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MY PAL CUS' WILL BUILD ON WORD-OF-MOUTH
Rates • • + or better generally
20th Century-Fox! 83 minutes
Richard Widmark, Joanne Dru, Audrey Totter, George Winslow, Joan Banks, Regis Toomey, Ludwig Donath, Ann Morrison, Lisa Golm
Directed by Robert Parrish
"My Pal Gus" bids fair to build into * real "sleeper". An unpretentious comedydrama, this 20Fox offering has all the entertainment ingredients to please audiences of every strip, particularly the family trade. While it never develops any side-splitting comedy or tear-jerking drama, "Gus" glows with warmth and humor from start to finish. The story about a father's efforts to raise his son, deserted by a greedy and callous mother, holds one's attention throughout. The real star of this Stanley Rubin production is an 8-year old lad, frog-voiced George Winslow, who gives every indication of becoming the new Hollvwood child sensation.
Screenplay writers Fay and Michael Kanin have developed a pleasant romantic flavor between the father and the attractive teacher who takes the boy in hand. The Richard Widmark name should get this off to a fair start in most situations and word-of-mouth is bound to push grosses upward in the subsequent runs.
Director Robert Parrish has given this a light touch, and though the film has some serious moments, it avoids the taint of "soap opera." Richard Widmark, as the harried father, seems at home in a role that is foreign to his usual assignments. In providing an appealing answer to Widmark's parental problems, Joanne Dru leaves little to be desired.
STORY: After becoming a financial suc
cess the hard way, Richard Widmark is faced with the problem of raising his son, George Winslow, who is rapidly becoming a brat because of a lack of parental attention. The boy's money-hungry mother had left Widmark during a business failure. Unable to hire a nurse for Winslow, W idmark enrolls Joanne Dru's nursery school. Dru has a reforming influence on the boy and a romantic effect on Widmark. Just as it becomes evident that Dru will soon be Winslow's new mother, Widmark's first wife, Audrey Totter, shows up declaring their Mexican divorce was invalid and for a nominal sum, she will get another. Widmark decides to fight her in court, and though he wins the case, he loses the custody of Winslow, and the love of Dru who is alienated by Widmark's display of vegence on his wife. Totter, it turns out, doesn't want the boy, but will only give him up in return for everything Widmark owns. He accepts, and broke, but happy, he regains his son and Dru. NEIL
LAWLESS BREED' COOD ACTIONFUL WESTERN IN TECHNICOLOR
Rates • • + as dualler generally; better for action spots
Universal 83 minutes
Rock Hudson, Julia Adams, Mary Castle, John Mclntire, Hugh O'Brian, William Pullen, Glenn Strange, Lee Van Cleef, Michael Ansara, Dennis Weaver, Bobbie Hoy, Richard Garland, Race Gentry, Forrest Lewis, Bob Anderson, Stephen Chase Directed by Raoul Walsh
A well made Technicolor western, with plenty of action and an unusual quota of romance and dramatic factors, Raoul Walsh's production of "The Lawless Breed" rates well above average as a dualler generally, with its biggest returns due to come of course, in the action spots. Aided by Universal's exploitation campaign tying it in with the 50th anniversary of westerns, and the rising star value of Rock Hudson and Julia Adams, local level exploitation could bolster returns considerabl v. Based on the
career of John Wesley Hardin, one of the Old West's reformed gunmen and gamblers, Bernard Gordon's flashback screenplay results in a clean, easy-to-follow story with j twist ending. Properly handled, it should return satisfactory grosses in all situations.
Walsh, as producer-director, has given the film a production quite adequate to the demands of the screenplay and handles the players with equal finesse. Rock Hudson's fast-mounting popularity is given an added boost with his portrayal of the gunman who settles down to a peaceful existence only to find his son following in his footsteps. Julia Adams, in the femme lead, is quite an eyeful as well as delivering an adequate performance. At the head of a good supporting cast, John Mclntyre contributes a top-notch stint in a dual role.
STORY: Preacher's son Rock Hudson, tired of his stern father's beatings, packs a gun and quits his Texas home, promising to return for Mary Castle when he's made enough at poker to buy a ranch. During
the game he's compelled to kill one of the players, whose brothers vow vegeance. His uncle, John Mclntire, helps to conceal him, but Hudson is again obliged to kill in selfdefense. His father talks him into returning to face trial. At the races he wins enough money to hire lawyers, but before the hearings open a sheriff's posse arrives at the house to arrest him. Hudson is shot in the back. His girl is killed. He is saved by Julia Adams, a saloon girl who is in love with him. They travel the country, gambling, dodging the Texas Rangers, and hoping to settle down on their own farm. They do and Julia becomes pregnant. But Hudson's happiness is short-lived. He is trapped and sentenced tc 25 years in jail. After serving 16 years he is released and for the first time sees his son. The boy toys with a six-gun. Scared, Hudson strikes him. The boy makes for the nearest saloon and gets involved in a brawl, during which Hudson is shot, bringing the boy to his senses and reuniting the family. COULTER
BLACKBEARD THE PIRATE' FANTASTIC, GORY ADVENTURE YARN
Rates • • perhaps slightly more for action houses
down everything but the sound stage in his
RKO release 99 minutes
Robert Newton, Linda Darnell, William Bendix, Keith Andes, Torin Thatcher, Irene Ryan, Alan Mowbray, Richard Egan, Skelton Knaggs, Dick Wessel, Anthony Caruso, Jack Lambert, Noel Drayton, Pat Flaherty Directed by Raoul Walsh
Purely for action fans and for the youngsters, Edmund Grainger's Technicolor production of the fabulous pirate, Blackbeard, is definitely not for the discriminating fans. It's a wild and gory affair, but has exploitation values, what with the bloodthirsty action "and the Linda Darnell glamor, both of which get ample footage. In the title role, the British star, Robert Newton, chews
hammy portrayal of the wicked buccaneer. He and his mates are cast in sadistic mould, especially in the torture scenes and where Blackbeard is buried neck-deep in the sand with the tide rolling in. Action fans will go for it, but it's not for anyone with a weak stomach or strong mind.
Edmund Grainger has given it a lavish enough production, but Raoul Walsh finds the complicated and unwieldy screenplay too much to cope with for any degree of credibility.
STORY: Torin Thatcher, reformed pirate Sir Henry Morgan, is sent by the King of England to destroy Robert Xewton who is the 17th century's biggest sea-scoundrel, Blackbeard. Keith Andes, a young fortunehunter, suspects that Thatcher is secretly
in league with Blackbeard's buccaneers and tries to prove it. He lets himself be shanghied aboard the pirate ship, where Thatcher's lovely adopted daughter, Linda Darnell, is being held captive. In her baggage, Newton finds some stolen treasure; Andes finds a letter which, he thinks, proves the partnership between Thatcher and Newton. The latter meanwhile sets up an ambush for Thatcher on a lonely island. Thatcher emerges victorious from the bloody battle. By this time Andes and Linda are in love. They reboard the ship to sail happily home, only to find Newton has recaptured it. Thatcher gives chase, but is compelled to withdraw. When Newton and his men fall-out over the division of the plunder, Andes and Linda escape and the pirates bury their infamous leader alive. COULTER
FILM BULLETIN December 15, 1952 Page '