Jane Russell, as Hope plays while Crosby walks off with Lamour, only to have Jane join Ming as Bob desperately tries to prevent the picture from cmling. Lamour has plenty of opportunity to strut in eye-filling costumes as well as a swimming sequence. Harry Tugend's production is the most lavish accorded the "Road" series, sparing neither purse nor pulchritude in the settings. STORY': As a pair of American vaudeville entertainers in Australia, Bing and Mob are forced into a hurried exit when threatened with a shotgun wedding. They land on a South Sea Island, are hired by a Malinese prince to dive for sunken treasure, with Hope almost devoured by a giant squib before they run off with the treasure and the princess, Lamour. Set adrift, they land on a headhunters' island, are captured and prepared for the shrunken head ceremony. Each believes, however, that they are going through the process of marrying Lamour as they don masks and robes, then find themselves married to each other. A volcanic eruption sends the natives fleeing, frees them and Crosby walks off with Lamour and Jane Russell, whom Hope had conjured from a basket, as Mob frantically seeks to ke^p "The End" title from the screen. MARN STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER' Rates • • • generally 89 minutes 20th Century-Fox Clifton Webb, Debra Paget, Robert Wagner, Ruth Hussey, Finlay Currie, Richard Garrick, Benay Venuta, Walter King, Romo Vincent, Roy Roberts Directed by Henry Koster This lively and ingratiating biography of John Philip Sousa, set amid colorful turnof-the-century Americana, filmed in Technicolor and vibrating to the famous composer's music, is the kind of movie that will send patrons marching to theatre boxoffices everywhere. "Stars and Stripes Forever" is not a serious biography, just a good-natured sketch of the "March King's" career, but it is loaded with human interest and humorous incidents that should capture the imagination of audiences, as did Sousa himself when COLORFUL, MUSICAL SOUSA BIOGRAPHY he wrote and played his way into the pages of American history. To strengthen the film's appeal to the younger generation, writer-producer Lamar Trotti added a youthful romance between a young Marine and a burlesque dancer. "Stars and Stripes" should roll up handsome grosses in all situations. Under the guiding hand of director Henry Koster, the film moves at a snappy and tuneful pace. Performances are good throughout, with Clifton Webb turning in a shrewd portrayal of Sousa. The music might be considered the real star of the film, for it is during the vibrant band sequences that the peak of entertainment is reached. Highspot of the picture is the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" scene, which effectively displays the emotional feeling Sousa's great band was able to produce. STORY: Clifton Webb is the leader of the Marine Corps Band in Washington, D. C. when he is apporached by Robert Wagner, who has invented a revised version of the tuba called the Sousaphone. Already a success at writing marches, Webb's main wish is to write a successful ballad. Wagner tricks Webb into going to a "concert" where Wagner's girl, Debra Paget, is appearing. The place is raided by police, but the three manage to escape to Webb's home, where Paget reveals she wants Webb's help to become a professional singer. Soon after, Webb leaves the Marines to form his own band, obtaining the best musicians from all over the world. Before long, the March King's name is a household word throughout the nation and abroad. There follows a number of scene's picturing Sousa's greatest triumphs, climaxed with the writing and playing of his immortal march "Stars and Stripes Forever." XEIL AGAINST ALL FLAGS' A ROLLICKING SWASHBUCKLER! Rates • • • generally, with a plus for action spots Mackenzie's 18th Universal-International 83y2 minutes Errol Flynn, Maureen O'Hara, Anthony Quinn, Alice Kelley, Mildred Natwick, John Tully, John Alderson, Harry Cording, Michael Ross, Paul Newlan. Directed gy George Sherman Here's a terrific concoction of swashbuckling drama and provocative sex-appeal, the former supplied by Errol Flynn in one of his most roisterous roles and the latter by Maureen O'Hara, who is surely the most Technicolorful gal on the screen today. This film will more than satisfy the public's appetite for adventure. It looks like a surefire hit in all situations, and a bonanza for action houses. Aeneas century story about the pirate lair of Diego Suarez is simple, direct and forceful. Producer Howard Christie has assembled a fine crew of cutthroats and dressed the picture up in handsome Technicolor. Direction by George Sherman keeps the action flowing at a swift and steady pace. STORY: In 1700 a British merchantman sails towards the pirate stronghold of Diego Suarez, Madagascar and sets ashore a young officer, Erol Flynn to lay a trap for a band of cut-throats led by Anthony Quinn. The Captains, of the Coast, as the pirates call themselves, include a woman. Maureen O'Hara, who falls in love with Flynn, to Quinn's disgust. Quinn suspects Flynn, but the latter wins the pirates' confidence after a bloody hand-to-hand fight with a huge seaman accused to stealing booty. On a mission with Quinn, the pirates seize a ship belonging to the Emperor of India and take captive a dozen harem girls. One of them, Flynn discovers, is the Emperor's daughter. Flynn conceals her identity, and puts her under his protection. This angers O'Hara. Accidentally, the princess reveals who she is. Flynn is condemned to death, but O'Hara saves his life, Flynn spikes the pirates' concealed guns and signals the British man o' war, which successfully enters the harbor and takes control. Once more aboard the British ship, Flynn secures a pardon for Maureen. COULTER FILM BULLETIN December I, 1952 Page 17